18 Again is a beautiful story that doesn't really go anywhere. While I enjoyed the journey, in the end I'm left wondering what all of it was for. To explain what I mean, 18 Again is the retelling of the movie 17 Again, and that's the first problem. It's a retelling of a movie, and it's a 16 episode drama. To make up for that extra time, a lot of conflict and story and character development needs to be added if it wants to keep the attention of its audience and still deliver the impact of the story. And honestly, at first it didn't really feel like it was falling short of that. The family of Hong Dae Young and Jung Da Jung is broken and believable. Each member of the family has their own life to live and worries, and problems that need to be addressed before it reaches its finale. There's definitely a lot more character in this drama than there was in that movie, because there needed to be. But maybe not enough.

HDY's marriage is falling apart, and he doesn't really know why. He and his wife argue a lot and he's frustrated by the situation he's found himself in after giving up on his dreams of being a basketball player to support his high school sweetheart and their twins. He lost his chance at glory and years down the road, with their marriage crumbling, he's starting to feel regret. Through some magical, not really explained means, HDY becomes young again. He has a second chance to live the life he could have had before. Honestly, it's not a bad premise. It's fun and heartwarming to watch him befriend his children and get to know his family all over again as a classmate and not a father/husband, but that's about all the show does. He gets to know his children, stalks his wife, and misses them until he inevitably gets them back. There are minor conflicts sprinkled throughout to keep you interested, and about a million fake-outs of his wife or someone else finding out who he is, but the stakes are low and there's never anything to worry about - the worst that could happen, which obviously was not going to happen, was that the wife was going to end up with the second lead.

Shows like this rely on interpersonal relationships to really make you feel things, and there doesn't need to be an element of danger for a drama to be interesting. But conflict can take many forms, and without it, a story is made up of fluff. I cared about the characters but they weren't doing much of anything.

I have to say though, the moments that matter were done well. I wanted to see the couple back together, I wanted the children to succeed, and I did have fun along the way. The relationship with HDY and his kids was sweet and wholesome, and I did look forward to more episodes week to week. It was only after finishing it that I was able to take a step back and really assess the time I'd spent with these characters and what it all meant. I realized that the hype and emotions I felt at the start never went anywhere, and while the ending left me satisfied on one front, it left me realizing just how little story there was.

I could sit here and nitpick all of the details of this drama that left me unsatisfied. But at the end of the day, I enjoyed it. And, if you're looking for a story that does a good job portraying the average couple, that doesn't romanticize marriage like so many romances do and that makes you feel like the relationship they have is real, this is right up your alley. It's fun, it's cute, and parts of it will melt your heart. Just remember going into it that what you see is what you get, and it may fall short on substance after you meet that halfway mark.