My Liberation Notes () is a South Korean television series starring Lee Min-ki, Kim Ji-won, Son Suk-ku, and Lee El. It aired on JTBC from April 9 to May 29, 2022, every Saturday and Sunday at 22:30 (KST) for 16 episodes. It is also available for streaming on Netflix in selected regions.
Synopsis The drama is set in the fictional Seoul suburb of Sanpo, Gyeonggi Province. My Liberation Notes is about three siblings, (Lee Min-ki, Kim Ji-won and Lee El), all of whom have to make a long commute to Seoul, and a mysterious stranger (Son Suk-ku), who works for their father in the sticks. All of them wish to escape from their dead-end lives amid office politics, gap between rich and poor, and skeletons in their closets.
Cast Main Lee Min-ki as Yeom Chang-hee The second of three siblings. An employee at the headquarters of a convenience store franchise. Kim Ji-won as Yeom Mi-jeong The youngest of three siblings. A contract employee at the design department of a credit card company. Son Suk-ku as Mr. Gu (Gu Ja-gyeong) A stranger who works at the sink factory of the Yeom family, who are unaware of his real identity as a club manager. Lee El as Yeom Ki-jeong The eldest of three siblings. An employee at a research company.
Supporting People around Yeom siblings Chun Ho-jin as Yeom Je-ho Father of the three siblings. Lee Kyung-seong as Kwak Hye-suk Mother of the three siblings. Jeon Hye-jin as Ji Hyun-ah A neighborhood friend. Han Sang-jo as Oh Doo-hwan A neighborhood friend. Jo Min-kook as Seok Jeong-hoon A neighborhood friend.
People around Yeom Chang-hee Yang Jun-myung as Lee Min-gyu Yeom Chang-hee's colleague. Choi Bo-young as Jung Ah-reum Yeom Chang-hee's senior colleague. Jeon Soo-jin as Lee Ye-rin Yeom Chang-hee's ex-girlfriend. Oh Min-ae as Byeon Sang-mi A convenience store owner.
People around Yeom Mi-jeong Lee Ki-woo as Jo Tae-hoon Yeom Mi-jeong's co-worker. Park Soo-young as Park Sang-min Yeom Mi-jeong's co-worker. Lee Ji-hye as So Hyang-gi Team Leader of Joy Support Center. Kong Ye-ji as Han Su-jin Yeom Mi-jeong's colleague at the design department. Lee Ho-young as Choi Jun-ho Team leader of the design department.
Others Jung Soo-young as Jo Kyung-sun Jo Tae-hoon's second sister. Kim Ro-sa as Jo Hee-sun Jo Tae-hoon's eldest sister. Kang Joo-ha as Jo Yu-rim Jo Tae-hoon's daughter. Kim Woo-hyung as Park Jin-u Director at Yeom Ki-jeong's company. Choi Min-chul as Mr. Baek Kim Min-song as Sam-sik Lee Shin-seong as Hyeon-jin Jung Won-jo as Hyuk-soo
Special appearance Jung Young-joo as woman at restaurant (Ep. 15)
Production Development On September 24, 2021, Chorokbaem Media announced that it had signed a contract with JTBC Studios to produce and supply the series with "8 billion won worth of budget for a total of 16 episodes".
Filming On October 5, 2021, it was reported that filming is currently in progress.
Original soundtrack
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Reception The series drew attention for its dialogues and monologues with deep metaphorical meanings, and realistic and relatable storyline. Novel concepts of "worshipping" () and "liberation" () brought up in the drama were well received by the audience. The series was also praised for its depiction of social pressure that captures the frustrations and challenges of young adult life in Korea.
Pierce Conran writing for South China Morning Post stated "With four intricate and distinct lead characters, terrific dialogue and a bounteous array of intimate moments for all the smaller characters in the cast, My Liberation Notes is far and away the best drama on TV right now" and gave 4.5 stars out of 5. Park Han-na of Korea Herald described the series as "a portrait of a generation trapped by the preconditions set by themselves and the society". Seo Byeong-gi of Herald Business praised the writer Park Hae-young for drama's stimulation of empathy in everyday life. During the broadcast, actor Gong Yoo on Instagram, recommended his fans to watch My Liberation Notes and after the series finished airing he left a review in his fancafe, praising its direction, screenplay and performance of actors.
Viewership The series enjoyed modest viewership share: the first episode recorded a nationwide viewership rating of 2.9% and reached the highest rating with the last episode, which recorded the 6.7%. My Liberation Notes topped TV popularity ranking in last four weeks of its eight week run while Son Suk-ku and Kim Ji-won took first and second place respectively in drama performers popularity ranking for five consecutive weeks.
The series debuted at number nine on the Netflix's Global Top 10 for non-English television in the list issued for May 16–22, 2022, ascending to number five in the following week.
+ Average TV viewership ratings Original broadcast date Average audience share(Nielsen Korea)Nielsen Korea ratings:
Nationwide Seoul 1 April 9, 2022 2.941% 3.057% 2 April 10, 2022 3.018% 3.236% 3 April 16, 2022 2.552% 2.862% 4 April 17, 2022 5 April 23, 2022 2.766% 2.874% 6 April 24, 2022 3.832% 3.971% 7 April 30, 2022 3.306% 3.541% 8 May 1, 2022 3.876% 4.155% 9 May 7, 2022 3.625% 4.259% 10 May 8, 2022 4.594% 5.242% 11 May 14, 2022 4.142% 4.583% 12 May 15, 2022 4.969% 5.603% 13 May 21, 2022 4.760% 4.981% 14 May 22, 2022 6.073% 6.547% 15 May 28, 2022 5.943% 6.720% 16 May 29, 2022 Average In the table above, the represent the lowest ratings and the represent the highest ratings. This drama aired on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS).
Reception In the fourth week of May, Good Data Corporation reported that My Liberation Note had topped the TV-OTT Drama Buzzworthiness chart for four consecutive weeks. The show's buzzworthiness saw a 26.84% increase from the prior week, breaking its own record for seven consecutive weeks since its premiere. This achievement is second only to JTBC's SKY Castle. Son Suk-ku and Kim Ji-won secured the first and second spots, respectively, in TV-OTT Drama Performer Buzzworthiness for five consecutive weeks, with Lee Min-ki ranking sixth.
Accolades + Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination Award ceremony Year Category Nominee / Work Result APAN Star Awards 2022 Best Couple Award Son Suk-ku & Kim Ji-won Best Supporting Actress Lee El Best Writer Award Park Hae-young Drama of the Year My Liberation Notes Excellence Award, Actor in a Miniseries Son Suk-ku Excellence Award, Actress in a Miniseries Kim Ji-won Popularity Star Award, Actor Son Suk-ku Baeksang Arts Awards 2023 Best Screenplay Park Hae-young Best Drama My Liberation Notes Best Director Kim Seok-yoon Best Actor Son Suk-ku Best Actress Kim Ji-won Best Supporting Actress Lee El Best New Actress Lee Kyung-seong Kinolight Awards 2022 Korean Drama Of The Year My Liberation Notes Korea Drama Awards 2022 Excellence Award, Actor Lee Ki-woo Korean Broadcasting Writers Awards 2022Best Writer (Drama Category)Park Hae-young
Notes
References
External links