9/10 is my rating. This is a 2018 South Korean romantic fantasy drama with 16, 60 minute episodes
Cha Joo-hyuk (Ji Sung) is not happy with the way his life turned out and wonders if he had made different choices, if his life would be happier. He works at a bank and has a supervisor who is constantly looking for fault. With two small children and financial burdens from aging parents, he and his wife's 5 year marriage is falling apart. Due to an unexpected celestial event, and perhaps a little bit of magic, Joo-hyuk gets an opportunity to go back in time and choose differently. Lee Hye-won (Kang Han-na) was his first love whom he missed the opportunity with by not being able to show up for their first date. So he goes back and changes the event that kept them apart. Now, he is back to a changed future and his wife, first love, and best friend are playing very different roles in his life. As he settles into this new reality he realizes that the problems he and his wife had may have been solvable and that he misses the life he had before. Can he recapture what he chose to lose?
For a time travel trope, I thought this was particularly good. I would think many people wonder about at least one choice in their life and if the outcome could have been any different. Spoilers *** A slight mar in the perfection for me was how abusive the wife was in the first timeline. I can understand feeling unsupported by your spouse and the high pressure of raising young children in an environment with high pressure jobs and aging parents and never enough time or money to go around. That is a recipe for trouble in many couples. But her behavior was phyisically abusive. And that made it hard to ever fully reconcile that he was the driver of that. His second wife was spoiled and had no thought for the other person in the relationship. I wasn't sure what he ever saw in her other than she was very pretty. One thing I could never understand is how they both seemed to be completely okay with jumping to a timeline where their kids did not exist. He had a very momentarily sorrowful moment about his kids but then that was it. For most parents they would be doing everything they could to get back to their kids. A little magic must have happened for them to have essentially the same kids in their (assuming) final timeline. It also never fully explained how her mom knew about the time travel and how she had used it in the past. I really like the concept of parallel timelines. What happened with those other timelines when he disappeared. Most thought is that it still exists but this implied it was just erased. Lots of messages about fate and those you are fated to be with or around will be there no matter how much things change. The romance was cute, and heart warming. I liked how she had the romance with his friend in the one timeline but the friend ultimately got his destiny back in the end. I liked how the main character realized how selfish his choice was to change things for himself and impact everyone around him. It was cute when she was chasing him around in the last couple of episodes. I would re-watch and recommend to others. It was an interesting story, with lots of heart warming moments, deep thought on time travel and fate, with lots of character growth.
Cha Joo-hyuk (Ji Sung) is not happy with the way his life turned out and wonders if he had made different choices, if his life would be happier. He works at a bank and has a supervisor who is constantly looking for fault. With two small children and financial burdens from aging parents, he and his wife's 5 year marriage is falling apart. Due to an unexpected celestial event, and perhaps a little bit of magic, Joo-hyuk gets an opportunity to go back in time and choose differently. Lee Hye-won (Kang Han-na) was his first love whom he missed the opportunity with by not being able to show up for their first date. So he goes back and changes the event that kept them apart. Now, he is back to a changed future and his wife, first love, and best friend are playing very different roles in his life. As he settles into this new reality he realizes that the problems he and his wife had may have been solvable and that he misses the life he had before. Can he recapture what he chose to lose?
For a time travel trope, I thought this was particularly good. I would think many people wonder about at least one choice in their life and if the outcome could have been any different. Spoilers *** A slight mar in the perfection for me was how abusive the wife was in the first timeline. I can understand feeling unsupported by your spouse and the high pressure of raising young children in an environment with high pressure jobs and aging parents and never enough time or money to go around. That is a recipe for trouble in many couples. But her behavior was phyisically abusive. And that made it hard to ever fully reconcile that he was the driver of that. His second wife was spoiled and had no thought for the other person in the relationship. I wasn't sure what he ever saw in her other than she was very pretty. One thing I could never understand is how they both seemed to be completely okay with jumping to a timeline where their kids did not exist. He had a very momentarily sorrowful moment about his kids but then that was it. For most parents they would be doing everything they could to get back to their kids. A little magic must have happened for them to have essentially the same kids in their (assuming) final timeline. It also never fully explained how her mom knew about the time travel and how she had used it in the past. I really like the concept of parallel timelines. What happened with those other timelines when he disappeared. Most thought is that it still exists but this implied it was just erased. Lots of messages about fate and those you are fated to be with or around will be there no matter how much things change. The romance was cute, and heart warming. I liked how she had the romance with his friend in the one timeline but the friend ultimately got his destiny back in the end. I liked how the main character realized how selfish his choice was to change things for himself and impact everyone around him. It was cute when she was chasing him around in the last couple of episodes. I would re-watch and recommend to others. It was an interesting story, with lots of heart warming moments, deep thought on time travel and fate, with lots of character growth.