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Character posters and intros for Answer Me 1994

That music! The nostalgia! Watching the slew of previews for Answer Me 1994 is like getting my head shoved into the K-pop-themed Pensieve of my youth. It’s not the fashions or the references to that then-ubiquitous Magic Eye book (which I never, ever saw anything in EVER — oh the feeling of failure) that make me feel simultaneously old and young (but mostly really old), but the songs! Kim Gun-mo! Seo Taiji! S.E.S! Noise! The Last Match theme!

Nostalgia isn’t the singular point behind the Answer Me franchise, and certainly Answer Me 1997 wouldn’t have become the pop culture phenomenon it was purely based on lingering fondness for late-’90s K-pop. That wouldn’t explain its wide appeal abroad as well as in Korea, and I’d venture a guess that a huge swath of its fandom wasn’t really that familiar with the tunes or the backstories of H.O.T, Sechskies, or S.E.S. Still, it’s a huge part of the fun in setting a show in the past, and I hope the second series takes its nostalgia to fun places without forgetting that the story is why we loved the first one. My fingers are crossed.

In a bunch of the teasers, the actors are asked what they remember of 1994, just to put a few things into perspective — like Go Ara saying she thinks she remembers drinking milk from a bottle. Individual character posters are out for the main cast as well, and going from top to bottom, we have:

  • Go Ara as Na-jung, whose poster is written in saturi dialect: “When I get to college, I’m going to date Lee Sang-min oppa.” (Lee Sang-min is a real-life basketball player, who at 22 would have made for prime fangirl targeting, especially when she’s a basketball-crazed one.)
  • Yoo Yeon-seok plays the only main character who’s originally from Seoul, and his poster reads: “The only thing I know is baseball. But I’ve found another thing to like.”
  • Jung Woo’s character dresses exclusively in tracksuits and also speaks in Busan saturi. His tagline: “You call me a beggar? Trash? Aw guys… is it obvious?”
  • Baro, also in saturi, says, “I’ll just go to med school for one semester. Because it’s Dad’s dream…”
  • Sohn Ho-joon says, “Wow! I’m the first guy in Suncheon to be called Orange Class!” (Referring to a slang term meaning the privileged young generation growing up wealthy and materialistic.)
  • Dahee insists, “Really, I swear, Taiji oppa smiled at me!”
  • and Kim Sung-kyun says, “Hyungnim, lower your words, I’m only twenty.” Pwahaha. I did wonder at his age, given that the actor is really 33, but I love that they cast an old guy on purpose to play a young guy who looks old.

The drama airs on Fridays and Saturdays on tvN, and premieres October 18.

Via E News 24

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Omg I'm so excited for Answer Me 1994! I got huge expectations from this one.

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Really? My expectations are actually quite low. Just seems like its going to be a big fail. There isn't that much buzz about it and the general feeling about the drama is - indifference.

Don't know how involved SM is with the drama, but there is a popular saying in Kdrama land this days - "if you want success, stay away from anything SM Entertainment has their hands on.

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Well I'm just hoping that SM is only Go Ara's management company. You have to take into consideration the fact that other than the cast, the crew is the same as the one in '97. Surely nothing can go wrong with the sequel? Unless the actors are horrible at acting.

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I'd agree with you, but if that saying is true, how are they managing to get some of the best actors and actresses in Korea under C&C. We're all trying to forget what was To The Beautiful You, but Dream High 2 was just as bad tbh and that was done by JYPE. Go Ara seems to be the only thing with a link to SM in this drama, and it's a successor to the super popular Reply 1997 with a similar idea behind it. The cast seems cute. The writing will be excellent. I dunno, I'm more positive than you are.

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Although I dont think I'll like it as much as '97

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I never really liked the first one -_-

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Not really planning to watch this sequel of a sequel.

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I'm really looking forward to watching this drama! Truth be told, I don't expect to love it as much as I love AM97, but I sincerely want to like it. Please be good Show: you've an awesome team behind you, a cute, fun premise, and an adorable cast. Be awesome!

