Reply 1988

I have juts finished the whole Reply series and by far Reply 1988 is my favourite and, in my opinion, the best! I think that the actors were perfectly chosen for each role and really complemented each character. I found that they had the perfect mix of comedy and romance. And, although the husband (I won't say who) wasn't who I'd initially hoped for, I think that they made a cute couple in the end. The ending was absolutely perfect and left a tear of happiness in my eye. This drama is a MUST watch and I recommend it to any and everyone~!! Even my friends who don't watch Korean shows want to watch it!

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Reply 1988 walks in the footsteps of Reply 1997, only focuses more on the family dynamics and the old neighbourhood friendships. However, it wasn't as good as the other reply. The main reason that I preferred the 1997 reply over this, was the duration. The 1988's episodes lasted almost two hours each! And they were twenty of them (kudos to the producers; that must have been a challenge). Maybe for some, that wouldn't be a problem, but I personally prefer my dramas short -er, as it's more easy to watch. And the long duration makes it tiring at some point. Anyway, the 1997 reply's main reason for success was the kpop fangirling, that created laughter. Plus, the romance was quite interesting, as it was mixed up with the back and forth of the story. The Reply 1988 had a nice romance, but it was a little predictable and the chemistry between the two of them wasn't that good (I would have preferred the girl to have ended up with another character, as they looked better together). The family stories were quite good, and for me, were better than the friendship-romance. But, in the end, it was a so so drama, with a story that didn't keep the interest till the end, so 3 out of 10, for the good performances.

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This show is the third in the Reply series. It seems to be the popular consensus that 1994 was the worst one. I personally enjoyed it a lot, especially the husband hunt. This show has its own charm. There’s a lot more focus on the families as a whole, as opposed to the children finding family in each other. There were so many moving and heartwarming moments that had nothing to do with romantic love, but familial love, friendship, aging, loneliness, and growing up.

Although it’s right to say that romance isn’t the main focus of the show in this instalment, the husband hunt continues in this show. I hesitate to say that it doesn’t overshadow the rest of the show, because I would otherwise have overwhelmingly positive comments to give, if not for what I felt was a botched conclusion to the husband hunt. It wasn’t about who the husband was, but the way the story was . To avoid spoilers, I can’t elaborate further.

I avoided writing this review in the heat of the moment right after finishing the show. In hindsight, the husband hunt fades into the background of the show and the families come to the forefront. Even then, I find that some of my unhappiness and not-so-positive opinions remain.

What’s really great about this series is how the producers always aim to cast unknown actors and make them stars. I have only watched Park Bo-gum and Go Kyung Pyo before, and haven’t watched the rest. I loved Ryu Joon Yeol, Ryu Hye Young and Ahn Jae Hong. I don’t know what it is about Hyeri that I didn’t 100% love, but she definitely did a more than decent job.

One particular standout performance I must highlight isn’t from one of the young leads, but from veteran Ra Mi-ran. She takes on the emotions of her character and makes them her own compelling emotions, and pulls the willing audience along with her on her journey.

The episodes can get slightly draggy, many of them almost stretching to 2 hours (ohmygah). I still highly recommend watching this.

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I am a bit frustrated by seeing a person with everything got the girl

I am a bit frustrated after seeing this series, from beginning till 10th episode, I was rooting for this series plus cast and overall atmosphere it provided. But when the love story gradually moved towards park Bo gum, I literally hated this series, from beginning we saw jung hwan cared for the girl, he helped her, loved her, took umbrella for her, goes to Mcdonald, but what happens at end, he didn't get girl.
In my opinion, he was male lead but as show progressed writers did a fucked up job by not giving him girl.
I didn't belive how drama unfolded in later stages.
In beginning when 2015s deok husband was shown he was sincerely jung hwan but what they did was played with emotion of someone like me who just wanted him to end with girl.

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"We didn't have much but our hearts were warm"

I was familiar with the concept of "comfort food" and Reply-1988 is what I would call a "comfort show." We, the viewers, follow five kids (each born in 1971) and their families, starting in 1988. It's an ensemble cast, around 12 characters total, each of whom is a vehicle to explore topics like family, community, youth, aging, and romance. Bad guys are scarce, and they tend to show up for a scene or two, and then disappear. This is a drama about how a family of families support one another.

The central character is Deok-sun, the one girl of the five kids. The series is framed as a flashback from the present day, and that framing raises the big question of who does Deok-sun end up marrying. But that's really just the frame, and there's an awful lot of other not-so-romantic issues to address in the story. You'll get a pretty good sense of what to expect from the series in the opening voice-over, which I've headlined with "we didn't have much but our hearts were warm."

