See You in My 19th Life (2023)

Disappointing ending but still worth a watch

I tried to hold back from watching this series until it was fully uploaded on Netflix but it was hard! I ended up finishing the 10th episode with a few days to spare for the last 2 episodes. When I finally watched it I was flummoxed. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

Firstly, the story is beautiful. The cast and acting were above par. Shin Hye Sun is a confident actress and really takes to this role like a well-worn shoe. She portrays Ban Ji Eum so comfortably it sets the tone for the rest of the cast to follow her standard and Ahn Bo Hyun really takes to the challenge well. His portrayal of adult Moon Seo Ha is convincingly done. Bo Hyun gets the right mix of innocence and naivety in Seo Ha’s deer-in-headlights reactions to Ji Eum’s assertive advances that hits all the right notes. Veteran actress Cha Chung Hwa, as Ji Eum’s grown-up niece from her 17th life, is a fantastic energy to bounce off Hye Sun. It was great to see these two cast together again after their time in ‘Mr Queen’. I was gratified to see Kim Joon Ho here and even though he only occupied small screen time, he still did the uncle character justice. Hope to see more of this actor as he was memorable from ‘Secret Royal Inspector & Joy’. The actress who was his niece character, Go Do Yeon, was a great pairing against his avuncular intensity, lighting up the screen when the duo had their singing and Accordion playing scene. Go Do Yeon was spectacular and had a great voice. Hope to see more of her talent in future kdramas.

Possibly the only one who fizzed in the whole set was Lee Chae Min, the shaman char. From the moment he comes onto the scene he was a wooden character and in the end episodes his lack of range is especially obvious when cast against Hye Sun’s 1st life char’s rageful scenes. This wasn’t really the reason why I was disappointed by the series though.

I’m not sure why this series only had 12 episodes allocated to it when dramas typically run for 16 eps on average. There were definitely areas that could’ve been fleshed out more. The ending left questions such as how did Ji Eum’s 1st life rage vow/curse affect Han Na, Seo Ha’s mother to make her one of the ones who remember their past lives, like Ji Eum? Why is Kang Min Ki allowed to retain his memories when the others had to relinquish theirs—because it’s his atonement for his ‘sins’? Other stuff like pinning the accident and murder on the uncle was implausible to the extreme as, up to the end, the father was portrayed as the villain, and a believable one. I found it a headspin to see that we’re meant to forgive the father and sympathise with him when his character gets a 180 makeover from a clear villain to a repressed, grieving husband. This characterisation of him is not believable at all. Let’s not forget that he had an affair on his wife with a woman who might’ve poisoned the wife while she was nursing her and subsequently handed over his wife’s precious hotel to the woman to destroy in slow measures by her negligent mismanagement. His interactions with Seo Ha is also mostly filled with angry outbursts that suggests violence is never far behind. All in all, Seo Ha never felt safe with him or in his presence and, as a viewer, were I in Seo Ha’s shoes I wouldn’t either. I was expecting to see that it was his dad who had organised the accident, his mistress who agreed, and his brother who, being the lackey character, obediently carried out his wishes because the violent brother is the alpha male not to be challenged. Based on the setup of the characters and the way the story was going, there was nothing at all to make me believe the uncle could ever have taken this initiative upon himself to do something so harmful even if he had only meant for it to have been an accident. His uncle was very much portrayed as not the brain of the operation but the hand. So a big letdown for the way this was done as it’s obvious the writers just decided to BS this story arc just as they BS'd the fact that Cho Won really likes Do Yoon instead of Seo Ha, even tho all signs pointed to her liking Seo Ha, because it was more convenient than trying to figure out how to solve this rivalry between the sisters.

