Reply 1988

✒ ☀ A Warm Family is Wealth ♨️ °8.6° °Excellent°

Ahh, the 80s. Even without the internet men learned to wear pink. Ice sculptures were mainstreamed. No PCs existed, let alone laptops or tablets, but Trapper Keepers were cool. Cameras were a family treasure. Weather forecasts were much more unreliable. Business was booming. The opposite sex was a complete mystery.

R88 is a 2015 release that is rated 91 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 20 episodes ranging from 76-113 minutes. That makes it as long as a Cdrama.

Stresses always mount, no matter the era: Siblings, their stuff, & borrowing it, money, love lives, getting into college, dreams, money, singing contests, new Western style restaurants, money, money, MONEY!… Money isn't the only pressure. School, studying, grades, protests, jobs, counterfeit designer goods, dating, international Go tournaments, THE OLYMPICS! Even food … “In some ways, one's own family is most oblivious… But what's so important about knowing? In the end, what helps you overcome obstacles isn't brains, but someone who will take your hand and won't let you go,” we hear. To live is to experience problems. Problems aren't so bad when we have people close who face them with us.

Director Shin Won-Ho has directed Prison Playbook-8.4, Hospital Playlist-9, and the Reply series, all of which are extremely popular. (HP starts alittle slowly. Give it to ep3. It's exceptional). The writer is Lee Woo-Jung, who wrote HP and the Reply series. The characters in R88 are likable - downright lovable, actually. These actors have gone on to wide scale popularity.

Hyeri (My Roommate Is A Gumiho-7.9, May I Help You-6.3) is Duk-Sun. “Kids these days only know the quadratic formula, not life. You don't know either,” her friend remarks. She's not the best student, but she's the type to bring people together. She's the show's serotonin factory. I almost teared-up in ep1 when she had her moment. In Duk-Sun's family we have sis, Sung Bo-Ra, played by Ryoo Hye-Young. She is one of the leads in Law School-8. It's an amazing transformation from one part to the other. Their brother, No-eul, is the youngest, even though he looks 20 years older. He doesn't sound like it when he talks, but his singing voice is wonderful. Sung Dong Il is Deok Sun's father. With credits going back to 1993, he gets alot of work. My first look at him was the show Sisyphus-8 and I became an instant fan. Lee Il Hwa (The King's Affection-8.3, Lie After Lie) is Deok Sun's mother.

Ryoo Joon-Yeol (Lost, The Night Owl, Alienoid) is Jung-Hwan. Duk-Sun treats him like the last man on earth she would fall for. Ahn Jae Hong (Be Melodramatic-8.7) plays his brother, the obsessive Kim Jung Bong. He is delightful. The more he's on screen the more I love him. Ra Mi-Ra (Black Dog-8.2, The Good Bad Mother) plays their mother, the ”Cheetah Lady” Kim Jung Bong & Jung-Hwan's mom. She can sing and dance! Kiim Sung Kyun portrays that family's dad. He's happy and harmless. Married to Ra Mi-Ra, he's terrified of her. This actor is wonderful in Moving-8.5 & DP-8.4.

Ko Kyoung-Pyo (Flower Boys Next Door-7, Strongest Deliveryman-6.6, Private Lives-8.1) is Sun-Woo. This guy is darling. Kim Sun Yong is Sun Woo's mother. I'm a big fan of hers. She's fabulous in Crash Landing on You-9.1 and Her PrivateLife-8.

Taek is played by Park Bo-Gum, who is a good looking guy. Taek is a dork. He didn't finish school because he plays Go. ALL he does is play Go. He wins, too. Just ask any Japanese or Chinese citizen. They ALL know him. They can't beat him. He needs looking after, though. He would starve if nobody fed him. One can tell he's handsome, but he bears little resemblance to the gorgeous ML in Record of Youth-5.8, where Mr. Park plays a handsome actor/model and is clearly the reason ROY is overrated. He's a cutie; it's understandable. Choi Moo Sung is Taek's father. He is wonderful in Prison Playbook-8.4 and also appears in Stranger S2 & The Nokdu Flower. He can play a bad guy, but he's super-lovable as a good guy.

