There is rarely a drama like Reply 1988 that comes out once in a while and totally steals your heart. Reply 88 may or may not have been similar to its predecessors but it's a gem of a drama on its own. Never have I seen a drama so well-written, acted and executed so well that it sucks me in and makes me smile and cry as each moment passes by. The family of the drama is one whole consisting of so many unique people. There are moments they are good and moments where they behave terribly and yet, they remind us of how they are also human. These people define a family- being together through the good times and bad and cherishing each other no matter what. I happen to be a person glad to be living in the 21st century but this drama made me wanna go back to the 80's. The romance may have been the main part in the previous two installments but this drama overall outdoes everything on every level for me(opinions may differ for all). I can only call this drama a masterpiece because NEVER have I ever seen or read or heard of such a story in my life before. This drama made me think about the beauty of relations and what kind of love is love. It is a story about remembering the past and being grateful for what you possess. The OST happens to consist of old songs remade and it is another beauty that only enhances the drama. Every single song is jjang and goes with the mood of the drama perfectly. When it comes to the cast, the casting was perfect. Hyeri was given such hatred in the beginning but I knew she'd be good. But she really exceeded my expectations too. All other cast members were also cute and Jin Joo will always be my favorite kid. <3 The story in spite of being so beautiful, was flawed. Towards the last quarter of the drama the characterizations went bad and some plots drug out too much. Trying not to focus on the romance at all in the drama kind of ruined it in some ways. The romance was cute but the love triangle wasn't executed properly. I think it's okay because whatever the writer wanted was accomplished. I found myself changing ships midway and Deok Sun indeed ended up with the one I wanted her to be. This drama was a real charm and gave me 10 memorable weeks which I shall never forget. I'll always rewatch this drama and watching it in one go would be a treat, because it was a torture waiting for every week for the subs to come out. You may or may not like this better than the "best" Reply 1997 but it's surely an improvement over 1994 and leagues apart from the other two combined for me. But- PLEASE do WATCH it.