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Answer Me 1994
Last year there was this amazing K-drama called Answer Me 1997 / Reply 1997 that I gushed about here after I watched it (for the record, it's still probably my all-time favorite), and when I found out they were going to be doing a spin-off called Answer Me 1994 / Reply 1994, I was ridiculously excited! I mean, it would be a different story, but I had high hopes (that I tried to keep low) since it would be written and produced by the same people. I waited on watching it while it was airing because I just don't really have the patience to follow along, but I did download the episodes as they came out and finally decided on watching it the last couple days since the timing would be good right since I took some time off work for the holidays. So on Christmas, my brother and I began our Answer Me 1994 marathon and we finished the series yesterday which was great since the last episode aired yesterday. Sadly, the drama left me a little disappointed. =/
Answer Me 1994 is about a group of students from the country coming to Seoul for college and they all live together in the same boarding house. The whole who's the husband thing is present in 1994, but they do a better job of keeping the mystery up until the bitter end. x_x This, along with the extended length of the series, contribute to the show being a giant letdown. x_x
So, the thing is, the show is LONG. Like, each episode is about 1.25-1.5 hours long and there are 21 episodes total! AM1997 had about 30-40 minute episodes and there were 16 total, so the difference is HUGE. Because of the length, I felt like the episodes kinda dragged and actually would have been better with a little more editing down. Regardless, the first ten or so episodes were definitely the best. I mean, the first episode pretty much felt like the longest ever and was actually pretty boring. But it picked up afterwards and I was petty into it. I loved the characters and how they fit together and I was particularly charmed by Chilbong. ♥ His crush on Najung was basically the cutest thing ever and he was just the sweetest and I was pretty much rooting for him from the get-go because, hello, SO CHARMING! The other man in the love-triangle for Najung's affections was Trash, who is kinda like a brother to her, and he's pretty awesome too. In the very beginning, I was okay with him being endgame too, but those feelings died off the further and further we got in the series until I was basically like, PLEASE, ANYONE BUT HIM!!! I mean, I'm not gonna say I hate Trash, because he's adorable and sweet and thoughtful, but he blew off Najung's first confession as a joke (even though he obviously knew it was the truth) and we spent, like, ten or whatever episodes seeing him treat Najung like a sister (except a little more) that, when he finally got off his ass with his feelings, I was pretty much in DNW territory! I felt bad for Chilbong since his feelings weren't returned by Najung and he knew it, but I thought, during the mall disaster, that it would have been a turning point in Najung's feelings, but it wasn't. =/
When Chilbong had his confrontation with Trash, I thought, this is it! I mean, Trash just confessed his feelings (to Chilbong) and he seemed like he was going to make a move on Najung (and still, my team Chilbong feels were strong, even as my ship was starting to sink)! But then, like, three months go by without him doing shit! Seriously, WTF?! He just acted the same and I was just pissed, like seriously, pissed! (I know, it's not even my ship, LOL.) And then there was the gang going to Samchunpo for New Years and Chilbong not being able to make it 'cause he had an interview. Then, when his interview was postponed until the next day, he decided to take a six hour bus ride just to see Najung! (And he barely got to see her and had to make that same trip back for his interview the following day!) That's is seriously making a statement! (What did Trash do when he got that same day off? Go play with his friends, which is fine, except for the giant pang that his first thought wasn't to go hang with the gang.) And his confession to Najung was probably the sweetest ever, OMG. ;____;
I just hated how the show jerked us around with who the husband was going to be. Things got dragged out way too much and it seriously got on my nerves. I mean, by the time Trash proposed, I kinda knew deep down that Trash was endgame, but my Chilbong feels, they still made me have hope (even though he was in Japan by that time and pretty much out of the picture for a couple episodes). I just wished they stopped that triangle nonsense at that point and would start giving Chilbong a happy ending, like everyone else, but no, they dragged that shit right until the very end! Six freakin' years that Chilbong was in love with Najung and they couldn't even let him move on just to keep the freakin' suspense and it just broke my heart! I'm not gonna like, by Friday night, we stopped on episode 17 before going to bed, and on Saturday morning, I went looking for the download/subs for episode 21 (last episode) and got blindsided by a spoiler and, for reals, I pretty much cried my eyes out in the last couple episodes everytime Chilbong was even on the screen. ;___________; Even when it wasn't a sad moment because I knew and he hadn't moved on and for reals, episode 20 killed me SO SO MUCH!!!
