Born Again (2020)

Not recommended!

One of the poorest past-life/reincarnation written stories. I can't stress enough how sloppy and incoherent this was. The entire drama was solely driven by this triangle which is why most things were neglected. I was expecting a smart play between the characters and their reincarnation but what we got is a copy paste between past and present. At the same time, the memories from the past played a minimal role in the grand scheme of things. The characters from the past had the exact same traits as their present counterparts, which made things ever so slightly more dull. I don't know what the writer was aiming for because all I see is failure in all directions. I couldn't get over the fact that they treated the direct point-blank bullet to the head ordeal like a casual broken bone with minor scuffs!!!

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spoilers (what I didn't like in romance part) is only in second part

no spoiler part:
It's really great drama, interesting, good twists and turns, high production value, good dramatical plot and acting, multilayered characters, good and interesting romance (plus almost every time romances/triangles are predictable, bot not here) and quite sharp emotions. though there are little plot holes/unrealistic details, but this is compare to overall drama level, otherwise 90% dramas have bigger plot holes/unrealistic moments.

another interesting thing about this drama - ML is typical anti hero SML, so if you love second male leads and/or anti heroes (like me, it's like real syndrome, almost everytime liking SML) this drama would be special for you. I loved that SML was good developed and had similar or more screen time, he is more ML type character, and also we could have damaged full of pain anti hero (very SML type) as main lead and because of that drama was more understanding to him, though he really has dark side in both lives, and this dark side is quite deep, not usual "kind of dark ML".
both male leads have their charisma and "SML charm" and because of that I wasn't sure who I rooted more. though drama manages most of things/plot developments good, I think at some point it was misleading and to say more about that I sould give some spoilers.

spoiler part:
in romance part there was something I didn't liked, as I said I liked that ML was SML like anti hero and it should help me to root him more, plus I kind of knew (think I read somewhere and the fact that he is ML) he would end up with FL, and of course in first life he so tragic viewer wants him to have something good, some happyness at list in second live.... but... at some point drama makes you root to SML and FL, they are like romeo and juliete, loved each other so much in first live and have so good prelude of romance in second life, though I didn't like this actor his character was so cool in second life, and FL falls for him and al this is so natural, good acted, they have chemistry, when she looks at ML as younger brother who needs support... Viewer feels pity to ML because his misfortunes repeats in second live, but as the drama was at list for 10 episodes, it was logical that FL loves SML and they are destined...
So I don't understand sudden change in romance part, why was she so understanding to ML, ok she is good person and sees he needs someone to support him, that he is damaged but not evil yet, but there was too much facts against ML and after all she believes him and supports anyway, it's not natural, when she didn't forgives SML (who she loved and said to him always be with him, never break his hart) because he shot ML...
understanding/forgiving everything to ML and almost nothing to SML is kind of old cliche and even this drama has it, but in last 4 episode suddenly she falls in love to ML? falls for guy who she hated in past live and looked as brother (plus she tried to stop him to protect SML) in this live, why? she was saying to him that her love to SML wouldn't changes, why they developed that strong chemistry/feels with emotional past life paralels if they were going to that ending?
I just couldn't understand this...

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Great Story, Weak Female Lead

My 4 categories are Acting/Cast, Writing, Direction/SFX/Music, Entertainment Value.

Its unpredictability due to its unconventionality saved this drama. As I watched this drama, I negatively assumed a lot about how the plot would unfold, which caused me to lose interest at times. Thankfully, I was wrong.

Acting/Cast: I decided to watch this because I know the two male leads are good actors. They did well, as expected. There were some side characters that also did well. In particular, the casting for the umbrella murderer was perfect - very crazy and scary facial expressions. My main issue in this category is the female lead. The only drama I had seen her in before was Bridal Mask, wherein she also played a damsel in distress. Simply put, her acting skills were just not up to par with the males leads'. She would often go into these monologues where it seemed as though she would change her voice, as if she were trying to lull me to sleep. It annoyed me every time; It was grating on my ears. This could be more of a directing issue though. Her two uncles were over-the-top with their acting. They literally acted like cartoon characters. Actually, most of the characters felt more like manga characters than actual, realistic people. That comic book type vibe is a legitimate directing style, but it's not for me. I prefer watching more realistic characters on screen. 4/10

