Reply 1997 (2012)

I still can't believe that there will be a drama that replace the classics in my heart. I mean I'm not that satisfied with Korean drama these days because the plot are sometimes similar. My favourites will always be the old ones, like Jewel in the Palace, Full House, My Girl, etc. HOWEVER. This drama climbs up to become my second favourite drama of all time! (after Jewel in the Palace).

I understand when people did not like this one because they said this is boring, too confusing, etc. Because I felt it at first. But I stuck with it, and thanks God for that. This drama is so refreshing, different than other Korean dramas. I love everything about it. The actors, the characters, the plot, the voiceovers, the directing, basically everything. This drama is so nostalgic. And I definitely love to reminiscing that good old days. Not to mention that this drama did NOT have even a single evil character. Everything felt real. I love the moral lessons.

I would say that this drama is about love. Love in every aspect, not only between a girl and a boy. But parents's love to their children, brothers love, love between friends, even fans love to their idols. I love ALL the voiceovers in this drama. They are moral lessons. This is an example: “Life comes and attacks you when you least expect it. It might be sadness, or extreme fear. At that moment, what can we do is accept reality and admit we lost. We don’t know how life will turn out. There is no way we can avoid it. We just have to face it, and get hurt once in a while. But life sometimes thrills us with unexpected events. And gives us happiness when we overcome hardships. We never know how life will turn out. So we use all our sense to survive it."

Thank you, Reply 1997, for the amazing ride and to taught me so much about life.

Leggi di Più

I just finished watching this drama, and I am SO mad at myself for not watching it earlier! Somehow I always managed to talk myself out of watching it, despite all the raving reviews and despite my love of good acting, comedy, music, and pretty faces (which this drama was FULL of!).
So what makes this drama so good?
Well... everything.
I have to say this was probably the most hilarious thing I have seen in a long time, and it still managed to be serious and touching when it needed to be. So it was a great laugh, and a heartfelt story.
Like most dramas, Reply 1997 was overtly dramatic and didn't really portray what high school life is like for the most, but at the same time, I found myself identifying with the characters, and for once in my drama-watching career I wasn't quietly scoffing to myself about how ridiculous the show was (although every time I do that I end up watching the whole show anyway...).
I absolutely loved the plot! I was confused (in a good way) and on the tip of my toes the whole time mentally screaming WHO IS IT? WHO IS IT?, which for me is awesome, as I love not knowing what's going to happen, and I love plot twists even more than not knowing what's going to happen, and this drama had them both!
Seo In Guk and Hoya were probably the cutest thing that I will ever see in a drama. Despite my original inclination to ship them as a couple, I ended up liking the female actress so much that I was rooting for her! Wait what!? I actually cared about a female character in a drama????? In so many dramas I find myself not caring at all about the whiny, clueless, annoying female protagonist (I usually like the female character that serves as the antagonist way more, though of course there are always exceptions), but in this drama I liked her almost as much as I liked Seo In Guk's character!
The characters in the drama were amazing! I loved each and every one of them and there little special quirks, and each actor portrayed them flawlessly.
I am so glad to see that this drama is at the top of the dramalist, because man does it deserve it!

Leggi di Più

From the prospective of a young adult, I loved this drama. Though I was 3 in 1997 and I didn't live in Busan Korea while growing up... or in Korea in general (don't I wish XD) I could totally relate to all the characters and this drama. So here we go:

Story: Great story line. It hooks you in from the start. I remember starting this drama and loving the freshness this drama gives. Sure there are typical Kdrama cliches but the way this drama handles it is unique and different. I went through all the emotions that the characters were having. My heart was pulled this way and that. I could relate to story, especially the 1997 storyline. Being a teenager myself, I can relate to all the pains that the teenagers are going through and all the changes that are happening. This drama has a unique way of making you understand what the characters are going through. I love the message this story had to give. Even though times does pass by quickly, the small and big things, your friends, and family all shape who you grow up to eventually be and become. The only reason this is getting less than a 10 is because there are some scenes which I felt could have been explained more, or cut out completely.

Acting: I must say for a cast of mostly rookie actors, they did phenomenal. I believed every second of their acting mostly. Eun Ji was great at making me believe her fangirl 17 year old self, and her more mature older self. Seo In Guk, you have taken my heart away with your incredibly smexy smoldering look. I feel that Seo In Guk really stole the show in this drama with his extremely realistic portrayal of Yoon Jae. Now whenever I see these idols on news site, I expect their character's name to be mentioned not their real names.

Music : Though the music was a bit outdated in some scenes it fit the drama perfectly. During the present scenes a lot of popular Kpop music was played. During the older scenes there was a lot of H.O.T. and older idol groups and singers being played. The music fit the drama so there are no complaints.

