Reply 1997 (Korean, Drama)

The most well directed Fiction TV program I have ever seen. The screen play and d detailing in the drama is out of the world amazing.

The drama with Korean name 'Eungdabhara', tells the story of friendship, first love, and life. A light hearted trip to your school life, and to the moments of of life where you learned something out from your life.
Unlike other Dramas, this one has great literature value also. It feels like you are reading a book, when at the end of each episode a character teaches you some lessons that we should follow in life, or tells something amazing about life that we had not yet noticed.

The non-linear story telling is used too good in this drama, and it keeps people at curiosity and anxiety, also it helps to avoid the unwanted parts of the story. Till now, I had thought that that kind of story telling can be done well in a Movie only. Well, movies tend to be of 1 and a half or maximum 2 hours. So to maintain the flow of non-liner stories will be easier in that short time. Some of the English TV series such as 'Gray's Anatomy' have done this non-liner thing in single episodes and did wonders with it.
But 'Reply 1997' uses the non-linear way from starting episode till the ending one. Well, the most zig-zaging time line is used in the second episode, that part is a bit confusing if you don't pay attention, still it gives out a lot of feel and keeps us curious about the situation.

The notable thing is this drama is the detailing it gives. How the childhood friends, Yoon-Jae and Shi-won shares the food from one plate or drinks from same straw, while talking casually like it is a not big deal. How a Shi-won wipes her washed hand on Tae-woong's suit indicating that she considers him in the older generation (I remembered how I used to wipe hands on my mom's sari palloo).
Or even if it something like, when we don't yet know if Yoon-jae and Shi-won are a couple yet, and at the reunion meeting, Shi-won's bra strap shows outside, and Yoon-jae reaches out and, put her t-shirt in the right way. Just a moment of detailing and the story goes to another level.
And these are just one or two of the derailings used, there are a hundred more like these in the Drama.

Next thing to notice really is the ending word from each episodes. They leaves us thinking about those sentences. It either teaches us something, or just makes us go back and view our lives...

 

This Drama, also deals with a lot of other things. For one thing, this is a go back in time thing. So story happens mainly in year 1997. All the main elements of this year comes in this drama. The long lost things like audio tapes, tape recorder, old video games, beepers, shell mobile phones, and other equipments come in the story making us go back to a nostalgia. Not just these, the songs used in the Drama are the hits of 1997-1998 time, giving the feel of the era. Even the hair style from that time is used effectively in this drama.

Music is a really big factor in Reply 1997. Well of course it is, since it tells the story of a girl who is crazy fan of the first idol group in Korea. The story basically follows the two idol groups H.O.T. and Sechkies. But it also showcase really good songs from other artists of that time.

Another factor in 'Reply 1997' is that it doesn't use the usual Seoul dialect Korean, and goes for the more wilder dialect from Busan. Well, since the story happens in Busan. But it gives a whole lot of other feel to hear every one in the characters (except Seoul returned Hack-Chan) speak in the wild dialect of Busan Korean.

Reply 1997 is also a package of surprises. They announce from the start itself that one couple will announce their marriage in the reunion meet, and then keep us wondering who might that be, and till the last moment keeps us curious about the Yoon-jae - Shi-won - Tae-woong triangle love story. In the last episode, when Shi-won is in labour room, and they call for her husband, and we are shown both Yoon-jae and Tae-woong is running towards the labour room. Till then, the secret is kept.
The surprise package doesn't end there. There is also a surprise in character Jun-hee, till episode 3, which we never expects in episode 1 and 2.
And no, the chain of surprise elements doesn't end here either. There are a lot of famous actors and celebrities hidden inside the story of Reply 1997. Many famous Korean faces can be found in small small cameo roles through out the story. (Well, that is better enjoyable if you are a Korean and know all these faces. For me, I knew they were famous only afterwards).

Also, for those who love romance, there are three love stories to enjoy in this Drama. The main one is of of course, the triangle between Yoon-jae, Shi-won and Tae-woong. The story of Hack-Chan and Yi-jung is also really cute and lovable.
But we get an extra story of Shi-won's parent's love story in episode 9, which I really really liked. Though it is only for some minutes, that story do leave us with a nice memory, and we may never forget it coz of the cuteness of the whole thing.

