According to the latest announcement from Netflix, the drama When Life Gives You Tangerines has risen to No. 1 on the chart of the most popular non-English-language TV shows of the week (from March 17 to 23).
The film reached 5.5 million views, entered the Top 10 of 42 countries and ranked Top 1 of 6 countries, including Korea and Vietnam.
Set in Jeju Island since the 1960s, the film follows the lives of the rebellious girl, literary lover Ae Sun and the quiet but trustworthy guy Gwan Sik, who have always loved her for 4 seasons.
While IU and Park Bo Gum played Ae Sun and Gwan Sik in their youth, the middle-aged version of these two characters was portrayed by Moon So Ri and Park Hae Joon.
IU also plays Geum Myeong - the daughter of Ae Sun and Gwan Sik.
"When Life Gives You an tangerine" attracted the audience with its realistic and close story about the love story of the main couple, about the lives of workers on Jeju Island, thereby highlighting love between couples, family affection and neighborhood affection, while reflecting other social issues.
On March 25, Gallup Korea announced the results of a survey conducted from March 18-20, in which When Life Is for You a Tangerine is the most popular program for Korean audiences.
The results showed that the film ranked Top 1 with 6.8% of the votes, out of a total of 1,003 people aged 18 and over participating in the survey.
This is the 5th time a Netflix original has taken the Top 1 spot in a Gallup Korea survey. Previously, The Glory (March 2023), Culinary Class War (October 2024), Squid Game 2 (January 2025) and The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call (February 2025) took the top spot.
Notably, this is the first time a streaming platform has topped the Gallup Korea rankings for 3 consecutive months, proving that Netflix's influence in Korea is growing.
"When Life Is for You" has a special broadcast schedule, divided into 4 chapters, equivalent to 4 seasons of the year.
Each chapter consists of 4 episodes, aired every Friday, starting from March 7. The final chapter ( volumes 13 to 16) will be released on March 28.
