Reborn Rookie

Strong performences, satisfying watch

This drama captivated me from the very beginning. The storyline is incredibly interesting, and since I absolutely loved Reborn Rich, I was excited for this one. I have to say, it's not quite as good as Reborn Rich, but it's still a great watch.

I really enjoyed the soul-swap concept and watching the chairman try to save Choiseong. The acting was excellent across the board, and Jun Young did a fantastic job, especially in his role as the chairman. Our trio was definitely the best part of the drama—I loved their dynamic. The twins were also incredible. The performances were just spot on.

I was excited to watch each new episode and it kept me seated throughout. My only complaint is the final episode and the wrap-up—it suddenly felt rushed. The ending scene itself was great though.

Overall, it's a great drama with a solid mix of fun and revenge.

Verdict: A highly entertaining drama with a fresh concept and strong performances. Not quite on par with Reborn Rich, but well worth your time.

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Complete 180 from the first two episodes

I went into this drama genuinely excited because I love the body‑swap trope, but the first two episodes were honestly rough. It was marketed as a comedy, yet the tone felt completely off. The characters, especially the twins were so cartoonishly evil that it stopped being funny and just became irritating. Even the chairman, who we’re clearly supposed to root for later, is introduced as deeply unlikeable with no redeeming qualities in sight.

The result is that the opening two hours feel like watching bad people get away with everything, with no emotional balance or relief. I understand that the setup is necessary for the story that follows, but it was still a slow, frustrating, and painful watch.

But then episodes three and four completely turned things around. Once the plan starts moving, the tone settles, and the show finally becomes what it promised to be. The leads have fantastic chemistry, they play off each other beautifully, and the story suddenly becomes engaging and fun.

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Instantly hooked - you will be too!

June 22, 2026
For those who are conflicted about watching this excellently executed Comedy /Drama…., don’t be. THERE IS NO ROMANCE. **

Eight episodes in and all I can say is WOW! Lee Jun Young is perfect as 70 year-old Chairman Kang in Hwang Jun Hyeon’s 20-something body. There is no question that we are watching old Chairman Kang in action. LJU is just that convincing embodying Kang’s entire personae right down to his posture, furrowed brow, incredulous stares, outbursts of anger, and raspy, older man’s voice. The supporting characters equally great, especially the main villain, Kang Jae Gyeong, who is supported by other equally great villains, brother Jae Seong, his wife Na Eun Se and her father Chairman Na. The way the story is going, I’m expecting a fully satisfying, suspenseful remaining four episodes.

This drama is hilarious and at the same time intense and suspenseful - all while showcasing the consequences of the decisions one makes in their three score and ten (+/-) years on this earth. Among other questions Reborn Rookie asks: What is the true definition of success and What is the true measure of a person?

** The chairman’s youngest daughter, Kang Bang Geul, is understandably confused about her feelings over this young, handsome, smart, fearless intern, but the infolding events and her overall goals keep her from focusing in that direction for too long at a time. And along the way, Chairman Kang, who underestimated the daughter he loves, gives her plenty to dislike about Intern Hwang Jun Hyeon..

I can’t give it a 10 rating yet as there are 4 more episode to go. But if it ends as well as it has been going so far, I’ll up my rating.

7/6/2026

Reborn Rookie was a great, suspense filled dramadie with exciting twists all the way to the end. The much needed, truly funny comedy and pacing remained consistent for the duration. It definitely kept me on the edge of my seat every episode. The last two episodes brought everything to a satisfying conclusion allowing me, anyway, to say goodbye to these great characters - knowing the protagonists endured much and came out better people than when they began while all the villains got their just ‘rewards’.

This was a story was about Chairman Kang more than it was about Hwang Jun Hyeon. It was subtle but still noticeable when, after the body switchback, Lee Jun Young’s presence diminished for a bit so we could see Chairman Kang’s character arc come full circle. Sans his daughter’s well earned demise, it was the ending the Chairman Kang was hoping for where things could be reset for him. his family, and Choiseong.

He truly, deeply lamented over his mistakes as a father accepting his role in how his daughter came to her current state. Still loving her as his own flesh and blood, he offered her an olive branch to turn things back. And again, his love for her caused him to literally risk his own life for hers in the end. He was relieved (unable to find the right word here) in learning Jae Seong had finally found his conscience. He was humbled by and felt undeserving of Bang Geul’s unconditional love for him.

Each parallel between Kang and Hwang taught Kang more about himself. He experienced, and I believe realized the life he could have had in his own family, the simple but loving life Hyeon had with his spunky and fully alert grandmother. Looking at all Jun Hyeon’s awards and shirts in his tiny, cheap flat, Kang had to have seen Hyeon as similar to himself. A young man, laser-focused on giving everything he had, daily, to achieve his dream of being the next Messi or Ronaldo. Over the many times he pulled out that crumpled cashiers check, we watched how he came to understand and grieve over Jun Hyeon’s permanent loss of his soccer carrer and the depth of what that loss meant to him.

