See You in My 19th Life is about a woman (Shin Hye Sun) who can remember her past lives. In her 19th life, she wants to reunite with a man (Ahn Bo Hyun) from her 18th life, but painful emotions complicate their reunion.
Shin Hye Sun plays Ban Ji Eum. She has had a long and tiring existence because of her ability to remember her past lives. But after so many difficult lives, her 19th one proves to be unique and special as she reunites with a man from her 18th life.
Ahn Bo Hyun is Moon Seo Ha. He developed a special connection with Ban Ji Eum in her 18th life, but a tragedy happened when her life was cut short, and he was left devastated from the loss. When he unknowingly meets her many years later, his past feelings complicate things.
Then we have Cho Won (Ha Yoon Kyung) who was Ban Ji Eum’s younger sister in her previous life and Do Yoon (Ahn Dong Goo) who is Seo Ha’s secretary and friend.
See You in My 19th Life was surprisingly very good! This drama hooked me from episode one with its beautiful telling of the childhood stories. I was immediately drawn to the characters and became invested in how things would turn out for them.
The series was also very emotional. It excelled at showing the deep feelings the characters were experiencing. The lovely soundtrack was wonderful and helped create such a thoughtful atmosphere as those tender emotions were brought out.
Ban Ji Eum’s story is a rich and complicated one. We get a glimpse into many of her past lives as her current experiences remind her of them. I enjoyed getting to see the wide variety of lives she had lived and how those experiences had shaped her. There were many beautiful as well as heartbreaking moments tied to her previous lives.
Then we see her deal with the emotions of reuniting with loved ones from her previous life. It was surprisingly impactful as she saw her loved ones in pain from their loss. This was a new experience for her.
Seo Ha is left dealing with some major trauma after an accident took Ji Eum in her 18th life from him. When he meets her in her 19th life, she reminds him of his childhood friend which brings up a lot of hurt and confusion. There’s a lot to explore with Seo Ha.
Watching the relationship develop between Ji Eum and Seo Ha was very interesting. It was nice to see that connection from Ji Eum’s 18th life begin to build in her 19th as she pursued Seo Ha. I enjoyed how much Ji Eum was there to support Seo Ha as she helped him cope with his trauma and added some much needed joy back into his life.
The developments in the relationship were lovely to see as they went through a great deal of heartache as well as happiness. They had a special bond that spanned time.
We get a little side romance involving Cho Won and Do Yoon. It’s a pretty slow burn and a bit frustrating at times. I enjoyed them much more as individual characters. I particularly loved Cho Won as a person as well as her relationship with Ji Eum. It was full of so much love.
And the other supporting character I loved was Ae Kyung (Cha Chung Hwa). She was Ji Eum’s niece during her 17th life. Ae Kyung was a ray of sunshine, and she always had me smiling. Her relationship with Ji Eum was both loving and adorable.
The pacing was good overall as we peeled back the many layers to this story and consistently had new developments. There are definitely some convenient plot devices here and there as well as a couple of side stories that didn’t completely fit. These were minor issues for me though. The villains were decent for me, but definitely not the most engaging. They rounded out the story nicely though.
I liked how the mystery surrounding Ji Eum’s lives was presented and how we were slowly given answers at the appropriate time. I was afraid I might be disappointed once we found out why everything was happening like it was, but thankfully, that was not the case.
I was very happy with the direction the story went and the reveals that gave us all of the answers. There are a couple of plot holes concerning the ending, but I personally liked it and can choose to just look the other way since it was so good otherwise.
Now, I will note that this seems to be a love it or hate it kind of drama for a lot of people. I thought everything was put together beautifully while many thought the opposite and that it was a mess. You’ll just have to try it for yourself to see which camp you fall in.
So overall, I thoroughly enjoyed See You in My 19th Life. It gave me a compelling fantasy story with a romance that spans times. It was filled with engaging characters that experienced some deeply emotional situations. The story was great from start to finish and truly moved me many times with the issues it explored. It was a wonderful drama all around.
My Rating: 8/10
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