I have very mixed feelings after finishing this. I definitely didn't enjoy this as much as Reply 1997—it wasn't until the cameos did I realize how much I missed Shi-Won and Yoon-Jae. Yet, the series still had the similar Reply vibe, which made me enjoy watching it still.

I didn't really have a preference for the love triangle, mainly because the writers seem to very visibly alternate which character (Trash or Chil-Bong) had more screentime. I found myself rooting for whoever was on screen. Except, when they were both on screen and were insulting each other, I found myself not really a fan of either one of them. The way the love triangle went, though, it definitely went on for longer than it had to because it felt like Na-Jung was indifferent to Chil-Bong from the start and never wavered. There were some scenes where I really liked Na-Jung's chemistry with Trash, but other times they acted just like brother and sister and I thought Chil-Bong would've been better as the husband. Trash also really hurt himself when there was this ten-episode build-up around why he wouldn't accept Na-Jung's feelings and all we got was the most cliche "we're like family" explanation. Just a note though that I did get spoiled for the ending and I already knew who was going to be the husband.

Now here is one HUGE thing that bothered me: the fact that they used Yoon-Jin's drunk secret-spilling habit to advance the plot not once, not twice, but THREE times. If it was just once, I would've been okay with it. The second time, it got repetitive. And the third time was really just annoying, especially since nobody bothered to stop her (even knowing her habit) and just let her go on and on.

The series definitely dragged on for longer than it had to by including scenes and dialogue that would be in everyday conversation, and some episodes that were one and a half hours long killed me. But the vibe I still enjoyed because it felt very slice-of-life. At the same time, however, the scenes were longer but I felt like they jumped around so much and there were some scenes I wanted that were never shown. What was Na-Jung's initial reaction to Chil-Bong's first confession?

I'm honestly a little disappointed with how Hai-Tai and Bingguere's stories went. I LOVED Hai-Tai's banter with Yoo-Jin and his friendship with Na-Jung and it lowkey hurt me that he didn't end up with any girls in the main squad. For Binggeure, even though I get that sexual confusion is a thing, after Joon-Hee's intense presence in Reply 1997 and all the similar hinting for Binggeure being gay/bi as well, then suddenly giving him a female love interest in one episode and having them end up married...it just felt a lot like queer-baiting to me.

SCP and Yoon-Jin's relationship also had to take a lot of time to grow on me, because I was shipping her with Hai-Tai, and SCP just looked like an old man. I'm glad that that was a running joke though, which made it better.

I was honestly not a fan of Na-Jung at the beginning, because I was really annoyed by her fangirling. And I don't inherently have something against a main lead in an unrequited love, but the fact that she made it so damn obvious and overreacted with so much angst...that pissed me off.

Also, since the characters in Reply 1997 were friends before the drama started whereas the characters in 1994 had to meet each other, the friendship aspect felt very lacking at the start.

I definitely think this one incorporated more nostalgia and references, and my favorite was that of the Sampoong department store collapse, because it was the first time you really saw the huge impact of an event on the characters.

There are a lot of plotholes in this, it seems. What was the purpose of Na-Jung's younger brother? He was never at the dinner table or in the living room with the others except for when it was beneficial for the plot, and it just makes me wonder if the parents just left him in the room by himself. And where did Na-Jung's basketball fangirling go? It went from being the central point of her personality and the plot to basically being non-existent, except for a little mention here and there.

Note: Although this show was truly laugh-out-loud funny at times, I felt like the goat noise was also overrused.

7/10 is still quite a high rating in my eyes, but the high rating is for the Reply nostalgia and the brilliant metaphors and voiceovers and life lessons. If I used my logic, I'd give this show a much lower rating, but because it managed to tug on my heartstrings, 7/10 it is.