Lee Dong-Hwi is Dong-Ryong. All he craves is the home life that the others have, but his parents are stern, impersonal, and successful. They're /never/ home. He never gets a home cooked meal. His parents never notice what he's doing or even when he's not there. He doesn't even refer to them as mom and dad, he only refers to them by their professional titles: Chief Jo and the Dean. (BTW, the Dean blows his image when he starts dancing). At one point Dong-Ryong gets a case of piles. I have to look that up; it's just hemorrhoids. What's truly shocking is that it made the paper! The paper was a BIG deal back then. People actually read it. Dong-Ryongcan can sing respectably, too ~ Well enough to win the singing contest, perhaps? Not telling. Yoo Jae Myung plays Dong Ryong's father. I've seen him in Itaewon Class-8.9, Uncle Samsik-8.4, and am currently watching him in Vincenzo. He's different in everything, and he's absolutely superb. His part here is small; it's almost wasted.

R88 is about nostalgia and the warmth of a good family and caring neighborhood. Only one family has some extra w💰n, but even without money, life gets no better. It's time to watch Knight Rider together! Beepers! (I'm proud to say I never had one). They kill time with Cats-in-the-cradle (the string and fingers variety) board games, origami, games played with pen and paper…. There's no phones and video games are strictly at arcades. Speaking of life without cell phones, 2 people arrange to meet on a date. They wait all night on different floors at the same restaurant. They never find out because they can't text e/o.

The dad's work and the moms tend to the home (except chief Jo). When one mom has to visit her family, the 3 men in the house devolve into neanderthals the moment she exits. How they got the place back in shape in time is a harrowing tale and practically a near-death experience.

They make fun of the Korean penchant for keeping the score “even.” One mom needs rice for dinner and sends her kid to get it from a neighbor with some food as thanks. The neighbor sends back kimchi with the rice and this starts the kids on countless food exchanges before dinner. The viewer can't be certain they will even get to eat! Problem solved. They decide to go eat together on the street.

First Comes Family. Then Comes Love. The most crucial decisions kids face are choices of mate and profession. “If you love someone, tell them now, before your fleeting days become filled with regrets,” is the sage advice. One party will hesitate and be out maneuvered by a more determined and proficient strategist. Consequently, we see some truly great kissing in ep19.

They outdid themselves with retro colors, wardrobe, and hairstyles. The kids are RAD, but the moms look like the 1950s. One day they make the best snowman ever! The unreliable weather forecasts play a hand in that episode. Looks like ttey borrowed a motif from Superbad-2007 in ep11. One of the dads does a living room dance that's hilarious. It's pretty good, actually. 🥁“Soonguri dang dang, soong dang dang…”🥁 Woo Hyeon has a cameo. It's a knee-slapper.

The edge of seventeen: Ep17 is the heartbreak episode. Many get their hearts stomped, but ep19 is great, and the wrap-up is wonderful. I took my time working through the show. At first, the sheer length of it was slightly daunting and it took a few episodes for me to decide how much I liked it. Well, I like it. I like it alot. There's really no weaknesses; it's pretty rare for a show, especially a long one, to have nothing to complain about. We'll let the teenagers do all the complaining while the audience can just sit back and enjoy the show.


QUOTES📢

When people get stronger, it's not through their pride, but when they throw away their pride.

Loving someone doesn't mean that you don't hate them, it means that you can't hate them.

Don't act thoughtlessly. A real man should conduct himself calmly, with prudence like a grand mountain.



〰🖍 IMHO

📣8.5 📝8.5 🎭9 💓7 🦋6 🎨6 🎵/🔊7.5 🔚8 ♦ 🌞7 ⚡3 😅5 😭4 😱2 😯2 😖1 🤔4.5 💤0

Shazams: Even If a Memorable Day Comes by Sughum Hong & Lovers Who Struggle by Shin Hae Chul are both good.

