Reborn Rich (2022)

Interesting storyline but the ending .........

Pros: Interesting storyline and plot
- love the grandfather and grandson interaction.
- the way history unfolds and you get to see how they incorporate it into the story
- fast paced
- Lee Sung Min definitely shone in this drama and has no doubt garnered even more fans after this

Cons:
- ML portraying himself as a student. Kdramas are mostly like this and sometimes, they can get away with it. Like the leads in Our Beloved Summer. Those two really looked good in their school uniforms.
- FL. Boring boring boring. Not only her looks, but also her fashion styling and her acting. Don't think she is cut out to be a lead.
From what I have seen in the comments online, many agree that she was not suitable for this role. Her line delivery is predictably boring. She can't even pass as a prosecutor. A male actor would have been better.
- Chaebols fighting over dominance and money. A frequent trope in kdramas. Different actors but still the same greed and money grubbing issues. A bit tiring in its repitiion, but SJK on screen is definitely a worthy watch
- The ending was a big DUH for me. I don't know the actual webtoon ending, but this one AAARRRGGHH... Seriously, is it just me who finds it weird that no one even wondered why Do Jun looked exactly like Hyun Woo????

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Everything Spoiled with a single Episode...

Reborn Rich is the perfect example for how a simple ending episode can ruin all the 16 episodes experience for a drama.. Before I begin i want to Ask the writer why....? For what...? Actually where did your thoughts go wrong in the ending episodes...?

Sad to say this but it is probably the worst ending i ever witnessed in my kdrama career.. A complete let down finale episode.

Until E15 it was brilliant. I meant for studies behind the long lasting journey of the past of soonyang, all the business, tactics and share market and family succession war, every single detail looks super awesome. Also the character development of each and every character. The brilliant jin do jin and his greed, his fire, his swag all the things which i saw through the whole E15 made me wow. And am curious about the ending..but it was nothing and just like every other kdrama may be worse than that.

Logically everything was good. Of course it's a fantasy concept, so you have to accept some things and it was okay till the finale. But in episode 16 everything related to the logic became shit. I have many questions about many things.. and the writer wants to hurry and conclude everything very soon without explaining any of that..

Anyway i actually didn't expect my review would be like this. I was really frustrated and disappointed at the moment. Nothing more to say to be honest i can't accept that ending.. that's all..

Only my personal view...

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One of the best Kdrama!

I know the drama still on going and not reach the end yet but my hand is itchy to give some review. I don’t care what the ending will be but from my personal view, this drama is daebakk! Awesome! Song Jong Ki and all the stars in this drama were awesome and cool! Applaused!

For some people, I am sure they will get confuse, blur and boring because this story more focused on business and for some scene, you will not understand at all what are they talking about. Nah, forget about it. Just focus on the way they were acting and I am impressed how they carried their own role effectively especially for Jong ki and his grandfather (I forgot his name. Lee Soo Man? Or Lee Sung Man?) Song Joon Ki really never disappointed.

And, Do Jun parents later after he reborn were handsome and beautiful. What a good match parents. Ngeee~ I’m not sure if this drama was based on true story. I have no idea. But I really like this drama. Whatever ending this drama would be, I will just accept it because from the start i watch this drama, I just focused on their good acting. And one more thing. I agreed when they said about the function-less of the heroin. Whatever. Enjoy watching!

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Amazing plot with great acting and cinematography

From the same director (Jeong Dae Yoon) from Designated Survivor: 60 Days
Has the same lead actor (Song Joong Ki) from Vinchenzo and Descendant of the Sun
Each episode ends with a cliffhanger
Plot is 11/10
In my Top 5 Kdrama list
Adapted from the web novel "Youngest Son of a Conglomerate" by San Gyung

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Not Good ?Enough

Korean Drama " Reborn Rich " is a revenge drama with a time travel trop.

The drama is quite intense right from the start, with some intriguing characters. But, those who dominated were the main lead (obviously) and the grandfather. Their dynamics were on point and the drama mainly moved around them. The rest of the family members were all deliciously despicable.

