18 Again (2020)

MUST WATCH or You Will Regret Not Watching This.

The title and plot may seem misleading at first like some random cheesy fantasy story. But it is none of that. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY ONE OF MY FAVORITE DRAMAS EVER, PERIOD. I literally finished a box of tissues watching this because I kept getting so emotional watching this. This is something anyone can and should watch no matter what genre they prefer I feel. This is a warm heart touching family drama. And let me just say the actors are phenomenal, to make me cry this much takes skill. I loved the acting of each character because they portrayed everything so well, I don't think anyone could've done better. Also, every OST is really good too so another plus. I HIGHLY recommend people to give this a chance. It will touch on the hardships and sacrifices of family and the warmth this show has really hit me. It deals with many psychological things as well and it's just so sweet to watch all the relationships and the love family have for each other. Please watch this, you won't regret it. Also, when I watch dramas usually I am tapping the 10-second skip button a lot for the boring parts, but for 18 again I watched every second.

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18 Again , A Surprisingly Heartwarming Drama...

For those who don’t know, “18 Again” regurgitates the same fundamental premise of the American movie“ 17 again” (2009’). Yet rather than having Matthew Perry in a rugged business suit moping around for most of the opening of the movie, we are instead introduced to Yoon Sang Hyun ( Secret Garden, I Can Hear Your Voice) playing our very different protagonist, Hong Dae- Young.

In a slightly similar manner to his American character counterpart, Dae- Young isn’t living a happy life- his job as a practical handyman brings in only enough for him to survive, he is in the process of a divorce with his former teen sweetheart, Jung Da-jung ( Kim Ha Neul) and to make matters worse, he has totally lost touch with trying to connect with his two children Hong Shi-ah ( Roh Jeong Eui) and Hong Shi-woo( Ryeoun) since they have entered their teen years . A surprising miracle , however, allows Dae- Young to return back to his 18 year-old self ( Lee Do Hyun) as he attempts to relive his glory days back at high-school.

On the other hand, whilst comical misunderstandings from generation gaps to Dae Young’s best friend, Go Deok-jin ( Kim Kang Hyun) having to pose as his father are undeniably taken from the movie for comical effect ,
where the drama divulges in plot from the original movie is by adding a more bittersweet and crisp level of characterisation and backstory to our characters for viewers .

Whilst Sang- Hyun felt a strange and respectfully mismatched choice as the older counterpart of Lee Do Hyun, it soon became apparent how both actors were able to perfectly mimic the other in a fairly complicated manner. Do Hyun had to juggle between portraying his version of Dae-Young and Dae-Young’s new alias, Go Woo- Young in a mature lighting , whereas evidently Sang-Hyun had to channel the elements of being a high schooler again when the camera reverts Do Hyun back to his “ true-self”.

Respectfully this is also thanks to fairly good characterisation as well- rather than merely writing off Do Hyun as a love struck clown like in the movie ready to win back his wife . The reasons behind Do Hyun’s estranged relationship with Da- Jung and his children are far more complicated as a consequence of his biggest challenge in the drama , being to overcome his personal struggle by attaining an altruistic perspective for others, rather than allowing his past problems to consume his sense of identity .

In addition to this one of the most surprising examples of characterisation in the show had to be with Shi-ah ( Roh Jeong Eui), the teenage daughter of Do Hyun. Although Shi- ah appears in the first few episodes of the drama as a stereotypical teen through milking her father for cash , obsessed with her looks and a rebel at school , Shi-ah’s reasons for doing so are actually a lot more complicated than they first appear. Perhaps my only slightly annoyance with Shi-ah’s character portrayal was the desire to pair her off with the cliche of the dreaded stereotype of the “ goody two shoes” childhood friend ( Choi Bo Min) as well as disturbingly the bully of her brother ( Hwang In Yeop). It wasn’t that Shi- ah shouldn’t have had a romantic pairing in the show, however, it took away a lot of focus away from Shi-ah’s own story and familial relationships as an individual more than anything else.

On one note of appraisal, however, In Yeop’s character, Goo Ja- sung wasn’t written off like his American counterpart as merely just the “ superficial bully” of the story. Similar to a lot of real-life scenarios, Ja- Sung is a product of his own unhappy environment and thus only begins to learn from his mistakes as a consequence of others like Shi- ah and Dae- Young showing empathy towards him. This is perfectly shown is a tragicomic scene in one later episode of the series where after a certain incident, Dae- Young is able to bond with Ja-Sung (despite his initial anger over bullying his son ) over a similar incident also happening to him . Whilst a fairly sad and heartwarming scene, a great misunderstanding by Ja- Sung over Deok-Jin ( pretending to be Dae-Young’s father) leads him to comically claiming that Deok- Jin doesn’t “ seem the type” to do so.


