I watched a lot of shows in my time, in all sorts of languages, and some that were crazy long or crazy short. I've seen it all, and don't even get me started on the amount of movies I watched. But one thing that draws me to K-dramas the most is how relatable they are. Even though they may be dramatic and over-the-top at times, they are filled with feel-good feelings and scenes that have you questioning it all. Reply 1997 is a classic drama that is mentioned a lot, but it was only recently that I decided to watch it, and I have many thoughts.
Meet the group of friends who live in Busan, South Korea. The story takes place in 1997, but progresses into early 2000's as they embark into college and working life. Then around 2013, when the drama aired, the first scene starts with all of them at the high school reunion, and there is an engagement and a married couple. All Reply series begin like this; the goal of the viewer of the drama is to guess which guy the lead girl (in this case, the girl in the middle named Shi Won) ends up with.
Before I started watching this drama, I thought it would be pretty obvious, but the writers are very good at throwing you off and have you questioning your theories. It's really interesting in this aspect alone, while most other shows have a set couple from the beginning.
Shi Won is the main character of this drama; you get to meet her wacky parents who are absolute gems to the drama, as well as get to analyze on which guy she would end up with. Aside from that, however, Shi Won is a major fan girl of the group H.O.T who was popular in Korea in the 90's. She is shown having fan wars, attending all their events, writing fan-fiction in class and even sleeping outside their houses. As a major fan myself, I can relate to her and her over the top and scary fangirling made the drama worth watching with that alone.
Shi Won is often an emotional wreck, constantly fighting with her parents and best friends for these boys. Her character is strong-minded and stubborn throughout the drama, which makes her lovable. She even ended up getting into college because of fan- girling (see parents? It's not a waste of time!).
Among the group of the friends, one of the boys is homosexual, which is practically unheard of in K-dramas. They are usually made out to be jokes in some shows, but in this drama, they respect him, which made me fall in love with the show further.
You may have heard of bromances, but what about truly beautiful female friendships? These are underrated! There are so many shows that try to pin women against each other, but in this drama, Shi Won and her best friend truly care about each other no matter what and are still as close more than a decade later.
...Maybe I spoke too soon.
Well, still not curious enough to watch it? Aside from all the drama and wacky moments, there is a lot you can take from this drama. No matter how bad you think you are, as long as you have a dream or goal and want to accomplish something, you can do it, Shi Won's character is living proof of that. I recommend this drama for those who not only love romance but can also appreciate friendships, family and growing up. It's worth-watching even if you want to reminisce about your first love.
Not to spoil the plot anymore, but it is truly worth watching, and was a drama beyond it's time.
