[Drama 2022] My Liberation Notes, 나의 해방일지

[sweetroad]

WHOA!!! Just finished Episode 2.

 

Spoiler

What was that?!

 

I did not see that coming, though I respect Mi Jeong's boldness.

 

Mr Gu seems completely taken aback, but that's cute he had to go look up the definition for worship.

 

I'd thought the show might be setting up Mi Jeong and the divorced dad from her company, but now I'm not sure who to put her with....though of course it's still early.

 

Did anyone catch what Mi Jeong's company actually does? It's called Joy Support, and she seems to put together promotion materials for food and ??? - but they also have an engineering department. Wonder what industry they're in.

 

[Pixaiated]

29 minutes ago, the_sweetroad said:

WHOA!!! Just finished Episode 2.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

What was that?!

 

I did not see that coming, though I respect Mi Jeong's boldness.

 

Mr Gu seems completely taken aback, but that's cute he had to go look up the definition for worship.

 

I'd thought the show might be setting up Mi Jeong and the divorced dad from her company, but now I'm not sure who to put her with....though of course it's still early.

 

Did anyone catch what Mi Jeong's company actually does? It's called Joy Support, and she seems to put together promotion materials for food and ??? - but they also have an engineering department. Wonder what industry they're in.

 

 

Haha, nice to see you here. Agree that it came a little out of nowhere.

 

I am really enjoying this one, and there's quite a few parallels to My Mister. This writer really loves her trains.

[sweetroad]

26 minutes ago, Pixaiated said:

I am really enjoying this one, and there's quite a few parallels to My Mister. This writer really loves her trains.

 

She does. The mundane-ness yet all the thinking that go along with a long commute.

 

And did you notice in the first episode, when the brother and his girlfriend are arguing - he says that if she says "I miss you" to someone in the middle of the night, it's the same as saying, "I love you"? I thought that was a fun callback to Dong Hoon singing that song "to" Ji An, late at night, about missing her. 

 

Good to see you here, too!

[ainipang]

there are a few scene that i cam relate make me like the drama. the only thing i dont like how the sibling search for love. like life would be any different if they found their life. but well each person have different definition of happines

 

i wonder if lee ki woo character will relate back with the older sister. 

 

and really want to know who is the one who borrow the money from the youngest sibling. her lover?fling?crush? friends?

[thistle]

I really wanted to watch this drama because I like the cast so much.  But I've got to say that by the time I got halfway through episode one, it really made me wish I wasn't living my life.  I know that dramas (especially good ones) are supposed to make you feel something--love, joy, anger, sorrow--but all I felt here was utterly drained and numb and hopeless.

 

The thing that was bothering me most was how much the characters had to be grateful for:  how amazing it was that they were still living and working together as a family, how everyone had enough to eat and a safe place to be, and how they felt no love or gratitude for any of it.  I was horrified, and it made me terribly unhappy.  Yeah, maybe that is how the drama is intended to make us feel but I can't get on board with that. 

 

When I walked away from the screen, I kept hearing a really old song (like three decades old) in the back of my head.  It's about the careless ingratitude with which we can treat others and how it just hurts us at the end of the day.  We have to be willing to be open to others to be truly alive.  

 

The characters in this drama made me feel like this:  Standing Knee Deep in a River and Dying of Thirst.

 

 

I'm not gonna hang around for this drama despite the stellar cast because even 30 minutes of it made me feel such misery.   But at least I thought I could share an old song that is still relevant now because I think we all need the reminder to face those around us.

 

Time for Thistle to go bloom elsewhere.  Hope the drama ends happy anyhow.

 

 

[RobinM]

Bit of a Buzzkill so far with the whiny needy sad sack trio.  Hopefully it picks up steam soon.

[backstreetboysfan]

Good 2nd episode but yeah I do hope it can start picking up a bit soon to.

[Nanana85]

Episode 3 preview

 

Behind the scene eps 1-2

 

[confusedheart]

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[larus]

3 hours ago, thistle said:

The thing that was bothering me most was how much the characters had to be grateful for

 

I think that they have to realise later. I also thought that had a happy family and friends. At first, when I read the synopsis I thought they don`t have parents and they had to fend for themselves for a long time.

I also hope there will be a happy ending and see all the sibling feeling better for their life.

Thanks for visiting the thread and for sharing your thoughts.

