WEBTOON: "Oh, to be young and in love."

Seasons of Blossom | Romance | Hongduk & Nemone

Naver Webtoon | Seasons of Blossom

Seasons of Blossom is a comic series that’s on Naver WEBTOON, that deals with several different stories in an omnibus format each taking place in each season of the year. The main characters relate to the seasons by their names: Bomi (“봄” Bom - Spring), Hamin (“夏” Ha - Summer), Gaeul (“가을” Gaeul- Autumn) and although we’re only at the third season at the moment, fans are assuming the last main character will be Dongchae (“冬” Dong - Winter) that appeared in past episodes. Each character's episode focuses on their love life, but more importantly, their coming-of-age conflicts. The series treats deeper topic that touches the readers in the heart, making us think about our immature days and our own experiences growing up. I swear, Seasons of Blossom is just so much more than your usual high school crushes!

Naver Webtoon | Seasons of Blossom

The webtoon opens the first episode in spring, on the first day back at school. Bomi is a top student who is kind, smart, and gorgeous at the same time. She and the famous all-around-perfect boy, Jaemin, are a great-looking couple that all students root for. Troubles arise when Seonhui, Bomi’s best friend confesses that she has a crush on Jaemin. Not wanting to make things awkward with her best friend, Bomi lies to Seonhui saying she likes someone else - Jinyeong, a very quiet and cynical boy in the same class... Never did I realise that I needed this tall-girl-short-boy / popular-girl-nerdy-boy romance in my life 🤦🏻‍♀️ I loved this season also because it portrays the young age of the characters as the time where you learn what kind of a person you really are. I tend to think that teenage life is when you build your personality and define yourself. When Seonhui tells Bomi that she's "obsessed with being nice," that would've hit many viewers in the heart 😧 So to me, Bomi’s story didn’t only seem like a romance-oriented one, but also a drama of identity realisation.

Naver Webtoon | Seasons of Blossom

The second season is about Jaemin’s older brother Hamin, and his past high school life with a girl named Somang. I’ll warn you now that this season will make you cry your eyes out 😭 I don’t want to spoil it so I won’t say much, but the webtoon gets more serious than the season before. Brothers alike, Hamin was also quite a popular one amongst the students when he was in high school. Top in class, a cool personality, and with his looks, there was no way he would get past without getting all the attention. Somang, on the other hand, was a student that wasn’t noticed a lot. Spending lunchtime at the school art classroom was her only joy as she wasn’t the best at friend-making. How did these two very different people become the most meaningful one to the other? You’ll just have to read the whole thing and wet your pillow with your tears to find out ​​🥲 The whole season never deals with Hamin’s point of view till the end, and depicts the situations in the view of those “left behind” (spoiler alert). This leads to hundreds of misjudgements and false assumptions allowing us to be even more absorbed in the story. It was also heartbreaking to see our cinnamon roll Jaemin’s emotional waves throughout the whole season 🥺

Naver Webtoon | Seasons of Blossom

And finally, we’re currently in autumn, moving onto the campus romance. Gaeul made appearances as Somang’s friend in season two, who seemed like someone who went through some hardships herself - hinted as she mentions she thought about “ending things” during school. But guess who’s the main lead? The one responsible for making Gaeul miserable throughout her high school life, Subin. As their stories unroll, we’re starting to see that there perhaps was a misunderstanding between the two - I guess we’ll soon find out!

My initial judgement made for Seasons of Blossom could not be more wrong and shallow.  This webtoon series is a lot more than just simple love stories between teenagers, but conveys important lessons to the readers. There is not a single perfect person and no one that does not own any scars. The Korean title of Seasons of Blossom is “Youth Blossom,” and indeed it portrays “youth” in the most beautiful yet a realistic way. For anyone who wants to relive their youth and feel that heart flutters once more, I advise that you choose a relaxing stay-at-home day to read Seasons of Blossom.

Here’s a quote from episode 1:

“The splendid flowers, warm breeze, and sweet fragrance of spring. Giddy from all these, we cried, laughed and at times fought over trivial matters. Our hearts aflutter over the littlest things unaware that this warmth did not come equally to all. And therefore, that the cold was felt all the more bitterly by those it did not reach.”