Once Again (2020)

I never thought I would enjoy a long drama so much! The cast is fabulous, they’re impeccable actors, it sure makes you feel all sorts of feelings. So many reasons to watch: several romances, cute and funny scenes, heartbreaking and relevant stories, true family life, many lessons (one example: it’s never too late to continue your education), some mystery, hope, true love life, and so many other reasons to watch...

I disagree at times with how mom selfishly only thinks about how she’s feeling after her kids divorce. I just wish she would once ask why and try to understand (I skipped a few of her crying parts because of this). I do understand that as a mother you want them to be successful and in a stable relationship, but it should be a healthy relationship. I feel awful for her kids when they go through so much but she can’t seem to connect to their feelings. Dad seems to do a better job with that. But anyways, Mom will surprise you in the following episodes. The character development of each character is amazing! So definitely loved it! I binge watched 56 episodes, then I watched the rest waiting desperately for every weekend!

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A great family drama - you will miss them when it ends

9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 South Korean family drama with 100, 35 minute episodes.


First I provide a unique synopsis then review.

Synopsis

The drama is about a family headed by Song Young-dal (Cheon Ho-jin) and Jang Ok-boon (Cha Hwa-yeon). The couple’s grown children experience all the trials and tribulations associated with being part of a close knit family and in finding their best paths for their future.

Main characters:

Song Young-Dal (Chun Ho Jin)

The father of the family. He owns and works at a chicken restaurant. He has never gotten over the loss of his younger sister.

Jang Ok Boon (Cha Hwa Yun)

The mother of the Song family. She is constantly stressed by working with her husband in their busy restaurant and by her grown kids who have not found their path.

Song Ga-hee (Oh Yoon-ah)

The eldest sister. A former Airline Stewardess, she divorced her cheating pilot husband. She has a Middle school son.

Song Na-hee (Lee Min-jung)

She is a pediatrician having marriage issues with her husband, a fellow pediatrician.

Song Da-hee (Lee Cho-hee).

The youngest daughter who was working in an office. She left her husband on her wedding night after finding him in an intimate situation with another woman. After that event she completely changes her life.

Doctor Yoon Gyu-jin (Lee Sang-yeob)

Na-hee's husband. His mother lost her husband after her boys were born and she treats her eldest son like a fill in companion. Her demands on his time have strained his marriage.

Song Joon-sun (Oh Dae-hwan)

The oldest child and big brother to the three girls. He is a stunt man whose wife divorced him for giving too much to friends and because of his dangerous career.

Kang Cho Yoon/Song Young Sook (Lee Jung Eun)

The lost sister. Yong-dal thought she died of fever when they were children. They were orphaned then later separated and he thought she died. She grew up with monks and went on to be a bar owner.

Jang Ok Ja (Baek Ji Won)

She is mother Song's little sister and works at the chicken restaurant with her sister and brother-in-law. She loves to gossip.

Yoon Jae Suk (Lee Sang Yi)

He is a medical doctor focusing in dentistry. He loves his sister-in-law Na Hee amd tries to stay neutral in his brother and sister-in-law's issues.

Choi Yoon Jung (Kim Bo Yun)

She is the mother to the Song family son-in-law. Her and Na-hee do not get along as both of them are jealous of each other over Gyu-jin's attention.

Kim Ji-Hoon (Moon Woo Jin)

Ga Hee's middle school son. He is sad his father cannot find time for him now that his parents divorced. Mature beyond his years he is his mom's biggest fan.

Park Hyo Shin (Ki Do Hoon)

Originally a delivery driver for the family chicken restaurant, his outstanding physique leads him to work for Joon Sun's new stunt company. He is a judo athlete who left the sport after a tragedy.

Review

This was a great family drama. There were multiple romances, lots of family events, and even some mystery. If you like family dramas I highly recommend this one. I would watch it again in the future.

Spoilers*

I still struggle with the cultural difference between American and South Korean culture. Here all their children are fully grown and the parents are still controlling their lives, Not just acting as advice and council but actually demanding the children do this and forbidding them to do that. I thought the mother was often overbearing and mean.

Ok Boon, the Song family mother, annoyed me a lot. She was so angry at the least slight that the kids hid things from her. I did understand feeling judged over what your kids do or do not do. That happens in Americqn society too. But she took it all overboard. I was just admiring her for staying out of the market gossip then she let them suck her right in. In that event she became gossipy and mean just like her sister.