 

 

****

“Our Blues” And “My Liberation Notes” Ratings Rise For 2nd Episodes; “The King Of Tears, Lee Bang Won” Hits New All-Time High

TV/Film

Apr 11, 2022

by E. Cha

 

Several dramas soared to their highest ratings yet last night!

On April 10, both tvN’s “Our Blues” and JTBC’s “My Liberation Notes” saw increases in viewership for their second episodes.

 

Meanwhile, the second episode of “My Liberation Notes” earned an average nationwide rating of 3.0 percent, marking a slight rise from its premiere the night prior.

 

https://www.soompi.com/article/1521517wpp/our-blues-and-my-liberation-notes-ratings-rise-for-2nd-episodes-the-king-of-tears-lee-bang-won-hits-new-all-time-high

[sweetroad]

9 hours ago, RobinM said:

Bit of a Buzzkill so far with the whiny needy sad sack trio.

Have you seen My Mister, writernim’s last drama? This one reminds me of MM, in that It was a bit difficult to watch the first couple of episodes there, too. Park Dong Hoon had a sad home life and Lee Ji An was getting beaten up and was an unlikeable character. Things started changing by episode 4, thankfully. Will be interesting to see how she develops things here. 
 

 

[Pixaiated]

8 hours ago, the_sweetroad said:

 

She does. The mundane-ness yet all the thinking that go along with a long commute.

 

And did you notice in the first episode, when the brother and his girlfriend are arguing - he says that if she says "I miss you" to someone in the middle of the night, it's the same as saying, "I love you"? I thought that was a fun callback to Dong Hoon singing that song "to" Ji An, late at night, about missing her. 

 

Good to see you here, too!

 

Nice catch, didn't really think about that one. More hints even in her next show?

2 hours ago, the_sweetroad said:

Have you seen My Mister, writernim’s last drama? This one reminds me of MM, in that It was a bit difficult to watch the first couple of episodes there, too. Park Dong Hoon had a sad home life and Lee Ji An was getting beaten up and was an unlikeable character. Things started changing by episode 4, thankfully. Will be interesting to see how she develops things here. 
 

 

 

Yeah, I think one similarity that I see between both shows is that there's kind of a slow start, in that a lot it thus far is set up and us getting to know the characters, who are (similar to My Mister) in a pretty bad place mentally. If it's anything like My Mister, I do think that the overall message / tone of the show will be a very hopeful one as the episodes progress, even as it portrays some of the harsh realities of life.

 

That said, I fell in love with both My Mister and this one from the first minute. There's just something about the writing here that feels really thoughtful and measured, and I love it.

[larus]

My Liberation Notes – K-Drama Episode 2 Recap & Review

10/04/2022 by Greg Wheeler

 

Episode 2 of My Liberation Notes begins with us returning to the sleepy village of Sangpo. The weather is hot and both Je-Ho and Hye-Sook (the siblings’ parents) busy themselves with work. Mr Gu is there too and he waits for the postman to arrive in order to intercept the mail. When he picks up Mi-Jeong’s letter, he notices this is from the bank and deliberates over it before throwing it in his cupboard.

Meanwhile, Mi-Jeong finishes work but misses the village bus home. It’s not initially clear whether she walked or got a later bus but the next scene she arrives back in Sangpo and is told about the letter. Meanwhile, Gi-Jeong heads home but despairs at it already being dark by the time she sits down to eat.

The siblings are all feeling alienated in their own ways, with Mi-Jeong’s woes continuing at work when she’s seated with the “club rejects” at lunch, including Tae-Hoo. The four misfits all share their stories as to why they were rejected. Among them is Park Sang-Min, who bemoans how this is just like school being a popularity contest, with  lunch being made uncomfortable for them all.

 

Gi-Jeong is briefed at work on her latest project, as all the call center staff begin cold calling different customers. Gi-Jeong listens in to make sure they’re all doing right, as she receives a tip-off that one of the agents is asking leading questions. This busywork all stems from a comment a prominent politician has made about when youth ends.

Gi-jeong is also conflicted over why she hasn’t been asked out yet by her boss, bemoaning that he always gets lottery tickets and flirts with the other employees, whether they’re married or not. Chang-Hee is incredulous to his sister’s moaning that night, pointing out that it’s not really any of her concern. Gi-Jeong ignores that though and goes on to list her positive attributes – including bags of charm.

