Rebirth for You (2021)

Like a mucus bath.

Don't be fooled by this drama's engaging start - a hint of intrigue, the promise of adventure, a powerful secret weapon, political conspiracies aplenty and a heart stopping romance between a intrepid princess and a valiant guard. After about a dozen thrilling episodes this drama turns so icky that it feels like a mucus bath.

Instead of the incomprehensible Rebirth For You, this drama's real title should be The Story of Miaorong. Because over 30 super long episodes (50+ minutes), practically all of the screen time is hijacked by the deranged machinations of the female and male love rejects' pathetic, slimy and absurd schemes. Every time you are about to jump ship out of frustration, they will throw some sugar at you with some sweet scenes between Bao Ning and Li Qian but make no mistake, the very boring actress that plays Miaorong gets MOST of the screentime. The final insult to the injury is this smart couple becomes stupid and their devotion and absolute faith in each other devolves into angsty and immature misunderstandings toward the end. The promising plot threads and interesting antagonists are left largely under exploited while the writers strive to bore us to death with every silly, malicious cat fight and scorned lover trope ever conceived of. This is a total waste of both Ju Jingyi and Zeng Shunxi's acting talent and is little more than a shameless exercise in letting second rate actors get too much exposure.

If you are die hard fans, watch about the first twelve episodes and the last one or two. All the rest can be skipped but my overall recommendation is to save some brain cells and not watch this at all. This is my shortest review ever to avoid wasting any more time on this abomination. Rating 3.5/10.0.

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Rebirth For Idiots....The Delusion is REAL

Pros: Main leads and third leads chemistry/relationships/happy ending for both sets.

That is literally it. This 40 episode series had no other pros. This is absolutely the worst costume drama I have ever seen; it was an unmitigated disaster. Actually it was the worst drama I have seen from any country. After crawling to episode 30, I waited until the finale aired to decide whether to just watch that or maybe a few more episodes.

Though I'd never read the novel, people in the comments section were excited because the novel had a great antagonist and a flowing storyline. Unfortunately, the screenwriter and director butchered the novel and threw most of it out. What followed was a spiral into a world of jealousy, delusion on a scale that literally went on until the final episode, and just really horrible content.

They wasted a great antagonist by turning him into a Gaston-like (from Beauty and the Beast) joke who laughed evilly, just about kissed his own muscles and walked around like he was Gods gift to existence. Furthermore, out of all 40 episodes, he maybe had one episode worth of screen time. The real "villains" were all over the place and their evilness could only be justified as boredom and jealousy.

The story began with about 4 or 5 men all in love with the female lead who was clever though she pouted so often, I always wondered how she didn't swallow her own chin. The male lead was a righteous man though not without flaws. I personally started watching this only for WZC who played SML. Turned out that his character was the real "villain" but not one that you even wanted to watch. The writers made him so delusional with his unrequited love towards the FL that, even before the halfway point of the show, you wanted him and those like him to just fall off a cliff.

I feel really bad for the actors of this horrendous mess. The SFL somehow ended up getting the most screen time than both leads combined and she was so delusional with her unrequited love towards the ML that she was willing to kill children even to pin things on FL. Both SFL and SML didn't take no for an answer when the ML and FL repeatedly told them they didn't love them, never had, and never would. It was an extremely sloppy script. Even the "battle" at the end I would equate to a fight between two gangs not an actual war. It was so puny, it was laughable.

There was no character development and those that created the most havoc in the show got half-assed redemption arcs in the last two episodes. It was heavy on palace politics and delusional jealousy that went so far beyond the norm that most people couldn't remain sane watching it without fast forwarding the majority or skipping whole episodes altogether.

This is the first time I had ever seen any comment section on any rating site spend weeks actively plotting characters' deaths because of just how deplorable they were. I have absolutely nothing against any of the actors but they deserve better than a disaster of these proportions. The screenwriter and director need to stop taking drugs and go back to school, because they basically failed miserably at doing something actually extremely simple. They had a story. All they needed to do was copy it into a workable script; it's not like they had to reinvent the wheel. But instead, they took maybe 20% of the original book and created this debacle.

I truly wish more novelists would step up and stop selling their rights and instead write the scripts themselves. It would increase the number of scripts as well the quality of them. But to all those reading this review, please avoid this hot mess if you cherish your sanity.

