The one and only drama I completed during this hols is this precious little gem of a drama! I finished AOY S1 about a month before S2 came out so I was hyped for S2, and luckily wasn't disappointed. Of the 5 housemates last season, our beloved Kang unnie left the house to be a business woman, so we had a new addition in the character Jo Eun. Song Jiwon also took center stage in this story as hers was the last demon left to be uncovered.
In terms of characters, our resident craycray Ssong really climbed up my favourite housemate list this season, partly due to a better hairstyle, but mostly due to a lot more focus on her story. Last season, she was just the boy-crazy, eccentric housemate, with little explanation for why she is like that. This season, her character became a lot more compelling in terms of both her back story and the romance (or not). Who DOESN'T ship SsongSungmin haha. They were the cutest, and despite Sungmin's grumblings, his affection for her is so blatantly obvious to everyone (except Jiwon herself). Also gotta give Park Eunbin all the props for handling the eccentric parts and more sensitive parts of the character equally well. It's hard to act such a over-the-top character in a convincing way that does not irritate the viewers, but Park Eunbin managed to do that and more, making Ssong so damn lovable.
I also grew to love Jo Eun (Choi Ara), aka General Jo, a lot. Beneath her cold and prickly exterior is an extremely caring, sensitive, shy and at times, super cute girl that never received the love she deserved
I especially felt for her friendship with Yeji. While Yeji often bordered on obsessive, I think she did have feelings for Eunnie that went beyond friendship, yet she tried so hard act as a good friend and protect Eunnie in her 'relationship' with Janghoon (Kim Min Seok). The eventual relationship was all sorts of cute and squee-worthy too! I was quite surprised by Choi Ara, who is a newbie, but came off fairly natural. Hope to see her in more works!
I really liked the scene above, which realistically shows the effects of the trauma, even when she thought she was okay, and also because Jo Eun stepped up to the role of taking her home when the other housemates were busy.
Like many others, I found Eunjae a bore fest this season. Maybe because I was never too onboard with the maknae couple last season (last season was all about Yoon sunbae and Kang unnie for me), so I never felt invested in their relationship, much less their break up. I guess it was realistic in a way that it portrayed as messy and painful, but I thought we spent too long on it. Jiwoo, who replaced Park Hyesoo, was also a little stilted in her performance. She didn't give off the wallflower vibe that was a trademark of the character.
Lastly, for my beloved Yoon sunbae, I still loved her but was honestly disappointed with the development this season. There was so little focus on HER and so much focus on her friendship with Heimdal, whom I couldn't care less about. I thought it would have been more appropriate to focus on her struggles at work as a newbie (like Misaeng-esque). At least she had a sweet relationship with Chef.
My other favourite part of the show would have to be the music. Love the song choices and placement of them, that elevated the poignant scenes. The directing was effective and never detracted from the show.
Here's hoping for a season 3 with the Belle Epoque girls (and their guys!)
