This cable drama depicts the place and time of the story in detail. The background of the television serial is Busan, so most of the conversations between the characters are spoken in Busan dialect. It recreates the lives of Koreans in the late 1990s. Shi-won, the main character, is a huge fan of H.O.T, one of the first generation idol groups. She represents the fan culture of those days. Also, the latest styles and electronic appliances (which are old-fashioned in the eyes of modern-day audiences) of the times are shown to add the sense of reality. Moreover, most pieces of the background music used in the scenes are the popular songs of the 1990s. As a result, viewers got nostalgic feelings and a sense of humor. "Reply 1997" was influential in the rise of retro trend across the whole society.