A celebration of youth and life
This is one of the best shows I've seen in a while. It had everything , and the ends makes you physically hurt with nostalgia. You'll remember your youth throughout the show, your time with your friends, with your parents , your home, your street, your crushes, relationships, your sad times, happy times, EVERYTHING. This show is a trip down life.I hope I get to watch it again when I grow old. I'll die happily if I see this show in my final days. This show is a celebration of life.
This is the first show i will never mind rewatching again and again.
Don't miss out on this gem.
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The Cast-10
All of the cast members played their roles brilliantlly. You see multiple layers of personality from each and everyone of them. I thoroughly enjoyed the bonds that were made. From the main cast we see how they protect each other, laugh, and embrace their faults as they grow into adulthood. This was a time before social media impacted how people interacted. Everything was done in person from hanging out to eating together. This was a a group of neighbors that went above and beyond. From the parents to the kids everyone was treated like a member of each other's family. Most of the focus was on the bonding between the kids and their families. Everyone was treated like blood. I would definitely like to point out that as important as the main cast were we cannot forget how wonderful the parents were in this show. The parents were truly giving to their children and made the most of what they had. The fathers had a brotherhood amonst themselves but I feel the Ahjumma sisterhood was really inspiring. The women shared every detail of their lives and took care of each others families like their own. They were truly moms and sisters to each other. There were no one dimensional characters and I found everyone unique in their own way.
These were just Characters I liked:
Lee Hye-ri as Deok Sun was a breath of fresh air. She was bubbly when she needed to be but her crying scenes could use some more work or maybe that is how Deok Sun was suppose to be. Overall 9.0
Go Kyung-pyo as Sun woo. This guy can really act as he plays the loving son and friend . He was adorable to his little sister and very loving to his mom and friends. You can't help but notice his charms and facial expressions. 10.0
Park Bo Gum as Taek was such a good choice. He played the awkward and reserved Baduk genius Taek so well. He really looked like a cute socially inept teenager. 9.5
Ryoo Hye-Yeong as Bo Ra. She played the angry and at times irrational sister to Deok Sun. This character really grew on me because you see that she is just not all anger. Deep down inside her family is important to her. 9.0
Ra Mi-Ran was such a great woman. Kudos to her for putting so much depth into a character. She made her come alive and brought out all facets of the gem. She was funny, kind, torn inside at times but remained strong for her friends, family, and herself. 10.0
Sun Young- The actress who played Sun Young really made me believe how a tiny mom could be so strong. She could give the world to her friends and family. When she crys you can't help but feel how genuine and kind this woman was to everyone. She also showed this cute awkward moment side I loved. 10.0
Goat- What would this show be without that sound effect? 11.0
Story-10
A step back in time showing how close neighbors can be and how growing up comes with challenges. A real slice of life.
Music-10
They really did use a lot of popular songs for this time period and everything fit into place.
Rematch Value-10
It takes time to really enjoy this show considering episodes average 140 mins.
Overall- 10 A real Gem.
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The only complaint I have besides Hyeri's acting is the drama lacks cliffhangers,lacks climatic dramatic event that makes you chase episodes after episodes. I will still recommend this to anyone who wants to watch a good drama.
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A sweet family series that was unexpectedly addictive
I am always browsing for top rated series to watch because I love a really good series. I've also watched so many in my life so I get bored if it is a story I've seen plenty of times before. However, I always gave this one a skip because family drama does not excite me at all. But it was trending on Weibo one day so I decided to see what the fuss was about. I really didn't expect to like it so much, especially since it isn't the typical adventure, mystery, love or comedy genre I enjoy.But Reply 1988 was such a heartwarming, funny series. The premise sounds so boring (I mean, I really didn't want to watch a show about a neighbourhood where nothing really exciting happens) but when you watch two episodes you start getting into it and understanding the allure. It is sweet, heartwarming, funny as hell and gives you some tears.
I loved the main girl. She was just so adorable, pretty and funny. Every other character also had their appeal. I would definitely recommend giving it a try.
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I had a really high expectations on this drama so I am little disappointed.
i just watch Replay 1997 and I really enjoyed it. but everyone kept saying that 1988 is THE BEST among all replay series so I was really excited to watch but I it wasn’t as expected.◼️What I liked:
- The Acting was 100000/10 everyone nailed it.
- The dialogue between characters were very good and thoughtful, especially the parents.
- I LOVED deok sun so much. she is my favorite character, cute, charming, funny, and surprisingly very caring yo her parents more than bo ra. she deserved to be the best daughter.
- I loved the friendship between the 5 of the gang. all of their scenes together were funny. I never skipped any scenes of them together.