Gi-Jeong sits and vents to her brother and his friends, who all tease her when she asks why her boss hasn’t asked her out. Their conversation is only exacerbated when Mi-Jeong and her friend Hyeon-A show up, with the latter deciding she’s going to break up with her boyfriend. Why? Well, he said he’s going to buy a bed… a single bed for 800,000 won when he doesn’t have any money.

 

They’ve been dating for two years now and Hyeon-A wants to get married. This expense is seen as a kick in the teeth for her, believing this is a sign that he’s not serious about them being together long-term.

Gi-Jeong may come across as desperate in the wake of all this drama, but the truth is he just wants a real connection with someone. Specifically, she wants to talk to a man and just connect on a deeper level. It’s not even that she wants sex either. This explains why she wants attention from the boss; she doesn’t really fancy him, she just wants to feel loved.

Remember Mi-Jeong’s money woes? Well, it turns out she actually loaned some money out to Chan-Hyeok who has his own business but it’s fallen into disrepute. In fact he’s fled to Thailand, running off with his ex girlfriend without actually paying back Mi-Jeong the money he borrwed. Ultimately, this causes her to feel like a fool, as she reflects on her life choices on the train back home.

When Mi-Jeong returns to Sangpo, she finds Mr Gu a bloody mess. He’s bleeding from the nose and her parents drive him off to the hospital. They chalk it up to him getting drunk and tripping but for Mi-Jeong (and us as the audience) it could well be linked to the money she owes.

 

Mi-Jeong is a mess and eventually she breaks down crying at work. Her day to day grind is too much and she’s physically and mentally exhausted. She’s offered a place on the Recital club though, a new club that’s been formed by three employees from engineering. Mi-Jeong refuses, as she looks on the verge of slipping into a deep state of depression.

That night, she approaches Mr Gu and admits that her life is a mess. She pleads with him to worship her in order for her to make her life whole. “Love isn’t enough. Worship me.” She says, as Mr Gu heads inside and looks up what the word actually means.

---

The Episode Review

My Liberation Notes returns with another snapshot of life in the sleepy village of Sangpo. Although we haven’t seen a whole lot of Chang-Hee, beyond his break-up and chatting with that woman during Hyun-A’s birthday, we do learn more about the two sisters.

Both Mi-Jeong and Gi-Jeong have a lot of issues in their life, with part of this stemming from their constant traveling and the other half with their growing disillusionment with what’s happening in life. They’re both stuck in a rut and something needs to change to snap them out of their sleepy slumber of mundanity. That’s something the first episode offered too but at times it did feel a bit directionless. The second episode does well to at least address that.

As someone who used to commute for several hours a day (before landing this gig of course!) I do understand where the writers are going with this and I can appreciate that some of Mi-Jeong’s monologues will resonate. Seeing her break down at work thanks to exhaustion is a particular highlight.

This is one of those melancholic dramas that really speaks to the introverts in modern society and how isolating it can be when you spend so long commuting. This second episode is a bit of an improvement over the first in that respect, with some brutal scenes between Mi-Jeong and Gi-Jeong at their respective work environments.

It’s too early to be casting judgments on this one but I’d imagine this is going to be a slow burn, with the later episodes starting to seep into the mental and physical toil the three siblings are experiencing. For now though, episode 2 improves over the first chapter’s drama.

 

https://www.thereviewgeek.com/myliberationnotes-s1e2review/

[chickfactor]

2 episodes and I'm all in.

 

This writer is absolutely magic, and the casting is perfect. I am so engrossed already. Cannot wait for next weekend!

 

Kind of wish I waited at least a few weeks before starting so that there are some stockpiled episodes I can enjoy during the week. But there's always the thrill of live-watching. *sigh* The eternal dilemma of a k-drama fan...

[noor1]

I kind of agree with a few other commenters here. This drama may have been written by the one who wrote the classic 'My Mister' but the problems here are superficial, contrived and self-serving. DH was a boring but good-natured middle-aged salary man disrespected and humiliated by the jealous boss who was having an affair with his wife. LJA was a young, cold poverty-stricken survivor taking care of her grandmother with no chance of advancement in life or kinship. DH and LJA had lost hope and brought great changes in each other's lives. And the sexy way their scenes were framed and filmed just added to the are they-are they not kind of heated debate even on soompi even though there was a 20+ age difference between the two! And the rest of the cast and their stories and emotions were just perfect and inspiring too. Had great OST too. It was a great all-round production team work that made 'My Mister' what it was - not just the writer.  