Age 12+ for language- B!+ch, @$$, $h!+, f💣s - multiple, but in just 2 scenes. Rated TV-15+

Re-📺? 🆒

In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Boys Over Flowers 8 ~ melodrama to the max;
Strongest Delivery Man-6.6,
The Miracle-7.7,
Racket Boys-8.3,
Private Lives 8.1;
Familiar Wife-8.5,
Cheese in the Trap-7.7,
Law School -8,
My Liberation Diary-8.9,

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This was such an amazing kdrama. I really really recommend everyone to watch this because it's honestly such a masterpiece you will enjoy watching it SO FREAKING MUCH. Cried watching the last episode. I am legit gonna rewatch it 10x times!!!!!
Been a while since I laughed so much while watching a kdrama. Every single episode. Every 5 mins. WOW.
Oh and the best part is while I was crying while watching the last part (last 10 mins I think) of the last episode, I was crying my eyes out because of all the farewell scenes and this drama never failed to amaze me, I stopped crying and started laughing so loud at 3 am at night because of one of the scenes they put in between the farewell like wtf xD this was so good. Made my day. Made my month. Made my year. One of the best dramas in kdrama history woohoo!!
The only thing that was lacking is I wanted more scenes of our main couple.
Oh and not to forget, uhhhh park bo gum!!!! How can one have such a heart melting smile? Your smile melted my heart every fucking time....Like woahhhhh can't wait for more park bo gum!!! xD

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NOW FOR ME, THIS IS THE BEST DRAMA I EVER WATCH!!!!

Before i wrote this review, sorry for my language, my english so bad, but i want wrote with english.

So many words that I want to convey, but i cant, because my vocabulary and my story telling so bad. This drama is good, for those of you who like family genre. Many meanings can be taken.

All character have good exposure, good propotion. Even duration this drama 1.3 hour per episode and have 20 episode. But for me this perfect, like 10 episode.

Like i say before, so many meanings of live can be take, espesially with relationship, family and love. After watch this drama maybe i more love with my family, and i hope will beter with future, i will try the best.

Thank you who making this story, this drama! you are amazing, for actress and actors in this drama you are very very amazing. Maybe many people change for good life after watch this drama.

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Spoiler litle bit! i sad with Jung-hwan character :( but i happy Deok-sun with Taek.
_
I now this imposible, i hope season 2 came out, please. or make drama about Jung-hwan story.

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A cast like no other! A drama like nothing you’ve seen! Reply 1988 is in a class of its own. It’s different form the rest that I have seen. This one being the most impressive of the 3 Reply series while 1997 comes a second close and 1994 is for me a little disappointing.


From an impressive 1997 the next one was a low and they bounced back to impress everyone out there. Too many special scenes scattered and directed flawlessly. They just ibtegrated so well that you didn’t know it actually happened.

Reply 1998 is simply indescribable. All you need to do is just Have some time in your hands, pull a chair or rest in your comfy bed and take the longest time to watch it slowly and enjoy every bit of it. Don’t try to rush through. Enjoy the sweetness of every episode.

This drama gives light to the world, families, friends, couples and everyone and every single living thing alive or dead. It lives to it motto that there’s always hope at the end of the dark tunnel and there is always a chance to a better world.

No need for me to go into the Drama and mention anything. You’ll understand it yourself and I’m sure you’ll do as the drama speaks and explains itself at its best.

If there’s something you want to try out look no further. There’s nothing better than Reply 1998 I assure you. There’s absolutely nothing even close to this. It’s not almost perfect. It’s perfect in my eyes and I’m positive many will share the same view.

You have tears rolling down your cheeks in almost every other episode. It touches your heart on and off. It gives you stress at times. Worries start to crawl in at different juncture. You’ll laugh at their antics. Before you even know it, you’re smiling to yourself.

Many dramas started well and end horribly for theY become too draggy and repeated scenes creeps in to make the 16 or so episodes and we just can’t wait to end it.

This one is different from all other dramas. The cast are not superstars but they execute in style. The chemistry is not between two person but the whole lot of them! It’s almost unbelievable. not forgetting we have a large crew and no one can take the limelight but it’s shared amongst all the cast. There’s no one special cause everyone is best at what they do. Prefect!

