When Life Gives You Tangerines Finale Review: Slice of Life Masterpiece That’s Worthy of Being Kdrama of the Year

When Life Gives You Tangerines Finale Review: It is finally time for the end of Ae-sun and Gwan-sik’s troubles, their beautiful spring, and the beautiful love they brought to us all with When Life Gives You Tangerines Finale review. As the two head on face the never-ending adversities of life, things start to look better for the couple, only for another season to wreck their lives.

The series has 16 episodes and will be released from 7th March 2025 to 28th March 2025, releasing four episodes every Friday.

When Life Gives You Tangerines Finale Recap

The finale week of our beloved show started with the craziness of Geum-myeong’s mature love as fans excitedly looked forward to their beloved couple’s treasure finally finding her love story. However, a sadness also wrapped around them all as they had to say goodbye to this beloved show. With tears in our eyes and warmth spreading through our hearts, this is how the finale comes about.

When Life Gives You Tangerines Episode 13, Geum-myeong’s second chance at love starts when she finds a familiar face returning to her life. Park Cheong-seop’s relentless pursuit of Geum-myeong in the busy city of Seoul finally brings him face to face with her. With this, the two find a mature love that is different from the passionate love of their youth, and soon head down the road of marriage. As Gwan-sik bids goodbye to his beloved treasure, a new trouble finds the family.

When Life Gives You Tangerines Episode 14 continues this set as the trouble turns out to be from Eun-myeong’s friendship with the wrong person and the 1997 IMF crisis in Korea that shook the country’s economy. With Geum-myeong hardly surviving the ordeal, the Yang family is also in trouble when Eun-myeong is sent to jail, leaving them no choice but to collect a large sum of money to get him out. Gwan-sik finally bids goodbye to his beloved ship while Ae-sun finds herself fighting for her son, and the two finally get him out. However, this turns out to be a burden on Eun-myeong as he almost risks his life in the sea to make up for the loss. Luckily, Gwan-sik and Bu Sang-gil save him on time, and they look for another way to get back on their feet. Finally, Gwan-sik makes a risky decision and does something out of character.

When Life Gives You Tangerines Episode 15, shows us that Gwan-sik is to buy a shop where he wishes to open up a restaurant. However, the place where he bought the shop is part of a fraud, and while they have the shop, there is no traffic to support it. Elsewhere, Bu Sang-gil is shocked when his wife asks for a divorce. The Yang family falls into yet another dire situation when Geum-myeong arrives with money to support them for the time being. However, a fight erupts between the father-daughter duo, which ends with her leaving and them finding out that she is pregnant.

Months later, Geum-myeong goes through a tough labour, and after giving birth to her daughter, she realises how hard it must have been for her mother. As the mother-daughter duo begins to understand each other better, the family’s restaurant business finally takes off.

When Life Gives You Tangerines Episode 16, shows that the family is finally living a better life, while we also get to see the hidden kindness of many other people. However, life is never fair, and Ae-sun is set for another heartbreak as this time, life is ready to take away her beloved SteelHeart from her. Gwan-sik is diagnosed with cancer, and after a tough fight with the disease, he passes away while looking at Ae-sun’s lovely face. Life continues for the family, and Ae-sun remains in their house where Gwan-sik’s presence keeps her company. This is until Geum-myeong buys Ae-sun’s mother’s house and finally moves there.

Ae-sun finds peace within her loneliness as she sees her life having only moved upward this whole time. She finally becomes a poet in Gwan-sik’s presence while her children also make him proud before his passing away. As she writes the journey she has taken until now, many others read her work as well and life continues for her.

When Life Gives You Tangerines Finale Review

I was left in tears after watching this show come to an end because, regardless of the many wonderful shows this year, When Life Gives You Tangerines is definitely topping my list of favourites for sure. This relatively new Korean drama was more than just a show for us to watch; it was an emotion that resonated with its viewers irrespective of their age. It has carried a beauty in its simplicity and touched the lives of common folks who have faced adversities but have also moved forward with smiles on their faces.

The actors have performed so wonderfully throughout the show that I have no words left to praise them. I am happy to get the additional scenes of Park Bo-gum in the final episode, and while all of these scenes broke my heart, I am still glad to see him as Yang Gwan-sik. IU has definitely been the highlight of this show without a doubt; playing two characters is never easy in the same drama, and the way she carried herself throughout this show was simply stunning. Then there are Moon So-ri and Park Jae-hoon, who carried the legacy, love and chemistry of our beloved Ae-sun and Gwan-sik so wonderfully that I really felt like I’ve seen them age and not change.

We also have to talk about the cinematography of the show; the beauty of Jeju Islands captured in the show is surely beautiful, but what really stands out for me is the way it also captures the changing times. There is a reason why this show is set to be one of the Top Korean dramas this year, and that is how well it captures even the minute details for the viewers.

This journey with Ae-sun and Gwan-sik was truly heartwarming and has once again raised the standard for many around the world. They took over our hearts with their simple and undying love that pushed them forward without having an ounce of doubt in each other. The family they created was a reflection of the love they shared, and I am happy to have been able to be a part of this journey with the two.

What do you think about the show? Let us know in the comments below!

Also Read: All Our When Life Gives You Tangerines Review!