Is it good as Reply 1988?
Ok now before I start I will make it clear that this review might be very biased as I am someone who have watched Reply 1988 a total of five time.Now How good was When Life Gives You Tangerine(WLGYT)?
Ans: Its a goldmine.
Story was incredible, acting was impeccable(other than IU uring 1st 2 episodes(guess she cannot pull off tsundere very well), overall color was memorable, the whole movie making itself with timeline shifting from here to there was captivating.
Only sad thing is I don't remember any ost in it(if there were any other than OP). I am crazy about OSTs.
That being said how is it comparable to Reply 1988.
For starters reply was more focused on youth and love where as WLGYT is mainly focused on Life and Family. The issue with WLGYT for me is that most characters even though they felt life core of this drama felt like guest characters. (If you watch it you will understand). On reply almost all characters had stories that made viewers happy, sad, or curious. So Reply felt more wholesome.
But for new viewers I recommend WLGYT first. The reply series can be felt lagging or unengaging for those who look for binge watching.
In conclusion Yeah WLGYT is slightly better for fresh viewer but if you want to be a kdrama addict Reply 1988 is the way.
PS. Anyway you should watch both if you want to have no regret later or of you want to call yourself Kdrama Lover.
Was this review helpful to you?
One sad thing about life is that we live each day with joy forgetting that with every day that we move into, we or one of our loved ones is getting closer to the grave. Should we then be stuck in one day so we don't lose our loved ones?
I feel sometimes, heaven isn't fair to we humans.
Was this review helpful to you?
A story spanning 6 decades
When Life Gives You Tangerines is a poignant tale of love, loss, resilience, and fleeting joy, much like the sea that both nurtures and torments its people. While all the characters were important, it was Ae Sun (played by IU) , her mother and her daughter that were the core of the story.The drama offers visually powerful, and amidst bitter winds of fate, yet also heartwarming and at the same time realistic, lifelike high-end KDrama. A story that starts with Ae-Sun and Gwan-sik spans 6 decades across 3 generations.
The different generations demonstrated the sacrifices that parents make for their children as well as their mistakes. Children learned that regret was a bitter pill to swallow once a parent was gone. Sometimes love was enough to sustain a relationship and sometimes it wasn’t. Life wasn’t easy about handing out answers regardless of the season people were in. There are lot of moments when you can't stop shredding your tears.
The drama portrays the struggles of ordinary people with heartbreaking accuracy. What I found remarkable about this show is how it embraces the passage of time. We don’t just see Ae Sun and Gwan Sik as young dreamers; we follow them across decades, through different phases of life, witnessing their evolving relationship shaped by circumstances beyond their control.
The level of acting in this show is phenomenal. The assembled cast pulled their weight in gold, from the child actors to the veteran elderly actors. IU as Ae Sun and Choi Taek as Gwan Sik were just perfect casting. The cinematography is stunning, and Jeju Island feels like a character in itself. Every frame feels like a painting, rich with nostalgia and emotion.
Some dramas entertain, but some dramas linger in your heart long after the credits roll. When Life Gives You Tangerines is a drama that will stay with you for a long time. It is going to leave you feeling both fulfilled and slightly heartbroken—a rare balance that only the most beautifully told stories achieve. A unique K-Drama that offers everything with a perfect balance.
Was this review helpful to you?
Love how they put narration that so poetic as the aesuni.
Actually hard to write my impression of this series tho there's so much things to discuss.
The story, the act, the characters, the relationship between ea, the narration, the lesson. All fell deep down in heart.
Oh to have someone to be on your side for the whole life, to be young minded,
Was this review helpful to you?
Best enjoyed as the production team intended, through life's seasons (volumes!)
Beautiful storytelling and cinematography. The first volume (spring) was just released, but you'd be so surprised by how intricately woven every scene is to the core of the story. The details, gosh, no words for how carefully and lovingly made this series is. Amazingly, it's only been 4 episodes![Do not be fooled by the incels who are downvoting/rating this drama & its reviews with low scores on here & other ranking platforms; the main lead's actress, IU/Lee Ji Eun, publicly supported the Korean citizens during the mass demonstrations in the aftermath of the recent Martial Law period in the country (she provided free food, drinks, and heat packs spread throughout the locations, by paying small businesses/cafes/bakeries/restaurants in and nearby the areas). She has been blamed for "starting/encouraging" others, particularly on such a massive scale - she was reported to the CIA for this (yes it's unbelievably moronic). For this reason, until now, you will find many Korean incels - and unfortunately, some women too - going so far to even monger in the comment sections of her personal accounts.]
Was this review helpful to you?
Not for Cosmopolitan people, normalizes Stagnation
I couldn't relate to this drama.I found the overall life philosophy all wrong.
I've been thinking what exactly I found wrong:
Romantizising sacrifice and being an eternal victim. Martyrdom Complex.
Especially normalizing women sacrifizing all for family.
Normalizing giving up dreams rather than AT LEAST trying to move forward EVEN A LITTLE.
A drama about STAGNATION and Anti-selfgrowth.
To me life is about moving forward and improving your circumstances, not accepting your circumstances.
Even if the process is slow and hard, it's much better than this ETERNAL VICTIMHOOD this drama disgustingly praises...
EXPLORATION, rather than just being stuck in a small island all life....
This drama is definitely not for more cosmopolitan city people or multiligual people who enjoy travel...
