Origin and release year: South Korea (2022)

Korean title: 재벌집 막내아들

Starring: Song Joong Ki, GOT7’s Jin Young, Kang Gi Doong, Girls’ Generation’s Tiffany Young, Shin Hyun Been, Jo Han Cheol, Park Ji Hyun, Lee Sung Min, Yoon Je Moon, Kim Jung Nan, Seo Jae Hee, Kim Young Jae, Jung Hye Young, Kim Hyun, Kim Shin Rok, Jo Hye Joo, Seo Jung Yeon

Director: Jeong Dae Yun

Screenwriter: Kim Tae Hee

Synopsis: Reborn Rich is a drama about Yoon Hyun Woo (Song Joong Ki) has worked for Soonyang Conglomerate for more than 10 years. His job mainly consists of taking care of the family that runs the company. His work is similar to that of a servant, but he is falsely accused of embezzlement by the conglomerate family. He is then shot while on a business trip overseas. The next moment, Yoon Hyeon Woo finds himself in the body of the family’s youngest grandson Jin Do Jun (Song Joong Ki). He decides to take revenge on the Soonyang Conglomerate family and also takeover the company. (AsianWiki)

Reborn Rich started off extremely strong with a cast of veteran actors with strong convictions. Actor Lee Sung Min (who played the Soonyang founder and grandfather) was especially impressive but so was the overall cast. They were definitely helped by a well-written script.

However, the motif that was used to tell the rebirth story into another life was a little bit underdone and underwhelming. It didn’t really justify the change and there was room for strengthening and of such a vital part of the storyline.

Besides this, the story was gripping. It was especially intriguing how they linked everything into real Korean historical events and correlated the past with a new present.

One really enjoyable thing about this drama was the references to the future, especially made by Hyung Jun (played by Kang Gi Doong), Do Jun’s brother. The lines about hoping for a way to play music through a fruit-sized device (ie a CD) and the insinuation at future Apple and Melon were genius.

Additionally, usually in dramas with different timelines, certain actions have a causal effect that leads to different consequences. Although Do Jun (played by Song Joong Ki) was changing the outcome of certain things, it felt like the drama had very few causal effects and consequences.

In fact, as much as it was possible to believe that history would remain unchanged (even though he manipulated it to his favor), it was hard to believe that the events affecting the family members would stay unaffected and take place in the same way that he remembered. Reborn Rich would’ve been more impactful if actions had consequences that changed the ripple effect of time.

The ending… it was a reach. It felt like the classic film school scriptwriting plot twist that gets you butchered by your lecturer when you submit it. There was no payoff for the audience who committed so many hours of their time into this revenge plot. Revenge was achieved eventually but in a dissatisfying way.

The notion that you are living your past life as a figure who had a simultaneous presence to you was portrayed in as lackluster a way as it was confusing. It also just felt like starting an entirely new storyline/drama with no time left in the series to develop it further. It makes sense how the public sentiment about the drama changed so drastically.

The drama can’t be faulted on much else but the first 13 or so episodes were definitely the most enjoyable. Contrary to the flaws pointed out in this review, this writer actually really enjoyed the series.

What do you think of Reborn Rich? Let us know in the comments!