The two major flaws of this series is 1) the lack of chemistry in the romance and 2) the lack of purpose to the story. I was so frustrated I dropped it just a few episodes from the end.
Shin Hye-sun as the main female lead does an excellent job, as she did in Mr Queen, at portraying someone who isn't what they seem on the surface. I fully believed that she had lived many lives beyond this one. Ahn Bo-hyun, however, played his character so straight, wide-eyed, bumbling and a bit gullible that you couldn't understand WHY the main female lead was so intrigued by him as a romantic partner. Where was the depth of many lives in HIS eyes?!?
On top of that, the fantasy mysteries were all dragged out, why was she being reborn again and again? Who were these weird people popping out from the past? Why was everyone around her suffering bad luck? etc. These mysteries were introduced at the halfway point, but 3 or so episodes later we were no closer. Everything had stalled.
If the romance had been better OR the fantasy and themes been better, I would have stuck with it. But both fell down, and being cinematic and pretty was just not enough to hold my interest.
PS On a bit more of a petty note, Ahn Bo-hyun's suits were atrocious and I couldn't tell whether that was supposed to portray something about the character - it started to really irritate me.
Was this review helpful to you?
Saved by the female lead's acting
Story: Ji Eum(female lead) remembers most of her previous lives(17 except the first) and from her last life(18th), she fell in love with a boy and wanted to know what happen after she died. The story was easy to follow with some snippets of her first life to unravel the reason why she kept being born again and again. The plot was a bit boring as the twist felt predictable for me and some villains and characters was just like a side story to make the episodes longer but didn't really add value to the drama.Acting: 10/10 for Shim Hye Sun. She's just hands down a brilliant actress but the rest was just flat, she carried the whole show, imo. I would like to praise Cha Chung Hwa(Ji Eum's niece) acting as well, a veteran and versatile actress.
Music: I scored high for music as they seemed appropriate most of the time and I liked most of them. I remember the songs from the last episode and the piano bgm.
Rewatch Value: I wouldn't be rewatching the drama but Shim Hye Sun has a lot of cool and memorable scenes here.
Overall: 7 - 7.5 for me. This one has a good start and cute ending but the acting from most of the actors are pretty flat that didn't provide deep impression and any exciting feelings while watching them . The chemistry of the main leads felt forced as well but i did have few butterfly moments in the middle of the drama. Ahn Bo Hyun still needs to polish his acting skills plus his wardrobe was really bad, so his charm was lackluster too and as a CEO, it wasn't believable at times. I felt like they just added some eye candies(the secretary, his brother and the first life guy) but nothing really special to each of their character.
*may contain spoilers*
Issues(apart from above): feel free to correct me as i could have missed the logic behind this, if the people from previous life is supposed to die, why was her niece(Ae Kyung) able to live until that moment? it took 8-9 years for her to live(although verbally mentioned that she's been having issues for a while) but in Ji Eum's previous lives people were taken away much earlier? Apart from that, her reborn life is much faster when there's foul play behind her death but she wasn't really the target so why would it affect her? Even so, why was this 'thing' brought up in the plot but had nothing to do with her previous lives? So, i felt like there are so many things that were not answered by the end of the series. However, i do love Ji Eum's character so i just brushed off these plot holes or maybe i was just thinking too much. Maybe, See you in my 19th life is just a simple story that doesn't need to analyze profoundly.
Side Note: I didn't read the Manhwa so my review is just for the drama itself.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Shin Hye Sun did it again! BUT not a great storyline/ending
Imma keep this short and simple.As an avid drama fan, a great drama includes multiple factors. With modern production companies and high quality VFX renderings, the cinematography is great; however, for a fantasy drama as 19th life, the storyline felt incomplete. I haven't read the webtoon so I am only judging based on the storyline of the drama.
The storyline started out great, entailing the details and explicit things that a viewer should know while keeping us guessing for more. I was genuinely excited. The flirting and butterflies within the drama--hands down to Shin Hye Sun for her AMAZING ACTING! Arguably one of the best actresses, and hands down to every moment of her, laughing, crying, FLIRTING, SCREAMING, ugh, just unbelievable performance. Have always loved her ever since Angel's last mission.
