When Life Gives You Tangerines: A Love Letter To Parents Everywhere

This Netflix Korean drama tells the story of Oh Ae-sun (Lee Ji-eun), a bookloving girl who dreams of leaving her hometown, and Yang Gwan-sik (Park Bo-gum), a steadfast athlete with a heart of gold as they fall in love on Jeju Island in the 1960's. Their romance experiences all sorts of triumphs and tribulations as time passes and they eventually start a family.

I had heard great things about this show prior to watching it, including many people crying during their experiences. I'm not ashamed to agree; this show had me bawling my eyes out, but in an incredibly satisfactory way. The tears came because the writing was magnificent, the acting was phenomenal, and the story was so heartwarming. There was no need for explosions or zombie apocalypses since the narrative itself was already incredibly engaging. As a viewer I kept wanting to know what would happen next, whether that was a sincere conversation or a moment of physical heroism (which happened more often than I thought would in this kind of genre).

Slice-of-life dramas are not usually my favorite, but watching the evolution of Ae-sun and Gwan-sik as they developed into parents was incredible. Struggling through every problem under the sun made their eventual successes so worth the wait. What remained consistent during the passage of time and societal changes in Korea was their love for each other. It resurrected some optimism within me, and it was so needed. I want someone who would literally swim across an ocean for me, is that so hard to ask?

There was great satisfaction watching this drama, seeing Ae-sun and Gwan-sik's children having mirrored life experiences. I liked how the focus was on an ordinary family; the joys and heartaches of living affected them the most intensely, but were also the most genuine. This show honestly made me reflect on the sacrifices my own parents most likely went through to raise me, solidifying my already existing gratefulness. I even recommended it to them, because I thought they would enjoy it and maybe their difficulties would be recognized. People's agreed consensus of watching it is correct, since there's so much warmth, sincerity, and laughter included.