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Review-Reply 1988

There are 3 dramas in 'Reply' series. I have watched only 1988 version, TWICE. Let me tell you, every episode is almost 1.5 hours yet I have no regrets.


As the name suggests this series takes place in the year 1988. It is story of five childhood friends and their families living in Ssangmun-dong neighborhood of Seoul. Duk seon is the only girl in the group of five. Sun Woo is student council president. Jung-Hwan is from rich family. Choi Taek is brilliant Baduk player who has left school to focus on his game. Dong Ryong is mischievous and has no interest in studies.

These friends often hang out in Taek's room, dancing, arguing, eating pizza and ramen, watching video tapes. The drama shows daily life and struggles of everyone and how their friendship changes subtly over the course of time. It also has second set of characters-the parents and the siblings. They are also equal part of the drama. The cinematography is really good. If you are 90's kid then you can relate to so many things like obsession over cassette tape recorders, disco dancing, requesting songs on radio, sibling rivalry, going to cafes to play video games. The pace is very slow in the beginning. This might be because as there are lot of characters it gives time to familiarize with each character. Thus the characters are well developed. I like that because you can consider them as real person.




Thanks to her tomboyish and loud personality nobody really takes Duk Seon as a girl in the group. But as the time passes, things start to change. It is like watching Korean version of' How I met your mother'. I am not going to spoil the story but you will definitely take a side. You will root for Duk Seon to be with that person. So at the end either you will be happy with the result or dejected and curse the writers for the ending. But please don't worry about the endings much. After all its all about journey and not destination.

Why it is recommended
  • Cast is top notch. You will end up feeling as if you are only living in their neighborhood and know them for ages. 
  • OSTs are good especially 'Don't worry dear'. 
  • I am not sure of other reply series dramas but this one is really worth your time. You will definitely go back into the good old times.
What could have been better
  • You may feel plot is slow
  • Ending can be devastating for few

Country: South Korea
Cast: Lee Hye Ri, Park Bogum, Go Kyung Pyo, Lee Dong Hwi, Ryu Jun yeol
Year: 2015

Genre: Family, Slice of life, drama, romance
(Image source- Google)


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