In the end , it's our family.
Drama is about life and family love. i end up crying is my husband gona be like main leads. it tells a perfect love story for generations and green forest male. That parents do love you and dialougs of daughter for her mothers were like my thoughts for my mother and i end up being angry over children that try to understand your parents bit and be nice but that's how we are..10\10
Theme: A story of persons , how we live ,how we need love .. story of generations . a person can't be perfect . always love yourself...
Character: Every character has it's own responsibility.. everybody is trying to live their best. characters are loving no one is being over. they make you cry so muchh.
Acting : Everybody knows what were they doing. acting really make you feel their emotions. everyone was lead.
Visual: Classic production , scenes are really pretty with actors beauty. everything was beautifully illustrated.
In the end a tearjerk, straight 17 mins in and i found my self weeping like a child..
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Definition of mixed feelings
I want to start by saying I really appreciate that this was filmed in Jeju-do and showed a lot of real-life struggles, although I wish it had gone more into the history of the island because there are aspects worth mentioning.This drama is full of amazing actors, and although the story is good, I could never rewatch it because it's just too painful - my heart broke for the main couple and their little children; Aesun had her stupid moments, though - I didn't appreciate the way she acted towards Gwanshik sometimes. Geummyeong as a teen / young adult, on the other hand, irritated me a lot because she was really ungrateful and rude to her parents. Also, speaking of a broken heart, Yeongbeom deserved SO much better...
[Warning: Spoiler ahead!]
I just can't get over the fact that Geummyeong and Yeongbeom didn't end up together - their chemistry was insane, and you could tell Yeongbeom really liked her; it would've been much better if the writers had made them stand up against his mother. Geummyeong and Cheongseop, however, had zero chemistry and their relationship just felt weird.
[End of spoiler]
In my opinion, the drama could have been better executed, but even then I'd have to skip the extremely sad parts if I rewatched it - I'm giving the rewatch value an 8/10 because I feel bad, but in reality I won't rewatch it.
Thank you to everyone involved for your hard work!
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FEEL GOOD DRAMA?
Such a wholesome and heartwarming watch🩷.The countryside vibes, friendships, and family ties felt so real❤️.
It’s simple, yet it hits you emotionally in the best way🩷.
The characters grow on you and leave a lasting impact❤️.
A sweet reminder to find joy in the little things life gives us🩷
What makes this drama special is its simplicity🩷. There’s no unnecessary rush, no forced drama—just heartfelt storytelling😍. The characters feel real, like people you’d meet in your own life❤️. Their struggles, friendships, and moments of quiet growth are relatable and touching🩷. You’ll smile at their little joys and maybe even tear up during their silent heartbreaks❤️.
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This review may contain spoilers
A beautiful journey...
Inspired by the true story of a Jeju Island couple, Hong Kyung-ja and her husband Kim Seung-hwa. This beautiful crafted piece of story telling is an emotional rollercoaster.A lovely story like no other. It shows us the historic authentic cultural and economic realities of Jeju Island, including the semi-matriarchal family structures. Harsh realities of life conditions but also political changes, two people's journey of love and how we see their future unfold.
Box of tissues is a must.
One of the best.
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MASTERPIECE
truly unforgettable, this series had so much emotion, brilliantly acted, I enjoyed it a lot and it certainly wasn't the last time I saw it. I shed so many tears.This series impressed me with every episode.
I'm really glad that something like this was created, not only the actors but also the story was great, I was very interested, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. It's rare for something to fascinate me so much.
the music was also amazing.
Thank you for this perfect work, I really appreciate it.
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A Diary of A Family Coping with Struggles
Let me tell you: this drama is not my cup of tea at all. The only reason why I watched it is because the trailer used to keep appearing on my Netflix home. Never have I ever thought that this show will be my best K-Drama I've ever watch so far! The storytelling is a masterpiece. There are a lot of shows talking about life struggle, but I haven't found anything like this one. It's not just a love story (and never just a love story), but it's purely a journey of blood, sweat and tears of Ae-Sun trying to fight her struggle of living under the patriarchial society and stand out for her daughter and herself. And it is a pure unconditional love from Gwan-Sik who always stands out for his wife, her dreams and her ambitions whatever it takes. The whole story doesn't feel dragging at all (or maybe it's because I don't see this genre a lot? I don't know). I love the back and forth plot, it's not confusing and interesting. The narrative by Geum-Myeong also gives additional point of view from her. The whole depiction of the family seems interesting, because poor family in K-Dramas generally are shown as not-so-poor. They usually still have foldable phone, high-end cars and wear luxury make ups. But in this show they do it properly, and it's relieving (they somehow still has camera though).The entire casts do an outstanding perfomance here. IU has a magnificent job by doing two roles in this show, while Bo-Gum is giving a massive impact as just his presence will give huge spirit of devotion. So-Ri and Hae-Jun also successfully bring the mature atmosphere of endless affection between them two. And not to forget the other casts whom successfully make us through the emotion rollercoasters for the whole shows.
