Rebirth

Dear Director this review is especially for you

I truly respect the director of Rebirth, and this review comes from a place of admiration. I really loved your previous dramas, Moonlit Reunion and The Double, which is why I had high expectations for this one.

Sadly, Rebirth did not work for me. I am not sure what led to the choice of this script. If it was your own decision, I hope you have learned from this experience. This genre did not suit your strengths.

The chemistry between the main leads felt weak. At times, they seemed more like siblings than a couple. The female lead also needs to improve her acting. However, I really liked the second female lead. She gave a strong performance.

That said, her storyline became very frustrating. Watching her suffer again and again made it hard for me to continue. I eventually stopped watching because it became too repetitive and upsetting.

The second male lead's character was also confusing. His actions and feelings seemed inconsistent, and his storyline felt scattered.

Even though I was disappointed, I still admire your work. You have shown your talent in dramas like Moonlit Reunion and The Double. I sincerely hope your future projects will have stronger scripts and once again win the hearts of viewers.

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When Technique Is Used to Hide a Hollow Story

It's long, so I'll just get straight to the point.

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🍅 Directing

It’s unbelievable to see that the director of Rebirth is the same person behind "The Double", "Moonlit Reunion" and "Generation to Generation". I actually like those three dramas, but this one just doesn’t work.

On a second look, I can still see traces of his style, especially from "The Double". But honestly, it feels like he got the wrong material to work with this time and is trying to cover it up with excessive camera work. His camera technique just becomes something convenient for him to reuse, but he doesn’t bother to align his visual approach with the story itself. There’s a lot of panning, zooming in and out, swirling, tilting, extreme close-ups and different camera angles thrown in, but most of them do not serve the story. At this point, it’s not really about technique anymore, it just feels like they have too many cameras on set. The story itself has nothing meaningful to convey, so all those camera choices end up feeling exaggerated rather than impactful.

Like I said, this feels like a cover-up. The director doesn't seem to care much about this project. Compared to "Generation to Generation", which just finished airing, it’s clear he put much more care into that one.

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🍅 Plot

The bigger issue is the plotting. They took many wrong steps with the story. There are unnecessary plot points as well as a few cheating moves, which I hate.

In ep 1, they make it clear that the ML is absolutely dead, but they still go against all logic to bring him back just so the drama’s English title can be Rebirth. This feels like a cheap reason. (I don’t know if that’s actually the reason, but at this point, I don’t see any other solid justification.)

Then there’s the 'memory loss' plot. This amnesia thing, whether real or fake, has become an old trick that’s been overused in dramas. When it’s used, it often just becomes an excuse to make characters act stupid, misunderstand things, and push the story into forced, soap-opera territory, only for everything to reset once the memory comes back - which it always does. This kind of convenient memory loss breaks the tone for me and makes the whole thing feel like child’s play.

(Note: Meanwhile, I’m watching "Veil of Shadows", which also has memory loss plot, but it’s an example of how this plot can be done well. There’s a solid origin for that and it’s a component of the core complex part of the story that needs to be resolved. They take it seriously and deal with it head-on, instead of using it as a meaningless trick or a cheap excuse.)

Then there’s also the 'being blind' plot… another overused plot device. I’ll just stop here before my rant starts to sound as repetitive as the drama itself.

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🍅 Acting of FL & Character Design of 2nd FL

As for the acting, it’s not there yet. The FL is clearly lacking.

In ep. 1, when she holds the ML in his last moments, the weakness in her acting is obvious. Her wide, bulging stare is so empty. She just maneuvers her acting move. It feels off and I can’t feel that the scene or the emotion is real.

Then, when she tries to be serious and solemn while interacting with other characters, it also feels off, like an imposter forcing herself to be something she isn’t. She’s so forced that I can’t feel these are truly her character’s traits. It shows that she’s not fully one with her character.

Outside the story, I came across some discussions comparing this FL with Ai Mi in terms of their study choice and career path, saying something like this FL made a better choice and her career looks promising. When that info passed my eyes, I didn’t pay much attention. But now that I’ve come to know her for the 1st time through this drama, it comes back to mind. I get why people compare them since they’re almost the same age. However, when it comes to acting, she’s nowhere near Ai Mi yet. Her performance feels unnatural. Anyway, since she started young, maybe in 5 years she might grow into a great actress.

Another actress I want to mention is the 2nd FL. I first saw her in "Fated Heart", where her character and storyline were actually quite interesting, but not so much here. She takes the rebellious, frustrated side from her role in "Fated Heart" into this one, but the writing just doesn’t support her this time. The character ends up feeling flat and one-dimensional.

