Reply 1997

Overall Rating: A
Subtitles: Netflix subs were decent. There were moments when the subs felt like they didn’t make a whole lot of sense or seemed inconsistent from one scene to the next, plus they definitely reversed name order in the Romanization which I hate, but otherwise they were pretty strong I thought.
Brief Synopsis: At their high school’s 15 year reunion a group of friends reminisce about their old school days. Watch it on Netflix here.

**Full show spoilers below the image. If you do not wish to be spoiled, do not proceed**

Ending Type: Certified happy ending like man they give you everything in the best way. I am here for it.
Characters: I started watching Hospital Playlist and learned that the same team had created the Reply series so I put this one to tie me over between the weekly Hospital Playlist releases. Real talk: I binged the entire thing in 2 days. I was excited because the characters and their friendship was what really sold me on Hospital Playlist and I’d heard these were the same. I was not disappointed. What a delightful and wonderful cast of dynamic and hilarious characters. Shoutout to Si Won’s parents who were both phenomenal in their obnoxious and ridiculous way, and shoutout to Yoon Tae Wong who was an important character even if I never felt even remotely attached to him.
Let’s start with Sung Si Won (Jung Eun Ji) who is probably not actually the main character but was kind of framed that way. She’s an obsessive fangirl for the group H.O.T. and particularly group member Tony. And when I say obsessive I mean literally fangirling over Tony is her life and at moments it’s endearing but often it’s frightening and obnoxious. There was not a whole lot to make her an overly likable lead, which I kind of loved. She was an OK friend but got mad really easily about really silly stuff and was not overly observant about what was going on with the people she spent literally all her time with. But there was something endearing about seeing a character that was just who she was, unapologetically. I definitely loved her and cared about her story which is testament to the writing and to Eun Ji, because in real life I’m pretty sure I’d want to be as far away from this girl as possible.
I think the actual main character was Yoon Yoon Jae (Seo In Guk), who had most of the narrative voice-overs and tied all of the characters and plots together. The best friend of Si Won who grew up with her, spends most of his time at her house, is basically family, and also in love with her, Yoon Jae actually had a lot going for him. He could be a bit of a jerk but showed up for his friends when they needed him, and he actually had focus and was successful in his endeavors. What was great about his character was how he didn’t buy into or agree with a ton of stuff his friends did, but he never tried to stop them from pursuing what made them happy–he was quietly there for them regardless, even if he was grumpy a lot of the time. This was one of those stories where the male love interest has a compelling enough story that all you want is for him to get his happy ending, even if his ideal girl is a bit of a ridiculous weirdo.
Kang Joon Hae (Lee Ho Won) was easily one of my favorite characters in a drama ever. Partially because he was actually gay, that was established early, and it was treated with respect throughout the show. To the extent that when Si Won finally admitted her feelings for Yoon Jae she took time to apologize to Joon Hae because she did not want to dismiss the feelings he’d had for Yoon Jae since high school. Even Yoon Jae, when he finally learns the truth of Joon Hae’s feelings, has only love for him. In general Joon Hae was just the sweetest and best friend possible to everyone in their group– like none of them deserved him for even a second. I’d give anything to have this guy as my friend, on the reals.
Mo Yoo Jung (Shin So Yul) was fun and silly, a nice combination of a complement and a foil to Si Won. As a certified side character there wasn’t much to her personal story, but she added a lot of fun to every scene she was in and her side romance was absolutely on point.
Same to her love interest and latest addition to the friend group, Do Hak Chan, who is a transfer student from Seoul. His character was quirky with a lot of situational humor– a porn addict and the school’s porn source who also is obscenely shy around women to the extent that he doesn’t even know how to sit next to a girl when he first meets the friend group. He added a lot of fun to the scenes he was in, but otherwise didn’t have a lot to his character.
