My Liberation Notes (Korean: 나의 해방일지; RR: Naui Haebangilji) 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.[5] It is also available for streaming on Netflix in selected regions.[6]
The drama is set in the fictional Seoul suburb of Sanpo, Gyeonggi-do.[a] 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.
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".[4]
On October 5, 2021, it was reported that filming is currently in progress.[29]
The series drew attention for its dialogues and monologues with deep metaphorical meanings, and realistic and relatable storyline.[50][51] Novel concepts of "worshipping" (Korean: 추앙; RR: chuang)[b] and "liberation" (Korean: 해방; RR: haebang)[c] brought up in the drama were well received by the audience.[52][53][54] The series was also praised for its depiction of social pressure that captures the frustrations and challenges of young adult life in Korea.[55]
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"[56] and gave 4.5 stars out of 5.[57] 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".[54] Seo Byeong-gi of Herald Business praised the writer Park Hae-young for drama's stimulation of empathy in everyday life.[58] During the broadcast, actor Gong Yoo on Instagram, recommended his fans to watch My Liberation Notes[59] and after the series finished airing he left a review in his fancafe, praising its direction, screenplay and performance of actors.[60]
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%.[61] My Liberation Notes topped TV popularity ranking in last four weeks of its eight week run[62] while Son Suk-ku and Kim Ji-won took first and second place respectively in drama performers popularity ranking for five consecutive weeks.[63]
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,[64][65] ascending to number five in the following week.[66][67]