Youngest Son of a Conglomerate (2022)

Thrilling …!!!

I watched the drama without much expectations!
Buy my oh my!
I loved it…!

The grandfather and grandson/secretary (aka Song Joong Ki) have single handedly carried the whole drama!

There is not a moment of boredom, and the romance is at minimum non obstructive level…! Totally my kinds!

There are loopholes at times no doubt, however they are ignorable as the story pace and acting very well covers up those loopholes! The thrill as the story progresses keeps you going!

Also, few reviewers have been complaining about the plot line deviating from the original novel….
However, I strongly feel that this drama should be watched as just a drama and not a remake of any novel. Only then will you enjoy it…

The acting and pacing of the story is good enough to constantly keep a hold on you. Quite satisfied with Song Joong Ki’s acting! He did sooo well…!

It is surely a one time watch…!

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Blood is definitely not thicker than water.

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this was a “liked”/”meh”.

What I liked:
This was a very interesting concept. As someone who is getting older myself, I often wonder what it would be like to go back in time with an idea of what is to come—what would my life be like if I got a “do over”? In this case, its less of a do-over, but a pseudo reincarnation into a life the ML never had. Like most reviewers (probably), I thought Lee Sung Min did an excellent job as the patriarch/tyrant/dictator of the Sooyang Group. I liked that the ML’s love interest was a strong, intelligent woman who was not the elegant ‘lady’ that was characteristic of the women in the Jin family. I like that they got back together right before the JDJ’s end and the ML realized what was worth living for by that point. As awful as this sounds, I liked that Jin Yang Cheol did not have a dignified end. No one who has done that much harm to his family and country deserves to go quietly into the night.

What I did not like so much:
It got a bit draggy in the middle with all the business maneuverings. There came a dreary cycle of JDJ trying to bring down Sooyang, Jin family fights back, JDJ triumphs again, rinse, repeat. JDJ was intelligent but a lot of his ‘brilliance’ came from knowing major national and international events and having the maturity level of several decades in a younger body—in addition to inside knowledge about the company (albeit some decades in the future). I argue that he would definitely have started influencing the future (YWH’s past) once he started influence politics and business at regional and national levels. So, the argument that he was unable to influence major events was weak. The farther he got out from his ‘entry point’ into the timeline and the more influential he got in national politics, the less he would be able to successfully predict the future.

I did not like (though I understood) the affection JDJ began to feel for his grandfather. I didn’t think JYC was a person who deserved any affection or love. In my mind, the best revenge YHW living JDJ’s life could have had was to make money by investing based on his future knowledge, marrying the girl, and living his best life far away from the Jin family toxicity—like on a beach somewhere. Obviously, that would not have made for very long drama, but simply not giving a d*** about Sooyang when an entire family was literally trying to murder each other over it is the best revenge.

Minor dislike: I wish they would have used a different actor for YHW. He’s only in the first and last episode and then some memories so picking a different actor would not have overshadowed SJK as the ML. OR they should have done the thing where he has a different face when he looks in the mirror or is in photos. The two men looking identical just didn’t make any sense especially since no one seemed to notice.

Other thoughts:
Holy toxic family, Batman! What, exactly, was the point!? They were all miserable. Jin Yang Cheol was an awful person who loved money more than anything. He treated his wife like dirt, cheated on her, and made her raise his son born out of wedlock (and not sure why she put up with it, since she turned out to be strong and clever on her own). He wanted his children to be strong and independent enough to take over the business after him, but he did not raise them to be that way (because if they were, then they would not obey him blindly in everything). His children, with the exception of one, married whom they were told to marry so no one was happy and no one supported each other—even the in-laws hated each other. Literally no one was happy, so what were they all fighting for!?

Obviously I finished this, so it never caused me to drop it in disgust. I love Song Joong Ki so that’s why I started it and it held my interest enough to finish it. I will definitely not rewatch. The suspense is what kept me going and now that my questions are answered…I don't see any reason to go back.

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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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Great start, but underwhelming towards the end

I decided to watch this because other than revenge, I thought the storyline about the male lead, Yoon Hyun Woo (Song Joong Ki) being ‘reborn’ as the youngest grandson of the family, was intriguing.

The good

. The pace of the drama was fast, especially the first half and no episode was boring in the first half or at least up till the passing of Lee Sung Min’s character.
. Some references to real incidents that happened in Korean modern history, like the Korean Financial Crisis 1997 and Korean soccer team getting into the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2002, etc. This made the story realistic and viewers had glimpses of the effects these incidents had on Korea at that time.
. I totally enjoyed the acting of Lee Sung Min as Jin Yang Cheol. He was convincing as the patriarch of the family. Powerful and fearless. His acting was so exceptional that there was always something to look forward to in every scene of his. For me, the drama went downhill after his character passed away, I can say that his passing left a huge void in the story and it was not as enjoyable for me after that.