HOWEVER, there are things that got me so confused as to why it was even important or relevant, which sucked because the drama started out SO GOOD, and just crashed within a matter of minutes.
**MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD [read at your own discretion]**
My main questions have to do with why the uncle even got involved in such a thing as the car crash, and his excuse was because he loved the mother??? I'm sorry but why are we supposed to care? Either the writer didn't flesh his character out enough or there's something I'm missing?
Another thing is why did the guy in the first life help FL to that extent? I get that they wanted to paint a twist and act as if he was bad or something, but tbh there wasn't really a real villain, nothing exciting about the villain. Usually, I would salute an antagonist for portraying something morbid or wicked, but this dude really didn't have any of that. He was just there watching the people around him, then giving hints to the FL and didn't explain anything else. And all of a sudden the FL feels like she has so much to do with him, which she did, but it was so short lived, I really didn't get the point of him at all.
---
Anywho, I loved the cast and the acting, the character developments for the main leads were excellent. Just there were quite a few things that I felt could have definitely been better executed/elaborated. It just didn't feel complete and suddenly, which is quite sad, I felt like became a waste of time. :(
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
How do you repack an opened Pandora’s box? . . . With great difficulties!
This show is hard to score. Not in terms of the acting or the production value but how its fundamental world building is mishandled.Let’s take a step back. The star of the show is the FL. She has the titular role, and she is all singing and all dancing from start to finish. She has a demanding role and she has to dig deep. On the other hand, the ML feels muted for the longest time and while I understand that he is traumatised since an early age, his performance is quite stilted or maybe it was just the way his role is written. You just don’t feel much energy coming from him. This is the opposite compared to the FL who is on overdrive most of the time. Another issue is the chemistry between the leads is not strong. There are sparks but, on the whole, it feels more scripted than spontaneous. There are also some questionable behaviours by the FL earlier on which just feels awkward.
Surprisingly, I was more invested in the 2CP's romance. It was the usual rich girl/poor man trope but it is more earnest and heartfelt. It felt more organic than the OTP's.
What bothers me more is the way the writer-nims went about building a set of fairly convoluted narrative logic. We see actions and reactions that are attributed to the FL's unique circumstances but the how's and the why's are rarely explained. The internal logic is opaque and obtuse. Their applications are not consistent. It is immersion breaking, but more importantly, makes you question everything you see and hear within the story. The writer-nims are holding all the cards.
Yes, I understand it is a fantasy and certain narrative “flexibility” is to be expected, but I cannot shake the feeling that the storytelling has been twisted into a pretzel.
The puzzle pieces finally click into place in the last episode. I have to say that the final reveal is somewhat underwhelming. There is some much meat in all her previous lives but they are served up as little more than random (emotive) scenes. I wish there is more substance to those recollections.
While her first life held all the keys, its treatment is perfunctory at best. Nevertheless, this episode is still the best of the lot. All the key side plots are tied up with pink bows. The reverse meet-cute is very meta but nicely done and is so sweet. However, the finale is also the last straw for me.
The whole premise of the FL forgetting her past lives is a good idea if there is to be closure but what is presented to us is broken logic and plot holes. It is a Hail Mary moment that didn't quite work.
The FL appears to have lost a few week's memory and went back to her old job but how is that possible? What about her co-workers? They waved her off to start a new job and she is back as if nothing happened. I suppose the CEO can pull some strings. . .
An even bigger hole is her life after running away from her abusive father. Kim Ae-Kyung raised her from early teen to now. What happened there? I can accept she won't remember Ms. Kim when they meet again but who raised her? This is a different reality?
The show can make her forget some memories, but the show didn't alter history/reality en masse. The ML, Ms. Kim and Cho-Won all remembers her so there is no gap in their collective memories. Ms. Kim lived with the FL for years. Theoretically, her room is still out the back of the shop. My head is spinning.
