Once Again (2022)

Love on a loop

I've watched this multiple times, and I've enjoyed it. Every. Single. Time.

The falling in love part of the overall storyline is so soft and beautifully executed. It's not a slow build-up, but it also makes sense that "yeah, these two are obviously in love." There's no questioning it.

The last time I watched it, I actually watched it twice; from start to finish.

The ending is gut-wrenching and impossibly sad, and you wish that Ji Hoon could have been a little bit more selfish; but his actions are totally logical because he dies to protect the child version of the man he is love with.

The ending is absolutely gut-wrenching and impossibly sad.

There IS a glimmer of hope to be had in the ending, though, because of the time-loop aspect.

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Someone needs to go back in time and improve this script

This is a series that is trying to manage a lot of social and psychological issues at the same time but the execution has been anything but exemplary. Showcasing Time travel in a show is difficult as there are many moving parts that you have to be careful about so as not to lose the continuity. This show more or less manages to stay within that line.

As a child Shin Jae Woo is traumatised as he witnesses the death of Kang Ji Hoon who saves him from a serial killer. Shin Jae Woo carries this guilt all through his life and returns to his home town and the dormitory where Kang Ji Hoon used to reside. He goes in to the room that belonged to Kang Ji Hoon and while using the intercom and hears Ji Hoon’s voice. As he tries to run out he finds Ji Hoon alive and realises he has travelled back in time. Shin Jae Woo is determined to save Ji Hoon’s life this time around so save him from living in guilt.

The premise is very promising. There are multiple inter-connected things at stake. Jae Woo’s success would result in Ji Hoon’s survival and possibly his own guiltless existence. But this is where Jae Woo’s plan starts to lose me. There is more than one way to resolve this issue but Jae Woo’s decisions have always been contrary to an easy and sure-fire way to achieving this goal and you start doubting his sanity.

Jae Woo has a special connection with Ji Hoon even as a child, hence when we meets him again there is a burst of emotions and of course the feeling of love but when and why did Ji Hoon fall in love with Jae Woo? Jae Woo has always been acting creepy around him but instead of keeping his distance he indulges with Jae Woo. I found that quite bizarre. May be if the series had more episodes, they could have fleshed this out further and given us a slow development of feelings.

Moon Ji Young and Lee Hyun Jun did a great job playing Jae Woo and Ji Hoon respectively. Kudos to Ji Young as he had a more complex character and he did justice to it. If only there was a better script for these two actors or may be more episodes, they could have been able to showcase much more of their talent.

In conclusion, this series plays around with some great concept of childhood trauma, time travel and missions with lives at stake. Where it lacks is in execution. S. Korea should look at making series with either more episodes or longer run time. It would do justice to the amazing stories that they want to showcase. I would still recommend this just for the marvellous acting by the 2 leads and wonderful background score.

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Couldn't it have been a happy ending?

Soo.. first of all..
The acting, the casting, the music, the vibes and everything.. fantastic, i swear, but maan, PLEASE.. Really??!
I hope wasn't the only one, who thought while watching the last ep, that what if they'd have done stg against the murder??? Like.. Maybe tell the little Jae Woo's mother, not to let her son out?? or something! oor... (hear me out).. CALL THE POLICE!! MAAAN...
For me, this ending was just dissappointing. I don't think I'll rewatch xdd

Anyways..
Despite of this LITTLE little detail that I just COULDN'T understand, I loved, simply LOVED this show. I've watched a LOT of kdramas, but unlike lot others it really was gripping. I thought it would be a cliché, but it actually turned out to be so wholesome and cute, I almost cried when that mf died. I love them so much. xdd
Another thing I was fond of, is that how Ji Hoon cared about both the older, and especially the younger Jae Woo. I thought it was really beautiful and lovely. Their whole relationship was lovely. I especially liked, that the fact, that they got together, their love, and everything, was not overcomplicated. They accepted it, and moved on. I was really suprised by this, but I was so happy, that i didn't have to follow through their identity crisis xdd. (srry, english is not my first language, hope it was quite clear what i wanted to say xd)
And the scene between the runner of the dormitory and Hyung Jin on the balcony, or what was that, was soo wholesome in my oppinion.