Drama more for people who grew up in small towns similarly to the leads...
Was this review helpful to you?
Nostalgia for the past that I wasn't a part of.
As an outsider to the richness of Korean history, the perspective provided by this drama to the audience gave a proper glimpse of how the people lived their lives in the olden days.The treatment used for the storytelling of "When Life Gives You Tangerines" is one of the familiar formulas that has the right amount of effectiveness to captivate the audiences to hold on to the story and see it through until the end. Through the way of mirroring the circumstances of the family's three generations of women, the relationship and responsibility of a firstborn to their families, and the complexity of falling in love in the height of impoverishment in a post-war country.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
heartfelt journey of life and love
An Honest, Heart-Wrenching Chronicle of Family Through GenerationsThis drama is a damn good three-generation life story, told with rare honesty and emotional depth. It begins slowly, grounded in a realistic portrayal of rural life in older times, centering on a tender young romance. From there, it grows—following the highs and lows of the protagonists' lives, and later, the lives of their children.
It’s not a melodrama, yet it hits incredibly hard by the end, simply because you’ve lived their life alongside them. You’ve laughed, struggled, and grown with them. And though it’s not strictly a historical drama, it still offers a compelling window into the evolving Korean regime and how everyday people lived through those times.
What makes this truly special is how deeply it explores the emotions, relationships, and inner struggles of each family member. Their romances feel real, their conflicts are raw, and their bonds are tested by time. It’s a quiet, powerful piece that lingers long after the final episode.
PS:
A big part of my admiration goes to IU, who delivered an outstanding performance across multiple roles within the same story—transforming from a rustic young girl to a weathered mother, and even portraying the daughter with distinct emotional depth. While the drama used visual cues to help viewers distinguish between characters, I honestly believe her acting alone would’ve been enough. Her ability to build believable chemistry with multiple co-stars only added more weight to the story.
Was this review helpful to you?
This show matches it’s title, life indeed tastes like tangerine
Tangerines generally taste sweet and slightly sour, with a hint of bitterness. That’s how this show tries to capture what life is as common people. Life is full up and down, sometimes your life is prosperous, sometimes you got big problems and some external situations that you can’t control in life which affect the life of people in that time. What matters more is our reaction and our relationship with people who matter to us the most, which is our families and close friends. Just like how my brother said: “that’s life!”The show is talking about the life of 3 women in a span of 80 years. From grandmother, mother and daughter until the grandchildren appears in their life. Mainly talking about this ae sun’s character. Her life is full pf challenges but she is lucky to have someone who loves her dearly since childhood. She is also lucky to have a mother who loved her so much with her own way. The villagers also helped her during tough times in their own way too. Here, we see that there are many different characters of human who can change, who we think are not sweet initially but turn out they are sweet in their own way. They also help ae sun with their own way.
The most important thing is ae sun and gwang sik’s character, how tough they are, despite life can turn out to be bitter, but their love outshines the bad situation. They defend each other. They know who they are, so they act according to their strength to overcome many situations. Their character that makes people respect and help them especially gwang sik’s kindness, his kindness always comes back to pay him later on. It shows and teaches people that you need to be gracious no matter what your situation is. Their act of kindness even save their daughter in the future. How amazing this story to let us see that karma is working. Some people become unhappy and not peaceful because of bad things they do. Meanwhile people who are kind will always get respected and treated good especially by their families.
The show is also showing family relationship dynamic, even an act of kindness can hurt the one we love. It shows that there are many misunderstandings even in the family. So we have to communicate and talk honestly with each other even though it hurts but it will heal us instead of not communicating can just burry problems in heart.
There are no fillers in the show, every episode and scene has its own meaning. This series also shows another lesson that different era has different difficulties, people have different thoughts because of the way they were raised. Their background, their education, family’s expectation etc. it’s so worth it. You won’t regret watching this. It has raised another standard in kdrama. Bravo to the writers.
Was this review helpful to you?
It wasn't what i expected.
I was expecting a cute K-drama focused on the love story of the main characters and how they gradually develop feelings for each other, but since it’s produced by Netflix, I expected it to be a little different — just not this different.
Like, what I wanted was to see more of their childhood, how their feelings slowly grow for each other, and maybe see them kiss only around episode 9 and then start a relationship. But after the first four episodes, they already had a child!
The story is good, and the actors did an AMAZING job, but they focused too much on the secondary characters, and in the second half they even changed the actors playing the main characters. Like, I get it — but I still wanted to see more of just the two of them.
Was this review helpful to you?
a beautiful & comforting coming of age drama
The story revolves around three generations of women, exploring the complexities of mother-daughter relationships (love-hate relationships), the struggles of being a woman in a society where men's education is often prioritized over women's, the societal pressure on women wherein they are expected to sacrifice their careers to fulfill traditional roles as housewives. They are often looked down upon and judged for their choices. This drama also touches on the complicated relationships between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. Furthermore, it explores the beauty of romantic love, where two people can face the world together, no matter the challenges. These are just a few of the many themes tackled in the first four episodes alone.What makes this drama truly exceptional is its relatability, coupled with outstanding dialogue and performances by the actors. The cast's acting is so compelling that even in moments of silence, their expressions speak volumes. The art production is also noteworthy. They basically built a while town with all the small details making the drama feel more authentic. Can’t wait for Volume 2!
Was this review helpful to you?
