Reply 1994

Reply 1994
Promotional poster
Hangul	응답하라 1994
Hanja	應答하라 1994
Revised Romanization	Eungdaphara 1994
Genre	Romance Comedy
Written by	Lee Woo-jung
Directed by	Shin Won-ho
Starring	Go Ara Jung Woo Yoo Yeon-seok Kim Sung-kyun Son Ho-jun Cha Sun-woo Min Do-hee
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	21
Production
Producer	Lee Myung-han
Running time	60–90 minutes
Production company	tvN
Original release
Network	tvN
Release	October 18 (2013-10-18) – December 28, 2013 (2013-12-28)
Related
Reply 1997 Reply 1988

Reply 1994 (Korean: 응답하라 1994) is a 2013 South Korean television series starring Go Ara, Jung Woo, Yoo Yeon-seok, Kim Sung-kyun, Son Ho-jun, Cha Sun-woo, Min Do-hee, Sung Dong-il, and Lee Il-hwa.^[1][2] It aired on tvN from October 18 to December 28, 2013 for 21 episodes.^[3][4]

Written by Lee Woo-jung and directed by Shin Won-ho, 1994 is the second installment of the Reply series.^[5][6][7] Its final episode garnered an average viewership rating of 11.509%, making it one of the highest-rated Korean dramas in cable television history.^[8][9]

Set in 1994, six university students from various provincial areas of South Korea (Jeolla Province, Chungcheong Province and Gyeongsang Province) live together at a boarding house in Sinchon, Seoul, which is run by a couple with a daughter named Sung Na-jung (Go Ara).

Like its predecessor, Reply 1997, the series follows a nonlinear story telling where it shifts between the past in 1994 and the present in 2013, making the viewers guess who will become Na-jung's husband among the male characters.^[10]

The series follows the historically and culturally significant events that happened in the country in 1994 and the years that followed, including the emergence of seminal K-pop group Seo Taiji and Boys, the Sampoong Department Store collapse^[11] and the birth of the Korean Basketball League.^[12] The names of the boys are revealed later, to avoid spoilers. They're mostly just referred to by their nicknames listed below.

• Go Ara as Sung Na-jung^{[13][14][15][16][17][18]}

Originally from Masan, South Gyeongsang Province, she is majoring in Computer Engineering, has an easygoing personality and is a big fan of basketball player Lee Sang-min.

• Jung Woo as "Sseureki" (meaning "Garbage" or "Trash")

A medical student.^[9] He was the best friend of Na-jung's late older brother, and grew up with the Sung siblings. (Hometown: Masan, South Gyeongsang Province)

• Yoo Yeon-seok as "Chilbong" (meaning "Seven Shut-outs)

Although he is only a freshman, he is the number one pitcher of Yonsei University's baseball team. He has a crush on Na-jung.^[19] (Hometown: Gangnam, Seoul)

• Kim Sung-kyun as "Samcheonpo" (referencing his hometown)

He looks much older than he actually is.^[20] (Hometown: Samcheonpo, South Gyeongsang Province)

• Son Ho-jun as "Haitai" (referencing baseball team Haitai Tigers)

His father is the CEO of the bus company Suncheon Transportation Inc.^[21][22] (Hometown: Suncheon, South Jeolla Province)

• Cha Sun-woo as "Binggeure" (meaning "Smiley"; referencing baseball team Binggrae Eagles)

Chilbong's cousin, and Garbage's junior in school.^[23] (Hometown: Goesan, North Chungcheong Province)

• Min Do-hee as Jo Yoon-jin

A fan of Seo Taiji and Boys, and a quiet, aggressive student. (Hometown: Yeosu, South Jeolla Province)

• Sung Dong-il as Sung Dong-il

A coach of the baseball team Seoul Ssangdungi, and Na-jung's father.

• Lee Il-hwa as Lee Il-hwa

She runs a boarding house in Seoul along with her husband Dong-il and daughter Na-jung.

• Yook Sung-jae as Sung Joon ("Ssuk-ssuk")
  • Sung Joon (Sung Dong-il's son) as young Sung Joon
• Shin Soo-yeon as young Sung Na-jung
• Yoon Jong-hoon as Kim Ki-tae
• Yeon Joon-seok as Kim Dong-woo
• Lee Bong-ryun as Na-jung's classmate

Director Shin Won-ho and writer Lee Woo-jung had originally planned for their previous TV series to be set in 1994, which was the year they entered college (Shin studied Chemical Engineering at Seoul National University). But they decided to change the year to 1997 after casting Sechs Kies member Eun Ji-won, since H.O.T. and Sechs Kies fandom was at its peak that year, which made an interesting juxtaposition to the failing Korean economy during the IMF crisis.^[28]

Shin and Lee felt there was enough material for another series, and in a bid to replicate Reply 1997's success, cable channel tvN announced a "sequel" or "second season" in April 2013.^[29][30] Shin said, "The stories about people moving to Seoul are full of unpredictable incidents."^[31]

Despite the same writer and director, and the casting of Sung Dong-il and Lee Il-hwa, Reply 1994 is not a prequel of Reply 1997; it uses the same concept of coming-of-age drama combined with 1990s nostalgia, but with a completely new plot and characters.^[32]

A novelization was published on January 17, 2014.^[33]

Soundtracks for the drama consist of re-arranged popular Korean songs from the nineties. All re-arranged songs are well received by Korean general public and topped various Korean music charts.

• Official website (in Korean)
• Reply 1994 at HanCinema
• Reply 1994 at IMDb