The more you love someone, the more you may hate them.
You and Everything Else is the telling of the story about the relationship between two women who have known each other since adolescence. The show is told in eras from the perspective of Kim Goeun's character, Ryu Eunjung, from the time her and Park Jihyun's character, Cheon Sangyeon met in Elementary, to the time they reunite in the early 40s. This doesn't serve as a spoiler, but Cheon Sangyeon is terminally ill and requests Ryu Eunjung to accompany her on her final trip before his death.What makes this drama a standout to me is fantastic cinematography and acting from the case ensemble. I felt that the set locations, perspective viewing, and backgrounds in every scene were purposeful, and lovely. There is a subtle blur effect for nostalgia throughout the past eras, and I feel this serves to highlight that the stories are a recollection of the two, and the color palette would change accordingly to highlight the intended mood of a scene very well. Kim Goeun and Park Jihyun are two of my favorite actresses in general, and I feel that their range of acting were really tested here, with the latter personally stealing a bit of the show for me. The raw emotion and full body acting the two were able to display was fantastic, and what I loved a lot was how many one-shots there would be, further magnifying their acting prowess and professionalism.
I loved that this drama was not afraid to tackle complex characters, and intertwine them in the story continuum, with Sangyeon being the personification of toxicity and self-loathing throughout, and Eunjung being grounded and true to her sense of self, with no room for ifs and buts, while also being very sensitive and honest at her most vulnerable. Sangyeon comes from an opulent background, with her family being the ideal Nuclear Family via the eye test, but they're very dysfunctional at heart. Eunjung for most of her adolescence grew up without her father, and her mother struggled to keep them afloat from a socioeconomic perspective. In this presentation of the two, the two girls from completely different backgrounds are able to find comfort and solace within each other, while the threads the jealousy and insecurity continued to grow ever so slightly until explored more in the later eras.
Kim Goeun once again brings about masterful acting in the heavy emotional scenes, really allowing viewers to experience what the characters are feeling. She made me cry during Goblin, and did so once again throughout this wonderful series. I have not been able to watch Park Jihyun in much other than Flex x Cop, and random cameos, but this drama cemented her in my mind as a force to be reckoned with. If the two were in a scene together with their characters being the highlight of the scene at hand, it was a guaranteed hit. Emotions are evoked, thoughts are provoked, and tissues are soaked is where I found myself a multitude of times watching this, and it is an experience I am glad to have been able to have.
The characterization of everyone, the intertwining fates and progression of the story at hand was done very well. While it can feel slow at times, and if you hate a love-triangle this may not be for you, it was a story I could not stop watching once the ball started rolling. Themes of friendship, pity, forgiveness, betrayal were all at play and I feel that everything was fleshed out very well. I laughed, cried, cheered, yelled, at the triumphs and shortcomings that were shown, for this story felt so palpable and real.
This will definitely go down as one of the top releases of 2025 for me, and I hope to revisit this at some time. I had already planned to, but will now most definitely prioritize the future works of the two for my 'to watch' list as able. If you are hesitating to watch this drama, do not, because you will not be disappointed by this wonderful story of life and friendship.
Was this review helpful to you?
The Greatest K-Drama of all time
All the praise and positive remarks this show is, and will get, are rightfully warranted. Having known about this drama prior to its airing years before, I had nothing but high expectations for this. Given the amazing cast and crew, thank you My Mister, another masterpiece, it was drama of the year or bust for me. Let me just get started by saying this is the greatest work of television I have ever watched, and is now my favorite drama EVER.Just in terms of analyzation of a piece of film at its core, cast/crew, screenplay, cinematography, characterization, production, story-telling, pacing etc, this drama is masterful. Similar to My Mister, the Director does an amazing job in showcasing the nuances of life in general. From the grandiose events someone may experience in their life such as graduating school, getting married, getting your first paycheck, to the simple everyday things such as talking with a friend, or buying groceries, not one second of this drama is wasted, or unimportant in the grand telling of the story. Everything literally serves a purpose, and gradually builds upon one another as further themes are either explored and or introduced.
The actors ARE the characters. It's one thing to memorize lines and say them, it's another thing to ACT, to BE the character, and every actor and actress here became their character and acted their butts off. IU and Park BoGum deserve to sweep all Korean show awards this year with how masterful and emotionally provoking their acting were. The nuances in how they act with their body, from literally how they use their limbs, their eyes, and minute changes in facial expressions, and inflection in voice, were perfect.
One thing that can set a good drama from an amazing drama is the characters and their journey. The characters are so perfectly imperfect, and that's so beautiful. Like life itself, we continue to learn and change as we grow older. While the trendline in life is to become a better person in aspects (upwards), it is not linear. We have highs and lows, either or which may be sustained over an extended period of time. Perhaps we were more financially stable a decade ago, maybe I could control my emotions better when I was younger versus me right now who is supposed to be more mature and experienced. We grow and regress accordingly, and all the characters envelop these realities of life so well, that it feels like I was watching a real story, like this can happen (and maybe in some semblance when you divide by the 4 volumes, aspects of these stories have definitely been lived by another real person(s)). Because this story feels so real and palpable, it all the more allows viewers to connect to their personal lives and become more invested and appreciate what the cast/crew were trying to show us.
I can literally write a thesis on this show, but I will end it by saying that you will not be disappointed watching this show. If you are not affected by the brain rot of social media right now, aka having a short attention span, you will love this show, regardless of your experience with kdramas, or television for that matter. This show will have you laughing, crying, and contemplating life after. If you are not experiencing this while watching, you are the problem LOL (I say very kindly and semi-sarcastically, as everyone has their own preferences).
I feel that I have a good basis to call this the greatest kdrama ever given my watchlist. While I have not watched many kdramas comparatively to those who have watched for a long time (i'm a little less than two years in) I have watched the likes of Moving, My Mister, My Dearest, The Good Bad Mother, Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Hospital Playlist, which I feel are objectively masterpieces on all fronts of story-telling, and can confidently say that When Life Gives You Tangerines is in a league of its own.
Was this review helpful to you?