This naturally moves us onto Ha- Neul as Da- Jung. Initially Ha- Neul’s portrayal as Da- Jung came off a bit too headstrong in the first several scenes of her character introduction, however, as the drama progresses Ha- neul peels back another layer to her character as rather than just a comical plot device through her portrayal of Da- Jung as an individual. Da- Jung’s past with Do Hyun from teen lovers to on the brink of a divorce offers Da- Jung new opportunities as a working news reporter and rekindled connections with her children, yet it also faces her with conflicting over rekindling the past by holding onto memories of Do Hyun as well as her friendship with Choo Ae- Rin ( Lee Mi do) or a new interest in baseball player Ye Ji- hoon ( Wi Ha Joon). Initially whilst Da-Jung’s character was fairly strong, a problem which clearly manifests near the ending of the show is the anticlimactic finale- it isn’t necessarily that the actual ending itself needed to be changed, however, the quality of logic by the end of the show or climaxes seemed to fizzle into nothingness at the end of episode 16.

Obviously not entirely touching new ground with the concept, 18 Again was rough around the edges in parts due to anticlimactic storylines, cliches and again an indulgence of product placement later on in the show ( without rhyme or reason in some cases). On the other hand, there’s no denying that overall 18 Again was one of the few decent dramas overall of 2020 with good acting , casting as well as fairly good characterisation amongst a bittersweet storyline . Although not flawless, 18 Again is a perfect drama to watch if you want something which will touch your heart.

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Beautiful, heartwarming story about life choices and regret

This is a must-watch if you're in for a heartwarming love/family story without the stupid draggy drama tropes.
Bound to give you some inspiration in life and some words of encouragement.

The premise is very simple: like the original US film 17 Again,
18 Again is about the male lead being unhappy with his life and his body suddenly goes back to when he was 18
So you have two actors (one "old" and one "young") playing the same character
and learning about what it means to appreciate the mundane daily life
and what it means to love someone even when real life gets hard
(but like, realistic "trying to make enough money to live" "trying to chase after your career dream" hard, not "chaebol mother kimchi slaps" or "ultimate bad guy is here to kill us all" hard)

10/10 to the acting because Lee Do-hyun absolutely slayed!
Playing a 40+-year-old soul in a 18-year-old body, he really did have that chemistry with his costar Kim Ha-neul
The way he looks at her with so many mixed emotions and the way the characters interact really makes me forget that Lee Do-hyun is a young new rising star.
Of course the other actors also added a lot to the story telling. I don't think there's a bad apple in the cast at all.

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" Hello, hello... hellooo"

Story- The story came from a western movie, 17 Again starring Zach Efron. Although it's not original, you can tell that this has more depth and focuses on family matters/issues. Just a reminder tho that you need a box of kleenex. lol. The flashbacks will make you bawl, it's heart wrenching but beautiful at the same time. I don't want to get into details 'coz I want the viewers to feels first hand all the emotions while watching.

Acting- Mad RESPECT for LDH's acting it's SIMPLY FLAWLESS!!!I love him in HDL,he was able to capture the heart of many eventhough he was just given a little screentime, but here, he's on a different level. YSH is a veteran actor but he gave LDH the spotlight. All the side characters/actors did an excellent job, it's not only the main leads that makes this drama exceptional but every single one of them. The roles fit them perfectly, so kuddos also to casting director.

Music- Don't get me started with the OST's. Whenever I hear the " Hello, hello... hellooo" bgm coming, I would grab my box of kleenex, believe me you need one.lol

Rewatch- If only I don't have tons of cdramas/kdramas lined up I would definitely rewatch this gain and again (like torturing myself)! lol.

Overall- This drama is a must watch! Give it a try and you'll never regret!!! Hands down!

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Heartwarming but empty

18 Again is a beautiful story that doesn't really go anywhere. While I enjoyed the journey, in the end I'm left wondering what all of it was for. To explain what I mean, 18 Again is the retelling of the movie 17 Again, and that's the first problem. It's a retelling of a movie, and it's a 16 episode drama. To make up for that extra time, a lot of conflict and story and character development needs to be added if it wants to keep the attention of its audience and still deliver the impact of the story. And honestly, at first it didn't really feel like it was falling short of that. The family of Hong Dae Young and Jung Da Jung is broken and believable. Each member of the family has their own life to live and worries, and problems that need to be addressed before it reaches its finale. There's definitely a lot more character in this drama than there was in that movie, because there needed to be. But maybe not enough.

