By far the very best Korean drama I have watched for the year 2025 (so far!), When Life Gives You Tangerines is an incredible family saga spanning the lives of one family who grew up on Jeju Island, South Korea from the 1950's through the 1990's to the year 2000. I laughed, I cried, I waxed nostalgic for all those lost decades, and I came away from each episode applauding the screenwriter Im Sang Choon's lofty, poetic writing style. She is exceptional, having written prior dramas I also loved, including When The Camellia Blooms, Baek Hee Has Returned and Fight For My Way. As the drama unfolded I kept getting the feeling that this drama of hers was paying homage to some of the old classic Korean family dramas from two to three decades ago, a style that is sadly, rarely ever produced today. Her Korean name in Chinese actually means Plentiful Imagination and she sure displays much of that in her writing style! Perhaps some of this story might have been biographical of her own life, since the main female character in this drama grows up from childhood dreaming of becoming a writer.

Director Kim Won Seok is also supremely talented, having given us excellent, unforgettable dramas such as My Mister, Misaeng, Signal, Cinderella's Sister, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, and Partner. Casting, production team, and cinematographers were all perfection as well.

Our main cast includes the beloved Lee Ji Eun (screen name I.U.) who always picks her drama projects very carefully, impressing us with her myriad, dynamic performances in dramas such as My Mister, Hotel del Luna, Scarlet Heart Ryeo, Producer, Persona, and Dream High, and films such as Dream and Shades Of The Heart. Her leading man, handsome, sweet Park Bo Gum, is always solid in his acting as well, having delighted us in great dramas such as Encounter, Moonlight Drawn By Clouds, Tomorrow's Cantabile, I Remember You, Record Of Youth, Itaewon Class, Bridal Mask, and the adorable drama special A Still Picture. 

Playing their characters when older are wonderful, beautiful Moon So Ri (The Legend, The Legend Of The Blue Sea, Haneuljae Murder, films Ode To The Goose, Peppermint Candy) and the fascinating Park Hae Joon who can play villains brilliantly like in Doctor Stranger and My Mister, or good guys perfectly such as in Missing Noir M. I almost loved the older couple actors more than the younger ones! that's how great they were (or maybe I felt that way because I'm no Spring Chicken myself!). Experience Shows. :)

THE STORY:

Oh Ae Sun (various ages child actresses Choi Ye Won, Kim Tae Yeon, Yoon Seo Yeon) as a bright young girl living on Jeju Island in the 1950's, along with her abalone diving (haenyeo) Mother named Jeon Gwang Rye (Yum Hye Ran, Goblin, When The Camellia Blooms, The Glory), has a dream from an early age of growing up to be a professional writer; she especially loves poetry and gets straight A's in school. Her Mom is very proud of her but because of her long hours diving on the sea isn't always available to be the type of Mom Ae Sun really needs. Her Mom has had two husbands - one had died, who was Ae Sun's Dad - and the second one is Ae Sun's lazy, unemployed step-father Byeong Cheol (Oh Jung Se) who really can't be bothered with taking care of her or her two younger brothers. Gwang Rye sends Ae Sun to live with her birth Dad's family because they are more well off but Ae Sun hates it. She would prefer to live with Mom. When Mom gets wind of a poem Ae Sun wrote at school all about how lonely she felt missing her Mom finally Gwang Rye takes action, goes to the school and has a hissy fit there, complaining that Ae Sun's poem should have won First Place. She goes to the home Ae Sun is living in and has a temper tantrum there, wrecking the place in her anger at Ae Sun's neglect. She wisely brings Ae Sun back home to live with her.

Because of her admirable and strong personality Ae Sun earns the quiet love of a little boy who lives near her named Yang Gwan Sik (various ages child actors Lee Chun Moo and Moon Woo Jin - the latter I absolutely loved in Castaway Diva!). He follows her around like a lovesick puppy. She can do no wrong in his eyes. Sometimes Ae Sun gets tired of his constant fascination with her and tries to avoid him. Then when a sudden tragedy kills her beloved Mom at only 29 years of age (a lung disease frequent to Jeju fish divers), Ae Sun begins to find more comfort in Gwan Sik's steadfast love and devotion.