Writing: For me, the plot saved this drama. It didn't go where I expected it to. It ended up being very different to what I've seen before in Korean dramas. I like how the redemption arcs played out. However, the terrible female lead really dragged it down. I can't even say that it would have been better with a different female lead because the character itself was so poorly written. She was simply a damsel in distress. She was constantly confused, constantly fainting, giving random unsolicited opinions, and doing stupid things. Just because a girl has a weak heart, doesn't mean she needs to have a weak personality, too. She was an extremely one dimensional character. Even after finishing the drama, I still don't know who she is and why these guys are so in love with her. She may just be a Mary Sue. On a positive note, however, the other characters were well done (aside from some minor side characters) and I liked the ending. It showed that all the seemingly random things the female lead would say was actually meaningful to the story, even though the way she would say it made me cringe. 8/10

Direction/SFX/Music: The music annoyed me. I take notes when I watch dramas and I wrote "this music needs to CHILL". It was loud, repetitive, and sometimes didn't really fit the scene. This makes me think the issues I had with the lead female's voice was a directing issue as well. It was as if she had too much gain? The mic was too close to her? I'm not sure. Like I've stated previously, the characters also had more of a manga style to them, which I'm personally not a fan of. Also, I got secondhand embarrassment watching prosecutor Kim Soo Hyuk miming in public for such a long period of time (pretending to be hit, shot, stabbed to death). I was thinking "is anyone seeing this?" I get it, it's part of the story, but why did it have to go on for so long? Flashbacks are part of the story, too, but it wastes so much time. 1/10

Entertainment Value: The beginning was great. Very fast-paced. A lot happened in just the first 2 episodes. I feel the first half of the drama was better that the 2nd half in this regard. I would lose a bit of interest here and there when I would get too frustrated with the female lead or when I was worried the plot was going in a cliché direction. 5.5/10

Overall, I gave this drama a 4.5/10. For me, a weak female lead can do a lot of damage to a drama.
By the way, does Jang Ki Yong play a main role in anything where he's not the son of a murderer?

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It's worth watching for the acting of Jang Ki Yong

POSITIVE: Jang Ki Yong's acting in this is absolutely amazing. I'd rate his acting ability a 20/10. He was able to convey so much with just his eyes and you never knew quite how to feel about him. Should you be appalled by him? Terrified of him? Should you root for him? Should you feel sorry for him? With the disclosure of each piece of mystery, he was able to pull you in and I couldn't seem to look anywhere else when he was on screen. He also has a deep voice that is perfect for the voice over work required in this show.

SO MUCH NEGATIVE: Keep in mind that this is just my personal opinion, but I thought this drama was a big mess. It started out very strong and the first 7-8 episodes were very good. Then it seemed as if the writers threw absolutely everything into the mix. There were so many characters in this show to keep up with it gave me a headache. Actually, you need to make a flow sheet with all the characters and how they are related in the past and present. It wandered aimlessly, continuing to add characters for the next 20 episodes. The last three episodes got exciting again as they tried to tie up the large number of loose ends. As for the story, it spent so much time about talking about timeless, everlasting, and fateful love, and then threw the whole thing out the window. The story was very convoluted and unnecessarily confusing, and ultimately it left a bad taste in my mouth with one of the worst drama endings EVER!

Lee Soo Hyuk as the second male lead - first, they gave him a really unfortunate haircut that was distracting in the past timeline. I'm usually on the fence about his acting, he seems to have two expressions, 1) bland/blank, and 2) pursed lips like he just sucked on a lemon. I found the relationship between the two male leads interesting, though.

The female lead bothered me no end! I can't remember when I've spent so many hours watching such a wishy-washy character. She couldn't decide between the two men, which was ridiculous because they were the absolute opposite of each other. She went on and on about how much she loved the one guy, but then completely abandoned that. It might not have been so irritating if they hadn't been playing up the "even in my next life I won't love anyone but you" idea.

There were quite a few psychotic people in this drama. More bad guys than you can shake a stick at. Again, it should have been pared down considerably.