They must have shed tears when they part at the end of filming. It’s good to the bits to the last drop I tell you. It made me cringe and my heart was sunken into the depth and I can not recover myself until this very day. As I write now, I still cannot find one close to this one.

No episode is mundane. Every episode has its highlight. No rubbish and straight forward plot which only most human can relate and made easy to digest for all humankind.

I always dread ridiculous and over confident plots where we need to think so hard and solve riddles and don’t even understand at times what’s going on. This is is so easy on the mind that it melts you like butter.

You can never find such ordinary cast (most of them don’t make it that very very big) but they’re best at what they do.

For the longest time to come, this will remain the best K-Drama ever and nothing can come close or even near to this very special one.

Sit back relax and enjoy every second of the best you can ever get from television and Korea in itself. Hats off to the crew and cast for building and creating such a drama to bring th e world to a different platform altogether.

If there’s another button for a 100 star rating for this drama, I will be first and too glad to be part of it.

Peace and Love. Awaiting for the next REPLY from the director.

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Felt like home. Go watch it!!

This series has my whole heart and some more.

While the series begins in the year 1988, it still felt more like how I have experienced my childhood as a South Asian. It could be more personal because I am currently in a transition phase at the age of nearly 26. My life changed upside down nearly 2 years back when I left home to work in another city, leaving behind friends and family. The fact that I lived a similar childhood as shown in the series makes me feel proud even though my teenage years were in late 2000 and early 2010. Maybe my parents would relate more to this drama than I did; I should make them watch it.

The whole cast did a commendable job in making this drama so heartfelt and real. And every time Taek smiled in this series, it brought the biggest smile to my face as well. Hats off to that guy for showing what love should look like. My expectations from a guy were already sky-high, now after watching Bo-gum's character, my expectations have entered outer space. These kdramas are going to ensure I stay single forever!!!

Enough for the rant and TMI.

To everyone who read this review, go watch the series. You won't regret it, I promise.

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The best of the best

Reply 1988 was the first K-drama I actually got hooked in. Although I never experienced the life before the year 2000s, the drama gave me the nostalgic feeling. Maybe my parents often told me their stories when they were young, that's why there was a sense of familiarity when watching Reply 1988.

The acting/cast was brilliant. Hyeri's acting was honestly the pillar of the show. It's because Song Deok-Sun character can be the craziest girl in town to the most sensitive person in the planet. I also love the fact that she can carry all of that consistently without breaking her original character.

The storyline was perfect, there are nothing to complain. I just wished they can get Kim Jung-Hwan a better ending, or at least make an appearance at the end. People said Kim Jung-Hwan should've died by the plane crash in the original story before they changed it, and the public sort of agreeing that the original ending was better. I disagree.. It would bring an interesting plot, yes, however, it would also break the original genre of this drama, which is comedy. Moreover, I think it would be better for Kim Jung-Hwan to stay alive in the drama, at least better than dying.

All of the characters in the story are likeable, which can be rare in K-dramas. Maybe not at the beginning since I dislike Song Bo-ra so much as a sister. However, the character development of Song Bo-ra is honestly great. The whole scene of her wedding made me cry to the tears.

I watched all the reply series and this one is the best out of the three. Reply 1988 also has the best chemistry between characters and also the actors. I just wish they can create more reply series.. Maybe Y2K ones? like early 2000s?

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Tears every Episode

This drama is too good. I binged watched this and cried several times in every episode. You feel as if you are there yourself, it is not too overdramatic does not seem that far fetched for a street to be so closely knit like this one.

I loved the story. I mean LOVE it, even the parts that didn't seem important at the time all become relevant and you could see the events (well most) happening on any street. It made me miss back when I used to have friends round and we would all watch movies and have snacks. I also enjoyed the way it was told in the sense that there is parts "filmed" in the future but not so often it felt very documentary like (which has put me off some dramas in the past).

It was very well put together and all the actors and actresses were amazing also. The bond between them all seemed like proper childhood ones and all the little romances kept me laughing and in shock with the twists also.

All I can really say is that I wish I lived in Ssangmun-dong.

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