Deok-sun herself is a bit different from your standard lead character. She's pretty, yes, but the four guys have been friends with her so long that they barely notice. She struggles as a student, and her college options aren't looking promising. Deok-sun does seem to have a special... social awareness... not sure how to describe it. For example, when her teacher needs someone from the class to take care of a complex problem (no spoilers here), the teacher sagely selects Deok-sun even though Deok-sun's grades aren't so hot and also, frankly, in spite of Deok-sun tendency to act like an idiot in some situations.

That mysterious special-ness of Deok-sun, and similar special-ness of the other main characters, gets to the focus of the show, and why it's rated so highly. The viewer has a nice time, watching these characters help one another and navigate their way to the present day. It is something to emulate.

As for possible complaints, I didn't see not a lot of action in the show, which might turn off some. Again, you can figure out pretty quickly, if that's going to be a problem for you. The only other thing I might complain about would be the weird redactions of the show on Netflix. Apparently there are some questions about property rights, so the editors constantly blurred pop culture imagery -- stuff on the Goldstar TVs, book covers, magazines, wall posters. All the blurring is distracting, and on top of that, folks back in Korea have said all those little pop culture bits enhanced the ambience, so if you can find an unredacted version, then go that route.

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Resolution leaves something to be desired

I have two review versions.

Reply 1988 is

like a Michael Jackson song
like the youth you never had
like the youth you had
like a warm blanket

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There is not a lot that hasn’t been said about Reply 1988. That’s why rather than trying to simply rehash what others have written before I want to focus my attention on the love triangle, its resolution, on the last episodes and the ways in which they might be lacking.

It seems to me that there is some fluff during the last episodes and uncharacteristically the focus shifts from Deok Sun to Bo-ra, and from the young to the older generation. My theory for this is that Jung Hwan made up a huge amount of the drama, and when they finish the love triangle story arch with episode 18 it changes the dynamic very much.

Deok Sun and Taek, despite being really sweet together, have no real romantic chemistry and the moment Jung Hwan leaves the triangle their romance plot falls flat on its face. The writer/producers might have seen that and tried to stuff the episodes with other people's issues which is honestly fine, but it nevertheless leaves something to be desired. You can argue that even the writer/producers have not enough confidence in the Deok Sun/Taek storyline from the moment the love triangle is over to give them a proper ending. So did they make a mistake in choosing Taek over Jung Hwan?

I am sure Taek was supposed to be the one from the start, something many people in #teamJungHwan are doubting who say they switched the one Deok Sun ends up with midway. I don’t think that. But what couldn't and can't be accounted for, what nobody could anticipate, is the real-life chemistry between the actors on set, something that develops during filming, the chemistry which surely favores Jung Hwan over Taek. The other point is simply what an actor makes out of a role, and clearly Ryu Joon Yeol is an outstanding actor who gives depth and complexity to this character and is immensely charismatic. Everything he does is simply unmissable. This, too couldn’t be foreseen. Equally, Park Bo Gum is a terrific actor with a delicacy that is quite rare in Korean dramas.

Jung Hwan is notably absent form large portions of the last episodes, but so are Deok Sun and Taek. Basically the makers seemed to go out of their way to leave Jung Hwan out of the plot, and whenever he wasn't around something was lacking. Reply 1988 being based on a real story means Jung Hwan's ending originally was different (he was supposed to die in a plane crash, being a fighter pilot), which luckily they changed. They could've changed it even more and changed Taek's role too, if they wanted to.

Both the chemistry and acting point toward Jung Hwan's role having a bigger ending than somehow fizzling out. But be that as it may, crucially, the makers seemed to also not have been very confident about the main couple, so they circumvented putting more time and effort into their storyline by embroidering other's. This goes above and beyond of the mechanisms of Second Lead Syndrome where it might be calculated that viewers favor the second lead getting the girl because it spices things up. There is a weird vacuum because these miscalculations are not properly addressed. There is no solution to the plot being somehow anticlimactic, but I am kind of glad they didn't add insult to injury by making up a happy-go-lucky ending for Jung Hwan.

Not having romantic or sexual chemistry is one thing but the writing has Deok Sun/Taek's relationship as more of a child/caretaker or sibling one. Taek maybe needs a mother or noona more than a girlfriend, and I don't think it's desirable to couple a young woman with a young man who is unable to "tie his own show laces" because she is so good at caring for him.