- I felt the strong bonds between family members, I lagged a lot with them and cried a lot.
◼️What I Hated:
- Bo ra attitude. at the beginning of the drama she was soooo annoying and such a bully. I couldn’t tolerate her at all and I was confused why is she yelling all the tome even in front of her parents! at the end the writer tried to makes her more caring and kind but I just was over her.
- unnecessary long scenes. I skipped sooooo many scenes that you can’t even imagine. I’m not that kind of person who skips easily. I really like to enjoy every moment. So when I skip it means it’s sooo boring. I skipped many of sunwoo and bora scenes. I skipped many of parents scenes. it was so boring and I wasn’t interested at all.
- I HATED THE LAST 3 EPISODES. they were a flop.
i hated the time skipping and I hated how everything didn’t makes sense after that. everything was rushed, and how junghwan confession ended up being a joke?????? I wanted to see his interactions with deoksun after that night. I wanted to know how deoksun felt after hearing him. I wanted to know more.
- I liked taek but I just don’t get when did deoksun even started having feelings for him? I mean deoksun is a simple character and her emotions appear on her face and actions… when she’s happy or excited everyone knows…… but a very big thing happens to her but she acts as if nothing happened???? and years goes by and she just confesses by saying she was afraid to tell him the truth????????? I don’t get it. I have waited so much for the moment where deoksuni truly fell in love, and how she experiences the feelings and sharing it with her best friends and who laugh together at their imaginations and share advices together . I waited for all that. but I didn’t get to see any of that. such a disappointment.
Overall, I am glad I watched it, but I don’t think I would rewatch it again.
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This review may contain spoilers
emotional, endearing, one of the only perfect dramas
It's difficult for me to write a review of Reply 1988 because it's so close to my heart and has been for so long that I've lost any objective distance from which to review it. Even if I love a show I can usually see where it had flaws or weaknesses and rate it accordingly, but with this show I just need to give it that perfect 10/10 rating. It would be sacrilege not to.This was the first (and one of the only) truly great dramas I have ever seen. It is also one of the few dramas I have recommended/shown to people in my life who do not watch asian dramas (like my mom). This is such a great showcase for the strength of a typical k-drama format: 20 long episodes, released consecutively, makes the show feel lengthy and significant (because it is, at almost 30 hours? of runtime) while still being self-contained. The themes can also stay very pure, entering around family and growing up in the most emotionally fulfilling possible way.
The cast is very good. Both the kids and the parents are so enjoyable to watch, both on their own and in those large and complicated group dynamics. There are no scenes to skip, no glaringly weak acting that brings down the ensemble. Everyone ranges from solid to excellent and there are more than ten very memorable and well-acted scenes I can think of off the top of my head. This great cast is supported by great writing and directing. There are so many understated, subtle moments that have a huge emotional impact, they don't need to rely on unrealistically high stakes for there to be these incredible dramas in the show. The show doesn't manufacture comas and car accidents and divorces and long-lost twins because they don't need to. They're bringing out the drama and emotion of daily life, and all the trials and joys of regular people and their relationships.
I would say my only quibble is that I'm not very fond of the focus on who Deok-sun ends up marrying. The Reply series always has some variant of this question built in to the fabric of the show, be it Reply 1997, 1994 or 1988, but I think it feels most glaringly out of place here. It seems cheap and unnecessary and if I could edit out the 'future' interview-style scenes I would. The show stands perfectly well without them. That said, they are not terrible or anything, I just think it puts undue focus on a love triangle that would've probably felt more organic otherwise.
Overall, this is the show that I recommend to people who don't watch dramas. Period. Everyone I have shown this to has enjoyed it, and there is a reason that it always ends up on those 'greatest dramas of all time' lists. It may take an episode or two to get used to the pace and the setting and characters, but once you do you'll be a fan for life.
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The BEST KOREAN DRAMA TO WATCH!
Okay I’m a brown girl obsessed with reply 1988 ever since I completed it. You might wonder if it’s cause of PBG or Hyeri or any other cast but no. This was my first reply series and I believe it would be the last, reason is I’ve completed watching this series 6 days ago and I couldn’t get over it. Nothing about spoilers but if you want to feel the warmth, emotions, love shown in this drama then I highly recommend you to not watch it after searching about it online. Don’t search for the story in detail, who the main lead is, who the female lead will end up with! Do NOT SEARCH ONLINE. FEEL THIS SHOW WITH ALL YOUR HEART. YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH:1. The cast
2. The neighbourhood
3. The relationships
4. The concept
Finally a piece of advice I can give y’all is don’t search for reply 1988 even after you’re done with the drama cause it would break your heart!
