Reborn Rich

The story is solid with a gripping storyline

The story built was excellent with incredible momentum.

The story starts with a poor guy after getting killed by the owners of the Sunyang Group that he worked for, waking up as a rich grandson of a chaebol family some 30+ years into the past. From there on, with his identity as the rich grandson Jin Do Jun, he starts a mission to buy the said Sunyang Group which led to his demise in his previous life. The next 15 episodes tell the story of JDJ and how he works hard to create his own company while fighting his uncles and cousins and at the same time going against his very powerful grandfather and the owner of Sunyang Group. The fight was hard but it was worth it. He used every cell and energy in his body to achieve his target. 10+ years after his rebirth he did manage to achieve his dream, that is to acquire Sunyang Group and thereby almost came close to achieving his ultimate goal, removing the management succession policy in the group. Every minute of watching his struggle for the goal was worth watching. From how he juggled his money and how he manipulated everyone around him with his knowledge of the future. Those moments were exciting and exhilarating.

BUT, the catch comes in the final episode. And I felt like the building blocks gradually collapsed each minute of the final episode. Because in the end, all those exhilarating moments I've been watching for the past 15 episodes over 2-3 weeks, ended up in the deep sea without even making a 'plop' sound. All those moments JDJ spent his very cell and energy on building, collapsed in a moment of his death and our protagonist gets transported back to square one, the poor guy version. But the main reason for my disappointment is that all the emotions that I spent on this drama added up to a futile finale. JDJ/YHW managed to achieve his ultimate goal of removing the management succession policy in the group, but he was left with nothing in the end. He won, but his effort rendered no reward and nobody understood his commitment.

This is a star-studded drama and the cast duly created a perfect performance. The story is solid with a gripping storyline, but there is one downside and that is the timeline. If one doesn't focus properly on the timeline, then one will at one point lose themselves in the plot. Because at some points there are time skips from months to years and even decades, and only by keeping up with the story can one keep up with the timeline as well.

Although there are too many characters in the story, for this drama I didn't see it as a downside. Because all these characters had their own separate roles, it was easy to keep up with the story without being confused.

And last, of all, there was a brief love story but that too ended up in the deep sea without even making a splash.

I really don't want to judge all of the other 15 episodes, just for the one final episode, but in the end, I just can't help not doing it.

P.S. - The OST is SUPER awesome. I'm listening to them on repeat.

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Song Joong Ki is after riches again, just like his previous series, Vincenzo. This time he does it mostly by himself without being backed by a stable gang in the already mentioned series. Here is the quest to also avenge his own death. Fortunately, he gets to relive his life since childhood and try to find out the truth. The kid who plays him as a youngster does an outstanding job getting to play him for an entire episode. There are similarities with Again my life where the male lead gets to live his life again. He has facts in hand for what happened in the previous life, so he knows what will happen.
There are a lot of financial elements, as it involves business finance. Also how to think about investing, long-term goals above all. The company is a large group that will undergo major reorganizations. It's a real chaebol story, about a very large corporate conglomerate. Great focus on politics with, as in Eve, both family politics with all owners and national politics. The business owner has a large family with children and grandchildren. The grandfather is truly outstanding and lives his character well. His large family makes it a bit complicated to keep track of their roles. Although they have been given numbered nicknames that each have a part in it.
There are also elements of historical events such as in Through the darkness. However, nothing the series revolves around, but they say what time period it is about. Features from the late 1980s, from 1987 to the present. Feels like important historical flashbacks to learn. Even if it is not in focus. A few of these events revolve around the series which makes it partially based on reality without being so. Sometimes becomes a lesson in economic history from a Korean perspective. Without being boring at all. Legal elements are included, if the company lives as transparently as it is not suspected to be. There are a few and well-known western references are also there.
Just like in Itaewon Class, uses his opponent's biography to be able to bring him down in the future. Where the biography describes the elder's life, success and resistance. However, Joong Ki's reborn character lives parallel to everyone else so he knows a lot about more about everyone else. He never divulges important details about his goals. There are some who help him along the way in their own ways. It is not only money in focus that is his goal, there are other important motives that make his life more interesting.
This is so much better than Again my life. More drama and a big psychological game between all parties. Not very many physically demanding confrontations, but here he fights the back way, intellectually and sensibly. He goes outside his grandfather's traditional way of dealing with power and the conglomerate. There are some similarities with Little Women, which deals with business finance as well. But also the view of money, both from a poor person's perspective as well as a rich one. Just like Extraordinary Attorney Woo, the viewership has skyrocketed from the first episode to the last. In addition, already passed the mentioned series at the 8th episode and breaks records basically every time almost. It also holds its own record many times over and became the second most watched series to date. A great and well-executed family drama that should be seen. Very interesting!!!!!!

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Solid Show!

Just finished Reborn Rich on Viki.

Excellent show.

