Rebirth For You Review

Frankly speaking, I wasn’t expecting much when I started on Rebirth For You (嘉南传). I guess after just having completed Nirvana In Fire 1 and its sequel, The Wind Blows In Chang Lin, it will be hard to find another drama of the same quality. So, I knew I have to lower my expectations a few rungs for this recent drama and wait for surprises instead. But alas, the surprises aren’t there after sitting through the entire 40 episodes. What is worse is that it also suffers from a poor script and plot. Below is my Rebirth For You review for a more in depth look at this Chinese historical romance drama.

My rating: 6/10
Episodes: 40
Type: Historical Romance
Aired: October 2021
Images Credit: WeTV

The Cast Of Rebirth For You

• Ju Jing Yi as Jiang Bao Ning
• Joseph Zeng Shun Xi as Li Qian
• Wang Zhuo Cheng as Zhao Xiao
• Li Yi Zhen as Gao Miao Rong
• Wang Yi Ting as Li Dong Zhi / Dong Dong
• Li Yun Rui as Qing An
• Zhou Zhao Yuan as Zhao Yi
• Cao Cui Fen as Grand Empress Dowager
• Pan Hong as Empress Dowager Cao
• Hua Wen as Han Tong Xin
• Wang Yi Kun as Zhao Xi
• Chen Yang as Cao Xuan
• Song Xin Ran as Bai Su
• Huang Hai Bing as Li Chang Qing
• Lan Xi as He Cui Hua
• Xiong Yi Wen as Li Lin
• Zhang Jia Rui as Jin Xiao
• Lu Ting Yu as Dong Shan Hu
• He Yi Chen as Qing Tai
• Guo Jin Dong as Si Qin

Main Characters

Jiang Bao Ning

Bao Ning is Commandery Princess Jia Nan. Her maternal grandmother is the Grand Empress Dowager while her uncle is the Archduke. Her parents passed away when she was a young girl and she is doted upon by her grandmother. Bao Ning is a cheerful and quick witted young woman who is into inventions and gadgets. She can also be mischievous and cunning. Qing Ke is her personal servant.

Li Qian

Li Qian is a military man from Bingzhou where his father is the Commandant. His biological mother died when he was a kid. Li Qian is a skillful martial artist and a smart man. Wei Shu is his personal assistant.

Supporting Characters

Zhao Xiao

Zhao Xiao is related to the royal family and his father is Marquis Jing Hai and Commandant in Nanmin. He is a gentleman who is in love with Bao Ning.

Gao Miao Rong

Miao Rong and Li Qian are childhood friends. She is very close to his family because her uncle is Li Qian’s father’s military counselor. Miao Rong has strong feelings for Li Qian but he only regards her as his sister.

Li Dong Zhi / Dong Dong

Dong Dong is Li Qian’s younger half-sister. She is a rebellious and mischievous lass. Dong Dong is also a tomboy with an indulgent father.

Qing An

Qing An is a traveling merchant who is looking for his missing other. His mother is from Mu’an while his father is from Yong Qing. He is skilled in martial arts and has a mysterious background.

Emperor Zhao Yi

Zhao Yi is the Emperor of Mu’an. He is a powerless and dissatisfied ruler as his mother controls the royal court. Zhao Yi has eyes for Bao Ning who is his cousin. But he also fools around with a palace maid named Fang Yi Ru.

Grand Empress Dowager

Grand Empress Dowager is Bao Ning and Zhao Yi’s grandmother. She a kind woman who dotes on Bao Ning. Her seniority gives her a special status and she will use it to protect her precious granddaughter.

Empress Dowager Cao

Empress Dowager Cao is Zhao Yi’s mother. She is the power behind the throne and refuses to pass the reins to her son. She is also against Zhao Yi’s intention to marry Bao Ning as this would be a threat to her hold on power.

Han Tong Xin

Tong Xin is District Princess Qing Yi and the granddaughter of Lord Jian. She is an arrogant and jealous lady who is interested in Zhao Yi.

Zhao Xi

Zhao Xi is the eldest son of Zhao Yi whose mother is a palace maid.

Cao Xuan

Cao Xuan is Empress Dowager Cao’s nephew and a Deputy Chamberlain. He is a gentleman who just quietly goes about his duty.

Bai Su

Bai Su is Township Mistress Qing Hui. Her father is a duke and she has a very close friendship with Bao Ning as they grew up together.

Li Chang Qing

Chang Qing is Li Qian’s father and Commandant of Bingzhou. He comes from a bandit background who stole from the rich to give to the poor. He has a good reputation in Bingzhou. His late first wife was Li Qian’s mother and he is still seeking justice for her killing. Chang Qing also remarried after her death.