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It's not that the franchise magic can't be bottled, but I hope this is at least enjoyable and has the heart that 1997 did.

Though Go Ara has some major shoes to fill, following a performance like Jung Eun-ji's last year as the heroine of this series.

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Hmmm, I'm pretty sure SM Ent. is only Go Ara's management company, and that's it... *crosses fingers Please be good, Show!

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Oh dammit sorry wrong comment .-. was supposed to answer leeminsuk's comment (1.1)...

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Can't wait.......

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Although I loved Answer Me 1997, I'm going into this one without thinking about the other one.. Why? Because I think it's more fair to the show not to compare it with it's hyungnim and I'd like to give it a chance. Apart from that, I don't feel exited about the show but I am curious to see what it brings to the table. We shall see!!! ^.^

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Aaaah I am ready to luuuuv this show!

I didn't expect to like 1997 as much as a I do, so I hope it would be the same with this one.

Aaah good old times, I remember in the beginning of the drama the eps were subbed very late, but I was still thankful for them, so I just read the recaps and watched the eps multiple times, and swoooond. It just looked, sounded and felt so good; kind of the perfect drama...

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Does anyone know who the lead male is? I realllllly liked Jung Woo in Lee Soon Shin.

I'm looking forward to this drama!

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Yoo Yeon Seok is the male lead :')

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I suspect it's Yoo Yeon-seok. The boy from Seoul, with the phrase “The only thing I know is baseball. But I’ve found another thing to like.” Yeah very likeable

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Point of information: what is saturi, please?

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dialect.

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busan dialect if im not mistaken.
The dialect you hear all throughout Answer me 1997.
quite adorable, in my opinion

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In my opinion, the Busan dialect is the most grating on my ears and nerves among all Korean dialects. And the speakers of this dialect tend to be very, very loud (and the opposite of shy) in public.

On the other hand, the Daegoo dialect, though only a little distance north from Busan and equally stringent, is surprisingly endearing.

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that trailer of go ara drunk-winking is giving me life. she's looking so dynamic and fun and charismatic in this show. eunji's a raw talent in the true meaning of the word (miss "i heard there were going to be auditions so i took one acting class") but i have such high hopes for ara, all of a sudden 'n unexpected. GEDDIT GIRL.

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Having absolutely no idea about K-Pop, fashion or really anything in the 90's, I'm still a bit reluctant to check this (or 1997) out, but since everybody seems to love it so much, I guess I really should.

Random rant:
I always wondered what in the world "Sechs Kies" actually was supposed to mean and then I found out it's supposed to be German for "Six Crystals"... which is just so so so SO wrong... Ugh...

Sorry, just had to get that out of my system xD

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As far as I am concerned, 90's k-pop was not that great. In fact some downright sucked. There were a few good artists, but it was a time of massive turmoil in the industry that was still growing up (though I am not quite sure it has grown up yet). I was exposed to briefly from 91 to 93, and recall it was a lot like the late 50's in the US.

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K-pop still isn't that great (just like pop music in the US).

K-indie is where it's at for good music.

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I don't think that you really need to be that familiar with K-pop (or K-ent) in the 90's to enjoy Reply 1997 (as javabeans says above) because I wasn't that familiar with it but I still found it a fun watch. For me as someone who's a big K-pop fan now and who has spent a significant amount of time in this fandom, I recognized a lot of the behaviour and reactions and I found it funny and reassuring that most of that stuff isn't new but has been going on pretty much as long as there have been pop groups for teenage girls (and boys) to obsess over. That being said, I only watched the show recently and I didn't fall in love with it the way most people here seem to have but I still found it worthwhile and entertaining and I'm glad I finally checked it out due to the hype.

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I ran across an old newsreel clip a while back with teenies swarming and obsessing over Frank Sinatra, so no - hardly new.

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Also as someone who was a big fan of American boy bands as a kid (in the 90's), a lot of the rivalry between fans of different groups and the collecting posters from magazines and stuff like that all seemed so familiar to me so there was that fun, nostalgic element at play again even though the groups I liked at the time weren't Korean. So long story short, if you were ever a fangirl at some point in your life, you'll probably cringe and laugh and love that part of the show.

