My Liberation Notes (2022)

Coup de cœur pour ce voyage initiatique rare

Contrairement à une multitude de dramas qui rendent la vie des personnages (et du spectateur) plus facile, My Liberation Notes brise ce concept. Il nous confronte aux épreuves du quotidien dont on supporte le poids en silence. C’est un tranche de vie dans les règles de l’art qui nous force à affronter cette vie monotone et répétitive qu’on aspire à fuir.

C’est écrit avec finesse et subtilité. On y découvre beaucoup d’introspection qui mène à de nombreux questionnement – tant pour les personnages que pour nous, spectateurs. Nous avons tous des vies, envies et souhaits différents. Mais lesquels sont réellement les nôtres ? Comment distinguer les envies d’autrui et les siennes dans une société qui semble mieux savoir que nous, ce à quoi nous aspirons ?

My Liberation Notes est un drama sur le quotidien répétitif. Mais cette répétitivité n’est pas sans but, car chaque épisode qui amène une nuance. Certains critiques pointent le manque d’action ou de scénario. En réalité, c’est tout l’intérêt d’un tel drama. Et pour cette raison, il ne convient pas à tout le monde. C’est une vision du monde, une critique de la société et de ce qu’elle attend de nous. Tout comme l’acceptation de ne pas être dans le moule et ne pas s’en vouloir si on décide d’emprunter de nouveaux chemins. Je pense aussi que l'âge est un facteur important. Je suis persuadée qu'à 16 ans, je n'aurais probablement pas trouvé ce drame si spectaculaire.

Chaque membre du quatuor a ses propres démons auxquels ils vont devoir faire face. Mi Jeong par le fait de pouvoir s’identifier, avoir le sentiment d’être vivante et libérée. Ki Jeong, va chercher cette évasion par le mariage. Chang Hee, le frère, par le biais d’un métier qui puisse l’épanouir. Quant à Mr Gu, c’est au fond d’une bouteille de soju. Pourtant, chaque est repoussé dans ses retranchements tout en sachant que le lendemain matin, il faudra recommencer.

Il sera difficile d’ignorer les personnages et leurs interprètes. Au travers d’un regard, d’une larme ou d’une réplique, chacun fait mouche. Pas de grands discours ou de longues crises de larmes. Allez à l’essentiel est plus impactant qu’un long discours. L’ensemble donne aux spectateurs de quoi se remettre lui-même en question. Et si on se trouve dans une situation similaire, cela nous permet de s’identifier et de peut-être débuter notre propre introspection.

C’est un aperçu de la vie. Un drama d’une rare beauté et d’un naturel frappant. Avec ses dialogues percutants, sa mélancolie constante et son émotion, tout désespoir connaît son espoir. C’est une quête de liberté comme peu d’autres.

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Les prisons intérieures sont les pires...

J’ai beaucoup aimé, comme le plus souvent ce que j’appelle (avec humour !) les dramas dépressifs, mon étalon de mesure étant l’excellentissime « My mister ».

My liberation notes souffre un peu, à mes yeux, d’une difficulté de départ à mettre les choses en place, particulièrement concernant la fille aînée dont j’ai eu un peu de mal à comprendre les motivations ! Il est clair que leur vie, à chacun des trois, ne leur convient pas, et qu’ils cherchent chacun à leur façon comment se sortir de ce marasme qui est plus dans leur tête que dans la réalité quotidienne. Il va se passer quelques évènements qui vont cristalliser ce désir de se libérer de ces chaînes invisibles ! 
L’obstination de l’entreprise où travaille Yom Mi Jong, à vouloir lui faire intégrer un club, matérialise ce pouvoir extérieur écrasant ! La rencontre des deux seuls autres personnes dans son cas sera le départ d’une démarche de libération !  En passant, si les entreprises coréennes sont réellement comme ça, obligeant leurs employés à pratiquer un hobby en dehors du travail, mais dans le cadre de clubs gérés par l’entreprise, c’est tout simplement horrible ! Et ce qui l’est plus encore c’est que tout le monde l’accepte comme la normalité, tout le monde, non… sauf trois irréductibles ! 

