What to Watch After "When Life Gives You Tangerines"

It’s been a week since the fourth and final volume of When Life Gives You Tangerines aired on Netflix, and just like you, we’re feeling a little empty. As written in our full review, Tangerines is a masterpiece that doesn’t come along very often, so it might be hard to pick up a new k-drama to watch after it. So first on the list is Tangerines-related content from Netflix, featuring main cast members Lee Ji-eun (IU), Park Bo-gum, Moon So-ri, and Park Hae-joon.

Then once you’re ready to explore the previous works of its brilliant writer Im Sang-choon and director Kim Won-suk, or would like to immerse yourself more in the slice-of-life genre, here are our top recommendations.

Netflix Special Content

In-character Interviews

If you’re missing Ae-sik (Ae-sun + Gwan-sik) and Geum-myeong like us, then you’ll love this short interview with these beloved characters, where they answer questions about their dreams, relationships, and more.

All the Tears and Laughs (Commentary)

Director Kim Won-suk joins main cast members Lee Ji-eun (IU), Park Bo-gum, Moon So-ri, and Park Hae-joon in this 48-minute special feature. Together, the group watches short clips from the drama and share anecdotes and insights on everything from casting decisions to their favorite moments in the drama.

Photoshoot Behind-the-Scenes (BTS)

The word “iconic” gets thrown around so often that it’s come to lose its meaning, but it really does describe the four posters of When Life Gives You Tangerines. Representing spring, summer, autumn, and winter, each poster captures the emotion of the season. Netflix takes us behind-the-scenes of the four poster photoshoots, with short interviews with the main cast.

BTS, Four Volumes

It wouldn’t be a proper trip down a rabbit hole without behind-the-scenes footage, now would it? Here are the BTS compilations from all four volumes.

From writer Im Sang-choon...

When the Camellia Blooms (2019)

Set in the fictional seaside town of Ongsan, When the Camellia Blooms is the story of Oh Dong-baek (Gong Hyo-jin), a single mother who runs a pub named “Camellia” to support her precocious son, Kang Pil-gu (Kim Jang-hoon). Unapologetic about her unconventional life choices and ostracized by the smalltown ahjummas, she finds a doting (albeit initially unwelcome) ally in country bumpkin cop Hwang Yong-sik (Kang Ha-neul). Raised by a single mother himself, Yong-sik is irresistibly (and quite adorably) drawn to Dong-baek’s quiet strength, and helps protect her when she becomes the target of a serial killer.

Winner of the Daesang (Grand Prize) for Television at the 56th Baeksang Arts Awards, When the Camellia Blooms was also one of the most highly-rated dramas of 2019. The judges hailed it for its relevant social insight, "that ordinary people can gather and make a collective change."

20 episodes.

Fight for My Way (2017)

Writer Im Sang-choon specializes in bringing the stories of “ordinary” people to the forefront. Fight for My Way focuses on the everyday lives of young Seoul-ites as they struggle to reach their dreams, falling in love along the way.

Park Seo-joon is Ko Dong-man, a former taekwondo prodigy who finds work wherever he can. Kim Ji-won plays his childhood friend and neighbor, the spirited Choi Ae-ra, a department store worker who dreams of becoming a news announcer. As they navigate the complex world of adulting, they realize that their feelings for each other aren’t as simple as they used to be either. Song Ha-yoon and Ahn Jae-hong co-star as their high school friends who now work for a home shopping network.

From director Kim Won-suk...

My Mister (2018)

The first collaboration between director Kim Won-suk and IU, and the second for him and Park Hae-joon (after Misaeng), this workplace slice-of-life drama quietly explores the everyday melancholy of being human. My Mister drew out career defining-performances from the late Lee Sun-kyun as Park Dong-hoon, a middle-aged engineer who just can’t seem to catch a break despite being a nice, upright guy, and IU as Lee Ji-an, a cold and cynical girl temporary office worker at Dong-hoon’s firm.

Despite tackling such heavy themes as poverty and depression, My Mister is an uplifting and satisfying healing drama. Its message is simple, clear, and beautiful: that kindness has the transformative power to heal even the most wounded among us, that relationships are precious and amazing, that love in any form--even in ways that are hard to label or define—can help us get through the struggles of life.

In a fiercely competitive year, My Mister beat out Mr. Sunshine and SKY Castle for Baeksang Best Drama and Best Screenplay in 2019, and earned acting nominations for Lee Sun-kyun, IU, Oh Na-ra, and Kwon Na-ra.

16 episodes.

Misaeng: Incomplete Life (2014)

Based on a popular webtoon about the everyday struggles of office workers at a large trading company, Misaeng: Incomplete Life became a pan-Asian cultural phenomenon in 2014, achieving the highest ratings in Korean cable TV history at the time, and inspiring remakes in Japan and China. While the workplace drama centers on Jang Geu-rae (Yim Si-wan), a baduk prodigy who struggles in a corporate setting after failing to make it as a professional player, Misaeng features a large ensemble of talented actors including Lee Sung-min, Kang Ha-neul, Kang So-ra, and Byun Yo-han, who accurately portray the different personalities you'll typically find yourself working with. Kim Dae-myung, sporting a curly mop of hair to match his webtoon character, plays Kim Dong-sik, a kind and overworked team member of Jang Geu-rae in Sales Team 3.

20 episodes.

For more slice-of-life...

Reply 1988 (2015)

Nostalgia is the name of the game, and Reply 1988 is proof that k-drama can ace the game as well—if not better—than anyone else. A hilarious family drama about five friends and their families who live in the Ssangmun-dong neighborhood in 1988 Seoul, Reply 1988 is carved on many k-drama fans’ hearts because of its warmhearted and hilarious take on ‘80s life and love. The phones! The bangs! The denim jackets! The cringey dance productions! Reply 1988 is so immersive and so entertaining that you’d think you grew up with the gang in Seoul, too.

20 episodes.

Our Blues (2022)

In this anthology-style series, celebrated sllice-of-lifewriter Noh Hee-kyung weaves a colorful tapestry using the joys and sorrows of the villagers (past and present) of the fictional Purung town in Jeju Island.

Over 20 episodes, we get involved in the daily lives of the close-knit community, most of whose livelihood involves the sea: an assortment of market vendors, boatmen, and haenyeo, Jeju's women divers. With its heartwarming stories, life-affirming message, and powerhouse cast that includes Lee Jung-eun (Parasite), Lee Byung-hun (Mr. Sunshine), Shin Min-a (Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha), Han Ji-min (One Spring Night), Kim Woo-bin (Uncontrollably Fond), Go Doo-shim (When the Camellia Blooms), and Kim Hye-ja (The Light in Your Eyes), Our Blues went on to become the eleventh highest-rated cable drama in Korean television history.

20 episodes.

Dear My Friends (2016)

Yet another beloved life kdrama from Noh Hee-kyung, Dear My Friends features a powerhouse ensemble composed of some of the most awarded and beloved senior actors in Korea and won the Baeksang Best Drama award in 2017.

Dear My Friends is seen from the point of view of Park Wan (Go Hyun-jung), a frustrated novelist who documents the life stories her headstrong mother Jang Nan-hee (Go Doo-shim) and her friends, played by Kim Hye-ja, Na Moon-hee, Yoon Yuh-jung, and Park Won-sook. Incredibly poignant, surprisingly funny, and featuring the beautiful sights of Slovenia and Croatia, Dear My Friends is a healing, life-affirming celebration of friends who become family and the beauty of growing old with them by your side.