See You In My 19th Life (2023)

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.

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É bom, mas falta algo

Comecei esse dorama pq sempre vi todo mundo falando dele.
Eu gostei e achei interessante, mas senti falta de algumas coisas e achei o final meio corrido. Mas de toda forma, o final ao mesmo tempo que é lindo, é triste. A forma como eles arquiteram pra que eles pudessem se encontrar de novo e não a esqueceram, da mesma forma como ela não os esqueceu das vidas passadas. A forma como o Seoha usou das mesmas formas e frases para reconquista-lá me emocionou. Mas também é muito triste que ela tenha se esquecido das pessoas que amava.
Enfim, foi um dorama bom e fotografia é muito linda. Uma pena terem apressado algumas coisas.

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bittersweet but so good!!

I watched it
It was so good, I loved it
I had read the webtoon and it is different but honestly they did a great job regardless
the FL is an amazing actress wow those emotions I cried just bc of it and the story
it was beautiful honestly
the ending people don’t like bc
*spoiler alert*
she’ll forget her past lives but … were you not watching? she would pray every single life to not remeber her past lives for her next life; it’s what she always wanted, it’s haunting and sad remeber everything that’s happened to her — she wants to lives in peace and those who she loves come to find her and build a relationship with her bc they remeber and it’s so cute! the was ML went and treated FL the same when the tables were turned was just chefs kiss it made me smile although it’s bittersweet it was a good ending in my opinion it made sense - after every episode of FL saying she wishes to forget her pay lives it’s only obvious that’s what’s going to happen! to each their own but, personally, I loved it!!

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A matter of fact about past lives

Remembrance of former births', is one of the higher powers. I believe the writer has attained some of this higher knowledge, in order to write this story. As a matter of fact, where one makes a vow deeply in past lives and will try to fulfill it in future lives.
However, one does not recall everything in the past lives, it will be bit and pieces like a jigsaw puzzle. It takes time to piece everything together. Except for the last episode: where you need to forget the past lives in order for others to be safe, is not true.
I give it 8.5/10 marks. I sincerely wish that the writer can achieve more transcendent knowledge to write the next story. Keep up the good writing.

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Really good!

Okay there was no second lead for the main character but there was a second lead couple and i was honestly so much more into them!!!

I wish they had more screentime and more development fr.

I still liked the main couple, and they developed them really well but i think somewhere in the middle of the story i got a bit bored.

What kept me interested was the flashbacks of jieums past lives, and i lowkey wish the past life she had as a guy (the one who loses his lover) was more touched upon…

I don’t know I just feel like 12 eps for such a complex story isn’t enough and there were so many things to explore.

Overall the acting is AMAZING!!!!

Shin Hyesun never disappoints! I loved her in Mr Queen and I only continued to love her more in her other projects. Such a talented actress.

On another note I gained another kdrama crush, Ahn Dong goo… I hope I see him as a main love interest in a good kdrama one day.

Overall the storyline is really good but could’ve been explored a lot better, it’s worth a watch anyway! Finally a Female lead who isn’t afraid to be confident and dominant. Really loved Jieums character. So emotional, each emotional scene was well acted through. Good Kdrama!

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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.

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interesting plot with top actors

Watched this for Ahn Bo Hyun, turned out stayed for the interesting story and other actors.

Shin Hye Sun’s acting is stellar.
Ha Yoon Kyung is so cute.
Lee Chae Min is such a scene stealerrr.

There is no scene that feels like only scene filler. 12 episode is just right, not too long so it’s not draggy and not too short so it doesn’t feel like rushing to end the story.

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Great acting from the leads and beautiful cinematography, the plot could have had a better execution

Shin Hye Sun killed it once again. As someone pointed out, rarely do we see female leads look like they are in love with their partner, so openly and without fear. The love mostly comes from their male counterpart's gaze.

Now for the negatives, for a 12 episode drama, this one has far too many flashbacks. We really don't need that many flashbacks in one scene just to tell the audience that Jieum is remembering her 1st life and it's bothering her. K drama directors need to treat us like a smart audience. I'm sure Shin Hye Sun can take direction and show the audience what is going on instead of the writing/directing/editing relying on such storytelling crutches. I swear the whole story of the first life could have been wrapped up in the first 15-20 minutes of one episode. In the age of streaming, flashbacks (that we've already seen so many times!) are an unnecessary rewind button.

As for the plot, as someone who didn't read the webtoon, the show spent too much time on the accident and not enough on Jieum and her mysterious lives. And for it to spend so much time on the accident, the resolutions to that storyline were quite plastered on. But still, it was a highlight of my weekends.

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Quite nice!

I finally watched this – been wanting to do it since it first aired! Overall, this was an acting masterclass from Shin Hae Sun, she was so marvelous to watch; the best performance of the show to be honest. I don’t mind the ending all that much because Ji Eum finding peace and happiness without the burden of her past lives felt very right and important to me. This show also made me cry so much!! The first 3 episodes were really nice, but after that… the middle did not feel as good anymore, it picked up again towards the end. I am overall a little bummed that I didn’t love it, but it is not a bad show by any means. Brownie points for the stunning cinematography and the beautiful OST!

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O que dizer desse dorama, eu simplesmente amei, o casal protagonista teve um desenvolvimento maravilhoso, com muita química nas cenas, ao longo da história souberam enfatizar cada momentos juntos, cada toque, cada abraço, cada apoio...A fotografia é algo lindo, trabalharam muito bem com as cores, as osts são incríveis. A única coisa que me incomodou foi o pouco desenvolvimento do enredo em si, as cenas em alguns momentos pareciam não se conectar, sai em alguns episódios sentindo uma lacuna imensa, só os 12 episódios não foram suficientes para adentrar de fato na história. Tirando isso, eu gostei bastante do dorama, recomendo, Ji Eum e Seo Ha ficaram no meu coração ❤️

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