When Life Gives You Tangerines

perfection

This show is perfection…I laughed, cried, and felt all the emotions with them. The message and the story is beautiful and the acting was incredible. I loved how we got to see them as they grew up and how realistic the show was. The pacing and arcs were great. The ending although sad was perfect. This show made me appreciate the things I have and look at life from a different perspective. Only criticism I have is I wish it was longer! I wanted to have so much more of Aesun and Gwansik when they were younger as they were my favorite part of the show (though I did love seeing the older versions of them). The casting was perfect as well.
10/10 recommend.

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Spring and Summer with a life!

Starts with a peek to the present day and gives us exclusively the background for the whole drama! This drama is everything its meant to be. It provides reality of asian households in 60s and struggle of women along with the fight they have to put. It provides us the warmth with the dream and struggle of reaching it and settling with a dream of family and children.

Its also sassy in a way the love story is approached giving us sadness and also while being chaotic shows the importance of family in those time for protecting the dream of a children especially girls who were forced to work in household unlike boys who were loved and given every freedom. This is just not a drama but a peek into reality of that time, sometimes it gives sadness and sometimes it provides warmth.

IUs acting double role stands out the most and her chemistry with all the casts mainly the newer episodes with older aesun and gwansik where it feels more and more relatable! PBG did wonderful job as his portrayal of gwansik!

If you love real heartfelt story this one is for you be ready for emotional roller coaster!

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A beautiful masterpiece - Best Kdrama of 2025 so far

"When Life Gives You Tangerines" is a beautiful heart-warming series. It touches different aspects of life and implies beautiful messages in each episode throughout the series. It's also a powerful feminist Kdrama. I can see myself, my mother's and my grandmother's life in this series. I am forever grateful to all the women in previous generations. They have been through a lot of hardships and battles so that we can live in a world that we are today. It's also a beautiful tribute to our grandparents' lives who have sacrificed a lot for a better life for their future generations.

Another thing that makes this series so special is that it's inspired by a real life story. Gwan-sik and Sun-ae's love story really exists in this world. It gives me hope and strengthens my trust in love and humanity. This series also raises my standards higher and encourages me to love myself more and to follow my dreams. It encourages me to stop torturing myself and let go of something that's hurt me so much for a long time, even though I've wanted it and liked it a lot. There is a stage of my life that I need to end so that I can move forwards into a new stage.

I love how the series is divided into 4 volumes, like how a person's life is divided into 4 stages. We all live in a cycle of 4 seasons in our life: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. We experience both great joy and deep sorrow. Everything in our life happens for a reason and each season teaches us a lesson we need to learn. Afterall, we will live, no matter what. This beautiful message really touches my soul, as there were times I really wanted to end my life, but now I'm grateful that I'm still alive and able to breathe.

I really enjoyed the loving daughter-father relationship between Gwan-sik and Geum-myeong. I am not lucky enough to have a great father like Gwan-sik to Geum-myeong. My Asian father chose to be a good son, while my father's mother and siblings hate and look down on my mom for being a little poorer than them. Although my mother has done a lot of things for her in-law's family, they take it for granted and torture her a lot. My father is quite an absent father, and he looks down on me and my mom because we are women. Now I have a very awkward relationship with him. Everytime I watch or read a story with a loving husband and father like in this series, there is a very indescribable feeling rising in my heart.

I think of my grandmother (my mother's mother) a lot while watching this series. At her funeral, when others were praising her about how great she was as a devoted mother and grandmother, I thought her life was so miserable and cried. She was devoted to her husband and children all her life, and she was a mother whose 4 children passed away at young ages. Her husband passed away many years before her too. She never wanted to hold any celebrations when she reached 70, 80, and even 90 or didn't want to receive any rewards. My mom said she blamed herself for the death of her children, thinking that she could live a long lifetime because she stole her children's years of life. I couldn't imagine how much pain she had to endure when she was alive. My heart aches everytime I think of her life, and my mother's life too. My grandmother was a wonderful woman. My mom told me she was the most talented daughter in her family, and so did my mom. Both of them were the breadwinner of their family and also great at a lot of things. My mom expects me to be great too, and I used to feel so stressed comparing myself to them, but at the same time I swore to myself to never live like them. I also told my mom that, like how Geum-myeong told Ae Sun in a scene in episode 4. However, also thanks to that scene, now I think of my grandmother and mother's life in a more positive way, when Ae Sun told Geum-myeong: "You're right. Don't live the life I lived. But you know, I found happiness in my own way. There was sunshine in my life too. I've had so many picture-perfect moments. I just want you to acknowledge that my life was worthwhile too." I'm still trying to break the cycle of generational trauma, but I will never underestimate their lives again.