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I want to vomit blood

Brace for the most annoying second male lead (2ML) and second female lead (2FL) characters. This drama practically has the most annoying supporting characters and yet they are very prominent in the story. The story started off pretty decent with an unconventional princess and a great male lead played by an actor I have come to love. To watch, viewers need to have a lot of patience. If not, you would want to strangle many characters here, maybe even including our FL and ML at times.

The acting by the two main character is actually not too bad - Ju Jingyi is her usual self with pretty the same kind of demeanor and unconventional costumes and head ornaments, and Zeng Shunxi (Joseph Zeng) is very lovable and convincing. But poor writing has made them look very bad at times, and resulted in their inconsistent acting and dialogues.

Both the 2FL and 2ML are super super annoying with a lot of screen time. The 2FL is obsessive with no dignity and the 2ML is also obsessive, super annoying and dumb. Though there are multiple lovable second couples, they are mostly one-dimensional and have rather poor acting skills.

My Verdict

Everything seems to have gone wrong with this drama, starting with a baffling English title, Rebirth For You (what the heck does it even mean?) The writing is so bad, lazy and inconsistent. The directing is haphazard and continuing angering me as the director doesn’t seem to care how viewers feel. The dialogues are boring and predictable. The war scenes are lazy and unconvincing with repeated scenes. For the supposedly final “big” battle for the finale, there are only a few people standing around. Plot holes everywhere with flaws that the editing team doesn't even bother to hide. The whole thing is like a non-serious, half-baked, kiddie costume drama that makes me roll my eyes until they hurt.

Watch it for Zeng Shunxi and Ju Jingyi if you’re their fans, just be prepared to protect your computer/TV screen so that you don’t accidentally smash it.

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Jealous Love Rivals Galore!

Rebirth For You actually started off quite well as viewers are told that the male protagonist is quietly investigating his mother’s murder. But just as we begin to think this would be an investigative romance drama, it takes a different turn and third parties’ obsessions and jealousies become the central focus. Basically, it gets tiring watching endless schemes by these jealous people trying to tear the main couple apart.

The problem with this script is that you don’t have 1 or even 2 highly obsessed love rivals. You have 4 people going around trying to stop Bao Ning and Li Qian from being together. Emperor Zhao Yi and Zhao Xiao are in love with Bao Ning and they are extremely jealous of Li Qian. Tong Xin is in love with Emperor Zhao Yi and hence, she has an axe to grind with Bao Ning since the man she loves has deep affections for our princess instead. To add more jealousy to the plot, Miao Rong loves Li Qian immensely and hates Bao Ning for snatching her man away.

Well, just from that brief summary above, you should have an idea what to expect from this drama. 4 jealous people are certainly enough to make a 40-episode drama but the question is do you really want to sit through never ending efforts to create trouble for a loving couple?

In Dire Need For A Better Script
As mentioned, the drama begins with Li Qian seeking an answer to his mother’s death. That is the overarching plot that viewers are given in the first 2 episodes which could have been developed into something much better just like Maiden Holmes. But for the next 30 episodes thereafter, this storyline disappears. It is replaced with the antics of the jealous antagonists. In fact, the leads have given these people a direct rejection a number of times but they just couldn’t take no for an answer.

Li Qian’s mother’s case resurfaces only in the last 8 episodes and that is also interspersed with more schemes to cause the main couple harm. No doubt toxic love rivals are common in historical romance dramas. You can find one in A Female Student Arrives At The Imperial College as well as One And Only. But Rebirth For You has taken it to the extreme by giving too much attention to the schemes of these villains that the romance has taken a backseat when it is supposed to be a love story.

Therefore, the drama suffers from poor scriptwriting which fails to balance out the romance, investigation, and jealousy for a more pleasant watch. To me, if you want to build almost an entire drama on jealous love rivals, there need to be more depth to these people’s stories. As it is, their stories are very superficial as the focus is on their schemes and obsessions.

The Romance Is Lacking
Bao Ning and Li Qian is depicted as a very loving couple in the drama. You know that they love each other a lot but the romance doesn’t have the intensity and passion to make it more memorable. They are sweet at times but that is about it. I don’t know if passionate kissing scenes might help to elevate the romance but they are certainly missing from Rebirth For You. So, all you would get are simple pecks.

