Xin Sheng (2024)

Fake it till you make it.

Regeneration is an excellent short suspense thriller. The narrative opens with a reporter He Shan witnessing the kidnapping of her contact Fei Ke. In classic Christie style, five strangers including He Shan are summoned to an island mansion for the reading of Fei Ke's will. They are each asked to share their memories of Fei Ke before the will is read. As implied by the homonym of his name, Fei Ke was not who he appeared to be; he showed a different self to each of them. As they piece together their memories, a complex, disturbing and moving picture of Fei Ke emerges.

Jing Boran delivers a compelling portrayal of Fei Ke as a charismatic, amoral "fake it till you make it" kind of character. I don't think any other actor could have evoked such complex and contradictory reactions. At many points in the narrative when I wanted to absolutely despise his Fei Ke, I found myself searching for excuses for him. Yet when I could have and should have empathized with him, I found myself judging him. All of the characters have many layers that peel off like an onion. Like Fei Ke, they all have at least one moment of hesitation before they almost willfully make a fatal, life changing decision that takes them down the path of no return. By the end of this web of lies, the only story that moved me was that of the two lovers star crossed who ended up as collateral damage. Everyone else reaped what they sowed; even Fei Ke who believed his own lies to the point he deceived himself more than anyone else.

The plot pulled me in from the start and kept me wanting more with each reveal. However, at the point of reversal, changes were deliberately made to the original novel plot, likely to avoid book spoilers. I think this was big mistake. As a result, plot holes emerged and the final three episodes did not come together as well as they could have. In the novel, the group gathered because the main antagonist wished to make amends. That is simple, straightforward and easy to understand. In the drama, they gather as a result of a convoluted and rather far fetched revenge plot. Some of the character designs and motives were changed in to make this work. Some of it just didn't make sense as those parties could have achieved their objectives in more direct and effective ways. This is made worse by the melodramatic storm at the end where everyone does silly things for some cheap thrills.

Even though the ending was overly dramatic and could have been more tightly written it was dark and consequential. All things considered, this is a suspenseful and thought provoking watch with many unexpected twists and reversals. And If you need a shallow reason to watch it, Jing Boran looks yummy in every scene. My rating 8.0/10.0.

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Extremely good plot twists and engaging plot

When this show came out i purely watched it because the cover page looked cool but from the second episode onwards i was hooked!! the plot was so good that i was at the edge of my seat till the next day

Acting/Cast:

Jing Boran has done a great job in demonstrating the various sides to "fei-ke" he made me hate, love, pity and empathize with this fictional character that had lived a very pitiful life....The supporting cast also did well and they did their parts especially the actress who played Xuan-er, i felt enraged on her behalf and she did a very convincing job at switching personalities...The female lead was pretty good but her acting wasn't a show stealer for sure, what i mean by this is that although she does her part very well her role itself isnt that impactful in the actual show

Plot:

The plot was done so well!!! I read a comment saying that this is a special type of drama where all crimes are punished at the end regardless of the reasoning and I think that I would have liked this drama regardless of whether it had a happy/sad ending...The parallels drawn between the "victims" and "the fraud" were very well done and by the end you can't really hate anyone....I also felt like it aptly shows how even the most intelligent people can be affected by their past and how important a good upbringing is for a person.....One thing i will point out though is that you will enjoy this drama way more if you wait for the next episode rather than binging (in my case i spent a lot of time theorizing which made it a more exciting experience)

Conclusion:

If you are looking for a short drama that has a pretty conclusive ending (an extra season is not required but i read some comments on the speculation of its possibility)

there is no textbook good or evil, and every character is a person rather than a plot device for the protagonist

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE SHOW, although there are meaningful gazes between leads and hinted feelings, and skinship between the supporting role with ml there is no actual romance as a plot in the story

( I tried to avoid saying anything close to a spoiler but if you want to know anymore details feel free to dm :) !)

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