Dramas to Watch

9. Reply 1997 (2012)

Reply 1997

Country: South Korea

Type: Drama

Genre: Comedy, Friendship, Romance, School, Youth

Episodes: 16

Aired: Jul 4, 2012 to Sep 18, 2012

Network: TVN

Duration: 50 min.

Plot:

            Set in the 1990's, the drama centers around a female high school student Shi Won (Jung Eun Ji), who idolizes boyband H.O.T and her 5 high school friends in Busan. As the timeline moves back and forth between their past as 18-year-old high schoolers in 1997 and their present as 33-year-olds at their high school reunion dinner in 2012, where one couple will announce that they're getting married.  

Cast:

Jung Eun Ji

Sung Shi Won

Seo In Guk

Yoon Yoon Jae

Lee Hoya

Kang Jun Hee

Lee Shi Eon

Bang Sung Jae

Eun Ji Won

Do Hak Chan

Shin So Yool

Mo Yoo Jung

Review:

by YellowTofuBlock of mydramalist

"One. of. the. BEST. I. HAVE. EVER. WATCHED.

Before watching this, I would consider a drama on how good it is based on how addicted I was, but even if I wasn't super addicted to Answer Me 1997 (maybe part of it is that I didn't watch it while it was airing so I wasn't left hanging every week), everything in the drama was full of meaning and everything just fit together perfectly. I applaud the writer and director for making such a work of art altogether, I must say.

This drama was different from others, in the aspect that it wasn't the typical cliff hanger every episode and there wasn't really a FIXED storyline, if you know what I mean. It was the story-telling of two first loves that succeeded and their growth together. From high school to adulthood, it was just lovely seeing all the characters grow.

It was full of sweet moments and what I like about this drama is that there isn't some annoying, cockblocking antagonist that was only put there to have a base conflict. The conflict in the drama was more personal, realistic, and relatable which made this drama just seem more "real" I guess. Even if I wasn't into kpop in that time exactly, I still felt the nostalgia and warm fuzzy feeling when they play a 90's or early 2000's song in the background. This drama always got me all emotional all the time haha. The writing was also amazing and even I learned a few lessons watching this drama.

THE CAST AND ACTING WAS PERFECT. Everyone was so natural and even if Shiwon was a delusional fan girl, I still loved her character. Yoon Jae was just sooo.. soo.. dreamy at times. You can see his emotions through his eyes and his intense gaze that's only for Shiwon. When he cries I just cry with him, because it seems so genuine and the pain is visible through his crying. Again, I loved the fact that there was no crazy ass villain in the drama.

The music they played seemed to fit so well with every scene and even if I didn't even know some(most) of the 90's Korean songs I still felt nostalgic. I'm currently looking for all the songs used in this drama because it's that good.

I would highly recommend this drama to anyone who is a sucker for sweet and 'fuzzy' love stories as well as people who are just looking for a drama that's not too heavy. This will take you down memory lane as the beepers and cell phones with antennas are re-introduced. I mean, who DOESN'T love the feeling of nostalgia? Well this drama will definitely give you that feeling."

Reviewer's Rating: 10.0

My Rating: 9.5

Mydramalist Rating: 8.8

Asianwiki Rating: 9.5

Click the external link to be redirected to the website where you can watch this drama. For mobile users, the link can also be found down below in the comments section.