When Life Gives You Tangerines pays tribute to the late actress Kang Myung-joo

On March 28, 2025, the production team of When Life Gives You Tangerines paid tribute to the late actress Kang Myung-joo at the end of episode 13. The female artist played the character of Young-beom's mother, Bu-yong. She took the role of an antagonist as a dominating mother who disapproved of her son's girlfriend Geum-myeong, as his wife.

Subsequently, the series honored Kang Myung-joo and her memory by adding a meaningful phrase at the end of the segment (episode 13). The production team mentioned, as translated by Kbizoom:

"Remembering actress Kang Myung-joo, the emerald of the world and our pride."

Kang Myung-joo passed away in February 2025 due to cancer.

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When Life Gives You Tangerines emerged as the highest-rated drama on MyDramaList

As the series When Life Gives You Tangerines dropped the last three episodes, 14, 15, and 16, on March 30, 2025, the audience left meaningful reviews and feedback on several platforms. They gave 9.2 stars to the series on MyDramaList. Hence, it emerged as the highest-rated drama on the aforementioned site. It was followed by Twinkling Watermelon, Move to Heaven, and other shows.

The slice-of-life and romance show When Life Gives You Tangerines featured a star-studded cast, including IU, Park Bo-gum, Moon So-ri, Park Hae-joon, Kim Tae-yeon, Lee Chun-moo, Kim Yong-rim, Na Moon-hee, Yeom Hye-ran, Oh Min-ae, Kim Seon-ho, and others.

It was helmed by the director Kim Won-suk, known for shows namely My Mister, Signal, Misaeng: Incomplete Life, Monstar, Arthdal Chronicles Part 1: The Children of Prophecy, and others. It was penned by the screenwriter Ryu Seong-hee, popular for dramas such as Little Women, Life is a But a Dream, Ode to My Father, and more.

According to Asianwiki, the official synopsis for When Life Gives You Tangerines is provided below:

"Ae-Sun (IU) and Gwan-Sik (Park Bo-Gum) were born in Jeju, South Korea in the 1950s. Ae-Sun is a rebellious girl and a lover of books, but she is unable to attend school due to her poor family background. Under this circumstance, she never gives up on her dream of becoming a poet."

The synopsis of When Life Gives You Tangerines further reads:

"She expresses her feelings freely without hiding anything. Gwan-Sik is a sincere and diligent young man. He doesn’t talk that much. Gwan-Sik loves only Ae-Sun and respects her."

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In recent news, the romance and comedy show featured sixteen episodes. It is available to stream on the American platform Netflix.