Zhao Jing Ci (2025)

Rebirth, Romance & a Hint of Existential Crisis

Ok y’all, this one’s… tough to review. Full disclosure: I pressed play purely for Quan Yi Lun, because my man has been stealing scenes (and my heart) ever since Blossom and Moonlight Mystique. The man’s got main lead energy, and I was ready to witness the glow-up era he rightfully deserves.

Now, Echoes of the Self is sitting right there in my love/hate zone. You know that feeling when all the ingredients are right but somehow the cake still tastes like “hmm”? Yeah. That’s this drama for me.

🌸 What I liked (aka the reasons I didn’t rage-quit)

- Fresh spin on the rebirth trope — loved the concept of this a lot.
- Visually blessed cast. I mean… Quan Yi Lun. Enough said.
- Leads’ chemistry — starts off awkward like two coworkers forced to slow dance at the office party, but gradually evolves into genuine sparks.
- Crown Prince redemption arc — I live for a “former murderer turned ally” storyline. Therapy works, apparently.

⚠️ What made me yell at the screen (lovingly)

- Performances that lack dimension — the acting isn’t bad, but it often feels like something vital got lost between “action” and “cut.” It’s visually appealing yet emotionally hollow, like a beautifully wrapped gift box filled with air.
- Direction that forgot its own depth — the story wants to be textured and moving, but the execution feels oddly flat. Perhaps a symptom of its short runtime, perhaps a lack of directorial conviction.
- The rebirth logic gone astray — the FL’s “reborn self” spends the entire time trying to change fate yet barely acknowledges her younger self, effectively undoing the emotional purpose of her journey. The ML, meanwhile, seems mildly allergic to the concept of temporal continuity — sir, that is your wife, just… younger. Let’s connect the dots and don't treat her like the plague...
- The villain — underwhelming doesn’t even begin to describe it. That man got more screentime than emotional depth.

🌀 The Ending

Will it annoy people? Probably.
Did it annoy me? Not really — it’s a happy-ish ending, which in C-drama land is already a win.

💭 Final Verdict

8/10 — Cozy, romantic, and conceptually strong, but emotionally… echoing a bit too softly.
If you want something light, watchable, and sprinkled with a few swoon-worthy moments, go for it. Just don’t expect a masterpiece, but that is solely my own take on this and most probably because I had much higher expectations....

And Quan Yi Lun, if you’re reading this (you’re not, but still): you carried. As always. 🫶

Leia Mais

A quick and relatively low-stress watch

I’ve watched quite a few rebirth dramas, but this is the first I’ve seen that just boldly ignores conservation of mass and creates two concurrent copies of the same person. Such a setup opens the door for lots of interesting and thought-provoking situations, dynamics, and ironies.

Of course, it also comes with some logical challenges, which are handled by glossing over details (show's job) and not thinking too hard (your job). Overall I still think this is a creative premise, even if it makes even less sense than the usual Cdrama.

I really like the older version of the FL. She is thoughtful, mature, and smart, with that calmness of a person who has already died once. It’s clear she’s out to help not harm. She pretty much always acts in ways I support, and she is capable too, so I enjoyed rooting for her and found it relatively low-stress.

Her younger version, on the other hand, is less likable: self-serving, ruthless, bitter. But we already knew that. What I like is that this younger self is not a blanket “bad person”. She’s more of a wildcard. I found her realistic and complex- she wants to save herself, but she’s not dumb nor is she totally self-absorbed.

The two of them have separate consciousness and are pretty much two different people. I really like how, no matter how annoying her younger self gets, her older self continues to treat her with kindness and compassion. If you take a step back, it’s a nice message for all of us.

The ML is... adorable! He has a cute smile and cute mannerisms. I’d say he’s the typical overdevoted green flag ML. They mention a couple times that he’s a general... that is kind of hard to believe, he is too much of a puppy. He does seem fairly capable, she just seems more capable.

Plot-wise, the FL uncovers conspiracies and discovers new truths, which is always fun to watch. Frustratingly, she spends some time pushing away the ML in the name of protecting him, but luckily this phase ends at some point. The villains are easy to dislike, and overall I found the show not too upsetting or stressful. There isn’t much of good people suffering bad fates or emotional impact deaths of expendable side characters.

I do feel there are some gaps. For example, the FL as empress at the beginning is clearly not fully hinged; being three years older obviously didn’t make her any wiser. But reborn, she is completely different. ...it makes sense given circumstances, but feels choppy and sudden. Just showing a little repentance and regret in her final hours as empress would have smoothed out this transition.

The romance also seems too deep and founded on too little. Their first lifetime’s romance is built up as some death-defying love, but actually all we know of it are a few flashbacks. The second time around, her younger self is ready to use the ML, so how genuine could it have been? The ML is super into her before knowing her that well, but I just am not convinced that this is some love across the ages that would merit such devotion.

If you can believe what you’re told, and accept a premise without thinking too hard, then neither of these is a big deal. Still, I think the show would have been better if it had shown rather than told, so that we resonate better with her character, and feel more emotionally attached to their relationship.

At under 20 minutes an episode, this show is rather short, which is probably why some of these things aren’t fully fleshed out. There are also some side stories that seem like they could have been developed (eg the sister, the princess), but instead are dropped. But the show is so quick that I didn’t fully emotionally invest, so I didn’t mind as much.

Acting-wise, I think the (small) cast did a pretty good job. But it’s sometimes hard to see their expressions behind such thick layers of powder and filters. I feel like this show had paler, smoother faces than usual; I found the lack of skintone a little bit creepy. I wasn’t a huge fan of the makeup in general. Other production-level stuff is not bad, but it’s definitely a smaller drama with a smaller budget.

Overall, I think this is an enjoyable and quick watch. Whether I liked some parts or didn’t like others, it all moved along pretty quickly. It’s good for some mindless, low-stress binging at the end of a day.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





I’d consider this a happy ending. Kind of.

For a moment, it seems comically tragic. After they achieve a resounding victory, they are suddenly both shot by arrows, to die together once again (after a nice final telepathic conversation that takes up a good fraction of the episode).

Luckily, the show leans into its rebirth concept to show them reuniting again in a modern life. It’s fitting and sweet, although... I think I would have still preferred a happy ending in their life that I just spent 22 episodes watching, and some closure for the other threads of that story.

By the way, I thought the final mystery that was uncovered was well done. Its scope and intrigue were proportional to the show (ie interesting enough, maybe not earth-shattering but it’s also a small show to begin with). And it was only a couple lines near the end, but I really like how the FL acknowledged the villain’s right to have grievances, while still pointing out that his actions were wrong.

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