Reborn (2025)

A Story Told in Silence

Reborn is a captivating drama that weaves mystery and emotional depth into a gripping narrative. At its core, it's a story about justice, identity, and trust, with a romantic subplot that simmers quietly in the background. Rather than rushing into love, the series allows the emotional connection between the leads to build gradually, making each moment between them feel earned and authentic.

That said, the romance is subtle—never overshadowing the central mystery, but still leaving an impact. It may not satisfy viewers seeking a romance-heavy plot, but for those who appreciate a well-crafted emotional undercurrent alongside intricate storytelling, it hits the mark.

What makes Reborn so compelling is its ability to maintain tension while carefully peeling back layers of truth. The performances are consistently strong, the pacing is deliberate but never dull, and the atmosphere pulls you in from start to finish. It’s a drama that rewards patience and attention, offering a satisfying mix of emotional nuance and suspense.

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Reborn- a drame that lives up to its name

From when I first saw the trailer, I thought it was more about mystery but I was wrong. From the poster it looked like a fluffy high school drama. Both of my thoughts were wrong but I wasn’t left disappointed. I instead saw something I don’t see often in dramas. These things are bad choices, family arguments, parent’s wrong teachings and restrictions in teenage times. The dark themes are often ignored in many dramas and fluffy romance is more preferred. This drama takes up this job and executes it perfectly. It is these things that make the drama close to reality but I would say the female led, Qiao Qingyu had it difficult.

This youth drama excels at showing how you change from a teenager to an adult. It also emphasizes how young people have miscommunication with their parents and how it occurs frequently. The characters like Qiao Qingyu, Ming Sheng and Mumu were suffering exactly with this problem and they had to go against their parents. However, as they grew up, they started to understand them and relate to them. Going from hating them for their poor parenting to taking caring of them. I wouldn’t blame them for hating their parents as teenagers because they are not the only ones who made the mistake. Parents also can be seen trying to protect their child but in the process end up hurting them more. The drama beautifully captures this stage of life.

Qiao Qingyu is one of the bravest characters in the drama. I love the way she seeks justice for her sister and clears the honor of her family. She succeeds and achieves her goal despite being unsure whether her choices and consequences were worth it. She was silenced by her family and her actions were seen as immature. Gradually she realized all that and thought that some truths need to be hidden but, I don’t think she ever regretted revealing the truth of her sister’s death.

Qiao Qingyu’s parents are not necessarily a bad or a good character. They deeply care about their children but fail to express it. The care takes forms in shouting or restricting from everything. At the same time, I don’t think they are bad parents because how they are right now is a result of the bitter past.

Ming Sheng is a typical high school green flag who is always around the female lead whenever she needs him. That doesn’t make him a poorly written character though. I would say that he is kind and silently helps people. He overall has quite a lot of good characteristics. He didn’t have much of a problem with his parents but it was just a momentarily misunderstanding. He gradually learned the truth and his bond with his parents was repaired. Character arc, same as the female lead but it is set in a different background.

One problem I had is that; the drama was constantly changing its mind about tropes. It wanted to be a mystery drama once and fluffy high school romance in another or lean more into realistic side of growing up. The side romance and a little mystery trope was developed but not well enough to convince me that it is at least a side trope. However, I enjoyed the drama as it is.
I love the main couple’s chemistry together. They didn’t have many moments together and it felt like as if male lead was receiving less screen time yet we still ended up with an adorable love story.

Ending was just amazing. In my opinion, the ending was cherry on top. Misunderstandings were resolved and we were left with a happy family and a loving couple. I would say 23 episodes were just enough to avoid dragging but, at the same time it wasn’t enough! Reborn drama truly lived up to its name, the ending was just the beginning for them, like a fresh start...

Overall, I would give this drama a 10/10. Sure it had flaws but I think the well written characters and an interesting story covered for them

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It was rich in emotions and vitality

The Reborn was able to bring the characters into life in a powerful way. I was hooked from the very beginning. The plot remained interesting and there were no significant gaps. All the actors were good at their roles and the story was convincing and it dealt with important and delicate topics witch is quite rare in the Asian film industry. It told something very important of Chinese culture, especially how they threat their daughters. The only thing I can complein is the last few epidodes. The ending wrapped up reasonable well, but still it left something to be desired. Despite of that, I can
warmly recommend it. I is one of the the best dramaseries I have seen so far.

