AGAIN MY
LIFE
THE 2022
TELEVISION
MASTERPIECE
LEE JOON
GI’S
TOUR DE FORCE
PERFORMANCE
INCREDIBLE
REVERSE
AGING
TRANFORMATION
BREATHTAKING
HIGH-OCTANE
ACTION
SEQUENCES
SPECTACULAR
FANTASY
WORLD
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 The 2022 fantasy-legal-action
television series Again My Life, a captivating and emotionally charged
fantasy-action time-travel tale starring Lee Joon Gi, Kim Ji Eun, Lee Geung
Young, and Jung Sang Hoon, aired from 8 April to 28 May on SBS and streamed on
VIU in selected regions. Originally written by Jay and Kim Yul, it is directed
by Han Chul Soo and Kim Yong Min. After watching the tv series, it’s not
difficult to figure out the impressive parts that warrant your attention and
the camera shows us how Lee Joon Gi, the sterling leading actor of the
masterpiece television series works magic in them.  But first, one has to draw
attention to one piece of clothing that the gorgeous actor wears in the
television series. Lee is remembered not only for his deeply layered
performance, his versatility in changing his looks from a mature appearance to
a youthful one, his adrenalin-fuelled action scenes but also for the iconic
black and white check shirt that has become his signature shirt – a shirt that a
rival copycat television series tries to imitate.
 Everyone is talking about the iconic shirt that Kim Hee Woo wears in Episode 4 of Again My Life. Coincidentally, Episode 4 discusses Intellectual Property, the stealing of the work of others and copyright laws. Stealing is a violation of a legal property right. The other television series, which has plagiarised some scenes and ideas of Again My Life, is ironically caught red-handed in the glaring violation of ethics by blatantly copying the high contrast shirt with the bold colours of black and white. Plagiarizm is an act of fraud and the plagiarizm is blatant and right in your face.   And what else is everybody
talking about? Watching Lee Joon Gi portray Kim Hee Woo is an illuminating
experience. He is completely immersed in the character of the youthful high
school-university student-young prosecutor. The first rate actor has the
exceptional gift of slipping into the youthful role as if it was real. The
crying scenes are raw and organic emotionally as Kim Hee Woo, the time-traveller, is caught up in
human tragedies and human problems. It seems tragedy upon tragedy visits upon
the vulnerable Kim Hee Woo. And Lee Joon
Gi portrays the devastated young man to perfection.  What’s the heart of the
story? Kim Hee Woo, who is the target of bullies in school, is suddenly orphaned.
He becomes a prosecutor but is brutally murdered by Cho Tae Sub, the vicious
politician. Ressurrected by The Grim Reaper, he travels back to the past, aging
backwards in the process and then ages forwards. Having done things the wrong
way in his previous life, he is driven to put things right this time round. As
his plans to prevent injustice gather steam, he collects allies to help him
fight the many criminals in society. Kim Hee Woo’s life changes irrevocably but he is essentially
the same person with the same values – a man who wants to prevent the
miscarriage of justice. The only difference between his first life and second
life is the means to that end.    The images are self-explanatory.          When Kim Hee Woo walks back into the Past to 2007 when he is a
high schooler working part-time in a convenience store, the audience is as
startled as the time-traveller as he studies himself in the mirror. Like the Turritopsis
Dohrnii, he has aged backwards physically. Kim Hee Woo has been transformed. Lee
Joon Gi, who looks young in real life, looks amazingly younger but it is not
just his physical appearance.
The audience is amazed by his demeanour, mannerisms, behaviour
and the way he speaks as a younger version of himself. 
Lee Joon Gi, unlike some younger copycat actor who has a baby face, is blessed with a
young-looking face. It must be stressed that Lee Joon Gi does not have a baby
face. Global fans know that Lee Joon Gi has a young or youthful appearance and also,
a youthful outlook. Add this to his versatility as a fine actor. It is difficult to fake youthful behaviour and
mannerisms. That’s why the global audiences are thrilled by his convincing performance
as a coming-of-age young man. Imagine the 40-year old Lee Joon Gi portraying a person half his age! His portrayal of a young Kim Hee Woo with the freshness, energy, exuberance and vigour of youth is awe-inspiring.