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I don't know anything about Kpop or Korean anything from the 90's, but Reply 1997 was still very nostalgic for me. Mainly because I grew up in the 90's and in middle school/high school I was a HUGE *NSYNC fangirl. LOL So I could relate to Sung Siwon on both accounts that we grew up in the 90's and were fangirls. LOL

I'm still feeling a little reserved about '94 though....I just loved 1997 so much that I don't want to be disappointed by this show. I'll still check it out though.

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Funny enough for me, i was a big nsync fan and shinhwa and HOT fan in the late 1990s so reply was doubly nostalgic for me. But i agree, even if you didnt know kpop in 1990s, if you happen to be a teen during those years the show will still be relatable and nostalgic. I am not sure bout 1994 mostly because of Go Ara, Eunji was a surprise talent in reply 1997 , however I have yet to connect with any of the characters Go Ara has played in the past because of her less than stellar acting chops.

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A fellow *NSYNC stan!! *highfive* I miss being a teen in the 90's. Haha

I feel the same way about Go Ara too....

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Had no idea about K-pop from that era and don't really like much of K-pop nowadays (way more into K-indie) and yet, AM1997 was really enjoyable.

The whole "fangirl" thing I couldn't relate to (and frankly, I found it ridiculous; was totally on dad's side about the "monkeys"), but that wasn't what was important about the series.

What was important was the relationships btwn family members and btwn friends (and lovers) - that is stuff that EVERYBODY can relate to.

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I am too old for AM1997 by about a decade, wrong background (American), not a fangirl at all (I was into punk/goth/etc. not long after they stopped calling it "new wave" to give you some perspective, and not even fangirly about that), and pretty not into high school dramas usually.

However.

AM1997 is great. Totally is bigger than the sum of its parts. Or, if you're not anti-american-tv, it's sort of the Korean Friday Night Lights: about all sorts of things I don't care about (Texas, HS, football), but somehow awesome and inspiring and about everything I care about.

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Yep, like FNL, AM1997 was more about family, friends and everyday life (tho, unlike you, I love FB, but at the same time, found the FB aspects of FNL the least interesting).

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I really love those posters, so lovely and colorful <3

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LOL@the magic eye book!! I'm loving it already.

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Thank you for the updates (and translations). It looks like this show is gearing up to retain that youthful, nostalgic spirit but be separate enough from Reply 1997 to develop its own identity which is good. I am looking forward to this a lot but I'm trying to temper my expectations. Also I agree with everything you said re: why the show was so popular and beloved. It had an awesome combination of nostalgia and heart and I'm really happy that Shiwon's parents will be back for this second installment too.

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Overalls! Ah, miss those days.
Sort of.

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Da Hee gets another role right after Monstar! She was a stand out in a good cast in that one. All the screen presence you could stand.

Go Ara looks ready to steal every scene she can, based on these clips.

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i think it's a different Da Hee.. not GLAM's vocalist, Monstar's Kim Na Na.

But this Da Hee, her face looks familiar - the classmate in Answer 1997?

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Lol, you don't know how that realisation broke my heart.

When I saw "DaHee", I was like YES-SEU! Then I scrolled down and was like "Who's that?"

I have nothing against Min DoHee. That just felt like a nasty cop-out. =_=

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Please read my comment below (number 22). That's not GLAM's Dahee, that's Tiny-G's Min Dohee. :)

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Go Ara looks cute in this. I hope this drama shows people what she can do. Her past projects weren't really stellar.

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I'm so excited for this! I hope the new character won't be rehash of AM1997's characters, though. Go Ara's role seems similar to Shiwon. Also, except Yoo Yeon-seok, this will be my first time watching all of the cast. I want them to surprise me!

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The only thing I'm excited about this drama is the 1997 cast cameos LOL. No one can replace the magic of AM1997 to me, and basically I just miss Yoonjae, Siwon, Junhee, Yoojung, Hakchan and Sungjae so freaking much.

