18 Again

Assalamualaikum, good day dearest! This drama was so loved when it first released. I found so many comments of it on Twitter like wow.

not mine; credited to the rightful owner

Title : 18 Again

Episodes : 16

Genre : Romance, Fantasy, Drama, Comedy

Director : Ha Byung Hoon

Writer : Kim Do Yeon, Ahn Eun Bin, Choi Yi Ryun

Network : JTBC

Cast : Lee Do Hyun, Kim Ha Neul, Yoon Sang Hyun

Plot :

Jung Da Jung and Hong Dae Young had been together since they were in high school. After accidentally got pregnant, Hong Dae Young sacrifed his dream of becoming a professional basketball player to take responsibility of Da Jung and his unborn child. 18 years later, they had a pair of twin, Si Ah and Si Woo who is now in high school. Da Jung is pursuing her dream to be an announcer meanwhile Dae Young works as washing machine repairman. One day, Da Jung gave Dae Young's a divorce documents. Dae Young who couldn't understand why she gave him the divorce paper, think that she might change her mind if he got the promotion for that year. His planned goes in vain after that when his junior got promoted. Dae Young then went to basket ball court and wished to go back after he scored a goal. On the way home, he saw his daughter working at a convenient store. Furious, he marched to her and began to scold her. His daughter however did not recognized him and threaten to call the police. Dae Young was shocked to discover his physical appearance had changed to his 18 years old. With this new chance, Dae Young asked for his friend, Go Deok Jin to be his father. Hong Dae Young then enrolled to his former high school under the name Go Woo Young to pursue his dream of becoming a basketball player.

This drama is a remake of USA film '17 Again' released in 2009.

SPOILER ALERT

Another light rom-com with a flare of fantasy drama here! This drama honestly have been in my waiting list for so long and I finally got to watch and finish it. Honestly, I watch this drama solely because of Lee Do Hyun. Ever since he appeared in Running Man, I kind of got hooked with his character and that led me to this drama.

The fantasy part of this drama was just how Hong Dae Young can looked like his old 18 years old self in a blink of an eye - literally as it happened after he scored a goal. And all of the other elements are very much like the reality of our society. How a woman was criticized in her workplace because she is a mother, her background education is not on par of her co-workers, how a father's sacrifice for his family and yet 'he is never there for them during their hardship', and how a woman can never live in peace without people judging her personal life.

I love the way they constantly gives us scenes of younger days of main characters. It really helps with the storyline. How they went from a very loving couple to distant and cold couple. All the unsaid words, the unseen deeds leads them to the untangled vines of misunderstanding. While Dae Young went to school playing pretend as Woo Young, he learnt so many things that he doesn't know when he lived as Dae Young. From tiny things about his wife to little things about his twins. His initial resolve to take the second chance to chase his dream slowly faded and all he wanted to do is to be there for his family.

The chemistry between casts were really great, especially between the boys, Gu Ja Sung and Seo Ji Ho. I loves it when they tried to be 'hero' for Si Ah but failed when Woo Young swooped in. The bromance between Woo Young and Si Woo was also one of my favorite. Sadly, Woo Young was just a figment created by Hong Dae Young. While it was great to see Dae Young getting flustered, protective over his family when he is Woo Young, it is a teensy teeny tiny bit awkward and weird for me to see the romance between Woo Young and Da Jung. I was actually hoping to see Da Jung with Ye Ji Hoon because they actually looked great together. But okay, at least Dae Young went back to his older appearance.

I loves how this drama have the constant humor make it more enjoyable. Seriously, those two workers of Deok Jin had the worst timing ever. They always overheard Deok Jin and Woo Young arguing with each other. It was so hilarious. Also, the occasional angst that got me teared up and even cry especially those scenes when Dae Young's father help Da Jung during their hard time and Da Jung's mother help Dae Young. They were so against them keeping the pregnancy so when they came around and help their in-law without the knowledge of their respective child was so heartwarming.

The ending was very satisfying with the Dae Young and Da Jung found each other again, the twins got to do what they loves and them becoming a family again. I also loves how they highlighted that even after the second marriage, Da Jung and Dae Young still found themselves arguing, fighting and all those bad moments. It shows that even if it was their second shot in marriage, they will still do it wrong, but as they realize that life a is lifelong lesson, they will came around to fix their mistakes.

Also, I loves the OSTs. And here is some of my personal favorite;