Aramintai

Yea, the cast was stellar. Even usually overacting actors, like the one who's playing evil chaebol here, did good. I gave this drama +2 points just for the cast and production quality.

Yea, in this drama they're basically shaming a person who broke trying to simply fit into the broken system. No understanding, compassion or real solutions. It's like that cartoon meme: Nope, stop talking, go to hell.
A very narrow and shallow view on the problem. And to those people who say suicidal people should watch this drama to snap out of it - it doesn't work like that, go read at least something about the subject.

This ☝️

More like Death allowed him to win. For a time, she'll still take her due when it's his time to die.

Just to be historically accurate, this drama used Unit 731 as inspiration and they mostly operated in China. But absolutely monstrous crimes (sans the Monster) they've committed are very much true, as well as Japan lying and trying to erase them from history books until very recently.
But Korea suffered greatly from Japanese occupation as well so they've every right to make dramas such as this, if somebody doesn't like it it's their problem. And the Monster here I think is like a metaphorical amalgamation of all those terrible human experiments and anguish made flesh.

Is it though? Everything was undone with his second chance and all the villains will still be walking scott free. Also, Death implied that that was just his gf's time to die. I don't think him preventing her from walking along that wall at that date in his second life will save her, if it's her time Death will still find a way to kill her.
I wish this had a season 2 with ML trying to take down all those bad guys down for good and lead a more successful life, but I'm not sure whether he'd want to involve himself with them again. Anyway, that's neither here nor there...

Well said. You should write this in the review.

Yea, after episode 5 it went downhill rapidly. That episode 6 was like those countless crime dramas about corruption and chaebols with over the top acting and resolutions. Very meh.
The last two episodes were drilling on the same message but it was all wrong. The only insightful part was about that suicidal salary man - it showed ML the dream he so desperately wanted to have, the one the government and society kept on brainwashing him with. But they never delved anywhere further with that. Instead of guilt shaming ML with his mother they should have explored what ML really wanted in life, how can he be true to himself. Is being a cog in an uncaring corporate machine what people really should strive for in life? Just such a waste of potential here.
But as it is, this drama resolves none of the problems SK's society has, it just tries to guilt shame through religion and societal dogmas.
As for the characters in this drama the ending invalidated everything ML did in other people’s bodies and all those who were supposed to die will die and all the bad guys will still be walking scott free.

Sponsored by SK government.

WWWSK

Yea, what was up with that baby doll? It looked like a dropped plot point. It also happened at the same time when Death implied ML caused someone else's death with his suicide and those two bodies were shown. It even made me think he fell on people below or something.

Actually FL's first meeting with ML left me confused, as in what the ef is wrong with her. She needed his help, but instead of simply going and asking like normal people do she stalked him, then attacked and verbally abused him and then even refused working with him altogether. Make up your mind, you crazy woman! Also, you barely even know the guy, what the hell?!
And I guess that's what he fell for - none of the other women could reel him in because instead of being fawned over all he wanted was to be abused 🤣

It sounds fine to my non-Japanese ears, which they were aiming for. Not sure this drama is even allowed to be aired in Japan though.

Source?

Don't listen to the other guy. FL being alive is a big question. Officially she's dead, as one should be judging by what happened. That last scene in the water with the creature was an ambiguous cliffhanger with no answers to what it actually means.
Also, there was a giant time skip (to modern times) with some dude looking just like ML at the very end - yet another wtf cliffhanger.
Personally I hate these clickbait wtf cliffhangers teasing another season with no release date or plot synopsis whatsoever.

FL being alive is a big question. Officially she's dead, as one should be judging by what happened. That last scene in the water was an ambiguous cliffhanger with no answers to what it actually means.

What do you propose? They try hiring actors from a country they historically don't have particular love for to play characters from said country who commit horrible crimes on screen to remind the audience of the horrible crimes that said country actually committed? Not sure there'll be a lot of willing ones.

They oughta watch South Park: Joining the Panderverse movie, all those office jobs are soon gonna get replaced by AI 😂

Jeez, what you quoted about ML's dream is so sad in itself - they really do groom and brainwash their citizens starting from school to become workaholic corporate machines. Some even say it's borderline child abuse.

They put an immense pressure on the kids by putting them in now basically obligatory cram schools till 10 p.m. to stay competitive, then comes immense stress from brutal exams that allow only top scorers into those coveted companies, and even then to lowest positions. With the rest being left overboard unemployed - it's a big problem not only in SK, in China recent statistics state that around 50% of graduates are unemployed. Because the funny this is - they and their parents were brainwashed into thinking that the most prestigious, most paying job is being some sort of manager. But there's just no demand enough, not everybody can be a manager 😂 So if they're lucky they get by by being an office plankton being managed by some sort of manager, hoping when they get old (because seniority system) they'll finally become a manager! But that's neither here nor there because old farts, especially in Japan, instead of retiring and freeing the chair for younger generations keep on occupying all the seats of power with their outdated senile ideas how to govern and manage companies. Japan, I'm not kidding, still uses f*ckn floppy disks for file transfers and personal stamps for signatures which have to be on paper copies only, and god forbid you lose that stamp!

In China they resolve this problem by putting those who had failed their exams and unemployed to vocational schools to learn some actual skills. Maybe that's why suicide rates there are lower. And another funny thing is that some jobs will always have demand - like a plumber, for example. And in reality, good plumbers earn more money than most of those "prestigious" managers. But try putting that into our brainwashed society's heads, everybody wants to have a high salary no-sweat white collar job.

As for ML here, just like many others he just tried to conform to the system, but the system itself is broken. Which the society itself is loathe to admit it seems, hence we get such controversial plots like in this drama where failure is deemed shameful.

More like they're are on copium. Some people just find believing in higher power brings order and makes it easier to cope with chaotic reality we live in. But that sure does bring along a lot of bs that is hard to swallow.