CHEMISTRY: Good chemistry between Jang Ki Yong's character and the female lead, a couple of good kisses. There were a couple of kisses between the female lead and Lee Soo Hyuk, but, unfortunately, they were very fake looking.

I stuck it out (because I'm not a quitter) and I'll repeat again, the ending was so bad and it made me so mad that I had wasted so much time on this drama. For me, it falls in the "That's time I'll never get back" category. However, many, many people seemed to really like it, so start it to see Jang Ki Yong's acting and decide if it's worth sticking around for the rest of it.

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Don't watch it if you don't have patience

Don't start this drama if you guys don't have patience. the writer have done a very bad job here. the reason why i started watching the drama was for kiyong n soohyung, the 2 male main leads. The female lead (se yeon)as always in her previous drama did a crappy job. I don't know why she never improves, no depth in her acting at all. The ending the writer or director made it so confusing.i don't know why this open ending. I m giving 5 rating only bcz of kiyong's acting. He should have gotten a award for this. Otherwise bcz of crappy dialogues,story and the ending I would have given 3.

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Sometimes staying dead is better.

This drama is a mess. I watched because of the number of great reviews, and my expectations were too high. "Born Again" tries to be an ill-fated love triangle, a crime thriller, and a revenge thriller and didn't do any of them well enough to carry my interest. Normally I am willing to go with an unbelievable storyline if the cast is really good but I think it missed the mark here too. The male leads did their best, but the story centers around the love of one woman and unfortunately, that character wasn't interesting enough to make me care or justify their obsessive love.

Based on the title this isn't a spoiler but each lead plays 2 characters. Jung Sa Bin plays Ha Eun and Sa Bin. Both characters for me were too similar and too one-note. I could blame the writing but since this is the second romantic drama lead I've seen her play that was boring I think I have to admit I am not a fan. She played off of being wide-eyed and innocent too much and even her crying scenes lacked emotion that I could feel. I was also annoyed by her speaking with that soft childish voice. Don't even get me started on her dead fish kisses and robotic confessions. This story doesn't have the chemistry I needed to carry the drama and that was my same issue with her performance in the "Grand Prince". Even attractive male leads couldn't save her perfromance.

She is matched with Lee Soo Hyuk as Soo Hyuk and Hyung Bin, who plays the annoying stubborn cop cliché which is one of my least favorite drama tropes, but at least his perfromance is good. She is also matched with Jang Ki Yong as Jong Bum and Gong Ji Chul who has the most complicated roles and also does a good job. Out of all of the performances Jang Ki Yong's was my favorite but it was still missing some of the spark I saw him have in "Search: www" (which I watched at the same time). I really think that these two actors with a better female lead could have made me like this drama a little more and be more forgiving of the plot.

I also have a major issue with the idea that 3 people are reborn in a short amount of time (30 ish years later) and are almost identical to their past selves and happen to work and live in the same area but pretty much no one notices??!!! It can maybe make sense for one of the characters but for the other two it really doesn't make any sense at all. The male lead rivalry also felt too repetitive after a while. I was way more interested in what the side characters were up to (Lee Seo El needed more screen time). The only question that kept me watching was who she would end up with and that was less about me caring and more about putting an end to my curiosity misery.

Would I watch this again? Not even if you paid me. I may even avoid all Jin Se Yeon dramas for a while. Honestly, this probably would have worked better as a movie considering all the overused flashbacks and not much story development until the very end. There arent really any rewatch worthy moments for me, and are way too many fast-forward worthy scenes. I did appreciate the music but it made some scenes seem even cheesier.

Was it worth watching until the end? Yes, and no. Many of the secrets and motivations of the characters are finally revealed in the final episodes but it was too late for me to care and it didn't make me like the drama any better. It no longer mattered to me who she chose and why. The end was also messy. I thought I would at least shed a tear over it but my eyes stayed dry for this entire drama... and "Born Again" is filled with sadness topped with more sadness, and I'm a crybaby.

