When Life Gives You Tangerines

cried a river T.T

It’s a family drama but a really really “depressing” one. This drama focuses on the reality of surviving when you are not from a wealthy family and also highlights the different stages in the life. How the choices they make affect their lives is also clearly shown. How parents can sacrifice so much for their kids and how the kids learn to appreciate their parents.

I cried alot watching this show…somehow IU always picks really sad dramas but she is able to really portray her characters well. I was amazed because she had to cry almost every episode. As an actor I feel like that must have been so hard and tiring. IU has the main role in the drama, most of the scenes are of her.

Park bogum, unexpectedly doesn’t have much screen time but he did really well as well. He was loyal supportive and hard working. He was the perfect husband for Aesun so she never regretted marrying him.

The drama was directed very well with clips from the past and present blended nicely and presented in a clear timeline. It was not confusing to understand and the story was very heartwarming.

Overall a very good drama which shows the difficulties of the past and how a family managed to live on together.

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A simply beautiful story about family and life successfully told.

This will be the first review I have written on MDL.

When Life Gives You Tangerines 🍊 (2025)

I knew this drama would end up being similar to my expectations, but the storytelling elevated the experience further. For such a simple story, the storytelling was stellar, along with the cinematography, to keep the audience on their toes and their hearts softened. The history of Jeju was richly presented by aligning the struggles of villagers and Aesun and Gwansik, whose lives were filled with emotional, grand and simple moments. I was reminded of my parents whenever Aesun and Gwansik, as grandparents, stood by each other, and so I resonated with the sad, happy, and funny moments in the story, especially through the eyes of Geum-myeong and how she ended up being their treasure and so-called princess.

Besides the main story, side characters were tied to the storyline and were important to the lives of the main characters, which I enjoyed a lot for a slice-of-life drama. The direction and visuals, helmed by the director of critically acclaimed dramas like My Mister, Signal, and Arthdal Chronicles, left me breathless. The budget was intentionally spent, and I appreciated that a lot. The actors and actresses did their job, especially IU, who played Ae-sun and Geum-young and showed her versatility as an actress in between the relationship of a mother and her daughter. So did Park Bogum, who I didn't see in a project elsewhere except Reply 1988 in 2015, he crafted the image of a young father to his grown-up self, played by Park Hae-Joon. Moon So-ri was as great as Ae-sun, she felt like a real person to me with all of her emotions as a mother who once had dreams of her own. I never felt a disconnection between the same characters played by two different actors and actresses.

Volumes 1-4 each had a central theme that resembled a tribute to the younger generation and a great thank you to the elder generations. From the dreams of youth to the hardships and regrets of adulthood and parenthood, to the uncertain events in history that struck the country were covered in the seasons of time, fall, summer, winter, and spring.

The ahjummas and other roles, such as Bu Sang-gil and Yeom Hyeran, convinced me that their characters were, in fact, just as important in bringing the scenes of family and community that stood out to me in symbolism out of all the dramas I've seen. Kim Seon-ho was wonderful too. Two mother-daughter relationships were excellently written, and the messages of the story were strongly supported through their scenes and how they contributed to the growth of the female characters throughout. I would like to write about the scenes that impacted me the most, but I will mention that the death of Dong-myeong truly broke me. Bogum as Gwan-sik's cries were haunting, and IU as Ae-sun in complete denial hurt me badly. In a way, I will never forget, and how they have not forgotten what happened to him from the guilt and regret that arose in their hearts and minds.

The music wasn't that spectacular for me, but I still was able to cry at quite a few scenes because of the powerful writing and acting. The rewatch value remains low since I never rewatch dramas fully, but for anyone who would rewatch, I would suggest they skip many moments in the middle of the drama instead. The timelines involving the lives of Geum-myeong and Eun-myeong were not captivating or interesting for the most part, but there are still many moments to look forward to. I will be thinking about this show briefly whenever I think of my family, especially my mother. A lot of lines were special to me.

I loved that Ae-sun was able to write poetry, including her long-lasting marriage in the warm spring and that Gwan-sik's last moments had him thinking about the love of his life. This show was able to focus on the romance of the parents in the last episode and how their love had them walking hand-in-hand and overcoming each hardship together. The last line is deeply emotional and summarizes the message of the story,

"To their seasons,
once so young and still so tender.
With remorse, gratitude, and the deepest respect.
Here's to all you have been through."

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When life gives you tangerines you get see a whole Pie of life

This is not just one slice of life but a whole pie with cream and what not of life. As it offers us a bunch of glimpses in to several generations of life, struggles, love and more struggles.

Ordinary people, in some extraordinary circumstances showing us that it can be the little choices that define us. And that being loved matters more than being controlled.

The main couple is as sweet as sweet gets. Pure, loving the type that will litterally do anything to protect each other not only physically but mentally too.

"You have six people in your in your house hold, why do you only buy five fish?"

Showing us how to stand op against family oppression, tradition and prejudges. They may have been poor but they gave their children love and tools to stand up for them selfs teaching them not to settle and know their worth. Without skimping on the hardships poverty brings.

I loved the village, and the it truley takes a village feel to this, I loved the family, the aunts, the kids, the pain... the sweetness. The window in to the different decades and society and day to day life as it was, without diving in to politics. Showing common people. I also enjoyed them showing us even more pain and the time skips with the date and time shown like they used to on old photographs.

I did not like the last 30 minutes or so of the drama, it had a bit to much of a preachy tone and did a bad job with making me believe IUS character was over 50. It also has one moment that feels a bit off and over the top in this otherwise pretty down to earth drama. Making me lower the score from a 9,5 to a 9. Then all the yelling crying, and more yelling knocked off another 0,5 stars giving this an 8,5.

A good drama indeed, and apparently there is a lot you can do with tangerines, if it is life or some one else who gives you them is however a different question as the tangerines seem to be the first to go when poverty hits.

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A Tender Story That Touched My Heart

This drama leaves its mark on the soul; it will be difficult to overcome.

When Life Gives You Tangerines quietly broke me in the best way. I didn’t expect to cry as much as I did, but so many scenes hit deep—sometimes because of what was said, and sometimes because of the silence between the characters. It’s a simple story, but full of emotion, nostalgia, and healing.

The slow pace lets you truly connect with the characters, and their journey felt so real it hurt—in a beautiful, cathartic way. The bond between the leads, the beautiful Jeju setting, and the quiet strength of the writing stayed with me long after I finished.

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A beautiful multi-generational story

Oh I sobbed so hard, especially in the last two volumes. The themes — both of the bravery of parenthood and of finding a romantic partner who supports you and your loved ones without thinking twice — are so realistic and moving, and I love the focus on womanhood.

I think the drama did take a little while to pick up for me. While the first few episodes have some similar themes, it didn’t hit me as much as the “second gen” story in the later volumes. The romance between Ae-sun and Gwan-sik is cute, and the relationship between Ae-sun and her mother is touching, but it felt like were in “prologue mode,” whereas the parallels really start to shine after the halfway point.

The entire drama, ultimately, is really powered by the long timeline of the drama, and by the end of the drama I felt like I’d really lived a lifetime with these characters, and I didn’t want it to end.

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