However, the drama got quite boring after a while. The time jumps were not smoothly handled, and the romantic subplot was boring. The plot twists, in addition, were overused and that pattern of having a big plot twist in the end of each episode was tiring.

So, overall, three out of ten.

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REBORN RICH

It's quite interesting how this film turned out in the end, to be honest, I was waiting for what the author would do to get out of the past life mess they got into in the first place but kudos to them they got out of it quite well. Many reviews have been talking about how bad the ending is or how bad the story is because it's completely different from the webtoon. I don't read webtoons
and I don't really care about it that much either. I'm a movie critic, I don't care about the actors or the directors I just watch movies to feel good and give my honest opinions about them. Now let's get into the Review.

1. HIS PAST FAMILY - He went to see his family, their restaurant, and everything before his mother died. if he was that concerned about them knowing about their Money woes, Why didn't he just give some money to his former parents...everything would have been easy tbh. You have over 200mil dollars and you still want your past Dad to keep earning that little amount in his AHJIN MOTORS job? That's ridiculous to me. You can say he wasn't too attached to them because he has a new family now but it's not that easy because he basically grew up with them so I feel there would still be an ounce of affection towards them.

2. WHY HIM? - During the course of the movie, I was curious too as to why he, why Hyeon woo because he wasn't related to them in any way so why was he chosen to relive the past life of Do Jun. Well, in the end, we got to know he was at the crime scene so I guess it is because 1. he was the accomplice at the crime scene 2. he had no information about jin do jun. 3. he was another victim of their evil doings.

3. I sympathize with the Grandfather of Soonyang Fr. Watching your children and grandchildren doing wrongful deeds because of inheritance and even being scared for your life because they're trying to kill you is not a good sight one wishes to see.

4. THE ENDING - It was good everything was a dream cos I'd been thinking about how the author would get out of this. it was a nice way to make it seem like repentance. I loved it.

5. HIS LOVE LIFE - I love how his feelings were portrayed in this movie, very short and simple. Those complaining about his love life and how disconnected they felt watching him and the prosecutor are not to be judged either, I understand, But if you've never been in this kind of love you won't really know how it feels. I've been in that kind of love and that was exactly how it felt. It is love to them, the simple things, the little conversations, we all have different ways of expressing our love and that was their way. Besides, the drama isn't about their love life but the life of Do Jun.

As for the final nail in the coffin, the recorded conversation that ended everything. It's an absolute joke and I think it was disrespectful of the writers and authors to think we were fools. To think a flip phone in 2004 can automatically record a conversation as soon as a call was made was absolutely RIDICULOUS.

All in all, it was a very good drama with a good story and moments. like all other Korean dramas out there its ending was not good.

But is REBORN RICH worth the 8.5 rating...Absolutely.

PS: Don't mind my Rewatch value, I can't and I've never watched a movie twice. I'd rather sleep than do that.

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Blood is definitely not thicker than water.

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this was a “liked”/”meh”.

What I liked:
This was a very interesting concept. As someone who is getting older myself, I often wonder what it would be like to go back in time with an idea of what is to come—what would my life be like if I got a “do over”? In this case, its less of a do-over, but a pseudo reincarnation into a life the ML never had. Like most reviewers (probably), I thought Lee Sung Min did an excellent job as the patriarch/tyrant/dictator of the Sooyang Group. I liked that the ML’s love interest was a strong, intelligent woman who was not the elegant ‘lady’ that was characteristic of the women in the Jin family. I like that they got back together right before the JDJ’s end and the ML realized what was worth living for by that point. As awful as this sounds, I liked that Jin Yang Cheol did not have a dignified end. No one who has done that much harm to his family and country deserves to go quietly into the night.

What I did not like so much:
It got a bit draggy in the middle with all the business maneuverings. There came a dreary cycle of JDJ trying to bring down Sooyang, Jin family fights back, JDJ triumphs again, rinse, repeat. JDJ was intelligent but a lot of his ‘brilliance’ came from knowing major national and international events and having the maturity level of several decades in a younger body—in addition to inside knowledge about the company (albeit some decades in the future). I argue that he would definitely have started influencing the future (YWH’s past) once he started influence politics and business at regional and national levels. So, the argument that he was unable to influence major events was weak. The farther he got out from his ‘entry point’ into the timeline and the more influential he got in national politics, the less he would be able to successfully predict the future.

