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Oh wow. The sceneries, staging, and colors are beckoning me to rejoin this drama.
Enjoy the show!
29 Comments On “See You in My 19th Life: Eps 11 & 12 Open Thread”
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The thread is open.
Oh wow. The sceneries, staging, and colors are beckoning me to rejoin this drama.
Enjoy the show!
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Thanks @pkml3. This is the show where the rules are not known … we’re just guessing. One assumes that the reincarnations should cease when something or other of the first life has been righted, returned, resolved … whatever!!! 🤔🫤🙄🧐🤪
Kalispera!
@Packmule3 thank you for the post!
Finally we get some answers!
Episode 11
We get to navigate what actually happened in Ji Eum’s first life.
At first, she believes that SeoHa killed her sister, but that was not the case.
I am not give a spoiler for now, but SeoHa didn’t kill her sister. SeoHa most likely liked Ji Eum in her first life and he was shocked.
What made her remember her past lives? An Oath for Revenge she took while looking at the person responsible. She was also holding the Shaman Bells.
I will comment some more after someone else posts here.
Correction: I am not going to give*
EPISODE 11
Hi @Cleo, this being Episode 11 out of 12, it’s a relief to finally get the full story of the first life.
Yes, I believe even in her first life, she and Han Ya liked each other. She smiled to see him playing with the children.
In effect, Ji Eum as Su, brought upon herself the misery of remembering all her lives. She was too self-interested on behalf of her dying sister, and defiant of ‘heaven’. Although she took an oath for revenge, she seems to have forgotten that part, even while facing the killer of her sister. Min Ki seems to have been waiting ages for her to remember that.
It’s strange that it’s Min Ki, the very one whom she feels wronged her, who is helping her now to become ‘normal’.
What puzzles me is why Seo Ha’s mother was herself able to remember her past life. Did she also make an oath to stalk the woman who took away her husband and hotel? I suppose her role in the story is to show that there’s a way to become normal and move on in her new life, therefore there’s hope for Ji Eum.
From the preview we know what becoming normal will entail. Episode 12 will be the one where everyone who knows and remembers Ji Eum helps her reconnect.:-)
Would you believe me if I tell you that after the lame conclusion to the murder mystery I lost trust in the writing team and I am still struggling to get through Episode 10?
Hi @FGB, I’m not surprised. It was disappointing and the reason(s) was(were) insufficient. The deaths, the hiding of the truth led to a simple resolution and we were not convinced that all that ‘drama’ around it was necessary.
I feel that the same goes for the ending that is coming up. I’ll continue to watch til the last episode, but again, the set-up, the build up, seemed to point to some issue or event of great importance, but the reason for the remembering was something that JE brought upon herself, and somehow appear less weighty or worthy of our regard.
Unlike in the case of Goblin, where viewers felt that he’d been punished enough already after living 900 years and remembering but doing his part to make up for his mistakes, in this Show, knowing the reason why only at the end of the series, after watching JE do nothing more than go about seeing to her own self-interests, does not elicit the same feeling. Her punishment was self-imposed and somewhat deserved.
Her ‘reward’ in Episode 12 will come after some degree of sacrifice, but again, I’m not certain viewers will feel that it will be well deserved.
To be fair, the Writer is new. This is her first series. According to Asianwiki, she only co-wrote one movie 10 years ago and this is only her second outing in screen writing.
https://asianwiki.com/Choi_Young-Rin_(screenwriter)
That explains the strange addition of Seo Ha’s mother as another person who remembers their past life. Writer has yet to learn how to tie the sub-plots a bit tighter to support the main plot.
I will say, though, that the visual aspect of the show was good and the actors carried the series through very well.
If you’re free for a new rewatch party, and are interested in Writer Song Jae Jung …
https://asianwiki.com/Song_Jae-Jung_(screenwriter)
… who has done more consistent great work, come join us for the Queen In Hyun’s Man rewatch, starting at the end of August. Details will be in the What Are We Watching in July and What Are We Watching in August threads.
Kalynychta dear @Cleo and Hello dear @GB!.
Your analysis is spot-on @GB. It is unusual to have such a good actress as Shin Hye-Sun and as interesting character with a big potential just to fall flat hard.
And to think that the prize is just to be able to keep reincarnating forever without breaking the cycle?. That is not transcendent at all, she just want to become numbed for eternity.
