18 Again

Eighteen Again, is a tearjerker, I came to say this upfront of a lengthier review down below! As long as you don't hate getting wet eyes, you will enjoy this drama a lot, feel sad and sad, and sad again, and cry like a baby, within every episode, every time the lead interacts with his kids, comforts his sweetheart and is reminded of his past, the flashbacks, the epilogues!

STORY:

THIS IS A VERY BEAUTIFUL FAMILY DRAMA! It's deep, relatable and heart wrenching!

From the lead's relationship with his Father, with his wife's Mother. to his friendship/ father-kids relationships, to the heart-breaking relationship of him as a high school minor who is always there to comfort the mom of his two kids. Each and every bond is carefully written and the result is something very precious. full of life lessons.

Characters/CAST: Great job done! Kudos to LEE DO HYUN, I couldn't hold my emotions in check whenever I looked into her eyes, which were frequently red and in tears, yet sparkling as bright as a star other times!

Kim Ha Neul was simply gorgeous, Yoon Sang Hyun very charming, Roh Jeong Eui cute and sweet, Ryeoun, calm and a bright star.

I also want to praise the young actress portraying teenager Jung Da Jung. Her expressions were so sincere and genuine. Every time she was on screen, my heart felt her pains, and ached for her. She did a stunning performance! She deserves lots of support and love!

Soundtrack/Music:

Hello, I'm telling you With a trembling smile, that I love you Hello, that in these dazzling and beautiful times It's you I will remember forever"

I would rate the music 10/10 even if "Hello" by Sohyang, was the only song/instrumental piece used in the whole drama. It was such a heavenly beautiful and perfectly emotional piece. It's a legendary soundtrack.

RE-WATCH: Surely, if I get times, I'll re-watch this, probably with my cousin who recently got into KDRAMA, and already have great taste.

OVERALL: Surely there might be some unnecessary plot devices, cliche and even extended 2nd lead screen times, but it's just I don't care at all, I was so invested in these characters, and loved them sincerely and was rooting for them all along, I couldn't bring myself to rate it below a perfect 10! It's highly recommended, EVERYONE and ANYONE can get hooked as they're done with the first episode, and fall in love with it as soon as watching 3rd episode's epilogue.

I can guarantee that. 99.0000000000000000%

I really love this drama and the cast a lot. Great work filming crew, making so good drama. People who did not watch it are missing out a fantastic drama. So watch it :)

This drama demonstrates hidden/ unspoken struggles in different characters. Either in between husband and wife or parents and children. Well written script. Very well done!

This well made and carefully crafted series. The story takes the premise of the Zac Efron movie and goes way beyond to explore many angles of the family relationships between a man and his children, his wife and his own father. Every episode has something touching and the situations don't seem contrived but evolve quite naturally. Of course the element of suspense about who and when he will be discovered keeps things interesting. It also feels even quite deep when he ponders his life choices in giving up basketball and the sacrifices of an early marriage and kids and later divorce. There is quite a lot going on in the story both in school and at the wife's work in broadcasting. This keeps the 16 episodes filled and even includes a sports bribery thing. Lee Do Hyun is quite convincing at acting as an older man in a teenager's body. As the adults, Yoon Sang Hyun acts quite beaten down and sad at times. Kim Ha Neul does act like she had a hard life. Something in the Rain fans may recognize Wi Ha Joon as a baseball player. The kids are cute too. The soundtrack fits the emotional scenes quite well. They really did a better than expected job with this idea.

This series took me a while to finish, as I don't generally watch these type of slow, slice of life type of dramas.

With that in mind, let me say what I thought this got both wrong and right.

First of all, this is obviously based off the hit 2009 Zach Efron movie (which I really liked I might add). Enough time has passed that this felt like a fresh take on the idea. The first two episodes are like a carbon-copy remake in Korean, and then it moves into original territory. The show takes a more serious look at the base story, focusing on Dae-Young's relationships with his wife and children. The comedic aspects of the movie are almost completely traded in for a more morose and poignant tone, and for the most part this is actually a very good thing. I liked the way the show examined marriage and parenting and how Dae-Young was able to re-evaluate his life from the perspective of an 18 year old. There was a lot of closure for side characters that were totally blown off in the movie, and I really liked that they decided to get rid of the super cringey part of the 2009 movie where his daughter fell in love with him - wow did I hate that part!

This show also had a really great soundtrack, with some stand out heart breaker songs and some beautiful piano scores.

What this got wrong though is it really was too long in my opinion. The story could have been told in half the episodes, at the most 10.

Overall this is a sweet and serious story that was really pushed through by Lee Do Hyun as the breakout star of this - while I have seen him in almost every thing else he has been in, this is his first main role, and boy does he shine! If slice of life/school/relationship drama's are your thing I think you should definitely give this a try!