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beautiful serie but : Bold Beginnings, Restrained Endings

A very touching drama. The director did an excellent job — honestly, even better than the novel, of which I read a few chapters in English.
Both actors perform beautifully. Their acting is restrained but full of deep, meaningful glances. The topic is heavy. I cried several times — it’s deeply emotional.
The ending is beautifully filmed — incredibly moving. I want to see this actor in another project — he’s extremely promising.
The actress also plays very naturally — this kind of role fits her perfectly. There’s real chemistry between them — not a passionate or physical one, but deep and comforting, which suits this kind of story and theme.

What stands out most is that the series shows how young people process and accept difficult, even tragic situations.
It underlines how adults shouldn't just protect them by hiding the truth, but rather guide them, explain things clearly, and support them emotionally.
It captures that unique phase of adolescence when a child begins to think independently from their parents, and slowly starts becoming an adult.

Regarding the subject matter — the series touches on very sensitive issues: the patriarchal system in some parts of Asia, the suffering of women, and how rumors can destroy a life.
This drama deserves to be classified as serious artistic work.
However, it’s unfortunate that from the middle of the series, censorship and propaganda start to dominate — too obviously. (All the “study, study, and study again,” go abroad but come back, family values, forgiveness, etc.)
I understand the ideology might serve a societal purpose, but it takes away from the artistic depth and the space for reflection and analysis.
In the end, it remains an enjoyable series to watch and dream through — thanks to the happy ending.

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It had the potential to be perfect...

I'm a huge fan of Zhang Jing Yi and I'll admit that this was probably the first time I have ever seen her playing a character who was so plain and dowdy, but having the ever adorable Zhou Yi Ran sharing the screen with her made it a lot easier to watch.
The beauty of both of these actors is that they have such versatility and seem to really throw themselves into their roles which helps their fans appreciate each distinct character they portray.
This drama was heavy, but it reminded me of why I switched to C-dramas from K-dramas. The conversations that these types of C-dramas are bringing forward are the conversations that I wish more dramas would be willing to have. The drama grappled with gender roles and abuse, but as daring as it was to bring that to the forefront, it didn't have the courage to fully push it to the type of resolution that many women need to see today.

Qingyu's journey from misunderstanding her older sister's existence before choosing to correct the injustice she faced was remarkable, yet the fact that it fell onto her young shoulders to do it was unacceptable. As a Southeast Asian woman, I know all too well the weight that daughters carry in our families, yet the level of failure by Qingyu and Beiyu' parents was outrageous to me.
There is no redemption for parents like this. The father was a complete coward who could not protect his wife or daughters from the misery of his own family. His inability to utter the word no was not only shocking, but repulsive. His choice then to just go along with what his family decided and even celebrate the impending wedding of the man who ruined his oldest daughter was beyond disgusting. This man never once did anything right. As bad as he was, the person who is even more unforgivable to me is their mother. Some people may have sympathized with this woman, but I could not. You married into this horrid family and knew what they were like, yet you did not do enough to protect your daughters from them. I blame her for Beiyu's fate. At any point in time you could have saved her, but you turned your back on her again and again. Choosing death after Beiyu's suicide was a completely selfish act. She could not bear the guilt of her failure as a mother and wanted to follow Beiyu into the afterlife, but all I kept thinking was wow you have two other kids but I guess you could care less right? It was infuriating to watch this woman fail repeatedly. She was not supportive of Qingyu's quest of justice for Beiyu and more than once told her to let it go. I agreed, you should be the one fighting this battle, not your teenage daughter!

When Qingyu gets dragged back to the patriarch home and is forced to apologize, her mother comes barreling in to "protect" her daughter, yet once they return to their home Qingyu is turned into a prisoner with her mother basically smothering Qingyu's spirit to death. This girl was broken because of her own parents, yet this continued to the end until the mother's depression played such a pivotal role in causing Qingyu to return to her obedient ways. To me this was just pure classic manipulation and control. The mother was a mess, but Qingyu had to be the one to bend. Explain to me why her mother in the deepest throes of depression could still tell Qingyu that she was too young to be with Ming Sheng, even after Qingyu explained that he was the only one who was consistently there for her? I guess she was still lucid enough to control her daughter's life.
Qingyu's decision to follow the path they laid out for her was incredibly disappointing to me, but I was really happy with the final episode where she chose to study psychology for grad school. I was also thrilled when she and Ming Sheng found each other again. They truly were the champions of this drama, overcoming their own trauma by helping each other and reminding us that they might have been young when they met, but their love is probably purer than what most people would ever experience.
Reborn is a good watch, but it could have been better. This drama had the ability to really address parental failure, yet that conversation dis not develop fully enough to leave an impact that most daughters need to see represented. Our parents aren't always correct and they don't always know what's best for us. That's a conversation that needs to happen more.

