‘Reply 1988’ is the Best Childhood Friendship K-Drama

Childhood friendships in Reply 1988

Reading Time: 5 minutes

PART II – Nostalgic childhood friendships

This is a much-awaited (by myself and a couple other people) successor to my “Reply 1988” blog post. I promise to keep it much shorter than my previous 7-minute-long blog, well mainly because I got so bored reading my own blog. Imagine the horror! I also admit I lost my own writing personality in the quest to use some SEO techniques to boost my blog. It is an ironic that the writing techniques used to grab attention make it boring and similar to so many other posts. That is a discussion for another time.

At the heart of ‘Reply 1988’: Childhood friendships

Life is all about the friendships that we create over our lifetime. I am genuinely lucky, as I have a beautiful set of friends from different parts of my life. I guess that is why I got so deeply lured into “Reply 1988“. My childhood gang has had a major impact on my life from kindergarten until now, strikingly similar to the series. We are all so different, just like Deok-sun ( Lee Hye-ri) and her gang, that we sometimes discuss whether we would have been friends if we had met later in life. Probably not. We are friends because we lived close to each other, adapted to each other’s idiosyncrasies, and fell in love with one another. That is the beauty in it, we didn’t have to be similar to be friends.

Reply 1988′ might not fascinate everyone

I believe that we relate to books and TV shows due to our own life experiences and the mindset we are in at that point in time, and not everyone reacts in the same way. I know quite a few people who aren’t fans of this series (yes, seriously!). The reason I love this series is due to its focus on a normal life and its everyday mundaneness. There are no glam dresses or over-the-top luxury goods sold to aspiring and drooling viewers. True luxury for me now, is to make our daily ordinary life very special.

‘Reply 1988’: Beautiful narration and direction

I often wonder if the writer Lee Woo-jung and the director Shin Won-ho have beautiful relationships; otherwise, how can they capture the ups and downs of navigating through friendships and our need to be loved by people around us so poignantly? I was left reflecting on my own relationships so many times. Deok-sun’s comically sad confusion about her love-life arises from a need we all have – to have that special someone in our life. Anyone who gives us (or we give them) even a tiny bit of attention in those teenage years is a culprit (or a victim) for us to fall in love with them ;). Now who hasn’t gone through that?

Nostalgia and more in ‘Reply 1988’: My childhood story unravelled

My childhood friends—a gang of 9 girls at the start, which became 8 after 6th grade—and I were lucky (or unlucky) in a way during our school days. We had each other through thick and thin and didn’t feel the need to have that ‘special’ person. Honestly, we didn’t have the time due to our endless imaginative games! We are smugly arrogant about that, even today. We never cared about our looks or clothes. They got dirty every single day after rolling in the mud, grass, or whatever we got our hands (and entire bodies) into. My ever-so-nicely dressed mother used to be horrified at my clothes. But kudos to the clothes manufacturers from those days for making ‘long-lasting’ clothes (fast-fashion wasn’t a term then) and to our moms for endlessly cleaning them (I am reminded of the advertisement “Daag ache hote hain“, roughly translated to stains are good..).

We obviously did have those girls and boys in our grades who had those ‘more-than-a-friend’ relationships, and we were intrigued and awed by their maturity and by our lack of it.

To be fair to us, we had those unlimited crushes (we spoke so loudly about them that everyone within a vicinity of 1 kilometre knew about them!) that stood the test of time like the lifespan of a butterfly. As Jung-hwan (Ryu Jun-Yeol) and Taek (Park Bo-gum) go through it, it was an unspoken rule to never like the same person as our friend. It truly tests your friendship like nothing else does. Even at that age, you realise how much you value your friendship, more than anything else.

In friendships, it is all about being there for each other

The unrelenting and sometimes unasked-for support that Deok-sun and her friends have for each other is defining in friendships. Friends pick up on the minutest change in behavior and ask blunt questions that have to be answered. You can’t escape those questions. They will pry it out of you whether you like it or not, so you better give in early. I still remember those hot sunny summer vacation days when you couldn’t play outside, but you met to talk, and then magically, all secrets came out, even the deepest ones. I miss those days of uninhibited talks; it’s not something we can have with anyone and everyone.

There is that thing called ‘Growing up’ in ‘Reply 1988’ and in our life

And then comes the big change—once you get out of school and into a new environment of college and university, things change. You have to adapt to new people and make new friends and have less time for the old ones. Meetings become brief, though we try to meet and talk whenever we can. You can sense the same when Deok-sun and her gang finish high school. Things are not the same but the same, and we refer to that as ‘life happens.’ The series breezes through their adult life, but we don’t breeze through it, do we?

