It feels considered
If you are reading this, just know I write this for myself. So i can read how I felt about a show before rewatching. This is the first time I will write a review publicly…… I am actually just losing organisation on my computer so I thought to put them here instead. Please do not read too strongly into my words.
This is just a review for the first half of the series (including ep.7 due to almost 2-hour long episode in ep.8)
Story:
I have read the novel, and I have to say, they didn't stick to it entirely, which I think is a good thing. It is largely similar, despite some timeline and progression differences, but the essence of the novel is still there. I am happy about this, I felt the original timeline and progression of all the character's relationship was drawn out much more than it is in the series and then suddenly rushed right at the end, so I am glad they changed this…… for the most part, the seconds leads buildup was maybe slightly fast for some people's liking and I understand why people might think it has been too much all at once.
I cannot remember much about the novel as I read it in 9hours and didn't take it in properly, so I have no further comments, but I think they handled the subject matter kindly, and am really enjoying the overall portrayal of the story and all its elements.
However, when I was reading the novel, the story itself was not to my taste as it jarred with my own interpretations of reincarnation, so it was slightly annoying to get through, but I feel the series is not being as irritating. That's really the only annoying thing about it, and as it doesn't mess with the story itself, it's fine. Just if we have the same understanding, I don't like stories that portray people reincarnating into the same families, same bloodlines, with the same love interests and past lovers, same or similar appearances: it's all just a bit too convenient for my liking. But I am sure people will watch this because they like this element, so this is just about me.
As well, for this being a horror, I didn’t find the novel scary at all, but I heard others did so I went into this series not expecting much horror because of it. I suppose i'll just have to conclude that this type of horror genre really doesn’t frighten me instead of saying that this wasn’t scary at all, so I will not comment on this, but I do enjoy those elements overall, and I like how they are creating these moments.
Acting/Casting:
SUPPORTING CAST
As mentioned above, I don't hold the same views as these types of adaptions present, so I won't react the same way as others when it comes to the casting because I just don't rock with reincarnating into our past selves. However, I understand their intention so I will move forward with this section keeping their view.
The casting firstly of the past-lives characters was very well done. I haven't seen casting done that well in a while where they actually look very similar, especially for the past-life characters of Charn and Jet.
Naturally with so many well-known faces in the cast, they will deliver good performances as well. I feel that for this entire production, the team has just done very well and acted in a very deliberate and considered way. There's been a few series lately where I just feel the cast has been selected from a particular cohort so it feels like a school project rather than an actual series because there are too many familiar faces, but this feels very well-casted, obviously influenced by the big budget.
There's a massive cast and I felt they were all made necessary to the series. There were also several new actors in the cast, new to these types of productions anyway, and I feel they were very well-chosen and offered no awkwardness in their delivery.
MAIN CAST
The chemi between the main pair up to this point…… I don't have much to say. I am not sure I even know what chemi is supposed to feel like or be seen as so I cannot comment on this. But thinking about this from a different angle, I wouldn't have matched them up, but I suppose the two know better than me for choosing one another. I think they suit the characters well, and the acting from both of them is fine. I'll comment more about how i see their acting in the directing section. I am still slightly hesitant about their dynamic, though. Not for this project, but future projects. I cannot seem to imagine them having much character versatility if they act together. As an example, if we swapped their characters with the seconds leads, I could see them acting those characters, but separately and not together. I fear they may be stuck playing the same dynamic if they stay together, but I welcome surprises.
As for the second leads, they are more than fine. I don't really have any words for them at the moment, and I like them together so everything is good here.
For acting overall, I have minimal complaints and at this point I am just nitpicking. There's just one thing that irks me a little and it's that, I know we can be loud sometimes, a lot of the times, but some scenes felt slightly off in delivery. If I had directed those particular scenes I would have asked for a softer and quieter voice but these scenes were very few, and isn't really a comment on acting and more just nitpicking at how well the audio equipment works, especially since I cannot specifically think of a scene to put as an example.
Soundtrack:
I love the artist they hired for the soundtrack, this felt very sincere. I've watched series where the soundtrack feels very different to the series and doesn't quite suit it because it is the actors singing and not professional singers, not that this is a bad thing, but the artists they called in for the soundtrack felt very considered.
Directing:
About the overall writing for the series, I felt there has been some unnecessary dialogue and scenes that didn’t need to be there, but perhaps this is just the style of directing I prefer; stories that do not say everything so obviously.
