Youngest Son of a Conglomerate (2022)

Quasi parfait, à un épisode près

Reborn Rich est un drama prenant et pasionnant en mode thriller politique et un gros focus sur les familles de Chaebol. Je ne veux pas trop en dire pour ne pas spoil mais j'ai vraiment trouvé plusieurs moment jouissif et le contexte historique ajoute beaucoup à l'histoire et n'est pas du tout accessoire. Grosse mention pour l'acting du grand père de cette famille qui est assurément criant de vérité, agaçant et admirable selon les moments.

Mais car il y'a un mais, après 15 épisodes presque parfait, gros retournement de situation qui m'a laissé énormément sur ma faim car semblant faire fit de tout ce qui s'ets passé précédemment. Dommage mais cela ne remet pas en cause la qualité de ce drama qui aurait une fin différente dans le webtoon dont il est tiré.

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Inconsistant et fade.

Si je n'ai pas aimé :

- J'adore Song Joong ki. Du moins, j'adorais. Comme quoi, un chouchou remontant à 2007 peut tomber lamentablement en quelques minutes dans son estime... Je ne sais pas à partir de quel moment, vous savez ce moment où vous vous dites "pourquoi mon coeur ne bat-il plus?". J'avais encore aimé "Vincenzo" mais pour être honnête moins pour lui que pour les autres personnages du drama (Ah l'agent du NIS). J'imagine que la magie n'opère plus. Son jeu est loin de la prise de risque et si peu de subtilité dans ses expressions faciales. Pire, en homme amoureux, on y croit de moins en moins (déjà dans "Vincenzo") et cela se confirme ici... Et puis l'avoir rajeuni de 20 ans afin de le pouvoir faire jouer un personnage de 20 ans, What The Heck!
Certes, il ne fait pas son âge, certes il reste joli garçon et blabla, mais ici, c'était too much, les couleurs de la peau n'étaient pas naturelles, trop lisses, trop roses, trop brillantes. Si vous avez vu "18 again" (un magnifique drama soit-dit en passant...), nous avons eu droit à 2 acteurs, un pour le personnage à 40 ans et un autre pour le personnage à 18 ans. Et cela fut parfait. Le challenge des deux acteurs avait été de nous faire croire qu'ils n'étaient au final qu'une seule et même personne. Pari tenu. Alors qu'ici...

- Un scénario intéressant mais qui perd très vite de sa crédibilité. Il est difficile de ne pas faire le rapprochement avec "Again my life". Pourtant si ce dernier brille par des protagonistes savoureux, drôle ou intriguant donnant ainsi une légèreté et un humour bon enfant à l'ensemble de la série, c'est loin d'être le cas de "reborn rich". En effet, tous les protagonistes, à peu de chose près, sont des pourritures pitoyables pour qui le spectateur est dans l'incapacité de ressentir autre chose que de l'ennui. Aucun de ces "méchants" ne resteront dans la mémoire. Le grand-père? J'aurai aimé avoir un peu d'estime ou d'empathie, un peu comme Woo Yong Soo dans "again my life", tout au plus un peu de curiosité qui très vite s'essouffle. La fratrie? Elle ne brille ni par son ingéniosité, ni par un charisme machiavélique ( Ah Kim Min Jung dans "Devil Judge" !!! Machiavélique, forte, intelligente et d'une séduction folle mêlant à une fragilité certaine, en voilà une antagoniste brillante!), une équipe de looser quoi.
Il y a beaucoup de chose qui ne paraisse ni logique, ni réel. Résultat, on se retrouve à bailler et à avoir du mal à suivre une intrigue pourtant prometteuse.

