Reborn Rich (2022)

Profile:
Drama: The Chaebol’s Youngest Son (재벌집 막내아들)
Network: JTBC
Episodes: 16
Release Date: November 18 – December 25, 2022
Runtime: Friday-Sunday 22:30
Language: Korean

Plot: Yoon Hyun Woo, the right-hand man of the current Chairman of Soonyang was murdered while trying to retrieve the proceeds from a slush fund, and gets reborn as the Jin Dojun, the youngest grandson of the Soonyang family. He vows to find out who tried to murder him in his previous life and take revenge by taking down Soonyang.

Main Cast:
Song Joong Ki – Yoon Hyun Woo / Jin Dojun
Lee Sung Min – Jin Yang Cheol
Shin Hyun Bin – Seo Min Young
Yoon Je Moon – Jin Yong Ki
Kim Nam Hee – Jin Seung Jun
Park Ji Hyun – Mo Hyun Min
Jo Han Chul – Jin Dong Ki
Kim Shin Rok – Jin Hwa Young
Kim Do Hyun – Choi Chang Je
Kim Young Dae – Jin Yoon Ki
Park Hyuk Kwon – Oh Se Hyeon

Review:
I started watching this only when the current airing episodes were already in episode 14 and everyone is raving about this drama. The first few episodes were ok with me, nothing outstanding, I even kept criticising the “reborn” part which I thought didn’t make sense, but as I watched, I decided to suspend my disbelief and just follow the story, which became so exciting and thrilling that I ended up finishing the series jut at the same time that episode 16 came out.

I loved Lee Sungmin as the harabuji chairman and his complicated relationship with his grandson. They were so much alike that Harabuji can’t help but be so impressed with his grandson, even though Dojun was doing everything to block Soonyang in almost every episode. I guess when the rest of the potential heirs are too incompetent, harabuji is worried that the company he worked so hard to build will just collapse after he dies. Lee Sung Min is the best actor to play Jin Yang Cheol, but it was still weird to see that he looks so young to be the chairman esp. when the actors who played his sons were near his age to be believable. They could have added more gray hairs and wrinkles to his face (Sungmin’s face was so smooth like a baby, they just added some freckles to make him look old).

I also loved Song Joongki in this dual role, although special props to Kim Kang Hoon for playing the younger Dojun – he set the tone for the older Dojun. However, SJK has done this role many times like the perfect guy who has a plan for everything, like Vincenzo, or his thirst for revenge like in Innocent Man, that it felt like he didn’t do anything special in terms of acting. This drama also made me think if I was reborn, what would I do to change my fate? I will probably buy land in the most expensive areas while they were still nothing but grass.

I heard the original webtoon did nt have a romance angle between Dojun and Minyoung and I wished they kept the original webtoon between the romance just didn’t work for me. Minyoung was too bland and boring for a strong personality like Dojun/HW. If HW didn’t know Minyoung from his previous life, he probably wouldn’t notice her at all. Plus, Minyoung’s character only showed up when the story needed a prosecutor to arrest Dojun or help Dojun arrest the uncles/aunt. I was relieved that the present HW didn’t end up with Minyoung. I even preferred Dojun with Hyunmin or even Rachel – It would have been fun seeing Dojun and Seungjun fight over Soonyang and a girl, while Rachel was bubbly and cheerful and have more possible chances for them to fall in love since they’re always in the office together.

Not sure if I’m one of the few who actually liked the ending and was satisfied with it. For most people they prolly got attached to “Jin Dojun” rather than “Yoon Hyun Woo”. Everyone was wondering if he was reborn or time travelled, I’m glad they finally addressed it in the last episode, although don’t have to dig too much deeper or you’ll end up with more questions than answers. Plus, how no one thought HW looked like Dojun is beyond me! The difference is HW wearing glasses! I guess if Clark Kent can get away with it, HW can too!

The last episode was 1.5 hours long but I think they should have just added an extra episode so that the ending didn’t feel too rushed. I would have loved to see HW talking to his Dojun family one more time. Overall solid writing and acting from the ensemble cast.