Ditto, why did the ML’s mother remember her past life as well? Was she cursed? That was never explained. So many loose ends if you pause and think about it. All these are just put into the Too Hard Basket™ and buried in a very deep hole.
In the end, the show is watchable and swoon worthy at times. Taken in parts, it is a decent watch. Alas, as a complete package, it is quite vexing. Fans of the stars can roll with it, but it is a challenge if you are not. With that in mind, I cannot recommend this show wholeheartedly. If you want to watch it, please make sure to put on some industrial strength rose tinted glasses and give your left brain a day off. ;)
Was this review helpful to you?
Great first half, too many plot holes
As someone who didn't read the webtoon, these are my takes on this drama.First, of course, I had huge expectations before it aired, as it has versatile actors in it. I'm a big fan of Hye-sun when it comes to acting because she just never fails. I enjoyed the first few episodes. I loved the vibes that this drama gave me. I loved the concept of remembering your 18 past lives, and each life has its own wonderful story.
I just want to say that the actress who played Ju-won is so great at her job. I wish she could be a big star someday. And her chemistry with the little Seo-ha was amazing. I don't think I've seen other little stars have as much chemistry as they did. I also loved the relationship between Ji-eum and Cho-woon. But the uncle-niece was still superior.
When they started to uncover some things, that's when it went down. It's not that bad, but some things feel unsatisfying. At first, the chemistry between the leads was so good, but it started to lose excitement. I was expecting that they would make the other aspects of the drama better, like the death of Ju-won or the first life of Ji-eum. But again, it failed. I laughed several times due to some serious scenes that I wished would make me not laugh.
Am I going to recommend it? Well, if you don't mind several plot holes, then go watch it. I might not be satisfied with this one, but that doesn't mean it's totally bad. Just lower your expectations and just enjoy the relationships in the show. It doesn't have a super-evil villain, so it's easy to watch. It also has a super cute ending for both couples.
Was this review helpful to you?
Refreshing & magnificent cinematography, Shin Hye-sun as a sucker for love is very delightful to see
Decided to watch this as the clips trend a lot on various social medias. All I can say is that I'm so thankful that I watched it and finally succumbed to Shin Hye-sun's brilliancy and found myself binge-watching her filmography now.I am glad that this series is not the stereotypical webtoon drama that I often heard or watched. It's fantasy-romance, but definitely has the refreshing aura in it, as it's very new storyline to pick on. I like to see the story when it's the female lead who pursues the male lead, instead of letting it flow naturally and becomes boring they-live-happily-ever-after plot, and Shin Hye-sun is definitely pulling off that kind of role more than well.
Thanks to this drama I found another favorite actress to watch for!
Was this review helpful to you?
Missed the mark
This very calm and meandering drama has a slightly surreal feel to it.From the FL character of Ji-eum, who has been reborn early this life and has always been able to remember her past lives (with varying degrees of clarity), to the characters she's reconnected with, it's presented as being all rather mysterious.
Ji-eum is quirky, unique and very focussed. Several scenes made me laugh and I liked Shin Hye-sun's portrayal of someone with an extremely old and life-experienced soul, in its new body (loved her in Mr Queen too).
As she reconnects with the now grown up young boy from her tragically cut short last life, various conspiracies and ominous predictions come to light.
The first few episodes I found captivating, but the pace never picked up and the 2 main mysteries that revolved around her, Seo-ha and some of the other characters, kind of fizzled out as they were brought to their conclusion.
It was a nice watch, but I didn't find it in the least exciting, or exhilarating. I was invested, to find out why she was stuck with so many memories, but disappointed in the fact the conclusion in this life was just so 'meh'. There was one bit in the past that did make me gasp though.
The revisits to her past lives were some of the best bits, I thought.
How the other mystery got solved, was again so flat. It felt like imagining you were climbing to a great height, to find you were only on level 2! ??
It totally lacked any punch at all and yet with the plot it carried, there should have been so much more. I have no idea how they managed to lose the momentum entirely. There was more than enough opportunity, but time was instead given to very wordy scenes where she was basically trying to tell Seo-ha who she was, without actually saying it.
