The Youth Memories is an interesting Chinese drama and then you won’t let it go for a long time, because there is hardly a dull moment in it.
First of all, I came because of the main character and didn’t expect more. But they forced me to stick with the amazing script and characters. Check out the full The Youth Memories review below!
Drama Details
Title: The Youth Memories ( 梦中的那片海 )
Also Know: Where Dreams Begin
Episodes: 38
Release Date: June 1, 2023
Genres: Romance, Life, Youth, Drama
Country: China
Original Network: CCTV, Dragon TV, Tencent Video
Available On: Viki
Synopsis and Plot Summary
This is an inspiring story about the growth and transformation of ordinary people during the reform era of 1970s China when the country opened up to the world.
The storyline of The Youth Memories follows the story of Xiao Chun Sheng, a boy who grew up with his two friends Ye Guo Hua and Chen Hong Jun in a family of military and government workers who grew up on the same page.
They share many experiences such as joining the army, taking gaokao, going to sea, and starting a business while supporting each other along the way like a family.
They also meet Tong Xiao Mei, a Beijing girl pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor. When they first met, Xiao Chun Sheng immediately fell in love with Tong Xiao Mei. It started his pursuit of romance as well as ideals.
The Youth Memories Review
The Youth Memories is a period Chinese drama that focuses on the growth of a group of young people from Beijing. This drama shows a slice of life and depicts how certain life choices shape people who they become.
I think the best part about this story is that it feels true to real-world circumstances (the story feels real). That’s because the writers really made you analyze each individual character and the choices they made.
It’s not easy to put a good or bad label on the characters here because they don’t make choices because of bad intentions but because of human characteristics such as jealousy, sadness, and so on. So there won’t be any additional characters here, everything is so good.
This series also has a well-flowed storyline where you don’t have any filler-feeling episodes except maybe the last 2 episodes.
One great thing about this drama is that when something upsetting happens, it’s resolved quickly and doesn’t drag on throughout the episode.
It moves fast all the time and has a lot of action that will keep you engaged from episode to episode and I also love that it is told.
The main character, Xiao Chun Sheng is a man who steadfastly follows his ideals even when people who are more experienced in life tell him that his ideals will cost him defeat. After he overcame his post-war physical disability, he became stronger mentally.
Meanwhile, Tong Xiao Mei is a woman with a calm symbol of power. She was his companion even when they weren’t together before he knew it all. Women like her are very inspirational and she always supports Xiao Chun Sheng.
Meanwhile, for characters like Ye Guo Hua and He Hong Ling, many people dislike them because of their selfishness and cowardice, but I like them because they are two people who morally changed a lot in this story.
Characters can’t just be black or white, they need layers, to be able to evolve in either direction. We don’t necessarily want them in our lifetimes, but as characters on screen, they’re incredibly interesting.
As for acting, the actors in this drama did a great job including the supporting cast. Here are 3 actors who are great and really show their acting prowess – Xiao Zhan, Li Qin & Liu Rui Lin.
Xiao Zhan really impressed me with how much he grew and how well he was able to portray his character. The scene where he was supposed to be portraying grief completely hit.
It wasn’t exaggerating but felt that he understood how his character would portray that particular emotion. The chemistry with Li Qin is also amazing, I love their love for each other, and their support for each other. They understand each other so much.
The drama’s weakness lies in its setting spanning 30 years from 1975 to 2003 or so. However, the portrayal is somewhat inconsistent in time and period, especially in later episodes.
Part of a drama takes up many episodes over a few weeks or months and then we will direct it into a new year or a new decade based on a single and sometimes confusing dialogue to follow.
Also, there are sometimes inconsistent cuts for different pairs which don’t result in a perfectly seamless look.
Despite that, The Youth Memories is a drama worth watching if you like the 70’s setting, I think people can really enjoy it because it’s a really great slice-of-life drama with a great script.
The Youth Memories Chinese Drama Cast
Main Role
Xiao Zhan as Xiao Chun Sheng
Li Qin as Tong Xiao Mei
Support Role
Liu Rui Lin as Ye Guo Hua
Cao Fei Ran as He Hong Ling
Zhao Xin as Ye Fang
Cui Hang as Chen Hong Jun
Zhang Ling Xin as Xiao Yan Qiu
Lenox Lu as Qi Tian
Liu Jia as Ye Guo Hua and Ye Fang’s mother
Wu Gang as Xiao Yan Pei
You Xian Chao as Guo Hei Zi
Gao Yuan as Zhao Xiao Hui
Gao Dong Ping as Liang Dong
Zhang Hao Yue as Li Shang You
Tang Zhen Chao as Meng Jin Zhu
Bai Wei as Zhan Jun
And More
My Verdict
The Youth Memories is a drama that really impressed me with how much I enjoyed it and even looked forward to new episodes every day. Kudos to the actors and team that made this. My emotions are raw because this drama is so relatable from the highs to the lows of each character.
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