Rating: 9/10

Advertisement

Yonder (2022)

Profile
Drama: Yonder (욘더)
Network: TVING
Episodes: 6
Release Date: October 14, 2022

Plot: In futuristic Korea, euthanasia has been passed into law and a mysterious company is offering people the ability to design their own death.

Main cast:
Shin Ha Kyun -Kim Jae Hyun
Han Ji Min – Cha Yi Hoo
Jung Jin Young – Dr. K
Lee Jung Eun – Seiren

Review:
Spoilers alert. The drama opened an interesting and controversial topic to discuss and debate on, which is about life after death. Or specifically, designing your own death.

From episode 1 i already knew the potential danger that may happen with the premise. By N By was exploiting people’s grief and manipulating them through religion (souls going to heaven after death) and science (creating data from memories) to follow their dead relatives. I think they should be arrested for inciting mass murder/suicide. But the story was left open in the end and didnt have proper closure.

I thought the dying people who chose Yonder were very selfish. Like the lead’s wife. She couldn’t bear that the husband will forget her when she dies. Instead of wanting their family and friends to move on, they are also encouraging them to join them in “heaven”. And a lot of them did with false hopes of happiness, which is very sad. Like the girl killing herself to be with her dad, and the father to be with his family.

I also feel bad for those who wanted to grieve, and were led on by By N By. I mean the it was created by the married scientists who were grieving for their dead daughter and wanted to create their own alternate universe by bringing everyone else into their metaverse. It’s psychotic and chilling. I was disappointed with the sudden change of Jaehyun from a non believer upto ep 4 to suddenly joining his wife in ep 5. But am glad he was able to “wake up” and let go and also have friends who were able to bring him back to life.

The visuals were gorgeous, like the drama was supposed to be a movie but got extended to 6 episodes.

I personally favor euthanasia like if I were dying, i would like to choose when I would die rather than wait until I cant handle the pain anymore. But i would rather that memories remain in my heart and not create a new life after death. I’d rather be left at peace than have my brothers mourn me forever. Like Jaehyun said, “The reason beautiful moments are precious is because that moment can never return”. And the memories were built from data that maybe real but are remade for illusions.

I did wish the drama was 1 episode longer to explain where Yonder is and what happens after and to everyone else. I’m assuming it is some form of metaverse so I’m surprised people were not able to find out where it is located (eg. Server or IP address), and raid the company.

Rating: 8.5/10

May It Please The Court (2022)

Drama: May It Please The Court (변론을 시작하겠습니다)
Network: Disney+
Episodes: 12
Release Date: September 21, 2022
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Plot: Noh Chakhee is a fantastic lawyer at Jangsan Corp, which is currently managed by Jang Gido. After a scandal, Chakhee was suspended for a year and was assigned to be public defender where she meets Jwa Shibaek. Just then, a series of murders take place and were all similarly connected to Chakhee, Shibaek and Jangsan.

Main Cast:
Jung Ryu Won – Noh Chakhee
Lee Kyu Hyung – Jwa Shibaek
Jung Jin Young – Jang Gido

Review:
Wow! Didn’t expect the story would get very dark in the end. I loved that it kept me guessing on who is the villain (there were a lot of them). I also decided on who they were near the end but not the motive!! The twist at the end were shocking, sad, brilliant, tragic.

I loved the pair of Chakhee and Shibaek. Shibaek definitely was able to bring the best of Chakhee. He is obviously a nice guy but his mysterious half smiles was getting annoying. Can we get a season 2 of them but make it a romcom?

Super love Jung Ryu Won, esp that scene when she found out who confessed and who she was defending 😱 And i love the growth of her character. Chakhee has always been nice but was stuck being a lapdog of Jangsan because of their gratitude at raising her when her grandmother died. Even though Chairman doted on her, she was still not considered “family”. When she found out the truth about her family, her illusions were shattered and she felt betrayed and vowed to bring down the family’s honor.

