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Reply 1988 korean drama review
Completed
Reply 1988
1 people found this review helpful
by 50FiftillidideeBrain
May 6, 2025
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.5
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 7.5

✒ ☀ A Warm Family is Wealth ♨️ °8.6° °Excellent°

Ahh, the 80s. Even without the internet men learned to wear pink. Ice sculptures were mainstreamed. No PCs existed, let alone laptops or tablets, but Trapper Keepers were cool. Cameras were a family treasure. Weather forecasts were much more unreliable. Business was booming. The opposite sex was a complete mystery.

R88 is a 2015 release that is rated 91 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 20 episodes ranging from 76-113 minutes. That makes it as long as a Cdrama.

Stresses always mount, no matter the era: Siblings, their stuff, & borrowing it, money, love lives, getting into college, dreams, money, singing contests, new Western style restaurants, money, money, MONEY!… Money isn't the only pressure. School, studying, grades, protests, jobs, counterfeit designer goods, dating, international Go tournaments, THE OLYMPICS! Even food … “In some ways, one's own family is most oblivious… But what's so important about knowing? In the end, what helps you overcome obstacles isn't brains, but someone who will take your hand and won't let you go,” we hear. To live is to experience problems. Problems aren't so bad when we have people close who face them with us.

Director Shin Won-Ho has directed Prison Playbook-8.4, Hospital Playlist-9, and the Reply series, all of which are extremely popular. (HP starts alittle slowly. Give it to ep3. It's exceptional). The writer is Lee Woo-Jung, who wrote HP and the Reply series. The characters in R88 are likable - downright lovable, actually. These actors have gone on to wide scale popularity.

Hyeri (My Roommate Is A Gumiho-7.9, May I Help You-6.3) is Duk-Sun. “Kids these days only know the quadratic formula, not life. You don't know either,” her friend remarks. She's not the best student, but she's the type to bring people together. She's the show's serotonin factory. I almost teared-up in ep1 when she had her moment. In Duk-Sun's family we have sis, Sung Bo-Ra, played by Ryoo Hye-Young. She is one of the leads in Law School-8. It's an amazing transformation from one part to the other. Their brother, No-eul, is the youngest, even though he looks 20 years older. He doesn't sound like it when he talks, but his singing voice is wonderful. Sung Dong Il is Deok Sun's father. With credits going back to 1993, he gets alot of work. My first look at him was the show Sisyphus-8 and I became an instant fan. Lee Il Hwa (The King's Affection-8.3, Lie After Lie) is Deok Sun's mother.

Ryoo Joon-Yeol (Lost, The Night Owl, Alienoid) is Jung-Hwan. Duk-Sun treats him like the last man on earth she would fall for. Ahn Jae Hong (Be Melodramatic-8.7) plays his brother, the obsessive Kim Jung Bong. He is delightful. The more he's on screen the more I love him. Ra Mi-Ra (Black Dog-8.2, The Good Bad Mother) plays their mother, the ”Cheetah Lady” Kim Jung Bong & Jung-Hwan's mom. She can sing and dance! Kiim Sung Kyun portrays that family's dad. He's happy and harmless. Married to Ra Mi-Ra, he's terrified of her. This actor is wonderful in Moving-8.5 & DP-8.4.

Ko Kyoung-Pyo (Flower Boys Next Door-7, Strongest Deliveryman-6.6, Private Lives-8.1) is Sun-Woo. This guy is darling. Kim Sun Yong is Sun Woo's mother. I'm a big fan of hers. She's fabulous in Crash Landing on You-9.1 and Her PrivateLife-8.

Taek is played by Park Bo-Gum, who is a good looking guy. Taek is a dork. He didn't finish school because he plays Go. ALL he does is play Go. He wins, too. Just ask any Japanese or Chinese citizen. They ALL know him. They can't beat him. He needs looking after, though. He would starve if nobody fed him. One can tell he's handsome, but he bears little resemblance to the gorgeous ML in Record of Youth-5.8, where Mr. Park plays a handsome actor/model and is clearly the reason ROY is overrated. He's a cutie; it's understandable. Choi Moo Sung is Taek's father. He is wonderful in Prison Playbook-8.4 and also appears in Stranger S2 & The Nokdu Flower. He can play a bad guy, but he's super-lovable as a good guy.

