Reply 1997 (Korean:응답하라 1997;RR:Eungdaphara 1997) is a 2012 South Korean television series and the first installment of theReply anthology series. It centers on the lives of six friends inBusan as the timeline moves back and forth between their past selves as 18-year-old high schoolers in 1997 and their present selves as 33-year-olds at their high school reunion dinner in 2012 where one couple will announce that they're getting married. It portrays the extreme fan culture that emerged in the 1990s when first generationidol groups such asH.O.T. andSechs Kies took center stage andK-pop was just beginning to blossom.[2][3][4]
Set in 1997, the series follows female high school student Sung Shi-won (Jung Eun-ji), who idolizes boyband H.O.T, and the lives of her five high school friends. As a teen, Shi-won was obsessed with a boy band. Now 33 years old, Shi-won and her friends are reliving their memories at their high school reunion.[7]
A devoted fangirl ofboybandH.O.T., who dreams of marryingTony. Though Shi-won has the worst grades in her class and always has her head in the clouds, she is also forthright and sassy.[8][9][10][11]
Quiet and brooding yet devoted to those close to him, Yoon-jae is Shi-won's childhood best friend who frequently spends time at her house following the death of his own parents. He is also known as one of the two most handsome boys in the school, alongside Joon-hee, and girls often fall for the both of them. He is intelligent and at the top of his class. As a teenager, Yoon-jae falls for Shi-won, and tries to keep it a secret.[12][13][14][15][16][17]
Joon-hee is shy and sweet, and is Yoon-jae's best friend and right-hand man. Like Yoon-jae, girls fall for him easily, and he often spends time with Shi-won. He harbors the secret that he isgay and is in love with his best friend Yoon-jae, which only Shi-won is aware of after he confides in her.[18][19][20][21][unreliable source?][22]
Shi-won's best friend, despite the occasional argument following the revelation that Yoo-jung is a fan of Sechs Kies, a rival boy band. Yoo-jung is known to be very fickle when it comes to love, falling for boys - whether in real life or in the celebrity world - at the drop of a hat.[23][24]
A transfer student from Seoul. Hak-chan loves sports and has a comically large pornography collection. He is outgoing around his friends, yet his major weakness is his inability to interact with girls - however, he eventually falls for Yoo-jung.[25][26][27]
A teacher at the high school. Tae-woong turns out to be Yoon-jae's older brother, and had previously been engaged to Shi-won's late elder sister prior to her death. However, over the course of the show, Tae-woong also falls for Shi-won.
Jung Kyung-mi as Kyung-mi / "Eun Dokki" (Eun Axe) -Sechs Kies fangirl, a bully at the school who believes Eun Ji-won has chosen her, and who is in love with Yoon-jae and Joon-hee, and clashes with Shi-won on the subject, while vying for both boys' attention.
Kim Sun-ah as Kim Sun-ah / "Eun Gak-ha" -Sechs Kies fangirl, the accomplice of Kyung-mi, who also is in love with Yoon-jae and Joon-hee.
The series originally aired live on cable channel tvN with 16 episodes (fourteen 30-minute episodes aired back-to-back over a period of 7 weeks, with the last 2 episodes aired separately and lasting 1 hour each due to the amount of material the staff didn't want to edit out). However, due to its popularity, the 15th and 16th episodes were also aired simultaneously onMnet,OCN, O'live, Ongamenet andOnStyle. This drama served as the acting debut ofJung Eun-ji.
