Reborn: Saigo no Hero (2026)

"People can change completely depending upon the circumstances"

Takahashi Issei playing a dual role was all the motivation I needed to watch Reborn. The drama had an interesting premise but failed to capitalize on it for most of the episodes. While Issei was fascinating to watch as two different characters, much of the story failed to engage me.

Neo Kosei began working in relief organizations gaining a good reputation. He propelled that quickly into a corporation that capitalized on others' misfortunes. He comforted himself by saying that the sacrifice of a few gave greater gains to the many. (I kept hearing a quote regarding Ebenezer Scrooge going through my head during this drama. "I have seen your nobler aspirations fall off one by one, until the master passion, Gain, engrosses you," Belle from A Christmas Carol.) When Neo takes a tumble down a temple staircase, he awakens in the body of Nomoto Eito in 2012, who coincidentally looks just like Neo. Eito was supposed to have died in an accident and yet now Neo is walking around in his body and part of the Akari Shopping Street that Neo had destroyed in 2026. Eito/Neo finds himself competing against himself as he tries to save the Akari shopkeepers and gain his old life back. Despite Eito/Neo’s attempts to change the future, the alley and his own life seem on a collision course with the known future and terrible price to pay.

As I said, the premise is worthy of a drama. The problem was the implementation. Chiefly, the shopkeepers weren’t well written. There were three that were often in the shot but rarely called by name. Most came across as amiable but financially incompetent and worse kept electing Eito’s dad, the financially inept Eiji, as chairperson or president. He was maddeningly bad with money and relied on himself instead of Eito/Neo which repeatedly made the situations go from bad to worse. There was a reason the street was failing. Eito’s love interest was kept hanging for 14 years which stretched the bounds of credulity. To top it off, the ending was unsatisfying and left numerous questions unanswered. If not for Takahashi Issei I would have rated this lower but gave it a .5 bump for him. Watchable, but frustrating.

16 June 2026

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People Can Change!!!, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse ...

This series was a little difficult for me throughout the first episode. It was just a bit slow moving and kind of difficult to see where it was heading ... BUT, give it a chance. By the end of the first hour or so, a great story plot emerges. You'll really be pulled into it with great anticipation for future episodes. Episode 5 takes the series to a higher level, the story goes into a direction you don't see coming and goes from good to great.
It's not a new story, one person landing in another person's body after an accident, but this story has a bit of a twist to it. The person goes back to the past and is trying to save and change the future with the knowledge he knows from living through it already. ... but like I said, there are several twists and turns that cause positive and negative results.
Without giving away the final episode, that last 30 minutes you will not figure out what's coming. Several major story plots revealed, sending everything into a shocking conclusion.
Issei Takahashi is absolutely fantastic playing a dual role. Two totally different characters and he truly gives them such opposite personalities. It really is great entertainment to watch him perform. He uses a line at the very end that really puts this series into a nutshell ... "Maybe God likes to keep things balanced, good and bad things always seem to take turns"
It's so true in this series. Definitely a must watch!!!

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