Le fil rouge de l’histoire est la relation qui va s’instaurer entre M.Gu et Mi Jeong, relation très différente des romances dramaesques  habituelles, et au travers de laquelle on va découvrir qui est réellement cet homme mystérieux ! 
Comme toujours on entrevoit le rôle de la famille, des parents, ou des fratries, souvent tyranniques, mais parfois aussi généreuses et ouvertes (la mère de la famille Yeom…) Le caractère original de la sœur aînée donne lieu à des situations à la fois cocasses et touchantes par leur maladresse… Le fils, son ambition est d’avoir une voiture, et sa joie délirante quand on lui en prête une, luxueuse, et encore une fois très drôle et aussi émouvante ! 

Il faut se laisser prendre par l’ambiance, l’atmosphère du drama, à la fois banale et très spéciale par les personnages très intelligemment écrits qui, dans des situations triviales ont des réactions personnelles particulières et fortes. 
Le drama est soutenu donc par son écriture, sa réalisation classique mais intelligente et précise, mais surtout par un casting génial ! 
J’ai adoré voir Lee Min Ki oublier le héros romantique pour un très beau personnage à contre-emploi, dans lequel il donne toute la mesure de son grand talent ! Celui qui soutient aussi tout le drama, c’est sans conteste Son Suk Ku (M.Gu) qui joue magnifiquement de son mystère et de l’ambiguïté de ce héros souvent négatif, mais fascinant, et dont l’impact sur chacun sera déterminant ! 
Kim Ji Won lui donne parfaitement la réplique et sait, elle aussi, nous faire ressentir ses doutes, ses interrogations et sa recherche d’une liberté intérieure. 
Le reste la distribution est à l’avenant : Lee El, la sœur aînée dont parfois on se dit qu’elle est un peu fêlée, le père, Cheon Ho Jin, qui ne dit pas plus de 10 phrases mais dont la présence soutenue par sa longue expérience est puissante, les amis du fils, les collègues de travail, et particulièrement Li Ki Woo, que je n’avais croisé que dans des personnages fort antipathiques, incarne ici un père veuf aux prises avec une ado en pleine période de puberté avec beaucoup de délicatesse et de finesse. 

Je ne peux pas dire grand chose de l’OST, ce qui signifie que pour moi elle est parfaite du moment que je ne m’en souviens pas !
La fin ? Ouverte et sans une once de guimauve ou de fleur bleue, il n’y a ni résilience miraculeuse ni rédemption mélodramatique, mais la sensation que tous ont enfin trouvé leur place ! 

Je conseille fortement ce drama, à ranger dans la catégorie des « Misaeng », « My mister », « the third charm » ou « Reply 88 » ! 

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Un drama qui serre le cœur et nous cloue devant l’écran, sans pouvoir s’arrêter.

J'ai trouvé ce drama magnifique et parfaitement réalisé. Il nous plonge dans la vie morose des personnages qui essaient de s'en sortir, de trouver leur place. Il n'y a aucun jugement dans la mise en scène quant aux décisions faites par les différents personnages. J'ai beaucoup aimé le fait qu'aucun n'est parfait et que même à la fin le chemin vers le bonheur semble encore long. Ce drame raconte juste la vie de personnes qui se débattent et c'en est tellement frustrant que j'ai souvent eu la gorge serrée et nvie de pleurer. Car il est tellement réel que c'en est frustrant, on a l'habitude de regarder des kdramas qui finissent bien et qui ont une part de fantaisie mais celui-ci est tout le contraire... C'est un portrait de la vie. C'en était tellement frustrant que souvent j'ai voulu arrêter de regarder, mais il a été tellement bien réalisé avec tant de finesse que malgré tout je l'ai fini.

Je trouve que cela montre que c'est un très bon drama, mais il ne peut pas plaire à tout le monde car il est quand même dur à regarder et peut paraître lent. Je ne le conseille pas aux personnes qui aiment regarder des repas joyeux ou tout simplement qui s'éloignent de la réalité car ce drama n'est pas du tout fait comme cela. Moi même je ne le regardais pas une deuxième tellement le fait de le regarder a été dur parfois.

