I love all the cast members so I am happy about its success, but geez. I definitely deserved better than watching Chang Hee randomly talk about a movie for 5 minutes while his friend was doing….whatever he was doing.

I feel you. I had major issues with it, especially the second half. It romanticized the heck out of unhealthy relationships. Just browsing forums for a few minutes and seeing people gush over Gu, wishing for him and MJ to get married and have babies, makes me want to throw something. I hear you about the dialogue. People talked and talked but in a way nobody in real life talks. It ended up feeling pretentious.

I’d never say My Liberation Notes pretentious, at all. The beauty of this unique drama is how the story is told from the perspective of each character (who is flawed in one way or another) – without judgement. So, whether the MJ-Gu relationship is healthy or not, or has been romanticised, is purely our own verdict as the audience. You can totally decide for yourself whether you think it is a beautiful relationship or unhealthy. Just like some Beanies think the Yeom family is toxic while others see it tightly-knit but never let their emotion flow up to the surface until tragedy strikes. Your verdict depends on your personal experience and belief, and I don’t think the drama has channelled or spoon-fed a particular message urging our acceptance of its premise, like what most other conventional dramas do.

What I could say is that the writer-PD team seem to have returned to the root of their earlier collaboration, aka, I Live in Cheongdamdong, after their commercial success in other dramas. That is, focus on ordinary folks who all have their own stories. ILICDD from 2011 is about a family struggling financially, socially, and emotionally in the super wealthy CDD neighbourhood. It’s a 100+ ep sitcom which is laughing out funny in one minute and then gut wrenching next. There is no central plot per se but it does speak to me and resonates with me – just like MLN. Both dramas are slice of life with us audience being witness to the ebbs and flows of those characters.

To me, My Liberation Notes is a rare treasure – some kind of drama that I can return whenever I need a mind cleansing. Of course, the whole production from cast to crew, music, cinematography elevates the whole experience. But it’s the writing that underpins its awesomeness. ILICDD didn’t even have one big star but just the amazing Kim Hye-ja headlining it with a raft of newbies (including the very very green Lee Sang-yeob) and character actors. Both dramas, to me, are 10/10 – same as My Ajusshi.

Lastly, I am pleased that – after the successive acclaims of the rather dramatic Another OHY and the intricate My Ajusshi – Park Hae-young is delivering us this quiet introspective piece. I’m forever grateful.

I watched the first 10 eps and it’s pretentious. It has a great mood, actors, direction but it’s also very superficial. It’s a drama that cares about the message and not the story itself, the writer knows the result and effect she wants to achieve but doesn’t have the talent to write the story in a way that seems natural. That’s why I got bored and haven’t finished yet. That ep 10 was the worst so far, even the previously nice characters started to act in a very unrealistic and contradictory manner just to move plot.
My Ahjussi had many issues but at least the 2 main characters were consistently good.

But what’s wrong with that? A writer can’t make a show about her own liberation diary? why?

About Ki Jeong, maybe her finale isn’t what some of us wanted, but it makes sense according to her character. I know real people like her, so trust me, just a random advice from her father wasn’t going to make her change her perspective.
Actually, I don’t know anyone that does wtv their parents tell them, so I don’t think it’s a mistake from the writer, it’s just normal.

Anyway, we don’t even know what’s going to happen next. Life is long, maybe she breaks up with him in the future, who knows. She wanted someone (anyone) to love in the winter, and she got that person. She can keep growing and changing and making decisions/mistakes.

I know people always wants writers to make characters/relationships “perfect” by the end, but I think shows in the slice of life genre shouldn’t be like that, because it isn’t realistic. I’m pretty sure that if there were a drama showing any of our lives from 2019 til now, it would be similar to the feeling you’re getting from MLN. Because people are like that. People choose bad relationships, people can feel “alone” even when they’re talking to others, people change opinions, people don’t do what their parents want, etc.

I think that’s the whole point of the show tbh.

Maybe your story or life experience is totally different and that’s why you can’t like the show, but I can assure you that MLN makes sense and feels right for other people, and it fits perfectly the genre “slice of life”.

And yes, most people don’t talk like the leads in the show, but I don’t know why that’s a problem, like that’s literally the writer’s job. Make things sound right, better. Son Seok Gu says in interviews that he didn’t like changing the lines because that would ruin the poetic feeling of the show. I think he’s right.
If it sounds pretencious… well, I think the writer has the right to write her show that way.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Just reading the chat below has had me crying with laughter as I could literally picture a book club type setting with people sitting around sharing thoughts on this drama and the writer’s process. It was pure gold. I didn’t even watch the show but this is the reason I joined the community.