Beautiful and Touching Deja-Vu Drama
I really like this lakorn, as I find the story-telling, writing and directing were good and all the actors acted really well here. I've never liked Pong before, but he acted very well here and he really showed lots of emotions for his role. I have always like Esther as she is good in this type of roles (sweet, kind and selfless heroine) - I saw her first time in the Thai version of You Are My Destiny drama.I have never watched the original Taiwanese "Deja Vu" but I read the reviews were not good. I am glad I watched the Thai version first.
There were many scenes in this lakorn that made me cheer for the heroine, some made me cry together with her, and sometimes, even made me frustrated (especially towards the last few episodes), but overall, it was a good drama about true love and how the power of true love can overcome many obstacles, even death. Overall, it was entertaining and enjoyable.
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This review may contain spoilers
TL;DR - A sweet story of two soulmates fighting against the odds to be together. Nice supporting cast and interesting lessons to be learned. Kinda wish there was more scenes of our OTP together.Colour me impressed at how much I enjoyed this lakorn. I initially wasn't gonna watch it because A) The last Pong lakorn I watched was bad B) The age gap between the leads and C) I remember briefly watching the Taiwan version and not liking it. It wasn't until I read the comments on this that I decided to give it a go, and just wow, I can finally say I've watched a Pong lakorn where I actually like his character (he was my favourite here!).
Pong's character Wynn gave me all the feels. Such a gentleman and overall good guy, and the way he looked at Jane made me super envious. I loved how even if he didn't remember her, his body and heart still gravitated towards her. Jane was also very likeable. It was wonderful to see Wynn and Jane fall in love with each other again and again even after one forgot the other. Their dynamic gave me the vibes of an older, mature but capable gentleman taking care of a young lady (who also cares for him back) which is a guilty pleasure trope for me. It was awesome seeing them both fight for their love and pretty much beat the odds to be together (as a side note, a lot of people commented on the last episode being tearful - I naively thought I wouldn't cry but my gosh, I stayed up till 2am crying in my pillow on the last ep, their relationship was just that precious).
I quite liked our secondary cast and in particular I liked P'Tae a lot. So handsome and also a good guy, but not a doormat. He has Jane's best interests at heart and is there for her when she needs him. It frustrated me when he agreed to marry Jane even tho he knew she didn't love him; I liked him enough that I wanted him to be the first choice for someone and not the back-up. I kinda wished he was the one who broke it off with Jane but at least they didn't end up together. I liked Rashane and Lisa as well but it did turn me off to see them go from villains to remorseful people, with little to no showing of their progression to that state. This was more apparent with Lisa, who initially looked down on Shane for not being on the same level as Wynn and refused to love him. But then a few eps later, she's suddenly super in love with Shane and Shane, instead of noticing this change, does something real stupid (if he had been paying attention, this could've been avoided). I get it helped in the progression of the story, but this abrupt character development and the illogical actions that followed were quite the turn-off for me.
Beyond that, I have to say the story was pretty good. The cause of all the twists, turns and heartbreak was due to the water goddess I loved to hate. I hated her for the impossible deals she made with Wynn and Jane, and how she tried to tear apart their love - but this just showed how much Wynn and Jane were willing to sacrifice for each other, at the expense of their own life and dreams. I also felt the deals she made, although cruel, were very appropriate and I liked how she didn't make it easy for them. They worked very hard for the HEA and I'm very glad she gave to them in the end.
Another thing I liked about this lakorn is the themes/life lessons it perpetuated, eg. Treat the environment well, true love conquers all, don't be a bad person or karma will get you, don't spend your short life on Earth with hate, live life to the fullest etc. I generally find these to be cheesy and overused, but here it worked for me and I appreciated how the lakorn tried to leave me with more than just entertainment.
I liked the music and bgm was appropriately played. Although I liked this a lot, it's a good one time watch for me. I might go back for some swoony Wynn moments, but unfortunately although there is clear love between our leads, the circumstances they're in makes them separate for most of the lakorn with either Jane or Wynn hurting. I wanted more scenes with our OTP together and in love lol. But this was still a pretty good watch and would totally recommend you check it out if you have time.
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Be prepared for all the feels
I'd recommend this lakorn for those who are looking for an emotional roller coaster ride. It is definitely a drama with angst, self-sacrifice, and deep meanings. I cried a river, but I also cheered for the main couple, relished their happy moments and appreciated the ending. I'm not too fond of sad endings, so not having watched the Taiwanese version, my heart was in my mouth during the last few episodes.For me, the show was well-directed and well-written, and it did a nice job delivering the message about how true love can overcome all obstacles, including death. Any superfluous characters were there for comic relief, and I like that there were depth and complexity to the main group of characters. Unlike the one dimensional villains in many lakorns, the protagonists here had backstories, and I ended feeling sorry for them as they were more victims of manipulation or expectations than anything else.
Not surprisingly, Esther did a great job portraying the sweet, kind, and selfless female lead, Jane. I think she plays this kind of role best and she looked really pretty in the show. This is the first time I watched Pong, and I thought he was cast well as Wynn. It's refreshing to see an appropriately aged lead who was supposed to be a company CEO, plus Pong acted superbly, with his facial expressions on point. Perhaps I am biased because his smoldering gazes won me over. Overall the cast did a great job, and I felt what they were emoting. I did think that the actress playing Jane's best friend, Pat could have done better. For some reason, she seemed to be shouting throughout the show, which I find annoying and distracting.
Music-wise, the songs were good and fitted the scenes well, evoking the right emotions. I was happy to find the theme song on youtube, but sadly, I could not find the others. There were some scenes when the background music seemed off or too campy, but that's an issue that I find in most lakorns, so I cannot really hold it against the show.
I would re-watch many scenes, especially Pong's ones with Esther, but I don't think that I will re-watch the whole thing, mainly because I've cried enough the first time.
I hope that more people will watch this series and think it is under-rated for a well-executed show. Also, a big shout out to the subber(s) - I watched it on Dramacool, and it was not obvious who subbed it.
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