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It’s honestly a shame. I like the ML and I like the director’s previous works. I can see potential in the FL, even though she’s not there yet. I also want to root for the 2nd FL, but the way her character is written makes it hard. And the plot is too conventional and relies on the same old cliches, which makes the excessive camera work in this drama just another cliche as well.

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My thoughts after Episode 21

-Super action-packed with multiple subplots and strong political rivalry, I’m genuinely enjoying it so far.
-Li Yun Rui looks amazing as always, and I feel he will have a major role as we move into the second half of the drama.
-Li Ce (played by Li Xiao Qian) adds a fun tone to the episodes; one can’t help but root for him.
-To those asking about the intimacy between the main lead, it is minimal considering the age gap and feels more symbolic- like the sword symbolism in Episode 20.
-I haven’t watched Princess Agents, but personally, I don’t find any problem relating to or understanding the story.
-The show keeps getting better with each episode. The editing can be a little tacky, I understand, and that might irk some viewers.
-You don’t necessarily need to watch Princess Agents; the first two episodes help, but you can also just read a summary on Reddit and jump in.
-Chu Qiao, our female lead, is doing a decent job as well, not exactly the best with few expressions, but a decent one indeed.
My rating so far would be 8.5
P.S. Really excited to see how the characters evolve from here!

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It’s underrated!

I wanted to drop after the first few episodes. However as I went a long, it’s getting very good. If you hold prejudice because you watched Princess Agent, like myself at first, then I suggest you to keep watching. The story is getting much better than a few hit dramas lately. It is underrated because one production mistake: It should not be heavily linked to Princess Agent. The cast is great, the stories are great. If it has not been a sequel, then it would have been much better than the Female General. The FL has a lot of potential as young as she is. The cast are slowly getting into their roles and they won’t disappoint. The vibe is much different than Princess Agent and I do enjoy it. So give it a try. The rating of 6 is not justified. I would give it at least 7.9 (should be 8, but I hate the first few episodes of past reflections - so unnecessary)

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It’s great please watch!

Those who gave it a bad rating please watch it again. I haven’t the foggiest clue why you didn’t like it. I will admit I thought the villains were too evil. But I really like Zhuge Yue and Xing Chu. The only complaint I could have is that they focused too much on everyone else instead of these two and the music wasn’t very well thought out. For the two leads you kept getting small scenes here and there with those two, sometimes longer but mostly just short ones. I just started episode 16 so maybe it will get better. Otherwise it’s great. I’ve seen the actor who plays as Zhuge Yue in another movie series and was glad to see him in the lead role not the second male lead. He is a great actor. Him and the Xing Chu, they can act with just their eyes, it’s crazy 🤣! Please watch, no it’s not the same as Princess agents but the road they chose for this sequel was actually a good one. And I’m glad they actually made a sequel for it unlike this other movie series I watched, can’t remember the name, but because the two leads were dating off set and then broke up they decided not to make a sequel when the way it ended it clearly said, “sequel coming up!” Replace one of them then like in this one or both of them for goodness sake. It’s okay it’s been enough time now ☹️. Okay that’s all.

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Disappointing

I am so sorry to write this. I have watched PA and anticipated the sequel. Unfortunately, it will be forever remain an ending at Episode 58 of the 1st season. I tried, I really do. From the 1st episode of Rebirth and right until I stopped at Ep 7, my face was distorted, my eyes squinting with dissatisfaction. Had to stop and not waste my time. Wrong casting especially the 2 FLs, very weak scripting, long winded flow and confused storyline all added up. Such a pity, now i have read that the ending was also dissatisfying, well..... I am glad I did not finish it. I truly pity LYR, 1 of my favourite actor who indirectly be smeared into this

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Don't pay attention to the negative reviews, and give this a try !

I don't often write reviews but I feel like this drama receives a ton of criticism and I honestly don't understand why.
The acting, the production, the storyline, it is honestly a banger and while I was a bit confused at the beginning, after episode 3 or 4 I was ALL in.
The plot isn't complicated, you just have to pay attention and maybe we are all getting a bit too used to very straightforward plots without any twists but I really enjoyed Rebirth because it was non linear and full of surprises. There were a lot of characters and storylines but I really liked that, it was never boring! Often I feel like 40 episodes drama have filler episodes but it's not the case at all, in fact I wished some of the latter episodes were a bit longer because there was definitely other things to explore (I'm going to keep the review spoiler-free but I wanted more information on the different kingdoms after the big battle).
I loved Lin Yunrui's interpretation of Zhuge Yue, he was restrained but emoting so well at the same time that even with a slight change of expression, we could understand the character. He really is an amazing actor!
I also really loved Zhang Kang Le's interpretion of Yan Xun, he was probably the most interesting character to me because his character develops a lot during the show. This actor is very very promising and I cannot wait to see what he does next!
Finally Huangyang Tian Tian's acting was also quite good, my only complaint is that she's a bit too young to depict a general, even with the styling and the makeup, she looked liked a child is some scenes. But her acting is impressive and I hope that last year's earring scandal won't ruin her career because she has a ton of potential.