Of course the equally valid point can be made, and has been made, that no woman would want a man who continuously treats her badly and calls her ugly and stupid because he can not deal with his own feelings. He consistently chooses a negative, petty, mean approach, to protect himself from hurt, or because he is somewhat of an asshole. There is no good explanation why he can not even be different when he is alone: He wishes for Taek to be a jerk which would be bad for her too, and he secretly enjoys the fact that Sun Woo doesn’t like Deok Sun back. He resorts to negative thoughts and wants nobody else to have her instead of wishing the best for her.

Some people say Jung Hwan doesn't deserve her, yes, but the way he behaves until the end is a writing decision. Others say Jung Hwan is stronger and can deal with losing Deok Sun, but it would hurt Taek, maybe send him into even worse drug problems, which he would never recover from. While this is an intriguing point I don't think Taek should be coddled the way he always was coddled, well into his adulthood, just because he is supposedly weaker. Jung Hwan might be able to get over Deok Sun but to say he has to because he can deal with it is kind of cruel. The way he tends to bottle up his emotions is no sign of strength and I would have loved to see him open up and be vulnerable for once.

Of course, Jung Hwan as emotionally unavailable, distant love interest with an equally huge amount of meanspirited quips as well as wordless galantries is the kind of guy women easily fall for. He seems like a mixture of a Tsundere with a Kuudere type character. Mean, harsh, jealous, vengeful, unemotional, guarded who has a huge amount of belligerent sexual tension with Deok Sun. But the extent to which I would argue this is abused here makes Jung Hwan seem like a cheap plot device. He is good enough to provide heartfluttering moments, raise the tension and keep the love triangle alive but not good enough to be developed into something more. He deserves better.

Maybe, just maybe, this is not a bad plot device, and not bad writing, maybe this is intentional and what I am just writing proves just how great Jung Hwan is written and played, and just how they have succeeded in breaking our hearts. And the heartbreak, sorrow, even trauma wouldn't have happened if it were any other way.

With motherhood being such a huge part of Korean culture and even of this drama, I can see why the writers don't have a huge problem with choosing a partner who is essentially child-like in many ways, who needs mothering, and have this be a fundamental part of their relationship. I think it romanticizes motherhood and leaves Deuk Sun with the short end of the stick. From a Western perspective at least it seems strange, if not icky, to show marriage largely as one taking care of the other. From this perspective a romantic relationship is about two people meeting at eye level, not one looking down on the other. Maybe the flaw lies in the writing and Taek/Deuk Sun is never shown to evolve into a more equal kind of relationship. Taek has his moments and is mature in different ways, but he always stays a needy child in others. To be fair, Jung Hwan equally is never shown to fully evolve into someone who treats Deuk Sun well. So you have someone who looks down on her or someone who looks up to her, and of course you would want the latter for your female lead character.

You can complain that Deok Sun has been forced into a caretaking role just because it is her nature, which is unfair. You can also look at it from another angle - Deok Sun is simply a stronger person. She can take care of Taek and be a grounding influence on him just because she is smart, pragmatic, realistic, tough and mentally strong. This makes her not stuck in an antiquated role but, quite the opposite, a very modern heroine.

Jung Hwan hurts himself as well as Deok Sun by pushing her away, hesitating, ruminating and giving major mixed signals. Taek never once deliberately hurts her. That in and of itself should be enough to give Taek the upper hand. But it also makes Jung Hwan so much more interesting, because you can never forget the people who hurt you and there will always be lingering questions like 'why....' and 'what if....?'.

There is a scene when Dong Ryung asks Deok Sun whom she likes more, Taek or him, and without hesitation she says Taek. But when he asks whom she likes more between Jung Hwan and Sun Woo, she answers evasively. This seems to mirror Taek's/Jung Hwan's feelings. I always felt that Deok Sun loves Taek, and isn't afraid to express it, and that she likes to take care of him and is very protective of him, but that she is in love with Jung Hwan. It is fitting that after being very vocal about her feelings for Sun Woo she would tread lightly and be cautious to not get burned again.

Mid-drama it is clear that both Taek and Jung Hwan have romantic interest in Deok Sun, but there is never an easy answer as to what she feels. If there is an imbalance of feelings the final episode unwisely exacerbates it: Once more we learn about Taek’s feelings which were never in doubt. This emphasizes even more that her feelings are still somewhat of a mistery, which leaves a bitter aftertaste. It makes me think of the cheesy male-written line from Titanic: “A woman’s heart is a deep ocean of secrets”. If that were the case the writer could’ve worked that into the script, they could’ve left room for doubt, longing, inner conflict – particularly in a drama centered around sentimentality. Instead the romance is resolved and everything else is simply left to be forgotten, which is offensively stupid.

