18 Outra Vez (2020)

18 again is loosely based on the 2009’s Hollywood movie 17 again starring Zac Efron as the main protagonists. Obviously kdrama has its own formula of incorporating their own nitty-gritty and they did that commendably well. At first I had no idea this drama has some underlying messages upon touching some sensitive issues. The story somewhat lies within the range of being mawkish to being phlegmatic with abrupt slew of risibility every now and then generating a necessary lighter mood. As a result a nice balance was created; neither allowed viewers to get not too emotionally carried away nor get swayed away with silly comic relief.

Metaphorically, some concurrent/pressing societal yet universal issues were sublimely portrayed which I would like to list down in the following:

1. Divorce rates are at rise in SK as per some authentic statistics whereas the marriage rate is decreasing every year. Through this drama it is expressed several times that life might get extremely difficult still divorce should not be the immediate reaction for a couple to break up rather both the person must respect each other’s space. Best is to talk it out and solve the issues at hand with patience and perseverance. None of the humans are perfect and both the spouse goes through some kind of hardships which they refrain from sharing from each other rather resort to superficial expectation or keep on grousing at each other making the relationship derailed and the problems irresolute.

2. Teen pregnancy is also at rise in SK. Adoption rate of these children are the highest in the world. Most teen parents (especially woman) abort the child due to heavy social stigma against single unwed mothers and also due to lack of support from the biological father. Subtly 18 again shows, mistake or whatever if you have the sensibility to satisfy your whimsical hormonal need then you must also be prepared to take full responsibility of the human(s) you’re bringing into this world. It would be excruciating to nurture but giving up should not be a viable option.

3. Respect towards in-laws. Often times it is seen that both the spouses are just sufficiently good to their in-laws on their face. There is always lack of ingenuity. However, taking care of the in-laws to the utmost and taking care of some of their basic needs is a candor habit many lacks. Just because they are aging doesn’t necessarily mean they need to be disposed or neglected.

4. Stereotypes about working mother, discrimination against women, sexual harassment, starting job at a later age and so on. All these female related issues are wonderfully portrayed and how women with utmost grit tolerate all these. Hurdles are numerous yet they manage to reach success if have confidence and hardheadedness. Empowering oneself no matter how much dirt are being thrown at and holding up one’s head high during adversities is also one of the hidden messages of this drama. Nonetheless, relentless support from the partner also makes a huge difference in boosting up a woman’s self-esteem has also been highlighted.

5. Empowering a girl child. Although the couple has twin children (one son and one daughter), mostly the daughter’s adoration, care and struggles are mostly emphasized for a reason.

6. Importance of martial arts for women. With abnormal hike on violence against women worldwide, undeniably martial arts are imperative for any women at least at a minimum. Both the mother and daughter in this drama are capable of applying few tactics during some unexpected events.

7. Workplace harassment. Nepotism, favouritism and cronyism are practiced intensely in high power distance countries like SK, where many becomes frustrated affecting their personal, social and familial life. Deserving candidates are always overlooked or are not given chance to show their true potential or are harshly treated by their higher-ups. The male protagonist of this drama has been unprecedentedly belittled by his higher up which in turn made his life completely upside down, only earned him disdain from his own family members due to their misunderstandings. Hence one issue could branch out to create several severe issues in a person’s life.

Last but not the least the epilogues stole my heart away, especially the one which says that there is no room for regret for life choices, if you regret that’s the end but if we take all the experiences as a learning process then every lesson will open a new phase in life; a new beginning will take place.

About the performances of the casts, Lee Do Hyun overshadowed everyone with his unflawed natural acting skills. What a superbly matured acting at such a young age. No wonder just after playing a supporting role in Hotel Del Luna, he landed up in a main role in a high profile drama like 18 again. His expressions, emotional portrayal, gesture, posture, looks, stares all are sufficiently perfect for the role. He might win few awards this year without a doubt.

Most importantly, the nine OSTs are the nine gems of this drama. Oh my my my each and every songs captured the right mood and set another mood which may be the scenes itself should not have done. So much feelings and emotions oozed out from every song. Especially, whenever, I listen to “Hello” and “Somebody” tears automatically rolls down, takes me back to which world or which era I can’t comprehend. They are simply magically to say it the least.

I really loved this drama a lot due to its tasteful balance of entertainment with some serious issues which was completely unexpected. Although I found the last episode bit cheesy but underlying points I mentioned above were the main reasons I have rated it 8.5.
It is overall an excellent watch.

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Such a heart-warming story

I really enjoyed this drama. The story is very well written. There are some little inconsistency like, his daughter's boyfriend finding out while watching an old video of him but his kids never even questioned it when they must have seen more old pictures of him than the boyfriend, but those inconsistency are very minor and doesn't affect the viewing experience. It's more about some little stuff you realiser after watching it. Honestly i was expecting way more stuff to not make sense considering he kept the same appearance.

The actors do such a good job, especially the main three actors, they are fantastic. Even the supporting cast does a great job !

The kids story was also very touching and seeing it progress made me very happy.

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Uncomfortable Age difference

I honestly loved the story line, but the romance between ML and FL was low key pretty uncomfortable. Yeah, the male lead’s soul (?) is 37 years old, but his body’s still 18. It’s just weird to see a 37 year old in a romantic relationship with someone who’s her literal son’s age. And not to mention that it’s even weirder because I can’t stop thinking about it when I watch it. A drama with a large age difference I was fine with was song hyekyo and Lee dohyun’s relationship with in the The glory, and that was im assuming 14 years. That was okay because the entire story didn’t revolve around it so I didnt think about it that often and it didn’t ick me out.

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a MUST-WATCH wholesome drama

" On rainy days, people can measure how big their love is. Even when they share umbrellas, as everyone holds them at different angles, it’s clearly visible how big their love is."

I absolutely loved this quote from the drama alongside many other inspiring ones. this drama started off being really funny when the father became a 18 year old student because of the generation gap. However, this drama took a turn and became really emotional as the family finds out the importance of one another only when it was too late. The writing was done beautifully and the pace of each episode was right. I was especially impressed with Lee Do Hyun's acting as a father, student and a husband, its almost impossible to not fall for him after watching this.

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