Lee Dong-Hwi is Dong-Ryong. All he craves is the home life that the others have, but his parents are stern, impersonal, and successful. They're /never/ home. He never gets a home cooked meal. His parents never notice what he's doing or even when he's not there. He doesn't even refer to them as mom and dad, he only refers to them by their professional titles: Chief Jo and the Dean. (BTW, the Dean blows his image when he starts dancing). At one point Dong-Ryong gets a case of piles. I have to look that up; it's just hemorrhoids. What's truly shocking is that it made the paper! The paper was a BIG deal back then. People actually read it. Dong-Ryongcan can sing respectably, too ~ Well enough to win the singing contest, perhaps? Not telling. Yoo Jae Myung plays Dong Ryong's father. I've seen him in Itaewon Class-8.9, Uncle Samsik-8.4, and am currently watching him in Vincenzo. He's different in everything, and he's absolutely superb. His part here is small; it's almost wasted.

R88 is about nostalgia and the warmth of a good family and caring neighborhood. Only one family has some extra w💰n, but even without money, life gets no better. It's time to watch Knight Rider together! Beepers! (I'm proud to say I never had one). They kill time with Cats-in-the-cradle (the string and fingers variety) board games, origami, games played with pen and paper…. There's no phones and video games are strictly at arcades. Speaking of life without cell phones, 2 people arrange to meet on a date. They wait all night on different floors at the same restaurant. They never find out because they can't text e/o.

The dad's work and the moms tend to the home (except chief Jo). When one mom has to visit her family, the 3 men in the house devolve into neanderthals the moment she exits. How they got the place back in shape in time is a harrowing tale and practically a near-death experience.

They make fun of the Korean penchant for keeping the score “even.” One mom needs rice for dinner and sends her kid to get it from a neighbor with some food as thanks. The neighbor sends back kimchi with the rice and this starts the kids on countless food exchanges before dinner. The viewer can't be certain they will even get to eat! Problem solved. They decide to go eat together on the street.

First Comes Family. Then Comes Love. The most crucial decisions kids face are choices of mate and profession. “If you love someone, tell them now, before your fleeting days become filled with regrets,” is the sage advice. One party will hesitate and be out maneuvered by a more determined and proficient strategist. Consequently, we see some truly great kissing in ep19.

They outdid themselves with retro colors, wardrobe, and hairstyles. The kids are RAD, but the moms look like the 1950s. One day they make the best snowman ever! The unreliable weather forecasts play a hand in that episode. Looks like ttey borrowed a motif from Superbad-2007 in ep11. One of the dads does a living room dance that's hilarious. It's pretty good, actually. 🥁“Soonguri dang dang, soong dang dang…”🥁 Woo Hyeon has a cameo. It's a knee-slapper.

The edge of seventeen: Ep17 is the heartbreak episode. Many get their hearts stomped, but ep19 is great, and the wrap-up is wonderful. I took my time working through the show. At first, the sheer length of it was slightly daunting and it took a few episodes for me to decide how much I liked it. Well, I like it. I like it alot. There's really no weaknesses; it's pretty rare for a show, especially a long one, to have nothing to complain about. We'll let the teenagers do all the complaining while the audience can just sit back and enjoy the show.


QUOTES📢

When people get stronger, it's not through their pride, but when they throw away their pride.

Loving someone doesn't mean that you don't hate them, it means that you can't hate them.

Don't act thoughtlessly. A real man should conduct himself calmly, with prudence like a grand mountain.



〰🖍 IMHO

📣8.5 📝8.5 🎭9 💓7 🦋6 🎨6 🎵/🔊7.5 🔚8 ♦ 🌞7 ⚡3 😅5 😭4 😱2 😯2 😖1 🤔4.5 💤0

Shazams: Even If a Memorable Day Comes by Sughum Hong & Lovers Who Struggle by Shin Hae Chul are both good.

Age 12+ for language- B!+ch, @$$, $h!+, f💣s - multiple, but in just 2 scenes. Rated TV-15+

Re-📺? 🆒

In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:

Boys Over Flowers 8 ~ melodrama to the max;
Strongest Delivery Man-6.6,
The Miracle-7.7,
Racket Boys-8.3,
Private Lives 8.1;
Familiar Wife-8.5,
Cheese in the Trap-7.7,
Law School -8,
My Liberation Diary-8.9,
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