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If I could rate it more than 10 stars then I would! 4 episodes in and I can already tell this is/would be a masterpiece! Indeed, it's one of those dramas that only comes every 10 years and would remain iconic in this lifetime. I wish I could erase it from my memories and watch it again like it's the first time. Such a roller-coaster ride! It had me laughing then crying my heart out the next few minutes, then frustrated, then empowered. It's not just romance. It's a story about people-about life, dreams, hardships, persistence, and winning amidst these seemingly mundane life. Looking forward for the next 12 episodes!

This drama will go down in history as an iconic masterpiece of kdrama cinema. From the opening scene, this drama draws you in and takes you on a roller-coaster ride of emotions.

Just 4 episodes so far and already it is obvious that this drama is the future benchmark that all Korean dramas will be compared to.

The story, the cinematography, the acting, are all of the highest standard.

Park Bo-gum takes his latest role to a new level and shows such enormous talent in his portrayal of Gwansik. Women worldwide will lose their hearts and minds for him.

IU delivers, showing she can sing and act and do both at the highest possible level.

Every cast member in this drama should be proud of their achievement, because every single one has given a realistic and incredibly entertaining view into another historical time.

The scene on the pier is sure to go down in cinematic folklore as THE unmatched romantic scene of love winning against all odds.

Move over Romeo and Juliet... a new iconic love story is born!

Just 4 episodes have been released at the moment, but it already made me cry , laugh, angry, felt all kind of roller coaster of emotions, the script, writing, direction, cast , their acting is top notch, every supporting actor's too are sooo sooo good. IU playing dual role like a professional, you can see no similarly between aesun and gwanmijeo (both played y iu herself) her expressions, body language, dialogue delivery, her eyes, she is sooo soo good. And Park Bogum is also sooo sooo good, the character he plays , he did it soo well which made many women wish for Gwanshik in their life💜 .....

When Life Gives You Tangerines is a beautifully crafted drama that captures the essence of love, resilience, and the passage of time. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of Jeju Island, the story follows Ae-sun and Gwan-sik as they navigate life's challenges over six decades. The drama effortlessly blends romance, slice-of-life, and melodrama, creating a deeply emotional and immersive experience. What truly stands out is the exceptional performances by IU and Park Bo-gum. Their chemistry is natural and heartfelt, making every moment between their characters feel genuine. IU brings warmth and depth to Ae-sun, while Park Bo-gum's portrayal of the steadfast Gwan-sik is both touching and inspiring. Their journey is filled with quiet yet powerful moments that linger long after the episode ends. Visually, the drama is a masterpiece. The cinematography beautifully captures Jeju Island's landscapes, enhancing the emotional weight of the story. The setting isn't just a backdrop-it plays a vital role in shaping the atmosphere and emotions of the characters. Overall, When Life Gives You Tangerines is a deeply moving series that leaves a lasting impression. It's not just a love story-it's a reflection on life, perseverance, and the beauty found in everyday moments. If you enjoy character-driven dramas with stunning visuals and heartfelt storytelling, this one is a must-watch.

IU and Park Bo-Gum don't just portray Ae-Sun and Gwan-Sik, it's like they lived their life too. You laugh with them, you cry with them, you want to hug them and tell them that everything is going to be alright. You desperately want them to be happy. I wouldn't imagine anyone else play Ae-Sun and Gwan-Sik, they're outstanding, impressively good and extraordinary. Each moment is significant, memorable and special. The whole cast, screenplay and locations are noticeable and treated with meticulous attention to details. It's a binge worthy show. While watching every episode I've enjoyed it so much that I didn't notice the time passing by.

After viewing four episodes, I just can't sit still without saying a word about this new Netflix series. Definitely a must watch drama! Undoubtly, one of those which will be considered a masterpiece.

The main leads, IU and Park Bo-gum did a great portrayal of their roles. So are the other actors/actresses. Excellent performances!

IU is a born actress. She performs her roles with such easiness. The role is definitely hers the moment she shows up on screen: her gestures/movements; her facial expressions, her eyes especially; her voice/ways of delivering her dialogues; even when she does nothing, it shows her acting supremacy. I can never forget her performance , in "My Mister". It is one of the best portrayal of an actress I've ever seen. She did it again in "When Life Gives You Tangerines".

