The Summer

“The Summer”: A Quiet Storm of First Love and Growing Pains

Let’s cut to the chase—The Summer isn’t your typical anime romance. No sparkly confessions, no magical sunsets that fix everything, no grand gestures that make you scream “SHIP IT!” at your screen. Instead, this 61-minute Korean animated film (directed by Han Ji-won, based on Eunyoung Choi’s short story) serves up something messier, quieter, and way more real: the kind of first love that feels like a summer storm—warm, wild, and gone before you know how to hold onto it. And honestly? That’s exactly why it’s stuck with me for days.

The setup is simple enough to feel familiar: Yi-gyeong is the bookish, introverted 18-year-old who spends her countryside days buried in novels, her world small and safe. Then Suyi crashes in—literally, with a stray soccer ball—and suddenly Yi-gyeong’s quiet life has color. Suyi is everything she’s not: loud, athletic, unapologetically herself. Their connection is instant, like two puzzle pieces clicking—until life starts jiggling the board.

What makes The Summer hit so hard is how it refuses to sugarcoat the “after” of falling in love. We watch them move to Seoul after high school, Suyi giving up her soccer dreams to work dead-end jobs so they can afford a tiny apartment, Yi-gyeong chasing her college goals while feeling more and more like a stranger in her own relationship. The arguments aren’t big, explosive fights—they’re the small stuff: Suyi coming home too tired to talk, Yi-gyeong resenting that Suyi doesn’t “open up” enough, both of them tiptoeing around the cracks instead of fixing them.

And let’s talk about those cracks, because the fan reactions? They’re heated. Scroll through MyAnimeList forums, and you’ll find two camps: Team Suyi and… well, everyone side-eyeing Yi-gyeong. “Sui deserved better,” one user rants, and honestly? It’s hard to disagree. Suyi’s the one who shelves her Messi-sized dreams to work long shifts at a convenience store. She’s the one who still smiles when Yi-gyeong mopes about her “boring” life. She’s the one who loves so loudly, even when life’s beating her down. But Yi-gyeong? She’s stuck in her head—complaining that Suyi doesn’t “understand” her, resenting that their relationship isn’t the fairy tale she thought it’d be. One fan put it bluntly: “The MC just kept complaining throughout the movie. She couldn’t see what Suyi did for her.” Ouch. But here’s the thing—The Summer doesn’t take sides. It just shows you both.

Yi-gyeong’s frustration isn’t just “being dramatic.” It’s the quiet panic of realizing the person you love isn’t the same as the one you fell for—and neither are you. When she admits she can’t love Suyi anymore because she feels like she’s “losing herself,” it’s not a cop-out. It’s the messy truth of growing up: sometimes, the people who teach you to love yourself are the ones you have to leave to keep that self intact.

But let’s not sleep on the beauty here. The animation? Stunning. The countryside scenes are painted with soft pastels—golden wheat fields, lazy rivers, sunsets that look like someone spilled watercolor paint in the sky. Even the gritty Seoul apartment feels warm, thanks to little details: a soccer ball tucked in the corner, a stack of Yi-gyeong’s books on the nightstand, the way sunlight slants through the window at 6 PM. It’s the kind of art that makes you pause and think, “Wait, can I frame this?”

And the ending? Oh, the ending. No spoilers, but let’s just say it’s not a “happily ever after”—and that’s the point. As one fan put it, “It was very grounded and melancholic.” Another added, “Depressing, yet beautiful.” When the credits rolled, I didn’t cry—okay, maybe a little—but I sat there for five minutes, staring at my screen, thinking about my own first love. The one who I thought I’d marry, the one who taught me to laugh at bad jokes, the one who I outgrew without even realizing it. The Summer doesn’t just tell a story—it holds up a mirror.

Is it perfect? No. Some fans will hate Yi-gyeong for being “selfish.” Others will wish Suyi had stood up for herself more. But that’s the magic of it—it’s not trying to be perfect. It’s trying to be true. True to the way first love feels like the whole world, true to the way growing up can tear you apart from the people you care about, true to the fact that sometimes, the most beautiful stories don’t have happy endings—they just have endings.

If you’re into flashy rom-coms with all the tropes, The Summer isn’t for you. But if you want a film that feels like a conversation with your best friend at 2 AM—raw, honest, and a little bit sad—then grab some snacks, find a quiet corner, and hit play. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you: you’ll be thinking about Yi-gyeong and Suyi long after the summer fades.

As one fan summed it up: “Calm on the outside and deeply emotional inside… a slice of life story that stays with you.” Yeah. That’s The Summer in a nutshell. A quiet storm that leaves you changed—even if you don’t realize it until it’s gone.

Final Verdict: 8/10. Watch it with someone you used to love. Or just watch it alone. Either way, it’ll hit.

P.S. Pro tip: Have a feel-good anime ready to binge afterward. You’ll need it.