I have met some amazing people after high school who are still my friends, and then there are those who were ‘more-than-a-friend.’ One such person is one of my best friends now. The relationship didn’t work out, but the friendship stands true. Some friendships from the later years have lasted, and others have fallen through the maze of time, distance, and ambitions. By this time, the childhood gang had become 7.

We moved to different cities and countries and focused on our higher education and careers. Talks have become less and less frequent. You meet friends fleetingly. The scenes of missing each other, when Deok-sun and her friends come to meet their families, are so reminiscent of my reality.

Friendship bonds stand the test of time in ‘Reply 1988’ and in mine

Our different life experiences bring about a different view of the world and of the people around us. The topics we prefer talking about evolve. Sometimes, our discussions seem awkward and forced. You are puzzled and sometimes distraught as to why many of your friends’ thoughts are so different from yours. You talk about something as simple as books and realise you like different ones. Cultural differences also play a role. Imagine talking to a friend about moral values amongst the rich people (a highly debatable topic) and getting surprised at their view of Indians versus Americans. You can’t possibly have a discussion beyond a certain point but could probably guide them to Arundhati Roy’s book An Ordinary Person’s Guide to Empire.

This new reality brings a sense of loneliness and awareness. The people you can now talk to about your thoughts are different and become a new set of friends. As my wise friend says—life evolves, and so do friendships. Holding on tightly to past versions of ourselves might not be the answer. All we can do is be there for each other.

But you also know that your childhood friends know you the best. They have seen all aspects of your personality, uninhibited. And nothing beats loneliness better than meeting your childhood friends over a cup of chai or coffee (even if its over a video call) and mindless talks…

LURED INTO K-DRAMAS

136 responses to “‘Reply 1988’ is the Best Childhood Friendship K-Drama”

  1. Arthur3134 Avatar
    Arthur3134

    Awesome https://is.gd/tpjNyL

  2. Leslie4454 Avatar
    Leslie4454

    Awesome https://is.gd/tpjNyL

  3. Bridget1944 Avatar
    Bridget1944

    Very good https://is.gd/tpjNyL

  4. Francesco3333 Avatar
  5. Eliana4920 Avatar
    Eliana4920

    Very good https://lc.cx/xjXBQT

  6. Bonnie2393 Avatar
    Bonnie2393

    Very good https://lc.cx/xjXBQT

  7. Elizabeth2057 Avatar
    Elizabeth2057

    Very good https://lc.cx/xjXBQT

  8. Derek2156 Avatar
    Derek2156

    Very good https://lc.cx/xjXBQT

  9. Dillon3228 Avatar
  10. Esme982 Avatar
  11. Allison661 Avatar
  12. Georgia2337 Avatar
  13. Emilie4185 Avatar
  14. Ellen126 Avatar
  15. Marcel1556 Avatar
    Marcel1556

    Very good https://rb.gy/4gq2o4

  16. Malcolm3690 Avatar
  17. Leah1601 Avatar
  18. Natalie2679 Avatar
    Natalie2679

    Awesome https://is.gd/N1ikS2

  19. Priscilla2275 Avatar
    Priscilla2275

    Very good https://is.gd/N1ikS2

  20. Carl1416 Avatar
    Carl1416

    Very good https://is.gd/N1ikS2

  21. Isaac1750 Avatar
    Isaac1750

    Very good https://is.gd/N1ikS2

  22. Ethan481 Avatar
  23. Claudia1692 Avatar
    Claudia1692

    Very good https://is.gd/N1ikS2

  24. Alexander1921 Avatar
    Alexander1921
  25. Alina1475 Avatar
    Alina1475

    Very good https://is.gd/N1ikS2

  26. Jenny2321 Avatar
    Jenny2321

    Very good https://is.gd/N1ikS2

  27. Austin4613 Avatar
    Austin4613

    Awesome https://is.gd/N1ikS2

  28. Bruce2839 Avatar
    Bruce2839

    Awesome https://is.gd/N1ikS2

  29. Amelia1156 Avatar
  30. Autumn4150 Avatar
    Autumn4150

    Awesome https://is.gd/N1ikS2

  31. Alfred800 Avatar
    Alfred800

    Very good https://is.gd/N1ikS2

  32. Caden2726 Avatar
    Caden2726

    Anneliya – Сахарный цветок скачать mp3 и слушать онлайн бесплатно https://shorturl.fm/6u5FI

  33. Ken4368 Avatar
    Ken4368

    Старый Примус – Две станции метро скачать mp3 и слушать онлайн https://shorturl.fm/5XwAZ

  34. Elliot2160 Avatar
    Elliot2160

    Дыши – Взгляни на небо (Valeriy Smile Remix) скачать mp3 и слушать бесплатно https://shorturl.fm/vHTRJ

