Reborn Rich

Yoon Hyun-woo (Song Joong Ki) is a dedicated and loyal employee of Soonyang Group. However, the company frames him for embezzlement and gets him shot in the head. He wakes up in the past as Jin Do Jun, the youngest grandson of the Soonyang patriarch, Chairman Jin Yang Cheol (Lee Sung-min). Yet he retains the memory of his previous 30+ year-old self. Armed with knowledge of what would happen in the future, he enacts his revenge against the family that destroyed his own in his old life. He also befriends a young law student Seo Min-young (Shin Hyun-been) who he knows would become an anti-corruption biggie and Soonyang family's "grim reaper" in the future.

Imagine knowing events before they happen such as which presidential candidate would win or which stocks would bubble and burst. It's every financial investor's dream. No wonder this became a huge hit in Korea.

Up to episode 15, the drama seems like any other about members of a ruling family fighting for the top position in the company, albeit one of them has knowledge about the future in his disposal. But the way episode 16 wraps it up in the end pulls it far ahead from the pack. Some viewers have expressed disappointment over the ending but I love it. It's mind-boggling and, for me, confirms Korean drama writers' brilliance.

The drama may be tagged as "fantasy" but the execution, the directing and the acting seem so real and believable. The fact that real sociopolitical events are interspersed with the story makes the drama more compelling.

Song Joong-ki once again chose a very good drama. Initially I was apprehensive that Reborn Rich may be similar to Vincenzo, his last drama prior to Reborn Rich where his character left an indelible mark on me, but was I in for a surprise. He tackled his character differently in Reborn Rich so I never saw him as Vincenzo but as Jin Do-jun/Yoon Hyun-woo. He is likewise supported by veteran actors whose performances are top caliber, making Reborn Rich such a treat for all Kdrama lovers.

Kudos to the whole Reborn Rich team.

This would have been a 10/10 drama but the way it ended was just a complete lack of effort by the scriptwriter. It's as if the Game of Throne creators managed to get their hands on this script too.

You've got a great cast, such solid actors who were able to convey so much with every glance and action. The grandfather in particular was a force of nature. The premise of the show was fantastic, you could do so much with the plot! I'm sure everyone has asked themselves at some point, what they would do if they could go back in time to relive the past with their memories intact. So many possibilities, especially when one has the knowledge of what's to come! Yet the scriptwriter had to ruin everything with that ridiculous and lackluster ending that spat on everything that the earlier episodes had set up. Honestly they should be ashamed of themselves for that last episode.

Overall a great drama till episode 15, intriguing plot and for first time in a while, every episode made sense. The volatile relationships between the characters and the hostile environment the drama is based alone makes this drama worth watching.

However the ending, episode 16, is one of the most confusing and meaningless episodes of I've ever witnessed. I wish I hadn't watched the last episode. It is like eating an extremely delicious cupcake but the last bite that you cherish the most is filled with poop. I wish there was an undo button for our memories.

The last episode, especially the conclusion, made a literal mockery of the whole plot and made no sense. The message that the writer wanted to present at the end "Repentance" had no meaning whatsoever. At least stick to an emotion that you can do justice to. Just because you need to finish the drama in 16 episodes, don't kill it with such a sub-standard ending. It could have been an excellent drama but it will be a good drama only due to the ending.

Even after years, people (at least I) would resent this drama for its last episode, which this drama and the team behind it doesn't deserves.

To summarise in one line, a fantastic drama with a fatal ending that kills the plot and the drama.

I watched a couple episodes and thought it was interesting, fun, good cast (so many recognizable faces - or maybe so few top ranked Korean actors?), well shot, good locals, basically everything to make it worth watching. I'm about to watch episode 11 and find myself wishing they released the entire season in a single go. This really has been a fantastic series, I had to come back and increase my rating and write this review. Too many Korean shows start very well then begin falling off in the later stages (Bad Crazy, Aelliseu, Ghost Doctor) but so far this show has only gotten better. This is better than some very good shows like Vincenzo, Zombie Detective, Weak Hero Class 1... and a bunch of shows I never finished. Hoping this continues with top quality.

And I wish Song Joong-ki would work a bit on his English accent :-)