Park Bo-gum is a very good actor full of charm. This charm overflows when he plays the young Gwan-Sik. He is very convincing as the very lovable boyfriend/husband of young Ae-soon. One would like to embrace him with his kindness, affection and warm-heartedness. A good actor, indeed!

I am looking forward to the next episodes.

I gave my review after the first four episodes of this series. After 12 episodes, I still consider it a great show.

The cast, the cinematography, the soundtrack, etc... do not fail to satisfy. The actors, both leading and supporting roles, are wonderful. I am getting short of adjectives to define how good they are. Hats off though to IU, she is just outstanding in her double role! No doubt at all.

However, there are three performances that excel in volume 3. First, the appearance of Kim Seon Ho who masterly delivers a totally different character whom the viewers are not used to see him previously. Netflix somehow drops a bomb and creates a chaos by giving him a role that even his fans have difficulty recognizing him. He absolutely nailed it! PS. He always does in every role I have watched him.

The second one is the actress playing the mother-in-law. She is fantastic in delivering her dialogues. Her acting is perfect! The moment you see her, she gives the viewers the expectation of what she should be... a hate object. No unnecessary movements, just her "elegant wickedness"... and she does it with excellence! The third is, "her son" or "Geum Myeong's first love". He plays his character quite well. A nice guy who is hopelessly-in-love but with a totally weak personality... a mamma's boy and a cry baby. He gives the viewers the sight of being loving and kind yet pitiful, distressful, and ridiculous person at the same time... that makes one say in the end, "serves him well".

Eagerly waiting for the last four episodes.

Volume 4 (last four episodes) sets light to to many questions left unanswered before. It shares us joy to problems getting solved eventually... and it gives us sorrow upon watching the painful realities of life. Life's ups-and-downs. Wow, what a journey!

"When Life Gives You Tangerines" is finally over. Ae-soon and Gwan-sik adventures have come to an end. But life goes on. Their legacy continues. The tears and laughters they gave to the viewers stayed on.

Again, my respect to the whole cast. You were all great! Spectacular performances! Each and everyone contributes to the making of a masterpiece. Thanking of course the director, the scriptwriter, and the entire crew for giving us this wholesome and unforgettable drama. Congratulations for a job well done!

What a heartbreakingly beautiful show this is. It's the kind that quietly sneaks up on you, warms you with its sincerity, and then-bam-crushes your soul when you least expect it. And I loved every second.

The actors? So genuine it hurts. They don't just play their roles; they are their roles. Every emotion feels raw, real, and straight from the heart. And the main actress? I'm still in shock over how good she is. She doesn't just deliver a performance-she lives it.

And the visuals? Absolutely stunning. Every frame is so aesthetically and authentic, like stepping into a living, breathing world rather than just watching a drama. The story itself is beautifully sad, at times unexpectedly funny, and always engaging, leaving a bittersweet taste-much like tangerines themselves.

Starts with a peek to the present day and gives us exclusively the background for the whole drama! This drama is everything its meant to be. It provides reality of asian households in 60s and struggle of women along with the fight they have to put. It provides us the warmth with the dream and struggle of reaching it and settling with a dream of family and children.

Its also sassy in a way the love story is approached giving us sadness and also while being chaotic shows the importance of family in those time for protecting the dream of a children especially girls who were forced to work in household unlike boys who were loved and given every freedom. This is just not a drama but a peek into reality of that time, sometimes it gives sadness and sometimes it provides warmth.

WLGYT is a riveting drama depicting a young couple's love and devotion to each other in an era where girls were looked down on and used for maids and nannies. Both the ML and FL struggles to find their footing/courage with their families. This is a sweet but sad drama that depicts the couple's naivety while growing up in a remote (Jeju Island) town. IU gives an outstanding performance as the courage's spunky girl with ambitions of going to college and soon realize that her dream will not happen because her family is poor. Park Bo Gum is the young male that has always tried to protect/shield the FL from hardship. What's so funny and cute is that it's the female lead that really protects the ML in her own roundabout way. This is a well written drama with an excellent cast. The pacing is just right and the story will pull on your heartstrings. I totally enjoyed the first four episodes. I am all in for this journey of life!