He Cui Hua

Cui Hua is Chang Qing’s current wife and Dong Dong’s mother. She also comes from a humble background and married Chang Qing when he was still poor. Cui Hua is a simple-minded woman who can be a little greedy in a harmless way. She is also a worried mother who is overly eager to find a marriage partner for her tomboyish daughter.

Li Lin

Li Lin is Li Qian’s cousin and working for the family. He is a quiet man with feelings for Miao Rong.

Jin Xiao

Jin Xiao is Li Qian’s good friend. His father is Commander of the Border Brigade. Jin Xiao is a carefree guy with a cheerful and talkative personality.

Dong Shan Hu

Shan Hu is a very successful businesswoman in Bingzhou. She is a smart and astute woman who develops a close friendship with Bao Ning.

Qing Tai

Qing Tai is the First Prince of Yong Qing which is a state bordering Mu’an. He is a bloodthirsty and rash man who is always looking for a war with Mu’an. His righthand man is Wu Man who is a hypnotist.

Si Qin

Si Qin is the Commander of the Weapons Battalion of Yong Qing. He is in charge of developing weapons for the army. Si Qin is a softhearted man who prefers peace over war.

Synopsis

Bao Ning is a Commandery Princess who loves inventing and tinkering with gadgets and machines. She sneaks out of the palace to join a machinist competition as she wants to win the prize on offer which is a secretive weapon design book. At the same time, Li Qian also wants to win the competition as the book is related to his mother’s death years ago. Zhao Xiao is also there to try to get insights into some boat designs to repel pirates in his hometown. Hence, the 3 of them become acquainted through the competition with Bao Ning being the winner.

Zhao Xiao falls deeply in love with Bao Ning and is on the verge of marrying her with the Grand Empress Dowager’s approval. But circumstances spoils the plan and Bao Ning ends up marrying Li Qian instead which angers Zhao Xiao. This also causes Li Qian’s childhood friend, Miao Rong, to feel jealous as she is also in love with him and they are often thought of as a pair. Therefore, Bao Ning and Li Qian have to face various plots to break them apart including from Emperor Zhao Yi who also has an eye on Bao Ning. Will their efforts succeed to break the loving couple apart?

Rebirth For You Ending (Spoilers Alert!)

Rebirth For You has a happy ending. The last few minutes of the drama sees a time jump 5 years later. Bao Ning and Li Qian already have a daughter who is just as mischievous and rebellious. Bai Su and Cao Xuan have a baby son as well as an adopted daughter. Shan Hu and Jin Xiao are already happily married. Prior to the time jump, Dong Dong is also seen going off to marry Qing An in Yong Qing while Miao Rong and Li Lin have quietly left the capital to start a new life together.

Who Killed Li Qian’s Mother?

Li Qian’s mother (Zhang Xiu He), Bao Ning’s father (Jiang Zhen Ying), and Qing An’s mother (Qin Yu) were fellow disciples of the master who wrote the weapon design book. The book was passed down to Zhang Xiu He before the disciples went their separate ways to lead their own lives.

The then Emperor heard about the book and was looking for it. Empress Dowager Cao was only a concubine then and the book was her ticket to the Empress title. She got her underlings led by Xie Jian Feng to snatch it from Zhang Xiu He. They burned down the whole village and massacred all the people present including Li Qian’s mother to hide what they have done.

By coincidence, Jiang Zhen Ying and Qin Yu were at the village on that day for a reunion with Zhang Xiu He. But Jiang Zhen Ying had an argument with Zhang Xiu He and left early. He wanted his disciple sister to burn the book because he felt that it would be bring her harm. But Zhang Xiu He refused. After he left, Xie Jian Feng arrived with his men and started the massacre.

Qin Yu was chased down but was lucky to run into Qing An’s father who saved her. She lost her memory because of the trauma. She regained it in Episode 38 and narrated what happened on that day to Qing An and Dong Dong.

What Happened To Miao Rong?

Miao Rong left the Li family after being caught for trying to harm Bao Ning in Episode 28. She was saved by Li Lin after she was sexually assaulted. Li Lin had already left Li Manor earlier after taking the blame for Miao Rong for diverting the family funds to an underground bank for profit. Miao Rong realized that Li Lin was the one who really loves her and they became a couple in Episode 30.

Just when she wanted to start life anew with Li Lin, Tong Xin tricked Miao Rong to make Miao Rong felt indebted to her. Hence, Miao Rong ended up carrying out Tong Xin’s dirty deeds in the palace against her conscience until she found out that she had been set up from the very beginning. Miao Rong then reported Tong Xin’s plan to Li Qian. She also helped Bao Ning to expose Tong Xin’s crime in exchange for freedom in Episode 38. She left the capital with Li Lin and they planned to lead a peaceful and ordinary life thereafter.