I loved the oldest sister Ga Hee. She was kind and understanding with her younger sisters. She was firm with her slime of an ex husband. She was nice to her big brother's friends. Her son and her relationship was goal. They were so cute with each other. I loved we got to see her be successfull.

Na hee was unreasonable with her husband in the beginning. I understood she went through a miscarriage but she was so unwilling to work through the issues. I was disappointed she dated the hospital director as it was such a slap in the face for her ex whi worked with them and had to watch it.

Joon Sun was the perfect older brother. He watched out for his sisters and was a great dad. I understood why his ex divorced him but I thought she was unreasonable when they were co parenting and would withdraw the kids to punish him. I was glad when she finally came around and supported his dream.

Hyo Shin was so sweet with Ga Hee and her son. They became a couple yet we never got to see them kiss. I liked the three of them together and would have liked to see them become a family.

Yoon Jung was very misunderstood. She was actually a very kind person just had no filter in terms of her interactions. I was glad everyone got to know her better and she no longer had to be so lonely.

Ok Boon drove me crazy in the beginning she was a mean, selfish gossip. I was particularly angry with her for the way she treated Cho Yoon. Stealing the guy Cho Yoon was flirting with, who had already expressed his feelings for her, was low. She was just out to get Cho Yoon out of jealousy. She changed a bit later and even became friends with Cho Yoon but it felt like she did that after she got what she wanted and after finding out Cho Yoon was the lost sister.

I loved Cho Yoon from the minute she came on scene. She was tough but kind and lively and vivacious. The market people were all so mean to them in the beginning it made me mad. That younger friend of hers she was always loaning money to made me so mad. What a leech! She was just a psycho for what she did pretending to be the lost sister.

Overall it was good and ended well I just wish we would have seen Ga Hee and Hyo Shin tell the family and get married or at least engaged and I wanted to see the lost Auntie,Young Sook, have something happy and permanent with the director, I did not feel they wrapped those stories up well.

#ChunHoJin

#ChaHwaYun

#LeeJungEun

#OhDaeHwan

#LeeMinJung

#OhYoonAh

#LeeSangYeob

#LeeChoHee

#BaekJiWon

#KiDoHoon

#LeeSangYi

#MoonWooJin

#KimBoYun

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Great story, great cast!!

Once Again checks off all the points I wish to see in a show: comedy, drama, and a happy ending! This feel good masterpiece is heartfelt and savvy. The acting is above par and the cast visuals are delicious. I will be looking forward to see the cast members in future ( and past ) productions. I especially like how the Song sibling dynamic evolves during the series but never lost how supportive they are with each other. Although, the same can be said of the Yoon brothers. The “parents” of both sibling groups were great. Also, I love the storyline of the “aunties” and how feisty they both are while navigating their love live as single-women “of a certain age”. Overall, excellent production. I was thoroughly entertained!!

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Family life and strife

Mini soap opera with laughs, cries and everything inbetween.
Great cast and chatacters. So enjoyed the daily lives of the Song family. Watching characters grow and develop was a real pleasure. Great motivator for anyone whose lives have gone off track, finding themselves lacking confidence and feeling like failures.
My favourites in this were characters acted by Lee Jung-eun, Lee Sang-yeob, Lee Sang-yi and Ki Do-hoon.
I found it hard to like some characters, even after they'd acknowledged their own short comings, but then life is really like that - we can't like everyone!
Sometimes I found the story became a little silly, which detracted from what was overall a well written drama, with many laughs and realistic plots.
Song Da-he was a unique character, but her childish way of speaking did irritate me.
I wish the ending wasn't quite so abrupt, but this is one I would consider watching again.

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Find love and comfort through this Kdrama once again

Aside from the slow, if not confusing, first few episodes, and the overbearing Ok-boon (Cha Hwa-yeon) at the beginning, this show proved once again why family-themed Kdramas should not be easily glanced and just skipped right away.

The clue to enjoy Kdramas with a family-centered story consisting of many storylines with overlapping connections, is to have a spontaneous pacing and flow. This show was successful on those aspects, and it was able to make me glue my eyes on the screen throughout its 50-episode run.

Of course, the production value is not on par with the more famous 16 or 20-episode dramas. One of my recurring issues here was the inconsistency of the frames on several scenes contributing to production lapses. Some were subtle errors where I had to rewind a few seconds earlier to confirm said errors, yet some were quite obvious. Will not spoil them for the next viewers to be able to enjoy this show more than I did.