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Harry Potter reference? I love you!

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Kya... Can we have stills of Appa & Omma?

Can't wait...

So excited... The kids seems as lulzy and full of win as Answer Me 1997 kids cast...

And with kids... I meant teenager :)

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For everyone who's asking if that's GLAM's Dahee — I did some research, and according to AsianWiki, she's Min Dohee, from the K-pop group Tiny-G. Apparently, this is her acting debut. :)

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Err, when Reply 1997 hit it big, I read an interview between the pd and writer, and they both didn't expect the drama to do so well, and both said that their original idea was for 1994 - the years they both were studing at college if I'm not wrong. They then decided to change the story from 1994 to 1997 where they could use HOT and other popular idols to grab attention from some fans.

But things went so well, that after this, they decided to bring reply 1994, their original idea and plot - the one you guys are calling ''sequel'' or ''can't be good as the first'' but funny thing is reply 1997 isn't the original idea lol but reply 1994 was.

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I might've been born in 1994, but I'm still pumped for this. As other people have pointed out, you don't need to know the actual subject for the fangirling to get into it. It's the general idea of having fangirled at all. And I'd say being on dramabeans means we're already obsessed with one thing, heh. I've always hoped Go Ara would find a role that would suit her, and maybe this is it. The bts scenes are cute. Like Jung Eunji, I think the most important thing with this series is to throw out all desire to be pretty on screen and she seems to have that down pat. I feel like the writing will push the cast along anyway, even if they aren't fantastic to begin with.

Please be good! I already love you.

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Just a small note, that's Dohee of Tiny-G, not Dahee of GLAM.

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Minor bummer.

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i dont like judging a drama before watching it. so i'll defintely give it a try. i love reply 1997 and i have high hopes for this one. ;)

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i really like the female lead.. she has really beautiful eyes.....

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I love her drunk winks. I can't get enough of that teaser. So cute!

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Go Ara's eyes (or make that eyelids) have always bugged me.

She got her eyelid creases enhanced and they look weird since the fold is too thick and doesn't disappear/hide nearly as much when the fold is natural.

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Noise and is okay, but I don't understand why they are using S.E.S on the soundtrack? How is that song 1994?

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SUNG KYUN AHHHH YOU QT! Yes yes, you are a 20-year-old samchon. HAHA! I'm just looking forward to Kim Ajusshi acting cute.. and Jungwoo! ♥

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looking forward to seeing*

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Oh god! The hair! The fashion! imo, in the very last picture at the bottom of the article, the guy with the sideswept hair and black and white striped shirt still looks too modern...None of the guys I knew looked and dressed like that. But the girl in the baggy athletic wear and the guy in colorful stripes are killing the look haha!

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Something that bothers me about period dramas in Korea is the modern hair. Especially on the men. I'm sorry, but those hairstyles are completely modern. -_-

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The '94 I remember had a lot of sundresses. Well, that was my closet in a nutshell. No need to expose how many I had. LOL! Denim and polos can't count b/c it never dies out of fashion.

I don't recall '94 geared up in plaids and stripes as much as those are modern times. Maybe plaids definitely not stripes. I think athletic/sports gears were more popular then on guys and tomboys. 'o , 0"

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I am only just starting to warm to the idea of this series. Reply 1997 was so close to perfect that the thought of a sequel of sorts really put me off. I doubt lightning of such high quality can strike twice, but I will probably end up testing out the first couple of episodes to make sure.

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Not really a sequel (o more accurately, a prequel) per se as it is about different characters (much like INR and INR2012).

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Yes, that's why I said "of sorts" - not quite sure what to call it really, perhaps "inspired by", hopefully more than "cynical attempt to cash in on"

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Man, that 90's fashion ....boots were all the rage. Not even gonna touch on the jeans.

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My 1994 fashion was cute little culotte outfits because I was 7 years old, lol. I still wore stirrup pants, then, lol. I'm loving the overalls though.

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