Born Again (2020)

Outstanding Story But Poor Writing Hurts It's Potential

Born Again had a lot of potential. We got a refreshing story regarding fate and destiny not being so concrete. About how our past lives don't dictate our present ones. Jong Bum’s life seemed destined to be a killer but he learned that he could be a normal man with a normal life. But this lost me at several points due to the writers over complicating things, which took away from the great elements this show had. For example, the standoff at the end of the “Past”scenes was the perfect conclusion to end that story and lead us into the present day. Everyone dies. Ji Chul kills himself after causing the death of Ha Eun and Hyung Bin
Perfect, but they opt to renege on that ending, and have this cult, that Ji Chul’s father is the figure of, save him from death and then he gets hung in prison anyway. All so we have a link to the present day. This was not needed whatsoever. Likewise with Jong Bum being related to the Gong Family. The past life link was all that was necessary. Obviously these things on their own are fine but there were too many instances where if the writers left things alone and stopped trying to add their magic to it, it would've been excellent. But the writers couldn't help themselves. I'll reiterate that the story upto a point had me in the palm of it's hand. I was ready to call it a 10/10 drama but the story falls apart in the 3rd gear. And while it's not terrible, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Thankfully the acting is terrific. Jin Se Yeon can struggle to capture the right emotions outside of the romantic character building (Doctor Stranger) but she was really solid in her overall performance, along with the always brilliant Jang Ki Yong and Lee Soo Hyuk. They all had to be two slightly different characters for each time period and they were successful in making all six characters distinct from each other in a subtle way. The low-key greatest performances come from Kim Jung Young, Jong Bum’s (adopted) mother. Her cameos always shine, even in the best dramas (One Spring Night, The Smile Has Left Your Eyes, etc) and her portrayal as a Norma Bates inspired character blew me away. It's a shame that even this plotline faltered a little as well. Her and Jang Ki Yong had the most compelling scenes and relationship of them all. And this is a drama full of them.

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You know how some dramas become your guilty pleasure but this one just was bad by each and every single episode.
The ending was no shocker to me but I had a little hope that writer might save the ship but no. We don't do that here.
Sa Bin choosing JB over Soo Hyuk is like throwing yourself in a well by your own will, when a clean water tap is just few steps ahead.
JB needed help, psychological help. He needed to know that his stalking and creepy tendencies weren't cute but somehow the writer decided to make him a sad hero when Soo Hyuk really did had potential to he the saving grace.
Sa Bin was dumb and her whole "Yes I can fix JB" theory was boiling my blood. It's not your damn job to fix anyone.
Whenever she felt pain in her heart I hopped she would just leave becuase there was no need for Soo Hyuk to suffer.
Again, the idea of reincarnation was really unique and good but the execution and character development was just garbage. I'm not sure why would anyone support Jb and Sa-Bin's relationship.

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If you are into reincarnations and thriller genre you should give a chance to this drama. Only 12 episodes have aired so I can't say much about the plot. But i find myself waiting for the plot to unravel more. The love story in between the main characters is twisted. The fate of red strings between them i'm quite interested about them also. Other than the genre i'm watching this drama because I love Jang Ki Yong a lot and Lee Soo hyuk in that sleek hairstyle, his sharp features i like him too. But i think this will be my last drama of Ki Yong in this kinda genre. I can't see my poor baby suffering so much.

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ball dropped

Born Again has a very interesting concept but suffers greatly from poor execution.

Many of the "fate" connections feel contrived for effect. Other things just happen out of left field with little or no explanation. You end up with several cluttered stories the writers are trying to mash together by brute force . There are several flaccid attempts at misdirection but the plot is such a jumbled mess of things that don't really connect or make very little sense that there is no satisfaction when they the misdirection is revealed. Ending are hard, so it's not surprising the entire last episode felt like the interns took over and just yakked up some melodramatic nonsense. i did get the distinct vibe that the ending was supposed to be some how profound. it wasnt. just more mess.

Character development, for those who get it at all, is highly inconsistent and often nonsensical. At one point or another every single character of consequence does at least one thing that is at odds with their characterization. you even get some of it with characters who do little to drive the plot. The worst character development by far has to go to Ha Eun/ Sa Bin. She is little more than a McGuffin. That could be for the best since Jin Se Yeon has the emotional range of a mascot costume. Aside from her barely adequate performance the rest of the cast did very well with the poorly written nonsense they handed.