- Des protagonistes antipathiques dont l'intérêt est de seulement nous montrer la cruauté, la gourmandise de ce monde. En parlant de ce monde, le monde des affaires, on aurait aimé que le réalisateur nous le fasse "aimer", du moins de nous y intéresser. Que nenni. C'est rébarbatif, c'est long, c'est pénible et les milles et une magouilles nous lassent très vite. Je n'ai jamais été fan de drama traitant de ce sujet, un monde de requin où tout est bon pour se poignarder dans le dos, alors si tout est noir, sombre, où le pire côtoie le pitoyable, j'ai tendance à m'endormir. Les relations ne sont en aucun cas émotionnellement mises en valeur, comme la relation avec le grand-père ou les nouveaux parents, voire les anciens. Tout est traité avec nonchalance et parsème le drama ici et là sans consistance de leur apparition inutile. Résultat, le protagoniste ne nous parait pas sympathique, n'ayant pas de lien nous le rendant humain, plus proche de nous.

- La romance? Hahahaha, je ne dirai rien, cela fait très longtemps que mon coeur n'a pas battu devant un couple de Kdrama (peut-être "taxi driver 2" ...). Ici, cela rejoint le pire (déjà que Alchemy of Souls n'était pas loin d'être le pire). Achimie? zéro. Intensité? Zéro. Solidité du couple? Zéro.

- La bande son...impossible à m'en rappeler. Et c'est un détail auquel je prête pourtant attention....

Verdict : Après le dernier des soeurs Hong, Nam Goong Min (que j'aime toujours à la folie par contre) ou le dernier de Lee Seung Gi, une autre grande déception inattendue.... L'année 2022 s'est mal terminée et 2023 ne commence pas très fort.

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La vengeance aux traits de Song Jong Ki (et un drama qui ne plaira pas à tout le monde)

Il faut le savoir, c'est un drama qui ne plaira pas à tout le monde. On parle d'économie, de finance et de vie politique.

J'ai aimé ce drama pour son ambiance à la fois vengeresse, justicière et passionnée. Lorsqu'on voir les personnages s'emballer sur des idées et propositions, des débats intenses ou de sombres manigances, c'est explosif.
D'autant plus quans vous avez connaissance des futurs évènements à venir après un retour dans le passé. Il utilise ses connaissances et change donc l'espace-temps, mais cela n'impacte pas l'intrigue, car ce n'est pas son but. Le voyage dans le temps n'est pas important, la raison en revanche l'est.

Le casting est de haute volée. Mais ceux qu'on retiendra n'est autre que Song Joon Ki et Lee Seung Min. Voir leur relation prendre vie et s'animer au fil des épisodes était incroyable. Cette constante balance entre chien et chat puis grand-père et petit-fils était magifique.
La fin reste la seule réelle note amère de Reborn Rich. En revanche, en se concentrant sur les motivations de Hyeon Woo dans la peau de Do Joon, les choses s'emboîtent et il est plus intéressant de se concentrer sur ce point.

En fin de compte, si vous n'accrochez pas tout de suite, il y a peu de chance que vous puissiez apprécier le drama dans sa globalité. Pour ma part, j'étais dedans avec son intrigue incroyable et notamment son casting qui est ce qui donne cette force brute à Reborn Rich.

C'est une histoire de revanche sur un groupe surpuissant. C'est aussi une repentance. Et peut-être l'envie de renaître riche aussi.

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If Machiavelli knew the future, had a pack of abs and the world's baddest grandfather...

Listen to me. Before reading this review, I need to ask you a question:

Why do you want to watch this drama? Is it because you just want to be entertained by unbelievable but extremely exciting twists at every turn or you want a drama with solid writing, realistic and logical storyline with no plot holes whatsoever?

If your answer is the latter, then our conversation ends here and I would have to regretfully say my goodbyes but if your answer is the former? Then, please. By all means, stay.

Reborn Rich is pure adrenaline rushing, thrill inducing crack of a show that offers you absolute entertainment for all of its 16 episodes.

So let me explain what you’re going to like about this show:

☑️ Song Joong Ki kicking absolute ass:
Song Joong Ki’s character here is this brilliant edge lord who is out for revenge, equipped with the power of the future, an IQ of 600 and skin that’s as smooth as a baby’s butt. While he is not the most well layered character out there with incredible depth or substance, he does excellently deliver your quintessential hot, charismatic and conveniently overpowered oppa character that’s easy to root for and puts on a great show.