I really liked the character of Seo-ha, whose childhood traumas left him scarred in so many ways. He was gentle, clever and had a vulnerability about him, but was not pitiful.
It is a very romantic drama, however, in the nicest way and that, I thought, they got right. The relationships from the past and present, that bind the characters together, I loved. That was the drama's saving grace.
I also liked that Ji-eum's past lives were both male and female, from different continents; they weren't all the same actress in varying guises, which is not what reincarnation is about at all. I would have seen that as a lazy cop out in production.
Overall an OK watch, but it did miss the mark and fell short of what it could have been. The cast did not disappoint, however and the soundtrack was excellent (especially loved ABH's contribution, Colde's 'Star' and Jo Yuri's 'Down'/Juicy Juicy).
Was this review helpful to you?
Good light hearted drama
To be true at the beginning I was like really really hooked. I like dramas where Female Lead initiates the relationship first. So, from the beginning I know that I'm gonna like this drama. Male and Female leads acting is too good and the chemistry b/w them is very good. But I gotta admit that it lost it's charm at the end. But overall it's very good drama with not so perfect end. I expected more from ending.Was this review helpful to you?
I don't have anything against the cast, I think they are all brilliant. The female lead is really charming. She carried her role so well, she is a really great actress. The male lead is fine with me. The second couple, sadly did not have the chemistry that I was looking for. I watch this about 2 episodes per day and I can't remember most of the how the drama went out because it is forgettable especially at the last parts. It's just a so-so drama for me.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
This is A Review from A Fan of the Webtoon Version
Keep in mind again, this is a review with the original source in mind, so there will be a lot of comparison. I'll try to be as objective as possible.I'll start with this. I would've preferred watching this without reading the webtoon first, because I couldn't watch it without comparing them. Since I want this review to focus about the story, I'll point out the other stuffs first.
Cast:
The casts did a great job at their respective roles. Shin Hye-Sun portrayed Ban Ji-Eum well, especially her quirkiness, her intelligence and charisma. Ban Ji-Eum is a unique character and she does well to make me believe that I see a live-action of Ji-Eum with her own touch as well. On the other hand, Moon Seo-Ha is a really delicate character. His current character was shaped by his "never-ending" trauma he got from his past and I would say that I'm really impressed with Bo-Hyun's portrayal of Seo-Ha, especially with the early skepticism that I had. Other casts did well as well. Their chemistry were also great.
But honestly, if I can point out who impressed me the most, it would be Kim Si-A as Ju-Won (Ji-Eum 18th version). Her mannerism, her glares hooked me as she looked exactly what I imagined Ju-Won would be. Her acting literally gave me goosebumps.
Music:
At earlier episodes, I would say that I hate the background music choices they made, especially with loud-comedic music. The music made it seemed like that Ji-Eum's actions (especially with Seo-Ha) as jokes and we should never take it seriously, but she did it with purposes and actually was serious even though she did those light-heartedly. The music didn't capture that essence. The later stages of this drama, the background sound choices became much better. Other than that, the soundtracks themselves are great and will definitely listen again.
Story:
Okay, this is the part that I want to talk the most. The earlier episodes presented the past and the problem well. The characters were introduced tremendously, especially Ban Ji-Eum's character. Also, this adaptation incorporated Ji-Eum's past lives really well to her current life, better than the original source. Seo-Ha's trauma was also potrayed well. From the beginning, it was clear to me that there would be differences between the adaptation and the source. In the earlier episodes, the changes weren't apparent and they only altered the ordering of the events, which I thought was fine for the most part. But as the story went on, the gap became much larger, and it seemed later they made a new larger. They introduced new characters, they altered the story, and removing some of the better parts of the original. As a fan of the original story, I was honestly disappointed.