HDY's marriage is falling apart, and he doesn't really know why. He and his wife argue a lot and he's frustrated by the situation he's found himself in after giving up on his dreams of being a basketball player to support his high school sweetheart and their twins. He lost his chance at glory and years down the road, with their marriage crumbling, he's starting to feel regret. Through some magical, not really explained means, HDY becomes young again. He has a second chance to live the life he could have had before. Honestly, it's not a bad premise. It's fun and heartwarming to watch him befriend his children and get to know his family all over again as a classmate and not a father/husband, but that's about all the show does. He gets to know his children, stalks his wife, and misses them until he inevitably gets them back. There are minor conflicts sprinkled throughout to keep you interested, and about a million fake-outs of his wife or someone else finding out who he is, but the stakes are low and there's never anything to worry about - the worst that could happen, which obviously was not going to happen, was that the wife was going to end up with the second lead.

Shows like this rely on interpersonal relationships to really make you feel things, and there doesn't need to be an element of danger for a drama to be interesting. But conflict can take many forms, and without it, a story is made up of fluff. I cared about the characters but they weren't doing much of anything.

I have to say though, the moments that matter were done well. I wanted to see the couple back together, I wanted the children to succeed, and I did have fun along the way. The relationship with HDY and his kids was sweet and wholesome, and I did look forward to more episodes week to week. It was only after finishing it that I was able to take a step back and really assess the time I'd spent with these characters and what it all meant. I realized that the hype and emotions I felt at the start never went anywhere, and while the ending left me satisfied on one front, it left me realizing just how little story there was.

I could sit here and nitpick all of the details of this drama that left me unsatisfied. But at the end of the day, I enjoyed it. And, if you're looking for a story that does a good job portraying the average couple, that doesn't romanticize marriage like so many romances do and that makes you feel like the relationship they have is real, this is right up your alley. It's fun, it's cute, and parts of it will melt your heart. Just remember going into it that what you see is what you get, and it may fall short on substance after you meet that halfway mark.

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A sea of subplots

If this drama is a plate of food, it had the best ingredients and beef but the chef is panicking so he added all the spices available in the kitchen, then overcooked it because he's afraid the meat will be rare. Because they have to make a 16 episode drama, they give you a lot of side stories forcefully crammed in the storyline. To be fair, sometimes I complained because the supporting characters are not given enough story depth, but 18 Again was too much in doing that. Most of the latter half of the drama is filled with all these stories and they successfully reduced my interest. I also admit that I loved the comedic parts of these stories but no, we don't need the stalker, we don't need Ye Ji Hoon's brother and his story, probably Choi Il-gwon is not necessary too. There are already enough flashbacks and more important side stories to focus on.

The casts are doing good job in their roles, especially Lee Do Hyun who successfully portrayed the 18-year old and 37-year old parts. There is no awkwardness when he is in romantic scenes with Kim Ha Neul. Yoon Sang Hyun on the other hand also managed to express frustrations and regrets to the viewers very well.

Music is generally nice, but not that super memorable. Why? Blame "Hello" for that. The song is a bit overused and in the end your mind just randomly playing "hello... hello...". So yes it managed to stick on me, but as a nuisance.

Overall this drama is quite enjoyable because the story is actually nice and full of life lessons, just skip the unfunny side stories.

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1 plot, 100 subplots

the keyword here was 18 "again", they just kept repeating things and branching out their subplots more and more. I don't blame them becasue they had to make a 2 hour movie into a 16 hour drama but they should've atleast only did 8eps. or at some point they should've made the ml forget his family and try to live his dream as it was intended, but after his wish suddenly he was chasing his kids and hanging out around his wife/getting jealous every two seconds.

the good;
the family bonds
the friendships
the friendships in the family
the acting was nice
the directing was beautiful (ie the cinematography)
the comedy was sometimes good


the bad;
the existence of the 2nd lead
the 2nd leads backstory and his over confident and selfish personality (his flirting got on my nerve)
Deok Jin and Hae In's over complicated dragged out romance (we can't be together for blah blah reason)
and basically every plot unrelated to the fact that the ml was young again
the 1st ten or twenty mins and the last 5mins were the only thing plot related, suddenly they'd go out to eat
ep14-16 and the endless breakup was just horrible that made me reduce my ratings from 8.5 to 7
the ost was nice but that Hello Hello song was overused that it got on my nerve
there's a saying, "if you don't have a plot add a stalker" and guess what, they did
the work drama around the mom was "realistic" but they even got to ruin that, for 1- everyone randomly hated her, and 2- suddenly everyone forgot (I'm mostly talking about the boss)


and I never rewatch stuff

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Not a typical or cliché', shattered all my expectations

Cheerful with a happy ending, but to deliver that ending It went through a whole punch of social problems such as, bullying, divorce, starting late, sexual harassment , discrimination and early marriage.
A couple is getting divorced after a long love marriage, and we have no idea why. All we can see is how they are doing in their late thirties, comparing them to the dreamy image they had as teens when she was a pretty girl, and he was the tall dark and handsome athlete. As we watch, we can notice that their relationship was hit by silence as time passed. Each one of them has become an introvert, and the lack of money added more fuel to their problems. Even the support one offered to the other wasn't understood or made any echo in this silence between them. One of them sacrificed the life dreams to support the other, and one who couldn't see anything but the laziness and the anger of the other one didn't know it's just a hidden bitterness.
Somehow the husband became 18 again, and a chain of comic situations start to happen between him and the member of his family. He became a friend who is active in their lives, not a distant father.
Acting is so good especially from Lee Do Hyun. Other actors are also good, yet they really look much older than the age of 37.
Soundtrack is amazing, and the message and the ending are so perfect with a great perspective of the concepts of marriage, life, regret, dreams, and work. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

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Beautiful moments surrounded by nothing.

