See You in My 19th Life (2023)

Disappointing ending but still worth a watch

I tried to hold back from watching this series until it was fully uploaded on Netflix but it was hard! I ended up finishing the 10th episode with a few days to spare for the last 2 episodes. When I finally watched it I was flummoxed. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement.

Firstly, the story is beautiful. The cast and acting were above par. Shin Hye Sun is a confident actress and really takes to this role like a well-worn shoe. She portrays Ban Ji Eum so comfortably it sets the tone for the rest of the cast to follow her standard and Ahn Bo Hyun really takes to the challenge well. His portrayal of adult Moon Seo Ha is convincingly done. Bo Hyun gets the right mix of innocence and naivety in Seo Ha’s deer-in-headlights reactions to Ji Eum’s assertive advances that hits all the right notes. Veteran actress Cha Chung Hwa, as Ji Eum’s grown-up niece from her 17th life, is a fantastic energy to bounce off Hye Sun. It was great to see these two cast together again after their time in ‘Mr Queen’. I was gratified to see Kim Joon Ho here and even though he only occupied small screen time, he still did the uncle character justice. Hope to see more of this actor as he was memorable from ‘Secret Royal Inspector & Joy’. The actress who was his niece character, Go Do Yeon, was a great pairing against his avuncular intensity, lighting up the screen when the duo had their singing and Accordion playing scene. Go Do Yeon was spectacular and had a great voice. Hope to see more of her talent in future kdramas.

Possibly the only one who fizzed in the whole set was Lee Chae Min, the shaman char. From the moment he comes onto the scene he was a wooden character and in the end episodes his lack of range is especially obvious when cast against Hye Sun’s 1st life char’s rageful scenes. This wasn’t really the reason why I was disappointed by the series though.

I’m not sure why this series only had 12 episodes allocated to it when dramas typically run for 16 eps on average. There were definitely areas that could’ve been fleshed out more. The ending left questions such as how did Ji Eum’s 1st life rage vow/curse affect Han Na, Seo Ha’s mother to make her one of the ones who remember their past lives, like Ji Eum? Why is Kang Min Ki allowed to retain his memories when the others had to relinquish theirs—because it’s his atonement for his ‘sins’? Other stuff like pinning the accident and murder on the uncle was implausible to the extreme as, up to the end, the father was portrayed as the villain, and a believable one. I found it a headspin to see that we’re meant to forgive the father and sympathise with him when his character gets a 180 makeover from a clear villain to a repressed, grieving husband. This characterisation of him is not believable at all. Let’s not forget that he had an affair on his wife with a woman who might’ve poisoned the wife while she was nursing her and subsequently handed over his wife’s precious hotel to the woman to destroy in slow measures by her negligent mismanagement. His interactions with Seo Ha is also mostly filled with angry outbursts that suggests violence is never far behind. All in all, Seo Ha never felt safe with him or in his presence and, as a viewer, were I in Seo Ha’s shoes I wouldn’t either. I was expecting to see that it was his dad who had organised the accident, his mistress who agreed, and his brother who, being the lackey character, obediently carried out his wishes because the violent brother is the alpha male not to be challenged. Based on the setup of the characters and the way the story was going, there was nothing at all to make me believe the uncle could ever have taken this initiative upon himself to do something so harmful even if he had only meant for it to have been an accident. His uncle was very much portrayed as not the brain of the operation but the hand. So a big letdown for the way this was done as it’s obvious the writers just decided to BS this story arc just as they BS'd the fact that Cho Won really likes Do Yoon instead of Seo Ha, even tho all signs pointed to her liking Seo Ha, because it was more convenient than trying to figure out how to solve this rivalry between the sisters.

Finally, the way the “curse” was explained felt like such a cheat. Ji Eum herself set this in motion? Really? That’s the best they could come up with? All she did was clutch onto the bells while she said she was pissed and wanted to be eternally pissed at the shaman dude… that’s it. No ceremony. No ritual. In fact, the fact that the shaman had to cut off one of the ribbons from the bells made it seem like that should’ve arrested the curse in the first place because something was broken and he was the shaman. As a viewer, while the whole explanation was very holistic and philosophical the implementation could’ve been more, I don’t know, “oomphy”. Why did her curse work? Did she have gifts in this shamanic field too? Is she a bloodline to something special? Is she part of a group that is susceptible to these types of reincarnations, like Han Na? Basically, in lieu of rituals and incantations, why did her words work? Perhaps she needs to be special and chosen before being the designated dyer and preparer of the shamanic bells’ sacred ribbons. The fact that, for the time and era, she could think of something so adverse to the cultural conditioning and question the validity of their shamanic theocracy shows there’s something exceedingly unique about her. All these perhaps that could’ve been fleshed out way more and maybe even spill into a sequel or season 2 that could’ve rivalled Alchemy & Souls! GAH! Wasted chance!

It's a mixed feelings review but the 5 stars is for the fact that it’s nice to see a reincarnations themed storyline that doesn’t just focus on eros love between lovers. The storge, familial love between Ae Kyung and her uncle was just as relevant and heartwarming, and was the one that really saves Ji Eum in her 19th incarnation! If not for 17th life story, this series would’ve gotten a 1 star for the underwhelming way it was all written.

I would still rewatch this show because the acting was superb but the way the storyline ended was underwhelming and disappointing to the max. It is likely I’d stop watching at ep 10, tbh. However, for those who haven’t seen this show b4… well, oops for the spoilers but hey, u’ve been warned!... I do wholeheartedly recommend giving this show a looksee simply because it is quite a beautiful story. The music is on point throughout and Ahn Bo Hyun’s deer-in-the-headlights acting is cute AF. The adorbs Go Do Yeon is DEFINITELY worth a watch. I’d watch it again just to see her sing and dance alongside her uncle char.

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