The cinematography is also excellent. You will be pleased with the beauty of the seas in four seasons around Jeju. But more than that, I think the writer wants to relay the message that this scenery potrays the spring, summer, autumn and winter of our lives. They all have their own beauty and storm. The soundtracks are also nice.
Though the story is written excellently, there still some flaws there. The quality of the story seems divided into three part on this show. The first third of the show is really the most outstanding part, it is the part where we see young Ae-Sun coping with all her struggles. Then it comes the second third of the show, the transition part. This is where the story quality goes to a big downfall. The episode about village election is unecessary, not really impactful and seems more like a filler. I understand that they want to highlight the patriarchial society here, but making it as a whole episode is just too much. The story quality picks up in the final third. IU plays two roles in this show impressively, but I can see clearly that she does it better as Ae-Sun rather than Geum-Myeong, thanks to the better story though.
For rewatch recommendation, I'm not really sure though. It is too painful to rewatch the first third of the show. But to let you know, you may look at you family differently after watching this show. This is still a must watch for everyone, because you may not see something like this again anytime soon.
PS: 9.5/10 is the highest rating I've ever given here, and I had never given that to a melodramatic show. Truthfully, I was planning to give it 10/10 if it's not because of that silly village election episode.
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Nostalgic at best
Beginning was a bit difficult to watch since it took so long to build up the plot, but with IU's solid acting it was a solid hit by ep 3.Cried my eyes out on almost all episodes and will recommend to others.
Decided to travel to Jeju after watching this to go swimming in the sea
Does anyone know if its available elsewhere other than Netflix?
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this drama had me calling my parents
It's been so long since I've come across a good GOOD story with a perfect pace. Every episode, I said out loud, "What do that put in this drama???" as I bawled my eyes out like a baby. The way this story unfolds is just beautifully articulate and relatable no matter what stage in life you are in. The show addresses so many life lessons and how life goes on in one way or another. We make sacrifices and receive relief by living to the utmost with loved ones. We see a bit of ourselves in every character and every stage of their lives. The dynamics between mother and eldest daughter, a boy and a girl in love, young lovers giving up their dream to build a family with nothing to call their own, the loss they grieve, the growing up in an unknown path. We also get to see each character's perspectives. We follow the main characters (Gwan Sik and Ae Sun) the most, but we also see their kids' perspectives. Which, in a way, hit harder when you get to watch the journey of the parents who we watched grow up. We watch their journey and how unpredictable and crazy it was for them to get to where they are. And we get to see both sides of it. Geum Myeong (the eldest daughter of Ae Sun) does not want to be a burden to her parents, but her parents want them to do whatever they want. I can point out many aspects and little things each character does and feels. This drama was done so beautifully. I have no notes. I call my mom, whom I don't contact because we didn't have the greatest relationship growing up. I'm the eldest middle child of separated parents. I relate to Geum Myeong because my parents always told me they were not worried about me as I could care for myself. Still, I grew up acting strong for my younger siblings and having to be the pillar for them when they needed me consistently. It was a lonely journey, and I didn't want to look weak in front of my family. I have my problems and concerns, but I chose to hide them from my parents as I don't want them to worry about me. This drama helped me see that my parents are doing their best and living their first life. "When life gives you tangerines", whatever path we take, life is hard anyway. Be with someone you'd be happy to see each morning with, so when life gives you tangerines, you wouldn't be afraid to face the bitter, sweet, and sour life has to offer.Was this review helpful to you?
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Not what i expected
theres so many boring episodes and useless scenes like so much filler and we get to see so little of the son and what happens with him and his family like he cries about not being number one and as soon as he gets bailed out he’s forgotten again, but the casting for the younger and older actors of everybody was extremely good. i just expected better because of all the good reviews i’ve seen and so many videos. there was a lot of the same things going again, the episodes could’ve just been shorter without the useless fillers. but still very wholesome and i enjoyed most of it.Was this review helpful to you?
Loved it
"When Life Gives You Tangerines" is a drama I would definitely recommend. It’s a touching story about two people who have loved each other since childhood. They went through countless hardships together, built a family, and faced many ups and downs—but no matter what, they always stayed together.Among all the characters, my favorite was Yang Gwan-sik. From beginning to end, I felt a deep connection with him—both in his younger days and older version. My favorite scene was when he jumped into the water for the woman he loved.