But this is easily forgotten by the great and heartwarming story shared by the Song family and its ever expanding members. The main story of the separation of 2 siblings serves as its highlight. Even though it was dragging and too makjang-y at some point, its pinnacle was just worth it, if not totally gratifying.

There were also aplenty of romances of some sort. Most, I agree and rooted with except one where I expected the screenwriter to explore more, only to end as a footnote on the overall story. I was also rooting for them, but just why? Still, this show was not short of showing and sharing love on one another.

If I were to pick my favorite character here, it has to be Jae-seok (Lee Sang-yi). His development all throughout has overturned his immaturity at the start of the show. He was also consistent with his character and his smile and laugh are just contagious. His story was also one where I was emotionally-invested the most.

Speaking of character developments, I was glad that the mother was also able to have one. She was the one I hated the most with her haughty character, not caring or even trying to understand the perspective of others aside from herself. But then again, it's a family-themed Kdrama so the best outcomes are to be expected.

Lastly, I just found the Song family to be comforting, in that despite their situations, they were able to still push through and how they handled it were very typical in a family. I liked how this show portrayed a family (the Song family in this case), in the most realistic manner. It showed that no family is perfect, but at the end of the day, they still find comfort with one another. I also found comfort along with them.

Not thinking about some noticable flaws in the story and looking for something heartwarming and just good feels, one can find love and comfort through this Kdrama once again.

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this drama is worth my time

It took me a long time to finish this drama. well, it has 50 eps (on netflix) so that's that but also i actually put it on hold for some time because it kind of got draggy at the middle part of the series (for me) but then i'm glad i decided to pick it up back and finish watching it. every character in this drama had their own story to tell which i enjoyed watching. the three sisters (gahee, nahee, dahee) are one of my fave kdrama sisters ever and they're all so pretty. i loved their sibling dynamics, its's so fun and heartwarming especially when they're all together in one scene. loved the chaotic and funny energy that the gyujin/nahee and jaeseok/dahee moments gave, almost all my favorite moments in drama are the ones where this two couples are together in one scene. the osts/bgm were good too and fitting to the drama. loved that every character (i think) had their own love interest or you know ended up with someone romantically. its a drama with a lot of cliches but it also gave a lot of life lessons especially with regards to family and relationships. it made me cry and laugh which basically all i need to appreciate a drama. the number of episodes did threw me off at first but i got through it and its worth the time. i enjoyed this drama <3

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Cute little Soap Opera - Family is Everything

This is the first time I picked up a K drama soap opera. I will admit, the 100 episodes is a little intimidating, but I’m a fan of C dramas and the longest drama I’ve watched was 72 episodes so I thought to give it a try.

I’m a fan of K drama soap operas and the reviews on this series is pretty much on point. The BEST part of the drama for me is CASTING and PACING. For 100 episodes, you would think there would be draggy scenes or angsty plots, but it’s actually a really WHOLESOME and cute drama. That was 100% my jam.

The drama is about a family and so you have the parents and 4 younger kids. There’s also side characters and with that, there’s a lot of stories to tell.

I feel like this drama cater towards anyone because there is always a character you can relate and follow.

My favorite stories were the two younger sisters. One of them is married and one of them is the youngest. I thought their love adventure and story was the most interesting and fun to watch.

The banter between the entire cast was so organic and authentic, at one point you wanted to know if they actually did date in real life.

I did skip through the story about the parents because I couldn’t find it relatable but when they interacted with the kids, I found those parts interesting.

If you ever wanted to pick up a soap opera and feel like you can’t handle 100 episodes, this is the drama to start with. You can watch as much or as little as you want daily. It’s really light, refreshing and entertaining to watch. After you finish the 100 episodes, you can truly watch any long drama from then on.

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Best Family Drama

This was one of the Kdramas I watched during this quarantine period. And I have always looked forward every Mondays and Tuesdays (Philippine time) to watch this great and entertaining drama. I liked it because it showed the “real” day to day life of an ordinary family. It showed how love, hatred, forgiveness and unity in a family can be so intertwined but family, at the end of it all is what matters. It showed so much positivity in life and how everyone can help others be a better person. This is a must watch drama for every family. I am looking forward to more dramas like this . There was a good balance of drama and comedy, just enough to make everyone feel good!

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ONE simple word to describe this piece, HEARTWARMING!!!!

I waited all the episodes to finish and downloaded them so that I can binge-watch (and re-watch) over the holidays. It was worth all the wait.