Personally, I would have preferred a more matured and intense romance because that would be consistent with the fact that they are a married couple with a deep love for one another. Some stories don’t need such scenes and they still evoke deep feelings in viewers such as The Long Ballad. But Rebirth For You just doesn’t have that same quality to be able to make do without more passion in the romance. As a result, the main couple’s romance becomes muted against the nonstop onslaught from jealous love rivals.

Leads’ Chemistry
While the romance is lacking in the drama, it doesn’t mean that the couple has no chemistry. I would say Ju Jing Yi and Joseph Zeng have good chemistry between them and they are easy on the eyes as an on-screen couple. Their sweet scenes are perhaps the bright spot of the drama amidst all the toxic characters but they are too few to really make an impact. Neither do they stick in your mind once the episode is over.

I know Ju Jing Yi doesn’t do intense kissing scenes which then brings to question if they have done the casting right given the script on hand. I guess she does have that mischievous look which is required for this role. She has played more or less this kind of adventurous character in Legend Of Yun Xi and The Blooms At Ruyi Pavilion and Bao Ning in Rebirth For You just seems another of the same.

My Verdict – Find Something Better
I just wish Ju Jing Yi and Joseph Zeng had picked a better script to showcase their talent and looks. They couldn’t save this drama despite their popularity. I guess if you don’t want to sit through the endless evil schemes of those delusional characters, you can watch the first 12 episodes and then skip to the last 4. But then, what is the point of watching when you are skipping more than half of the drama, right?

Anyway, the ending is also a little rushed. The produces tried to cram too many things into the last 2 episodes to wrap the story up that the pacing quickens considerably. Some of the fighting scenes are also laughable because what it is supposed to be a war between 2 nations is reduced to a gangster fight. I don’t know if the producer is constrained by a low budget or other reasons but the final battle is anti-climatic to me.

For this Rebirth For You review, I could only give it a score of 6/10. It may be a little harsh especially for the fans of the leads but the drama is really lacking in substance. If you don’t mind watching jealousies of bitter love rivals, then this would not be so bad. Their evil schemes are interesting at times and you will be waiting for the day they get just retribution which would be the main motivation to continue watching. But overall, Rebirth For You is not a drama that will leave you clamoring for more. In fact, you might even regret starting on it because there is only so much delusional jealousy that one can take!

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Guilty pleasure kinda drama..u’ll luv the leads,the visuals&chems,but the plot isn’t the best..

U know why I said this is a guilty pleasure kinda drama? Coz somehow u gotta admit u luv it despite the trainwreck plot...

What I like:
- I luv the chemistry between the leads, they r just so cute! It’s JJY’s drama, so we only got 2kisses with unmoved lips... but it doesn’t really matter, their lowkey skinships r just so adorable... not cringy, so natural... stolen small kisses, backhugs, n their always hand holdings really made up for lots!
- JZ is just looking his prime here! His style n hair is the best from his other historical dramas... JJY always looks pretty, n eventhough her accessories r sometimes too much, i think it suits her, so no complaints from me...
- JZ & JJY got their best characters in this drama compared to their other dramas (at least before their characters were suddenly ruined by the writer to create the big angst)... LQ is goodlooking, smart, has supreme martial arts, brave, loyal, loving, n all the good things u r looking for in ur dream guy... JBN is pretty, smart, witty, humble, independent, decisive, n all the good things that’s an upgrade from her old characters, esp from LOY & TBARP...
- The leads’ small adventures... they r both smart, so when they plot things, it’s a guaranteed success... i wish they did this scheming everybody kinda thing instead of the long angst near the end...
- The casts... DD&QA’s luv story is cute, n DD’s relationship with her sis in law JBN is cute too... JX&DS’s luv story is ok, wish they could have double date with their BFFs, LQ&JBN, that would’ve been potentially good scenes... JBN’s grandma, Qingke the maid, Susu the BFF was ok, but LQ’s dad&stepmom got mixed reviews from me... they r ok people but indecisive at different times, so at the same time u can only like 1 of them n hate the other...
- The overall visuals... the casts, their wardrobes, their sets & some of the fighting scenes r good n done properly...
- Luv the OST! Esp the one the leads sing together...