IU delivered an amazing performance, as always, but I feel like she truly nailed it this time. I felt really bad for Park Yeong-beom’s character (Geum Myeong’s ex boyfriend). He truly loved her, and it was visible. But Geum Myeong wasn’t wrong either—he was torn between his mother and Geum Myeong, and he loved both deeply. He couldn’t leave his mother because she had made many sacrifices for him, and he respected her. There came a point where he was ready to leave his mother , but Geum Myeong realized it would hurt him even more. So, she made the right decision. Still, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.
Kim Seon Ho, as always, put his heart into playing Park Cheong-seop, the artist. His performance was top-notch. I especially loved the scene where he made that crazy expression after seeing his bride, and another where, after his wife gave birth, he said, “No more children!” because he couldn’t bear to see her suffer again.
There’s so much more I want to say about the other characters as well but I don't want to be spoiler but I feel good to mention those name and they are Geum Myeong's mother and brother and those three aunties —everyone gave their best.
I just wish that in the final episode, they had ended with a family photograph scene—maybe with a photographer clicking a picture of their happy family. That would’ve been the perfect ending.
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This review may contain spoilers
This is obviously very good and as of today there are over two hundred 10/10 reviews on MDL very articulately explaining why. I don't want to waste anyone's time with parroting the same sentiments, so I'll focus on the three things I did not like. ⌲ When I watch slice of life life dramas there is a limit of how many sad, tragic events or emergencies I can take in a single show & this one definitely exceeded that limit. Just because this show has countless brilliant, heartwarming scenes, that doesn't mean it was easy to get through it for me, not at all. Emotional roller coaster-ing is common in this genre, but I feel really too many negative shocking things happened in this one life, sometimes in too quick of a succession.
⌲ In my opinion Kim Seon Ho's guest role is really strange. I could barely believe it that it's really him playing the character in the early episodes & I initially thought they took away a supporting actor's job to give the big star a cameo, but that is most probably not the case. Nonetheless this is really immersion breaking to me, after his character reunited with Geum Myeong he has "become" a completely different person. He has jarringly transformed from an interesting but flawed person into a guy that is -how can I put this- serves a fan service role to women, like how when people accuse various Asian dramas to be pornography for women, this is the kind of main character they are visualizing, I think.
⌲ And finally let's talk about the poet dreams. Poets are extraordinarily over represented in kdramas for some reason, but I think this is really not a great fit here. An extremely poor & smart adolescent girl, who has already gotten many slaps from life would never ever dream of becoming a poet by trade. As well made as the plot around this is throughout the entire show, it's just too absurd to me..
For example imagine that in an alternate timeline Ae Sun's dream had been to become simply just famous & near the end of her life she became a renowned poet due to a combination of talent and her extreme life experiences fulfilling promises made just the same ...
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As for scoring the drama I decided to go with 9. I understand why it's so highly regarded, why almost everyone is rating it at 10, it's just that I think Reply 1988 is much better than it & When Life Gives You Tangerines had moments that were really hard to get through at various points in the show. Of course entertainment means different things to every one of us & it's not really unreasonable that someone would watch this & think that this is the best thing they've ever seen. I just don't feel like giving a show a 10, when I to an extent feel relief that it's finally over.
There is also the fact that this show released at a time when it has been two forevers since another slice of life kdrama came out that could even come anywhere near this level of quality and plot quantity.
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“I found happiness in my own way. there was sunshine in my life too.”
If there’s a drama that perfectly captures our minds, it’s When life gives you tangerines.It isn’t just about love; it’s about life, the struggles, the sacrifices, and the quiet moments that shape us.
This drama is so well written and i’d give my everything just to experience it for the first time again.
The cinematography is breathtaking. Jeju’s landscapes, tangerine orchards, and ocean views make everything feel so nostalgic and peaceful. IU and Park Bogum’s acting? Perfect. Their chemistry is so natural, it doesn’t even feel like acting. The drama is slow, but in a way that makes you want to soak in every second. It’s not just about romance; it’s about family, resilience, and the things we leave behind to chase our dreams.
It’s the kind of drama that makes you feel warm and sad at the same time. It doesn’t give you dramatic plot twists or unrealistic love stories. It just feels real.
I watched it with my grandmother which make this so much special for me. Watching this gave me comfort and sadness at the same time. We are too busy growing up to realise that our parents are growing old too.
A drama that feels like home.
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