At a Distance Spring is Green Review: A Drama About Struggles In School

At a Distance, Spring is Green episode 1 review

At a Distance, Spring is Green is filled with rising young actors such as Kang Min-ah, Bae In-hyuk, and even the singer Park Ji-hoon. They’ve been showing off their acting chops in this slice-of-life drama, and if you’ve been contemplating starting this series, here’s our review on the 1st episode.

This At a Distance, Spring is Green review contains spoilers, so we recommend watching the 1st episode before reading this.

A realistic look at problems faced in college

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Image credit: KBS

At a Distance, Spring is Green is a coming-of-age story based on a webtoon of the same name. It revolves around 3 characters – Yeo Joon, Nam Soo-hyun, and Kim So-bin – as they navigate their way through university and face everyday challenges.

Highlights

1. Yeo Joon has a pathological need to be liked

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Image adapted from: KBS

Yeo Joon is popular with the girls in school for his soft boy looks. He’s also seen offering to pay for meals and treating his sunbaes (seniors) to coffee, and this earns him the nickname “ATM”.

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Image adapted from: KBS

Yeo Joon is also seen rejecting an offer to be more than friends with Hye-ji, his schoolmate. His senior Jung-ho has feelings for her, and by obliging, Yeo Joon would be ruining the relationship and peace between his seniors.

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Image adapted from: KBS

Later, we discover that he’s a lonely person who was abused by his parents when he was younger.

2. Soo-hyun is notorious for being a cold-hearted psycho

Nam Soo-hyun is known as the “U.P.” – ultimate psycho – as no one has ever seen him smile before.

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Image adapted from: KBS

In addition, we see that he’s a calculative person. After Yeo Joon accidentally spills his coffee on Soo-hyun’s shoes, Yeo Joon offers to compensate him. Soo-hyun asks for KRW100,000 and breaks down the use of each penny, only to reject Yeo Joon’s offer eventually.

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Image adapted from: KBS

However, it seems like this cold-hearted personality is just a facade. Soo-hyun prefers not to get involved with others as he’s busy enough working multiple part-time jobs and maintaining his scholarship.

3. So-bin tries to persuade Yeo Joon to give her his research assistant role

Kim So-bin is a hardworking junior, but her grades don’t reflect her efforts.

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Image adapted from: KBS

So-bin resorts to applying as a research assistant for her professor, Song Soo-kyung. So-bin begs Professor Song’s teaching assistant to help put in a good word for her. Unfortunately, Professor Song has already selected her assistant – Yeo Joon. The teaching assistant says that if So-bin wants the role that badly, she’d have to persuade Yeo Joon to cede it to her.

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Image adapted from: KBS

So-bin tries to convince Yeo Joon to let her take his role as Professor Song’s research assistant at the freshman orientation camp.

Yeo Joon agrees, but on the condition that he and So-bin become real friends, and ensure that their friendship isn’t just transactional.

Verdict: 3/5

At a Distance, Spring is Green shows a pretty accurate representation of what goes on in the 1st semester of university, when orientation camps and club recruitment drives take place.

The characters are relatable too. Some struggle to keep up with their finances, and others have to beef up their portfolio in order to get opportunities and scholarships.

We hope to see character development in Yeo Joon, So-bin, and Soo-hyun as they start to get involved with each other’s lives after the freshman orientation camp – it seems like change is coming for some of them.

At a Distance, Spring is Green review: a relatable coming-of-age drama

If you like slice-of-life dramas like the Reply series, this show will appeal to you. We hope this review helped you learn more about At a Distance, Spring is Green. For more K-drama adaptations of webtoons, click here.

At a Distance, Spring is Green airs at 9.30PM KST every Monday and Tuesday on KBS2.

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