When Life Gives You Tangerines Korean Drama Review – Kdrama Kisses
When Life Gives You Tangerines follows the story of a rebellious poet (IU) and a quiet, steadfast man (Park Bo Gum) living on Jeju Island as they experience joy and sorrow over the course of their lives.
IU plays O Ae Sun who is a fiery and rebellious young woman who dreams of being a poet. She can be hot-headed and impulsive, but she is fiercely loyal to those she cares about. Her journey through life is filled with many challenges, but she always does her best to rise to meet them.
Park Bo Gum plays Gwan Sik who is a reserved and quiet man. He is like a rock that is steady, dependable, and someone you can always count on. His steadfastness and loyalty to Ae Sun plays huge part in their lives.
Then we have Moon So Ri as the middle-aged Ae Sun and Park Hae Joon as the middle-aged Gwan Sik. They continue the journeys of these characters through adulthood by maintaining some elements of their younger selves but also growing and maturing.
Whew! When Life Gives You Tangerines was quite the emotional ride! I cried during every single episode of this drama which is not a common occurrence for me. I definitely recommend you bring the tissues for this one! We get a beautifully written story with fleshed out characters that are full of depth. It seems like it tackles all of life’s issues from love to family to poverty to sickness to death and so much more. This is a hard hitting drama that you definitely need to be prepared for.
It’s very much a slice of life series that depicts its characters in very real and relatable ways. The drama centers around the story of Ae Sun throughout the span of her life. This is a story that dives deeply into very real experiences and draws out so much raw emotion. The drama is packed with heart as we experience the ups and downs of Ae Sun and Gwan Sik’s lives from their tumultuous beginning to their tender golden years.
It begins in rural JeJu Island where poverty is common and everyone is struggling to survive. Ae Sun dreams of getting away and becoming a poet, but real life has a way of bringing her back to Earth. We see her and Gwan Sik in their childhood years dealing with difficult circumstances and loss.
The trials continue into their teen years and young adulthood as the friends start to explore a romance. Gwan Sik really becomes a rock and a grounding figure in Ae Sun’s life. He balances out her fieriness. Their romantic relationship comes with many challenges right from the beginning and continues as they start a family. Life is hard, and surviving in the midst of poverty is always difficult.
They definitely have their happy moments where we get to share in that joy with them, and I loved seeing their bright smiling faces. But they face a lot of sorrow. The kind that will rip your heart out. It’s difficult to watch such hard working and caring people face so many difficulties. Many times, it felt like life was cruel, and they just couldn’t catch a break.
We then see them progress through middle adulthood as new challenges arise. In a rapidly changing world, they do their best to adjust. New challenges await them as their lives center around their teens as they grow into adulthood. These are two such loving parents that only want the best for their children. It was so heartwarming to see just how much they did for them.
There are many more happy moments, but also many more sad ones. Life is a constant up and down. They could never get too comfortable before the next crisis was upon them. And watching them move into their senior years definitely brought some heart wrenching situations.
The drama does utilize a lot of flashbacks to multiple time periods. For the most part, this worked for me and added needed context and a lot of emotion to present happenings, but there were some times during the second half of the drama where the constant jumping between multiple time periods was a bit much. This wasn’t a major issue but was something that did stick out to me.
In many ways, this isn’t my ideal kind of drama as it is a bit too raw and real. I tend to prefer my dramas to feel a bit more escapist and fun. I knew what I was getting into going in because I really wanted to check this one out, but it’s not my preferred genre and definitely made me feel a bit more depressed than I would like. I still highly recommend it though.
Overall, When Life Gives You Tangerines is a beautiful story of love, family, survival, and finding meaning in the everyday things. Life is never easy, and all of the difficulties make people wonder if it’s worth continuing, but life goes on even after tragedy, and it still contains so much joy and love that it gives strength to those who carry on. The drama truly embodies that sentiment as we go on a deeply moving journey filled with so many raw emotions. It’s the kind of drama that leaves an impact and will stay with you long after you complete it.
My Rating: 8/10
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