It kind of remembers me the TV seasons R. R. Martin didn’t write about yet in his “A Song of Ice and Fire” series that were resolved so badly by incompetent writing that he even lost the impulse to end his Opus Magnum.
¿”Queen In Hyun’s Man” with Yoo In Na that was my catnip back when I started watching Dramas?, ¡¡¡count me in!!! 😀
@FGB and of course @Cleo,
Oh dear, when you put it this way, it sounds even worse! LOL.
But your words got the penny to drop for me… the reason the people of her first life are now in JE’s present life is that she had made an oath that would last a thousand years, (I didn’t rewatch to check the number of years) and the present day is about the right time for the oath to end. Presumably, now faced with the very same people of the 1,000-year old saga/grudge, JE has to decide to fulfill her revenge threat or forgive.
= = =
🥳🤩🥘🥗🍣🍢🥧🍨🍻🥤🤩🥳
Yay @FGB!!! It will be great to have you in our parties again.
I know @Cleo is busy, but if you can, please join us too!
We will likely start on 26th August 2023, and have our parties on Saturdays at this time:
6:30am PST
9:30am EST, Caracas
2.30pm in London
3.30pm in Paris
4.30pm in Athens
9.30pm in Singapore/Malaysia/Hong Kong/Perth
All are welcome to join us!
🥳🤩🥘🥗🍣🍢🥧🍨🍻🥤🤩🥳
**Spoilers**
@GB @Cleo @FGB
I enjoyed the reveals in episode 11, though I had been assuming already that Min Gi’s first life persona was the culprit and not Seo Ha. Min Gi has been given the burden of remembering in every life and being tortured by what he did so he can atone for his sin. But somehow he never met Ji-Eum’s reincarnation again (becausehe want meant to suffer and keep searching). That’s why he remembers while Seo Ha, Cho Won and Do Yoon have no memories because they have no past life debts to pay. Min Gi can end his cycle too if he says sorry to Ji Eum after she remembers and she agrees to finally forget him. This way they will get closure together.
I agree that Ji Eum and Seo Ha had an affinity for each other even in their first life, though they didn’t get the chance to act on it.
I also have a theory about who shot the final arrow which killed Ji Eum in her first life. I think it was Ae Kyung (we see a black clad guard for a second). That is why Min Gi was holding the bells beside her hospital bed to help her remember in her dreams. I think she has a first life connection too. The reason she hasn’t been punished by remembering is because as a guard, she must have been doing her duty and not willingly killing someone innocent. Min Gi’s sin is more because he knowingly murdered one person and led to another’s killing.
Shin Hye Sun’s acting in episode 11 waa so good, as usual she made me feel the confusion and pain her character is feeling. Waiting for the final episode today😊
Kalimera @GB Unnie and @FGB,
I am not that upset with the jakkanim in this one. Although she is a newbie I think she did a decent job. She just used the safe scheme of writing a script and she did just fine.
I think that in the show, that is totally different from the Webtoon:
We get to see the repercussions of a person’s deeds, actions and reactions. And it is a first basically. In every show, we have a celestial being who punishes the protagonist. Here, we have a human being who chose something for himself / herself – regardless if it is good or bad.
Ji Eum made an oath for revenge and although, she didn’t remember her first life, her next ones where totally different. She didn’t take any revenge and she tried to overcome Life’s difficulties. That’s why in Episode 12, she won’t take any revenge on MinGi and that is thanks to her 19th lives she lived.
The fact that her First Life’s memories are so vivid at the moment, are making her losing her cool.
As for the rewatch party Unnie. I haven’t watched that show at all and I don’t know if I will have time to watch any episodes of the show in order to come and comment. 😊
Hey @Phoenix!
I missed your comment and I saw it afterwards I posted mine!
Well, MinGi was a shaman, he was responsible for rituals, for asking permission from Heaven. So, he was punished more severely than Ji Eum. I mean if you are a “holy person” how can you slay a sick person just like that? His action doesn’t make sense to me.
Even though the shaman bells were taken and it shouldn’t. At the same time, he could help Seol. The shaman bells can be made again, but a human doesn’t. I agree with what Su / Ji Eum told him. At the same time, even SeoHa was shaken by what he did.
Yes, it could be that Ae-Gyeong was one of the guards or the guard who shot the arrow.
I am waiting for the final episode too!
@Phoenix (I wrote this over an hour ago but somehow it didn’t get posted!!!)
That’s an interesting theory about who shot the arrow. Your other reasoning about who gets to remember is sound.
