Depicting the Realistic and Enjoyable Lives of Older and Younger People Who become Dear Friends
Young people usually underestimate the activities of the elderly. They think that the elderly can’t really do much in their age and they always need to be accompanied by someone younger than them. The different perspective of the elderly given in the tvN drama Dear My Friends is going to change your view on the elderly life. This drama will show you that elderly life can also be energetic, full of adventures and it can hide a lot of stories stemming from past experiences. Younger people mostly find older people annoying and always have a hard time dealing with them. In the drama Dear My Friends, older and younger people are dealing with a lot of different things together making their bond stronger as both family and friends.
Everything About the 2016 tvN Drama Dear My Friends
The tvN drama Dear My Friends is a show centered on Park Wan (Go Hyun-jung), who works as a writer and receives a request from her mother, Jang Nan-hee (Go Doo-shim), to write a novel about the life of the elderly by forcing Park Wan to join her reunion to dig up some stories. As Park Wan follows her mother and her mother’s friends’ life, Park Wan gets a completely different view from the one she had as a youngster. Park Wan slowly realizes the connection between the elderly with their own family while she faces her own life’s troubles and her own love story. The story mostly focuses on the relationship of 8 elderly who seem to be friends-for-life also with their family. Each of them had a different take on the meaning of life and also how to deal with life’s difficulties. The story, which is written by Noh Hee-kyung and directed by Hong Jong-chan, contains a lot of deep meanings filling it with a lot of insight that the viewers can learn from.
The Cast
Go Hyun-jung as Park Wan, a 37-year-old woman who works as a Japanese translation writer and falls in love with Seo Yeon-ha (played by Jo In-sung, a 32-year-old man from Slovenia). When she was young, she had a near-death experience and almost died when her mother forced her to drink poison. Kim Hye-ja as Jo Hee-ja, a 72-year-old woman who always thinks she can do everything by herself alone, while her family, especially Yoo Min-ho (played by Lee Kwang-soo, a man in his early 30s), her son is always worried about her. She is diagnosed with dementia. Na Moon-hee as Moon Jeong-ah, a 72-year-old woman who dreams of going on a trip with her husband ever since getting married because she loves driving a car very much. Go Doo-shim as Jang Nan-hee, a 63-year-old woman who is the mother of Park Wan. She is an elementary school junior of Hee-ja and Jeong-ah, and a successful owner of a jjamppong shop. In the past, she was betrayed by her husband and her best friend, when she was younger. Park Won-sook as Lee Young-won, a 63-year-old woman who is Nan-hee’s classmate and a former actress holding advertising model. She holds in a lot of sadness and has actually also been hurt physically. Youn Yuh-jung as Oh Cheong-nam, a 65-year-old woman who is Nan-hee and Young-won’s senior during school days. She did not get married and took care of her siblings who were at the hospital. She also took care of her nephew (financial and living expenses) until she sold her assets. She is straight to the point, cheerful, and hard worker. Joo-hyun as Lee Seong-jae, a 72-year-old man who is a former attorney, also Hee-ja and Jeong-ah’s school friend. Kim Young-ok as Oh Ssang-boon, an 86-year-old woman who is Nan-hee’s mother and popular among the other elderly. She is a little stubborn and tends to mishear the things others are saying. Shin-goo as Kim Seok-gyun, a 75-year-old man who is Jeong-ah’s husband and works very hard to save money for a trip with his wife.
The Soundtrack
Kevin Oh – Baby Blue
Jannabi – Wonderful
Jannabi – Beautiful
Park Ji-min – Don’t Go
Martin Smith – Go Go! Picnic
Da-eun – Be My Side
Edan – Paso a Paso
7 Reasons You Should Give Dear My Friends A Try
Underrated Drama with Deep Meaning
If most of the K-dramas are focused on developing a love story between young couples, the tvN drama Dear My Friends will give you a fresh plot and story which are rare among the dramas on any tv channel. The tvN drama Dear My Friends focused on the slice-of-life story of elderly and their view of life despite their hardships in their own life.
Starring Veteran K-Artists
The public often watches a drama or a movie because of their favorite actress or actor or even idol. This drama’s cast members are actually the most popular actors and actresses of their era and some of the cast members are still popular among young people today, like Go Hyun-jung and Youn Yuh-jung. Jo In-sung and Lee Kwang-soo’s appearance is also worth it to be anticipated as a story supporter.
Relatable with Real-Life Stories
The drama Dear My Friends mostly revolves around real-life stories. Some of the examples include when Jang Nan-hee is having fun spending time with her friends while at the same time hiding a lot of regret toward her daughter, Park Wan, for what she has done in the past. Also when Lee Seong-jae, shows his affection, despite his age, for Jo Hee-ja and Hee-ja’s son.
Never Underestimate the Power of the Elderly
Most people think the elderly are weak and always need to be accompanied by their family. In the drama Dear My Friends, even though Jo Hee-ja is diagnosed with dementia, she can still do several things on her own, although her son always reminds her to tell him about things. There are a lot of examples of the independence of the elderly in the drama, like when Oh Cheong-nam working really hard to take care of her family rather than worrying about herself; Oh Ssang-boon who is really brave to try things around by herself despite her hearing problem, also Moon Jeong-ah who likes driving around by herself.
True Friendship Does not Recall Age
Jang Nan-hee and Lee Young-won used to be best friends during their school days, however, Jang Nan-hee feels betrayed by her husband and Lee Young-won’s secret that had been kept from her. As the story develops until the end, the viewers can witness the strong bond between them despite their misunderstanding in the past.
Family Love is the Strongest Bond Above All
Jo Hee-ja is very stubborn and likes to hurt herself very much. She does not like to be accompanied by her family because of an occurrence. However, Yoo Min-ho actually watches over his mother and is secretly taking care of her when he can, although it once caused issues with his wife. Kim Seok-gyun is deeply in love with his wife, Moon Jeong-ah, so much despite his financial struggles. He actually likes to show affection to his wife and secretly watch over her from the back.
True Love Stays Until The End
The interesting relationship between Park Wan and Seo Yeon-ha is adding some bittersweet love story to the drama. Park Wan is older than Seo Yeon-ha and Park Wan’s mother opposes the relationship. Especially, when Seo Yeon-ha got into an accident due to which it was hard for him to walk. However, Seo Yeon-ha’s love for Park Wan is undeniable despite his own condition and he shows his love to Park Wan’s mother proving that he is trustworthy for Park Wan and will not leave her alone or make her sad.