  35. Bernard3710 Avatar
    Bernard3710

    Звонкий – Ностальжи скачать песню на телефон и слушать бесплатно https://shorturl.fm/k2iTO

  36. Howard4390 Avatar
    Howard4390

    Ислам Итляшев – На нервах скачать mp3 и слушать бесплатно https://shorturl.fm/1Xm2B

  37. Lola2982 Avatar
    Lola2982

    Игорёк – Подождём ( 2001 ) скачать и слушать песню бесплатно https://shorturl.fm/FNk9n

  38. Sadie4253 Avatar
    Sadie4253

    Cool partnership https://shorturl.fm/XIZGD

  39. Randy4806 Avatar
    Randy4806

    Cool partnership https://shorturl.fm/FIJkD

  40. Autumn1901 Avatar
    Autumn1901

    Best partnership https://shorturl.fm/A5ni8

  41. Brooke362 Avatar
    Brooke362

    Very good partnership https://shorturl.fm/68Y8V

  42. Claire1 Avatar
    Claire1

    Джиган feat. Артем Качер – ДНК скачать песню на телефон и слушать бесплатно https://shorturl.fm/vkaQ0

  43. Atticus2354 Avatar
    Atticus2354

    Kornel – Падай скачать и слушать песню бесплатно https://shorturl.fm/744aj

  44. Ruth4630 Avatar
    Ruth4630

    Kornel – Падай скачать и слушать песню бесплатно https://shorturl.fm/744aj

  45. Danny1035 Avatar
    Danny1035

    ЕГОР КРИД – We Gotta Get Love скачать и слушать онлайн https://shorturl.fm/18Fje

  46. Haiden430 Avatar
    Haiden430

    Александр Берег – Не Пойманные Ветром скачать песню и слушать онлайн https://shorturl.fm/W739w

  47. Enrique68 Avatar
    Enrique68

    ВИА «Ариэль» – Танюша скачать mp3 и слушать онлайн https://shorturl.fm/jz9O6

  48. Stephanie247 Avatar
    Stephanie247

    Рада Рай – Не Гони Коней скачать песню бесплатно в mp3 и слушать онлайн https://shorturl.fm/qWNqs

  49. Delia4830 Avatar
    Delia4830

    Таисия Повалий – Родина скачать песню и слушать бесплатно https://shorturl.fm/IasUx

  50. Theo4426 Avatar
    Theo4426

    Марса – Остров скачать бесплатно mp3 и слушать онлайн https://shorturl.fm/McgSR

  51. Addison3571 Avatar
    Addison3571

    Марина Рощина – Говори Мне В Лицо скачать бесплатно mp3 и слушать онлайн https://shorturl.fm/0SZPu

  52. Caroline4233 Avatar
    Caroline4233

    Big Som feat. L’One – Последний танец скачать песню и слушать онлайн
    https://allmp3.pro/2638-big-som-feat-lone-poslednii-tanec.html

  53. Robert1265 Avatar
    Robert1265

    Rauf & Faik – Колыбельная скачать песню и слушать онлайн
    https://allmp3.pro/2875-rauf-faik-kolybelnaja.html

  54. Karina4323 Avatar
    Karina4323

    Юрий Шатунов – Майский вечер (MegaSound & DJ BARS Remix) скачать песню и слушать онлайн
    https://allmp3.pro/3208-jurij-shatunov-majskij-vecher-megasound-dj-bars-remix.html

  55. Darius3587 Avatar
    Darius3587

    Таисия Повалий – Твой свет скачать песню и слушать онлайн
    https://allmp3.pro/2754-taisija-povalij-tvoj-svet.html

  56. Cole4231 Avatar
    Cole4231

    Zvuk – Мой Дом скачать песню и слушать онлайн
    https://allmp3.pro/2905-zvuk-moj-dom.html

  57. Dorothy1450 Avatar
    Dorothy1450

    Мари Краймбрери – Мне Так Хорошо (Lavrushkin & NitugaL Remix) скачать песню и слушать онлайн
    https://allmp3.pro/3238-mari-krajmbreri-mne-tak-horosho-lavrushkin-nitugal-remix.html

  58. Kathryn2999 Avatar
    Kathryn2999

    Dakena – Крыши скачать песню и слушать онлайн
    https://allmp3.pro/3311-dakena-kryshi.html

  59. Cynthia4048 Avatar
    Cynthia4048

    Натали – Первый луч скачать песню и слушать онлайн
    https://allmp3.pro/3292-natali-pervyj-luch.html

  60. Enrique101 Avatar
    Enrique101

    Юлия Савичева – Синоптики скачать песню и слушать онлайн
    https://allmp3.pro/3111-julija-savicheva-sinoptiki.html


136 responses to “‘Reply 1988’ is the Best Childhood Friendship K-Drama”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *