Heart racing, emotional, it has everything
I was planning on watching this as soon as I heard about it. Lee Joon Gi is my all time favorite actor, and again he delivers with this project.ACTING// I was intrigued by the story and wanted to see where it goes, and especially how Lee Joon Gi would take on this role. The man is perfect for this drama, it requires emotions, stunts, and versatility. Lee Joon Gi has this edge, in every single scene he has he delivers at 100%.
STORY// The element of going back in time is so fun to watch. The whole idea of going back to a time in your life is interesting, there’s ways you can change your life, scenarios, knowing more than you did, I love it all.
CHARACTERS// I like the motivation of Kim Hui-U, and how badass he is. I can’t wait to see him interact with people from his past later. He knows more, he’s matured. The idea of learning and relearning for the goal to take down the corruption is easy to follow but is so entertaining.. especially because Lee Joon Gi was some sort of street fighter.. the man really is agile
I’ll add more as this show continues airing, but it has such a promising start. It’s more than worth watching for the story alone. Given a second chance, going back to 2007. Considering Lee Joon Gi really doesn’t age I believe it, he looks 20- he’s perfect for the role and I’m more than happy seeing him in another drama.
FINAL THOUGHTS// The stunts in this drama are insane. The fight choreo is paced so well and it’s insane to have the main actor actually take that on. Lee Joon Gi does it all, he’s so talented.. so many good things to say.
I recommend to anyone that likes action, a story about second chances but it’s developed more than typical.
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Adapt
I finished reading the manhwa and enjoyed it enough to watch this.Loved the Whistle music theme, and have that as my ringtone, and really enjoyed the scheming acting MC puts on as he works against the corrupt politicians.
The ending was slightly disappointing, as it feels nothing was really accomplished and all those locked-up people were released because of rich business.
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A second chance that didn't live up to expectations?
i wanna start by saying than Lee Jong Gi is an incredible actor. The writer definitely did amazing on his character and story. Female characters let's start with Kim Gyu Ri really didn't feel her presence as the show went on tbh. she sort of disappeared and showed in few scenes once they graduated from law school. I don't think she was very instrumental. I was rooting for Kim Han Mi (Jae Kyung) a lot guess you could say i'm a fan after watching Secret Life of My Secretary she's fun really wanted her to end up with Kim Hee Woo but that went to Hee A who i think played a decent role in KHW's plans after getting into Chunha's leadership circle. But for me Director Han was so underrated and she came up clutch in the end think , my personal opinion, she was the most beautiful among them too. Really wish they could've used more episodes and dived deeper into their stories, especially Director Han, 16 episodes is way too short. First time i've seen a ML have a number of especially beautiful females around him and not really not develop a romantic relationship with either throughout the episodes until the very end when KHW decides to date/marry Hee A seemed so random tbhI don't know why Lee Kyung Young is always cast as villain he's been in quite another of dramas as the villain in major shows off late you could say maybe it's easy to cast him bcoz he's a villain irl idk but he's really talented at this despite his flaws. Would love if it was someone else but it is what it is. We had this massive build up to finally punish Cho Tae Sub and he suddenly vanishes?? Wtf poor writing/ ran out of ideas maybe. The end with a new villain wanting to rebuild the secret club by CTS maybe hints at a sequel? Idk we rarely get those in kdramas but the bottom line is 16 episodes were not enough to tell the story and i think more people agree on that. What did i love about the show the casting was top notch a 10 in my books can't stress how much i loved them even though i haven't talked about the other characters around KHW especially, the OST is really catchy, great vibe, loved it, the story and flow was good up until the clutch moments. Because of how it ends i don't think i'll be rewatching it, sadly. W show though
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J'attendais avec impatience cette série pour le retour de Lee Joon Gi surtout depuis la claque Flower of Evil qui est toujours un de mes dramas contemporains préféré.
J'ai pu voir que les avis sont mitigés sur la série et avec le recul, il est vrai qu'elle a des défauts comme les relations de notre héros avec des personnes féminins peu charismatique et peu développé mais aussi un côté un peu invraisemblable dont il faut faire abtraction.
Néanmoins, j'ai adoré ce drama et je l'ai dévoré avec passion ! Pourquoi ? Le rythme haletant de l'intringue, le charisme du protagoniste mais aussi de l'antagoniste principal qui tienne tout le récit à eux deux, une ost parfaite et une photo splendide ....
Again my life est l'exemple type de drama imparfait mais haletant.
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Yet another masterpiece by Lee Joon Gi.The plot is amazing and you have no idea how much I love rebirth stories.
Kim Hee Woo, a prosecutor, dies after digging into the corruption of the current president. He then gets a chance for rebirth and wakes up in his younger self. Now with the knowledge of the future, Kim Hee Woo begins a game of chess with Cho Tae Seob, a politician (and the president in his former life). It is truly a beautiful game of chess, with Kim Hee Woo always being one move ahead of Cho Tae Seob.
The only downside is the final episode seems a little rushed and the end was a tad bit unsatisfactory.
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NOT VERY IMPRESSED! EXPECTED MORE
I have quite a few issues with this drama! It’s not a bad drama, it had some good potentials but I think they did it wrong. The storyline as an idea is good and interesting but after a while it just gets tiring. The whole plot where he comes back and he just build himself strong so he can take Cho Tae Seob down started well but the end was so anticlimactic and just rushed up. He exposed himself without a reason without having a real plan, I get that he had to make mistakes so it’s more realistic but the fact he just destroy his cover so easily was just plain stupid. Each episode had the same plot, he goes after someone that helps Tae Seob and tries to take him down by been a prosecutor and at first its fun to watch how we tricks them but after a while he just repeat his previous actions.I had a problem with the main character, I just couldn’t like him that much, he is a good guy and he is played by Lee Joon Gi so you could bet he will be amazing, but he just isn’t for me, I liked him at episode one to five but after that he just bored me. Same with the main female lead Kim Hee Ah, I found her so boring, she was just not well written as characters for the drama.
The characters that stole the show were definitely Min Soo and Han Mi. They were so interesting not only their storylines but their personalities too, Min Soo was the funniest guy and the most mysterious too, great combination.Han Mi was just a badass, I think she was more of a main female lead then Hee Ah . Also Gyu Ri and Sang Man were very good too, actually all the side characters were just excellent.
The romantic storyline was just A BIG NO. It literally didn’t make any sense, I would rather if they just didn’t include any romantic relationship, it was useless and out of the blue.there is only one romantic relationship I liked and that is the possibility of Min Soo and Gyu Ri (the last scene where he pointed out they had match outfits made me think they probably ended up together.)
I think I may be a little biased about this drama. The first time I watched Lee Joon Gi in a drama it was in Lawless Lawyer, that has similar concept, he was a funny yet badass character and here he didn’t gave me the same vibe. Also the main villain was better in general and the female lead was just amazing (their chemistry was top tier too). So after this drama, Again My Life seemed to lack many factors to be a great drama.
Overall it’s an okay drama but nothing special.
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Good Enough
Korean Drama " Again My Life " doesn't stray too far off the beaten track.The dramas best part is its performances. The actors did all a great job portraying their characters and their performances were enjoyable. The chemistry between them was also a killer point. However, the star of the show is of course the main lead, who outshines everyone and gives the drama his own twist.
Unfortunately, and even though the start is smooth and exciting, the drama fails to deliver. The main criminal case is boring and predictable and the whole going back to the past was not explained. Rather, it was left to be added here and there as a reminder, not to mention, in some episodes, was completelly forgotten.
At least there were plenty action scenes that kept things entertaining.
So, overall, four out of ten.
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No stupidity, no bullshit
A very good show. Rational behaviors, rational approach, reasonable decisions of all the characters and no stupid redemptions for no reason, without efforts, no stupid, ungrateful approach from anyone towards anyone. There's a small part suggesting a crack between a ML & SML but it turns out completely staged for the sake of fighting and deceiving a strong enemy.Some people could be disappointed by a final pairing - because another woman would fit better to end up in a relationship with a ML and the show seemed to suggest that early on too. However, it's not that bad and it's not irrational - at least - there was a reason why they end up together, it did not happen "just because".
Also - it has a very good music, a very interesting story, concept, good characters, lots of great action (fighting) scenes. This shows empowers instead of promoting a toxic society, toxic friendships, toxic relationships presented as "romantic" by a lot of other series.
Also - watch Lawless Lawyer, Bad Prosecutor - those are basically the same.
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An Emphasis in All the Wrong Places
Again My Life is an excellent drama that does many things well, but falls short on a few instances. The few missteps in this drama are by no means a deal breaker, it’s great from start to finish, but these few inconsistencies held the drama back from truly being one of the best. If you’ve read this far and haven’t watched it yet, this is your cue to stop thinking about it and just watch it. If you want to skip all my positives for this show and just read my negatives, read from the line-break onwards.The premise of the story is simple, a prosecutor dies and gets the chance to come back to life at the tail end of high school. I can’t say too much more about the plot without getting into spoilers, but the description on MDL should be enough to get you interested. This show is a political drama. As of writing this review, the genre has the tags mystery and fantasy. I would say these tags are slightly misleading. The fantasy element (coming back to life) is only in the first episode; after that, there’s never even the slightest whiff of fantasy again. The mystery element is definitely there, but more so than anything, this show is political maneuvering. The prosecutor died in an attempt to bring down a corrupt politician. Now that he’s alive again, he has close to a decade to come up with a plan to put an end to the corruption. With a plot like this, the male lead is critical to the drama.
I feel like the producers of this show knew that the story would live or die on the shoulders of the lead actor. A talent like Lee Joon Gi was the only way this story would stay afloat. And that’s not a knock on the story, it’s a compliment to the acting prowess of Lee Joon Gi. I don’t know the exact number, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Lee Joon Gi had 90% screen time… he’s on screen all the time. Lee Joon Gi’s acting in this drama is quite different to his more recent dramas. In Flower of Evil, he acted as a psychopath alternating between stone-cold killer and loving husband/father. In Lawless Lawyer, he portrayed a bashful and arrogant lawyer with a pretty heavy chip on his shoulder. In Again My Life, Lee Joon Gi gives a much more nuanced performance. His acting is one of a thoughtful and careful tactician. Lee Joon Gi is planning out moves years in advance, he’s setting up plays in high school that won’t make sense until after he graduates law school.
In a sense, this drama is a game of chess. Lee Joon Gi’s character is a grandmaster, and his opponent is played by the actor Lee Kyung Young. Let me be clear, there is no female lead. The only other main lead aside from Lee Joon Gi is Lee Kyung Young. All other actors are purely supporting roles. The heart of the story revolves around the two lead actors. Lee Kyung Young is the antagonist, and he does an excellent job. His character is that of a political kingpin; he deals with corruption, scandals, bribery, murder, the whole nine yards. He’s ruthless, but he’s not an idiot. Lee Kyung Young does an excellent job of portraying his character to be a man of experience, a politician who thinks several times before he makes his move. The character of Lee Kyung Young is very akin to Frank Underwood from House of Cards.
Let me say a few more things about the supporting actors. Jung Sang Hoon was excellent with his comedic relief. His friendly banter with Lee Joon Gi was well scripted, and if it wasn’t scripted, it was pure genius. I wish Kim Ji Eun had more screen time. Her character was very intriguing and I wished the show would have explored it more. I enjoyed her acting from The Veil, and this drama definitely added to her acting talent. I hope to see her in a lead female role in the future.
Also, a note on the background score. It is very reminiscent of 90’s film score. Grand, sweeping orchestral pieces are cool and all, but it’s become pretty cliche. Some of the music definitely fits the different moods of the show, but I found it to be unimaginative. This is also my personal preference; if you don’t mind huge cinematic scores, then this won’t be an issue at all, but for me, I was kind of over it.
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Power will corrupt, and absolute power will corrupt absolutely. If you wanted to end this corruption, you could only do so from the standpoint of a higher power. But if you attain a higher power, you too will become corrupt. It’s a never ending cycle. It’s like that old line from the original Spiderman movie: “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain”. If it takes a monster to beat the devil, is it worth throwing away your humanity for such a cause? This is the central theme of the drama, and its also the drama’s biggest weakness. When you set such a profound subject matter as your central theme and not tackle it properly, the whole show comes out as lukewarm. There were many points in the drama were I wished to see a more grey morality of Lee Joon Gi’s character. The show goes at length of describing the necessity of being villainous to catch a villain, but it shies back every time. It feels like the subject matter was too controversial to be put on Korean television so they heavily toned it down. What we got instead was the classic unblemished white knight ousting the corrupt politician.
