MaryMeKpop

I always wanted to watch another drama from Ahn Bo-hyun after his huge success with ‘Itaewon Class’ but I could never really get into any of his following dramas for one reason or another. Then when I discovered that he was slated to star opposite Shin Hye-sun in a drama called ‘See You in my 19th Life’, I just knew I had to check it out. I had to at least give it a try and see what it was about. I’m happy to say, I ended up finishing the drama :]

‘See You in my 19th Life’ is a drama adaptation of the webtoon with the same name and stars Shin Hye-sun who plays..well.. a variety of characters. She plays a character who was reborn 19 different times and with each new life that she’s reborn, she remembers all the previous memories and individuals from the past lives prior. So in her 18th life, she rediscovers happiness once again when she forms a strong and powerful bond with Moon Seo-ha (played by Ahn Bo-hyun). But her life is unfortunately cut short due to a car accident and she reunites with him again in her 19th life. The drama then follows the character of the 19th life, Ban Ji-eum, as she attempts to continue things with Seo-ha from where they left off as well as discover the pressing answers to the mystery that is her 19th life.

Having kept up with the drama every week and then having finished it, I think I enjoyed the first half of the drama a lot more than I enjoyed the second half. The storytelling and character-building of the premise about a character who lived 19 different lives then met her soulmate in her 18th life was so interesting and fascinating. I understood that this drama was an adaptation of the webtoon so I’m assuming the content between the two was pretty similar. I just wished the drama took its time in laying out the foundation and giving us more insight into Ji-eum’s previous lives before. The drama dedicated more time into her 18th and 19th lives respectively and I understand that the drama had to 1) stay as true as it could with the webtoon and 2) probably couldn’t devote all 12 episodes to telling the stories of the 17 other lives, but still, a part of me wanted the drama to hash out the details and give us more.

Since the drama was only 12 episodes long, there was only so much that it could focus on and choose to spend its time on. For the most part, I felt as if the drama did a good job in giving us the important and crucial details but I also just wanted more. More showing, more telling, more describing, more seeing. The premise was so incredibly refreshing and compelling, I loved Ji-eum’s story of having been reborn 18 different times before and how she was a woman on a mission to reunite with the person who she had this strong and undeniable relationship with. But I would have liked to see more relationship-building with Ji-eum’s 18th life – Yoon Joo-won – and young Seo-ha, especially because it was one of the primary storylines that the drama centered around. The two got along pretty well pretty quickly and it was obvious that the two kids were able to connect and understand each other in a way that no one else did. That’s why they became really close friends and why they still never forgot about each other even when Ji-eum was reborn and when Seo-ha grew older. It was adorable watching them spend time together and watching them swim in the pool together and create all these memorable experiences with each other but it also somewhat felt rushed. ‘See You in my 19th Life’ was a good drama but I think this was probably one of those cases where it could have benefited from the standard 16 episodes instead of the 12.

Essentially, ‘See You in my 19th Life’ is an example of how I feel about other dramas that are adapted from webtoons in that I wished the drama adaptations also added their own color or feeling to it. Sometimes, dramas are so concerned about staying strictly in tune or in line with the webtoon that it just doesn’t feel all that real or sometimes it just feels a little too webtoon-y. There was a point halfway into the middle of the drama where things shifted and Seo-ha and Ji-eum were suddenly in love with each other and I just remembered thinking how abrupt it felt. I would have liked to see more hashing out, more build-up, more taking its sweet time but rather the drama sped things up.

With all that being said, ‘See You in my 19th Life’ was still a fun drama and it made for an easy watch. I felt as if the drama did drag a bit towards the end once it focused its main plot on Ji-eum’s search for answers regarding her 1st life and why she remembered all her memories from all her past lives. I liked that in the end, she got the answers she was searching for and she was able to start anew. In the end, her loved ones remembered her while she was reborn as Ji-eum but without the hurtful and painful memories from the past. Other things I took away from the drama was that I actually enjoyed watching the sageuk storyline from Ji-eum’s first life. It was a little too dramatic for me at times which then caused the modern storyline to also amp up the drama but I just generally loved seeing Shin Hye-sun and Ahn Bo-hyun as sageuk characters. I now desperately want to watch Ahn Bo-hyun in a sageuk (K-drama gods, make it happen please!).

If you’re in the mood to watch something funny and sweet and light, ‘See You in my 19th Life’ would be a great match for that. There’s a good mix of comedy and romance, Shin Hye-sun and Ahn Bo-hyun are both great, the directing and cinematography is beautiful, and there’s plenty to love and enjoy. With only 12 episodes, there was only so much the drama could do so not everything made the most sense. But you kind of learned to just go along with it and enjoy the drama for what it was as you watched Ji-eum spend time with her loved ones in her 19th life.