Music wise, the show was amazing, I found myself listening to the soundtrack A TON while watching the show!
So, please, if you're intrigued by the show, WATCH THIS, don't even look at the MDL average note !!

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Wasted potential

The first 6 episodes of this drama feel like a dream, like a bad dream from which you want to wake up.
I love the world building, the costumes and watching again some of the best chines actors in play.
The trailer of the drama hyped us to expect something incredible, because we have same director who made "The Double".
I can't comment on how good the story is written and developed here because i would need more episodes (and I don't plan to torture myself with more) but from first episodes as viewer I have the feeling that there are things i should have known before watching it to make sense. I haven't read the novel or watched any old TV drama, who lays the foundation of "Rebirth" so I felt lost.
* Acting was horrible and I can't say if it is not the voice dubbing , how the scenes are shot or if some of the actors are indeed talentless. Zhang Kang Le is simply posing Infront of the camera, trying to deliver some emotions aside from his sex appeal. Many of the actors are talking straight to camera doing evil or mischievous faces or blank expression like the FL. The interaction between the characters feel too staged or forced as if they didn't have time to prepare with their lines.
*There were too many illogical things, which directly attack your IQ as viewer.
- First battle in the middle of the lake, our Zhuge Yue was fighting on pile of dead bodies of his soldiers with his few remaining men who were taking hits instead of him. I would understand if they were defending a narrowed passage, but in open field who gathered and stacked these bodies up and most important why? Because the director wanted to have cool scene where general is shot by arrow and falls down the pile of corpses ?
Then Yan Xun army shoot fire arrows, creating a perfect fire circle around the pile of dead bodies even though they never surrounded them and to end this amazing scene they shoot anchor type devices to destroy the ice sheet and sunk them on the bottom of the lake. Just turn off your brain, everything is fine.
-I know that the name of the series is "Rebirth" but which lows of nature need to take place for one of the main characters to die? Stabbed, beaten, sight loss, drowned several times under the ice lake..... everything leads to instant recovery because the next scene demands it. How can you feel as observer that any of these characters would be in a danger. There is no suspense or excitement watching this drama.

The production value looks high, I can't believe we see same director who created "The Double" bombing so hard here.

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Legend of Many Female Generals

The story of Rebirth is stellar. It is a slight disadvantage to have not read the book, but that is compensated by slowing down and reading all the words. Streamed on VIKI and iQIYI, VIKI is always better with subtitles, but IQIYI has enhanced its picture quality. The visuals are so stellar now.

Rebirth is the Legend of many Female Generals, as women dominate this story with two male leads.

The main heroine is a mighty Slave girl who has been trained as a Spy and Military General, and who has acute Martial Arts skills. However, there are so many great women parts in Rebirth, even a woman scorned, who wins many bonus points in her attempts to get even.

The opening 17 minutes of episode 1 of ‘Rebirth’ is highly cinematic and powerful. The audience quickly gets a film explanation of the story and the backstory after the dramatic opening sequence (the story comes from a novel). There is so much information given, but the information is necessary to the up-coming action. I had to pause and rewind a few times to make sure that all that significant information being given was registered. ‘Rebirth’ is a very complex story of friends to enemies who are torn apart by love and politics of expedience. The story also is about a savage hierarchy, mystery, murderous intent and deception, and a slave girl who fights the slave system that binds her. One thing I can say is that I did not get bored. Rebirth is adapted from the novel "The Legend of Chu Qiao: Division 11's Princess Agent" by Xiao Xiang Dong Er. This is the sequel to Princess Agent.

Something else about Rebirth is that like products are “not stealthily placed throughout Asian dramas”, there is plenty of eye candy to keep you moving along. There are many shirtless reveal moments to discover.

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Disappointing

One word: Disappointing
Waiting for 9 years just for this trash sequel.
Acting still not on par with Princess Agent cast
Story too inconsistent
Huang Yang Tiantian’ Chu ciao is still not on the same level as Zhao LiYing one
Yuwen Yue Kenny Lin is still better than Li Yunrui Yuwen Yue
Yanxun is too lovesick till he forget his original vendetta
This Yuan chun is just annoying villain instead of fallen princess good turn bad villain Yuan Chun from Li Qin
It doesn’t matter if they want to change the name hundred time people won’t stop comparing this trash with legendary Princess Agent.
They should made full closure in Princess Agent instead of make a new then marketed it as sequel
Don’t try to make a fool out of audiences

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