After the To all the boys trilogy (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You, To All the Boys: Always and Forever), the spin-off series arrives on the well-known streaming platform XO, Kitty. Also inspired by the American writer’s trilogy of books Jenny Hanthe series is the first spin-off of a Netflix original film. Xo, Kitty it is currently made up of a single season of ten episodes, each about thirty minutes long. In the cast we find some figures already present in the films: the young woman Anna Cathcart plays the role of Kitty again, in this case as the protagonist. John Corbett (my big fat greek wedding) plays Kitty’s father. Among the new figures in the cast he remembers Choi Min Youngas Dae-heon Kim.

Xo, Kitty: a funny teen drama

The series focuses on the character of Kitty, lively younger sister of Lara Jean, protagonist of the films. As the youngest of her three daughters, Kitty has no great memories of her mother, who died when she was a child, and wants to know more about her. For this reason she decides to apply to Kiss, a prestigious private international high school in Seoul. Beyond this, Kitty wants to go to Kiss to finally be with Dae, a boy she met years earlier on a vacation in Korea.

Here the young protagonist will slowly discover many intrigues concerning her mother: Kitty finds a name bracelet from the Korean hospital in her mother’s diary. She the latter, during her time at Kiss, appears to have had a baby, so Kitty goes in search of her missing brother.

At the same time, once Kitty arrives at Kiss, she discovers that Dae is actually with Yuri, a rich Korean girl. Although the relationship between the two immediately seems like a mere facade, the relationship between Kitty and Dae becomes more and more complicated.

Between parties, punishments and love triangles, the period spent at Kiss will lead Kitty to grow up and experience important changes in her being.

Classic teen drama clichés

Xo, Kitty presents themes and narrative plots very similar to other series or films about teenagers: consequently, if you are looking for something different to watch, something original, this is not exactly the right series. That said, that doesn’t mean the series itself isn’t a pleasure to watch – it just brings back a lot of clichés.

The plots concerning hidden pregnancy, love triangles, are all very recurring themes in many other teen dramas. A different element in Xo, Kitty compared to other similar series it is the search for some form of connection with the deceased mother: Kitty wishes to get to know her mother in her own way, trying to have some sort of direct contact with her, even now that she is gone.

Another recurring theme in various teenage films and series is the conflicting relationship with parents. In this regard, the comparison between the relationship between Yuri and her mother Jina and between Kitty and her father becomes very interesting: while Jina oppresses her daughter by trying to do what she believes is best for her, Kitty’s father is always open to dialogue, even at the end when Kitty reveals her great self-discovery to him.

In XO, Kitty you also go to deepen the Korean culture and tradition. This can be seen both indirectly from the school itself: here there are new, futuristic but also simple structures, sober dormitories are also guaranteed for students. Furthermore, traditional Korean festivals are narrated during the episodes and Kiss students are given the opportunity to perform typical dances in the end-of-year show.

An LGBT friendly series

Xo, Kitty brings the viewer’s attention to the LGBT community, through various events and characters. In particular, it is noted how these sexual orientations are perceived by Korean culture, still partially closed in this respect. Jina herself cannot accept that her daughter is a lesbian, and Yuri feels the need to hide her homosexuality from her family and the world, so much so that she has a fake boyfriend, Dae.

Another character through which a certain reflection on the discovery that adolescents experience of their own sexuality can be established in the public concerns Kitty. Without making any spoilers to the reader, we note how the protagonist manages to Kiss to learn more about her sexual orientation and, consequently, herself.