Loved It, but Now I See the Flaws – And No, I Won’t Rewatch It

When this drama first came out, I was buried under GRE prep, and somehow, this show became my escape from vocabulary hell. One episode a day was my routine, and I found it really engrossing. It gave me something to look forward to between study sessions—like a weird, emotional study break. Now every time someone mentions GRE, I don’t think of math or verbal reasoning—I think of this drama.

But now that I’ve had time to reflect, I can’t help but notice a few big flaws. The biggest issue? Infinite time with zero consequences. These 2 could live in luxury, mess around however they wanted for a day, and it would just get reset like nothing happened. It’s basically "Groundhog Day" with better aesthetics and fewer brains. And honestly? The solution to their whole problem is so obvious—just call the cops and report the bus accident. How is that supposed to be as difficult as the show makes it look? I mean, I get it: drama. But come on.

Another thing: the stakes could’ve been higher, and the characters definitely needed to be more logical, like where are their families and zero connections? Just walk into the police station and ramble like bombers? These two leads, who are supposedly deep thinkers, just keep dying left and right, yet somehow end up in love with zero chemistry between them. I swear, they fall in love out of sheer convenience. At least give me some backstory on their relationship or a few sparks—something to make me care more about their romance.

That said, I still loved this show. It was one of the first dramas I ever watched, so it holds a special place in my heart. I’ll always think fondly of it, even if it has no rewatch value. Once is enough. It’s like studying for the GRE—good experience the first time, but you don’t want to go through it again.

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I Still Don’t Know What Snooker Is, but This Drama Deserves a 9/10 (From a nitpicker)

Great Chemistry
Oversimplified plot (Can be the only downside, almost nothing happens in most episodes if someone is looking for substance)
Every character is committed to their role
Amazing direction and OST
The atmosphere always reminds me of my days abroad


Alright, let me get this out of the way: I have no idea how snooker or nine-ball works. I saw it being played in this drama, and you’d think that might spark some interest. Nope—zero interest, still confused, moving on.


There’s nothing bad I can say about this drama (which is wild, because finding flaws is my hobby). If you’re patient enough for a slow-burn story that actually stays focused on its plot, this is one of the rare gems you shouldn’t miss. The chemistry between the cast? Fabulous. Every side character? Fully committed—no one’s just there to fill space. It’s like every actor showed up thinking, “I’m here to make this work, not to waste your time.”

And here’s where it gets even better: no random new characters popping up halfway through. I swear, half the Chinese dramas I’ve seen introduce more people in the last few episodes than a wedding party. Not here, though. This director had a plan, and it shows. Everything unfolds with perfect pacing, without that clunky, chaotic “who is this guy again?” energy.

Now, I don’t know what it is with Chinese dramas and their obsession with turning everyone except the main characters into scheming villains. Why does every side character have to act like they’re plotting a coup? But this drama? No unnecessary evil, no brain-dead villains. Just a tight, simple story that focuses on the leads and the emotions that matter. It’s refreshing.

If I had one gripe, it’s that the plot is almost too simple. Honestly, not much happens: the leads meet, they go back to China, a few things happen, and then—boom—they get married. I would’ve liked a little more story and maybe a couple of extra episodes, but hey, what they did with the straightforward plot left me impressed.

I had some free time so thought I would write some of my thoughts on some dramas. Maybe I will still remember them when I get older and remember the especial feelings again.

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Unique show that leaves a lasting impression

Regeneration is a complex, multi dimensional show with no hero or villain. It may sound unrealistic but the main hero is somewhat of an anti-hero playing with everyone while the victims are somewhat the villain but with reasons. It is understandable and reasonable for every character to act in the way they do and that is what makes a show relatable yet remaining a fantasy and a mystery.

The show changes genre quite a lot but mystery remains the core of it all. While the main character is established as dead and shrouded in mystery it is quite clear after a while that most if not everyone had knowledge of what they were doing and it is them that failed to make use of the main character where they got outsmarted while trying to play him. The show is smart, logical while not being overbearing to the audience.