Once in her teenage years Ae Sun (I.U.) yearns to go to college but there's no money for it so she is forced to do some fishing and selling her wares on the street in an attempt to raise the money. Gwan Sik (Park Bo Gum) still loves her but she still keeps dissuading him from pursuing her romantically. What's left of Ae Sun's family tries to set her up with a potential husband named Bu Sang Gil (Choi Dae Hoon) who owns a cafe but Ae Sun wisely declines; she can tell he's a pompous fake and would never be true to her.

Then when it looks like Gwan Sik is reluctantly going to leave Jeju to become a professional athlete Ae Sun finally realizes what he means to her and chases after him onto the pier from which his boat had just left. When she screams out for him frantically he jumps into the water and swims all the way back to the pier to throw himself in her arms.

The two of them decide to get married and start a family; however that means the bright, talented Ae Sun will have to put away her lifelong dream of getting a college degree and becoming a professional writer. She chooses domestic life instead. Gwan Sik becomes the main financial provider by working on a commercial fishing ship, and Ae Sun's grandmother Kim Chun Ok (veteran actress Na Moon Hee) dies and leaves Ae Sun a home near the water that Ae Sun's Mom had always loved.

In a few years the married Ae Sun and Gwan Sik have three children, two boys Yang Eun Myeong (Lee Chae Hyun) and Yang Dong Myeong (Shin Sae Byuk), and a daughter named Yang Geum Myeong (Lee A Ra). In 1968 a huge typhoon hits Jeju Island and tragically their son Dong Myeong perishes in it. Practically the whole town watches as Ae Sun holds the dead body of her little son on the road and weeps profusely. Gwan Sik runs up in horror on the scene and he joins in Ae Sun's public display of grief. (Man, did I cry hard during that scene!!!). Ae Sun had blamed herself because she had left the house during the storm looking for her daughter who she learned had fallen off her bicycle but while gone from the house little Dong Myeong had left to go looking for her and was drowned in the storm.

Somehow Ae Sun (now Moon So Ri) and Gwan Sik (now Park Hae Joon) go on day by day, and concentrate on their two remaining children, but the grief of losing that son is always in the background of their relationship. Their daughter Geum Myeong (now played by I.U. too) does well in school like Ae Sun did and the couple work hard to save money for her to go to college and get the degree that Ae Sun failed to achieve.

Geum Myeong has a young military man named Park Yeong Beom (Lee Jun Young - a real scene stealer) who is fond of her but he's often away on long trips overseas so there's not much time for any full romantic relationship to develop. (I was actually hoping they would end up together because he had a nice gentle personality like Geum Myeong's Dad). Eventually she grows up to marry a more flamboyant theater owner named Park Chung Seob (Kim Sun Ho - not too fond of him!) and earns her college degree and becomes a famous writer, documenting her mother's life story on Jeju, thereby earning life achievements that her Mom Ae Sun had not achieved due to her choice of marrying Gwan Sik and raising children instead of pursuing academic goals.

Years go by and in the 1990's Ae Sun and Gwan Sik are still as close as ever as they enter their senior years. They never argue and are easily the longest, happiest married couple on Jeju Island. Ae Sun tries writing poetry again in her old age, hoping to fulfill her childhood dream of publication in her own right. Then Gwan Sik's health begins to suffer and the entire family concentrates on getting him the best medical care possible. Will they be able to extend his life or will Ae Sun tragically have to go on without the love of her life?

When Life Gives You Tangerines is a must see for all Korean Drama fans around the world. Hopefully it is available for all regions of the world on Netflix and not just a few. I especially loved the chemistry between I.U. and Park Bo Gum. During a press conference I.U. opened up about her experience working with Bo Gum. She said, "We are lifelong friends. We've known each other since our teenage years, but this is the first time we truly got to work together on a project, and strangely from the very first shoot, I wasn't nervous at all. I felt completely at ease, as if we'd manifested that connection since childhood, just like Ae Sun and Gwan Sik." Plus the chemistry between their older counterparts Moon So Ri and Park Hae Joon was glorious to watch, just total perfection. How WONDERFUL and RARE it is to watch a drama story where a married couple are not once attracted to anyone else but are just totally devoted to each other. The child actors all were sweet in their roles, too, and all the actors playing the villagers were interesting and often amusing to watch. When the drama was over I really felt that I was losing beloved family members.

If you yearn to enjoy an unforgettable family epic drama you really can't do better than this one. It has justly earned its A+ from me. I am sure it will earn lots of Baeksang Awards for 2025 when the time comes. Enjoy!

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