Ultimately, 16 episodes wasn’t enough. I understand that Lee Joon Gi’s character got sent back in time by a decade, but there was a seven year time-skip. I would’ve liked to see more of his college life before and after his military service. There were opportunities to flesh out some of the supporting characters, but the producers decided to bypass all of that. Instead they gave a very bland and generic season 2 set-up at the end of the last episode.
This show has a lot going for it. There is very minimal romance, so that may come as a negative for some, but other than that, the biggest downside is the unexplored themes. We get to see Lee Joon Gi develop to be a kingpin of his own, and that’s a thrilling watch in and of itself. But the unexplored themes, and the generic season 2 set-up ending had me desiring more from the show. I still recommend this show, especially if you’re a Lee Joon Gi fan, this show will hit all the sweet spots. And even if you’re not a massive Lee Joon Gi fan, this show still has some nifty frills to keep you entertained.
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A METHODICAL REVENGE WITH LOT OF PLOT SCHEMING AND TALKING
This drama was recommended to me by my friends.. But then they said it was too much talking and less action but I still watched it and wow i am absolutely loving this drama. This is my first time watching Lee Joon Gi's drama and god what flawless acting and visuals he has. This drama would've been flopped without him. The story is average and predictable but the things i liked was the cast chemistry and the OST. There's less action scenes but i loved the fights especially ep 13 fight, it was short but satisfying. The only worry I has is that only one episode is left but there's so much to cover well we will see..Now I am craving to watch his other dramas.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Un drama qui n'apporte rien de nouveau mais qui se regarde néanmoins avec un certain plaisir.
Après un premier épisode un peu laborieux selon mon point de vue, le drama démarre enfin dès le deuxième épisode avec une notion que l'on retrouve souvent : le retour en arrière, une deuxième chance pour tout recommencer. Le concept ayant déjà été souvent exploité, je regrette qu'ici il n'y ait aucune explication logique (si logique il doit y avoir) de cette seconde chance, ni pourquoi Han Ji Hyun est "là" (bien que l'on devine comment elle se retrouve elle aussi dans cette situation). N'attendez donc pas de magie, de "la-haut", de cieux etc....malgré cette situation fantastique.La trame principale réside donc autour de la mission du protagoniste : déchoir Jo Tae Seop et ses acolytes de leur position élevée et mal acquise. Pour cela, Kim Hui Wu s'appuiera sur ses connaissances accumulées durant ses enquêtes antérieures et s'entourera d'alliés en conséquence. Un des points positif de ce drama est donc ce jeu d'échec engagé, bien qu' injuste pour Jo Tae Seop (reconnaissons le), qui permet à Kim Hui Wu de nous régaler : Il n'y a rien de plus satisfaisant que de voir les antagonistes perdre pieds et se faire attraper dans un piège à souris dont ils ne voient ni la couleur, ni le son. Rare seront les moments où Kim Hui Wu sera pris au dépourvu et ces rares moments sont rapidement résolus. Ce qui laisse tout de même, malgré le plaisir que nous prenons à voir les antagonistes se faire avoir, un sentiment un peu désagréable que tout est trop facile. Le revers de la médaille est donc cet enchainement de victoire. Le drama joue peu sur la corde du suspense et les antagonistes nous paraissent stupides, gourmands, imbus d'eux même ce qui provoquera leurs pertes. Alors oui, Jo Tae Seop est plutôt intelligent et redoutable...mais je n'ai jamais eu l'impression qu'il était au final une réelle menace pour Kim Hui Wu (sauf dans le premier et l'avant dernier épisode). Je regrette donc que ce jeu d'échec ne soit qu'à sens unique. Un duel qui laisse un arrière goût fade, surtout durant le dernier épisode. J'aurais aimé des adversaires comme on en peut en trouver : "Chef Kim" et son duo hilarant, "Nirvana in Fire" et son protagoniste de génie ou "Vincenzo" et ses vilains merveilleusement machiavéliques par exemple.