Even though not a hard man to his employees, Kang became even more empathetic in general giving the reigns of Choiseong to the deserving Lee Jae Sang and Bang Geul.

I enjoyed seeing Jun Hyeon’s real charming and respectful, and out of his element, personality after the switchback. What a contrast to Chairman Kang’s personality and LJY made us believe in that contrast.

Bang Geul was tough, sharp, and no nonsense on the outside but beautifully soft hearted on the inside. How clever of the writers to show how Jun Hyeon got to know Bang Geul while he was in Chairman Kang’s unconscious body!!! Viewers would have fun filling in the blanks of what probably transpired between them over the next 2-years. I’m sure that would make a great story in and of itself.

I loved Materials Team Mgr Park all throughout the drama. He brought balance in both funny and serous moments.
Lee Jae Sang was the mainstay to all the chaos. Both Lee and Kang were mutually true and loyal friends in life and in business who shared the same goals for Choiseong. Kang in Hyeon’s body could not have accomplished his goal for Choiseong without Lee.

Cho Sun Hui - the woman who loved and supported the Chairman, his children and grandchildren. This love and a healthy positive attitude about life in general allowed her to maintain her dignity throughout all that was thrown at her.

Kang Jae Gyeong - the one you love to hate, although it was sad watching her spiral. She couldn’t accept her father’s olive branch. She was in too deep because, psychologically, she had lost touch with reality itself. It’s no wonder she lost her mind.

Kang Jae Seong - from the beginning he had a shred, just a shred, of decency. But…, he was salvageable if he wanted to be and thankfully he was. He was finally able to embark on becoming the man he wanted to be.

Chairman Na - no hope for a man steeped in and blinded by his own self importance.

Na Eun Se - what a selfish, misappropriated life.

Min Seok Do - what was he thinking when he married Jae Gyeong? Thankfully he was honorable to his profession and to his father-in-law. He loved his wife (at least we think he did) but he couldn’t let her evil intentions succeed.

At the point of the story, the two grandsons owed their upbringing to their step grandmother, Cho Sun Hui, not to their parents.

To the Reborn Rookie cast: You each were so perfect for your characters. We couldn’t see you, we saw them, and loved and hated each one of you respectively! WELL DONE!

Can you tell how much I liked Reborn Rookie? I upped my rating to 10/10. As this drama unfolded, I can’t see any significant flaws. The OST was great and will be playing it again many times. I’ll be rewatching RR again.

If there’s a second season we will have to wait a few years since Lee Jun Young’s military service begins this month. Best wishes to you.

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Great plot, very realistic, minus the soul swap lmao Great acting

The plot here is fantastic and something that every business owner dreams of - auditing his own company.
The actors are all great actors and have amazing great scripts, but they are so creative in their roles and really make it fantastically fun to watch. The villains are great. The daughter and the Chairman in young body are great.

The young actor who does the Chairman in young body is SO HILARIOUS, he really nailed down his role, acting like an old geezer.

The actress doing his youngest daughter is also an amazing actress and it is totally refreshing to see a more balanced and complete female role, complex and smart capable female, and an actress who is given a red light to ACT and to be complex and creative in her acting. That is one of the great accomplishments of this drama.

The nasty boy twin actor is an amazing actor, he really nailed down the role of a rather dumb greedy entitled brat - that actor is a master actor

And the villain girl twin actress is convincing too....

The only criticism of this drama is that by ep 6, there is not much character growth of the Chairman in the young body, he is pretty much the same old callous geezer. The drama is about business deals and Chairman and his daughter working together to outdo the evil twins and grab the company.

The Chairman is a brilliant business wheeler and dealer, but he is cold and cruel to people, and by ep 6 does not get much more compassionate while in the young body. At least he paid medical bills of the young guy's grandma.

Hopefully in later episodes, the Chairman becomes a better human being.

FYI for all those sillies who are making up romance accusations:
*** There is NO romance. in this drama. NOWHERE in sight. ****

The young lady sees in front of her a young handsome guy winking at her and taking care of her, so she is smitten, but the young handsome guy is her father and he has NO romantic interests whatsoever, he is 10000% behaving like a good father to his daughter, taking care of his daughter.
And the Chairman and his secretary are just two men who closely work together and are great friends too.

THERE IS NO ROMANCE ANYWHERE

So let's see how it gets resolved at the end. Maybe the young guy will wake up and the Chairman's daughter can then go after him, or maybe the Chairman in young body will have to tell her who he is.

In any case, this drama is fun.

Music is good too.

