My Liberation Notes is a 2022 Korean drama of Slice-of-life. Written by Park Hae-young and directed by Kim Seo-yoon, the drama has the actors Kim Ji-won, Son Suk-ku, Lee Min-ki and Lee El in pivotal roles. It is a story of three siblings living in a small town called Sanpo near Seoul who wants to escape their mundane life. Enters Mr. Gu in Sanpo, whose background is unknown but he becomes an important part of the Yeom family and gets attached to their lives forever.
Netflix describes the series as, “THREE SIBLINGS, EXHAUSTED BY THE MONOTONY OF DAY-TO-DAY ADULTHOOD, SEEK TO FIND FULFILLMENT AND FREEDOM FROM THEIR UNREMARKABLE LIVES.”
3 Reasons To Watch My Liberation Notes
It Shows Realistic Lives And Not Rose-tinted Ones
The three Yeom siblings, Gi-jeong, Chang-hee and Mi-jeong are all office workers. They commute from Sanpo to Seoul and then back home via train. It is four hours ride in total. They have to wake up early in the morning because they share one bathroom and toilet among five people. Even in summer, their father doesn’t allow them to use the AC because it is expensive. Neither does he let them take out a loan to buy a car. The siblings have to wait for each other if they want to take a taxi home to split the charges. They are tired of living like this but they are helpless.
Gi-jeong is working in the same company for ten years but her boss has never noticed her. She has become a team leader but still, she feels like she is invisible in the office. Chang-hee has been working in the same company for eight years but still hasn’t gotten promoted. Mi-jeong is still a temporary employee and her boss torments her because of the same. As the story goes on, the characters try to face their insecurities which brings about changes in their lives which are not monumental but just enough for the moment.
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The Unusual Love Stories
The characters are in their thirties and obviously looking for love and none of them are looking for a fairytale romance because their age and experience has taught them that it simply doesn’t exist. Gi-jeong is the eldest sister, soon entering her fourties and has decided to love just anyone but falls in love with someone very unexpected- a divorced man with a ten year old daughter. Chang-hee has been lucked out in romantic relationships and blames his lack of a house in Seoul and a car. Mi-jeong has only dates men who took advantage of her and left her. Her most recent ex-boyfriend put her in debt for which she had to spend her entire savings.
After Gu comes to Sanpo, he develops a different relationship with Mi-jeong. Both of them are the same and have been through an upsetting past relationship. More so with Gu whose past relationship ended tragically. They get together to worship each other and make each feel whole. Gi-jeong was judgemental of divorced fathers before she fell in love with one herself. Chang-hee sees many love prospects but refuses all of them and later gets into a relationship which ends tragically as well.
The Detailed Lives Of The Characters
There is not unnecessary drama in the series. Instead, it is focused on the personal lives of the characters. Everythinng that a character goes through, their reactions, their feelings and their thoughts are portrayed in detail. Gi-jeong and Chang-hee are excessive talkers and blurt out everything that is on their mind. While Mi-jeong and Gu talk very less but their actions speak louder than the words. Their lives unfold slowly as the series move forward and every new entry and exit in their lives is shown as well.
The lives are not just portrayed superficially but all of the elements in a character’s life are put together in such a way that it makes you feel like you are reading the character and become the character itself. The explained portrayal leaves no open ends or question about anyone’s life. Every character becomes relatable in some way because of the depth in which they are portrayed.
Have you watched My Liberation Notes? What did you like about the series? Let us know in the comments below.
My Liberation Notes is available to watch on Netflix.
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