Le deuxième point positif est l'action rondement menée, sur fond d'OST entrainant et qui sied à merveille à Lee Jun Ki. Ces moments là sont très sympa à suivre.
Le dernier point positif est la relation dynamique entre Kim Hui Wu avec Lee Min Soo, Woo Yong Soo et Park Sang Man. La touche d'humour et d'émotion est parfaitement amenée par ces 3 personnages qui ont su nous surprendre, et nous faire craquer totalement.
J'ai moins apprécié ses relations avec les 3 protagonistes féminins, plus classique. La conclusion sur l'esquisse d'une "romance", inattendue et illogique, n'a pas réussi à m'étonner ni à faire battre mon coeur. Fade serait le mot qui me viendrait à l'esprit. Il y a pourtant eu des relations en filigrane pour lesquelles j'ai eu mon coeur en émoi comme dans "Taxi driver".
Il aurait été judicieux aussi de creuser en profondeur la relation entre Han Ji Hyun et son frère, ce qui nous laisse malheureusement sur notre faim.
C'est donc un drama qui se laisse regarder, apportant parfois au détour d'un épisode des moments d'humour, de loyauté et de d'action, qui ont su le rendre plaisant à suivre, et cela malgré un scénario bancal, d'antagonistes dénués de charisme, de protagonistes féminins potentiellement badass se révélant au final ennuyante, et d'une fin WTH!
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Second chances, revenge and intrigue!
If you were given a second chance at life, what would you do differently?Kim Hee Woo is a talented lawyer with an immense sense of justice working at the prosecution office. His desire to bring criminals to justice lands him in peril when he decides to take on a politician, Cho Tae Sab, who sends his personal hitman to end his life. As fate would have it, Hee Woo is brought back to life by a grim reaper for one purpose - take down Cho Tae Sab and make his life hell on Earth. This is where the real story begins.
A lot of people have given a lot of different takes on this show which can be confusing so let me share elements that might help you decide wherher to watch or skip.
What you can expect from the show:
- A methodical and driven main lead working his way to bringing down his target. The story is following him most of the time and his target as the contrast. These two are the main leads.
- Lots of plotting and how these play out.
- Fast pace. Even though the episodes are over an hour long, there is a lot happening and time flies.
- Endearing characters and positive moments.
- Time-jump. You'll also see some back and forth berween the old timeline and the new one. I like how it was done to make the story easier to follow along with.
- Action. The male lead was a boxer in his past life but still no match for his killer. You'll see a lot of martial arts training and fights throughout the show.
- Mild humour. As its mostly a revenge drama, there are not a lot of funny moments but you might still find yourself smiling.
- Lots of famous faces. And a lot of names to remember! From the good to the bad. It was a bit hard to follow since I was watching weekly but might be better if one watches at a stretch. Even when the names were hard to keep track of, enough evidence was given to help you recall or the person was shown in the next instance so one can keep following along.
- A certain amount of realism towards the end. I personally enjoyed it.
What the show lacks:
- Other than the way in which Hee Woo is brought back to life, there is no other fantasy element to the show.
- Romance. If this is important to you, you may not enjoy the show as it is mostly serious.
- Bromance. Though friendships are explored, this is not the focus of the show.
- For a law drama, you won't find moments in courts. It jumps from evidence finding to final result.
- Some prefer a picture perfect ending but that is never how real life works and neither will you find it in this show.
The reason I rated Again My Life a 9 is because every episode was enjoyable. I wanted to keep watching which is what every director aims for. It was interesting to see how the characters were working together as a team towards the same goal. Hee Woo had the advantage of his past life to know whom to bring on board to help him and the lives he can change. Not just his own. Thus making some powerful allies along the way.
There is not a lot that bothers me about the show. The things that do are major spoilers so I will skip them because they are fine within the realm of a show. It also shows that people can be unpredictable. There is some product placement which is a bit funny and awkward at times.
The ending was not disappointing, in my opinion. It was different. And I can appreciate it for what it is.
I hope people give it a shot.
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