What I dislike:
- The unnecessary angst that u can always find in JJY’s dramas, like LOY&TBARP... The pattern was alike, interesting story with lots of potentials in the beginning, amazing chemistry with her ML, cute fluffy OTP moments, some filler eps, n the full unnecessary angsts&misunderstandings in around the last 10eps, then happy ending in the last eps! I’m still grateful with the HE, but can they just not kill their good characters just to create the final neverending angst??? Those eps r just unreasonable & unbearable to watch...
- The villains r all over the place, n in this one they r just crazy obsessive... again, since this is is JJY’s studio’s drama, where they always wanna promote another actress under their company as the SFL, the screentime that SFL gets is just too much! N this time the SFL is a villain, so it’s just so annoying to have her from the beginning till the end where after everything she’s done she kinda redeemed herself... she doesn’t deserve it n honestly I skipped scenes where her face popped! She isn’t a good enough villain n her character just annoyed me too much... N the SML, OMG, talk about delusional n obsession, his character is just so flawed that eventhough he’s the villain, he’s just not a convincing one...

Anyway, I still enjoy the drama... yes the plot was mmehhh, but just focus on the leads n like me, u’ll like it... actually I’v rewatched the leads’ scenes... IMO they r one of the best drama couples in 2021, I hope they’ll get paired again in future dramas, modern one if possible... FYI if u wanna skip the unnecessary trainwreck of angsts, it’s from eps33-39, so I suggest to FFWD those eps n u’ll be fine... it’s a happy ending for all good characters, so yeah there’s that... Happy watching!

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Learn to know the difference between hope and obsession !!!

Felt disappointed . I started this drama with a lot of enthusiasm and interest as i admire ju jing yi a lot. The ost is perfect, the acting is perfect and the cuteness present in the story is also perfect, and we can rewatch those cute scenes again and again but the plot is so complicated and the way of taking this drama has been the worst part. A lot of unecessary characters were introduced in the middle just to prolong the drama. What i don't understand is that the plot which they have taken is somewhat confusing and they should be very careful in taking it but i feel that they have just given up in the middle. The first 15 or 18 episodes have been perfect but after those it is just dragging and boring and i feel bad to give a review like this for the drama of ju jing yi but we have to accept the fact and should not be obsessed. The funny thing is the last fight of this drama, i think this is a low budget drama as the last fight is a war between two countries but there are not even 50 soldiers fighting the war and the actual comedy is that, in a war between two countries it is more like some wrestling competition and duels because one from each side are fighting once. I have never seen this kind of war before. Finally i hope the directors can make some good dramas in the future unlike this and i look forward to see the next drama of ju jing yi and wish her all the best for her next drama

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Love this drama.

I’m a fan of JJY. She a great singer and actress. I thought it wasn't going to be that great. I like Legend of Yun xi but not so much of The blooms at the Ruqi Pavilion and Love under the full moon so I was skeptical at first when I watched the first episode. It’s really good once you overlooked the small errors and headdress. The drama is not dragging at all. Every episode matters. It’ll keep you wanting to know more. ML and FL chemistry is overflowing. This is a romance drama that don't really need kissing scene to have chemistry. Almost every episodes have fighting scenes too. The soundtracks are amazingly sung by the leads.

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Rebirth of You - Rebirth of Miaorong

I really wanted to like this show. I really really did. It started so well with strong male and female leads, with seemingly mature characters and temperaments. I was very pleased that, unlike may other shows, the main couple got married within the first 12 episodes. So I thought that ok, this show will be about how a. young couples love grows over the years and matures like fine wine.

NOPE. Even though the couple's path to marriage was full of challenges, I just can't understand how after so many trials and tribulations (before and after marriage) they can still have such a shallow understanding of each other and be so emotionally stunted. I was so disappointed with the evolution of their relationship.

Everything went insane after the 30-something episode. It was like the screenwriters got drunk, went batshit crazy and wrote the storyline by playing the game "finish the sentence" where you say a sentence and the next person continues the story by saying another sentence and then you get this insane story. This is it. For sure this is what the screenwriters did. While drunk. I mean they had money for FORTY FREAKING EPISODES. They had so much time to deepen relationships and strengthen bonds, but everyone's relationship just remained very shallow. None of the key characters developed very deeply and I don't think any character really evolved over the whole show except for Dong Dong and Qing An. They are the best and most mature couple. Honestly, I would prefer to see a spin-off show just between Dong Dong and Qing An.

