AsleepWatcher

Well, having a 24-year-old appearance is probably the least important aspect of what the role is. The lack of chemistry is definitely on the writing. The entire romance is built upon a traumatic event and there is a clear emotional imbalance in the relationship that only subsided in episode 10. And if there's anyone carrying the show, it's SHS. In my honest opinion.

Because if they have different faces, viewers will get completely lost and they'll have to keep reminding us who's who, which ruins the impact of the reveal. It makes zero sense but that can also be said for the fact that the whole squad is in her first life in the first place, so why not (from the probably frustrated producers' point of view)?

I don't mean to offend anyone but are the lead actors that expensive to hire? Especially ABH? SHS is A-list for sure but I've never heard of her commanding very high fees. But it's quite apparent that the team is struggling with the budget. Personally it feels more like the budget is 'wasted' on the sets for the scenes for the 19 lives which last for only a few minutes each.

I honestly think Ban Jieum's character wasn't a multi-dimensional one in the first place. In fact if you read the webtoon, she is portrayed as almost a superhuman who has even fewer moments of showing human emotion. Ban Jieum isn't just an extremely emotionally disconnected character, she is probably also emotionally stunted as she is forced to gain centuries of memories without actually experiencing them first-hand. She is desensitised to death and couldn't even understand how much hurt her death would inflict on Seoha or her 18th life's family. You can see that she seemed genuinely shocked that her sister was still affected by her death in the present. Spending her formative years in a family with little to no love, no matter how many past lives she had, she is still the kid who only had her aunt to depend on and lived her entire life trying to reconnect with her past identity, Juwon. Spending time and forming actual bonds with Seoha and Chowon is what brought her closer to being Juwon. Therefore that in itself is the character growth of her character. At least that is how I perceive things to be. Imo Ban Jieum's character has already been improved on given the source material.

On the other hand, ABH has portrayed the PTSD of his character very well but there is a lot of disconnect from his childhood self to his adult self. Maybe this was intentional, but at least in the webtoon it wasn't intended. In the webtoon he still very much had his childhood personality but in the drama, it seemed almost as if his trauma has haunted him to the point of changing him completely as a person.

I thought that the girl who recognised Jieum as Juwon might be the car driver in the accident (Doyoon's dad) reincarnated. Since he was killed in the accident as well, he reincarnated immediately and is the same age is Jieum. Her being Seoha's mother makes more sense, but the hints were way too obvious that I think the show is trying to misguide us into thinking that way lol. I wonder why she remembers her past life as well though. Maybe she and Jieum made a deal to some devil.

L’Amour, Les Baguettes, Paris by Stella Jang

Hahaha, I don't know why I wrote an entire character analysis under your comment xD

I think the issue is the fact that Juwon and Jieum have very different personalities. This makes it hard to find SHS's portayal as a "continuation" as Juwon. But the way I see it, Juwon was gracious and had a mature demeanour due to her upbringing and was set on living a easy laidback life, but was also disgruntled with her memories stopping her from truly experiencing her childhood. On the other hand, Jieum was elated to gain the memories not just for Seoha, but also because she now had a chance to escape an abusive family and the poverty trap. Even if she has the same soul, she has a completely different outlook on life, she lived her entire life proactively taking every chance she gets to 'make it' to be on equal grounds with Juwon (or Seoha, they were both golden spoons). She doesn't waste any time and is the opposite of laidback. Of course psychologically, having a 180 turn in her childhood life, she's a different person even if Juwon was a part of her. Even if she is, the circumstances changed her into the 'rougher' and less feminine person she is.

But for Chowon, she was brought up in Juwon's household, likely had the same education etc, and obviously was directly influenced by her own sister. It's not surprising for close sisters from the same parents to behave similarly. However they are distinctly different. She's much more delicate and vulnerable. That's why HYK probably looks more like how one would envision the adult Juwon to be, but despite the differences, they still have an undeniable chemistry.

Whew. Sorry for rambling lol. TLDR; Jieum is no longer the elegant Juwon due to their very different circumstances in life while Chowon being sisters with her, has a more similar demeanour to her. However under appearances it is clear that both of them are still their childhood selves.

The scenes with the sisters are so touching and heartfelt. Just like the younger sis I even thought of my pain of losing a loved one a long time ago. Both actresses are very genuine in their portrayal.

It's not that simple. "Who she is" is up for debate but for me she definitely is not Juwon. While I admittedly know nothing about psychology, she is simply a separate being who has the memories of Juwon.

She finished filming 3 movies and SYIM19L within these 3 years. She's actually been pretty active, just that the movies' releases were delayed time and again (maybe due to the impact of the pandemic)

That makes sense but it would frankly be a bad decision on their part. The biggest highlight of their relationship was the ML's intuition giving him a sense of familiarity to the FL early on. I can't help but think they're missing the essence of the story.

Is it just me or is the ML severely lacking of... a personality? I did read through about half of the webtoon and the ML was sensitive, firm and vulnerable, he was also annoyed at the FL for her antics but I could barely feel that being portrayed here. I don't know if it's a conscious decision by the director/writer or the actor. It almost looks like Shin Hye Sun is doing all the acting in episode 2 and the other party barely responds, making most of their scenes feel awkward. Am I missing something here?

I'm sorry but I think 3 idiots is a better name for this drama...

Just watched this on Netflix with my family.
This show is far from perfect. There is no clear structure for its plot and it's slow paced. Plot points defying logic. At one scene my dad said they must have used an iphone to film because the screen is tilting at so many odd angles, haha.
But it is a show that moved us with its sincerity.
The main character has many reasons to hate the mountain, and she says so, but she knows it's not true. She just needs time away to heal from her trauma. Deep down she knows she belongs there. There's no explanation, it's just a spiritual connection.
At many points something bad or tragic happens that doesn't necessarily add to the plot development. Just accept and move on, such is life and the way of nature.
The interview at the ending was quite memorable. There's no such thing as someone deserving to live more than someone else. If you feel indebted, you have to let go. A mountain is just a mountain. It was quite an important message for people who suffer survivor's guilt.
There is a reason why veteran actors are veteran actors. They're not acting hard to impress you, they're just the characters themselves. Likewise for the story. The show doesn't shove its messages down your throat, but there are takeaways.
I may have criticised the camerawork, but the spiritual beauty of the mountain is captured excellently. My parents who are avid hikers really appreciated it.
Therefore I am rating this 9/10. You may think it's too high for a flawed show, but I think it's worthy of it.