(Warning: The following paragraphs will be spoiler heavy, so read it with your own risk. You could read the spoiler free conclusion after the *...*)
*There were some changes that were good. Like when Ji-Eum admitted to Cho-Won that she was indeed her sister reincarnation. It was one of my favorite moments from this series. Also, the fact that Cho-Won is a florist instead of working in entertainment industry was a nice direction. Other than that, as I have pointed out above, they incorporated her past lives better in this adaptation.
But for the most part, I think the changes made the story worse than the original sources. In the earlier episodes, since they altered the ordering or flat out removed some of the events, the flow of the story felt so choppy. In this version, it felt like Seo-Ha overcame his trauma so fast, and it just went away for the most part when meeting Ji-Eum, even though it lingered him since his accident. It's pretty disappointing how "easy" Ji-Eum made Seo-Ha fell for him.
Other than that, it is pretty disappointing that we didn't get a lot of moments with the 4 main characters, especially interaction between Do-Yun and Ji-Eum. Also, I'm not fond of the direction they went about mushing two different events at the same time. In the later episodes, they tried to tell two different important events happening at the same time, even though it didn't have to be like that. I understand why they made it like that, since the series is just 12 episodes (should've went for 16 episodes to begin with), but the execution wasn't satisfactory.
A noticeable difference between the two versions is that the original source focus firstly on how Seo-Ha forgiving himself and his past and then gave sprinkle of Ji-Eum's past lives a bit later, but in this adaptation, they put so much stake in Ji-Eum's life, especially regarding her past lives, and made this Ji-Eum much more vulnerable. Seo-Ha was much more confident in contrast. I don't think it made story better or worse, so I don't really mind.
What I do mind though is the ending. Spoiler alert: I hate how they made Ji-Eum forgot her past lives and the people surrounding her. It didn't make so much to begin with, because altering Ji-Eum's memory means that her life changed, and it didn't make sense that to me at all how she would not know or remember that she worked in the hotel before, knowing that she had a friend in MI who weren't not related with her past lives. Wouldn't this friend be surprised that Ji-Eum came back working there?
Also, what about her childhood? How would they fill the gap that big in her memories? Especially since most of her childhood was spent with Ae-Gyeong. Unimaginable. She spent so much time with people from her past lives, so it's unbelievable that she could be in a livable state with that much gap in her memory. It made the ending felt rushed, especially without more explanation about this. Altering her memory without altering everyone else seemed weird. Again, the approach for the ending given in the webtoon made so much more sense and also much sweeter.*
Overall, as an adaptation, I would honestly have given the story a 7 or even a 6.5. If I hadn't read the original, I think I would've given this a 8.5. Even without the original knowledge, I would still be able to see the flaws such as the flow of the story itself and also some of the weird contradiction and gap in the series. But I would've definitely enjoyed this more without the former knowledge. So, as a conclusion, as a fan of the webtoon, this is not a good adaptation, but as a fan of Kdrama, this is a good series.
Was this review helpful to you?
What is going on?
I dont know about this one... You see this show is just weird and im not sure how to describe it. Its like when the plot is always leading you one way but suddenly its taking you this way and again and again and again... Sometimes it was like teasing and dragging and suddnlely BAM conclusion! And sometimes there were sooo many same flashbacks again and again... The premise was cool and i do love FL (she is truly crying queen) but i havent felt any chemistry between main characters... For me the ML was too dull and his personality felt hollow even though his trauma was insanely horrible (i felt really really bad for that kid). Im not a good reviewer so i cannot pinpoint what it was but this show didnt suit me at all even though i like this theme. Also i kind of expected more plot around the hotel. The ending was kind of weird cause it sounded good but when you really really think about it its just very bad and full of plotholes.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
From a webtoon reader's viewpoint
CONTAINS MILD SPOILERS ABOUT THE WEBTOON AND THE DRAMAAs a big fan of the original webtoon, I was ecstatic when I heard news of it getting a kdrama adaptation. Even more when I heard that Shin Hye sun was going to play Ban Ji eum. Now that I've seen it, I feel a little bit conflicted about it.