Heartwarming! Full of emotions indeed!

I have been waiting for this drama like forever (since knowing from 2023), and finally it's here! Of course, I have been anticipating for this because of excellent actor&actress Park Bogum and IU! The caliber of acting of these two are just so great, no question! Kudos also to the little Aesoon and Gwansik (child and teen), their acting and emotions are superb! Actually, they're all great here!

The plot has made an overall impression; it is excellent in telling the story of life, love, dreams, and all of the problems that can be conquered with love, trust, and belief. We fail, but then we learn to be strong and endure.

This drama is so perfect. The reason why I like Korean dramas is that the actors' acting is so delicate. Others complain that this drama is so sad, but it means that the actors acted fantastic. Not only the main characters, but also the main actors, the main actors, and the child actors were all great !! Anyone who calls this drama overrated would not have watched it.

I cried a lot watching the drama, but it's worth it If you want to understand Asian sentiment, watch Korean dramas They'll show everything in true acting without lies !!!

By my standards, this is a masterpiece. I would also like to say that it is my life drama.

I cannot understand why this series is rated 9.3 (as of April 2025). If I compare it to the other multi-generational Korean drama Pachinko, this is much inferior. The main female character is extremely annoying, almost all male characters are total wimps who cannot put two sentences together. Once the series shows the elder parents, the characters become more tolerable and realistic. In almost every freaking scene somebody is crying (female and male). It is supposed to convey emotions and pathos but ends up just aggravating and ridiculous. Another ludicrous point: poor people in rural Korea in the 70's have always multiple layers of lipstick on. Really?

This is a rural love story TV series set on Jeju Island in South Korea in the 1960s. I think since most foreign audiences cannot understand Korean accents and dialects, it is not a big problem to watch. But for me who can speak Korean and understand Korean regional dialects, IU and Park Bo Gum use Seoul accents to play the male and female leads who were born on Jeju Island in 1950, which I can't understand. How can a person born in the countryside speak in the tone of an urban person? Also, IU is not suitable for the role of a mother, and her crying scenes often make me feel awkward.

I finally finished watching this drama because of Moon So-ri and Park Hae-joon's acting. Their actings deserve more recognition.

This drama will make you cry, laugh, be happy and let you experience a range of emotions. Even though only 4 episodes have aired, it is very good, and lets one experience the beauty of spring through the eyes of the characters. It is very heartwarming, and each season ends without cliffhangers, so you can just continue the next season without being on the edge. It's kind of like a feel good drama, and the direction, transition and script are all excellent. During the 4 episodes, I have experienced an upheaval of emotions that made me so invested in the drama. The actors in the drama, from the kids to the adults were well casted for their roles and I felt a lot of love/ hate for everyone of them. They did such a good job of portraying their characters.

This is a review of the first 4 eps of the series. And so far it's so beautiful! The plotline is simple, but the screenplay and beautifully written characters make this series worth watching. Another key aspect of this series is, the technical values, the production design is just too good. The cinematography and DOP are top-notch. Visuals are pleasing to the eyes. The music is good, not groundbreaking or memorable, but it suits the tone and vibe of the scene. Coming to the performances, IU excelled in all the shades and roles given to her. She steals the show as Ae-Sun. I loved every single frame of hers on screen. Park Bo Gum did an excellent job in his role. His character is very well-written. The rest of the cast did well too there is no bad performance in this series so far. The casting was done well!

This series ticks all checkboxes for making a web series a perfect watch from cast to good storyline and from technicalities to beautiful narration this has it all.

I can't wait for next eps!

The drama reminds me my parents who went through all these harsh times to support me. Their generation never stopped working for the next generation and the country rose from nothing.

It is much easier to understand the drama if you get to know the background of the time. Since Japanese Invasion and Korean War, the people in Korea had very hard lifes which I remember the country actually was the poorest in the world. Yet, the mothers and the fathers were still planting the dream of better life and hope for their children on the ashes of the wars in the small land where mostly has the mountains with no trees left.

The story is the true life story of you and your family who live now. And we still have the reasons to live this world, even though the life may be hard

My respect to all mothers and fathers in this planet.

