“When Life Gives You Tangerines” Episode 1 To 4 Review- Captivating & Masterful, How Is It Possible To Exceed Such High Expectations?

It won’t be an exaggeration on my part if I say that “When Life Gives You Tangerines” is likely the number one most anticipated Kdrama of the 1^st half of 2025, and at last, here we are! The drama is here and I have a lot to say!

I have only seen four episodes but I will already call it a masterpiece. Its simply out of this world. I love the writing, the directing, the editing, the set design and the acting. EVERYTHING IS at 100%, if not more. How is it possible to exceed expectations in such a manner? Seriously?

I am floored. Director Kim Won-Suk brings on his A-game and does a masterful job at directing this drama. The shots, the editing, the backgrounds, everything. Everything looks so well made.

“When Life Gives You Tangerines” cost around 60 billion won [around $40 million] making it one of the most costly Kdramas ever made, and I can feel it in every frame. I can feel just how much hard work had gone into it, and its presented in a very authentic manner. I just loved it.

The drama is written by Im Sang-Choon who had worked on two past very popular kdramas. Im sure researching the time period and making sure to get things right took a lot of time and effort on his part.

His dramas were great in my opinion but I do recall saying that I felt he can get a bit repetitive with specific plot lines. I remember saying this about When the Camellia Blooms. But that drama was 20 episodes long which is a lot to fill in, and still, I feel that if you personally resonate with and love the characters of his works, you’d probably watch anything they do enthusiastically.

Since the drama is set during some tough times in South Korea’s history, I am sure he won’t struggle as much filling the run time considering just how much was happening in the background, but even if it happens again, this time, I am truly and utterly in love with the main characters so it’ll be fine by me.

Related: IU And Park Go Gum Share How They Felt Working With Each Other On “When Life Gives You Tangerine”

I also want to thank whoever it was who suggested to split the drama into 4 parts. Netflix usually releases Kdramas all at once on its platform if its a Netflix exclusive and while this makes my job much easier, I do feel its much more enjoyable to have something to look forward to every week. This will also give the audiences time to marinate with the plot a bit more and have time to discuss specific happenings in much more details. It’ll allow for more room for the drama to breath and will give it much more time to shine properly. Since this is a very well made drama, this schedule will do wonders for it.

I suspect if this works really well, Netflix might even move to release weekly episodes for all its other series across the entire globe, not just Korean. I know they’ve been hell-bent on releases all at once for their platform but the data and the research says weekly releases do better, so let us see how this goes.

And the performances of the drama? wow, where do I begin with this one?

Everyone does an amazing job. I recall IU said in the past she cried the most in this drama, and honestly, she cried a lot already, just how much more will she cry? My heart aches for Ae Soon.

And honestly, I also think this is my fav pairing of IU with anyone, EVER. She and Bogum are just … there are no words that can properly express just how much they suit each other. Their chemistry is off the charts.

There is so much more I’d love to get into with respect to how the drama talks about women, their rights, their struggles and so much more. The fact that it also dropped one day before international women’s day could have been a mistake or intentional, but I’d like to believe its intentional.

This drama is already a masterpiece in my eyes. I have never seen such a well-made premiere in some time.

I think some might find it a bit boring and slow-paced but like I said above, if you connected with the characters, I think it’ll be a very lovely experience for you. This might not be what some fans wanted to see given how heavy it can get at times, but its beyond enjoyable to those who appreciate it.

I generally don’t like to write much in my premiere dramas reviews so that’ll be it. I think the specifics of discussions with respect to how women are treated in society, specifically in Asian societies, need their own article, which I could do in the future. Let me know if that’ll be of interest to you guys.

So, did you guys like the premiere episodes?