VOL.69/2024.04

 

[Book & Media ③]

Reborn Rich

Someone in My Family Killed Me!

 

2023.04.03

 

 

The drama “Reborn Rich” was the hottest drama in the second half of 2022. It shook the entire country as each new episode was released and created many buzzwords. While actors who “guarantee success,” such as Song Joong-Ki and Lee Sung-Min played an important role in the drama’s success, the fact that it was based on a “quality-proven, popular webnovel” is also notable.
The webnovel Reborn Rich (book publisher: Teraphosa) was serialized on Munpia, a webnovel platform, starting in 2017. It used to rank 1st regarding cumulated views and average purchases. As it covers all sorts of interesting keywords such as “the rich family,” “murder,” “revenge,” and “politics,” while being a quality novel, readers could not help but be thrilled to read the series. Even though the series ended in 2018, the series is appraised as an innovative work that has led the mega boom of the “chaebol (family-owned businesses that typically have subsidiaries across diverse industries)” genre in Korea. It has been capturing the hearts of international readers since its serialization on YONDER, Naver’s international webnovel platform, in 2022.

 

 

PlotFind the Person that Killed Me and Take Revenge!

 

Yoon Hyun-Woo, the protagonist in Reborn Rich, is a secretary of a conglomerate run by a chaebol family. He devotes everything to the company but is eventually killed by the very own family that he has been working for. But then, he is miraculously given a second life – a life back in 1987. He is reborn as the last son of the family that killed him. Should he be happy that he was reborn into a rich family? Or should he resent that he became a member of the family responsible for his death? Adapting to the new life with a confused mind, he decides - “The killer is in this family. I shall find him and take revenge.”
The method of revenge Yoon Hyun-Woo chose was not as simple as repaying death with death, like “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” As he realizes that the biggest revenge is “becoming the owner of the company,” which all the family members aspire to become, he strives to achieve the goal. He does his best to earn the favor of president Jin Yang-Cheol, the founder of the company and his grandfather. He makes fierce efforts to survive the veiled enmity with various family members such as his uncle, grandmother, and cousin. While the company’s throne seems like an unreachable goal... will Yoon Hyun-Woo, living a second life, successfully avenge his death?

 

Book vs DramaLittle but Big Differences

 

#1. Differences Compared to the Original Story

 

The webnovel Reborn Rich has 326 episodes and is bigger in scale compared to its drama, which comprises 16 episodes. As webnovels have no limitation in length, the author can write as much as he/she likes. However, for dramas, the story should be completed in 16 episodes, each an hour in length. So, changes had to be made to the names and settings of some characters in the drama to deliver the story and entertainment of the original effectively. For example, president Jin Yang-Cheol has 4 sons and 1 daughter, but he has 3 sons and 1 daughter in the drama, with their names also changed. As such, it will be fun to compare the differences between the webnovel and the drama and what changes were made to effectively dramatize the storyline.

 

#2. Romance only Appears in the Drama

 

The biggest difference between the drama and webnovel Reborn Rich is that the female protagonist Seo Min-Young and Yoon Hyun-Woo fall in love. The original story does not have romantic elements, and Seo Min-Young accounts for a very small proportion of the story line. However, in the drama, their love story is quite heavily shown. A love story is one of the success elements that most drama fans go crazy about. The webnovel Reborn Rich is relatively more in the drama genre, meaning it is hard to find romance in it. If you want to feel the excitement of a love story, I recommend watching the drama version where handsome and pretty actors and actresses have love scenes.

 

#3. Performances of Actors and Actresses in Drama Draw Positive Views

 

What can’t be left out when talking about the drama “Reborn Rich” is the good reviews the actors and actresses get for their performances. In particular, actor Lee Sung-Min, who acted as president Jin Yang-Cheol, has caught the hearts of drama fans by showing outstanding performance in works including “Misaeng”, which also was based on a webtoon with the same title. The dialect, which was not in the original story, maximized the realism of the character. And when he acted the cold-blooded aspects of a company president, the audience felt a cold shudder down their spines. Actor The performance of actor Song Joong-Gi, the protagonist living a second life, cannot be omitted, too. He perfectly acted the confusion and loneliness of the protagonist, who lives a different life in his previous and current lives. His unique, witty acting made drama fans cry and laugh throughout the drama. As other actors and actresses that appear as the members of the chaebol family also act magnificently, providing different fun from the original story, I recommend all the people – those who have or have not read the original story – to indulge in the charm of this drama.

 

 

* Main trailer of the drama “Reborn Rich”

 

 

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Written by Choi Ha-Yeong