This drama is blockbuster. You will cry amuse love care hate at same time.. I love this drama because it shows reality of life that's perfectly done by the actors. Amazing act , directed beautifully . Flashback is amazing.the way Story is defined is just amazing.. you can't say you are watching drama. You are living in the drama.. I'm in just love with the actors. Characters. It's hit before releasing the whole episodes.. Netflix should choose these kind of dramas . Not All k dramas are good but this one is great. If you watch once you can't leave the seat. All characters are amazing. Eagerly waiting for new episodes.

The storyline, relationship between the husband and wife, the acting, the cinematography everything is sooo good. My eyes are swollen because of crying while watching this. Park bogum character is such a green forest. I HOPE THIS LOVE FINDS ME. Also men need to watch this drama so they can treat women better.

IU and park bogums acting is phenomenal. The way he cries together with his wife and sacrifices his own life to provide for his family, also IUs character is so powerful, the way she fought with his husband's boss when she learned that he was being mistreated. We need more drama like 'WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU TANGERINE'

The everyday interactions and emotional connections between people may not seem like particularly weighty or attention-grabbing themes, but this series turns such seemingly ordinary material into an epic masterpiece. Spanning the protagonist's entire life, it delicately portrays not only the main character but also the significant people around them-each with their own personality, experiences, and growth. Yet, they share deep memories and emotions that tie them together.

Beneath this grand narrative, we get to see how individuals at different ages and in different family roles each have their own perspectives, thoughts, immaturities, and paths forward. Everyone comes from a family-and perhaps is building or has built one of their own-and we all play, or have played, certain roles within those families. For people from Northeast Asia-Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and China-there's a shared cultural context that runs deep, and audiences from these countries will no doubt find themselves deeply moved and resonating with various moments throughout the show.

The series goes beyond just family. It also touches on broader social and historical issues-how family background and economic conditions can influence a child's life trajectory, and how Jeju Island transformed from a small fishing village into one of South Korea's top tourist destinations.

Sure, I might have wished for a more concise narrative at times, or fewer comedic moments-but without a doubt, if you're looking to learn how to be a better person within your family, or if you're facing difficult challenges in your family relationships, this series will likely inspire, comfort, or even heal you in some way.

Who is giving this show 9.3/10 ?

It's a show that tries to be a lot of things and doesn't succeed. Bad acting by the girl who plays the main character, in a double role no less.

The actor who plays young Yang Gwan Sik is the one saving grace. A well written and well played character.

The screenplay which tries to float between sadness, happiness, poverty and levity, is all over the place.

The story deliberately tries to inject sadness every once in awhile to justify the tangerines bit.

This is apparently 'critically acclaimed' which is code for a show drowning in its own sadness.

There are dozens of better shows out there. Go watch them !

I teared up, cry laughed, then the tears and smiles wouldn't stop flowing. Thoroughly exhausted by the end of 4 episodes marathon in the best way possible. IU killing us softly with her drama...again! Never thought she would able to repeat the level of excellence achieved in My Mister, but only 4 episodes in, I suspect she will get VERY close (or even surpass). The whole cast and crew brought their A game here, noticeable especially after repeat viewing. Park Bogum has his best role of a life time. He is the sun, the mum is the earth, Aesun is the growing tangerine tree branching out facing her sea battaling the storms and waves. Applaud to them all.

Advice: DO NOT WATCH on Sun nights, colleagues keep asking about my red puffy eyes on Mon meetings. 😭

The original Korean title of the show is "You have done well" or "Thank you for your hard work". While the show centers around the story of the unyielding love of the main couple, it is set in a completely ordinary setting where the 3 generations of lives are intertwined. The amazing quality of this show is that everything that happened in the story can happen to anyone, the happiness and the sadness are all something we can emphasize one way or another because life is just like that. You cry not because the show tried to make you cry, but because many of the scenes in the show we can understand and we have experienced it before, and yet they were done so beautifully that touches the very core of your soul. The layers and layers of emotions were articulated in the most careful ways. If you just get a synopsis of the story alone there is nothing that stands out, but the show is an experience where you get to live the joys and sorrows these people had gone through, their challenges and small victories.

The show also has a lot of strong messages about surviving and not giving up, and how haphazard life can be and yet you can live every moment of it fully. There is nothing like this show ever, this is one of those rare gems that transcends entertainment into works of art.