The '90s-set drama didn't have an original soundtrack of its own since a huge aspect of the show's mood is set with era-specific music, one of its defining characteristics.[32][33][34] Instead, lead actorsJung Eun-ji andSeo In-guk recorded a 2-part mini OST entitledLove Story to thank fans and viewers of the show.[35] Seo was the first season winner of the music audition programSuperstar K, and Eun-ji is the main vocalist of K-pop girl groupA Pink. Their duet in Part 1 was a remake of 1990s idol groupCool's "All For You."[36][37] Their duet in Part 2 is a remake of "Just the Way We Love", from the soundtrack of 1999 filmLove Wind Love Song.[38]
Due to popular demand,CJ E&M eventually released a "Director's Edition" soundtrack that feature Jung and Seo's 2covers, as well as '90s songs played throughout the series. It also included a mini photobook and a behind-the-scenes DVD.[47] Before its official release, the album sold out its 12,500 units via pre-order, surpassing the average soundtrack sales figure of 5,000.[48][49]
The TV serial mostly consisted of idol singers with scant acting experience, and apart from themeta casting ofSechs Kies memberEun Ji-won (who previously worked with director Shin Won-ho and the writing staff on the variety show1 Night & 2 Days),[50][51] it premiered with little hype.[52][53][54] But through strong word of mouth, it soon gained recognition as a high-quality production with a distinct sense of identity, becoming a buzz-worthy "syndrome" show (the Korean slang term for a hit show with an ardent fanbase).[55][56][57][58][59]
With Korean cable shows generally considered successful if they hit 1%,Reply 1997 took cable ratings by storm,[5][60][61] and received an immense amount of attention and critical praise. The show has been credited for its laser-sharp attention to detail, re-creating the late '90s with an accuracy that had fans singing its praises.[62][63] Endless pop culture references are packed into every minute of the show, with little pop cultureeaster eggs hidden in scenes, callbacks to the trends of the day, andcameos that arein-jokes.[64]
It was also a digital success, receiving more than a millionhits after it was made available for downloading and streaming on internet and mobile siteTving. This was attributed to the fact thatReply 1997 had aired on a cable network (pay television channel), such that several viewers were unable to watch it live.[65][unreliable source?]
With the majority ofKorean dramas shot in the capital city ofSeoul, another of the show's charms is itsBusan setting, which is treated in a matter-of-fact way as a locale. The realism is aided by the fact that much of the principal cast actually hails from the region, who speak with the authenticGyeongsang dialect. The dialogue also uses time-specific, location-specific slang.[66]
But '90s nostalgia and meticulous attention to detail is only part of the show's appeal.[67] Fans were also intrigued by the clues that the 2012 scenes dropped at regular intervals about who ends up together,[68][69] as well as the episodes' subtle twists. And its smart, witty way of addressing the growing pains of its adolescent cast makes it just as relevant in the present as it was back in the late-'90s setting of its primary plot. Audiences have lauded the show's intimacy and realism, with a sincerity that connects with people — even those outside that particular generation.
Seo In-guk,Eun Ji-won,Lee Si-eon andShin So-yul hosted the 15 September 2012 episode of sketch comedy showSaturday Night Live Korea, which included skits thatparody scenes in their series.[70] On 20 September 2012, a special was aired on tvN'senews featuring behind-the-scenes videos and a few bloopers from the set.[71]
Anovelization was published in January 2013.[72] Director Shin Won-ho re-edited all 16 episodes for a specialdirector's cut DVD, released in February 2013. It also included 358 minutes of exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, ablooper reel,[73] as well ascommentary from the director and actors.[74]
The show was said to have sparked the "retro" trend in South Korea and the media and cultural commentators have noted an increased interest in the pop culture of the 1990s after the show aired.[75][76][77] Notably, the show garnered more interest in "first generation" K-pop idol groups whose heyday took place during the 1990s prior to theKorean Wave, hence not being as well known to international audiences as their much younger counterparts.[78] Not long after the show concluded, Eun andH.O.T membersMoon Hee-joon andTony An joined two other members of fellow first-generation groups in filming their own variety showHandsome Boys of the 20th Century, which Moon called the "reality-variety show version ofReply 1997".[79] In 2014, the highly successful comebacks ofSeo Taiji,g.o.d andFly to the Sky further added to the retro wave.[80] The variety showInfinite Challenge began airing the "Saturday, Saturday is for Singers" (ToToGa) segment which specifically features artists and groups popular during the 1990s and has directly led to the reunions of first-generation groupsJinusean,S.E.S,Sechs Kies andH.O.T after over a decade of inactivity or disbandment.[76][81]
In the table above, theblue numbers represent the lowest ratings and thered numbers represent the highest ratings.
This drama airs on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS,SBS,MBC andEBS).
An Americanremake,Answer Me 1999 was reportedly in development in 2014 atFox, written by Amy Andelson and Emily Meyer (Step Up 3D), with the pilot episode directed byJon M. Chu.[103]