I feel the scenes from the past are slightly dragged sometimes when what they were portraying was already stated or didn't need to be included. It felt more like making sure the actors got the screen time rather than sincerely storytelling. Again, perhaps this is just because of my preference, in which case, I would say this type of storytelling hasn't been for me at times. Particularly scenes with Khemika. The scene where she was crying about how she should have waited longer, it didn't feel needed.
And some scenes where characters are by themselves, sometimes their self-conversations feel unnecessary, especially in one part when Khem was talking to himself, I felt it didn't need dialogue. But these are such little minimal things.
There is one thing that has been bothering me up until now, though. Something that particularly shows on the lead actors, especially NP, I feel as though there is a slight blur over their faces? Like a filter, which can be quite distracting in some scenes where their faces cover a lot of the screen. It feels like they have been filtered to look perfect in contrast with the supporting actors who haven't been given the same treatment. So it's a bit strange to see because I feel I cannot see their faces clearly. And I sometimes get the impression that it trickles down into the acting as well. Like their facial expressions and emotional delivery is slightly subdued in order to keep this type of filtered image. I'm not sure but sometimes, and I mean sometimes, everything feels so pretend, like they are obviously acting and not actually immersed in the character because they have to follow this perfect image. I've seen some other directors work like this, where actors cannot be seen to fall out of this flawless image so acting seems slightly off sometimes. If any of this even makes sense. I haven't listed this under the acting heading deliberately because it feels a little bit more on the director's shoulders than the actor's, but I would have to see the main cast in other projects with different directors to know this. I would also need to see them act out proper crying scenes because I love when actors seem like they are not afraid of showing an "uglier" expression.
Rewatch Value:
As for rewatch value, at the moment I cannot really tell. I will reevaluate when I have completed the whole series (which might be long after it has officially stopped airing, which is why I am writing this now because I'll need to read back how I felt watching the first 7eps)
One things I love is the inclusion of a real artistic group in ep.7, though I do not know much information about this inclusion. I also love the dedication by the whole team to represent the story, seems there is good attention to detail here, and this adaption feels sincere in its attempt to tell a story with so many elements without getting all confusing and lacking in strength. So I feel I could definitely rewatch this especially if they keep up these types of elements where they don't feel like additions but feel intertwined in a pleasant way that gives them richness.
Breakdown as of ep.7:
Story - 8
Acting/Casting - 9
Soundtrack - 9
Rewatch Value - 7
This is just a review for the first half of the series (including ep.7 due to almost 2-hour long episode in ep.8)
Story:
I have read the novel, and I have to say, they didn't stick to it entirely, which I think is a good thing. It is largely similar, despite some timeline and progression differences, but the essence of the novel is still there. I am happy about this, I felt the original timeline and progression of all the character's relationship was drawn out much more than it is in the series and then suddenly rushed right at the end, so I am glad they changed this…… for the most part, the seconds leads buildup was maybe slightly fast for some people's liking and I understand why people might think it has been too much all at once.
I cannot remember much about the novel as I read it in 9hours and didn't take it in properly, so I have no further comments, but I think they handled the subject matter kindly, and am really enjoying the overall portrayal of the story and all its elements.
However, when I was reading the novel, the story itself was not to my taste as it jarred with my own interpretations of reincarnation, so it was slightly annoying to get through, but I feel the series is not being as irritating. That's really the only annoying thing about it, and as it doesn't mess with the story itself, it's fine. Just if we have the same understanding, I don't like stories that portray people reincarnating into the same families, same bloodlines, with the same love interests and past lovers, same or similar appearances: it's all just a bit too convenient for my liking. But I am sure people will watch this because they like this element, so this is just about me.
As well, for this being a horror, I didn’t find the novel scary at all, but I heard others did so I went into this series not expecting much horror because of it. I suppose i'll just have to conclude that this type of horror genre really doesn’t frighten me instead of saying that this wasn’t scary at all, so I will not comment on this, but I do enjoy those elements overall, and I like how they are creating these moments.
Acting/Casting:
SUPPORTING CAST
As mentioned above, I don't hold the same views as these types of adaptions present, so I won't react the same way as others when it comes to the casting because I just don't rock with reincarnating into our past selves. However, I understand their intention so I will move forward with this section keeping their view.
The casting firstly of the past-lives characters was very well done. I haven't seen casting done that well in a while where they actually look very similar, especially for the past-life characters of Charn and Jet.
