Reply 1988 is like a cup of warm tea on a cold morning, the kind of drink that warms your soul. Nothing can compare to all the emotions that you feel while watching this drama. Let's talk about the drama now (It'll be a little long :D)

CHARACTERS:
The main reason why this drama feels like home is because of the whole cast who does exceptioanlly well in portraying their respective characters. And that includes all the members of Ssangmun dong neighborhood. My favorite character in this series has to be Jung hwan cause he is the type of person who may not be vocal about their love but will show it through their actions and I can relate to that. Tbh, I fell in love with him. The confession scene and all the scene he had with Deok sun made me cry so much cause there was so much love and hurt in his eyes that my heart ache for him. And that is the reason I initially dropped this series in 1st episode. Talking about Deok sun, Hyeri is perfect for the cast. The funny, carefree and loving nature she had in this drama was so heartwarming. Taek is just so pure and innocent. He was well loved and taken care by everyone and he was very steady about his feelings fro Deok sun too. Sun woo is the ideal son who cares so much about his mom and sister. Although he had some hard time accepting Moo-sung, he never hated him or Taek. And lastly, one of my favorite character of this drama which is Dong ryong literally did so good cause he is funny yet emotionally mature given he doesn't receive much attention from his parents. Whenever he popped up in any scene, I just laughed cause his acting and role is so fit for each other. Though most of you might have hated Bora during first episodes, she is not evil or aloof. She is just that way cause she has to be a strong independent woman to make her family live a good life in future. Also she softened alot in later episodes. My next favorite character in this series is Jung Bong. He's hilarious and his dumb yet fascinating hobbies made the series really funny. And kudos to Miran, Il-hwa, Sun-young, Moo-sung, Dong-il, Seong-gyun and Jae myung for being the perfect cast ever.

STORY:
The story of this series is about youth and friendship of 5 people who grew up together in the same neighborhood and the changes they face as they grow up. It was really heartwarming to see how 5 of them were so close to each other. The bond they had was so wholesome. Also, I loved how Miran and Seong gyun never thought of others as inferior although they were well off. They always helped the others and made sure everyone was fed. That is what I loved about this drama. The three ladies of Ssangmun-dong: Miran, Il-hwa and Sun-young sharing so much love and food with each other and never having any evil thoughs towards each other.
Also the love triangle in this story is heartbreaking but you will never ever hate any of them. I dropped this drama in first episode cause JH and DS was not the end game. But as I picked up the drama and continued to watch it, I realized that it was never about them really. Yes, there was plot of romance, but this drama is much more than the love triangle. This drama navigates through friendship, relation between parents and children, moving out of the house, financial issues and romance. Everything that we experience in our youth is what is shown in this drama. And I bet you will cry so much in most of the episodes. I have never cried so much in a drama before. And especially the last scene of last episode is such a tearjerker. And I just relaised that the last scene of last episode and first scene of first episode is same. The way I cried so hard during both is unimaginable. Also when whole neighborhood moves out, I felt so empty inside as if I was the one moving away from them. But this is life, we cannot be around the same people forever. Eventually, some will leave and some will stay.

This drama is a must watch cause this drama has perfect balance of happiness, comedy, sadness, anger, hesitation and love. Nothing will stay same in our life. We will pass our youth age and when we look back, we realize that it's the people that made our youth the way it is. Cheers to our youth where we made new friends, fell in love for the first time, had rebelling thoughts against our family and experienced a heartbreak. Now as we pass our youth, we have left some people in the past but carried their memories with us. But we all remember our youth, the memories we created and the love we had. This drama reminisces about our youth and maybe that is why we feel empty once this drama finishes.

Lastly, thank you to Reply 1988 for giving us such a heartwarming drama where we rememebr our youth, which will never come back but we'll revisit it time and again. Thank you to all the casts who gave justice to this drama and the crew involed in this drama.