There is also so little screen time for the main couple. You hardly see their relationship developing. Maybe that's why they are so easily broken up by other people. Another reviewer said that this whole story should be renamed Story of Miaorong. I could not agree more. Actually, maybe she should be on the cover of the show as the lead actress. I don't understand how she can have so many chances. She is really a cat with nine lives. Maybe the title "Rebirth for you" is referring to her.

If this drama was an alcohol it would be a cheap vodka shot. To be downed quickly, and beware of side effects like annoyance.

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Another poorly written story

It comes to a point it starts to get irritating such as Miarong and Zhao Xiao kept going round and round wanting to harm Baoning and Li Qian...Just keep going merry go round... looks like the writer ran out of ideas but reuse the characters to repeat their plots over and over again..so typical of Chinese drama..then the sudden about turn of characters to a point that it is 180degree turn about...Contradicting and lack of common sense... merely to get the story moving up to episode 40. Why drag to 40 episodes if the writer lacks of materials...just wrap up early...24 episodes are just about right.

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Firstly, the directors of this drama filmed the blooms at ruyi pavilion and legend of yunxi and so, I am more than grateful for them to cast jujingyi as the female lead for the third time!

Honestly, I did not expect her and Joseph to look good together but their chemistry really click well in the show, the scenes were sweet, loving and not overly dramatic.

Unlike the usual frail-female lead-gets-save-by-hero-story, the female lead in this drama is street smart and courageous. She does not whimp or whine despite being spoiled by her grandmother. She’s independent and lovable - the female character we are all looking for.

The male lead on the other hand is just like her, he will stand up for her when she’s bullied and do all he can to save her dignity.

Story: Their hugs, kisses, the scenes were not cringey, the love too was developed really quickly, they got married within the first 10 episodes which is really nice to see. This leads on to my second point, the story is NOT DRAGGY. Characters sticks to their roles, it is obvious whose the bad and good characters.

Definitely recommend it, a huge breath away from the others draggy, overbearing historical dramas

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I would recommend stopping after certain amount of episodes.

I was skeptical about the drama because of the low ratings but I saw a few clips and it peaked my interest so I watched it.
It is a very cute drama with the main point being the cute dynamic of the main couple and I am so in love with the chemistry.
We have a non-toxic ML and a smart Fl who both trust each other and don't get bullied by the bad guys and stand their ground. It is a slow-paced light drama which is perfect to watch when you wanna take a break from an intense one or just don't wanna watch something you are too into. To be honest I would probably give it a 8.0 basing it on the first 30 episodes.

However just like most c-dramas they had to overstretch the drama over the most stupid reasons, and all the trust and love the couple had just suddenly went out the window.

By episode 37 they completely ruined the fl character, like for me that was the point I was sick of it.... she was suppose to be the smart one and she was being so unreasonable, I get it the ML was wrong at first but he tried to reach out to her so many times and she just keeps going on and on about how he broke all the promises, like you are doing the same. If he didn't listen to you then you listen to him. What else is ML suppose to do, even when he wasn't sure about the situation he always defended her. He is literally being bashed by all sides. They should have ended this drama at 32 episodes. Cause the characters don't seem the same anymore. I was wondering why the ratings were lower than I expected its cause of these last eight episodes. I would recommended if anyone wants to watch it, watch it until like 32 and skip to the end. This is why many good strong fl c-dramas are so low rated cause at the beginning they show the fl as a strong woman and by the end of it they just absolutely ruin the character. Lol, I am ranting at this point because it is an amazing drama until 30 and totally worth giving a try but the last episodes just ruin it all, so skip them :)
I can't believe my first review would be me ranting.

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Not bad

I really like Ju Jingyu and Joseph Zeng. They make a cute on-screen couple. The drama started off good. Some politics, some comedy, some romance. The second half was nothing but drama after drama just to separate our lead couple. Some supporting cast had too much screen time. There were villains you really hated. I hated it after EP 32 but I powered through. It picked back up at 39 and though the ending felt rushed, it was a happy ending and everyone got what they deserved.

The story could've been better and blamed the writers. The pacing could've been better but I guess that's on the post editing team for dragging out some plots. Joseph's outfit was on point and he looked handsome in every scene. JJY outfit is questionable. They added unnecessary fluff but maybe that's to add some volume to her tiny frame?

Overall, it was a cute romantics drama with some palace politics that went on for too long and unnecessary misunderstanding with our lead couple in the 2nd half. I'd say give it a try.

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