I'm not above dropping a drama, but i got through this mostly on the performances and the hope that the show would rise to the potential of the concept. i don't feel it did.

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Great premise, but a miss.

When I read the summary, I was very excited to watch this drama. The cast seemed promising as well. But right from the first episode something felt very off. I watched few more episodes hoping this feeling improves, but it only gets worse. Their past life story showcased in the first couple of episodes isn’t stellar, but leaves you hoping that their present setting is well narrated. I think the flaw in this drama was the haphazard storytelling, or forcing it to appear that everything is happening because of destiny and that’s the sole driving factor. I want to know how the characters will develop, but the slow paced drive is making me feel like each episode lasts for hours.

Tried my best to continue, but despite few things which I want to know, I’ll be dropping this.

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It’s just another crime drama and sadly not for me

I've watched till the halfway point of episode 5 of this drama and I think I've just come to the realisation that this drama just isn't for me. I'm watching so many dramas at the moment, but this is the only one I'm not excited for each week. In three years of watching kdramas I've only ever dropped one other and so I thought I should explain why I'm dropping this one.

I have to firstly say I don't think this is a bad drams at all, it's just becoming more and more each episode not my thing. It doesn't really let you know what type of drama it becomes in the MDL 'about' section so I'm letting you guys know with this review. The first 2 episodes were outstanding I loved the really dark tone of the story they told in the 80s, it really looked like this drama was going to be something different and new for me - I especially found Gong Ji Chul (played by Jang Ki Yong) a really interesting character to follow, his story and the exploration of his character were told so well.

But it seems with the modern episodes this drama has become your basic crime/murder mystery drama and I've just been watching too many of that genre of drama recently, so the ones I do watch have to really hook me. But I'm not feeling like the crime plot is anything that unique so I've lost interest in the core plot of the drama now.

Also annoyingly Jang Ki Yongs character is the only one I'm interested in learning about in the present. The other two characters in both times just aren't ones I gravitate towards - they're just a bit dull (no hate to the actors it's just the characters I'm not a fan of) - and this drama has three stars, so that's two thirds of the drama which I don't feel any sort of emotional attachment to. Our main relationship for example is something the viewer needs to be really invested in but that just hasn't happened for me.

I will probably continue to check in on this dramas tag, just to see it my predictions are right, but sadly I won't continue watching the full episodes. One good thing has come out of this drama for me though, I used to really dislike of Jang Ki Yong, but watching this drama has turned me into a big fan of his. I am happy I gave this drama a go because those first two episodes were so brilliant and I'm glad I got to experience them.

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Messy Romance Alert

Don't watch if you don't like love triangles, confusing romance, or romance-driven stories. This drama indeed has all of the above. The majority of the plot is focused on the two male leads tugging at the woman between them, and everything is set up so that the annoying tug-of-war lasts as long as possible. It's not uninteresting, but these types of stories require a more romantic soul to enjoy them, I suppose. Somebody with a lot more patience, who can watch the female lead running from one man's arms into the embrace of the other, while both of the male leads proclaim to anybody who'd listen their desire to "protect her".
I watched it mainly to drool over Lee Soo Hyuk, but even that wasn't enough in the end.

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Worst

I don't like the story . I decided to watch the drama because Jang Ki Yong , his acting make the charactor real , I had watched his two drama before and come and hug me ,is my favourite Na moo character he played ,I think am I right about character name ,amazing acting he did . No doubt ,in this drama also his acting was very good but story was very weak . I don't like the story . To begin with Jang Ki Yong , is my favourite and he got the negative role in first phase I don't like it but what is the fault of story here ? My answer is no fault because first phase is good , I thought in reincarnation he would get a positive role so I am right ,he got but his character didn't get happy movement ,in his reincarnation from strating he had been blame as a murder and he able to clear his name at very end of the last episode and he got happy ending but not cleared . They story end both female lead and he smile to eachother and then she in the room where she showing something to someone ,what this I didn't get it so confused ? I don't like the story because I don't like Jang Ki Yong's character got negative role is not like that , it is good that he got various role where he can proved himself but there was nothing in the story first phase is good but second one is third class and ending is so confused . Story revolved around only three characters starting to end . one wants love and other wants to protect love because he already had love where love life is in risk . So to protect the love one become culprit and othe become victim that's it .

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