Here’s the thing - I liked the show when it started airing. I knew few people thought this type of plot might not work out with a drama format, but I was still full of hope. At some point, though, I had to admit they were right and I was wrong.

This show should be 12 episodes long at best. Preferable 6 to 10. It should focus on exactly 3 plotlines: Da Jung and Dae Young, Dae Young and his kids, and Da Jung’s job/dream. They should fill the episodes with school drama, as a lot of interactions were happening there. You can even keep the bullying and teen romance. But why, oh why do we need a love triangle? Why do we need a 2nd couple/romance? Why do we need all the scenes and interactions between Deok Jin and Ae Rin? Why do we need that Il Kwon mess? Or what was the point of this mystery photographer guy? There is so much going on in this show, and yet it feels like nothing is happening. All the most memorable moments that were truly meaningful were the family interactions. We do not need that many filler plots.

The last two episodes were some whole new level of cliche and stereotypes. When you have 2 cars of doom for the price of one, you know you've hit the jackpot. The back story about Ji Hoon's brother being connected to Dae Young was unnecessary and presented in the worst possible way. Such an emotional scene and yet, I could not stop laughing when the 2nd car came out of nowhere.

I don't even want to talk about the last minute "I'm breaking up with you for your own good" plot, because that trope just needs to die, or at least take a few years break from appearing on screen.

The highlights? All the scenes between Dae Young and his kids, both in the past and present. The slow realization he had about mistakes he made, the gradual learning that Dae Young actually cared a lot for Shi Ah and Shi Woo. These are the scenes I will remember after the show ends, and these are the ones that moved my heart the most. These were the gems that made me cry so many times, and if the show focused more on the actually important parts (relationships between main characters), chances are it might have gotten a 10 out of me.

For the acting, Lee Do Hyun aced the role. There are quite a few shows with the “younger actor playing an older character after body switch”, but none of the actors were as believable as Do Hyun. I trust this guy with my life. What do I see? Bright future ahead of him. His talent will lead him to some great roles and amazing projects.

Overall, the acting was on point. The emotional scenes were emotional, happy and funny scenes were just that: happy and funny. No areas of complaint here. Some people might dislike a few overacting moments from Lee Mi Do, Kim Kang Hyun and Kim Yoo Ri, but it was clearly a stylistic choice that has nothing to do with the acting skills of the actors themselves.

Usually I don’t pay that much attention to the soundtrack, unless it’s truly outstanding. Here, I liked quite a few songs, especially Sohyang’s Hello, which truly elevated the emotional scenes to a new level. Not to mention Sondia, who became one of my favorite ost singers, with an amazingly sweet and warm voice.

Overall, nice show, but skippable. I stayed for the parents and kids relationship and Lee Do Hyun’s acting. Even though I am massively disappointed by the obvious ending and last two episodes, the scenes between the family still made me tear up a bit and it shows how amazing this drama could have been if it was not for the unnecessary sub-plots.

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Funny and a tad corny. Based on the American movie 17 again

For me, there are only 2 reasons to watch this drama: Lee Do Hyun and Lee Mi Do.

Lee Do Hyun for his really good performance as a 37 year old miserable father trapped inside his handsome 18yr old self. I totally believed he was this ajusshi which is why the age gap with Kim Ha Neul didn't bother me one bit. I thought they had great chemistry and he nailed the yearning which made me want them to get back together so bad. I also thought Do Hyun's interactions with his daughter were so funny as I totally could see Yoon Sang Hyun in Do hyun's acting which is why I think he did such a good job.

As for Lee Mi Do, she was just the side BFF, but she just stole every scene that she was in. She was so funny and I love her confidence. The elevator scene where she can't give CPR to Kim Gang Hyun because he grosses her out cracked me up! Or the bar scene where she tried to seduce him was even funnier. Her looks of disgust make me laugh out loud and just speaks to my sense of humor.

The script has a lot of problems though especially making most of the characters change their dispositions suddenly so that they are redeemed. It's really predictable too and tends to cross the line into sappy and corny at times, but it had just enough comedy and romance that made this more enjoyable than not, especially when these two actors were on.

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