Rewatch: I can definitely see myself watching this again.... and again... and again... and again.

Overall: I enjoyed every second of this drama. It was agonizing waiting for subs in the beginning of this drama when it wasn't as popular. Every week I checked the drama websites to see if subs had been uploaded yet, it was that addicting. Now that I've finished this drama I want more. I miss its freshness and I just get this empty feeling in a part of my heart now that I know I don't have Reply 1997 to look forward to now.

Leggi di Più

Ever since finishing up Shut Up Flower Boy Band earlier this year I've been looking for another great high school drama. This one really hit all the right buttons!

Story: The writing is both hilarious and heart warming. There's a great sense of realism and sincerity portrayed. For example, I loved how the show pulls no stops in showing the characters in some pretty humiliating situations. I mean what's high school without those mortifying moments where you just wish you could disappear? The show was ridiculously addictive with the whole mystery of who ends up with who driving me crazy with anticipation. Right from the get go you're hooked. My only complaint was I felt that the whole mystery of who Shi Won ends up with felt a bit dragged out in the final couple episodes.

Acting/Cast: Eunji steals the show as the spunky Shi Won and Seo In Guk is completely swoon worthy as the caring Yoon Jae. They were really able to establish an excellent rapport throughout the series with their dialogue and chemistry feeling so natural and real. I could really believe they had been best friends since birth. The rest of the cast does not disappoint and I found myself becoming incredibly attached to the whole crew. Joon Hee especially was portrayed with such heart wrenching subtlety and was the only character who moved me to tears in the end. This drama didn't appear on my radar early on because of the relatively unknown cast and rookie idol-actors but they ended up totally surprising me!

Music: Lots of awesome 90s Korean music and as a current Kpop fan myself it was a great way to get introduced to some of the original idols. Really great at setting the mood for scenes and capturing the essence of the era.

Rewatch value: I already want to watch it again! The characters and writing are such a delight I will definitely be revisiting this series in the future.

Overall: You don't have to be from that era in Korea to enjoy this drama at all. The show captured the pureness and all-consuming nature of teenage love and heartbreak perfectly. It made me miss those days when boy bands ruled the world, tamagotchis were cool, and your crush was your everything. Those times when you're immature, naive, and throw yourself head first into love. I've watched a lot of high school dramas but few have succeeded in portraying the bittersweetness of youth with as much honesty and heart as Reply 1997 has.

Leggi di Più

I watched this drama because it was ranked first when I checked the top drama, and GOD I don't regret it at all!
The main story is not a master of piece, nor something really original, but it was so well done!
I honestly think the acting was flawless (I can barely believe that the most leads are acting for the very first time :O), there was not a particular scene where you admire a powerful performance, but they were so...REAL, and during the whole drama!!!!
The characters are so adorable and the music choice is unbelievably good.
It was refreshing, funny, interesting.
I laughed so hard by moments, cried by others.
I really loved it, and I recommand it to everyone.

Leggi di Più

Story: Loved the story. Immensely. Being a fan of a lot of Korean things myself, it was really nice to see a drama about something I could relate to for once.

Acting/Cast: Personally, I feel they really struck gold with this cast. Eun Ji was exceptional in her role as an H.O.T fan. When they were mentioned, she was ecstatic; when they were insulted, she was ready to defend them. Even if I wasn't already like her in that respect, I'd have no trouble believing her acting.

The chemistry between everybody was fantastic. Eun Ji and In Guk played the role of friends from birth really well.

Music: Throughout the show, you hear music from virtually every year between 1997 and 2012, and it's fantastic.

Rewatch Value: I'm not a big fan of rewatching dramas, but I could easily see myself watching this again in the future.

Overall: When it comes to watching dramas, it usually takes a lot to impress me. The fact that I gave this a 10 all-around really speaks volumes.
I loved this drama. The first half was a lot of comedy with some drama thrown in; the second half was a lot of drama (well acted drama [seriously, there were a few times I just had to cry along with the characters]) with some comedy thrown in; the whole show was a perfect mix of both.