Also if you call in love with the leads, watch the following:
1. Hyeri - Entertainer
2. Park bo gum- love in the moon light
3. Ryu Jun yeol- lucky romance (I watched this first and for him I watched reply)
4. Go kyung po- don’t dare to dream, Chicago typewriter, strong delivery man.
Hope you watch it with great attention.
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reply 1988 is beautiful woven, nostalgic, heartwarming, friendship, slice of life family drama. this is the best installment of reply series as of now. writers have given equal importance to each and every character. now after marathoning whole drama, i cant chose my personal favourite character. because i love all characters. this was made possible because of 1 and half hour length in time. ofcourse they could have edited a bit. may be made it little fast paced rather than being very mundane. nevertheless, i am fine with pace. it did not bore me but i felt repetitive a bit.
i really want to list my favourite scenes of drama, but i do NOT want to spoil it even a bit
ACTING was good, when it comes to youngsters and it was brilliant, when it comes to elders. i honestly was not into shipping DS with anyone. i was only rooting for bear falling in love and sun yeong, sung bo ra and sung sun woo. the heartwarming relationship between parents and their children is wonderful. friendship between taek and jung hwan is exceptional. why do one need to care about a particular romance like who ends with who. i mean you can see love everywhere in the whole drama. why does one need to care about DS. She is not the only one lead character, as i feel almost every character as lead character here.
now MUSIC .my bad. i pretty much did not notice OST here. but it was not unpleasant anywhere. it has more and more of 80s music which sounded ok for me. reply 1994 ost is my favourite.
i just love the ending of this, it was super nostalgic, made me cry literally, and also made me want to talk to my parents. itS definetly a must watch if you love your family and friends.
i will definetly re watch and recommend to everyone. just bear with lengthy time slot of drama, you will just like it, if may not love it like I DO. honestly, this is one of the best dramas of 2015
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one-of-its-kind
well i must start by thanking the MDL community for ranking this drama so highly. this is the kind of drama that would've easily slip off my radar had it not been for the high rating. even then i really had a trouble deciding to start watching this because of the massive running time for each episodes!!! though i noticed some problems that make me unable to score it a perfect 10, it was definitely an enjoyable ride and i left the drama feeling hugely dissatisfied because i wanted to stay with them for a bit more!now, before i explain the things that marked down the score of this drama for me, i will begin by saying the positives.
first, my most favourite characters are actually all the mothers. i believe that Mi Ran, Il Hwa and Sun Young are all perfectly cast for their respective roles. in fact i think they are perhaps the real backbone to the story, i connected with all of the mother characters before i even find myself gravitating towards their teenage children. call me an outlier but my most favourite friendship of the drama was actually not the 5 gang, but the mothers LOL. they really carried the drama for me, alongside their husbands. i truly appreciate a father's special episode, and especially how Dong Il's relationship development with his daughters totally broke me in so many different ways.
which brings me to the gang of 5. i began the drama thinking ahh, this drama is so tacky and the characters are brash which reminds me as to why i don't usually like to watch high school or youth stories ever. and i had the thought of what if the drama began as them at the point of attending colleges but then i understood why they went against the idea is because the boys have started living away from their parents. so yes, as someone who began rather unimpressed with this feeling of having 'generation gap', in the duration of 20 episodes they have succeeded in making me a convert and grow immense affinity for them all.
as with the love triangle between Duk Seon, Jung Hwan and Choi Taek, i find that this part was one of the most well-done parts of the show. i thought the slow build up of their relationships was brilliant, the way she actually liked Sun Woo first, and then upon finding out that he actually liked Bora, hated it so much but was able to let go of her feelings when Jung Hwan started showing interest towards her more than as a friend. the confusion of Duk Seon, the hesitance of Jung Hwan, the honesty of Choi Taek and how both of the boys never confessed their feelings to her for 6 years because they didn't want to ruin their friendship, i loved it all. i am also more on #teamTaek because i loved he has never hesitated to confess among his group of friends about his real feelings towards Duk Seon. i did feel utterly heartbroken for Jung Hwan obviously, but in any realistic situation she can only end up with one of them so.....