Finally Bang Sung Jae (Lee Si Un) is the loud friend who never stops talking, is usually the sounding board for all other friends’ problems, and is almost entirely unaware of anything going on at all times. Incredible comedic relief with a nice dash of his own story in there to tug at the heart strings, he was a truly enjoyable character.
Relationships: The main relationships in this were:
The friend group
Si Won’s family group which included both Yoon Yoon Jae and Yoon Tae Wong
Si Won and Yoon Jae
Si Won and Tae Wong
Yoon Jae and Joon Hee
Yoo Jung and Hak Chan
The friend group, obviously, was the heart of the story. I loved how real and pure the writing for this group was, how they were all absolutely teenagers with their idiotic and hot-tempered moments, but how their bond was so deep and natural that no matter what happened the next day they’d all be hanging together again. My favorite thing about the way this was written was it wasn’t like they all shared deep secrets or long, intense, emotional moments– they were just a pack. They ate and played and studied and did everything together, and each was exactly themselves and the rest just rolled with it. So into it. So here for it.
Si Won’s family group, including the Yoon brothers who her parents unofficially took in following their parents’ untimely deaths, is a wild riot but another deeply real set of relationships. Parents that fight but still love each other, kids who disagree with their parents but still love them and vice versa, people who aren’t always honorable or don’t always do the right thing but still take care of the people they love, brothers who love and respect each other but don’t know how to handle desiring the same things. I loved how much simpler her parents’ love for the boys was, as you would expect from people who are doing their deceased friends a favor. There wasn’t the same complex parent/child dynamic, but instead just parents trying to do their best by the kids they felt needed them. There was a lot to unpack in the relationships between these five people, but it was all expertly done and deeply wonderful.
Yoo Jung and Hak Chan had a very cute, very high school relationship. Like, did not even kiss, broke up at the drop of a hat, everything was the end of the world kind of relationship. But they were so cute it was worth it– seeing him show up on the bus for her father’s funeral was an A+ side romance.
Joon Hee and Yoon Jae was highly unexpected for me, as I am not used to seeing LGBTQ+ representation in K Dramas. It was one-sided, obviously, as Yoon Jae was 1000000% unaware of Joon Hee’s crush, but Si Won and the viewers knew about it and it was treated kindly and with respect for the whole show, especially since Yoon Jae and Joon Hee were so close. I would have loved to see Joon Hee happily with someone else by the end, but the fact that he got a nice voiceover to talk about what first love was like was very gratifying for me.
The one relationship in this that bothered me hardcore was the Si Won/ Tae Wong relationship. Like first of all he was WAY older than them and was her teacher and had almost no interaction with her before the sudden plot twist about him liking her. Additionally he’d previously dated her older sister who was deceased, so that had a weird vibe. Mostly they had absolutely NO chemistry and every scene they had together was very awkward and uncomfortable. The show kept trying to sell it like they could possibly be endgame, but there was nothing in the world I wanted less and I didn’t appreciate this plot in the least. Like it was one of those, “this is just here to delay the actual romance of the show from happening,” and it sure felt like it too. I would have loved for this plot to just be removed completely.
However Si Won/ Yoon Jae was EVERYTHING. Like there’s something extra special about two people who know each other as well as those two did, who are as comfortable as they were, discovering love. It was awesome because there wasn’t a lot of romance to it, like they were stupid kids who both had bad tempers and fought a lot, but they knew each other best and were there for each other in the important moments. As adults their chemistry was completely on fire, the same playful banter, the same constant bickering, the same best friend affection holding them together like gravity. I have never been more invested in a teenage love story in my entire freaking life, y’all. And the fact that the entire final episode was a look at their relationship– bless these writers. Just bless them.
High Points: Almost everything about this show, but the characters and relationships for sure. The nostalgia as well– that peek into the 90s was a real blessing.
Low Points: The weird left field Tae Wong/Si Won thing.
Final comments: Highly, highly recommend this show. Fabulously entertaining and masterfully done. I can’t wait to watch the rest of the Reply Series.