Leggi di Più

After a long time I watched a drama for teenagers where the characters have been portrayed by a bunch of adult actors. But nowhere did it seem inappropriate or contrived or botched up badly. This drama was honest in its depiction of emotions and tried to recreate the H.O.T fanaticism among teenage girls in the late 90s as accurately as possible. But this story isn't about teenagers or Kpop groups in 1997. It is rather the story of a group of individuals with a greater focus on their teenage years and how their teens never actually leave them even when they mature into their 30s.
For a bunch of newcomers hardly known before their roles in this drama, the entire cast has done mind-blowingly well. Especially Seo In Gook and Hoya have been successful in making their characters of Yoon Jae and Joon Hee appear so believable and real. It was hard or near impossible to stop myself from being completely sucked into their world-laugh and cry with them.
The simplicity and the excellent screenplay notwithstanding, I have a few bones to pick with this drama. The whole confusion regarding Shi Won's husband was meaningless and unnecessary. It was plain obvious who her husband was from the very start. The script-writer should've worked harder in making the situation more ambiguous and the answer difficult to guess. The Yoo Jung and Hak Chan narrative gets very little screen time. I would've loved to see a little more development in their relationship since they were so good together. Also the way the story ends for the two couples seems too good to be true. Real life isn't that kind. The drama in spite of being realistic as possible, fails to make the cut when it comes to depicting the harshness of the real world where everything doesn't work out according to our wishes. But anyway I totally dig the ending and that's what matters in case of a highly successful show as this one.
Finally, the one thing that fans of this drama are bound to remember for a long time is Joon Hee. He did not ever properly spell out his feelings and yet he did so in the subtlest and gentlest of manners. Hoya is truly a revelation. Hoping to see more of him in the future. Also Eun Ji did an excellent job as Shi Won, who although annoying at most times is the crazy little girl next door who may not be pretty but is certainly very lovable.

Leggi di Più

Never a dull moment while watching. All the characters where good and well developed. Their own personal stories are so fresh and different. Also the fact that the main theme is from a fan point of view is perfect. There should be more stories like this one. The romance is there but very different from what we are used to and I loved that.

The soundtrack is also perfect and spot on. I'm 34 and I can tell you they had everything spot on. The trends, the brands, the clothing, beepers and the tamagotchi everything spot on. Congrats for that. I even wished I knew about South Korea and Kpop back then and that I was in their high school too. I saw that even when they are in South Korea back then we all had the same issues with the fashion and everything.

It was hilarious most of the time. The parents relationship felt so real. The friends... yes! every single one of them their dilemmas and issues felt all real. This writers really did their homework with the fan life and fandom issues and hopes.

About the cast, I was really impressed most where new faces overall and I enjoyed that a lot. The cameos where awesome and so beneficial for the drama. I bet that people from that era that where watching felt chills all over getting all nostalgic and singing.

If you are into KPop and see this in your as a fan from some group and imagine they are talking about your group/fandom you will end up loving it too since they really talk about the fan adventures, failures and victories as an independent fan and as a fandom.

I people say it is confusing and boring but I didn't find it nor confusing or boring at all. I watched it in one go and hardly slept because it was too good. Don't forget to watch the making of cause it is really good. I cried watching it felt like I was one of the fans from H.O.T and all.

I don't make reviews on my personal blog about dramas and I just did one of this so that means it left a pretty good impression on me. I will recommend to anybody this drama and I hope that more people not related to KPop watch it so they can get a glimpse of the fan world.

Leggi di Più

Wow, we're back to the 90's :D In my opinion, this drama is amazing! So many memories came to surface while I was watching it!

It reminded me a lot of my childhood, even though at that time I was 6... I remember my mother's first cellphone, the first CD I ever bought... So many things that kids nowadays have no clue what they mean nor how hard it was to reach that goal.

Everything was so different from today... It felt good to see these actors being able to portray that AMAZING decade.

I highly recommend this drama! If you lived during the 90's, I'm sure you'll find a few things you can relate to. Give this drama a chance! I promise it's worth watching :)

Leggi di Più

Awesome drama. It’s so different than the typical Korean drama, but I’m finding it hard to explain how it’s different. One has to be an avid Kdrama watcher and has to watch this to find out what I’m talking about.

The story’s not really original since it used the favorite cliché of all time: first love. But it worked. First love always works for me, so it wasn’t really a big deal. I liked how almost, if not all relevant characters had their own moments all throughout the drama. I loved that the drama did not focus on one story. I loved that it had various major stories which made it more interesting. Other Kdramas usually have one major story and a few side stories. Also, the going back and forth through time was effective. It added up to the drama’s spark and made it kind of mysterious though it’s apparent who’ll end up with whom.

The cast was impressive. The acting was really good and believable although some rookies still show minor signs of being new to acting.

The music was daebak. I suddenly started searching Korean songs from the 90s, ballads especially. The music’s kind of addictive.

The drama’s full of funny and lighthearted moments so I don’t think it’ll hurt to rewatch it over and over again, but not too much.

After watching this drama, I finally understood what the hype was all about. I finally understood how on earth this drama was able to win the hearts of many Kdrama viewers. However it didn’t really win my heart since this drama’s not my style. I prefer sappy dramas, which leads me back to the typical Kdrama zone. I guess that’ll always be where I belong. But this drama’s really good and I enjoyed it so much; it’s just not my style. It may not have won my heart, but it did win much of my admiration.

Leggi di Più