Chisik and Dongpil’s storyline was the perfect revenge. But i’m curious what was so special with the place where Chisik buried Eunsoo?

I also didn’t expect the granny and Shibaek/Mr Toilet’s relationship 😭 and the twist of who Shibaek really was!

Jang Gido was perfectly acted by Jung Jinyoung. I really thought he was a nice guy but like Chakhee, I finally saw through his fake tears and acting and it was disgusting. And the Chairman!! Great job casting the actor playing the chairman! 🤯

I wish there were better uses of Yiyeom, Haran and Chakhee’s dad but overall fantastic drama.

Rating: 9/10

Narco-Saints (2022)

Profile
Drama: Narco-Saints / Suriname (수리남)
Network: Netflix
Episodes: 6
Release Date: September 9, 2022
Country: South Korea

Plot:
A businessman who goes to Suriname to import skate to Korea ends up helping the NIS on a mission to capture an evasive druglord.

Main Cast
Ha Jung Woo – Kang Ingu
Hwang Jung Min – Pastor Jeon Yohan
Park Hae Soo – Choi Changho
Yoo Yeon Suk – David Julio Park
Jo Woo Jin – Byun Kitae

Review
This drama feels like an extended movie. Turns out it was supposed to be a movie, but they decided to make it into a short drama. To be honest, the story is nothing new, but it was an intense 6 episodes of anticipation and thrill. There were lots of double crossing, guns, gore, and drugs. Surprisingly, no nudity except for 1 short scene. The stellar cast of Ha Jung Woo, Hwang Jung Min, Park Hae Soo, Yoo Yeon Suk and Jo Woo Jin made the story more larger than life than the usual drug movies/drama.

I love that Ingu as the ML is very smart and capable, quick thinker, calm even when lying, and plays well with the big guys, even outsmarting both drug lords and NIS. HJW made Ingu work very well, and any other actor may not have made Ingu sympathetic. I love that there’s always this doubt if he is really working with NIS or getting tempted by Yohan or if he has his own agenda. That final fight scene with the pastor was a long time coming and felt satisfied seeing him punch and strangle the pastor after ruining his life. (And HJW looked so hot holding the gun lol) Ingu has been very calm and biding his time ever since he got out of prison, so seeing Ingu finally snapped and fight — I was also thinking, that is HJW that I love!! Ingu may not be as buff as the others but he made up for it with his judo moves, smart strategies and fancy suits.

Pastor was so magnetic and powerful. And weaselly enough to not get caught over the years, but he didnt seem as smart as I expected him to be. He was easily played or maybe he trusted Ingu too much and thought they could really be partners. I loved how sick it was for Pastor to create a church, get the blind believers to follow him, feed them drugs and make them dependent on him.

Byun was bad ass and it was obvious he was going to be the secret agent. That fight with the bodyguard was fantastic. Poor David and Chen Zhen.

There’s a lot of conversations so some found the episodes boring but I loved them (or maybe I was so mesmerized with HJW every time he’s onscreen) — yes, I’m completely obsessed with HJW.

Some thoughts on the ending (spoiler alert):
I wonder what happened to the girl and the rest of the cult. I wish there was a short resolution to them. Were they also arrested? Was the girl able to go back to her family?

At first, I thought the ending would be Ingu taking over the coca farm – that would have been fun for a season 2. He is so smart, he can probably do better than Yohan, but I don’t want Ingu to fight with Changho or get arrested and die. But still, I was okay with the ending since they neatly closed the drama with Ingu finally back and reunited with his family. I laughed when Ingu told his wife, “wow you got prettier!” and the wife responded with, “why did you get uglier?” HAHAHA. Ingu learned to treasure what he has and not get too greedy. And also, don’t trust the government. Like seriously, Ingu risked his life to help NIS, but NIS didn’t pay him cash like they promised. Also, interesting thing about the baseball. Yohan really did trust him and wanted him to be his partner.

Here’s fun promotion /game from the cast in case you want to get to them more:

Rating: 8.75/10 (9 less 0.25 for the unresolved cult)