 

In 'Liberation Day', you have 3 adult siblings living with their parents cribbing about their love lives. That's it. Their parents own the house and land they live, farm and do carpentry work on. The siblings all have had an education and have 9-5 office careers. They are not poor or disabled and parents are healthy too. They have had relationships too. All 3 could've rented a place in Seoul if they really wanted to! They are still fed by and are dependent on their parents! 

 

So how does one relate to three self-absorbed lame-ducks with self-esteem issues that they blame the hometown on! Sanpo is not the reason they are boring unlikeable people nobody wants to be with! 

 

The eldest and the loudest, GJ, is a tramp and looks like it. The wimpy son CH aims for girls who want a higher status than he has or can afford. The youngest, MJ, is a quiet woman who gave money to a boyfriend who frankly she hasn't seen since forever and now is in debt over her own stupidity. Her boss nitpicks her work but it is unclear whether he is bullying her or if she is really that bad at work. 

 

All three are one-dimensional superficial characters and have neither the work ethic nor the grace or sense of their parents. Their problems lack urgency of life or liberty frankly.  

 

The only interesting thing / person in the drama is Gu, who is hot as hell - which is the only interesting thing about him (which is a very superficial thing to say, I know).  

 

And even though there are red flags around Gu: a stranger in a small town paying a year's rent on a house to do menial work next door, with an old couple who have lunch with Gu every day, but neither they nor anyone else in the town has asked him his background or his family or why he is in Sanpo. He keeps to himself, that would make people more curious. People in small towns have all the time to make up stories about strangers and to talk about them, but this family and neighborhood have just taken this stranger at face value. He could be a criminal running away from the law, or wants to get away from the stress of 5 kids and a wife, or is drunk over grief / blame over something. No one has tried asking him either. It's unrealistic.  

 

I thought MJ telling Gu to 'worship' her was sexual harassment AND laughably ridiculous: technically he is dependent on her parents for work and food, so the power dynamic is unequal, and she came across as desperate, pathetic and horny. Plus, he's just too hot and sensible to say yes.  

 

Clearly he'll be the siblings' guide and teacher who propels them to make better choices and gets healed himself, but what a waste of a perfectly good hot specimen. 

 

[Yinye]

Ah just saw ep 2 - I didn’t realize the writer is the same as My Mister! Explains the pace and the inner voice dialogues. Yes, another bleak episode and it may not be easy to watch but I guess it is a reminder that so many people have this world view and live in this mode. 
 

Woah - “worship” line is very unique! Lol I also wasn’t expected MJ to be so bold and brave but I think she reached her breaking point. I LOL when Mr Gu googled what worshipped meant! He was checking all connotations and maybe wondering if MJ really understood what it all implied. I don’t think it is sexual harassment at all. Worship doesn’t have the sexual connotation by default and MJ clearly told him that she was tired of all her deadbeat exes and past dates. It was def an invitation to start relationship and i wonder how they will go from here lol! 
 

Just to provide context as someone living in Asia, there are many adults children still living in the family home and the long commute is super real issue. I also had issues with some work friends too that wanted to go out but sometimes I had to decline due to my long commute - so I am emphasize with the characters. So my interpretation is that it’s not that they are ungrateful but they are def taking things for granted. I may have missed it but I am sure each of them pool part of their salary into the family/parent care too. So many Asian adults are like this lol even my own adult family members who still call on their elderly parents to go do errands. It’s def a family dynamic thing. 

 

It totally irked me too how the two eldest siblings don’t do much to support the parents. They are so focus on wanting their ‘ideal’ life and pitying themselves that they’ve lost their own agency to do better!! Which is the whole point of this drama, right? A catalyst of MJ going bold with Mr Gu is bound to cause a ripple effect and I look forward to see how it goes! At least it is not predictable! The preview seems to show them trying new things so let’s see.
 

[Latte_Anyday]

JTBC is just known for mostly healing, slice-of-life, tearjerker type dramas.

 

    Almost didn't recognize Min Ki here LoL. He does have a country bumpkin look goin' on. I am interested for a loveline for Mr. Gu and Mi Jeong. Especially since now he shares her lil "secret".

    I get Mi Jeong is introverted but I don't know why she make such a fuss over it. It's like she is a reluctant introvert if that make sense. Then we see she is in debt over a man she may have had a crush on. So her trust is betrayed. 

    Her older sis on the other hand is too bothered over a married male co-worker who might be a philanderer. 