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Lost me by the 2nd episode

Love Lee Jun Young. He's one of my favorite actors. So I was looking forward to this show. Unfortunately, this went in a direction that I didn't expect nor which I was I interested . The show did a great job at setting up the ML's (soccer player) - HJH story and making me care about him. In contrast they did a great job at showing the awfulness of the chairman. He learns that the damage to his prized car is due to a kid being hit and nearly killed while his insufferable children were driving and his fury is over his car being damaged. So right off, I did not care one iota about him and his backstabbing family and could not wait to see them destroyed.

So imagine my shock when the body switch happens and we're stuck watching the POS chairman infiltrate his business as a "rookie" employee, so that he can take down his corrupt children - whom he raised and coddled to the point that they became this way. While poor HJH, the ML, whose professional soccer career has been destroyed because of them, lays up incapacitated in a hospital and trapped in the 80 year old chairman's body.

I did. not. care . about the chairman and his horrible family. They could try to kill him, embezzle from him, steal his business and run it into the ground, lie on him, ruin his reputation; they could do their worst to him. I did not care about any of them. I cared about HJH and how he'd get his life back on track while getting his revenge on this horrible family. Unfortunately, that's not the direction of the show , at least not to start. Perhaps they changed things up as the series progresses, but I didn't have any interest in watching them get there. I don't know why the writers thought anyone would be interested in this family. Perhaps they thought as long as Lee Jun Young (LJY) was the chairman people would care no matter what? This wasn't the case for me. Though I enjoy LJY, I had no interest in the chairman or him playing that character. So I dropped this. The only reason I gave it 2 stars was because LJY was in it otherwise I would've rated it a 1.

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BEST OF 2026 (Not in terms of Quality , But the pacing and thrills)

We have seen this type of stories in Kdrama . But I finished 10 episodes without any lag , hooked till now.

After THE MANIPULATED series, i tried to watch many 2026 k dramas , but most of them i watched in 2x speed after 2 eps,

In the case of Reborn Rookie , after the 6th Episode, i thought i ll do the same (2x). but Nah, Screenwriter actually awakened after the halfway of this series.

Major plus was the cast's Performances. Other positive was the Director , Ist Half (5 eps) of the show was not that good,
But DIRECTOR managed to give the thrills to the audience

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An Above-Average Fantasy Drama That Knows How to Entertain...

Reborn Rookie (2026) is an enjoyable fantasy drama that blends comedy, corporate politics, sports, and family relationships into an easy-to-watch package. it succeeds in delivering enough humor, emotional moments, and engaging performances to keep viewers invested. Its greatest strength lies in its entertaining premise, although the execution occasionally falls into familiar K-drama conventions.

The story is good but it become predictable in some episodes by repetitive conflicts and predictable twists, which makes it stretchy at times. Although the body-swap concept provides plenty of entertainment early on, the series occasionally plays it too safely instead of exploring its full potential.

Despite these shortcomings, Reborn Rookie remains an enjoyable watch. Its blend of comedy, family drama, and personal redemption offers enough heartfelt moments to enjoy the series.

Reborn Rookie is a pleasant fantasy drama elevated by strong lead performances, but with predictable storytelling and uneven pacing prevent it from reaching its full potential, it remains an entertaining choice for viewers who are looking for a light, inspirational series with a mix of humor and heartfelt emotion.

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A Strong Start That Got Me Hooked

I didn’t expect much when I started Reborn Rookie, but the first two episodes really pulled me in.

The story is fast, fun, and easy to enjoy. The body-swap idea may sound familiar, but the execution feels fresh because the drama knows how to balance comedy, business tension, and revenge.

Lee Jun Young is doing a great job so far. His confidence, expressions, and screen presence make the character really entertaining to watch.

Overall, this is a very strong start. I’m fully here for the hype, and I just hope the writers keep the same energy until the end.

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The premise sounds a bit ridiculous: a powerful chairman wakes up in another man's body and sets out to reclaim his company. On paper, it sounds like a gimmick. In practice, it's a really interesting explorations of leadership, legacy.

What surprised me most is that the body swap is not really about getting a second chance at power. It's about being stripped of power. Forced to live as an ordinary employee, the protagonist gradually discovers the consequences of decisions he made from the top. People who were once names on an organizational chart become real people with wounds, loyalties, and stories he never fully understood.

The drama is also surprisingly thoughtful about succession. It asks a question that many corporate and family dramas avoid: what actually makes someone worthy to lead? Is it ambition, political skill, and the ability to win power struggles? Or is it judgment, empathy, integrity, and the ability to earn trust? The answer is not delivered through speeches but through character contrasts that become more compelling with every episode.

Despite these themes, the show never becomes heavy-handed. One moment it's a sharp corporate thriller, the next it's a comedy about team dinners, office politics, and a former chairman discovering that middle management may be more terrifying than hostile takeovers.

What keeps me watching is not the mystery or even the business intrigue. It's watching a man slowly realize that the greatest mistakes of his life may not have been the deals he made, but the people he overlooked and the compromises he justified.

Come with no expectations. Stay for the unexpectedly thoughtful character work hiding underneath.

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