I did not like (though I understood) the affection JDJ began to feel for his grandfather. I didn’t think JYC was a person who deserved any affection or love. In my mind, the best revenge YHW living JDJ’s life could have had was to make money by investing based on his future knowledge, marrying the girl, and living his best life far away from the Jin family toxicity—like on a beach somewhere. Obviously, that would not have made for very long drama, but simply not giving a d*** about Sooyang when an entire family was literally trying to murder each other over it is the best revenge.

Minor dislike: I wish they would have used a different actor for YHW. He’s only in the first and last episode and then some memories so picking a different actor would not have overshadowed SJK as the ML. OR they should have done the thing where he has a different face when he looks in the mirror or is in photos. The two men looking identical just didn’t make any sense especially since no one seemed to notice.

Other thoughts:
Holy toxic family, Batman! What, exactly, was the point!? They were all miserable. Jin Yang Cheol was an awful person who loved money more than anything. He treated his wife like dirt, cheated on her, and made her raise his son born out of wedlock (and not sure why she put up with it, since she turned out to be strong and clever on her own). He wanted his children to be strong and independent enough to take over the business after him, but he did not raise them to be that way (because if they were, then they would not obey him blindly in everything). His children, with the exception of one, married whom they were told to marry so no one was happy and no one supported each other—even the in-laws hated each other. Literally no one was happy, so what were they all fighting for!?

Obviously I finished this, so it never caused me to drop it in disgust. I love Song Joong Ki so that’s why I started it and it held my interest enough to finish it. I will definitely not rewatch. The suspense is what kept me going and now that my questions are answered…I don't see any reason to go back.

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Great start, but underwhelming towards the end

I decided to watch this because other than revenge, I thought the storyline about the male lead, Yoon Hyun Woo (Song Joong Ki) being ‘reborn’ as the youngest grandson of the family, was intriguing.

The good

. The pace of the drama was fast, especially the first half and no episode was boring in the first half or at least up till the passing of Lee Sung Min’s character.
. Some references to real incidents that happened in Korean modern history, like the Korean Financial Crisis 1997 and Korean soccer team getting into the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2002, etc. This made the story realistic and viewers had glimpses of the effects these incidents had on Korea at that time.
. I totally enjoyed the acting of Lee Sung Min as Jin Yang Cheol. He was convincing as the patriarch of the family. Powerful and fearless. His acting was so exceptional that there was always something to look forward to in every scene of his. For me, the drama went downhill after his character passed away, I can say that his passing left a huge void in the story and it was not as enjoyable for me after that.

The bad

. I didn’t understand how and why Yoon Hyun Woo was reborn as the youngest grandson of the family or was he even reborn and did Yoon Hyun Woo even die? I thought I understood initially but when the ending came and then the somewhat vague explanations, I didn’t get the logic.
. There were some business terms or concepts in the drama that I didn’t quite understand, for example buying the company subsidiary’s bank card at an exorbitantly high price will lead to a drastic decrease in one’s share ownership of the company…or was it like that? In any case, I didn’t quite get it fully.

My Verdict

The writing was typical of many Korean revenge dramas that involve conglomerate companies. It was dramatic and fast-paced with schemes and plots one after another, one side seemingly out-winning the other side, but actually not because there was another even more intelligent plot planned by the latter, etc. Basically to sum up the story in a sentence, viewers were just pressing on to watch how the revenge by Yoon Hyun Woo/Jin Do Jun (his name when he was the youngest grandson) would gradually and eventually have the conglomerate land in his hands.