In a way whom Deok Sun ends up with is very fitting to who she is as a person. She has always been a people pleaser and never had a dream of her own, she always reacts to being liked rather than liking someone herself. So she ends up with the one capable of consistently showing his affection towards her. We'll never know whether what she likes herself is actually different. Probably she doesn't know herself.

Deok Sun is also pragmatic, and her whole personality is grounded in reality. Despite what other characters say about him I believe Jung Hwan is romantic, and sensitive, and the fact that he is not capable of expressing his feelings adequately only makes him more so. Jung Hwan has the most romantic gestures of the two love interests, and quietly he is very perceptive, very sweet, and very idolizing. I don't really know whether this at all translates into a real-life relationship and maybe Jung Hwan feels that adoring Deuk Sun from afar is already the best part of it. Maybe he wants her to remain an idea in his mind, untouched by reality. Maybe, like he says, he isn't very courageous and hides his insecurity behind a mean facade. In this regard Taek is very confident, he doesn't need to hide behind anything. He also experiences many tough moments with Deuk Sun (the flasher, being in China, carrying her out of the stadium, giving her medicine) and his strength lies in being there and dealing with it all like a mature person. Taek is already real-life tried and tested.

I think Taek is a great guy and I'd have no problem with Deok Sun ending up with him, if it weren't for Jung Hwan. In fact, they are both tremendously intriguing, flawed, complicated characters whom I love from the bottom of my heart and choosing between them is literally like Sophie's Choice, only worse.

As it stands this might be one of the most traumatic, heartwrenching, tragic endings I have ever seen. Maybe the impossibility to find a perfect solution with everything wrapped up neatly is part of what makes Reply 1988 so good. When all is said and done, and reality sets in, the reality we see drawn out which seems not a bad place to be in, there is still that someone in your memory, there is still something unfulfilled, just one more reason to be sentimental for your youth.

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this drama is worth my time, it never make one feel bored. the best thing is that we always relate to one or the other character in this drama. for the people who are the fans of reply series, this is definitely not disappointing. the second beat thing about this drama is u cannot take your eyes of it for just a second. every episode makes you end up with tears either you are happy or you are sad.kudos to Lee Woo Jung, the writer, for the debak.........writing. not forgetting Lee Hyeri, she really surprises you. the only thing i got dissapointed about this drama is the the second lead, i really wished the she would end up with him. in one word this drama is JJANG..............................

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"Reply 1988" is a drama that offers a lifetime experience once you’ve completed it.

Reply 1988 is a masterpiece of storytelling that transcends the typical K-drama genre by focusing on the warmth of family, the bonds of friendship, and the beauty of everyday life. Set in a nostalgic neighborhood in Seoul during the late 1980s, the drama masterfully intertwines the lives of five families and their children, showcasing the joys and struggles of growing up, parenting, and aging.Those who haven’t watched the episodes often say they’re too long and tend to give it a miss. However, "Reply 1988" is a drama that offers a lifetime experience once you’ve completed it.

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After watching Reply 1988, I felt that I was friends with the characters. I cried, I laugh, I danced the silly crab dance, swoon, get mad, fall in love and felt other mixed emotions. It made me reminisce my childhood. I'm a 90's kid and still I can relate with them.The songs, the fad, rewinding tapes and watching VHS, big dictionaries, going to the library, the telephone conversations with friends, using my feet when you cant find the remote, fighting with my older sister from borrowing her clothes and so much more that I can relate to. It really it brings back so much nostalgic moments. I suddenly miss the time where kids play outside and communicate personally than using smart phones. I hate saying goodbye to them! This treasure is worthy to be repeated! Im happy that I watched this drama! :)

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This drama is definitely in my top ten favorite dramas and every actor in it is one that I would definitely want to see again. As a family drama it is really cute and deals with all sorts of issues. Some of my favorites were: sibling rivalry and relationships, married life with kids, living on a low income, menopause, single parents and many more.
Some of the episodes ran a bit long, but each scene was an essential and awesome part of the story. All in all, my grade is B+ or 88/100 or 4 stars.
If you have lots of time on your hands and are looking for a cute family drama then this is definitely one to watch. If you want to know reasons why you might want to prepare for it on a spoiler level, please read my next post.

If you want a complete breakdown of what I loved about this drama, check out my Drama Scale of Awesomeness at wordpress:
https://shadowoftheoperaghost.wordpress.com/2017/03/11/drama-scale-of-awesomeness/?frame-nonce=85da4d3f09

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I needed a few days to rest my soul to write this review objectively as much as possible , because I swear, this drama is everything.

First things first, I'm not going to say I'm an expert on kdramas nor I've seen 100+ kdramas, so, take this from the newbie.

