Reunited Worlds is about teenage friends that are the same age, but after the man (Yeo Jin Goo) dies in an accident at 19, he mysteriously reappears 12 years later looking the same while the woman (Lee Yeon Hee) is now 31. They rekindle their relationship while he also works to bring healing to his friends and family after the hardships they suffered because of his death.
What a beautiful drama Reunited Worlds is! Coming from one of my favorite writers (whose works include Beautiful Gong Shim, Girl Who Sees Smells, and Rooftop Prince), I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. And my expectations were most definitely met!
My excitement at seeing Yeo Jin Goo was sky high for this drama. I’m so glad that he took on this starring role. He plays Hae Sung who dies tragically at the age of 19. But to his and everyone else’s surprise, he shows up 12 years later looking exactly the same!
Hae Sung is a healing character. He is such a bright and cheerful ray of sunshine who is meant to bring healing to those around him. It was so wonderful to see Yeo Jin Goo get to play such a joyful character. His smile is so bright and endearing. He just lights up the screen, and I always smiled right along with him.
But there were also plenty of moments for him to showcase his incredible acting abilities. He’s able to deliver so much emotion through his eyes and face. He’s one of those actors who just rips my heart out when he is sad or cries. And he definitely had several moments where he did just that. He’s just such a special actor with so much talent. He never disappoints me.
Lee Yeon Hee plays Jung Jung Won. She’s Hae Sung’s best friend, and they were just at the beginning stages of a blossoming romance when he died. Hae Sung’s death was devastating for Jung Won, and it altered the course of her life. His sudden return changes things again and leaves her with a lot of conflicted emotions.
Ahn Jae Hyun is Cha Min Joon who is a chef that runs the restaurant that Jung Won works at. He’s a very sweet man that has had one sided feelings for Jung Won for a long time. Min Joon is an endearing character who was able to be a very positive support for Jung Won.
The supporting cast was almost a dream come true for me. I loved so many of the actors going in and they didn’t disappoint. One of my favorites is Kwak Dong Yeon who played Hae Sung’s brother Sung Hae Chul.
He faced many challenges after his brother’s death and had gotten himself into some trouble. He’s also not particularly thrilled to see Hae Sung return from the dead because he blames him for many of his troubles. They definitely had some issues to work through. Hae Sung and Hae Chul were one of my favorite relationships in the drama, and believe me, I had a lot of them that I loved!
My two favorites in Hae Sung’s group of friends included the always hilarious Lee Shi Eon as Ho Bang and the adorable and feisty Park Jin Joo as Jin Joo. Both have impeccable comedic timing as well as being very endearing. I adored them both!
We also had the nerdy Moon Shik (Shin Soo Ho) and the ever so kind Tae Hoon (Kim Jin Woo) to round out his group of friends. They really were a wonderful group of people in Hae Sung’s life.
Another favorite of mine from Hae Sung’s siblings was Kim Ga Eun as Young In. She’s such a sweet woman who is very hardworking and always ready to stand up for her family. I really enjoyed her.
We then have Ha Sung’s other siblings which includes the brother who wants to distant himself from the family, Young Joon (Yoon Sun Woo) and the bright and cheery youngest of the group Soo Ji (Kim Hye Joon).
Reunited Worlds is a warm, healing drama that heavily focuses on relationships. A major theme is Hae Sung’s journey to bring healing to his friends and family. Their lives were turned upside down because of his death, and they still have to deal with the consequences many years later. Hae Sung is given the opportunity to set things right and help them heal.
There were so many beautiful moments between the characters. Hae Sung experienced many touching moments with them himself, but he also orchestrated important healing moments between them.
I loved watching him bring his family back together after they were torn apart. It was also so enjoyable to see him interact with his friends. They welcomed him back like nothing had changed.
The drama is filled to the brim with those heartwarming moments between characters and has plenty of feels. It crafted a world of characters that I loved and couldn’t help but root for. So many times in dramas the supporting characters feel like filler. In Reunited Worlds, they felt like part of the story. And because I wanted them to find happiness, I cared about their personal journeys.
The main relationship between Hae Sung and Jung Won was so adorable. I loved how comfortable they were with each other. I also loved how this friends to lovers relationship was handled with the pair being genuinely friendly with each other before moving on to the romance. And you can just tell how much they care for each other.
They definitely had some difficult issues to work through though with Jung Won feeling guilty about Hae Seong’s death and Hae Seong wanting her to be happy. They really tugged at my heartstrings.
But they are always completely sweet and adorable. I didn’t feel like there was a huge age gap between them because of their comfortable rapport. And they have so many beautiful moments between them. It’s simply a sweet and touching relationship where there is no doubt about their love for each other.
I also really appreciated the friendship that develops between Hae Sung and Min Joon. Of course, they get to be at odds a little bit, but they develop a mutual respect for each other. They both also needed a little healing, and their relationship served to help with that.
I could go on and on about all of the wonderful relationships in this drama. There are just so many wonderful relationships to explore. From friends to family to lovers. Some relationships are there from the beginning while others develop throughout the drama. It truly was a wonderful world of characters to enjoy.
I do have to mention my favorite ahjussi Ahn Kil Kang. He had a smaller supporting role in the drama as a mysterious man who helps Hae Sung. He was wonderful in this role, and my heart was overjoyed to get to see him interact with Yeo Jin Goo so much. They were such a fun pair, and I really felt the bond of their relationship.
Reunited Worlds is very character focused with the plot slowly developing. It’s rare for me to love a drama like that, but I loved Reunited Worlds! It created such a wonderful and comfortable world that I was more than happy to just be spending time in it.
But as I expected from this writer, there’s always a mystery in place with some big secrets between the characters. The melodrama usually picks up in the second half as these secrets start coming out and the characters have to deal with the fallout. Reunited Worlds doesn’t get as melodramatic as some of her other dramas, but the drama definitely increases and gives us a wonderful story.
There’s also a fantastic soundtrack that completely enhances all aspects of the drama with fun, romantic, and sad tracks. They really added that extra something. The cinematography is quite lovely too especially with the scenes shot in the countryside.
Now to address a few things some might take issue with. Something I found a bit unusual in this drama was how Hae Sung’s return from the dead was treated. Most of his friends and family reacted understandably shocked and confused when first encountering him.
But the surprising thing is how quickly everyone just accepts and adapts to him. I personally would have liked to have seen everyone struggle with him and the situation more. Instead it was treated more like, “You’re back from the dead!? And we don’t know how or why? ‘shrugs‘ Okay, welcome back! Let’s continue on like nothing happened.”
It was definitely strange considering that minor things in dramas are frequently played up whereas something that is big like this was very much downplayed. It was a bit hard to get used to. But I did eventually adjust my expectations to fit with the drama since it was very consistent in how it handled the reactions to Hae Sung’s return.
The narrative flow of the drama was a bit awkward at times too. Sometimes it sort of wandered around aimlessly like it wasn’t sure what it wanted to focus on. This is most noticeable early on.
But as I got to know all of the characters, I didn’t find it as noticeable as it moved from one character’s story to another. There were just a lot of people to get to know in the beginning and the transitions eventually smoothed out. Thankfully, these issues didn’t affect my enjoyment of the drama.
Reunited Worlds is a special drama because of its focus on healing. Hae Sung was a truly amazing character that I can’t imagine anyone besides Yeo Jin Goo playing. In the same way he brought joy to everyone around him, he also brought joy to me. He was a beautiful character that I immensely enjoyed going on a journey with. His bright spirit and that amazing smile will be something I always remember.
My Rating: 9/10
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