My grouse is that Seo Ha’s mother being able to remember may have been added just as a illustration of what JE can hope for, but otherwise, it didn’t make much sense. I guess the Show needed Min Ki to have someone to talk to so that we’d hear what is going on. I thought that her being reincarnated could have had some impact on Seo Ha, but she never revealed herself to him.
@Cleo, on the whole I enjoyed the Show and yes, the writer is new so we give her a chance (or two) to get experience. The premise was great, the director probably helped make the execution of it work out pretty well. It was just in the resolution of the conflict(s) that the writer (and maybe the director too?) had some difficulty. The resolutions lacked the oomph! factor.
I agree that JE is a peaceable character and won’t generally go for revenge. However she has not been tested again,… ie, she is not in danger of losing any loved one at the hands of a killer. She only has to resolve the past grudge.
You are right about JE having to overcome life’s difficulties. Show is telling us that she was taking responsibility/being punished in the 19 lives in which she died young every time, and lost loved ones too. I guess the punishment was for her impunity in stealing the bells and in taking an oath on them, as if daring ‘god’ to give her many lifetimes to remember her revenge. Of course ‘god’ added the irony of letting her remember her past lives without remembering the revenge. Heh!
As for Min Ki, he’s being punished by being the one who has to remind his past life victim of her revenge against him. He probably won’t be able to stop reincarnating until she resolves the grudge against him.
Sidenote: Ae Gyeong’s illness is still a mystery, but it looks like she might die. I’ll be so sad.
= = =
@Cleo
No problem about the rewatch. You know me. Even if you’re watching it for the first time, that’s fine. We’ve not watched it since 10 years ago!!! Can’t remember much. If you have time to watch it for the first time with us, we’ll be happy to have you.
@GB Unnie,
I think it was both. It was also how the Director decided to show us the resolutions of conflict. Maybe because they had a lower budget? I heard that they didn’t have a bigger budget than that and that’s why they had to make it a 12 episodes series. Maybe some things were edited out from the show?
The thing is that Min Gi is connected with Seo Ha’s mom. I mean if you look at the artifact he gave her, it was the earring, he was holding in his hands in the ending scene. So, when he met Ji Eum that was not his first life? Maybe it was his second? I do hope they will give us information about the change they did in the narrative.
I don’t think that Ae Gyeong’s illness is a mystery, she has a lump in her lung and the first doctor didn’t find it out because she didn’t do a thorough scan. If we take it genetically, Samcheon was sick too. Maybe it is genetic and not a curse.
Regarding the Rewatch, if that is the case. I will try, but I cannot say for sure!
As always, I enjoy all your comments 😊
I also like that this show’s director is a lady, which is a bit unusual in SK drama industry. She also directed Fight For My Way, Oh My Venus (which is one of my favourites) and the 2 seasons of Love Alarm.
I’ll be back after watching the last episode! I’m hoping Ae-Gyeong doesn’t die too.
Oh the ending made me happy…😁
That’s all I am going to say for now!
Mun SeoHa knows how to tease as well…*grins*
Hi @Cleo, @Phoenix, @FGB,
I waited to finally get to see Ep12… with much buffering to wait through, but it was worth it.
SPOILERs
SPOILERS
It was the ending I expected and very nicely done. I’m glad that she had one meal with Ju Won’s mum and gave her that longed for hug.
I was also pleased that Seo Ha had the couple rings ready. What a great starting point for a relationship to have couple rings already!
The joke was that what Seo Ha (and probably even Cho Won) learnt from JE when she was trying to befriend them, they used on her when she forgot them, so that her responses were mirror images of theirs.
The beauty of the camerawork/visual design was great in this last episode as well. And finally, it was great to see Do Yun smile, and to know that Seo Ha had actually noticed her that first time, through the fish tank.
@Phoenix!
I really like Oh My Venus! It made me laugh when I was watching it!
I am glad the show’s director is a lady! That’s a rarity!
Unnie,
I didn’t know you will comment so quickly! That’s why I left my comment spoiler free.
I enjoyed it when everyone said to her things she told them back in the beginning. Especially what Ji Eum told SeoHa in the job interview is one of my favorite scenes from the show. She had a straight face, while he was dumpfounded! LOL
So, it was a nice scene to watch a reverse dialogue where Mun SeoHa was saying to Ji Eum what she first told him. It made me happy!