A chaebol-rivalry melodrama with slight elements of fantasy and romance. Without question, this show conveys the ruthlessness and ugliness of greed. The show has a consistently raw and serious tone throughout save the early episodes where the protagonist goes back in time and we see some epochal moments of world history that many of us who lived through those times in the 90's and 00's would remember (first generation K-pop group Seo Taiji & The Boys; Titanic). That's as light-hearted as it gets in this show. Most of the likable characters have almost no screen time in this show so you spend most of it with very unlikable characters, but the actors playing them are all excellent.

The most fascinating aspect of the show is the almost mentor/protege relationship between the characters played by Song Joong-Ki and Lee Sung-Min. Not sure I would call Song Joong-Ki's character likable, but you understand where he's coming from as he's getting revenge. Lee Sung-Min's character is a horrible person, but Lee's performance is so fascinating and 3-dimensional, you can't stop watching it. He chews up every scene he's in.

As far as the romance between Song Joong-Ki and Shin Hyun-Bin's characters, not sure if it was because the script didn't have enough scenes or they just didn't have chemistry, but I didn't buy into their romance at all. It felt more like a friendship to me than a romance. Both of their performances were strong.

Many were unhappy with the ending, but I found it to be very satisfying, albeit anticlimactic. If you K-Drama fans like a "happy ending", I think you'll be satisfied.

Highly recommended!

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A bittersweet yet perfect ending for a perfect drama

I understand the initial frustration with Reborn Rich’s ending, trust me, I avoided watching the final episode for days because I caught spoilers of what had happened, but now that I finally saw it, I am a crying mess and for good reason.

Yes, it’s quite unsettling and as I said frustrating to witness Do Joon’s entire effort for 15 episodes and 17 years go down the drain, but this is precisely why this entire thing happened. This is why Hyunwoo reborn as him. He participated in Dojoon’s death and chose to stay silent for success, for a chance to be someone. And after being betrayed, he got to be reborn as the person who was betrayed first AND HE HELPED cover his murder. Like he said, this was repentance. It’s brilliant. I can’t even wrap my head around it. It’s bittersweet, yes, but it’s BRILLIANT.

I will mourn Jin Dojoon, to be honest. He’s one of my favorite fictional characters I’ve watched in a drama and the injustice of what happened to him is what makes me cry now. But we can’t forget Dojoon and Hyunwoo are the same person. So, now, in this life, after getting his and Dojoon’s revenge and getting all of the Jin family to step down from Soonyang, Hyunwoo/Dojoon gets to live his life and be someone for his own merit without hiding behind an owner and his mistakes.

Again, I understand the frustration but if you just stop to think about it, it’s actually really brilliant.

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Unclear

After watching the ending, I feel there's something unclear: The fact that Do-jun provoked his uncle to the point of murder suggests he was actually Hyeon-u possessing the body, using knowledge of the future to become chairman. However, Do-jun had already worked hard to prevent Hyeon-u's father from losing his job—he bought their snack shop, ensured Hyeon-u's father didn’t need to take out loans, and improved their family's situation to the point where Hyeon-u shouldn’t have had to drop out of college. There’s no reason Hyeon-u should have even been present at the scene of Do-jun’s accident. The ending makes the show’s logic fall apart, and that satisfying thrill of foreseeing the future just vanishes.

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"Reborn Petty" for revenge, rebirth, and ridiculous amounts of money

7 maybe 7.5 /10 (i feel generous today): A Revenge Fantasy with Stock Charts, Screaming Uncles & Samsung Shade**

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WHY IT’S A GUILTY PLEASURE:

Time-travel + corporate espionage = capitalism on crack.
Song Joong-ki serving business drip and boardroom brawls.
Watching chaebols fight over inheritance is oddly satisfying—like Monopoly with actual consequences.

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THE “GIRL, PLEASE” MOMENTS:😩

Plot armor thicker than family tension.
That ending? Felt like the writer rage-quit mid-episode.
Everyone’s either yelling, scheming, or dying… sometimes all three at once.

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ICONIC SCENES: 🧨

Boardroom showdowns with enough tension to power Seoul.
That smug smirk every time Jin Do-jun wins? Priceless.
Rich people being shocked by betrayal—every. single. time.

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VERDICT:
“Like watching a TED Talk on revenge—with luxury watches and reincarnation.”

Paired with: 🥃 A glass of soju and your will to overthrow a conglomerate.

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Confusion of the highest order.

Come on the drama has politics, business, and friendly comedy overall the story is good. but the story has some confusing parts. In the first episode after the protagonist got shot, he woke up 40 years earlier as the grandson of soonyang's founder. so you would think it is a reincarnation story with time travel. but in the last episode, they make it seem as if the lead was shown the past of jin do jun to the protagonist while he was unconscious because he got shot in the first episode. but the problem is Jin Do Jun was aware of his past as the protagonist, also he was aware of the future events that were about to unfold in the world. most of his business strategies were successful because he knew the future. so it is not a memory, right? also the character looks alike yet none of his family members seems to care or even notice this particular detail. overall the business strategy and the twist are all good but I still don't understand what this story is actually about is it a reincarnation and time travel-based story or was it just a past event shown to another person in his dream? I guess this mystery will remain unsolved.

