My sensitivity as a human being has slowly increased, after watching Reply 1988, a melodrama that has so far come closest to the emotional side of me in twenty-two years of life.
Tells the story of how five friends live as neighbors as well as playmates. They did everything together, from eating together, chatting, watching movies, or listening to music, which at that time still used tape.
At first glance I imagined, how nice it was to live in that era..
However, episode after episode proves to me that my early guess not entirely true.
We start with Deok-sun, the main character of the story; a girl whose family’s economic ability is below average, and at home she seems not considered because her sister, Bo-Ra, is far superior in all fields than her.
The figure of Deok-sun, who is always cheerful, enjoys life, seems to make me think, does she have sadness that she can’t tell? Or did she really put her ego aside for the sake of the family?
In the end, she spilled everything when Bo-Ra, her sister, had a birthday. They celebrated the day at a small dining table.
The birthday cake is prepared, after they start singing and blowing out the candles, their father and mother then want to light another candle for Deok-sun’s birthday, because they want to save money, so their birthdays are always celebrated together.
Deok-sun then burst into tears and said,
‘Why am I the only one being treated like this? Am I really a joke?’
As a second child, she doesn’t want to buy cake like his older sister, but only wants to be considered and cared for as a child who is loved by her parents.
Sometimes, families can’t always divide portions correctly; it all depends on which angle we see it from. Patience is the right choice, as long as you are strong.
In that year, you can’t express it via social media; your only escape is yourself.
There are many more interesting stories from every character in this drama, starting from running out of money and then being embarrassed to borrow from neighbors even though they have known each other for a long time, running away from home because they are not cared much as a children, parents who always hide their affection for their child, and the most common things : romance between friends, which is always confusing.
I believe that era was still better than now, because everyone still thinks of others, because there aren’t too many distractions, and everyone always puts aside their ego for something more important and better.
Something that is rarely seen nowadays.
Reply 1988 is a must-watch, because it’s not just like others tearjerker series, but contains lots of plots that feel so real that you forget that this is just a drama.