Basically I'm pissed at how the writers decided to handle Chilbong's character. He had the most tragic story being in love with the lead and her never even having a moment where it seemed that she returned his feelings. He also didn't have a good relationship with his parents and was pretty much always the one on the outside looking in. Even when he was abroad, he was just so lonely and it broke my heart. When he had the TV interview and said he missed his friend, I was just so sad! And then he mentioned all of their names when he said it was his birthday and how they all forgot! Everyone ran to call their family to brag that this big star said their name on TV, but not one of them even called Chilbong to wish him a happy birthday! And then when Chilbong finally admitted to himself that he had to move on and told Najung, I was sobbing! Seriously, my heart was breaking left and right, I was just so invested in him having a happy ending! Even in the end, we only saw him bump into the girl that would eventually be his wife -- it was barely a minute on the screen, no development at all! I'm just SO MAD!
Then we have Najung, the main lead! I really liked her, but I felt like, once she started going out with Trash, her whole character changed to just revolve around him! I don't really think she grew much as a character as a result. Her whole life she wanted to marry Oppa and her feelings never wavered. She would just go on anywhere on his beck and call. It was kinda sad to me because she had a lot of potential. I actually liked that she went to Austrailia and was hoping for her to grow more as a person away from Trash. Basically I just wanted her to be awesome and not defined by her love for Trash, which is basically what happened in the second half of the series. x_x
As for Trash, what can I say. I loved him a lot in the beginning and I really liked the brother/sister relationship he and Najung had together. It's probably because of that that I couldn't get on the Trash/Najung train. I was okay with them in the beginning, but since it got dragged on and on, I was expecting a really important reason for him to be so slow on responding to Najung's feelings and the reason was just the obvious one and I just wasn't okay with that. I mean, seriously, it took Chilbong calling him out to make him even act on his feelings and even then, it couldn't do it for eons! He's just lucky that Najung hadn't moved on by that point! I also thought his proposal wasn't very romantic at all and the only reason it was romantic was because Najung thought it was. To me, it just screamed of insecurity and how can you even be in a relationship serious enough for marriage if you don't even trust your partner? =/
In other news, let's talk about what I did like, since I spent forever complaining! I loved Samchunpo and Yoonjin SO MUCH! They were seriously the cutest ever! For a little bit, I kinda wanted Haitai and her to get together and I was, like, a tiny bit disappointed when they revealed her husband to be Samchunpo, but it was just a tiny pang. It also helped that it was revealed very close to the beginning of the start of any speculation between the three of them, so it cut the blow A LOT. An
d, guess what, it didn't change my enjoyment of their relationship development in the slightest! I was still charmed by their interactions and loved how things developed between them. I loved that their relationship grew and they had their own obstacles to overcome and I just feel like they probably would have been a stronger MAIN couple than Najung and Trash because they actually grew, whereas Najung and Trash were pretty stagnant.
I also loved Haitai! He was just so charming! I loved how he and Samchunpo became unlikely friends. I also loved that Samchunpo and Yoonjin went out to visit him all the time on their weekend dates. ♥ Seriously, that just warmed my heart, what cute besties. ♥♥ I had a feeling he would end up with his first love, but for a while there, I was hoping like mad that something would develop between him and Najung because I just couldn't handle Trash being endgame.
As for Binggeure, I think they could have done better with his character. He was basically shown as a character that didn't really know what he wanted, but eventually found his way. I loved that he was confused because we've all been there, not knowing what we want to do in life. But they also portrayed him as being possibly gay, or at least, confused about his orientation and possibly having feelings for Trash. It was all super subtle, but I'll admit, when that stuff started, I kinda hoped he was gay and that he would be Joonhee's boyfriend in the red car (AM1997), lol. Anyway, when they had him go outside and wait for someone, mirroring Joonhee in AM1997, and when a red car was coming, I was like OMG WILL THEY?! And I waited with baited breath, but then in the end, the red car was a fakeout!!! I was SO MAD, like SO SO MAD! I mean, it's one thing to have him not being gay, which is fine and I even thought Die-Die was adorably smitten and everything, but it felt too fast! Why couldn't they have developed that more? And more importantly, why the fuck did they have that fakeout?! It was really unacceptable to me because I love Joonhee and I want him to have his happy ending and it seemed like it could have been with Binggeure with the red car and seriously, I was just so crushed, SO CRUSHED! ;_______;
Anyway, I just wished that they spent more time in the show developing all the characters instead of focusing on the stupid love triangle that was barely a triangle to begin with! The drawn out suspense was definitely a detriment to the series since it made the whole second half feel completely different from the first half and it also affected the characterization of the three in that they weren't really the same characters I loved in the first half. In 1997, even though the husband mystery was central, taking out the scenes from the present (which fuels the mystery) doesn't detract from the storyline. On the other hand, in 1994 the mystery took over the show and without the present scenes and the wedding scenes, we would just have a subpar love triangle story. (Seriously, in most love triangle stories, they at least have the lead hesitate between the two, but in this, Najung never even give Chilbong a glance!) Basically, I wish this was better and I don't know if I even want another Answer Me since it will most like NOT live up to the original. =/
In the end, I wouldn't say it was the worst show, but it defnitely isn't as good as the original. I could rewatch AM1997 and still have feelings of love, but I can't even imagine wanting to rewatch AM1994 because it just dragged. And, if you are considering watching it, 'cause it's not a bad show, I suggest you go in knowing who the husband is first before going in, to save yourself some heartache from rooting for the wrong guy, like I did. (And even then, your heart still might ache like mine, lol.)