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Wow... easily the best Korean drama I have watched to-date in a modern setting.

I have always a bias towards a period drama - falling for their beautiful costumes and ancient architecture. So when I started on this drama, I was kind of sceptical and it was more of a time filler while I waited for other period dramas with excellent rating to be release online. But wow.... I was carried away. It is intense, with all the elements which made it exciting and interesting.

As instructed by the third generation Vice-Chairman, Yoon Hyun Woo retrieved a slush funds kept overseas by the Jin family who controlled the Soonyang conglomerate. He was killed while on his way back. He woke up back in time in the body of the youngest of the founder's grandchildren, Jin Do Jun. He was able to capitalise on the memories of his previous life to become exceedingly rich investing and divesting at the right moment and won the attention of his grandfather who had been very cold toward his father, mother and their children as he disapproved of his father's marriage.

What I liked about this drama?

1. The story was very interesting - a mix of family rivalry, commercial competition, corporate takeover, collusion of money and politics, romance and rejection - all worked in for the perfect effect. And an excellent lesson in the post-World War history and economic development of Korea.

2. The cast was fantastic. Some of them acted multiple personalities in the drama. The lead actor, Song Joong Ki, of course did very well, first as the subservient Yoon Hyun Woo and then as the daring Jin Do Jun, which brought the story alive. The second lead, Lee Sung Min acting the grandfather was absolutely outstanding. He first acted the charismatic, domineering, ruthless business leader, then the feeble pitiful confused old man very convincingly. The support actress Kim Shin Rok was excellent too - acting the overbearing Jin daughter then a drunkard when she lost all her money.

3. It was very dramatic and there were hardly any dull moment and it was jammed packed with happenings. There was perhaps an episode when things seemed to get a bit dull as we witnessed Jin Do Jun succeeding in investing and divesting as he ride through the economic boom and bust - with more of the same happening. But that was quickly turned around and the pace of the drama resumed.

4. The ending was brilliant. I was wondering how the writer was going to deal with two of the same persons living in the same era and it was very nicely handled. There was the sadness of someone killed and someone living again. It was also brilliant how a revenge turned into a case of justice.

5. The music was very mysterious and dramatic to match the development of the drama.

What I did not like about the drama? Cannot recall any - definitely going to watch it a second time and come back to fill in, if any.

Further thoughts about the drama: The grandfather Jin Yang Cheol's insistence on primogeniture, the passing of inheritance to the eldest offspring definitely triggered the intense rivalry in the family. Parents have to be careful not to invoke feeling of jealousy among their children. If grandfather Jin had treated his children more fairly and encouraged a feeling of win-win and interdependence, there won't be such intense rivalry to the detriment of the family. Perhaps it was his sense of indebtedness to his eldest son who went to prison to save the business and his bringing up the eldest grandson which nurtured the closeness, that brought about this.

Thumbs up all round for this drama.

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The series had so much potential yet had to fight through not to drop it

The things I enjoyed:
- The bond between Do-un and His Grandfather was so sweet and heartwarming.
- Some of the plots were so unexpected and I liked how those made the story evolve and sometimes how Do-jun put his aunt and uncle in their shoes.
- The lineup of the cast duh
- The Squad Miracle Investment top tier I love how they got each other's back and when they come up with plans.

The things I didn't enjoy that much:
- The Pacing; The first few episodes had a fast pacing and then the pacing got so slow.
- The Storyline; It's not that I hate It completely but the storyline was quite dry. Like from ep 9-15 It's like the same betrayals happened but in a different department and in the end, it was all a plan of Do-jun. Not that I got a problem but It got to a point where I just got bored. The rest of the storyline is not that bad. Not satisfied with the end at all, I got very confused when Do-jun died and then we're suddenly back to the present. Still mad at the author for not making Do-jun and Min-young a thing, like common he was going to propose. The ending was just not satisfying, it had me confused, mad and a little bit disappointed.
- Characters; Everyone in the Jin Family pissed me off. they had like no type of development and they just stayed the same dum relatives who always got deceived by Do-jun and betray each other. Like bring in some spice, nobody developed anything everyone was an MVP.

Overall:
I don't only wanna hate on the series and say it's horrible, just saying it wasn't my cup of tea and the things mentioned might not appeal to your experience. The series It actually good, the storyline is neutral and the characters are also. In my opinion, the series wasn't that special it was neutral, nothing to spectacular sum the storyline accurately the ending just dropped me without that I would've given the series 7 and up.

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