Story
The story itself is the same as the webtoon and it is unarguably beautiful. A girl who remembers her past lifes meets a boy, they have a tragic parting and now she wants to meet him again as a new self. It is quite simple but still really packing. As her new self she meets him again, finding out that he misses her as much as she does. Throughout their time together, they connect again, even if they start off a little hastily. She not only meets the boy again, but also her former sister. The girl who was so scared to connect with people, because of the memories of all those she lost already in her previous 18 lifes starts to make relationships with people again. Will this new 19th life have a happy ending for the girl?
NO.
The ending was absolutely tragic, why would the writers do this. I was absolutely heartbroken, especially because in the webtoon, she doesn't end up completely forgetting about her loved ones. I was so mad they changed it. Also another big issue I had with the drama was the pacing. I was shocked to find out that it had only 12 episodes, since the webtoon was quite slow paced. In the first part it really focused on the build up of Ji eum's and Seo ha's relationship. Not only theirs but all the other relationships between all the characters just felt so much deeper. The big scenes such as Ji eum's reveal or Do yoon's confession also had a much bigger impact thanks to the build up it had before. Those connections, those feelings of closeness and intimacy and growth was definitely the thing I missed the most in the drama. I wished to see more of their backstories or just literally see the. talk longer during a scene. Such a shame honestly, I found the relationships to be one of the best things about the original story. I think they gave too much screen time to trivial stuff that they forgot how to deliver emotions smh. They also made some big changes in the plot, such as the mistery behind the car crash, Min ki and the entirety of Ji eum's first life. Some of these changes such as Ji eum's first life, were so confusing and I just cannot get used to it. They also added a buch of things such as Min ki and the bells, the bad stepmother and Seo ha's reincarnated mother, which all in my opinion, barely added anything to the story. They could've really just followed the original a little bit more.
Acting/Cast
I think the cast did a really great in bringing the characters to life. To be completely honest, I was very critical to see Ahn Bo hyun as Seo ha, but he quickly changed my mind and I think the writers really did a great job at casting him. He brings out Seo ha's righteousness, but also does a great job at portraying all his trauma and his vulnerability. I could really see his growth from the traumatized boy to the Mun Seo ha at the end, just like in the webtoon, so I'm incredibly satisfied with him. The only thing I could maybe add is that we didn't see much of Seo ha's childdishness, but I'll blame that on the lack of episodes and so the lack of scenes we could've seen. And of course I will never not praise Shin Hye sun for her acting. Since the beginning, I saw her as the perfect fit for Ji eum and I never changed my mind. She absolutely nailed it, from Ji eum's mischievousness to her burden and hurt she carried through her 18 lifes. The subtle loving glances, the utter dispair in her eyes and every movement when she relived her first life, that woman is a true actress. As for the side characters they, also did a very stable job, especially Ha Yoon kyung as Yoon Cho won, but there's honestly not much more to say. Not to forget the child actors who I find to be one of the highlists. Also I loved that we could see court lady choi and the queen together again ;)
Music
I really love the ost for this drama, HEAVY ON COLDE'S SONG. No seriously i love it so much and also I didn't know that Bo hyun could sing. I don't think there's much more to say though, I mean it was great but not lifechanging or anything that I would've given it a 10.
Rewatch value
I don't really know if I'd rewatch this after the ending. However there are some great scenes that I would like to see again at any time. I might also rewatch the first episodes, since those were definitely just incredible, from the cinematography to the sadness and all the laughs in between. However the second part just felt so rushed and with such a sad ending, I don't think I will ever rewatch it entirely.
Overall
Like I said first, I really do feel conflicted about it, but that is as reader of the original story. I just know that it could've been so much more and that is the biggest issue I have with this drama. However the story remains as beautiful as ever and I would totally recommend this to someone who has not read the webtoon. As for the webtoon readers: watch it if you can keep those two separate, it's still an incredible feeling to see the characters come to life. Don't watch it if you feel like it might ruin the story for you. It truly failed as an adaptation, but it can definitely stand as a drama itself. After all it is a great watch, with a great story, great casting, great chemistry and great music and it is definitely not something one should miss out on!!
Was this review helpful to you?