Finally, the way the “curse” was explained felt like such a cheat. Ji Eum herself set this in motion? Really? That’s the best they could come up with? All she did was clutch onto the bells while she said she was pissed and wanted to be eternally pissed at the shaman dude… that’s it. No ceremony. No ritual. In fact, the fact that the shaman had to cut off one of the ribbons from the bells made it seem like that should’ve arrested the curse in the first place because something was broken and he was the shaman. As a viewer, while the whole explanation was very holistic and philosophical the implementation could’ve been more, I don’t know, “oomphy”. Why did her curse work? Did she have gifts in this shamanic field too? Is she a bloodline to something special? Is she part of a group that is susceptible to these types of reincarnations, like Han Na? Basically, in lieu of rituals and incantations, why did her words work? Perhaps she needs to be special and chosen before being the designated dyer and preparer of the shamanic bells’ sacred ribbons. The fact that, for the time and era, she could think of something so adverse to the cultural conditioning and question the validity of their shamanic theocracy shows there’s something exceedingly unique about her. All these perhaps that could’ve been fleshed out way more and maybe even spill into a sequel or season 2 that could’ve rivalled Alchemy & Souls! GAH! Wasted chance!

It's a mixed feelings review but the 5 stars is for the fact that it’s nice to see a reincarnations themed storyline that doesn’t just focus on eros love between lovers. The storge, familial love between Ae Kyung and her uncle was just as relevant and heartwarming, and was the one that really saves Ji Eum in her 19th incarnation! If not for 17th life story, this series would’ve gotten a 1 star for the underwhelming way it was all written.

I would still rewatch this show because the acting was superb but the way the storyline ended was underwhelming and disappointing to the max. It is likely I’d stop watching at ep 10, tbh. However, for those who haven’t seen this show b4… well, oops for the spoilers but hey, u’ve been warned!... I do wholeheartedly recommend giving this show a looksee simply because it is quite a beautiful story. The music is on point throughout and Ahn Bo Hyun’s deer-in-the-headlights acting is cute AF. The adorbs Go Do Yeon is DEFINITELY worth a watch. I’d watch it again just to see her sing and dance alongside her uncle char.

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DIFFERENT YET BEAUTIFUL STORY!!!

Shin Hye sun & Ahn Bo-Hyun two of my fav K-drama actors. Its lovely to see them together.
Love the storyline. The cast is ??
Ji Eum and Seo ha.... you just want to protect them both. The suspense is killing me about her 1st life.....
Not gonna say much but you have to watch it.

On the other hand Cho won and Do Yoon's love story is cute. The back story is not fully shown as to how they fall for each other.... im hoping they show that....
Guys this is worth the watch. Waiting for the new episodes each weekend i binge the past weeks ones in prep..... yup I can be cray cray when i really enjoy a drama.

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Muy buena

sinceramente me encantó, tanto la trama como la actuación, el OST, podría decirse que básicamente todo. Me encantó la química entre los actores y cómo se va desenvolviendo todo, lo único por lo cual no le doy un 10 de 10 es por la cantidad de capítulos que tiene, siento que debió de tener 16 capítulos porque algunas cosas quedaron un poco inconclusas y debieron de darle un poco más de profundidad ,pero la verdad que lo hicieron demasiado bien para tener
tan pocos capítulos.
también me hubiese gustado ver un poco más de romance entre los protagonistas pero igual no me quejo.

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could have done much better

When I first heard that this webtoon is going to be made into a drama i was overjoyed.....
See you in my 19th life was a webtoon with a unique and amazing storyline and the plot was unpredictable
The drama didn't do justice to the original story
I was really excited that this was gonna be a shin se kyung drama cuz she's one of my all time favorites but unfortunately her potential was not explored fully
This drama could have definitely gone till a 9 but the poor production and execution just couldn't cut it for me
Also the osts or background music choices are soo bad....such small things are what set the mood
They did stray away a bit from the original storyline of the webtoon but it wasn't all bad
Also this was supposed to be a romantic drama but the romance was just not emphasized enough and at times you would feel like it has nothing to do with the romance part
Overall this was a drama with an amazing cast and could have done soo much better
The only reason for anyone to watch it would be the actors or the original webtoon but definitely not what they have made the drama to be.
The only plus points here are that this is a short 12 episode drama and that it would promote webtoon and the original see you in my 19th life,

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Worth Watching

This was pure joy to watch. I know it was also sadness, frustration, fear and a lot of anger and heartbreak, but it had all the good feelings too!