Overall this drama drags and disappoints. It had potential as a memorable makjang but it missed the mark on the romantic chemistry it needed to make this story addictive instead of forgetable. It could have been much more fun, even with the ridiculous plot, if the performances were just as over the top or charismatic. The older actors were much better at this but their scenes and storylines were cast aside for more boring love triangle scenes. The leads try to take this and themselves way too seriously and most of their deadpan conversations were too skip-tastic. If you don't fall in love with "Born Again" at first episode I suggest skipping this drama completely.

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Initially, the plot was okay. It is not that great actually. Because if we are talking about reincarnation Kdrama, then we shouldn't forget "Chicago Typewriter". From storytelling to casting, from OST to dialogues everything was perfect. And, if you have watched that level of "Reincarnation" story. This plot is not that great.

The most annoying part is "Uninteresting twists". Well, I am not comparing these two dramas, I know that story is different and even there would be a possibility of making this drama awesome like "Chicago Typewriter".
I think they did a lot of suspense and added an unbearable amount of darkness in the "Grey" character of
Chun Jong Bum. At one scene he seems to behave okay and in the other, he becomes "psycho". I don't know about you guys but definitely he is not a murderer kind of person, I can see that from the start. So why the director and screen-writer force to put suspense in his behavior.

According to the acting point of you, I really liked Jang Ki Yong acting as the two characters. Also the other casts.

And the biggest problem with the show is the ending. Yes. If you were watching this show from the start. Then you know that the rating of this drama decreases as the plot proceeds. Every episode making me a little less interested in the next ones.

The ending was so much fast. The problem is I didn't see the sudden shift of Jung Sa Bin's heart towards Chun Jong Bum.

For me, the drama is okay for like 10-12 episodes, but then things start getting messy. There are so many uninteresting twists. Like the bipolar nature of Chun Jong Bum's mom, she acted well. But why she is acting this way? And then we got the answer that her husband is not Jong Bum's actual Dad, as he has the DNA of some top 1% guy. And at last, we saw that her husband changes the sperm with some random guy. I mean what they are implementing by that. Why? Do such details matter? I am asking.

As a matter of other main leads. They played their part okay. But the main problem, as I said is the storyline.

If this is your first "Reincarnation" Kdrama. Don't watch it. Instead, watch "Chicago Typewriter".

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O início de um sonho//deu tudo errado

Its disappointing to have to give a low rating to this drama, it started so strong and i felt like it would be one of my favorite dramas ever. The casting is great specially the two male leads, who did an amazing job. Unfortunetely the plot went downhill from the middle to the end of the show. Im still trying to understand some things, like how Ji Cheol scaped for the frist time from a psychiatric institution, murdered Hyeong Bin, was found by some random people and ended up in the prison to be hanged later. They didnt explain that at all! Also, the female lead made choices that were really hard to understand, like rejecting her fiance to be with the man that literally murdered him on their past lives!!! The ending was so disappointing and its sad, cause this drama had everything to be one of the best dramas ever, but somehow they managed to screw it up.

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Everything about this show is just TERRIBLE. Nothing makes sense here at all. In the first two episodes, I thought it was going to be really cool, the initial plot was good and the cast as well, but I was hella wrong.
First things first: even the bare minimum doesn't make sense, since the writer can't recall the dates they had set and everytime they present you a different number.
Then you have a psycho stalker stalking a girl, but ok, she finds it perfectly ok and acceptable. Guess what: it's not. For some reason she tries to find excuses to every damn thing this guy does, but he is just crazy and she is just dumb. No growth, no insights, no anything, just plain stupidness. And I'm not even going to mention that asshole prosecutor, because he manages to be the less worse character we are presented to.

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Disappointing

Just want to say that this not the worst drama as many reviews say but just a below average one. Kudos to the creator for ruining a great plot. It would have been one of the best thread only if!!! I don't know whether the creator underestimates the viewers. I haven't seen a drama in the recent past with so many loopholes and mistakes. They were really immature in building the story and not to mention the dialogues, cringe ultimatum!!!
The male leads were good in a way that they were successful in giving some feels to the viewers in some of the scenes. On contrary , FL character was really a disappointment . I would rather put her as more of a psycho than Gong Ji Chul in this drama.
I feel for Jang Ki young cause he was having a great streak.
I don't recommend this drama to anyone but I would say that this is not the worst as there are even more trashes rated over 8 with more popular leads.

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