    The audience can see that the television series is wonderfully scripted
and well-made. There is no slovenliness in the actor’s performance, screenwriter's work or the directors’ storytelling. It cannot be denied that good make-up, lighting quality and techniques and the power of camera angles cannot be understated. Excellent directing is also important but ultimately, the actor’s crucial ability to morph
and act younger than his age is central to the television series.
 The images are self-explanatory.                                  Upon ressurrection, Kim Hee
Woo is shown snippets of his miserable life on a ginormous or humongous screen
in the sky by the Grim Reaper. He was severely bullied and humiliated by his schoolmates in his
previous life because of his poverty and his family’s low status in society.        Kim Hee Woo watches the
various humuliating and sad incidents of his previous life in tears and
despair. A selfish and self-centred boy who was ashamed of poverty, he was angry with his parents whom he thought were the cause of his misery. The disrespectful boy even snubbed them.    With the sudden death of his parents in a car accident, it was too late for regrets.  The death of Kim Hee Woo's parents was a devastating blow to his life. The young man’s heartbreaking moments almost choke him.   When tears well up in the eyes of Kim Hee Woo, the global audiences are also reduced to tears. His heartbreaking moments bring out intense emotions in them.   
Lee Joon Gi exercises his COMIC CHOPS in many scenes in Again My
Life. Lee peppers the television series with lots of hilarious
moments. Some funny moments occur in situations which are deemed to be very
serious, tense or dangerous. But, when Kim Hee Woo laughs or smirks, it is
very funny and hilarious indeed. Sometimes, there’s a smile and then, it
escalates into raucous laughter. The laughter is so genuine - that’s because it’s
instantaneous. And the audience laughs with him.
  
Gay or homosexual inclinations, which were best left in the closet, are sensitive. Was Lee Min Soo, the older male student, in love with Kim Hee Woo? Boy Love (BL) movies or television shows would the one of the drama genres of the FUURE but was Lee Min Soo part of the promiscuous gay scene? Most likely, the older student, who is also from the Future, enjoys
shocking Kim Hee Woo who nearly chokes on his drink.        Lee Joon Gi’s cute acting is
amusing and delightful in this heartwarming scene. The youthful Kim Hee Woo,
who has bonded closely with Woo Yong Soo, the auction investment tycoon, is
playful and childlike with the tycoon who has helped him with his investments.
He smiles indulgently at Woo Yong Soo who affectionally utters,
‘YOU SILLY GOOSE’.  ‘YOU SILLY GOOSE’     
Another of Lee Joon Gi’s hilarious iconic scenes is the one when he breaks into an illegal casino without a warrant. He is threatened by the ruffled local thug leader. The Gimsan gangster threatens, ‘Do you know why our
local shrimps are so plump and tasty?’
 The prosecutor feigns hard of hearing. With a faintly mocking smile painted on his face, he pretends to lean forward as if to listen carefully to the town bully. Then, Kim Hee Woo’s lips curve downward in contempt. His expressive eyes do the talking too. He looks disdainfully at the thug. Kim Hee Woo’s insolence infuriates the gangster.
‘Because they feed on human corpses.’  When the thug asks whether the
prosecutor wants to be thrown into the prawn farm, Kim Hee Woo’s face lights
up. Looking provocatively at local gangster, he sneers at his threat. Then, he
turns serious and delivers a threat, much to the gangster’s annoyance.            When an army of thugs appears, the
prosecutor jokes, ‘My goodness. You have a lot of manpower here!’