The bad

. I didn’t understand how and why Yoon Hyun Woo was reborn as the youngest grandson of the family or was he even reborn and did Yoon Hyun Woo even die? I thought I understood initially but when the ending came and then the somewhat vague explanations, I didn’t get the logic.
. There were some business terms or concepts in the drama that I didn’t quite understand, for example buying the company subsidiary’s bank card at an exorbitantly high price will lead to a drastic decrease in one’s share ownership of the company…or was it like that? In any case, I didn’t quite get it fully.

My Verdict

The writing was typical of many Korean revenge dramas that involve conglomerate companies. It was dramatic and fast-paced with schemes and plots one after another, one side seemingly out-winning the other side, but actually not because there was another even more intelligent plot planned by the latter, etc. Basically to sum up the story in a sentence, viewers were just pressing on to watch how the revenge by Yoon Hyun Woo/Jin Do Jun (his name when he was the youngest grandson) would gradually and eventually have the conglomerate land in his hands.

For me, I enjoyed watching the acting of Lee Sung Min. Not one scene was boring with him. As for Song Joong Ki, I didn’t think his acting was exceptional, it was just passable, same for the rest of the cast. However, I liked that Song Joong Ki’s character was not just thinking about revenge throughout the entire drama, he had his soft side, towards his grandpa, Jin Yang Cheol and the woman he loved. I also liked the OST that was played every time he showed his soft side. It was a melodious but melancholic Korean song.

Towards the last few episodes, especially after Jin Yang Cheol passed away, the writing was boring to me, worsened by my difficulty in comprehending some of the business logic and then what with the confusing last episode, my overall enjoyment of the drama was reduced. I would say that this drama captured my imagination in the beginning, hence a 8.5/10, but towards the end, it dropped to 7.5/10 for me.

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A Begining that deserves such ending

Yo right i think Reborn Rich got the ending it deserved. I didn't like the ending very much but still Our main lead survived & the person who died was already dead when the show began & it was just a time travel.

I mean if I've to say the ending was bad than I can't ignore that Begining was the Shitiest than.... The illogical story started from ep 1, what happened in the end was to clean that and the outcome of that storyline that was formed.

The Person who was there in the beginning survived till the end.

Jin Do Jun was someone we all got attached too because like the storyline was too perfect from ep 2 to 15 & no one can quesn that

But we forgot that it was Jin Do Jun's aim to Buy SoonYang not of Yoon Hyun woo. He got his revenge in the end & that's perfect from his pov although he was there only for 2 eps. Bad happened with Jin Do Jun but we were already listening the story of a person who was dead to begin with.

The time travel, the possession of a diff. body was something i can't digest even from the start.... but if i managed to get okay with that... I'm gonna accept the ending too.

Overall it was a 10/10 from ep 2 to ep 15

& I'll rate it a 7/10 for Start & end episodes (they weren't completely bad they fit well with the storyline) but I'm still raiting it 7 because they might have ended in some other decent way.

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Dysfunctional, chaotic life of the incredibly wealthy mixed in with revenge and time travelling

This is a really interesting premise that I don't know if I've seen in dramas before, mainly just webtoons which makes sense because this is an adaptation. And of course, the male lead is Song Joong Ki, who is definitely a big draw. I enjoyed Vincenzo and was looking forward to watching Reborn Rich too, but after watching them both I definitely have a preference.

THE PLOT
I feel like they tried to cram as much as possible into 16 episodes and as a result, it got confusing and was going everywhere. I was really looking forward to watching this and binge watched this over a few days during the Christmas holidays but mid-way through it got a bit draggy. I think because so much happens and time moves quickly as well in the show that it's easy to get confused and lost interest. You know its a bad sign when you think to yourself, oh good only 3 episodes left.

Another reason is that I felt like the theme / direction the show was going in was not consistent throughout. I thought that the ML's main motivation was to take revenge against those who had killed him in his past life, but it felt like it started being more of a suspense drama and at one point it just felt like he was trying to be a good grandson. What about your revenge??

Things picked up again in the last episode but then the ending was disappointing. There was a big reveal and things get resolved, but I'm left with questions. Is this the same timeline or a different one?
Why does noone recognize him in this timeline if he looks EXACTLY the same? <-- This was my biggest issue and I just couldn't get over it.

THE ACTING
Despite my criticisms of the plot, the acting and how the characters were portrayed were excellent. One of my favourite characters was his aunt, Hwa Young, who was an awful person but SO entertaining to watch. And the grandma! Wow.
This is a show full of villains and the entire Jin family is so messed up.

THE ROMANCE
I love Hospital Playlist and it's cool seeing Shin Hyun Bin in a new role. There is just so much happening in this drama though and I feel like because their screentime together was so sporadic, I wasn't very invested in their relationship and was focused on other details in the plot. The romance was too fleeting and infrequent for me. Too much angst in this with not enough caring on my end.