Par ailleurs, une mention spéciale au travail des acteurs qui est magnifique, avec une interprétation parfaite qui nous fait ressentir toute la profondeur des personnages.

Un kdrama qui laisse sur un goût inachevé à la fin mais qui donne à réfléchir durant tout sont déroulé qui fait que la fin n'est en rien frustrante et au contraire va parfaitement avec l'histoire.

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Slow road to nowhere

As others have written, a very slow pace to this one, but that was not a problem. The plot line with the eldest sister i felt was forced and uninteresting. The brother's storyline was better but I really didn't need it. The problem being, those two storylines took away from the really interesting story of Gu and the youngest sister. They had good chemistry and their scenes kept me engaged even when painfully slow. In the end, I couldn't handle the lack of closure this drama provided. I understand the reason for it, but it left me frustrated and unhappy. A good open ended drama I think gives you a good feel for how things could turn out or lets you know it doesn't really matter. At the end of this, I'm not sure if Gu is dead in a alleyway tomorrow or married with kids in 5 years...

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Quite unique but seemed incomplete

I am damn sure that i watched all 16 episodes but it seems like i missed out on few episodes, they jump from one scene to the another during the end of each episode and give us a fuller version of it in the next episode but somehow for me , it was confusing , that probably led to this 7.5 . Had they maintained the same quality as the first half this would have been a 9 without a doubt.

What i loved about this?
This is not one of those dramas that focuses on only the main couple, i loved how each charactee had their own importance and behind story. I was looking forward to knowing more about each of them and absolutely enjoyed every minute of it.
I loved how they were aware of their situation and dealt with it with dignity, in the end they embraced their insecurities and learnt how to be happy

I fell for Chang Hee, though he is often seen being frustrated and keeps venting out his anger but whatever he spoke , he stated Facts . I loved how he dint hold back when ever he was angry and upset and blurted eveything out loudly and very fast. I bet it would have still been difficult for me to understand his dialogues had i known korean. He became one of my favorite kdrama characters and i also am satisfied with how things ended with him.

The three sibling bond is well written, though we see them fighting and glaring at each other often, i could see through each of them , how they cared for each other and how strong their bond was.

They say it is "liberation notes" definetly i see liberation here but only 40%. Would have been great had they ended Mr Gu's character with more certainity . For me he was a mystery in the beggining and remained a mystery even in the end

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Intriguing but slow and boring

I waited every week eagerly for a new episode of My Liberation Notes and I watched it till very end...The characters were definitely intriguing and unique and were played really well by the actors especially Lee Min Ki and Lee El. Btw Lee Min Ki's character had one of the best character arcs I've seen in kdramas. And that's a win for the writer to create such interesting and realistic characters. Yet overall I found the show to be boring and slow and pretentious at times. MLN has been compared a lot to My Mister, the writer's other show and My Mister was a slower show too, but it was sharper and more engaging. I actually thought some episodes were more similar to Be Melo, in the way the characters talked and random situations occurred. The other common thing with My Mister is that MLN teases the audience when it comes to the romantic relationships. In My Mister there was the age gap issue but here I'm not sure why the director and writer choose to stay away from any romantic scenes. How I think about it is don't show all this tension between the actors if it's not ending up in anything and it also seemed very unnatural and stark for them to have feelings for each other but hardly show any intimacy on screen.
The dialogues though random are well written and thoughtful. But the show overall is very dialogue heavy which can be a disadvantage for non-Korean speakers, but I enjoyed that part to some extent. MLN was going for something interesting but the writer doesn’t do as good of a job to tie things together and make it engaging enough. You may like the show if you like deep philosophical conversations and if you're an introvert you may relate to the FL atleast in the first few episodes. But the show leaves with too many loose ends and the reveals or mystery the show builds on and creates anticipation on are not as interesting in the end.

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Wonderful but my boredom when watching it is significant. Chang Hee is my favorite part.