The coming of age side of the story is really well written and directed. Also the way how they grow up and face each other's growth that is awesome. In the words of the writer of the show, ' Everyone is different. That's the way of the world.The way of growing up.The age of 18. We were growing up, and therefore changing from each other.At the same time, we had to confront another growing pain, that of accepting others who are changing'.
It is one of the things that I think I hadn't yet noticed, and when I heard this sentence 'i thought, wow...that is so true.

So in short the whole package of 'Reply 1997' contains all these...
1. A rocking non-linear way of story telling
2. Immense detailing to the story
3. A thought to think about at the end of every episode
4. 1997 nostalgia elements and props
5. Music used
6. Busan dialect Korean
7. Full of surprises
8. 3 romances.
9. Coming of age
10. Awesome story of friendship, first love and life...

Well, isn't all these in one thing really worth a watch.

Well, since we have gone through all these, let's go back to my original way of writing about a Drama.

Technical Details : There are 16 episodes. Episode 1-14 are of half an hour length, and episode 15 and 16 are each of one hour.

Characters :

Sung Shi-won : An energetic 18 year old girl, who is a total absolute fan of the idol group H.O.T. She is bad in studies, and bad mouthed, and naughty. Always fights with her dad. She doesn't really know what to do later in life, nor does she care. When she gets the lowest marks in class and her dad scolds her for that and ask what is she going to be later in her life, she innocently says 'Tonny Oppa's wife' (Tonny of H.O.T idol group). Shi-won is total fan of Tonny Ahn, and has nickname of 'Tonny's wife'.

Yoon Yoon-jae : The perfect guy at school. He has the top marks in the school and is handsome and popular with girls. But he doesn't really care about the girls, and has a bit of stubborn personality.
His parents who were good friends of Shi-won's parents died when he was a child, and Shi-won's parents have treated him and his brother Tae-woong as their own kids ever since.
Shi-won and Yoon-jae are best friends since childhood. Such best friends that they are like twins. They fight and they share everything.
But when Yoon-jae hits puberty, he began to develop a romantic attraction towards his best friend Shi-won.

Yoon Tae-woong : Yoon-jae's older brother. He is already college graduate and is a teacher in Yoon-jae's and Shi-won's school. He is a computer genius, and later develops many programs that makes him rich and famous.
He was once been in a relationship when Shi-won's older sister, Song-ju. But Song-ju dies in an accident. And Tae-woong can't manage to forget her. That is when he start noticing that Shi-won is a bit like her sister, and that makes him see her as a woman and not his younger-sister-like girl, and he falls in love with Shi-won who is 10 years younger than him.

Moo Yi-Jung : Shi-won's best friend.She is really famous for two things, one for being cute and two for liking anyone and anything too soon and changing things she like too soon.
She used to be H.O.T fan, but soon moves on to be a Sechkies fan. She first likes a teacher, then goes on to like Yoon-jae. She even ask him out. But being rejected, she constantly tries to get him to like her, but, later her fate gets her a really lovable love story with Hack-chan...

Do Hack-chan : He gets transferred to the boys' class, and has moved to Busan from Seoul. The boys, Yoon-jae, Jun-hee and Sung-jae takes him as the coolest guy ever because of his personality, charisma, and immense collection of porn. They declare him god. But his one weakness comes out when he is confronted by Yi-jung and Shi-won.
The boy who has seen women only through porn gets confused and shy when around real girls, and can't be normal around them.
On top of that Yi-Jung doesn't really mind touching him casually all the time for various simple things, which gives Hack-chan almost a heart attack.

Kang Jun-hee : Amazingly well mannered, and cute boy. When Yoon-jae is 1st in studies in school. Jun-hee is 2nd in studies. He is also some what of an H.O.T fan and he hangs out with Shi-won a lot, leading to make Yoon-jae jealous. Because of his nice personality, even Shi-won's mom loves this kid a lot, and all ways tell everyone that Shi-won should date Jun-hee, or some guy like Jun-hee.
Though he is usually silent and well behaved, he is an amazing dancer, and show some of his best moves at times.

Bang Sung-jae : The most talkative guy in school and maybe in city. He is the class monitor and is has to run around for every single thing a teacher asks for. He doesn't have any big qualities and is just a normal school boy, who likes good looking girls, porn, music, sports and video games.