I can see myself in Geum-myeong in her relationship with her mother. I bicker a lot with my mom. There is a big age gap and generation gap between us, so we have different perspectives about life. There are times we hurt each other with words, but we also have great moments together, and there were times my mom used the whole world to me. My mom also told me she used to bicker a lot with my grandmother too, and she was also considered quite a rebellious daughter when she was young, like me. So basically my mom gave birth to a daughter who is exactly like her. Children are the mirrors of their parents. This message is perfectly portrayed throughout the series. Just like how Ae Sun’s mom and Ae Sun herself try their best to improve their daughter's life, I understand that my mom also tries to improve my life. I'm going to live a happy life so that my mom can be proud, and so that my future daughter can live a better life too.

I'm definitely going to re-watch "When Life Gives You Tangerines" with my mom! I think she will think of her mother a lot too. I'm sure she will cry a lot but it's going to be a good cry.

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A Masterpiece Beyond Hollywood – A Show That Deserves an Oscar!

I have never been this emotionally invested in a series before. When Life Gives You Tangerines is not just a drama—it’s an experience, a journey that grips your heart and doesn’t let go. Every scene, every dialogue, every moment is crafted with such depth and sincerity that I found myself crying non-stop. And I mean it—minute by minute, I wept until I had no more tears left. Yet, at the same time, this show gave me the purest joy, the kind that warms your soul and brings a genuine smile to your face.

This series is, without a doubt, the best in its genre. It surpasses even the finest Hollywood productions, proving that true storytelling knows no borders. The acting is beyond phenomenal, the cinematography is breathtaking, and the emotions feel so raw and real that you forget you're watching fiction.

If there’s any justice in the world, When Life Gives You Tangerines deserves an Oscar. Not just one, but all of them. This is not just a series—it’s a masterpiece that will stay with you forever.

10/10. A must-watch.

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WLGYT MASTERPIECE ?

i won't write much cuz when you will start watching it you'll know but I also believe this is not everyone's cup of tea
the whole story , plot , characters and ACTORS did a wonderful job i'm soooo happy that this was awarded as the "BEST DRAMA" 🏆
the cast was fabulous this drama teaches us so many things like either you see the first love is successful or not but this drama shows you both... the way when it's successful like gwansik aesun everything feels better even when circumstances are not the other person makes it bearable and when your first love is not successful something better is planned for you just wait!!!
the father daughter scenes were so emotional i cried legit every episode not to forget it and bogummmyyy was amazinggg iu as mother and a daughter did superb job and gwansik as a husband and father ohh God this guy... idk what to say he is such a GOOD ACTOR this was my first time watching him and he completely amazed me with his acting, his expressions, his range of acting.
overall a MASTERPIECE and one of my FAVOURITE DRAMAS out there!!!
MY #1 WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU TANGERINES & YANG GWANSIK ❤️

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I hate that this K drama makes me cry so many time

let me tell you I promise you if you’re gonna watch this you will never regret it cause I can watch this a second time that’s how obsessed I am with this and also I kept on crying and crying every episode. I watched it was just amazing. I promise. there is no other k drama will top this because it was just the best of the best. let me just tell you that the storytelling has the best tales ever that makes your life feels like a butterfly moment and that life has so many meaning to it and young love is really important in life, but also trying to find that is a ambition way to find a way to be loved or find a perfect man and I feel like if your man is not your man. Tell your man to watch this show cause then he would be the man.

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"The Notebook" level of sad, such a harsh slice of reality yet beautiful and masterfully done

Review

9/10 is my rating. This is "The Notebook" level of sad. "Marley and Me" and any other sad show you can think of that was super good, well written, engaging but really sad. There is nothing wrong with it. I just am not a fan of shows that are so real they are sad because they match the sad aspects of reality. I watch shows to escape the sad reality. So this show was masterfully done. The love story is heart warming. It is well acted. Well scripted. Everything about it is amazing. But I probably would not watch it again. Not because it wasn't good. But because one time on that emotional roller coaster was enough. I would recommend it with a warning label. If you are someone that doesn't like sad then maybe think seriously about watching this one.

