Again My Life (2022)

All about second chances.

Even with my excitement for Lee Joon Gi's comeback, due to recent trend in dramas, I wasn't really expecting too much and came here to only check out, thanking at least an average drama will be resulted. However, by the interval of the show, I found myself captivated and occupied by the entire thing and the pace with which everything was going on. It was difficult to get bored in any single instance and I was constantly absorbed by the quality of the show.

Created by 'Studio S' & 'Viu' and produced by 'Samhwa Networks' & 'Kross Pictures', "Again My Life (어게인 마이 라이프)" is the 16 episodes live-action adaptation of the Kakao web novel with the same title authored by Lee Hae Nal, which was also turned into a webtoon, as well. Both written and directed by 2 pool persons each, the show is 5% fantasy, 80% politico-legal and 15% action thriller, which was originally broadcasted on SBS.

Kim Hee Woo (Lee Joon Gi), a rightful & passionate prosecutor gets murdered for trying to bring down a popular yet corrupted assemblyman, Cho Tae Sub (Lee Kyung Young), who with the facade of being a stain-free personality, controls the entire nation. Miraculously, Hee Woo gets resurrected into his past life with a second chance to prepare himself well in order to showcase the power of truth and laws to those who abuse it for their gains. The story follows the journey of him strategizing a revenge for years, along with people who have come to believe him in the course of time.

I must inform you that the show is not an "one man army" plot-device, rather, a "together we can" spirit, that makes it unique. There are plenty of supporting characters, each given a fair share of emphasis in the story with perfect screen share. The other familiar faces in the drama playing major characters are Kim Ji Eun, Kim Jae Kyung Jung Sang Hoon, Choi Kwang Il, Hong Bi Ra, Kim Hyung Mook, Kim Jin Woo, Ji Chan, Cha Joo Young, etc. Lee Soon Jae, Jeon Gook Hwan, Yoo Dong Geun, Lee Kyung Min, Kim Chul Ki, Kim Young Jo, Hyun Bong Sik, Hyun Woo Sang, Joo Woo, Park Chul Min, Kim Hee Chul, etc.are more like guest characters but appeared frequently in the show.

Not like the first time Lee Joon Gi went for a legal thriller but what makes this particular drama stand out is better performance, the revenge plot, the execution and not to forget his action scenes and sense of humour.

Plot development was amazing. The pilot episode wasn't very impressive and felt like it'll be another politico-legal thriller with cliché elements. However the next few episodes turned out to ve good, as the writer attempts to incorporate base-level strategy making skilla into the character. The accumulation of power and will by Hee Woo was constantly alleviating to watch. His initial efforts to save things dear to him, followed by his endeavour to prepare himself bettee with a goal in mind, everything was awfully alleviating. As the real fight begins from the 2nd quarter of the show, it starts to become ingesting. Every time, the viewers feel like Hee Woo would go for his main target, he surprises by trying to weaken another angle of the villain, thus moving one step closer towards his quarry. It became even more compelling in the last 6 episodes as we knew what's coming soon. The last 2 episodes were the real game and the ending sequences was as enthralling, however, that's where they messed up. It definitely became rushed towards the ending of 15th episode and the entire 16th episode was on some other level, which was the biggest flaw. I must admit the very ending left us confused hinting the possibility of another season, but I guess we can assume the aftermath and let it go. Finally, I didn't like the sacrifice part bcs that's what I had correctly guess and I think that could have been easily avoided by the writer.

Lee Byung Hun jakkanim with the experience of working as both the director and screenwriter in both K movies and dramas is assisted by two debutant writers J & Kim Yool, for this drama. Focusing on the national politics, the show has been a constant reminder that, no matter how crazy the headlines might seem, things could always get worse, especially beyond the surface. The utilization of elements like, corruption, bribery, power struggle, etc. throughout was congenial and appealing. The base establishment, the furtherance, the unveiling of facts, the flashback to future (you know why 'future' ?), the character arcs and most importantly the way of making strategy have been very well drawn.

Han Chul Jin PDnim with more than 2 decades experience and the number of contemporary hits works here the debutant Kim Young Min PDnim, and the both have been able to pull off such a stupendous urban thriller story with nonexistent flaws. The direction radiates the scope for several subplots and maintains the quality of the show throughout. The art of criticizing politics directly is overt in influence and the messages and takeaway notes are more palatable through the lens of entertainment. The screenplay management, scenario setup, screen-editing, choice of location, etc. have been well handled. With less utilization of vfx and editing, the modern urban vistas of Seoul are mostly eye-pleasing and maintains dark era for most of the parts.

Composed by Kim Jong Chun (Philstring), the drama has a total of 7 OSTs, but honestly, some are good and proved suitable for the show's essence, while others weren't. "What the Ggang?" By Yoon Do Hyun ia a impulsive hardcore track depicting open challenge to the evil. "Bring It On" is an adrenaline-inducing track reminding one of it's strength, fiercely sung by Sonnet and has an amazing chorus. "Burn" by Park Do Joon is a jolly track aspiring for a better day and a good life through self-determination. In the mesmerizing vocals of Yu Sang Eun, is "Till The End" which is a quest for truth. Other tracks were "Alone" by GB9, "Shadow" by Hanhae & Kissxs and "Tragedy" by Sondia; I didn't really like these.

What I liked...

# The plot development is beyond likable. The viewers receive intrigue, excitement, action and danger, all wrapped in, and intertwined with, a political plot, accompanied with legal components.

# Performance from all the casts, particularly from Joon Gi and Kyung Young-nim has been highly pleasing. KY-nim's dialogue delivery and way of phrasing sentences is always amazing but here we get to watch a more refined vocabs of him; his character was intriguing despite being the antagonist, ngl.