Lee Joon Gi’s performance in the hilariously funny scene tickles one’s funny bones. Lee Joon Gi is good at whipping up the humour in his funny scenes; he’s a natural comedian. He’s hilarious and his humour is infectious. Everyone in the audience must have dissolved into fits of laughter.    There is another iconic court scene that is humorous. It involves the trial of the senior prosecutor. Kim Hee Woo prosecutes the vile and corrupt Jang Il Hyun who finally gets his just desserts for his crimes at his trial. It is rewarding to finally bring his revolting senior down. Can we believe what we are watching? Can we feel there is a bit of revenge motive, hostility or self-satisfaction which have bubbled to the surface? Has the mask of uprightness of the young prosecutor fallen off in this scene? One cannot help but laugh while watching Lee Joon Gi's nuanced performance. Kim Hee Woo's submerged emotions rise slowly to the surface. The subtle facial and eye expressions of the young prosecutor are priceless. Lee Joon Gi seems to excel at smirking. He has different ways of
doing it. When he smirks, one can imagine the smiles on the faces of the
audience.       Kim Hee Woo deals coldly with Jang,
whom he sends to prison. He puts on an unemotional face at the sentencing. He
glances unemotionally at his former colleague as Jang is led away. Jang Il Hyun
rages and snarls. Kim Hee Woo smiles with self-satisfaction. He smirks. A smirk
of triumph tinged probably with a suppressed vengeance in his heart.       Such is the power of Lee Joon Gi’s
performance that one is amazed at his interpretation of the character’s
intelligence and sense of humour.   The confrontation between Kim Hee Woo and Cho Tae Sub in Episode
15 is one of the finest sequences of the television series. It is both serious
and funny at the same time.
Everyone waits for the witty and hilarious prosecutor to
humiliate and defeat the corrupt politician. The verbal exchange involves some
taunting, humour, barbs and some verbal slaps in the face.
In the dramatic verbal confrontation, Kim Hee Woo cast aspersions on Cho Tae Sub’s character. It is a wow moment when Kim Hee Woo puts Cho Tae Sub in his place.  
The situation highlights the intelligence, wit and humour of Kim Hee Woo who has learnt his lesson the hard way not to be too serious and strident. Unlike his previous life when he overestimated himself, this time round, he confidently holds all cards in his hands. The thought puts him in great humour. He could confidently direct the conversation his way. Cho Tae Sub tries to bluff his way through. It
is so ridiculous that it triggers Kim Hee Woo’s raucous laughter.  Kim Hee Woo’s plans have successfully
fallen into place and his strategies are working effectively to his advantage.
Now that Kim Hee Woo is fully confident of winning the war against Cho Tae Sub,
he suspects the latter is planning to punish him through his assistant. He is
worried about the welfare and safety of his assistant, Park Sang Man. When Cho Tae Sub tells him that he is
doing what he does for the people, Kim Hee Woo sneers at him for lying and
declares a war. It will end with punishment for his crimes.
 The prosecutor cheekily asks if he kneels, would the politician forgive him and wipe his slate clean. The older man balks at his impertinent line of questioning. Anticipating his answer, Kim Hee Woo smiles at his own joke. Tickled by Cho Tae Sub’s displeased expression,
the prosecutor’s face suddenly crinkles up and there is a sudden explosion of
loud, raucous laughter.  Scorn with derision is written all
over on Kim Hee Woo’s face. The battle of wits ends on a serious note. Kim Hee
Woo dominates the scene and sets the tone for the battle of wits. He wins us
over by letting the audience experience his wit, exuberance, and humour.
The viewers, who must have howled with
laughter at the situation, are full of admiration for Lee Joon Gi’s powerhouse
performance. Deft at acting, Lee appears very much at ease in the scene. What stuns is Lee
Joon Gi's loud organic laughter. The tickled audience laughs with him.  The camera records
Lee Joon Gi’s every nuance, the tiny movements of his eyes, the intensity of
his eyes, and one is awed by his remarkable performance. Lee conveys verbally
and physically all nuances of drama and comedy. The audience could see his
facial and body language. The eye energy he projects reflects the intensity of
his feelings. 
The
prosecutor firmly declares that, unlike the criminal, he is not so forgiving.
To put it mildly, Cho Tae Sub, is badly shaken by the confident and articulate
prosecutor. The politician seems more and more vulnerable as they battle it
out. A canny and savvy tactician, Kim Hee Woo turns grim and serious.
He launches into his promise to catch the evil man.                           Lee Joon Gi's nuanced acting and also the powerful performance of anger, suppressed rage or laughter, derisive or indulgent smiles, emotional tears, patronizing or self-satisfied smirks, grim or dignified silence and subtle eye expressions, bring depth and complexity to his television character. It impacts the audience and brings out intense emotions in them.   The images are self-explanatory.  