Answer Me 1994 is about a group of students from the country coming to Seoul for college and they all live together in the same boarding house. The whole who's the husband thing is present in 1994, but they do a better job of keeping the mystery up until the bitter end. x_x This, along with the extended length of the series, contribute to the show being a giant letdown. x_x
So, the thing is, the show is LONG. Like, each episode is about 1.25-1.5 hours long and there are 21 episodes total! AM1997 had about 30-40 minute episodes and there were 16 total, so the difference is HUGE. Because of the length, I felt like the episodes kinda dragged and actually would have been better with a little more editing down. Regardless, the first ten or so episodes were definitely the best. I mean, the first episode pretty much felt like the longest ever and was actually pretty boring. But it picked up afterwards and I was petty into it. I loved the characters and how they fit together and I was particularly charmed by Chilbong. ♥ His crush on Najung was basically the cutest thing ever and he was just the sweetest and I was pretty much rooting for him from the get-go because, hello, SO CHARMING! The other man in the love-triangle for Najung's affections was Trash, who is kinda like a brother to her, and he's pretty awesome too. In the very beginning, I was okay with him being endgame too, but those feelings died off the further and further we got in the series until I was basically like, PLEASE, ANYONE BUT HIM!!! I mean, I'm not gonna say I hate Trash, because he's adorable and sweet and thoughtful, but he blew off Najung's first confession as a joke (even though he obviously knew it was the truth) and we spent, like, ten or whatever episodes seeing him treat Najung like a sister (except a little more) that, when he finally got off his ass with his feelings, I was pretty much in DNW territory! I felt bad for Chilbong since his feelings weren't returned by Najung and he knew it, but I thought, during the mall disaster, that it would have been a turning point in Najung's feelings, but it wasn't. =/
When Chilbong had his confrontation with Trash, I thought, this is it! I mean, Trash just confessed his feelings (to Chilbong) and he seemed like he was going to make a move on Najung (and still, my team Chilbong feels were strong, even as my ship was starting to sink)! But then, like, three months go by without him doing shit! Seriously, WTF?! He just acted the same and I was just pissed, like seriously, pissed! (I know, it's not even my ship, LOL.) And then there was the gang going to Samchunpo for New Years and Chilbong not being able to make it 'cause he had an interview. Then, when his interview was postponed until the next day, he decided to take a six hour bus ride just to see Najung! (And he barely got to see her and had to make that same trip back for his interview the following day!) That's is seriously making a statement! (What did Trash do when he got that same day off? Go play with his friends, which is fine, except for the giant pang that his first thought wasn't to go hang with the gang.) And his confession to Najung was probably the sweetest ever, OMG. ;____;
I just hated how the show jerked us around with who the husband was going to be. Things got dragged out way too much and it seriously got on my nerves. I mean, by the time Trash proposed, I kinda knew deep down that Trash was endgame, but my Chilbong feels, they still made me have hope (even though he was in Japan by that time and pretty much out of the picture for a couple episodes). I just wished they stopped that triangle nonsense at that point and would start giving Chilbong a happy ending, like everyone else, but no, they dragged that shit right until the very end! Six freakin' years that Chilbong was in love with Najung and they couldn't even let him move on just to keep the freakin' suspense and it just broke my heart! I'm not gonna like, by Friday night, we stopped on episode 17 before going to bed, and on Saturday morning, I went looking for the download/subs for episode 21 (last episode) and got blindsided by a spoiler and, for reals, I pretty much cried my eyes out in the last couple episodes everytime Chilbong was even on the screen. ;___________; Even when it wasn't a sad moment because I knew and he hadn't moved on and for reals, episode 20 killed me SO SO MUCH!!!
Basically I'm pissed at how the writers decided to handle Chilbong's character. He had the most tragic story being in love with the lead and her never even having a moment where it seemed that she returned his feelings. He also didn't have a good relationship with his parents and was pretty much always the one on the outside looking in. Even when he was abroad, he was just so lonely and it broke my heart. When he had the TV interview and said he missed his friend, I was just so sad! And then he mentioned all of their names when he said it was his birthday and how they all forgot! Everyone ran to call their family to brag that this big star said their name on TV, but not one of them even called Chilbong to wish him a happy birthday! And then when Chilbong finally admitted to himself that he had to move on and told Najung, I was sobbing! Seriously, my heart was breaking left and right, I was just so invested in him having a happy ending! Even in the end, we only saw him bump into the girl that would eventually be his wife -- it was barely a minute on the screen, no development at all! I'm just SO MAD!