# Action scenes, mostly involving modern self-defense as well as professional ring techniques were quite agreeable, particular the ones when Hee Woo clashed with Doctor K.

# Even though the drama feels like an "one man army" show, it's a matter of time to realise that Hee Woo is always at the centre of everything, controlling, regulating and manipulating the scenarios, but he had to benefit from a number of people, whom he loved, cherished and cared for, and was the recieved the same from others as well.

# Pacing and progression of the show is worthy of your time as it doesn't really have a mysterious plotz rather goal towards bringing down a particular being, and elimination of their strength one by one in the due course. It's again isn't a head-to-head clash between the prota- and anta- gonist, rather a mind game. Personally, I wasn't able to skip or fast forward at all and was constantly engaged.

# I am so happy there was no romance, really. From the beginning, it felt like the ML will have to go through the push & pull among multiple girls and possible admirations were hinted off initially as well, but everything boiled down to friendship though there is an indication of coupling at the end, as the original work.

# There is no definite bromance either, but Hee was admired by many men in the show, from old to young, because of his kindness and deeds, which was also good to see.

# Finally, i must inform that there is no ML FL here, there are only main characters, supported by others, that's it.

What I didn't like...
Not just the writer, everyone in the team of makers are at equal fault. Even if there were no original novel, this show actually had to be of 20 episodes or at least 2 more episodes were a must. But for the sake of meeting the standard 16 episode quota, they messed up things a bit. So, for the drama writer, it would have been wise to develope plot in a way that the events from the beginning were a lil faster hence minimizing the rush that we saw in the last episode.

Final Remarks... What a show! What a show! What a show about legal battle between the righteous and the corrupted plus powerful. The show was able to give away insights about one's greed and it's impact on the powerless and common man.The show is highly entertaining, engaging and enjoyable which allows you to stick to it throughout the end. I am not able to find a particular flaw tbh. So my overall ratings are based on the levels of uniqueness, execution and the final experiences about the outcomes, which has led me to give it a fair 8.0. We all must realize it was not the best or something very mind-blowing, but very good per se with high production and entertainment value. Must recommended, please watch.

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A bit of magical impetus needed to effectively counter autocratic networking and corruption

"Again my Life" is about a personal revenge campaign and at the same time a fight for the rule of law. David is once again up against Goliath. In his first life, the young prosecutor fails - and dies. But miraculously he gets a second chance. Eventually, in this second attempt he sophisticatedly works on a supportive network. ´David´ no longer fights alone.

"Again My Life" is part of a kind of law-and-order series invasion that swept over the KDrama world in 2022. The country seems to be crying out for justice. There is obviously a growing urge for real justice and effective punishment for the backroom masterminds, who are holding the true strings of power. A yearning for an end to eternal corruption. At the same time, there is great frustration that it seems so extremely difficult, almost impossible, to truly say goodbye to the old autocratic structures. There are laws, but they still don't seem to equally apply to everyone. For some time already, KDrama creatives (and their sources like webtoons etc.) have been fervently exploring the possibilities for a new horizon. In 2022, however, we see an unprecedented abundance, almost a climax, on a desperate path of effectively and/or morally defying the machinations of the powerful and the injustices and loopholes within the practiced legal/societal system. E. g. "Military Prosecutor Doberman", "Juvenile Justice", "Why Her", "Insider", "Doctor Lawyer", "Law Cafe", "The Empire", "May it Please the Court", "One Dollar Layer" and even "Extraordinary Attorney Woo" mercilessly bombard the audience with the same basic structural problems over and over again. In doing so, in their own individual way they juggle with the possibilities, opportunities and limitations that the legal system and the rule of law have to offer. And so does "Again my Life".

"Again my Life" is one of those productions that, bottom-line, choose a rather sobering, almost pessimistic perspective. A pessimistic tone might come from the fact that the protagonist actually needs a magical impetus to even get a minimum chance to clean up the ailing, corrupt and mendacious system: with a second life. Time is practically turned back and he gets the opportunity to live once more - to make it better with the advantage of his knowledge about connections and context.
Pessimistic might also be the fact that in the end the outlook is a questionable one. The audience may be satisfied in many respects, yet the basic problem can´t be thoroughly resolved - which I would think is pretty close to reality. The audience is mercilessly confronted with the question: is real democracy an illusion? Is democracy just a modern marketing gimmick that secretly hides the old concept of autocracy that has been tried and tested on the peninsula for centuries? A new, beautified skin for the old wine?

Is the message therefore a pessimistic one? Almost, but then no. Because even if it feels (and really) requires rather superhuman efforts (or circumstances) to counter the old autocratic domination effectively, it can individually still succeed. The evil resides in each individual human being - in our seductibility and venality. Everyone has to face that. Again and again. It's not something that's rooted in the system, but in people. People fill community with life. Everyone contributes to it. This is partake and participation. However, this is only possible with mature, responsible, self-responsible, upright citizens who cannot be bought - and thus degraded to bowed lackeys.
Autocrats (= powerful private individuals within the given democratic framework conditions) need appropriate lackeys who give them power by supporting them in undermining the existing legal system. Therefore: what may come across as a pessimistic message at second glance turns out to be a rousing warning finger: Be vigilant! Stay alert! Do not give up! Take your chance, every day! Prove to yourself that you are a sincere citizen: Self-determined. Independent. Responsible. This is the only way, democracy and the rule of law can actually work. Otherwise, we agree with those self-proclaimed autocrats - and then we don't have a right to grumble and complain... Against this background, "Again my Life" offers a compelling, exciting story and at the same time a vivid lesson in 'responsible citizens versus corrupt lackeys'.

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