The actions of the main hero is somewhat psychopathic and I would have loved the guy to have thought about his future more than trying to hurt others. I just didn't find the reason for most actions as there was no reason for him to hurt himself in trying to cheat for his brother. As he was going to cheat for his brother and he intentionally made him fail he could have just not given the exam. It felt quite dumb on his part while being a top student. Again he got out of jail and had plenty of opportunity to make use of his brain to do something with his life but he decided to go to university anyway and act like a student and got caught being involved way too much. It was not that obvious what his end goal was. As people go to university to learn and to get a degree, however, he was not learning much apart from business ideas from the finance club and he was surely not gonna get a degree.

Another gripe is his psychopathic girl friend. That girl seemed odd from the start and as time went by it was quite clear she was not in her right mind and he dumped her or she dumped him. But whatever it was it did not seem relevant to the story of why she was called into question and asked to come in his funeral.

Everyone tried to use him and failed while he used everyone and failed to make use of anything. I wish the show had a proper reason to why anything happened. It seemed it was a true story and I would not have minded if the director took some liberty in changing things to make some things more interesting.

Real life crime stories are interesting, however, it is not often satisfying. The same goes for here. Every story ends on a cliffhanger where we know what happened and why it happened but we desperately want to know more and want the hero to say why he did what he did and if he had any reasonable explanation to what he did. It is generally better to give some plot armor to the main character and give him a reasonable love interest that we all can relate to. I understand a true story has its limits and what we got is not something I would say is unfinished just it is unfulfilling to some degree.

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Slow and Steady Makes The Perfect Bread

Joy of life has to a masterpiece of art in how to put a novel in a visual media, which clearly every other show has failed to most extend. Those who have not read the novel (its too detailed and often long winded for a visual drama) will not understand how amazingly the show has trimmed most fat and kept the simple stuff for anyone to enjoy. Yes, it removes the depth in many ways but it should not be overlooked how cool everything looks and the atmosphere of a historical drama is second to none.

I have seen some historical drama after this and some had better character depth and story, however, this one was the most believable. The director actually put effort in providing us with enough data on where each important building is. How far from the castle everyone is and the walking time actually makes sense in most cases. The power system makes sense not like other drama where you just move around with sword and the main character wins in the end.

My favorite character is obviously the teacher (blind folded man) of the main character, like whose isn't? He has to be the coolest character ever seen in Chinese drama. The ambience is crazy whenever he is around. I have always loved OP characters done right. It is rare to see a over powered person being so limited in appearance still having so much impact in the story without taking the limelight from others. The novel writer was a genius and the director lived up to it.

The political drama makes so much sense, its often confusing who is the good and bad guy but it is what it should be "nuanced" I always loved moral gray area is the right place for leaders and their job is not to always do what is right but to do whatever to survive in the difficult world and every king and other leaders does that really well here.

The comedy mixed with depth really puts this show in another level of media where you cant help but be hooked to the screen. The main fault of this show is the length. The second season was slower than the first and if keeps up the third season is gonna be all political and no comedy with too much action to ruin the pacing. I just hope they bring back the slow and methodical pacing of the first season with more efficient delivery of comedy and richness.

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High Bar for Story Telling and Direction

I was so skeptical to start this show for so long. The name seemed stupid and body swapping has always been dumb in my mind. Furthermore, the male lead seemed like a incompetent person doing illegal stuff in modern times so I refused to give the show more than 10 minutes of my time. But it really changed my perspective slowly and steadily.

The depth of the show is hidden in its meanings. As a man it is hard to empathize with women often due to their need for lack of real world responsibility such as work and taking on risks that man take on a regular basis; however, as this time a man was on a woman's shoes it seemed different. With time the guy felt comfortable in her body and situation and started to take charge in situations even while acting as a man. And then I found out that actually a woman is not really different than us at least not too much. We have the same concerns and we would act kind of in the same manners.

As the guy merged with the queen as the episodes passed it seemed natural and when the leads fell in love it did not seem gay at all. This has to be one of the triumphs of K-drama in recent years. I can see the concept failing spectacularly in the hands of most directors. I have to praise the quality of the story telling and the depths of most characters in such a short drama. I often complain on how redundant most C-drama has become with filler episodes with nothing happening in between. This show really pulled its weight and will be a high bar for story telling and direction.

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