☑️ The baddest grandfather alive:
The biggest winning point for me was definitely Lee Sung Min’s grandpa. His character is as vicious as they come. A true anti-hero with the greatest business acumen, greed for expansion and corporate ruthlessness. For all intents and purposes, the grandfather is a character with flaws and yet the one that you will come to love the most. His relationship encompassing love, compassion, respect and at times rivalry with his grandson (Song Joong Ki) is easily the highlight of the entire drama.

☑️ Acting and Music:
The drama is complemented with an emotional and powerful soundtrack that beautifully underscores impactful scenes. Moreover, the acting is excellent across the board which is unsurprising considering the veteran cast. I am not the biggest fan of Song Joong Ki’s work and I do believe he tends to only play certain types of characters he is comfortable with but even I have to admit that he really shines in some of the scenes in Reborn Rich. Acting wise, for me this is his best work yet.

☑️ Storytelling, politics and the battle of wits:
As someone who is doing her MBA and is an Economic major, I absolutely ate up all the business politics and corporate talk. The main lead knows the events of the future and uses that knowledge to play with stocks and investments so it benefits him. His back and forth with his rivals is so entertaining to watch. The politics and scheming aspect is executed quite well and never gets boring or stagnant.

☑️ The controversially out of the box ending:
Ok, so this is something you might not like. The majority of the people hate the ending and I can see why. I, for one, absolutely loved that they attempted to go so out of the box with this one. I wouldn’t in my wildest dreams have been able to predict the way the drama ended. It’s a very brave and ambitious route to take and while it doesn’t have the best execution, it’s still a commendable attempt by the writer.
I loved the way the author was able to run the story of a brilliant, young potential heir of the powerful Sunyang group parallel to the poor, desperate employee working at the same Sunyang and let the two worlds coincide beautifully.

Now, let’s go over the drama’s weak points:

❌ Romance and the female lead:
This is an unfortunate pattern that most female leads in a Soong Joong Ki drama are mere props with not much contribution to the plot. The female lead is the same here and the actress who isn’t given much to work with in the first place, delivers a quite bland and unexciting performance. The couple lacks any substantial chemistry and the romance isn’t believable. This is why it has been a relief for me that throughout the drama the love story was just a sub plot and shelved to the back whenever it mattered.

❌ The Execution:
Like I said, while I understood what the writer was trying to do with this, the execution is choppy at best. You have your favorite truck of doom making quite a few appearances, you have extremely convenient plot devices trying haphazardly to fill up the writing loopholes.

If you consider the way the story flows, it just doesn’t have the best writing out there. Some characters aren’t given proper development, others are introduced just for plot procession, while others are taken out abruptly or change drastically for the same purpose: to move the story forward or fit a particular narrative. Ultimately, this drama is more focused on the next big thing rather than the nitty gritty's or the development of its characters.

✅ Ending Thoughts:
This is the drama that you watch if you just want a good time. It has its emotional moments (especially in the way it masterfully explores the relationship between a prickly grandfather and his overly intelligent grandson), its moments of laughter and lots of scheming and fun twists.

Right from the start, it's obvious that the show requires a lot of suspension of belief and logic because it's just not that deep.
So if you’re willing to take it as an easy entertaining journey, then there’s no reason you shouldn’t be immersing yourself in pure Sunyang madness and hatching your own plot to take over the world!

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Logic is non-existent, let's be real, everyone is only watching it for Song Joong Ki

Reborn Rich, a drama based on a web novel, is yet another story that uses the "born again" concept. It introduced the main character of Yoon Hyeon Woo, who, despite his stellar results in high school, had to give up going to university because his family could not afford his tertiary education. In an era where full scholarships and bank study loans probably had not been established in South Korea, Hyeon Woo joined the mega-corporation Soonyang after leaving school and soon climbed the ranks to become a senior finance manager in rank, but super-manservant in practice. In spite of his hard work, he was betrayed and discarded by the very people he served, and subsequently found himself reliving the life of a young boy, Jin Do Jun, the youngest son of the youngest son of the founder of Soonyang.