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PLEASE WATCH THIS SHOW ITS REALLY GOOD

I am in love with this drama so far. I have cried twice so far and i anticipate more crying. The story itself is thought provoking and intense and the subject matter is quite heavy. I wmrt into this thinking it would come out in the wash but was i ever wrong.
The acting is superb, the emotions the actors embrace takes you to a dark and emotional place yourself. I felt every tear and every moment of curiosity and every snide remark, friendship and even budding romance. The actors will take you through a range of feelings. Im not ready for upcoming episodes, i can already feel my world shifting.
This is going to rip my heart out,I can feel it. The soundtrack is a killer the songs make every emotion 70 times deeper and heavier and sadder, now i want to cry again... its a must watch.. i ❤it.

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Different and compelling even if the ending

is heartbreaking but to me it made sense and was realistic. The story was interesting and different and I like how certain countries are moving away from traditional BL's. South Korea was one of the first to do this. The writing may not have been the best, but I give them huge credit. I liked the idea that past trauma led by guilt can be ket go off if you get a second chance with a loved one. I also like that even if the story is heartbreaking there's still that light of hope that things can and will get better. As it is the norm with time travel stories. Well with any kind of stories that is.

I think the best thing about the series was the acting since there's still room for improvement when it comes to wfriting, plot and certain themes. But back to the acting Lee Hyun Yun and Moon Yi Yong gave incredible performances. Seriously, the emotion that both LHY & MYY portrayed was top notch to the point that I cried with them. I had never seen them before but I'll say that both are extremely talented. BRAVO!

The OST was also beautiful. Great choices made by the production team

Overall I give this series a 7.5 out of 10. Like I said more room for improvement but still enjoyable due to the acting.

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Wheel of Fate

This series is truly a gem! Episode 1 hooked me right from the start with its incredible attention to detail. From the opening scenes to the moment the landlady asks, "Who are you?" I was completely invested. The way he used the telephone to talk to Kang Ji Hoon was so powerful; especially when the landlady handed him the phone, and he realized it wasn’t even plugged in! I was totally taken aback. My emotions ran wild, and I found myself in tears when they finally connected. All Kang Ji Hoon could say was an apology, weighed down by memories and pain. That moment was just so intense; wow, the agony!

Then the landlady reminded him, "This building will be demolished on January 30. Remember, that's January 30." There was no year mentioned, yet she smiled like she knew everything. When he stepped outside and saw Kang Ji Hoon, it hit me: he had been transported to 2007! I couldn’t help but cry; hahaha! The mix of emotions he must have felt—excitement, joy, pain, and confusion—was overwhelming. And when he said, "I found you," it hit me right in the feels! Episode 1 really delivered an unforgettable experience!

Now, here are some things to ponder after watching Episode 1: Is this all a dream? What will happen on the demolition date of the building? Will he make it back to the present? What kind of relationship will they build? Is any of this temporary?

Everything feels like a taste of fate, hinting that nothing is permanent. As you watch the rest of the episodes, you’ll be drawn into this intriguing story. Trust me, you will love it! This is hands down one of the best Korean BL series out there!

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Looking for a happy, cheerful time? Don't watch this then.

But actually DO watch this because it's really good and worth the suffering.

I don't rate things 10 very often but this immediately drew me in. I like a good time travel story anyway but this one was particularly well written and well acted. I would say that the BL in this is kind of ...on the side, if that makes sense. While the relationship between Jae Woo and Ji Hoon does make the ending that much more painful, this could have easily been written with the two leads being best friends so if you're looking for some heavy sexual tension and steamy stuff, it's not really here. That being said, the story is great and the actors are top notch in their portrayals. The slightly sidelined romantic side of the story does not in any way detract from the overall story.

Here there be more indepth spoilers




As I said in the headline, this is not a fun, good-time, happy story. I suppose there may be some bittersweetness about it but it's heartwrenching in the best (and therefore worst) possible way. Though I am complaining about it being very sad, the fact that there isn't a particularly happy ending is what makes this story. There is hope. And the bittersweetness comes in the form of realising Ji Hoon and Jae Woo will meet over and over and over again but for me that's also incredibly sad. Little Jae Woo will always suffer from the PTSD of what he went through. Ji Hoon's path is set, and while part of you really wants for them to break out of this cycle, I think that would somehow cheapen the story.