                   Kim Hee Woo sustains an injury on his face during the fight.        The television series diverges from the origin al manhwa in that Kim Hee Woo was murdered and thrown
off the rooftop of a skyscrapper, not into the sea.
                                                                                                 
Based on a web novel by Lee Hae Nal which was also released as a webtoon, it is about Kim Hee Woo, a rash and foolhardy prosecutor portrayed by Lee Joon Gi, who tries to bring an evil, brutal politician and other ciminals to justice. It must be stated that one key scene that the television series diverges from the novel / webtoon is that Kim Hee Woo is murdered and thrown off the rooftop of a skyscraper and not, murdered and thrown into the sea. The audience travels with the briliant prosecutor and walks through the terrifying crimes that beset society – savage murders, blatant media lies, rampant corporate corruption and watches how he weeds out crooked criminals including, prosecutors. Justice is one of the key themes of the
television series. And because the justice-seeking time-travelling prosecutor,
Kim Hee Woo, armed with the knowledge of the past, has gotten into the psyche –
the head and mind of the criminals and victims, he is able to correct the
miscarriage of justice, especially for
those who had been denied justice for too long.
The intelligent and humorous fictional hero, with his many talents and abilities, pursues the dangerous and vicious politician who tries to bring Chunha, a conglomerate to its knees and corrupt its feuding scions. Kim Hee Woo, who is driven by his ambition of holding Chunha in the palm of his hands, by a twist of fate, achieves his goal but not according to his plans – he wins the heart of Kim Hee Ah (Kim Ji Eun), the heiress of the conglomerate. Though the stories in Again
My Life centre on corrupt politicians, prosecutors and businessmen, it is actually a
tribute to honest and upright prosecutors, politicians and businessmen who may
one day be a disappearing species in our society.
Some important aspects of the
story have to be discussed. Certain images are self-explanatory.
    
    We must pause here to see how
the cast and crew of Again My Life has firmly established the fact that the
television series is a fantasy in this very first episode. The world building in Again My Life is cleverly executed in Episode 1. It is a spectacular FANTASY scene. Kim Hee Woo, the upright prosecutor, is murdered and thrown of the rooftop of a skyscraper. The slow and gradual fall seems magical. The Grim Reaper in red, wields power in the issues of life and death. Kim Hee Woo is resurrected. A revolving circular stage swirls around but time is frozen. The assassin is frozen in the act of lighting a cigarette. An exciting humongous screen, showing the past life of Kim Hee Woo, appears in the sky. A Theatre in the Sky.
The fall of Kim Hee
Woo from the rooftop of the building is not only stunning but
beautifully done. It must be emphasized that Lee Joon Gi does his own stunts.
Lee's action skills, the action choreography, the direction, the
cinematography, and so on and so forth are top-notch.        
In this FANTASY tale, the FANTASY character, the Grim Reaper, appears in the form of a beautiful woman. The supernatural Grim Reaper is clothed in a startlingly blood-red pant suit, the blouse of which has billowy sleeves.
None has expected that the Grim Reaper would be dressed in crimson red. The reimagined Grim Reaper in red is a great departure from the usual dark image or dark clothes worn by the Grim Reaper in the manhwa. Hats off to the great imagination and creativity of directors, scriptwriters and the wardrobe department. Red means many things particularly joy, courage, energy, determination, action, adventure and excitement. It symbolises Kim Hee Woo's next life. The Grim Reaper resurrects Kim Hee Woo. Kim Hee Woo erroneously think that she is a human,
albeit a strange one. To his shock, she tells him, ‘I’m not human.’
   
The Grim Reaper, the fantasy character in the magical Fantasy World, an
intermediate world between The Future and The Present. Han Ji
Hyun, the Grim Reaper, is not human. She has the power to revive and
give life to Kim Hee Woo who has been assassinated. Though she doesn’t seem to
remember anything in the next part of the story, her presence throughout the
story continues to intrigue the audience.
Kim Hee Woo returns to The
Past which has become The Present, i.e., Kim Hee Woo’s present world. The
Future World and the Present World are not unlike our own world.
