Answer Me, 1988

I've been thinking of writing a review about this tvN drama for so long. Since it's the holiday, I've actually had the chance to binge-watch this wonderfully made drama, downloaded it months before but was only testing the water, and now I'm completely flabbergasted at how great this drama is. Like its siblings, this drama has its peculiar charm of having a really nostalgic feels by being so detailed over the events happening in that year, and years after. Similarities between each season of Answer Me is still there and felt really reassuring, like having many flashbacks and maintaining the original concept of 'take a guess who the husband is'. I loved the previous Answer Me 1994 and Answer Me 1997, but for this third Answer Me.. I felt like being much more emotional for every episode. Many people also said that it's the best out of other Answer Me's seasons. If they ended the series here, I'm not surprised. It would feel safer for the producers to just step out while you're on the top of it. But it would also make many fans feel sad, including me. 

Basically, the amplification of emotional turbulence in each episode is probably due to the fact that the stories are all based on five families in the little block of Ssangmundong, that means you will get five times the tears and laughter. I feel so much respect for the writer by being able to create this wonderful series, and on top of it, ending the season with twenty episodes while maintaining the much appreciated detail over all the conflicts regarding these five families. The conflicts in each families and between each families are so detailed that by the end of it, you will really understand the reason and the solution of each conflicts, and the role each character played. At the same time, the drama reveals the most basic human emotions that everyone can totally relate in the context of relationships between friends, family, and lovers. Every flavor, every color that you would taste or see in those relationships are thoroughly written in each episode with love, understanding, and care. The feelings of having childhood friends that treasure you, of being mistreated by your family, of being so treasured by your only family, of accepting a new family member, and of letting go the memories of people who have left, it's all there out in the open weather of Ssangmundong block. Each character is unique and also flawed, making each family also flawed and unique, portrayed in every meal time, sleep time, and morning in each house. 

The set is also thoroughly crafted with careful details of how the actual life in 1988 Seoul. They must have worked very hard searching the props, like snacks, gadgets, music records, furniture, even cars from back in the day. The production team really did a good job in assembling the environment well for the actors, making the drama enjoyable for us all. Let's not even mention the soundtracks and sound effects, absolute perfection. Some of the soundtracks are remakes of the older songs, they used it for the youngsters' conflict but for the parents' conflicts they use the original songs. The most important aspect of all is the script...I learned a lot about story-telling from this drama. The writer knows exactly how to make a great climax by revealing the most important events in the most important moments, after all it's about timing (referring to ep 19 and 20, LOL). Anyhow, it's needless to say that I recommend this to any of you who reads this. Answer Me 1988 is now officially on the top of my favorite korean drama list, beating Master's Sun's years of reign.