The other supporting cast members are great in their roles. Little Jae Woo is adorable. Hyung Jin is charming and funny without being over-the-top goofy sidekick-ish. And the Boss lady in charge of the ...study dorm hall thing gives off just enough otherwordliness to make you question whether she's perhaps god and will step in to rectify stuff (she doesn't. And for the story to flow as it does, shouldn't).

Apart from all the heartwrenching (I'm not crying, YOU'RE crying), the music is really good. Often times I find music in BLs distracting or annoying or just...don't notice it but this one has a good theme and incidental music.

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LOVED HOW IT STARTED BUT DISAPPOINTED WITH THE ENDING

I love fantasy/ Sci-fi/ Time travel dramas. Right from the beginning I got this feeling that when it comes to fantasy dramas, Korean dramas always excels. This story was interesting bcz it involved time travel to save his saviour. But, by the end we see that the whole point of the story was only to deal with his past trauma and guilty feeling. Honestly, I don't like this concept. I don't think that knowing that the person we loved and who loved us, willingly sacrificed their life for us would be less painful. Even though they want us to live a good life, and even if we try to do so, the pain will never fade. Thank god it has an open ending. It's kinda confusing how again after more 15 years Ji woo still looks the same. I mean is he the 25 years old self after 15 more years or is he 40 years now? Idk. Anyways, I hope we have a season 2 where they'll be more clever and find a way to save themselves rather than willingly sacrificing themselves.
I don't like sad ending dramas. I mean it's an open ending but still I feel like the story was insufficient. There should've been more to it. So will not prefer to re-watch.
Acting of both MLs were fine. However, it was like he still behaved like a kid with him though he was a grown up man now. I was fine with it though.

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The first episodes that made me cry successfully, didn't really satisfy me as a whole. Usually I like this kind of story, a BL story wrapped in a fiction and has a fairly deep theme (traumatize). But as the show going, it seems like "stagnant" and makes me feel crying for no reason.

How many episodes did I cry? I don't even remember, for sure more than 3 episodes of this series succeed make me shed my tears. But yeah, that's enough. There were a lot of ambiguity that makes me unable to give more stars to this series. I like seeing them together, I fell in love with their acting but I felt the story revolved around the place with a lack of elaboration of the conflict seems to be the weak point of this series.

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A must watch

I loved this drama. the story was well put together. I think the ending left some a little confused tho so I just want to clarify. It's a infinite time loop. Ji Hoon dies, causing trauma to little Jae Woo, which sets into motion all the events that inevitably lead to Ji Hoons death. If Jae Woo had not returned to save Ji Hoon, Ji Hoon wouldn't have died because the only reason Ji Hoon knew to go out to save little Jae Woo was because of the actions of older Jae Woo while he was there. Confused yet? lol So at the end in Ji Hoons letter he says "return to me in 15 years, then another 15 years", what he's saying is he'd sacrifice his life forever so he can have the chance to love Jae Woo. A beautiful story.

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SAD!!

I'm so devastated I can't even write a coherent review. But it was so beautiful and so well done I have to say something, so here I go:

Brilliant soundtrack. I'm still listening to it on repeat. And it wasn't just that the music was amazing (though it was amazing all on its own) but there also seemed to have been a lot of effort put into making it work with the show, and the whole show sounded good altogether... that doesn't make any sense, but I swear the whole show just sounded good. I guess that's part of the production value? Anyway, it was brilliant.

The story... Well. I hate sad stories. I don't like crying, I don't like feeling miserable, I just don't like sad stories. But this story is just so good, so beautiful, so wonderfully told... it won me over and I kinda hate it for that, but I am in awe of this drama. Even if I have a headache from all the crying. It's a love story that is just so big, so beyond this world, I can't not adore it.

The characters were believable and really felt like real people. The acting was amazing. The casting was perfect. I believed what I was watching.

There's probably more to say but I just can't think. It melted my brain.

I hate to put the re-watch value so low, because I feel like that misrepresents how brilliant the show is. It's like a fairytale. But I definitely can't go through this often. It cuts too deep. But it's a brilliant show.

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