This review may contain spoilers
Sweet horrific romance
Full marks for the extreme angst of the romance. A drama that does not play around with the enemies to lovers, it truly is as blatantly dark and bloody as can be for the character's romantic set up of entangled karma. The deep conflict within Ri Ta is so palpable with both the hate and sympathy that clenches her heart and soul for Do Ha who slaughtered her father on the battle field and also executed her mother and entire household in front of her. She didn't witness the battlefield so that would be one thing if she fell for her father's murderer, but she watched him personally execute her mom. That would normally be the deal breaker for anyone, but she tries to assassinate him as well as a untrained former rich girl could and gets stabbed in the shoulder, though spared by him to serve and hide in his household in secret while he gives her some training to kill him properly. She learns he's murder machine Cinderella for his adopted father who uses him to gain glory and higher position at court while also deeply jealous that his puppet that risks his life for him is awarded with attention from the king. Her heart can't help but soften as she sees him with a constant death wish, breaking for him as he muses aloud how the only person that wishes him to live is his would be assassin, falling in love with him, but still horrified when he uses his killing skills to kill countless people for her in place of killing for his adopted father. The scene where she stops him from killing a child is truly chilling and she knows she has to kill him save others hunting them just as he had killed her family as an example to quell her people and save them from being killed. His dying breaths is stopping he from killing herself immediately, telling her to live, but his spirit forgets already in the moment he left his body what his lingering feelings keeping him to her are and in the succeeding 19 lifetimes of reincarnations that he watches over her.
Ri Ta's 19th life is Young Hwa, who is a dogged firefighter who may have a bit of anger issues, at least ones that are triggered by popular actor Jun Oh. She's unintentionally framed for excessive violence against her kidnappers who were left severely injured by the Do Ha possessed Jun Oh. An example of the kinds of victim blaming laws that may or may not be real in Korean, but there certainly real life examples of such injustices. She's suspended for a few months which gives her time to become Do Ha's personal bodyguard for a while as she slowly recalls her past life through her dreams which she initially could not remember, but could now seem to retain the memory of now that she's within the vicinity of the person she's been dreaming of. This could have been better explained in the show, but it can still be taken as so through observation. Her life time is unique in that she's the only one that can see him, remember him, looks like Ri Ta and also got to receive the special lotus seed amulet that she had received from Do Ha as a wedding gift as Ri Ta. There's no explanation for why Jun Oh looks like Do Ha. Young Hwa doesn't have any feelings of person hood separation despite her life and personality being absolutely different than Ri Ta, she accepts that she's the same person. Both sets of parents are dead, but the trauma is different and Young Hwa still lives a loving and fulfilling life, perhaps she is who Ri Ta would have been all along. Her 20th life reincarnation being the same kind of upbeat personality seems to suggest so, that this is who her soul would always be if not in such dire circumstances. It's strange that even though she accepts her memories as Ri Ta, she still calls Do Ha as Jun Oh and not by his actual name even when they're not in public around people who already know the truth.
Do Ha's supernatural ghost abilities and limitations is very inconsistent. He can affect the lights a little bit to his will, which was funny when she challenges to do more than just the ones around them outside at night and even he found silly. He seems to have healing powers to be able to resuscitate the dead, terminally ill body he occupies. At first he was prone to fainting symptoms just as Jun Oh originally dealt with from the cancer, but then that just disappears towards the end of the drama. Jun Oh whose prognosis was death from every doctor his brother Min Oh consulted is suddenly able to recover within a year of chemotherapy. I do like the set up of Do Ha being able to access Jun Oh's memories as needed and Jun Oh retaining a little bit of Do Ha's personality and feelings for Young Hwa, but not enough to have transference of love or anything, just enough to deliver Do Ha's final letter to Young Hwa for closure to the 19 lives of strife so that they start her 20th fresh with Do Ha again after living a full life.
The angst and chemistry between the lead characters is great, but the stiff jpeg kisses AND stiff hugs takes you out of the immersion of the intensity of the show. They don't need to do much, just kiss and hug in an organic way. It's all the more flummoxing when they do get to do one scene of organic kissing at the end. It's like they're only allowed one like an F word in a PG 13 American film.
Ri Ta's 19th life is Young Hwa, who is a dogged firefighter who may have a bit of anger issues, at least ones that are triggered by popular actor Jun Oh. She's unintentionally framed for excessive violence against her kidnappers who were left severely injured by the Do Ha possessed Jun Oh. An example of the kinds of victim blaming laws that may or may not be real in Korean, but there certainly real life examples of such injustices. She's suspended for a few months which gives her time to become Do Ha's personal bodyguard for a while as she slowly recalls her past life through her dreams which she initially could not remember, but could now seem to retain the memory of now that she's within the vicinity of the person she's been dreaming of. This could have been better explained in the show, but it can still be taken as so through observation. Her life time is unique in that she's the only one that can see him, remember him, looks like Ri Ta and also got to receive the special lotus seed amulet that she had received from Do Ha as a wedding gift as Ri Ta. There's no explanation for why Jun Oh looks like Do Ha. Young Hwa doesn't have any feelings of person hood separation despite her life and personality being absolutely different than Ri Ta, she accepts that she's the same person. Both sets of parents are dead, but the trauma is different and Young Hwa still lives a loving and fulfilling life, perhaps she is who Ri Ta would have been all along. Her 20th life reincarnation being the same kind of upbeat personality seems to suggest so, that this is who her soul would always be if not in such dire circumstances. It's strange that even though she accepts her memories as Ri Ta, she still calls Do Ha as Jun Oh and not by his actual name even when they're not in public around people who already know the truth.
Do Ha's supernatural ghost abilities and limitations is very inconsistent. He can affect the lights a little bit to his will, which was funny when she challenges to do more than just the ones around them outside at night and even he found silly. He seems to have healing powers to be able to resuscitate the dead, terminally ill body he occupies. At first he was prone to fainting symptoms just as Jun Oh originally dealt with from the cancer, but then that just disappears towards the end of the drama. Jun Oh whose prognosis was death from every doctor his brother Min Oh consulted is suddenly able to recover within a year of chemotherapy. I do like the set up of Do Ha being able to access Jun Oh's memories as needed and Jun Oh retaining a little bit of Do Ha's personality and feelings for Young Hwa, but not enough to have transference of love or anything, just enough to deliver Do Ha's final letter to Young Hwa for closure to the 19 lives of strife so that they start her 20th fresh with Do Ha again after living a full life.
The angst and chemistry between the lead characters is great, but the stiff jpeg kisses AND stiff hugs takes you out of the immersion of the intensity of the show. They don't need to do much, just kiss and hug in an organic way. It's all the more flummoxing when they do get to do one scene of organic kissing at the end. It's like they're only allowed one like an F word in a PG 13 American film.
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