Most of the above was already given to us in the synopsis, and from what I have seen, Song Joong Ki performed far better in his role as Hyeon Woo than in his role as Jin Do Jun. As Hyeon Woo, Joong Ki's expressions were more real - in moments of servitude, he was spontaneous, relenting, and in times of panic, his fear more raw, the helplessness he was supposed to feel more convincing. The reborn Do Jun, who had lived through all of the 2000s before, knowing what would happen when it comes to government politics, monetary policies, and global catastrophes, was the character in focus for much of the story, but even so, I couldn't feel the impact of this character the same way Joong Ki delivered Hyeon Woo.

The second time skip happened when Do Jun grew up, but we can assume he didn't finish his law studies or sat for the bar, because by that time he didn't need to - he just had to get really rich. Did he commit insider trading through his ability? Yes, of course - coming from the future, he already had information on what happened in the past, and utilised that information to earn a lot of money. But because of the supernatural circumstances in how he obtained the information, no one can prove that insider trading happened. This is the secret of the bulk of his success for most of the drama. Nevertheless, the first few episodes had a decent start and a reasonable flow of congruency.

The basis for this drama is how the rich and powerful Jin family operates their business. Whether one finds the business principles interesting or otherwise, with the most basic understanding of the subject, following the drama would not be a challenge. However, even with the most basic understanding of the subject, this is also where the flow of logic started to break, and repetitions set in. Every one or two episodes, a "twist" happens for the sake of providing some "shock value" to the viewers, but provides no progress in plot development. The ongoing crisis is merely dropped and waved away while another new trouble is brewing. And every one or two episodes, someone's office will be raided; they will be investigated for committing a business crime, but no worries, the cheap contrivances in attempting to produce anxiety rush in viewers peters off like a whiny balloon out of air when the climax ends. And so, for 14 episodes, the focus were placed on business operations, and the phenomenon of time reversal and soul-switching were not at all touched during all that time. How was this explained in the end? It's "redemption".

I never expected solid logic from fiction, but I was still hoping for some level of cogency. Reborn Rich quickly became boring and ridiculous to me as the episodes went on, and by Episode 8, the drama was a chore to watch. The human relationships in this drama also leave much to be desired, as no one is honest with one another. The closest thing to honesty was seen in the grandfather-grandson bond between Do Jun and Yang Cheol, but even then, the two exercised a moderate degree of caution against each other. The romance between Do Jun and Shin Hyun Bin's character Min Young was initiated early, but it was marred with doubts, mistrust and misunderstandings. Seong Jun's wife, who initially had a crush on Do Jun, was introduced as a highly intelligent and ambitious woman who eventually resigned to her fate as a marriage pawn to a less capable heir. She became a character who seemed to have a lot of cards on her hands only to be relegated to appearing once in a while, having all purposes stripped from her.

The final two episodes would only be a surprise if the viewer has gotten used to Do Jun's rich and comfortable lifestyle, thinking all would just end with him becoming the CEO of the whole Soonyang Group, marrying his lovely girlfriend whom he doesn't understand and who doesn't understand him, chugging along with a fat ass account loaded with money for the rest of his newfound identity. So maybe getting killed in the first place wasn't that bad after all - but nah. Off pops the bubble, the rose-tinted glasses shatters, 16 hours of a lifetime watching this drama gone, and comes the cries of despair of the ones heavily invested. No, I lied. It really wasn't that devastating. But Hyeon Woo did become better off - by becoming a new partner of Miracle Investment. And the way it transpired? No explanations required. Doesn't matter that a person currently under criminal investigation is not allowed by law to work in any business or finance-related capacity. It's okay, no one will look for this detail. When this happened, there were approximately 20 minutes left on the final episode, so the writers probably thought, eh, whatever, let's just wing it.

And of course the final nail in the coffin was a recorded phone conversation, which is the same like, way too many dramas out there. This wouldn't be absurd with today's technology, but we are talking about 2004 when people were still using the most basic flip phones. A majority of people still alive today have lived through this era with a flip phone. Phone conversations do not automatically get recorded. The phones in that era did not even have a recording function, what more to say a convo-recording function. Yes, this drama is fiction, but the idea of writing fiction is skillfully imbibing and presenting theories that the audience could not refute. It's usually either because the theory itself is a fact, or it is unproven and vague. To say a flip phone in 2004 automatically records conversations as soon as a call is made or answered is like saying carbonara tastes like chocolate, which it doesn't.