The Present World is
different from the Future World in that the Present World has a touch of
unreality with the presence of 3 characters from The Future – Kim Hee
Woo, the leading character portrayed by Lee Joon Gi, Lee Min
Soo, his prosecutor colleague played by Jung Sang Hoon and Han
Ji Hyun, the Grim Reaper who is the secretary of Cho Tae Sup (Lee
Geung Young). She is played by Cha Joo Young.       There is an amazing building with a horned roof in the background.
After Kim Hee Woo is thrown off the roof of the skyscraper, the Grim Reaper revives him. With a flick of her hand, the
Grim Reaper summons some past incidents to appear on the fantastic
humongous screen in the sky. The screen in the sky lights up to show
snippets of Kim Hee Woo’s past life. Astonishing. It is an example of
a story within a story. It seems like they are in an open air cinema and they
are standing on a moving circular stage. The viewers are given an idea about the surroundings as the stage
turns. It is the time for Kim Hee Woo to reflect on the mistakes of his past including being unfilial, being bullied in school and not standing up for himself, his parents’ death et cetera. Kim Hee Woo may be a tough martial arts fighter but he is a sensitive man with fragile emotions. He cries on remembering his lack of filial piety. At times, he had ignored his loving parents. He cried at his parents’ funeral but it was too late. On being
reminded of the incident on the screen in the sky, Kim Hee Woo is appalled at
his past immaturity. He was mean and self centred. Tears well up in his eyes as
he reminisces about the past. The scene reveals Kim Hee Woo’s own demons, self-loathing and self-hatred which had consumed him in the past. It was a terrible period in his life. The young boy had realized too late his self-centredness and narcissistic attitude only when his parents suddenly died.           
When the Grim Reaper
delegates Kim Hee Woo the task of taking down Cho Tae Sub,
he promises her that he would not allow Cho Tae Sub to
pervert the course of justice. It is the burden that he shoulders. 
The intermediate fantasy
world in Episode 1 is the key scene in the fantasy drama and is splendidly
filmed. A television masterpiece. No words can describe the feeling when one
watches the magical scene, indulgent and artistic. It is a magical moment in an
imaginary land before Kim Hee Woo returns to the past. The viewer is
transported by the magic of the scene. The viewer feels he is moved away from
reality to the unknown only for a slight moment - during Kim Hee Woo’s brief
stint in the magic world after he is revived. The story helps us to cross the
world of reality into unreality – an urban fantasy world.  A humongous fantasy clock also appears on the rooftop in Episode 15.
   In Episode 16, Kim
Hee Woo, the righteous prosecutor, is highlighted in daylight against the
background of the same horned roof of the building in Episode 1. It symbolizes his triumph
over the evil people that he has fought. But the truth is, evil will
continue to persist until the end. Evil people are hatching fiendish plots
non-stop. Even if Cho Tae Sub has committed suicide, evil still remains.    The spellbinding creativity and imagination of the production staff is astonishing. The direction, the cinematography, the writing, the story, the lighting, the wardrobe department, the martial arts choreography, the editing and so on and so forth are top-notch. It takes great brains, imagination, creativity and camera tricks to produce the amazing, magical and extraordinary scene at the rooftop from which Kim Hee Woo has been thrown. A spectacular fantasy scene.                                                                                                                                   https://programs.sbs.co.kr/drama/againmylife/clip/70902/OC461043892 https://twitter.com/i/status/1530554967005794317
                  
                          https://www.instagram.com/p/CeAGaUHsIJW/?hl=en       https://www.instagram.com/accounts/login/?next=%2Fp%2FCY-edsJsaOZ%2F  https://www.instagram.com/accounts/login/?next=%2Fp%2FCY-edsJsaOZ%2F  https://www.instagram.com/actor_jg/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=c3a7c9ea-e34a-46ba-9a90-28d418e44d7c https://www.facebook.com/100044720221159/videos/pcb.505845440916126/3062175390663079                                                 https://entertain.naver.com/read?oid=416&aid=0000281824 https://twitter.com/jg_k_drama_417/status/1511869514668990468/photo/1
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