My Liberation Notes tells the story of three siblings in their 20s and 30s who still live under the same roof as their parents. Like brothers and sisters in general, these three siblings have different traits from each other. However, they have almo...
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Drama Description
Hangul : 나의 해방일지
Literal meaning : My Liberation Notes
Revised Romanization : Naui Haebangilji
Genre : Slice of Life
Written by : Park Hae Young
Directed by : Kim Seok-yoon
Starring : Lee Min Ki, Kim Ji Won, Son Suk-ku, Lee El
Country of Origin : South Korea
Number of episodes : 16
Distributors : JTBC, Netflix
Synopsis
My Liberation Notes tells the story of three siblings in their 20s and 30s who still live under the same roof as their parents. Like brothers and sisters in general, these three siblings have different traits from each other. Yeom Gi Jeong (Lee El), the eldest sister, likes to monologue mostly about love problems and sometimes gossip about not knowing the place that got her into trouble.
Yeom Chang Hee, played by Lee Min Ki, is the middle child who has almost the same personality as his sister. He loves to monologue about life and is the most vocal in his family, which makes the atmosphere of home feel more lively. No wonder he often quarrels with his older sister because they both have stubborn dispositions. Meanwhile, Kim Ji Won plays a character named Yeom Mi Jeong, the youngest in the family, who has an introverted personality.
Their father, Yeom Je-Ho (Cheon Ho-Jin), works as a handyman and cares for the garden on weekends with the help of his assistant, Mr. Gu (Sok Suk-ku). The owner and assistant are both quiet, so at the start of the episode, we hardly hear their voices and instead focus on their work as handyman. Interestingly, even with Mr. Gu present, Yeom Je-Ho's family has no idea who the man is, from his background to his full name.
The final character introduction is Hye-Suk (Lee Kyung-Sung), who plays the mother of the three siblings. Like most mothers and people in charge of household affairs in general, her complaints are mostly about her fatigue. She has to help her husband work and take care of everything at home, from cooking to cleaning, without knowing when to rest.
Review
As I said before, the three siblings do have different characters. However, they have almost the same problem. That is to have a busy life as a corporate slave in downtown Seoul. For those of you who own a house in the suburbs, this drama will feel representative of the feelings of all of us. How the three siblings from Sanpo had to travel long distances every day by train to work and return late at night. Their energy is often drained due to the long trips they take every day, not to mention the work environment that is sometimes very tiring, so it feels like giving up. After finishing work, they can't even relax for a while with other colleagues because they have to catch up on the last train. If they can't help but go back late at night, they have to take a taxi, which, of course, costs a lot of money.
This concern is frequently expressed by the second child, Yeom Chang Hee, who wants to have a home in Seoul or a personal vehicle. Unfortunately, Yeom Chang Hee's request is frequently denied by his father due to a lack of funds. Because of this, he had to break up with his girlfriend. Not to add the stress at work, which feels repetitive. Every day, he has to deal with coworkers and store owners who enjoy telling long stories that make his head hurt.
On the other hand, Yeom Gi Jeong, as the eldest sister and already in her 30s and 40s, is very desperate for love and wants to have a partner. She often questions why, in her office, she is the only one who has never been dated by an office playboy. Is she not that attractive? However, she believes that her self-worth is not so low. So she makes a promise to like random people when winter comes.
Yeom Mi Jeong, the youngest, is the character closest to me. Because maybe we are both introverts and have almost the same life-related worries. Throughout the drama, we will often listen to Yeom Mi Jeong's dialogue regarding how tiring life is. That also makes us feel tight listening to it. Yeom Mi Jeong often questions why humans have to interact with each other, which is a job for her. She also wondered why everyone could be so happy if eventually all creatures in this world would die. How exhausting is life when we have to pretend to be nice in front of others and put on a cheerful face all the time?
This drama perfectly captures the subject of "self-development" for me. We initially saw the three siblings' lives as boring and exhausting. However, they began to rise through hardship and live better than the day before.
Yeom Gi Jeong slowly finds her true love to make her tiring days disappear because of the feeling of falling in love that makes her excited. How Yeom Chang Hee is able to get out of the constraints of his old job, start a new life, and be free from the debt bondage that is wrapped around him. Also, Yeom Mi Jeong finally has the courage to love just anyone, which her older sister should do.
When they have found a reason to live, we can see how the hue on their faces begins to turn brighter. Yeom Mi Jeong no longer curses people from inside her head; now she prays that everyone in the past who has hurt her can live comfortably and not get the flu. Finding reasons to be happy all day long seems impossible, which is why our lives sometimes suffer so much. So Yeom Mi Jeong advised us to be at least happy for five minutes a day. Start waking up in the morning with your warm mattress, seeing a cute child or pet on the way, or receiving a thank you from someone else when we do good. It's only five minutes. That way, you will have a reason to live the next day.
Like the billboards Yeom Mi Jeong sees every day when riding the train,
"Something Good Will Happen to You Today"
Finally, a message from me: this drama is perfect to watch for those of you who want to rest and take off the burden on your shoulders for a while. Although at the beginning of this drama it feels as tiring as your life and only adds to the tightness in your heart, you will find a glimmer of hope there. It means that this drama is good, right? Because you feel connected and very close to it. It's as if this drama becomes a friend who understands your anxiety and gives you a gentle pat on the shoulder. Saying that life is so, even though we feel there is only misery in it, turns out that there are many interesting things every day that we should be grateful for but don't realize or forget. Finally, don't have any expectations when you watch this show. Some of you may find this drama boring. Though, according to the genre, slice of life, life is not always full of puzzles and surprises; most of them are dull and monotonous.