Sung Dong-il  : Shi-won's dad. He is a professional coach for a base-ball team. And he is always worried about his daughter who doesn't have a goal in her life. He is always fighting with Shi-won for this, and yet is a really loving dad.

Lee Il-hwa : Shi-won's mother who is from Busan. A really energetic lady who always stands up for her daughter when her husband is scolding her.

Cast :
A lot of idols are in the cast.
->Sung Shi-won is played by  Jung Eun-ji of A-Pink idol group.
->Yoon Yoon-jae is played by Seo In-guk who won the singing reality show 'Superstar K' in year 2009
->Do Hack Chan  is played by the first generation idol Eun Ji-won of Sechkies. As Sechkies and Eun Ji-won plays a big role in the story of the drama, Do Hack-chan is told to resemble Eun-ji won a lot, where as in reality the role of Do Hack-Chan is played by Eun Ji-won himself.
-> Kang Jun-hee's character is played by Hoya of the successful famous idol group 'Infinite'.
->Younger Il-hwa is played by Park Cho-ryong of A-Pink idol group.
-> A lot of other famous faces are in cameo roles.

Story Line : 
In year 2012, a bunch of youth meet at a restaurant for their high-school re-union. And the flash back of their life from year 1997 starts.
Sung Shi-won is an 18 year old, girl who is crazy fan of idol group H.O.T. Her best friend Yoon-jae is falling for her. But he doesn't know if Shi-won likes him that way or not. When Shi-won's another best friend Yi-jung ask him out, he tries to give Shi-won hint that he like her, by asking her to make him 'not date' Yi-Jung. But Shi-won is dense, and doesn't get the point.
Yoon-jae still want to confirm his and Shi-won's feelings, and kiss Shi-won. But he gets kicked and beaten by Shi-won after that, because she has not yet developed those feelings.
A transfer student Hack-chan comes to school, and gets close with the gang, but the cool guy Hack-chan can't get along well with the girls.

Yoon-jae gets all jealous and insecure when Jun-hee and Shi-won becomes close, and he tries everything to keep Shi-won to himself. But that is not really required, because Jun-hee and Shi-won are actually just friends and Jun-hee likes someone else (??? Who? I don't want to say and spoil the surprise).
Yoon-jae's brother Tae-woon gets reminded of his dead girlfriend when he see Shi-won and he develops feelings for her.
Yi-jung tries to make Yoon-jae like her but fails every time, and this gets sympathy of Hack-chan who likes her. And when Hack-chan treat her with love, thy become a couple...
When Yoon-jae decides to confess to Shi-won that he likes her, he gets to know that his older brother also likes Shi-won. He is put in fix, and he never confess, where as Tae-woong does confess later, and Shi-won and Tae-woong gets together as a couple. But Shi-won's feelings towards Tae-woong is not love, and he is actually just like an older brother for Shi-won. But she doesn't really know how love is to differentiate her feelings for Tae-woong as just bother-sister love. And when Yoon-jae distances himself away from her, because of his heartbreak pain, she feels confused about the sadness inside her. She wonders why is her and Yoon-jae's relationship which was a simple friendship turning in to something that is really complicated to explain.

Along with that Tae-woong is really serious about his relationship with Shi-won and refuses to let it go ever, and hang on to Shi-won telling her how he likes her. Well, the point is Tae-woong doesn't know about Yoon-jae's feelings.

As I said, till the last episode we can't figure out whom of the Yoon brothers gets Shi-won in the end. When midway through the episodes when we are fed up with the mystery and decide 'let's just watch the drams without bothering about that', the story taunt us by dropping in little factors like Shi-won wearing a ring, where in past both Yoon-jae and Tae-woong gifts her with a ring. Or where Shi-won's husband likes Ice Caramel Mocha coffee, and both Yoon-jae and Tae-woong liking that coffee. Or Shi-won's baby's eyes being referenced to as 'small eyes, like her father', when Yoon-jae and Tae-woong's eyes are almost similar and small.
All these drive us nuts and makes us yell, who the hell is Shi-won's husband?
And that is when we see the nurce at hospital asking for Shi-won's husband, and both Tae-woong and Yoon-jae running to the labour room...

Well, either could be the husband, till that last episode.

My Ratings of this Drama :10/10

My Top 10 Korean Dramas

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