It is of course a very passionate and sweet love story, one of those epic love stories that transcends time and space and no one can't stop from happening, but it is more than that.

This series is about a deeper kind of love. A deep love with that feeling of longing, of wanting to live the best things in life with the people you love, to share with them all their problems and worries and being able to give them hope and care for then when they need you the most.

That love that you need everyday to keep you going. The love that gives you that very warm feeling of belonging. It was such an amazing story full of learnings and beautifully written. The cast is perfect and all of them had amazing chemistry with each other.

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Nice start but left with so many questions

This drama has lots of promotion there and it was an impossible mission not to watch it. Love the cast, i think all the roles suited very well and it was filmed nicely.
The idea of it is quite good, but the story became so bland after the discovery of the guilty characters. "It was a mistake to get the truck to hit a car", or "the brake pedal didn't work", if the purpose of accident was to just give a scary, why the brake pedal didn't work. Everyone get their punishment so light and simple. The ML worked in hotel, i haven't seen any work related scene in a hotel, just in the office flipping up some folders (for me this is where a drama goes down, as needs involvement in the work related area). The ML is reach but always takes a taxi, he has a secretary, but that doesn't mean that he needs to be the driver too. He discovered all the flaws of father's mistress without any action (maybe he already had everything when he was in Germany, but still i would love to see the detective side of it). Another thing at the beginning his father throws something and hits him hard, but at the end it shows that the father was protecting him. Not linked together at all, is this really fatherly love? There is no chemistry between leads, the only moment i felt it was when they were dancing on the pierce by the sea, other than that i didn't feel it all, even both actors are very good and gorgeous.
All there are many other misshapes, but i don't want to spoil for the people who want to watch it.
Is an ok drama, but is over rated.

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meh

The first 5-6 episodes were overwhelmingly strong, sure there was not much innovation there, or things I have not seen before, but the mostly excellent casting & the fantasy elements offered solid entertainment. However the second half of the drama just fell flat. The focus shifted from the fantasy romance to other far less pleasant things and some of those make very little sense too. Also why would there be a need to give the father personality adjustments in a pre-produced drama. To me it seems like the screenwriter was really not prepared for this, but even if this were live filming, the pacing would still feel far below average. I have read the webcomic after finishing the drama & in my opinion that one is far better. Yes the ending is still very bad, because I always hate it when "superhero" characters get a normie ending , but at least throughout the comic the author focused on the right things and there were some nice epic moments after all the buildup, which cannot be said about the drama.

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This was such a disappointing watch…

I really thought this was going to be a 10/10 drama for me because the beginning left such an amazing impression on me. The first couple episodes were so engaging, and I loved the female lead and her very fresh, confident attitude. Then.. the drama got bogged down in weird “car accident” drama (which was never really resolved?? idk I wasn’t paying attention cause that entire plot point was such a snoozefest) and the leads’ relationship took a weirdd nosedive. I felt like all of a sudden their chemistry disappeared (or maybe it was never present to begin with?) and I could’t for the life of me recall why they were even into each other in the first place. Just the pacing and compatibility and the romantic development was all weird and off somehow and I could’ t figure out why. I just sped through the latter third of this drama (no regrets because it just stayed boring). I guess the only redeeming point was the ending because it did surprisingly leave me a bit emotional and teary-eyed. But, overall, I expected so so much more from this drama, especially based on the two main leads and the extremely solid start that the drama had.

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beautiful, but plot is slightly different from what I hoped. Nevertheless, actually rather nice.

