응답하라1994 ~ Answer Me 1994

One of my favorite dramas of all time is Answer Me 1994. I watched it first in the winter of 2013, soon after it first aired and again in 2014. Answer Me 1994 is a comedic, light-hearted drama that follows the growing pains of 7 young college students in 1994, all of whom recently moved to Seoul from the countryside. At that time Seoul was (as it still is now) the major city in Korea, but even more than now, other parts of the country were still relatively under-developed, lacking many of the western chains that are ubiquitous today.

One of the reasons I love this drama is that it is essentially nostalgic — it is meant to appeal to viewers who grew up in that time period and to evoke the decade when Korea (and the whole technology world) were changing rapidly. The drama does this masterfully and helped me understand where certain aspects of 21st century Korea have arisen from.

Although all the characters have entertaining storylines, the main plot revolves around Sung Na Jung (Go Ara) and her future husband. The drama involves a frame story set in 2013 in which Sung Na Jung has just moved to a new apartment. The doorbell rings and through the door camera we see all the members of Na Jung's college hasukjip (homestay or boardinghouse). In a voice over Na Jung tells the audience that one of the men below is her husband. From there on, each episode contains a small portion of the frame story and then flashes back to the characters' college days as they reminisce.

So what do I love so much about Answer Me 1994?

• This is one of the best written dramas I have watched. The characters come off as natural, sometimes goofy and very likeable. There are no real villains and conflict comes mostly through the coincidences of life rather than any fatal misunderstandings.
• Go Ara does amazingly well portraying the outspoken, passionate and sometimes insecure Na Jung. Sung Il Dong and Lee Il Hwa have wonderful roles as Na Jung's father and mother respectively. The rest of the main cast — Jung Woo, Yoo Yeon Suk, Kim Sung Kyun, Son Ho Jun, Baro (of B1A4) and Min Do Hee (of TinyG)— are all at times hilarious, pitiable and charismatic.
• The drama provides a special glimpse into the Korea of the 90s. You can watch the rise of college sports and kpop with their respective fandoms, the feelings surrounding the IMF crash (when Korea declared bankruptcy) and the rivalry between Seoul and the other provinces.

This is one drama I can watch again and again and the characters and situations never get old.