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. It is also available for streaming on Netflix in selected regions.
Synopsis
Set in the fictional city of Sanpo in Gyeonggi-do, My Liberation Notes is about three siblings, (Lee Min-ki, Kim Ji-won, and Lee El), and a mysterious stranger (Son Suk-ku) who want to escape from their dead-end lives.
Cast
Main
- The second of three siblings. An employee at the headquarters of a convenience store franchise.
- The youngest of three siblings. A contract employee at the design department of a credit card company.
- A stranger who works at the sink factory of the Yeom family, who are unaware of his real identity.
- The eldest of three siblings. An employee at a research company.
Supporting
People around Yeom siblings
- Father of the three siblings.
- Lee Kyung-seong as Kwak Hye-suk
- Mother of the three siblings.
- 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.
- Yeom Chang-hee's ex-girlfriend.
- A convenience store owner.
People around Yeom Mi-jeong
- Yeom Mi-jeong's co-worker.
- Yeom Mi-jeong's co-worker.
- Lee Ji-hye as So Hyang-gi
- Team Leader of Joy Support Center.
- Yeom Mi-jeong's colleague at the design department.
- Lee ho-young as Choi Jun-ho
- Team leader of the design department.
Others
- Jo Tae-hoon's second sister.
- Jo Tae-hoon's eldest sister.
- 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
Released on April 10, 2022| Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist |
|---|
| 1. | "Deeply" (푹) | Hen | | Hen | 3:38 |
|---|
| 2. | "Deeply" (푹; Inst.) | | | | 3:38 |
|---|
| Total length: | 7:16 |
|---|
Part 2
Released on April 16, 2022| Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist |
|---|
| 1. | "To be together" (함께 할 수 있기를) | Jayins | | Lee Jun-hyung | 3:53 |
|---|
| 2. | "To be together" (함께 할 수 있기를; Inst.) | | | | 3:53 |
|---|
| Total length: | 7:46 |
|---|
Part 3
Released on April 17, 2022| Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist |
|---|
| 1. | "Laggard" (느림보) | MaO | | Shin You-me | 3:28 |
|---|
| 2. | "Laggard" (느림보; Inst.) | | | | 3:28 |
|---|
| Total length: | 7:56 |
|---|
Part 4
Released on April 23, 2022| Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist |
|---|
| 1. | "That Day" (그런 날) | Hanroro | The Orchard | The Orchard | 3:02 |
|---|
| 2. | "That Day" (그런 날; Inst.) | | The Orchard | | 3:02 |
|---|
| Total length: | 6:04 |
|---|
Part 5
Released on April 24, 2022| Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist |
|---|
| 1. | "Be My Birthday" | Naiv | 9duck | Ha Hyun-sang | 3:14 |
|---|
| 2. | "Be My Birthday" (Inst.) | | 9duck | | 3:14 |
|---|
| Total length: | 6:28 |
|---|
Part 6
Released on April 30, 2022| Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist |
|---|
| 1. | "We Sink" | Naiv | Naiv | Sway | 3:26 |
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| 2. | "We Sink" (Inst.) | | Naiv | | 3:26 |
|---|
| Total length: | 6:52 |
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Part 7
Released on May 1, 2022| Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist |
|---|
| 1. | "My Spring" (나의 봄은) | Seo Dong-seong | Park Seong-il | Lee Su-hyun | 4:12 |
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| 2. | "My Spring" (나의 봄은; Inst.) | | Park Seong-il | | 4:12 |
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| Total length: | 8:24 |
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Part 8
Released on May 7, 2022| Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist |
|---|
| 1. | "Diamond" (다이아몬드) | Hanroro | 9duck | 9duck | 3:04 |
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| 2. | "Diamond" (다이아몬드; Inst.) | | 9duck | | 3:04 |
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| Total length: | 6:08 |
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Part 9
Released on May 8, 2022| Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist |
|---|
| 1. | "A Kind Of Confession" (일종의 고백; Female Ver.) | Lee Young-hoon | Lee Young-hoon | Hen | 2:58 |
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| 2. | "A Kind Of Confession" (일종의 고백; Male Ver.) | Lee Young-hoon | Lee Young-hoon | Kwak Jin-eon | 3:56 |
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| Total length: | 6:54 |
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Part 10
Released on May 14, 2022| Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist |
|---|
| 1. | "I Think I Know" (알 것도 같아) | | 9duck | Isaac Hong | 3:24 |
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| 2. | "I Think I Know" (알 것도 같아; Inst.) | | 9duck | | 3:24 |
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| Total length: | 6:48 |
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Part 11
Released on May 15, 2022| Title | Lyrics | Music | Artist |
|---|
| 1. | "Here We Are" | MaO | Yoon Yeong-jun | Kim Feel | 4:19 |
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| 2. | "Here We Are" (Inst.) | | Yoon Yeong-jun | | 4:19 |
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| Total length: | 8:38 |
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Reception
The series drew attention for its dialogues and monologues with deep metaphorical meanings, and realistic and relatable storyline. Novel concepts of "worshipping" (Korean: 추앙; RR: chuang) and "liberation" (Korean: 해방; RR: heabang) 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.
My Liberation Notes : South Korea viewers per episode (millions)| Season | Episode number | Average |
|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|
| 1 | 0.651 | 0.622 | 0.574 | 0.538 | 0.579 | 0.900 | 0.769 | 0.902 | 0.848 | 1.006 | 1.000 | 1.212 | 1.149 | 1.462 | 1.443 | 1.545 | 0.950 |
|---|
Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by
Nielsen Korea.
Average TV viewership ratings
| Ep.
|
Original broadcast date
|
Average audience share
(Nielsen Korea)
|
| Nationwide
|
Seoul
|
| 1
|
April 9, 2022
|
2.941% (5th)
|
3.057% (5th)
|
| 2
|
April 10, 2022
|
3.018% (5th)
|
3.236% (3rd)
|
| 3
|
April 16, 2022
|
2.552% (8th)
|
2.862% (6th)
|
| 4
|
April 17, 2022
|
2.325% (7th)
|
2.292% (8th)
|
| 5
|
April 23, 2022
|
2.766% (7th)
|
2.874% (5th)
|
| 6
|
April 24, 2022
|
3.832% (4th)
|
3.971% (4th)
|
| 7
|
April 30, 2022
|
3.306% (5th)
|
3.541% (5th)
|
| 8
|
May 1, 2022
|
3.876% (4th)
|
4.155% (4th)
|
| 9
|
May 7, 2022
|
3.625% (1st)
|
4.259% (1st)
|
| 10
|
May 8, 2022
|
4.594% (2nd)
|
5.242% (2nd)
|
| 11
|
May 14, 2022
|
4.142% (2nd)
|
4.583% (1st)
|
| 12
|
May 15, 2022
|
4.969% (1st)
|
5.603% (1st)
|
| 13
|
May 21, 2022
|
4.760% (1st)
|
4.981% (1st)
|
| 14
|
May 22, 2022
|
6.073% (1st)
|
6.547% (1st)
|
| 15
|
May 28, 2022
|
5.943% (1st)
|
6.720% (1st)
|
| 16
|
May 29, 2022
|
6.728% (1st)
|
7.616% (1st)
|
| Average
|
4.091%
|
4.471%
|
- In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers 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).
|
Accolades