HIGHLIGHTS
--Do Jun's schemes and screwing over his aunt and uncle
--heartwarming moments with Do Jun and his grandpa
--cheeky references to the present like the FIFA World Cup and talking about cellphones

THEMES
--the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, privilege and how it changes the trajectory of your life
--parents doing anything for their kids

7-7.5/10

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Song joong ki

Three episode going it's enough to prove Song Joong-ki's true value. Yoon Hyun-woo's undisturbed visuals and cool-headed aura were drawn beyond perfection, drawing viewers at once. Yoon Hyun-woo's charisma, completed with glasses and suits, neat styling, and meticulous acting skills, was possible because of actor Song Joong-ki's unrivaled presence. In particular, the emotions of Yoon Hyeon-woo, a character who is strong enough to endure the insulting words and actions of the owner's family in silence, are vividly conveyed with only his eyes and facial expressions, raising the level of immersion.

Yoon Hyeon-woo wakes up with the bloodline of the Sunyang family that killed him. Song Joong-ki is now planning to portray Jin Do-joon, the youngest son of a conglomerate family living in the past with all his memories. Yoon Hyeon-woo and Jin Do-joon have the same inner side, but they stand at opposite extremes in the era, the age of the characters, and the positions they have. As Song Joong-ki mesmerizes viewers by portraying any role delicately and convincingly, we look forward to his upcoming acting party.

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Thrilling storyline

I have read the earlier reviews and they have covered most of the character analysis I wanted to do. So instead I would like to talk about the child artist Kim Kang Hoon ( young Do Joon). I was awed by this actor. He had the maturity of the character as was required . Though he was a child ,he was portraying adult Song Joon ki. His expressions and emotions were so spot on. I also loved the way the discussion went on with his grandfather. I wanted to see more of him but I would say he had his presence known clearly in just one episode . Way to go for this actor.
The story is thrilling, the cast is superb . Just two episodes and I am totally hooked and have watched it twice already. Presently everything is going on fine and hope it gets better and better in coming episodes.

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Everything so good, but ended disappointly

Reborn Rich is another revenge drama, but with time and space involving memory transfer to another body which is quite supernatural. Another thing the drama does well is executing the ideas of the character through and showcasing many glimpses of early 2000s South Korea.

There is very less romance in the drama, and for a reason I preferred that. The political strategy and the ups and downs in the country that has been utilised by the Soonyang family was quite intriguing. 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 brilliant too.

Everything was straightaway gold until the last episode. The 15th episode changed the pattern of the show and the finale of the drama turned out to be messed up. 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. The character of Do Jun had the saddest conclusion and it felt a forced way out for Soonyang which made the conclusion unsatisfactory. Had it not been for the ending, the drama definitely had the best output of its potential.


My Rating : 8/10

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Should have been called The Chairman and solely focused on him- maybe it would have been a 10

Despite my initial excitement and high hopes, "Reborn Rich" left me feeling disappointed and underwhelmed. As a dedicated viewer of K-Dramas, I was eager to dive into its storyline and characters, anticipating another captivating addition to my watchlist. However, despite my genuine desire to like it, I couldn't overlook its shortcomings.

From the outset, I found myself struggling to connect with the plot and characters. Especially the main character played by Song Jong Ki. The rest of the cast, though brilliantly consisting of solid veterans in K Drama world, did not have a deft script to give them nuance and flair.

Despite the intriguing premise, the execution felt lackluster, leaving much to be desired in terms of depth and development. Chaebol families have incredible nuance and intrigue that regular families do not have and the fact that this drama failed to exploit this was bewildering. As the episodes progressed, I hoped for improvement, clinging to the possibility that the drama would find its stride. Maybe Song Jong Ki would show some bite , maybe psycho cousin will have more nuance than being 2 dimensionally psycho , maybe the ill inserted romance will find its stride.Unfortunately, my enthusiasm waned as the storyline failed to engage , and the characters failed to resonate with me on an emotional level.

There was a useless thread of a romance that was strangely inserted which also just added a bad taste to everything.

BUT I must mention the incredible Lee Sung Min who played the amazing Chairman.With his commanding presence and nuanced portrayal, Lee Sung Min breathed life into the character of the chairman, elevating every scene he graced with his talent. His impeccable delivery, whether conveying authority or vulnerability, added depth and complexity to the character, making him the most compelling figure in the entire drama. Maybe the drama adaptation should have just focused on the Chairman instead of the grandson.

Overall, "Reborn Rich" is a disappointing K-Drama that fails to deliver on its promise. While it may have had potential, its lackluster execution ultimately makes it forgettable and unremarkable in the crowded landscape of Korean dramas.

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