My Liberation Notes is a slice-of-life drama about three siblings and their mysterious neighbors; who are dissatisfied with life in one way or another. They live in the countryside about an hour outside of Seoul. The show is showing the character's journey that was so refreshing and realistic. Liberation is a journey of identifying and persevering to keep working through it. Identifying your struggles and finding the root cause is a hard thing to do. Acceptance and taking action to make things better is even harder.

At first, I watch this because it has a similar premise because My Mister also followed the lives of three brothers. In My Mister, they come together to help each other heal along with the FL. Then also its' deep exploration of the character's mental states. But the main difference, at least this is my opinion, is while both shows are character-driven, My Mister has much stronger external plots and twists that make more eye-opening action scenes, much more than My Liberation Notes. In My Liberation Notes, the story progresses by following the daily lives, like the vlogs of these characters. So if you enjoyed My Mister, you may or may not enjoy My Liberation Notes. Don't expect the same exhilaration you get from My Mister here, but surely, both series present the same level of production quality and character arcs. I like My Mister better, but there were many good thought-provoking aspects of My Liberation Notes.

The first pro I want to mention is the comedy. I absolutely love how this series handles funny moments. It comes from a quiet moment, there's no dialogue happening and it's funny due to the previous or next scenes. For example, the part of Mi Jeon demanding Mr. Gu to worship her and the scene of Mr. Gu alone realizing the word worship means and seeing his reaction. My favorite one is when Chang Hee has done something to Mr. Gu's car and Chang He's about to confess but instead of wearing his slippers, he decides to wear his runners instead. It was so funny! Because you could see what the character was thinking without them saying it.

Regarding the plot, I thought the first four episodes were exciting. then it got super slow midway and then the last four episodes were so beautifully done. They give a very satisfying arc to every single character, and even if they didn't end on a completely happy note, I felt hopeful by the end. It is worth mentioning that the dialogue is so heavy all the time, the conversation these characters have is telling me some sort of message across. It's very tiring to pay attention all the time, so this show is not binge-able, but more of one episode a day watch.

Speaking of the characters, I was invested not so much in their character but more in their fantastic acting and their story and growth. Each character is carefully described and redeemed. I love how all the siblings would talk about things that most people I think would be ashamed and sometimes embarrassed to admit. I loved Mi Jung's inner strength and how she takes the initiative to liberate herself. I found her relationship with Mr. Gu is very unique and unconventional. I warm up to Mr. Gu throughout the story, but I am slightly disappointed that his alcoholism is not handled. But the best part for me is Chang Hee. Watching his scenes at first I feel already connected to him. Then I'm so happy that in the last four episodes or so, the story focuses a lot on him. I loved how his monologues came out and how he become more mature, his story was just beautiful. I'm thinking of rewatching the show only for his scenes.

I want to praise the OST and sound effects. There's a heavy focus on a lot of ASMR sounds, like people walking, eating, breathing, and sighing. Because this screenplay focuses so much on a character's introspection and how they're feeling emotionally, it's really really nice to have it paired with silence and ASMR sounds. OST was just so beautiful and peaceful. It fuels me to continue watching when I kinda doze off when watching too much heavy dialogue and mundane scenes.

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Good But Not Without Its Problems

I’ll be honest here. I definitely had mixed feelings before I started writing this review with what to put. I guess that I should probably start with my overall thoughts on the show.

Personally I thought that ‘ My Liberation Notes’ was definitely well done from a screenwriting perspective . ( I mean what do you expect from the same writer of ‘ My Mister’?.) There was enough angst to pluck at your heartstrings but also a few opportunities here and there to explore lighthearted respite or focus on building up the characters as the plot went on.

HOWEVER, I have to say that while I honestly adore our main cast ( especially our main heroine played by Kim Ji Won) the show didn’t always possess a necessary spark for me in initial episodes. I’m not entirely what this was down to exactly. Maybe it was the acting slightly. That’s not to say that I thought the acting was bad at all. I was really impressed by the main cast as I said before and I can’t deny that Son Seok Koo really slammed the ball out of the ball pitch with his performance. ( Not a familiar face for me but I’m glad that ‘ My Liberation Notes’ has opened up my knowledge of some impressive actors)

Although while I do have a lot of things to praise by the acting here even I must admit early performances didn’t do a lot to really elevate these characters to life. To be fair I don’t think it was entirely the acting as pacing and writing maybe also played a key.