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Quite good overall, watched this for Zhang Jingyi and Zhour Yiran ofc: the chemistry hit. I expected this to be a romance oriented drama. but what I got was completely different. The sheer amount of emotions packed into this was uncalled for. There was a kiss at the end that all of us were waiting for, but other than that there was no other intimacy - and in my opinion, nothing else was necessary to confirm their relationship. They belonged together and you can see it. I hated Qiao Qingyu's family though, even though they changed for the better, her mom and dad were no help to Qiao Beiyu at all. The only reason she was avenged was because Ming Sheng helped Qingyu reveal the truth. There was a little rift where Qingyu tried breaking Ming Sheng's heart to get him to stay away from her, but thankfully that didn't work fully. Overall, a really deep emotional drama. Recommend! (Ignore my rating for music, unless it's really good I just put a two for everything)

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A drama with almost everything perfect for me!

There are few characters I like on this project: FL's mother, FL, ML, and then FL's lead father. It's the chronological way of liking the characters. A mother who has lost her child and hides the truth of her daughter's death and faces the backlash of the society is bound to face depression, yet the way she manages the family and saves her daughter (FL) shows how mothers are the strongest. Every scene I feel the mother's pain, and I feel my mother and how strong she is inside to make me feel safe every day. Then the female character, who played the main role in this drama. A sister who hated her sister for lagging her life, but sister bonding is something that will always make you feel bounded by love and care. Even after her sister died, she found out the truth of how her sister died. In this way of finding the truth, she showed bravery, and she always stayed strong thanks to ML. There is nothing to add for the ML; he was the shadow-like tree that made the first encounter for them. He kept her safe and supported her unconditionally.
Now, why I liked the FL's father was quite simple. To me he was the representation of almost most of the dads in the world. Quite silently he keeps everything in himself. There might be some point you would hate him, but until you face the situation he was in, you can't judge his character. He never abandoned anyone but kept every pain to himself.


This drama is the example of the execution of the right-length project; there are few projects that unnecessarily carry extra story with extra length. This drama makes every scene and every plot the right length, and I like it.


There are a lot of things to take from this project, and I think I will note down some points to make a list for myself to better understand myself and my family and for everyone.

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Rather than a love story, it was a story of findings truth.

I was waiting for this drama for a long and thus i had a high expectation form it. So it didn't disappoint me at all. It was a really good drama.
Start was a bit okay but tge story kept getting better and better. Happy to see that this wasn't a story where the FL is always so pitiful and weak, but actually spoke for herself and made her point, also thought practically but also faced the consequences bravely and not blaming herself for her actions. She did made mistakes but that's more realistic and there are proper reasons for her every action.
Also the mother was so good. Rare to see such mothers in cdrama. She was over protective at first but later it we can see that all her actions had a reason and the way she stood up for FL is so good.
Hated the dad's family so much. But created a good plot so it was satisfying to watch.
FL was perfect for this role and her acting was very very good. But i appreciate her mother's acting more.
Both the mother and daughter were perfect.
ML's role was limited and i think that was the right decision as he wasn't the tipical ML who pitted FL instade loved her and respected her decision which he rightly mentioned ' I will always have your back' .
Also gald to see that this drama included various issues, like different types of family problem, the preference for boy child over girl child, bullying (social media and physical), HIV, socitial pressure. Great how they connect all these.

Drama broke many such FL-ML stereotype and i was very happy so see it. Truly enjoyed the show👍👍

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Reborn is a heartfelt and gripping drama that really stayed with me. It follows 16-year-old Qiao Qing Yu, played beautifully by Zhang Jingyi, as she searches for the truth behind her sister’s mysterious death. The story is full of quiet strength, deep emotion, and a powerful sense of justice.

Zhou Yiran brings real warmth and depth as Ming Sheng, Qing Yu’s classmate and quiet supporter — their chemistry adds so much heart to the show.

What I loved most is how personal and real it all feels. It’s not just a mystery — it’s about grief, love, and the courage to face the past. Reborn doesn’t try too hard, it just tells a powerful story, and tells it well.

Definitely worth watching if you love character-driven dramas with emotional weight.

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3 Reasons you should watch Reborn

Set in the early 2000s
1. This drama talks about the low awareness of how some deadly diseases are transmitted and the stigma victims face even after death.

2. Talks about the lack affection and attention given by parents, family, friends. For some people they just need validation from people close to them, that's how they are wired, and when they don't get it, they breakdown totally and lose the will to fight.

3. It also talks about bravery and a sense of justice, to make things right.

I hope with this, you can try out Reborn. I'm still watching it, so far I have sincerely enjoyed this drama.

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