I will add that with all the flaws and absurdity typical of a Korean drama with a vengeance-agaisnt-a-rich-family setting, this was somewhat 2% better than Vincenzo and not as bad as Eve - which is arguably the worst drama of the year. Reborn Rich obtaining an 8.8 rating is not a testament to how good the drama is. Like many MDL ratings, it's a reflection of how many people have watched it and how many people love it. Correlation does not imply causation, so if Song Joong Ki's face is all you need to preoccupy yourself for a weekend binge sans sense and logic, by all means, watch it. But this isn't a good script by any definition of the word.

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A snappy series, definitely worth watching.

"Reborn Rich" brings a breath of fresh air to the Jaebeol milieu. The story plays with "time and space" and at the same time deals with a highly topical inssue of the time: the meanwhile flattening turbodynamics of economic developments, which as a result of the Asian crisis positioned South Korea as a pioneer of the digitization age at the top of the world. The story comes at a time when the first melancholic fatigue is spreading in the country. It is fascinating how the creative industries at this point in time cheerfully holds up a positive, optimistic, innovative blueprint (i.e. the web novel “Youngest Son in the House of Jaebeol” was followed by the film adaptation as a series).

The country's audience ratings went straight through the roof. After half the episodes they had already tripled and there was no holding back. The story hits the mark. The rights have also been generously released on international streaming platforms. The story about far-sighted, intelligent, courageous, ambitious and at the same time ruthless entrepreneurship draws wide circles and inspires worldwide. There is a lot of optimistic esprit in it, all about a spirit of growth that is actually predicted to be in danger of dying out in the form we are familiar with. In any case, lively ideas for innovation and intrepid capitalists rock the show in "Reborn Rich". Brilliant dramaturgical move: the patriarch of the very first hours of the Jaebeol meets with the young, new, digital zeitgeist. Charming. Tough. Mischievous. And in their mutual intention to increase profits far-sightedly, grandson and grandfather are one. The recipe works: relaunch and remake of the Jaebeol heroes from the very beginning. That gives hope and a good mood. Just in time.

In fact, the government actively decrees and supports innovations, subsidizes technical subjects at universities with large sums of money, cuts humanities institutes and puts 'all in' on the growth sectors. However, even though two-thirds of young people have a university education, 12.5 percent of the employable age group up to the age of 29 cannot find a job in the early 2020s. The last time the figures were so sobering was during the Asian crisis. And: society is aging. Although the gross domestic product is currently (in early 2020s) still growing, at almost 3% per year, it is far removed from the dizzying dynamics of the post-Asian crisis years and their GDP figures, which were three times higher.

South Korea's conglomerate founders still have hero status. But the proven system is exhausted. The following Jaebeol generations make life difficult for each other with inheritance disputes and live out their practically ennobled status with self-love. They have long since lost sight of promising, visionary growth, social responsibility and national well-being. New promising impulses are needed. "Reborn Rich" finds a successful form of expression for this difficult national emotional mixture.

Born into the Jaebeol Dynasty, the youngest grandson of the Soonjang Group's founder is not a spoiled Jaebeol, but an intelligent, hard-working, creative-thinking, adaptable young man who originally (before his sudden rebirth) was employed in 2022 as a CEO assistant in the service of the Soonyang Jaebeol (actually as a Senior Finance Manager) - he was not only quite smart and busy but got harassed a lot too. The founder of the company and now (in his second life) his grandfather was actually a role model for him. The ´grandson´ thus already knows his biography almost by heart. Reborn again under the Jaebeol sky he becomes a clever lawyer and investor who can hold a candle to his 'grandfather' at eye level.

(Admittedly, there is somehow also a bit of cheating, because the youngest grandson distinguishes himself with his considerable entrepreneurial genius based on knowledge from the future, which gives him not inconsiderable advantages in competition with the rest of the Jaebeol clan...)