 

I laughed when the bro's ex yelled she misses BTS. Ha-ha an army spotted eheh. 

[agenth]

Quick comment here (will respond to other posters after work, but I share @Yinye's opinion), watched 2 episodes as @the_sweetroad reminded me this show aired already haha. 

 

What I noticed:

• fancy inner dialogues, some beyond my head, some very touching and deep. 
• a lot of quiet scenes spanning to entire minutes - a picture says more than 1000 words. 
• in fact most of the characters are the introvert kind
• or perhaps most characters are just TIRED (of work. of life. of their problems), even those that are "extrovert". They have an unspoken "don't talk at the dinner table" rule, when it gets broken, consequences are severe, or well, not pleasant to the rulebreaker. 
• long glances betwen MJ and Goo -> still I was surprised at her sudden, direct approach but GO GET HIM GIRL!
• MJ is a very relatable character to me, especially in my young girl years and still a bit. The fact that she is always surrounded by people but still quite isolated as she is not on the same page / wavelength as everyone else, still tries to fit in, but it gets too much for her and is exhausting, and simply other people don't really connect with her, so they only take her as token. Very interested in her journey, thus. 
• The eldest sister is very judgmental, because she herself is insecure, but still she wants happiness and equates this currently as finding the "80 points man" as her friend puts it.
• It's quite funny to me, this is the first series where random people (bar, restaurant) overhear what the characters talk about and react to it. It's very realistic   and I've never really noticed this with other dramas.

 

It's very slow moving, however in this case, quite interesting as it is introspective. 

[Nanana85]

Behind the scene video part 2

 

Behind the scene video part 3

 

[larus]

My Liberation Notes: Episodes 1-2

by quirkycase

 

The newest slice-of-life offering from JTBC, My Liberation Notes, is an introspective, slow affair that centers on the struggles of a trio of siblings. They’re all lonely, a little lost, and stuck in a cycle of monotony that threatens to overwhelm them. But at least one sibling has had enough and makes a bold suggestion in hopes of changing her situation – or maybe herself.

 

EPISODES 1-2 WEECAP

 

Given that this drama is by the writer of My Ahjussi, I’m not going to lie, I had high expectations. And it seems my faith in writer Park Hae-young wasn’t misplaced. Here we have the story of three siblings struggling day by day, feeling stuck and like their lives are meaningless. None of them are where they want to be in life and don’t know what to do about it.

The siblings all work in Seoul, but they live with their parents in Sanpo which is quite a hike from the city. Both the commute and the isolation take a toll on each of our siblings, and it’s clear from the start that they’re all exhausted both mentally and physically.

 

The drama makes the drudgery of their days visceral and stifling. You can feel the frustration and resignation, especially from youngest YEOM MI-JUNG (Kim Ji-won) who serves as our narrator. She’s quiet and keeps her head down, holding everything in and just trying to get through each day, which feels like a job in itself to her.

 

Mi-jung particularly suffers at work where she’s seen as standoff-ish and “bland.” Her ostracism seems to mainly be for having the nerve to want to leave work at the end of the day rather than happily participating in the social clubs and forced get-to-know-each-other events that “aren’t mandatory.” They’re so “voluntary” that the few employees who didn’t join any clubs are called into the coordinator’s office for a consultation like they’re in school.

Middle child YEOM CHANG-HEE (Lee Min-ki), on the other hand, is loud and passionate. He hates that nothing ever happens in their little town and wants the excitement of the city. Unlike Mi-jung, he makes it known how much he hates living so far from Seoul and not having anything to his name, like a car. It’s hard to date long-distance, and he ends up breaking up with his girlfriend in part due to the strain. And also because she might be seeing someone else behind his back.

 

Then, we have the oldest YEOM KI-JUNG (Lee El). Honestly, I have the hardest time connecting to her out of the bunch. Ki-jung comes across as petty, the type to blame everyone else for her own insecurities. She’s desperate to find love but her own impossibly high standards get in her way. I can feel for her loneliness and anger, but her behavior doesn’t endear her to me.

 

She’s the type to talk before thinking, like when she gets herself in trouble for loudly going on about how horrible the notion of dating a man with a teenage kid is only to find a single dad and his teenage daughter at the next table. To make matters worse, he turns out to be Mi-jung’s colleague and fellow abstainer from social clubs JO TAE-HOON (Lee Ki-woo).

 

more https://www.dramabeans.com/2022/04/my-liberation-notes-episodes-1-2/