The first few episodes of the series were really bogged down on character introductions. I don’t think this is always a bad thing but rather than really giving us a lot of insight into the characters being built up, it felt a bit repetitive in this first part of the series before the action kicked off. Did I think this affected later episodes? Slightly. If I’m honest I thought that the second half definitely picked up and took note of these early mistakes but it didn’t always offer leeway to spicing things up. This isn’t to entirely be really negative though. I honestly did like how the plot panned out and the unexpected plot twists which played out here.

I’d say the filming was pretty good here. There were maybe a few moments here and there which felt as though they could’ve had a BIT more attention to detail but alongside the OST, I didn’t think this was entirely bad. Just a little incomplete in parts.

Overall thoughts; You can definitely tell this drama is cut from the same cloth as ‘ My Mister’ and considering it’s the same writer it is no surprise. I had my issues with writing and editing here and there but aside from my complaints, I thought that this was a surprisingly well balanced series with touching moments and intriguing characters. A strong 8.0/10.

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I just can´t let go

I can´t get this series out of my head after finishing it a few days ago!

Short version: I started the series for the plot that was given but stayed for seeing the romantic development between Yeom Mi Jung and Mr. Gu.

Longer version: It is not something I am proud of to say but I had no interest in the other characters and relationships that were portrayed. Maybe because I was overwhelmed with the quantity of main roles therefore struggles and I am more interested in "minimalistic" heavy plots? It is something I could have expected after reading the plot summary, still I was surprised about the depressive atmosphere I felt watching the three siblings struggling.
The relationship between Mr. Gu and Yeom Mi Jung was so interesting for me and it was a lot to take in. In the first few episodes I was so confused and could not grasp what was going on between them especially with him. I was scared of him at first! :D
The acting and the charisma of Yeom Mi Jung/Kim Ji Won and Mr. Gu/Yon Suk Ku and the (non-)verbal dialogs were phenomenal. I could relate to Mi Jungs thoughts a lot and felt seen and heard a few times. I would LOVE a series with the two actors again, maybe even with those characters. Definitely gonna watch all upcoming series by the screenwriter Park Hae Youn!
PS: Maybe I need to give the series a second try but for now I state by this rating.

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Good Enough

Korean Drama " My Liberation Notes " is a slice of life melodrama.

My main problem with it is the pace. It felt off and the presentation of the story didn't suit well for me, as it was not cohesive.

Other than that, the story is pretty intense, with tragic characters, meaningful moments, simple, and yet, powerful scenes.

The romance, moreover, was original and didn't overshadow the main point of the drama. Rather, it let the characters shine and live their burdersome lives.

The performances, finally, were all great by everyone in the cast.

So, overall, seven out of ten.

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Boring plot yet charming to watch

What an odd series. It was as mundane as can be. I remember when I was watching the first episode and every scene felt so uneventful I was waiting when is something going to happen? And nothing really did. Yet, I wanted to watch more.

It's a story about a family, the parents and three adult siblings living together in the countryside and a new, kinda mysterous drunk neighbor. All of them feel like they are stuck in their life in a way, stuck in a routine or in an addiction or being a very shallow person. And all of them want some sort of change, but honestly? They feel just about the same at the end like the beginning, maybe taking a tiny half step forward throughout the whole time.

I suppose what I liked about it, is the relatability? Trying to fight the mundane everydays, trying to maintain a relationship, survive in a bad workplace, living in a toxic family, etc. Things that so many of average watchers can get behind, yet again, nothing seems to change really by the end. Is that sad? I don't know, it just feels I guess average, realistic. Bittersweet in a way, like what were we really expecting?

What I didn't like though that there was no one trying to stop the alcoholic guy from drinking... pff they actually bought alcohol for him as gifts and such. Like tf? It's something that can actually kill you, no kidding, even if you don't preach against it at least there is no need to support a bad behaviour.

Anyway, even though this whole series sounds kinda boring, it has such a unique charm to it that drew me in, it's interesting. I'd definitely recommend it to young adults.

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