also, my secret weapon for the drama, Sun Woo and his cute little sister Jin Joo! i loved when he always finds himself kissing her on the cheek and how she's always unbothered by it lmao. i love how smart he is, and how he is an all around Mr. Nice Guy. what i still don't understand even after completing the drama is that how did he end up liking Bora in the first place. i hated that the director even cut him short when he was trying to explain the reasons he liked Bora when he was trying to win over her. if only i could see Bora from his eyes, i definitely would have been more accepting of their relationship, LOL~
now, moving on to the weaker parts of the drama. i do think that the middle parts of the drama have started to fizzle down a bit. i can give several examples to explain this. first, out of the three siblings of the gang of 5, i do think that Jung Bong has had the most individual screen time of them. and i believe this was a bit misplaced. i don't mind his relationship with Duk Seon's friend Man Ok and also the scenes when almost the entirety of the episode was centered around him (the congenital heart surgery). i meant the scenes where he was going to the temple without a proper context and many extended scenes of him literally doing some unexplained stuffs in his room BUT studying. i find those scenes frustrating and should have been given to Bora instead. other than No Eul, i believe Bora was the second most under-utilized character in the whole drama, and it was a pity that the writer didn't give her a clear trajectory for character growth (refer to the spoilerful thoughts on the finale below)*.
No Eul was another important support character which i think they greatly mishandled. first of all, i really wanted to know why do they decide on casting someone who visibly looks older than Duk Seon to be her younger brother? because i didn't find that they tried to make that part funny without it being disrespectful. and secondly, when they showed how he has such a beautiful voice in ep. 16 and was later on pursuing musical gig, there was no further exploration on that except some minor conversations between him and his father about him travelling around to perform.
the more noticeable weaker parts of the drama was this: that the passing of time in the drama were filled more with rather mundane day-to-day life things, made 'worse' by an era characterized by simplicity. what i mean was that, there were nothing too dramatic that would have added more spice/flavour to the drama. and i don't mean to want very typical dramatization commonly found in k-dramas like the amnesia trope LMAO, but a more toned down dramatization of sorts to spice things up a little bit. everyone in the neighbourhood grew up well and healthy so it was kind of, boring? i don't know, LOL. i wished the writer had some sort of bigger misfortune happening than the protest arrest to Bora, that would have made her much more humble and reliant on her parents' love, support and protection.
**SPOILERFUL THOUGHTS ON THE FINALE
1. i cried really hard in this episode, but it definitely didn't feel like the most perfect ending. i have to say that i was disappointed that they make Bora gift her father a shoe bigger than his actual size to wear on his wedding. i think the writer had to go down this route because they haven't given Bora a proper character development during the running of the show to begin with!!! i kinda had the inkling that the writer wanted to imply that the reason Bora was so nasty during her college years was because of her immaturity, but i think not. i see that more of a combination of immaturity and plain rudeness. my hypothesis is that, if only they have given her a proper character development, the tears she shed when bowing to her parents at her wedding wouldn't be so full of regrets, rather sadness that now she's leaving her parents' home forever.
2. i also think that the final scene when all the families finally moved out of the neighbourhood to retire someplace else, they should have extended that a little bit towards another episode. in fact i think the wedding of Bora-Sun Woo should not have been the drama's ending. i had a bitter taste in my mouth when they didn't show how Duk Seon and Taek will finally confess to their parents about them dating. even if they had to fast forward to 6 years into the future, i think extending this to another 2-3 episodes would have sufficed it. then we could have also seen the early stages of Bora-Sun Woo's married life, and if they were to already have a baby.
3. the snippets into the year 2015 felt nothing but a huge misfortune. first, i believe they should have just cast Hyeri and Hye Young to play their 40 y/o version selves and leave Duk Seon's husband out completely. the way Taek behaved in his mannerisms in 2015 felt more like Jung Hwan to me (or many of us), that it's hard to believe anything but that such a huge misstep was a joke. and only when Taek was revealed to be her husband, they should have had a scene of the gang of 5 reuniting with special makeup effects showing that they are now in their 40s. i was just mad that we didn't get to see this part.
finally, i can see why this drama can be very charming to some people and end up being one of their ultimate favourites. as for me, i do think if i am a native Korean watching this weekly during its airing time (so that i wouldn't be so affected by the exhaustion of bingewatching), i might have scored this a perfect 10. this was a really great drama and i really haven't seen anything quite like it anywhere else :)
p/s Bogum stop attacking me with your utterly gorgeous Colgate smile pleaseeeeeee. i'm dying over here, I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF SEEING HIS BEAUTIFUL SMILE. i might watch Encounter for him LOL. okay bye, done rant.
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There WAS another debate over who the husband was (and I will only say that I was not on the winning side of this one) but both male leads were equally charming. Even though the main romance centered around Duk Sun, her sister Bo Ra also gets a very sweet romance of her own. I loved each of the main group and the parents the secondary characters were all well used.
Although it may take me awhile to get back around to it due to length, I would love to watch this again. I also loved the music in this. There is one song that is really lovely - Don't Worry Dear is the English title.
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This review may contain spoilers
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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