Reply 1988 just got a big big place in my heart. In fact, I watched the first two episodes and then held it for a month, not because they were bad, but because I was used to other kind of dramas, dramas with a lot of romance and illogical and ridiculous moments, I was not prepared for this realistic and slice of life (but still funny) kind of the dramas, but thank God I made the right decision.

The best thing (in a lot of EXCELLENT things): the characters ... they are so real and human, with flaws and good things.
In one hand there are these five main characters, who are teenagers experiencing their first love, living their youth and going through what life really is; and believe me, you will love them all. There are no good or bad characters, there are only humans (human teenagers). I thought it would be a problem with so many characters, but the drama manages to give them all protagonism, although one more than others.

On the other hand, there are secondary characters that do not lose in charisma and depth, who are basically the family of the teens, parents and brothers / sisters that made me fall in love, they are all so funny that I really can not believe that characters around their 50s made me pee in my pants of how funny they were, but above all, they were also human.

The plot is not the usual as we are accustomed to see: the characters are not trying to solve the mystery or defeat the bad man, it simply follows the life of a group of neighbors struggling through life, and this is one of the most amazing things: it may seem simple, but it makes you feel so many things. You cry, you laugh, and well, you also learn.

After finishing this drama, it gave me a feeling of nostalgia, and made me realize that life passes quickly and although I am in my twenties, I feel as if I already wasted it.

The bad: after thinking a lot, I would say the worst of the drama were the last episodes, they were so fast and they missed that special thing, the essence of the drama that made it extraordinary. I can not say they were bad-bad, they were just meh, they give me the feeling of losing the characters even before the drama ended, but to be honest, at that point you are madly in love with the story that it not longer matters If they are awful, you only keep going.

OOHHH, the other bad thing: will I ever get over the perfection of R88? I already tried with R97 (yes, I saw it in the wrong order) but i can't even compare them. My heart is tearing apart at the thought of not finding something as good as this in a long long time.

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I have watched all the previous installments of Reply. I will definitely say that I am immediately captivated by the warmth of Reply 1997, the liveliness of youth, and that nostalgic feeling of reminiscing youth. It was definitely a breath of fresh air. And so, I watched Reply 1994 and got so disappointed by how I was wrapped around the story and got Chilbong-ed in the end. So watching Reply 1988, was not an easy "yes."

I am unsure whether the show made the right decision in having the 90-minute format, but this choice led them to skip a week to cover up the whole length of their episodes. Also, this hurts the rewatch value of the drama. It's kind of quite a long drama for rewatching or marathoning. I have several friends who dropped the drama because each episode is just too long.

I don't doubt tvn's capability of creating actors and actresses out of their dramas. I have Kyung-pyo and Bo-gum since Cantabile Tomorrow and well, Gyung-pyo was already adorable. I don't know Jung-hwan and Dong-hwi yet so I am not to judge. I really had my doubts on Hyeri's capability to star in a Reply series since the predecessors were mainly focused on the female leads. It was a good thing that the guys were really good and that there were a lot of them that you don't get to focus and nitpick on Hyeri's acting, though I must say she did a good job. The ensemble (they really did well all together!) of the youths and the parents were so good that I loved every single bit of the show.

Reply 1988: Why do I love thee? Let me count the reasons...
1. Unlike its predecessors, Reply 1988 did not focus on the who-did-she-marry quiz show and instead focus more on how each and every one of our leads lived their youth and their relationship with their families. Show, you somehow manage to make it a deal to keep us thinking but not really dwell on who she ends up with.
2. You gave each character their own set of family. They were a daughter or son, a brother or sister, and a friend before being someone else's love. This gave each character more depth and life than the previous series.
3. I love that the kids have their own circle of friends, and so do their parents. I love how they share every mundane things in their life up to their lives' biggest challenges. You really did well on giving us such lovable parents for the main characters, show.
4. Just like the previous series, you have a certain theme or lesson for each episode that goes all around the neighborhood and shows how each family deals with that (There was an episode about how strong and weak fathers are at the same time.).
5. You made me love every single character of yours. They were written so well and given life so well. I was really sympathetic with every single one of them (though I still like Bora the least).
6. You made me cry and laugh through the downs and ups of the characters. This is how deeply touched I am with the characters and the plot.
7. I should really thank you, show, for the bromance you have shown me. Where will I ever see a Sun-woo and a Jung-hwan? A Jung-hwan and a Taek? A Sun-woo and a Taek? All the boys, and Dong-ryong? I always get kilig by that love between these boys. This is the real gem you had and THAT I REALLY LIKE THEM SO MUCH I CAN'T GET OVER <3
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