Also, her reaction when she first saw him at Ae Gyeong’s restaurant. Yes, she was taken aback from what she saw! Of course, her heart will remember him and them consequently!
Cho Won was happy to see her and I am glad that Do Hyun started dating her. They look good together!
Yes, hugging her Omma from her 18th life was so beautifully done. In a way, her omma would feel like it was her daughter coming back to her.
I believe that after a while, they will tell her the truth. That she came to their lives and altered it forever.
Kudos with the scene with the Flamingo lady that was dancing for her dying lover. It was brilliant!
@GB @ Cleo
I agree with you the ending was beautifully done. Watching Seo Ha turn the tables on a clueless Ji Eum by saying the same dialogues to her as she had told him was so funny. The way they orchestrated her meeting with Cho Won was also great.
I liked how she took time to say goodbye to all the beautiful memories from her past lives, especially that hug with her mother. The visuals of this show will stay with me for some time – there’s a soft mellow tone to them with is poetic.
The show may not have been perfect (like the addition of Seo Ha’s mother’s sub-plot and the good uncle ordering Seo Ha’s murder and everyone conveniently accepting that). But on the whole, I think the show managed to convey heartfelt emotions in spite of its short length.
*that is poetic, I mean…
I see packmule3 commented on the s enery, colours and backgrounds too. I really liked the lights below the bridge.
There were a lot of things to like about this drama–I especially loved the use of color (all that red and blue, and the blue saturation in many of the scenes in Ep. 12), and the gorgeous scenery and visuals (e.g., the fireworks, and the ML and FL standing under cherry trees with the blossoms falling). The child actors were well matched to their adult counterparts–for example, the child actor who played Cho Won had her same bubbly smile. I thought Shin Hye-sun gave a masterful performance, especially of her in her first life. And I liked the concept of someone remembering all their past lives and how that would impact their present life–a great visual of that was when Ji-Eum was walking on the bridge, followed by 15-16 versions of her past self.
(Note: After all that red and blue that the main couple wore, the final scene shows Seo Ha and Ji-Eum clad in white, as if at a wedding.)
But why did the main story not move me all that much? The scenes I remember most involve the FL’s past lives: the bridge scene with all her past selves following her; the flamenco dancer dancing one last time for her dying lover; the two children swimming together and creating their own little world; the acrobat taking care of his niece. But none of these scenes, I realized, involve the present-day and grown-up ML and FL. That seemed to be the weakness of the plot.
I also don’t like it when a drama doesn’t explain an implausible ending. If she didn’t recognize her niece/the kimchi restaurant owner, where did she think she had been living all that time? Did she have think she had no belongings and start fresh? Was it selective amnesia? How did she explain the hole in her resume for when she had been working at the hotel? Did she just show up to work again as a car engineer not realizing she had worked elsewhere? I wish they had done more to explain this–even if in a passing remark. If she didn’t remember people from her past lives I don’t understand why she wouldn’t remember them from knowing them in the present life (without the context of memories from the distant past).
The only reason I would consider re-watching this would be to skim through it and check for the color symbolism (esp. of red and blue).
Kalimera Everyone!
Ella did an amazing job with her latest Fan Made Video for See you in my 19th Life.
Enjoy!
@Cleo thanks for the Ella video. 🙂
You are welcome Unnie! <3
@Phoenix,
The show delivered a lot and implied so more. It would be great if they had a bigger budget but they didn’t.
I agree with you that the show may not be perfect, but the overall conclusion is that its themes stay with you. How can you deny Love for your family / loved ones and your specific other? You will return to those who are meant to be near you and in your life no matter what…
I am happy with the ending, but I agree with @Beth. So many plot issues were not addressed at all. I guess we are expected to just go with the flow and not think too much.
I did like the show’s exploration of grief, loss, and trauma. I wish that these themes were tied to a better crafted plot. Overall, I do not regret watching this drama.
Noted, @GB.
I’ll release a general invitation next week for the “Queen In Hyun’s Man” rewatch party. Song Jae-jung (“W” and “Memories of the Alhambra”) wrote this kdrama.
Thank you for noticing and acknowledging my post @pkml3. I’m amazed that you can find my one email in the midst of hundreds each day!!!
We hope to have some regulars like @WE, @Fei Fei, @FGB and myself for the Rewatch, and of course, more bitches who are lurking too!
🎈🎊🎁🎉🎀🪩🪅🎐🎁🎈 🎈🎊🎁🎉🎀🪩🪅🎐🎁🎈