“365: Repeat The Year” is an MBC drama that recently ended its run. It tells the story of a bunch of people who go back in time one year and the issues that they encounter after this.

It is led by Nam Ji Hyun, Lee Joon Hyuk and Kim Ji Soo. It is also based on the Japanese novel “Repeat” by Kurumi Inui.

It’s taken me a bit too long to publish this but I am finally here. Today, I’ll review “365: Repeat The Year,” it’s going to be spoiler free and short. Let’s talk about the drama.

Short but impactful

In 2020, we had many short kdramas, way more than 2019 and I think it’s good that we’re getting more of them. If you follow my blog then you know that I usually struggle to understand the justification behind a 16-episode drama.

In most cases, I feel that the same kdrama could’ve been told better in a shorter format; many of them don’t even need to be this long. I am glad more and more directors are taking chances doing shorter projects.

“365: Repeat The Year” doesn’t waste a moment, there isn’t one particularly dull episode, there aren’t many filler scenes in any episode and everything that’s being told is there for a reason.

It’s short but straight to the point and fun to watch. Usually speaking, shorter kdramas are oftentimes better than longer kdramas in my opinion.

The origin material

“365: Repeat The Year” has a very peculiar idea that I found very interesting. As someone who also writes novels and wants to publish her own hopefully one day, I find it very difficult to construct something similar to “365: Repeat The Year.”

It has stories within stories and everything points back to one point, it’s not easy to create such a story and stay consistent enough that people won’t catch on and find plot holes.

“365: Repeat The Year” explains itself pretty well, it’s concise and delivered so well. I loved the way the characters were written and if you decide to watch this drama, you’ll be very shocked by every one of them.

The supporting cast members played a bigger role in this drama, they weren’t just there, there was a purpose and it perfectly made sense. It is the type of drama that even a picky person could enjoy.

“365: Repeat The Year” is based on fantasy but the approach is rather grounded in reality, it is exactly what you’d expect to happen if normal people stumbled upon such an opportunity. There are good people and bad people who would use this to their own benefit, and it’s not always black or white, there are grey areas where there isn’t an obvious answer but it’s still done so well.

“365: Repeat The Year” was for the most part very enjoyable to me and you can call this nitpicking, but I did find a couple of minor plot points annoying, especially the scenes where the lead characters go back and forth to the person who helped them reset.

Personally speaking, I love it when Koreans take on Japanese origin stories, whether it’s a novel or anything else. I’ve seen many success stories with such adaptations and Japanese people have amazing minds that think of things that would never cross my mind. I like seeing Koreans take on Japanese origin stories and spin them in their own way. I find the outcome always interesting because usually, Koreans adapt strange Japanese stories, which are my favorite. They’re usually mind-boggling and very intriguing.

The performances

Nam Ji Hyun and Lee Joon Hyuk seriously did so well. I loved them both together, the only spoiler I will give is a minor one, its about the romance of the characters. There is none in “365: Repeat The Year.”

Personally speaking, the drama was so hectic that inserting a romance element could’ve made it messy but I loved how cute Nam Ji Hyun and Lee Joon Hyuk looked together and would’ve love a bit more hints of romance.

So if you’re looking to see them fall for each other in this drama, prepare to be disappointed. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’re not gonna find it here.

“365: Repeat The Year” might be an MBC drama but it has the vibes of an OCN drama. I tried to find information about the production company behind it but I couldn’t, I’d guess it’s one that works with tvN and OCN regularly.

I also wanted to point out how amazing both Ahn Seung Kyoon and Lee Yoo Mi performed. I’ve seen them in some dramas before but I felt that they really got the chance to shine here in this drama. They were both terrifying at times but also very intriguing and interesting as characters. Kudos to both actors, I can’t wait to see their next works.

Yang Dong Geun plays an important role in this drama but he’s seriously the weakest point of the cast. I don’t see many kdrama fans discuss his acting, but he’s originally a rapper who shifted towards acting and he’s not that good.

I’ve been (unwillingly) seeing him in dramas because my favs are in it. Even when I started watching kdramas and couldn’t tell any better, I could still notice how lacking he was.

His line delivery isn’t the best and it feels like he’s barely speaking as if he’s about to fall asleep, his face doesn’t convey emotions as deeply as I’d like it to be, he really needs to take more acting lessons because he’s not a match to anyone in this drama. Whenever he was on the screen, I felt sad because I wanted him to do better but he wasn’t the one cut for it, especially for such a serious role.

Conclusion

“365: Repeat The Year” is definitely one of the better kdramas this year and seriously underrated, I’ve seen less interesting kdramas with weaker plots do way better than them and it’s sad because this was actually very well-done in all areas.

MBC is behind “365: Repeat The Year,” and I can’t remember the last time an MBC drama didn’t bore me to death. I think one of the reasons for the drama not getting much attention has to do with the network and the way they’ve been dealing with scripts in general.

MBC has been struggling to keep up while tVN and JTBC took off. MBC rarely takes risks with the dramas they air and after a while, people just gave up. I’ve been watching this unfold for the past five years.

“365: Repeat The Year” is a good drama that’ll get you thinking, it’s shocking, entertaining and frustrating at times but still, a fun watch. And definitely something that’ll keep you busy during quarantine.

So these are my thoughts on “365: Repeat The Year,” have you guys seen it? if you ended up watching it on my recommendation let me know how it panned out for you.