Spoilers

This is "Notebook" level of sad. I loved her mother so much that I was super sad when she died at only 29. I mean, come on, 29. And then main girl is an orphan. And no one really wants her. That is horribly sad. Then, she grows up a little, still without really much of anything and clings to the one lifeline she has which is main guy. And they have this beautiful love story and you hope their lives will get off to a good start. But no. First his mother and grandmother are horribly abusive to her. And then he finally takes her out of that situation and they have their own place. Only they are starving. Then he is horribly abused and winds up disfigured from the ship captain who was jealous of him. And then they tragically lose their child. Yet they keep bouncing back and finding ways and through it all is their very strong love for each other and their kids. Then the kids grow up and are horrible to them. Say the most hurtful things. And then they finally have just a little bit and he has cancer and dies. And now she is all alone without him.

Real? Yes. So real. I grew up poor and can say that desperation and hopelessness are a thing. Losing a child? Lifetime devastation.

Scroll down for a unique synopsis

Synopsis

We don't often see Jeju Island in its earlier days, but this one is set on the island in the 1960's. Things were not the same for women back then particularly not impoverished women who lost their father at a young age, with a mother who remarried. So, Oh Ae-sun's (IU)'s life starts off difficult. Despite the challenging background young Ae-sun dreams of going to the mainland and becoming a literature major in college. A series of unfortunate event occur to Ae-sun starting with her haenyo (diver) mother, Jeon Gwang-rye (Yeom Hye-ran) dying at the young age of 29. And now she goes from being a child with only one parent to being an orphan. Her friend and fierce admirer, Yan Gwan-sik (Park Bo-gum) has always been there for the spirited girl, feeding her fish from his families business as a show of love. Her dream is to become a scholar; his dream is her. Be prepared for a story that is not linear in anyway it flashes forward and back and from location to location. It is an emotional roller coaster. You might laugh and cry at the same time. It takes a deep dive into the life and the culture of that region at that time through the eyes of a young woman trying to forge a different path.

#WhenLifeGivesYouTangerines

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"When Life Gives You Tangerines" is the kind of drama that stays with you long after the final episode. it’s visually stunning, emotionally rich, and beautifully told. Every frame feels like a painting, capturing the island’s quiet charm, the warmth of the people, and the bittersweet passage of time. It’s slow, yes, but in a way that lets you soak in every little detail, making you feel like you’re living alongside the characters rather than just watching them and as always THE iu delevering her best performances as Ae-sun, a bold and spirited young woman who dreams of becoming a poet despite the rigid societal norms of the time. Her struggles, hopes, and heartbreaks feel incredibly real, and you can’t help but root for her every step of the way. Then there’s Park Bo-gum as Gwan-sik, a man of few words but immense depth. His quiet devotion to Ae-sun is one of the most touching aspects of the drama. The love between them isn’t flashy or dramatic, it’s built on small moments, unspoken understanding, and years of unwavering support. It’s the kind of love that feels real, not just something made for TV. But this drama isn’t just about romance. It’s about family, friendships, dreams, and the sacrifices people make for one another. The supporting cast adds so much heart, and their stories feel just as important as Ae-sun and Gwan-sik’s. The music, too, is hauntingly beautiful, enhancing every emotion without ever feeling overbearing.When Life Gives You Tangerines is a slow burn, but if you give it time, it rewards you with a deeply moving story that lingers in your heart. It’s a reminder that life, much like tangerines, is both sweet and sour but always worth savoring.

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A life lesson

Just beautiful, a must watch, teaching you how to live a life to it's fullest, loved everything about it, so perfectly executed - I never cry watching media, but this one made me cry multiple times. I really hope and pray I get to experience love like aesun.
The actors did a wonderful job in showcasing the characters during different stages of their life, especially Jieun. Moreover, the team did such a stunning job perfecting each small detail, taking us through 60+ years of life in South Korea, with each poster and each newspaper headline reflecting each period.
I hope we can all learn something from gwanshik and aesun's lives and model it to make our time on earth better for us and everyone around us <3

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i fear that i had cried on every episode ????

From the story line to the casting, it was just perfect and it was a show that represents life. There was no true enemy in the show as life was the enemy. after watching this, it got me reflecting on my own life and how much family truly means to me. every character in the show can be relatable to every family dynamic and where you stand. For example, I’m the oldest daughter in my family and geum myeong’s story line really resonates with how I felt. Overall, this show was just an emotional rollercoaster. all the actors were casted so so well and it really shows how tough women are and the hardships they had to face in order for their family to be happy. i truly have never cried this much over any sad movies or dramas before, this kdrama really deserves all the attention! I definitely recommend everyone to watch this!!!

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