Nevertheless, the ambitious fake Jaebeol grandson would be one that the country needs today. Socially responsible. Grounded. Visionary. Brave. WITHOUT (!) the filth of the otherwise mostly elitist Jaebeol offspring. Instead, WITH the fearless, highly motivated and visionary esprit and good/lucky timing of the first Jaebeol, who brought prosperity and prestige to the country in the people's narrative.

The issues, challenges and problems facing the Soonyang Group mirror an entertaining historical outline of South Korea's turbo-dynamic development phase, which led the country into the highly digitized consumer paradise of the last almost 2 decades. On top of that, Justitia may also take some space in her difficult fight against corrupt networks.

In "Reborn Rich" old energy meets the current moral of the times and, practically in a combative spirit of sport, struggles about the constructive economic attitude for new, forward-looking impulses. "Reborn Rich" promises plenty of fun, sanity and series enjoyment against a serious background. The poignantly portrayed grandpa-grandson dynamic is also brilliantly cast with Song Joong-ki and Lee Sung-min.

A snappy series, definitely worth watching.




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SIDE NOTE: --- Background: Asian crisis in the 1990s and the IMF in South Korea ---

The Asian crisis of the 1990s brought South Korea to the brink of national bankruptcy. Banks, as well as large and small companies had to file for bankruptcy, many people lost their jobs, their assets and their prospects.

In South Korea, however, there is significant talk of the IMF crisis. That's because people saw the tough conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which amounted to massive interventions in the country's existing structures, almost as colonialist attacks - like the Japanese did back then. In fact, the IMF provided South Korea with the largest loan to date ($57 billion) to save the country from ruin. At the same time, the people, motivated collectively by patriotism, made unique sacrifices that went as far as selling their own gold in the service of national gain and the consistently disciplined renunciation of export articles. The combination of financial help from outside, internal discipline and willingness to make sacrifices as well as targeted economic restructuring measures maneuvered South Korea out of the recession at amazing speed and torpedoed the country into the unimagined prosperity (on credit card basis) of a first-class digitalized consumer society. The country is still living from this today, but the air is slowly getting out...

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PS:
Never mind the ending...
it could be this
or that
or something else,
here it is this...
quite mind blowing...
whatever...
the circle is round after all...
and the journey is the reward, isn´t it...

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An Insult to The Author.

I have created an account for the purpose of writing a review for this series, I haven't a clue, how this sorry excuse of an adaptation has a rating above 8. It is my sincere request to each and every one of you to go and read the Web Novel or for an even better experience, the Webtoon adaptation of the Webnovel, the author of the series and the characters he has written deserve better and I will explain why.

1. The Plot : The problem with the plot is that, in the novel, the MC dies and goes back in time as the son on the Chairman's estranged but his own son he has with his wife. In the drama, since it would be difficult to view the character as someone else, it is made so that this particular grandson had the same face which is Song Joong-ki. The ending is even more disastrous, it is a thorough insult to the author of the Webnovel.

2. Characters: Lee Sung-min as Jin Yang-cheol was perfect, his acting skills had me in awe, but the entire characters, regardless of the casting were no where near as deep as the original work. Jin Yang-cheol is a complete sociopath, he is an indomitable wall, the wall that has defended Soonyang and the general that spear headed it's growth, he is not a vulnerable person and his ability to think rationally and stay calm is what makes him a truly scary character, the essence of Jin Yang-cheol who I would argue is more important to the series than the MC was lost, he was a broken old man in the series. Jin Yang-cheol is feared by his children because they know he would rather take Soonyang to his grave than give it to his children, he wants them to steal it from him, yes 'steal' is the right word and that is how much of a sociopath he is.

The MC is actually a lot smarter, he does not get out maneuvered, he is always steps ahead of his enemies, to make the series feel like a thriller, unnecessary twists and turns were added. The characters in the original work have a deeper story and better development, they don't want Soonyang just because they think "I should be the rightful heir", it gets a lot more complex than that. The original work also has romance, they removed a good portion of it.

