I’ve re-watched this drama a lot but still can’t get enough of it. Are you familiar with the Reply Series? There are three by the way – Reply 1997, Reply 1994 and Reply 1988. If you’re a “millennial” like me, you will definitely enjoy these three because of all the nostalgia.

The Reply Series genres are comedy and romance. I always have the same amount of laughs & tears on every re-watch. That’s how much I can relate to the series.

I’ve decided to blog about the series by year instead of release date. Reply 1988 is the last one to be released and in my opinion the one with the best plot. It’s such a tear-jerker and with enough comedy to keep the viewers interested.

Synopsis

Sung Duk-seon, Choi Taek, Kim Jung-hwan, Sung Sun-woo and Ryu Dong-ryong live in the same neighborhood in Seoul called Ssangmun-dong. They’re the best of friends who laugh, cry and experience first love together. Duk-seon is not the brightest but the friendliest of the bunch. Taek has the highest IQ but innocent and can be daft even with the simplest things. Jung-hwan hides his emotions very well but he’s the most caring of the bunch. Sun-woo, as described by Duk-seon, is the “normal” one among them as he is well-behaved, smart and a great son/brother. Dong-ryong has zero interest in academics but he’s great at giving advice about love and life in general. Just like Reply 1994 & 1997, the drama will make you guess who ends up with who. I will end the synopsis here to avoid spoiling it for you.

One thing that sets Reply 1988 apart from 1994 & 1997 is the family genre. All of them are basically family because of how heavily they rely on each other. Their sense of community is so strong that it made me wonder why it can no longer be observed today. The subplots that revolves around family issues are the ones to make you cry.

Another thing that sets it apart is “Satoori” or the regional dialect. Reply 1998 has less of if than the other two. 1997 & 1994 relied on satoori for comedy which works if you’re South Korean or at least familiar with the language.

I have no comments about the cast. They were all just right which I think is the beauty of it. Nobody really stood out because they all complement each other.

I give this drama a 10/10 because I love everything about it. I wouldn’t change a thing. This is not my favorite among the three by the way. Maybe because it’s not the first one I’ve seen. I’ll be posting a review of my fave “Reply 1994” soon. Thanks for reading!