Naturally with so many well-known faces in the cast, they will deliver good performances as well. I feel that for this entire production, the team has just done very well and acted in a very deliberate and considered way. There's been a few series lately where I just feel the cast has been selected from a particular cohort so it feels like a school project rather than an actual series because there are too many familiar faces, but this feels very well-casted, obviously influenced by the big budget.
There's a massive cast and I felt they were all made necessary to the series. There were also several new actors in the cast, new to these types of productions anyway, and I feel they were very well-chosen and offered no awkwardness in their delivery.
MAIN CAST
The chemi between the main pair up to this point…… I don't have much to say. I am not sure I even know what chemi is supposed to feel like or be seen as so I cannot comment on this. But thinking about this from a different angle, I wouldn't have matched them up, but I suppose the two know better than me for choosing one another. I think they suit the characters well, and the acting from both of them is fine. I'll comment more about how i see their acting in the directing section. I am still slightly hesitant about their dynamic, though. Not for this project, but future projects. I cannot seem to imagine them having much character versatility if they act together. As an example, if we swapped their characters with the seconds leads, I could see them acting those characters, but separately and not together. I fear they may be stuck playing the same dynamic if they stay together, but I welcome surprises.
As for the second leads, they are more than fine. I don't really have any words for them at the moment, and I like them together so everything is good here.
For acting overall, I have minimal complaints and at this point I am just nitpicking. There's just one thing that irks me a little and it's that, I know we can be loud sometimes, a lot of the times, but some scenes felt slightly off in delivery. If I had directed those particular scenes I would have asked for a softer and quieter voice but these scenes were very few, and isn't really a comment on acting and more just nitpicking at how well the audio equipment works, especially since I cannot specifically think of a scene to put as an example.
Soundtrack:
I love the artist they hired for the soundtrack, this felt very sincere. I've watched series where the soundtrack feels very different to the series and doesn't quite suit it because it is the actors singing and not professional singers, not that this is a bad thing, but the artists they called in for the soundtrack felt very considered.
Directing:
About the overall writing for the series, I felt there has been some unnecessary dialogue and scenes that didn’t need to be there, but perhaps this is just the style of directing I prefer; stories that do not say everything so obviously.
I feel the scenes from the past are slightly dragged sometimes when what they were portraying was already stated or didn't need to be included. It felt more like making sure the actors got the screen time rather than sincerely storytelling. Again, perhaps this is just because of my preference, in which case, I would say this type of storytelling hasn't been for me at times. Particularly scenes with Khemika. The scene where she was crying about how she should have waited longer, it didn't feel needed.
And some scenes where characters are by themselves, sometimes their self-conversations feel unnecessary, especially in one part when Khem was talking to himself, I felt it didn't need dialogue. But these are such little minimal things.
There is one thing that has been bothering me up until now, though. Something that particularly shows on the lead actors, especially NP, I feel as though there is a slight blur over their faces? Like a filter, which can be quite distracting in some scenes where their faces cover a lot of the screen. It feels like they have been filtered to look perfect in contrast with the supporting actors who haven't been given the same treatment. So it's a bit strange to see because I feel I cannot see their faces clearly. And I sometimes get the impression that it trickles down into the acting as well. Like their facial expressions and emotional delivery is slightly subdued in order to keep this type of filtered image. I'm not sure but sometimes, and I mean sometimes, everything feels so pretend, like they are obviously acting and not actually immersed in the character because they have to follow this perfect image. I've seen some other directors work like this, where actors cannot be seen to fall out of this flawless image so acting seems slightly off sometimes. If any of this even makes sense. I haven't listed this under the acting heading deliberately because it feels a little bit more on the director's shoulders than the actor's, but I would have to see the main cast in other projects with different directors to know this. I would also need to see them act out proper crying scenes because I love when actors seem like they are not afraid of showing an "uglier" expression.
Rewatch Value:
As for rewatch value, at the moment I cannot really tell. I will reevaluate when I have completed the whole series (which might be long after it has officially stopped airing, which is why I am writing this now because I'll need to read back how I felt watching the first 7eps)
One things I love is the inclusion of a real artistic group in ep.7, though I do not know much information about this inclusion. I also love the dedication by the whole team to represent the story, seems there is good attention to detail here, and this adaption feels sincere in its attempt to tell a story with so many elements without getting all confusing and lacking in strength. So I feel I could definitely rewatch this especially if they keep up these types of elements where they don't feel like additions but feel intertwined in a pleasant way that gives them richness.
Breakdown as of ep.7:
Story - 8
Acting/Casting - 9
Soundtrack - 9
Rewatch Value - 7
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