When Life Gives You Tangerines

What it is about

When Life Gives You Tangerines begins on Jeju in the 1960s and follows two lives across half a century. Netflix introduces it in a line of its own: “In Jeju, a spirited girl and a steadfast boy’s island story blossoms into a lifelong tale of setbacks and triumphs — proving love endures across time.” Ae-sun grows up under a mother who dives for a living, Gwan-sik has loved her since they were children, and the series follows the life they build through his family’s disapproval and her own setbacks. The story moves across Jeju, Seoul and Busan.

Kim Won-suk directed and Lim Sang-choon wrote it. Netflix credits the two together as the series’ creators and names My Mister and When the Camellia Blooms beside their names. IU plays the young Ae-sun and Moon So-ri the older one; Park Bo-gum plays the young Gwan-sik and Park Hae-joon the older one. IU also plays Geum-myeong, Ae-sun’s daughter.

Why it matters

The first four episodes went up on 7 March 2025, and four more followed every Friday until the sixteenth on 28 March. At the Korean award shows that year it took four categories at the 61st Baeksang Arts Awards on 5 May — Best Drama, Best Screenplay for Lim Sang-choon, Best Supporting Actor for Choi Dae-hoon and Best Supporting Actress for Yeom Hye-ran — and three at the 4th Blue Dragon Series Awards on 18 July: the Grand Prize, Best Actress for IU and Best Supporting Actress for Yeom Hye-ran. At the 2025 Seoul Con APAN Star Awards on 29 December it took six, the Grand Prize for IU among them, and was the most-awarded title of the evening.

Where to watch

Netflix carries the series worldwide. The official trailer and teaser are on the Netflix Korea YouTube channel. K-Culture Radar links to official uploads and never re-hosts a video.