I do not claim to be an expert on K-Dramas, but this series, is a complete bastardization of the original work, the author and his hard work has been insulted in my opinion, I could write a lot more, but the more I write the angrier I get. I have nothing but absolute pity and contempt for those who gave this pathetic adaptation anything above a 2 star rating. I implore my fellow audience to look beyond the cast while deciding to rate a series.

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It was the perfect drama until it wasn't.

Let's be short the story on the 15 episodes wasn't a revolution but was good enough, the construction of the world, the revenge, how he accepted his new life, the bittersweet comparation between his past self and his new life, how he missed his old family, sometimes the characters were plain stupid just because, but they were evil so it was fine as we watched them fail and suffer.

The romance was not there just small moments but was fine until ep 15.

The best of the drama is the relationship between Jin Do Jun and his grandfather, is pure gold, it's just perfect and deserves a 10 just for it, the acting was on point even with the child actor was stunning. His family aka brother, mom and dad where wholesome too, as the family he never had.

But the ending ruin everything, they throw away all the development, the dreams, the hard pushed love line, the promise with the grandfather.
JDJ became by far the saddest character in the drama and overall the ending is disappointing, not satisfactory at all.

The first 15 episodes are a worth watching but the last one is plain wrong.

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Seriously ???????

I can't leave without writing a review, it's the first time I've done it, but I'm so disappointed and angry that I really feel compelled to write this. the drama is about a person who after being killed by "the villains" reincarnates as a member of their family several years in advance (more than 20 years) with all the knowledge of the future, of his new family with whom he worked in his first life, he is reincarnated as a slightly marginalized child in his new family for one reason or another, but despite this he succeeds in the first episodes in investing the knowledge of his past to attract the attention of his grandfather, CEO of the biggest company in Korea, and made a lot of profit from it, he earned a lot of money and entered the best university in Korea and even created an investment company which will later help him a lot in his revenge plan. this is the beginning of the drama.

I was very enthusiastic and I said to myself that it is the perfect drama. until he started messing around in the middle of the show and I really started to wonder, do you deserve this chance the universe has given you??? why deserve such a miracle if you are not going to exploit it well. but that was a normal frustration coming from someone who loves drama, it didn't stop me from continuing to watch, despite the fact that none of the women in this show, including FL, was satisfactory in my opinion, I just closed my eyes to the fact that the aunts, the grandmother, the girlfriend .... were all either stupid or mean or weak and insignificant in the course of events.

But. the end, is the biggest disappointment I've ever had in Kdrama. I can't accept that the screenwriter decides to screw up the drama this way with such an end. I just feel like I wasted my time watching this series. I do not recommend, run away from this drama it's a big waste of time.

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Beautiful execution, yet a somewhat dissapointing conclusion

I honestly wasn't expecting to love this drama, since it is very much politically/business driven. Those plots tend to get old pretty fast, and yet, I couldn't help myself from clicking to watch the next episode. The characters are intriguing, every single one of them has something interesting about them.

Everyone loves an underdog story, so Do Jun's journey from a grandson with nothing to his name to a majority shareholder, almost the CEO of the company is so satisfying to see. Every person who underestimates him gets what they deserve, and I'm gonna be honest, seeing almost comically evil people eat shit just puts a smile on my face. The relationship between Do Jun and his grandfather, hostile at first, turns into one of the most endearing and tooth-rottingly sweet dynamics in the entire show. The acting from both of them is an absolute 10, every scene leaves you wanting for more. To be honest, this entire show would've been an 8 or a 9.

If only the ending didn't stumble onto itself.

I can't even explain why I feel disappointed. Is it all the character development going to waste? All my torn out hairs at the never realized love plot between Do Jun and Min Young that was there to take up time and never went anywhere? The fact that, in the end, the main character everyone was rooting for ends up with the most tragic and saddest conclusion? Episode 16 throws out everything, every aspiration, dream, all the development and the beautifully crafted revenge plot, and turns into a train-wreck that looks conclusive on paper, yet lacking in feeling like a real ending. What was the point in seeing Do Jun rise? Was it really time-travel, one soul living though 2 lives? I don't know, and the show doesn't seem to know either.

If you're going to watch this show, just watch 15 episodes and make up and ending that feels satisfying to you. Trust me, with the final episode you'll be left with more questions than answers, with an added bonus of the feeling of complete frustration.