Then we have Najung, the main lead! I really liked her, but I felt like, once she started going out with Trash, her whole character changed to just revolve around him! I don't really think she grew much as a character as a result. Her whole life she wanted to marry Oppa and her feelings never wavered. She would just go on anywhere on his beck and call. It was kinda sad to me because she had a lot of potential. I actually liked that she went to Austrailia and was hoping for her to grow more as a person away from Trash. Basically I just wanted her to be awesome and not defined by her love for Trash, which is basically what happened in the second half of the series. x_x
As for Trash, what can I say. I loved him a lot in the beginning and I really liked the brother/sister relationship he and Najung had together. It's probably because of that that I couldn't get on the Trash/Najung train. I was okay with them in the beginning, but since it got dragged on and on, I was expecting a really important reason for him to be so slow on responding to Najung's feelings and the reason was just the obvious one and I just wasn't okay with that. I mean, seriously, it took Chilbong calling him out to make him even act on his feelings and even then, it couldn't do it for eons! He's just lucky that Najung hadn't moved on by that point! I also thought his proposal wasn't very romantic at all and the only reason it was romantic was because Najung thought it was. To me, it just screamed of insecurity and how can you even be in a relationship serious enough for marriage if you don't even trust your partner? =/
In other news, let's talk about what I did like, since I spent forever complaining! I loved Samchunpo and Yoonjin SO MUCH! They were seriously the cutest ever! For a little bit, I kinda wanted Haitai and her to get together and I was, like, a tiny bit disappointed when they revealed her husband to be Samchunpo, but it was just a tiny pang. It also helped that it was revealed very close to the beginning of the start of any speculation between the three of them, so it cut the blow A LOT. An
d, guess what, it didn't change my enjoyment of their relationship development in the slightest! I was still charmed by their interactions and loved how things developed between them. I loved that their relationship grew and they had their own obstacles to overcome and I just feel like they probably would have been a stronger MAIN couple than Najung and Trash because they actually grew, whereas Najung and Trash were pretty stagnant.
I also loved Haitai! He was just so charming! I loved how he and Samchunpo became unlikely friends. I also loved that Samchunpo and Yoonjin went out to visit him all the time on their weekend dates. ♥ Seriously, that just warmed my heart, what cute besties. ♥♥ I had a feeling he would end up with his first love, but for a while there, I was hoping like mad that something would develop between him and Najung because I just couldn't handle Trash being endgame.
As for Binggeure, I think they could have done better with his character. He was basically shown as a character that didn't really know what he wanted, but eventually found his way. I loved that he was confused because we've all been there, not knowing what we want to do in life. But they also portrayed him as being possibly gay, or at least, confused about his orientation and possibly having feelings for Trash. It was all super subtle, but I'll admit, when that stuff started, I kinda hoped he was gay and that he would be Joonhee's boyfriend in the red car (AM1997), lol. Anyway, when they had him go outside and wait for someone, mirroring Joonhee in AM1997, and when a red car was coming, I was like OMG WILL THEY?! And I waited with baited breath, but then in the end, the red car was a fakeout!!! I was SO MAD, like SO SO MAD! I mean, it's one thing to have him not being gay, which is fine and I even thought Die-Die was adorably smitten and everything, but it felt too fast! Why couldn't they have developed that more? And more importantly, why the fuck did they have that fakeout?! It was really unacceptable to me because I love Joonhee and I want him to have his happy ending and it seemed like it could have been with Binggeure with the red car and seriously, I was just so crushed, SO CRUSHED! ;_______;
Anyway, I just wished that they spent more time in the show developing all the characters instead of focusing on the stupid love triangle that was barely a triangle to begin with! The drawn out suspense was definitely a detriment to the series since it made the whole second half feel completely different from the first half and it also affected the characterization of the three in that they weren't really the same characters I loved in the first half. In 1997, even though the husband mystery was central, taking out the scenes from the present (which fuels the mystery) doesn't detract from the storyline. On the other hand, in 1994 the mystery took over the show and without the present scenes and the wedding scenes, we would just have a subpar love triangle story. (Seriously, in most love triangle stories, they at least have the lead hesitate between the two, but in this, Najung never even give Chilbong a glance!) Basically, I wish this was better and I don't know if I even want another Answer Me since it will most like NOT live up to the original. =/
In the end, I wouldn't say it was the worst show, but it defnitely isn't as good as the original. I could rewatch AM1997 and still have feelings of love, but I can't even imagine wanting to rewatch AM1994 because it just dragged. And, if you are considering watching it, 'cause it's not a bad show, I suggest you go in knowing who the husband is first before going in, to save yourself some heartache from rooting for the wrong guy, like I did. (And even then, your heart still might ache like mine, lol.)