For me, I enjoyed watching the acting of Lee Sung Min. Not one scene was boring with him. As for Song Joong Ki, I didn’t think his acting was exceptional, it was just passable, same for the rest of the cast. However, I liked that Song Joong Ki’s character was not just thinking about revenge throughout the entire drama, he had his soft side, towards his grandpa, Jin Yang Cheol and the woman he loved. I also liked the OST that was played every time he showed his soft side. It was a melodious but melancholic Korean song.

Towards the last few episodes, especially after Jin Yang Cheol passed away, the writing was boring to me, worsened by my difficulty in comprehending some of the business logic and then what with the confusing last episode, my overall enjoyment of the drama was reduced. I would say that this drama captured my imagination in the beginning, hence a 8.5/10, but towards the end, it dropped to 7.5/10 for me.

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A Begining that deserves such ending

Yo right i think Reborn Rich got the ending it deserved. I didn't like the ending very much but still Our main lead survived & the person who died was already dead when the show began & it was just a time travel.

I mean if I've to say the ending was bad than I can't ignore that Begining was the Shitiest than.... The illogical story started from ep 1, what happened in the end was to clean that and the outcome of that storyline that was formed.

The Person who was there in the beginning survived till the end.

Jin Do Jun was someone we all got attached too because like the storyline was too perfect from ep 2 to 15 & no one can quesn that

But we forgot that it was Jin Do Jun's aim to Buy SoonYang not of Yoon Hyun woo. He got his revenge in the end & that's perfect from his pov although he was there only for 2 eps. Bad happened with Jin Do Jun but we were already listening the story of a person who was dead to begin with.

The time travel, the possession of a diff. body was something i can't digest even from the start.... but if i managed to get okay with that... I'm gonna accept the ending too.

Overall it was a 10/10 from ep 2 to ep 15

& I'll rate it a 7/10 for Start & end episodes (they weren't completely bad they fit well with the storyline) but I'm still raiting it 7 because they might have ended in some other decent way.

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Dysfunctional, chaotic life of the incredibly wealthy mixed in with revenge and time travelling

This is a really interesting premise that I don't know if I've seen in dramas before, mainly just webtoons which makes sense because this is an adaptation. And of course, the male lead is Song Joong Ki, who is definitely a big draw. I enjoyed Vincenzo and was looking forward to watching Reborn Rich too, but after watching them both I definitely have a preference.

THE PLOT
I feel like they tried to cram as much as possible into 16 episodes and as a result, it got confusing and was going everywhere. I was really looking forward to watching this and binge watched this over a few days during the Christmas holidays but mid-way through it got a bit draggy. I think because so much happens and time moves quickly as well in the show that it's easy to get confused and lost interest. You know its a bad sign when you think to yourself, oh good only 3 episodes left.

Another reason is that I felt like the theme / direction the show was going in was not consistent throughout. I thought that the ML's main motivation was to take revenge against those who had killed him in his past life, but it felt like it started being more of a suspense drama and at one point it just felt like he was trying to be a good grandson. What about your revenge??

Things picked up again in the last episode but then the ending was disappointing. There was a big reveal and things get resolved, but I'm left with questions. Is this the same timeline or a different one?
Why does noone recognize him in this timeline if he looks EXACTLY the same? <-- This was my biggest issue and I just couldn't get over it.

THE ACTING
Despite my criticisms of the plot, the acting and how the characters were portrayed were excellent. One of my favourite characters was his aunt, Hwa Young, who was an awful person but SO entertaining to watch. And the grandma! Wow.
This is a show full of villains and the entire Jin family is so messed up.

THE ROMANCE
I love Hospital Playlist and it's cool seeing Shin Hyun Bin in a new role. There is just so much happening in this drama though and I feel like because their screentime together was so sporadic, I wasn't very invested in their relationship and was focused on other details in the plot. The romance was too fleeting and infrequent for me. Too much angst in this with not enough caring on my end.

HIGHLIGHTS
--Do Jun's schemes and screwing over his aunt and uncle
--heartwarming moments with Do Jun and his grandpa
--cheeky references to the present like the FIFA World Cup and talking about cellphones

THEMES
--the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, privilege and how it changes the trajectory of your life
--parents doing anything for their kids

7-7.5/10

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