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I Hope the Original Author Sued the Production Team.

Story: This drama starts from what I thought was a mainstream RPR (Regression, Possession, Reincarnation) drama that will focus on a justice-obsessed main character. I'm proven wrong, as Jin Do Jun will use any means necessary to further his revenge, even if it means besmirching his late Grandfather's reputation. The schemes, the backstabbing, and the battle of wits are epic. As far as the story goes, if the production team decided to just follow the original ending like in the novel, it would be a perfect drama. BUT NO! The production team decided on their own ending for the drama, which ruined its whole point. For the production team, I respectfully give you all of my available middle fingers. Just like what Yoon Hyun Woo said to his father in Episode 14, you just have to stay f*cking still to be a help, so why don't you? The rating for this part for me is 9 out of 10 before the finale. After that, it went downhill to just 1.

Acting & Music: I'm new to Korean drama and their culture, but even I could see that the dynamic between Do Jun and his Grandfather is gold. On the one hand, you have a clever, witty, and daredevil grandson; on the other, you have the most badass grandfather you could have in your entire life. The clash between the two is the most awaited scene for me. The music for this drama is beautifully done. 10 out of 10 for this part.

Rewatch Value: Yeah, no. This drama was supposed to be an adaptation of the webnovel so that the series could be more popular and widely known. But with this kind of ending, I doubt this drama has a rewatch value. Unless you just watch the first 15 episodes and make your own ending, Do Jun beat the bad guys and live happily after with his loved ones.

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Better off as a non fantasy family makjang

Before saying I hated the reborn part -which technically should be reawaken cuz he was 10 :) - I'll mention the good parts

I love love love sungminie ahjussi's acting, and I loved his character. Maybe he looked like a villain, but he was just a business man starting from scratch and also a head of a kiss*ss family. The poor guy had to deal with new business ideas in a time it was thought crazy and risky while also having money hungry family that only wanted to please him for his inheritance.
But, lol that was a long introduction, but he once he found his "reawakened" grandson, he found his match, his partner in crazy ideas and that was the most beautiful part for me
Also sungminie ahjussi's acting was 100000000x on point
That elevator scene and his fully devastated face will hunt me forever ♡
From what I gathered, he didn't have dementia in the novel, and this is the 3rd time sungminie ahjussi does it, so I think they hit the jackpot cuz each time is different yet still heartbreaking


Another good thing for me was the 80s/90s business vibe, everyone looked great but also the theme and history really enhanced the story rather than say, him awaking as a 10 year old in 2000 and being becomong an adult in 2010s and fighting his family in 2020s


I also actually really loved Sung joon and hyun min's toxic angsty relationship and I'd have loved this more from their POV, a bit like Secret makjang which is one of my favs (tho don't make me watch it with 2020s eyes)



Anyway the bad. I hated the rebornness, cuz as I said it was more like being possessed, then made complicated by double songs cuz it didn't make sense unless both hyunwoo and dojoon switched places, which might've become even more like golden spoon


I also hated the flat romance. Cuz technically reawakened dude is 30+19(?) When they 1st met and so he's a 50/60 year old going after a 20/30 year old no matter their past connection. I actually hate going back to change the past romances for this reason

The ending.. "it was all a dream" is such a old time cliche, I always remember twilight breaking dawn saying the fight between the oldie vamps and collin family was filmed and my 1st thought was ofc it's all a vision..
It's basically a cheap bow out from cleaning up the mess one makes. Ie making two Songs and making one come after the other (which were said to not be in the novel) then not having the courage to continue...
One could say he projected himself trying to remember, analyze and amend. But would one really dream of 20 years of life, remember every single detail and basically playing SIMS with a stranger? Atleast they could've hinted it with weird time skips or foggy memories xD

So basically, a normal family makjang where he would've wanted revenge for how his grandparents disowned his parents would've been enough. Like sure we needed him to know certain time stamps and events but he could've still been like his grandpa good at and even bad at business and we could've had stronger bonds between them
Also this drama got real boring once grandpa died Y_T

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