As someone who has read the webtoon before watching the kdrama, I felt that story-wise, they dramatised the story a bit too much as the addition of some of the new components and twists in the story occasionally made me feel like the story was a bit too much at times, and the middle episodes felt somewhat dry. However, with the plot twist in the later episodes, I felt myself getting hooked again into the plot as the FL explores her previous life, so personally I feel that this drama started strong, went a bit weak, then ended on a strong foot.
The casting for the actors were perfect in my opinion as Hye-Sun portrayed the devious, extraverted FL perfectly, and same with Bo-Hyun in his role as a somewhat brooding, proud ML.
The OSTs for this drama were an absolute bop, I'd recommend "Down (Juicy Juicy)" by Jo Yuri, "Star" by Colde, "Here With Me" by Doyoung, and "Secret" by YELO.
As much as the drama was nice, these are probably one of the dramas that I'd watch once and then leave it sitting on my list because as much as I felt it was nice, it wasn't great enough to hook me in that much to rewatch it.

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A distinctive story and a captivating cinematography.

“Just as I was getting bored of repeating life after life, I met Seoha.” – Ban Jieum

Ban Jieum's 17 lives were exceptional. She danced the flamenco, she fought the war, she was in a circus. Yet the life that impacted her the most was her 18th life, her life as Yoon Juwon. Those 12 years as Juwon made her forget the fact that she remembers her previous lives. And this is because of a little kid named Moon Seoha. Her 19th life was then a life of reminiscing and reuniting. She wanted to meet and gather with her loved ones. Aegyeong, Chowon, Seoha.

On top of an impressive cast, this webtoon adaptation has a unique story-line and a mesmerizing cinematography. Howeverm what stroke me the most in this drama are the diverse dynamics we had between Jieum and other characters.

Jieum and Aegyeong, uncle and niece relationship: Aegyeong is truly my comfort character. She exudes tenderness, care, and even motherly love. She's taken care of Jieum ever since she was little and never judged her or questioned her about her previous lives. She just believed her and called her "삼촌" as much as she could. Aegyeong was there when Jieum needed it the most and that's a proof of her fidelity and reliability.
“Living a safe and ordinary life together with you. That’s all I want.” – Aegyeong

Jieum and Chowon, sisterhood: Chowon was the second person to know and accept Jieum as she is. Chowon has always been Jieum's little baby. In the 18th and 19th life. Even though she still hasn't told her about her remembering her past lives, she looks at her with such devotion and melancholia and she pats her when she's asleep. Even though Chowon still didn't know about it, she felt the sisterly connection between her and Jieum.
“Why does a stranger feel so much like my sister?” – Chowon

Jieum and her 18th life mom, a solid and deep bond: In episode 3, we witness and devastatingly beautiful scene of Jieum embracing her mother while wailing. However, this was only part of her imagination. This is what she wanted, her previous life's mother to remember her and to understand that Juwon is still here, but in another form. The mom wants to believe that Juwon will come back to the point of keeping Juwon's room untouched. She was bound to believe Jieum. Unfortunately, Jieum never told her about her previous life as Juwon.
“There are people I can share my secret with and people that I should never open up to.” – Jieum

Jieum and Doyoon, underappreciated and a lost potential: In the Webtoon, the only one who was connected to Jieum in her first life was Doyoon. They were twins. Unfortunately, it didn't happen in the drama and they remained strangers. He's only seen as her sister's lover, not as her brother. I wanted to see their sibling-like bickering. It's a pity.

Jieum and Mingi, a best-friend turned into an enemy: another wasted potential. I really wanted them to remain as best-friends and wanted Mingi to be that chaotic funny best-friend. I wanted to see comedy since it's one of the genre in the show, but we got angst. They turned him into a key character in Jieum's first life and made him a grey-ish character. They handled the story pretty well tho, Mingi being in her first life and killing Seol (Chowon's name in the first life), was consistent and understandable. Thus the reason Jieum remembers her past lives in the drama is because she held a grudge against Mingi in her first life.
“Can you even say that this life is a new life for you? Aren’t you just clinging onto your past relationships?” - Mingi