Story
Beautifully written story with almost no holes in it. The relationships between parents and children, husbands and wives, siblings, colleagues, friends, in-laws, are all shown realistically. I like family drama (NOT revenge theme though) and the storyline here is similar to other family dramas. What is different in this drama is that it is not all about sacrifice. I sometimes get frustrated with sacrifices in dramas. It has some sacrifice but not the main theme. It is about how individuals give their life another chance and live their life once again with support from family and friends. There is no extra storylines in here. Every characters has their own story and each story is necessary to create "Once Again".

Acting/Casting
I can't image the characters played by other actors/actresses. They all fits in really well. I have seen Mr. Chun Ho Jin in "Seo Yeong, My Daughter" and "My Golden Life". He can be a 'loser father', 'forgiving father', or 'frugal father'. The chemistry between the couples is amazing. (COUPLES here include all the couples you could pair in the drama . Lee Sang Yeob and Lee Min Jung are already my favorites (they are one of the reasons I watch this show). And I found two people I need to start rooting for "Lee Cho Hee and Lee Sang yi" . For 'Oh Yoon Ah' and 'Oh Dae Hwan', I have seen them playing vallians, but here they are cutest and most understanding oppa and eonnie to their younger siblings, and best most hard-working appa and eomma to their children.

Music
Music was okay ... I am not a music expert.
Am I going to re-watch this show? YES, I will ... I downloaded so I could re-watch anytime.

Warning ...
If you are a crybaby, watch it on the weekends ... so that you don't go to school or work with puffy eyes. Every episodes will make you cry, laugh out loud, smile ....

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before i even know it, the drama has ended and the amazing 6 months with them flew by so fast. i never thought i'd enjoy an 100 episode long drama without dropping or getting bored of it with the very short attention span i have but this drama THIS DRAMA sure didn't fail me through the past few months. i enjoyed every single moment from the whole chaotic scenes till when each character and siblings found their happiness and peace.

i can definitely tell how the plot and writing was done with much effort, i still remember when jaeseok and dahee first met without knowing they'll end up as a couple that is even sweeter than honey, when i was all frustrated knowing the brother and sister were so near each other yet they couldn't figure it out, the nagyu couple and their chaotic second leads, hyo-shin's development, even the frustrating and stressful fake sister trope where i literally didn't know i signed up to see makjang scenes, and also gyujin and jaeseok giving more attention and love for their mother that she deserves, i can go all week talking about how amazing the drama's story was but i'll leave it for everyone's memory or curiosity (if you haven't watched.)


the casts were all amazing from the parents, to the siblings, to the couples, to the children, to the cameos, to the chatty aunts, everyone did so well that i felt so absorbed and invested that i felt like i was somehow part of this drama. i have to say the chemistry between nagyu and dajae was phenomenal, i can't even imagine the struggle i'm already having with the aftermath and how i'll even get to find a better couple with better chemistry than theirs.

i said this in the beginning of the drama not knowing whether I'll drop the drama of not but let me say it wholeheartedly with much assurance, once you get over the 100 (it's only 50 actually so no excuses on "the drama is too long") episode long barrier you'll discover this amazing, fun filled, family drama that will fill your hearts with joy. i have absolutely been happy during the past 6 months thanks to this family.

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Eu amei!

Acabei. Como eu vou viver daqui pra frente? Não sei. Eu só sei que eu só tenho a agradecer aos roteiristas, atores e todo mundo da produção desse dorama. Por 3 meses ele foi meu comfort, me divertiu e me trouxe mensagens incríveis.
Sim, são 100/50 episódios, mas eu digo com tranquilidade que NENHUM é ruim. Em alguns você vai passar raiva? Sim. Em outros você vai chorar? Com certeza. Sorrir? Em praticamente todos. Mas, se você se atentar aos acontecimentos o que você mais vai tirar são lições. É um dorama sobre amadurecimento, família, amor e casamento. Ver o desenvolvimento de cada personagem foi lindo. Todos os casais foram desenvolvidos nós mínimos detalhes, ver o amor nascer e renascer, ver eles cuidando uns dos outros independente de qualquer coisa. Foi uma experiência incrível. Sem dúvidas é um dos melhores doramas que já vi, e eu recomendo Once Again de olhos fechados pra qualquer pessoa, e se eu fosse você não perderia tempo. Vou sentir saudades dessa família 🥺♥️

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