Jieum and Seoha: an unfinished and unfulfilled love bound to flourish again: what a wonderful dynamic. One of my all-time favorite couple. Their backstory is so emotionally beautiful, their love is pure and they only have eyes for each others. Jieum, previous Juwon, will be the sun that shines over Seoha's pitch-black life and the moon that enlightens Seoha's dull and traumatic life. Seoha's innocence and playfulness made Jieum feel truly alive, not just going through another life.
Swimming together, reading together, laughing together, those very simple things made her feel like an actual 12 year old girl.
“I’ve always wondered why I could remember my past lives. I couldn’t forget them even if I wanted to. But the most memorable life out of them all was the warm and ordinary summer days with you.” – Jieum
Seoha's innocence remained even when he grew up. He's still a child in his heart because his soul died as soon as Juwon died. He felt his soul reviving as soon as Jieum appeared in his life.
“When I was with Seoha, I felt like I was actually 12. He made me forget that I had died and lived again seventeen times in the past.” – Jieum
“When I’m with her, my worries melt away and I feel relieved. If this is what love is, can I let myself feel it?” – Seoha

On top of the wonderful dynamics, the cinematography. Alluring, breath-taking, ethereal. I watched every single scene with glowing eyes because of how enticing the cuts are. Not only the dialogues are beautiful, the cinematography adds a dreamy-like perspective to every single word they utter.

I also want to highlight the impressive performance of Shin Hyesun. I'm so glad she's getting more love as she's doing more works. She's a wonderful actress and the perfect cast for Ban Jieum and for Su (her name in the first life). All of the actors did an amazing job portraying their own character, the performances are top-notch.

I really loved the OSTs, I liked some BGMs even though they put comical BGMs in serious scenes. The staff did an amazing job overall.

Also if you expect watching the exact same adaptation of the webtoon, it will not happen. Significant changed have been made. It personally didn't affect me that much, I liked the changes and it also made those who read the webtoon clueless about what was about to happen. It was a stressful but fun ride.

As expected the ending was not shocking. Jieum forgets her past lives forever not only to protect her loved ones, but also to protect herself from the torment she's been living throughout these centuries. Little by little, her loved ones approach her like she did first and will slowly get close to her. Jieum has a fun personality so it will be easy to get close to them once again. Seoha is now the daring one, he's the one who's about to ask her out three times and she will be the one who'll accept his request.

Overall, this drama was amazing. I really loved it. I don't usually watch fantasy shows and the last romance fantasy I watched was Hotel del Luna back in 2019. This was a big surprise and I don't regret watching it. It's a good short drama with a cast and staff that did an outstanding job.

“I don’t know whether I was startled or simply wanted to live. But I just started running. All the longing and heart-wrenching memories must’ve vanished in the wind while I ran. I found the will to live once again. That was when I realized that if I run, I can live.” – Jieum

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Hmm not too sure about this one

I had high hopes for this drama. It had an interesting set up and the cinematography was beautiful. But I think it definitely fell short of those expectations. If I had one word to describe this drama, I would say anti-climatic. I felt like they spent all 11 episodes trying to create suspense and mystery, but the ending of it all at the 12th episode was just anti-climatic. Like I don't know why we had to suffer through all those episodes just for nothing to really happen. The only thing I did like was how everything came full circle in the end, but even still. It was an okay watch, not the worst drama but I definitely expected more out of it. In addition, I liked the second couple enough just because they were cute but their story line was also really weak. At this point, now I'm just glad I'm done with this drama so I can move on to another. So that's it from me for this one, bye for now!

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romance only

I watched this drama for the actress. Shin Hye-sun was pretty good in "Angel's Last Mission: Love". She was incredible in a handicap woman with a dark side. She was extraordinary in the "Thirty But Seventeen" and "Hymn of Death".
I completed it because of that and want to find something to give a better score.
This story haven't got any suspens. you can find the end after seeing the second episode.
if you want to see a romance and only romance, you Can see it. if you want a movie with suspens, some action, you must pass your way, you'll be desappointed if not.

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