Tong Xin’s Fate

Through Miao Rong’s help, Tong Xin was caught for stealing the Grand Empress Dowager’s seal to write up an edict for Bao Ning and Li Qian to divorce. Emperor Zhao Xi spared her life but stripped her of her titles and banished her to a hillside residence instead in Episode 39.

What Happened To Zhao Xiao?

Zhao Xiao was obsessed over Bao Ning and hated Li Qian for snatching her away from him. He was supposed to capture Qing Tai on Emperor Zhao Xi’s order but allowed Qing Tai to kidnap Li Qian instead. He was hoping Qing Tai would kill Li Qian but Bao Ning managed to save him and escaped together. Once Qing Tai was defeated and the dust settled, Zhao Xiao was stripped of being a noble and exiled to the border for all his crimes in Episode 40.

Qing An’s Background

Qing An is actually the 2nd Prince of Yong Qing.This is revealed in Episode 17. His father saved his mother during a massacre and fell in love with her. He made her his concubine but the Queen made life difficult for her. Then Queen subsequently got some people to transport Qing An’s mother out of Yong Qing and then claimed that she eloped to the King’s disappointment. Qing An became a traveling merchant partly because he wanted to look for his missing mother and to escape from his toxic half-brother and indifferent father at home.

Bao Ning And Li Qian’s Relationship Timeline

Bao Ning confessed her feelings to Li Qian in Episode 9 but got rejected. After thinking it over, Li Qian was prepared to marry her and confessed his feelings in Episode 11. They had their wedding ceremony in Episode 12. Due to Bao Ning’s weak health, it was not advisable for her to conceive and hence, they only consummated their marriage in Episode 24.

Cracks started to appear in their relationship in Episode 32 when Li Qian found out that Bao Ning’s father was likely involved in his mother’s death. Bao Ning left Li Qian to return to the capital in Episode 34 as she was hurt and disappointed that he didn’t trust her that her father was innocent. Li Qian went after her and apologized in Episode 37 but her anger had not subsided.

When the Grand Empress Dowager died, Tong Xin arranged it to make it seemed that Li Qian had riled the old woman up until it led to her heart attack. The Grand Empress Dowager was supposedly angered that Li Qian had hurt Bao Ning. So, Bao Ning blamed Li Qian for her grandmother’s death and asked for an end to their relationship in Episode 37.

But the breakup didn’t last long. Bao Ning found out that she was pregnant in Episode 38. She also learned the truth about her grandmother’s death from Miao Rong’s note in Episode 39. Her grandmother had been sick for some time and she had been consuming highly toxic medication to appear healthy to fool others. Bao Ning went to save Li Qian after he was kidnapped by Qing Tai in Episode 40 and they reconciled then.

Other Key Events

• Bai Su and Cao Xuan got married in Episode 10.
• Qing An confessed to Dong Dong and they became a couple in Episode 17.
• Empress Dowager Cao committed suicide in Episode 29 when Yong Qing soldiers attacked her palace. Fang Yi Ru sacrificed herself to distract the soldiers in order to keep her son, Zhao Xi, alive.
• Emperor Zhao Yi died in Bao Ning’s arms in Episode 30 due to sickness just before Qing Tai and Yong Qing soldiers stormed his palace.
• Zhao Xi ascended the throne with Bao Ning as the Regent Princess as decreed by Emperor Zhao Yi before he died in Episode 30.
• The Grand Empress Dowager died due to old age sickness in Episode 37.
• Qin Yu was killed by Xie Jian Feng on Zhao Xiao’s orders in Episode 39. Zhao Xiao wanted her dead so that Li Qian would continue to believe Bao Ning’s father was involved in his mother’s death to deepen the couple’s rift. Qing An killed Xie Jian Feng in revenge.
• Qing Tai died in Episode 40 when his gun backfired. He forced Bao Ning to give him the design book for the gun by kidnapping Li Qian. But the book has a secret compartment which details a key component which Bao Ning had removed. Hence, Qing Tai was unaware that his weapon was faulty.

Rebirth For You Review – Jealous Love Rivals Galore!

Rebirth For You actually started off quite well as viewers are told that the male protagonist is quietly investigating his mother’s murder. But just as we begin to think this would be an investigative romance drama, it takes a different turn and third parties’ obsessions and jealousies become the central focus. Basically, it gets tiring watching endless schemes by these jealous people trying to tear the main couple apart.

The problem with this script is that you don’t have 1 or even 2 highly obsessed love rivals. You have 4 people going around trying to stop Bao Ning and Li Qian from being together. Emperor Zhao Yi and Zhao Xiao are in love with Bao Ning and they are extremely jealous of Li Qian. Tong Xin is in love with Emperor Zhao Yi and hence, she has an axe to grind with Bao Ning since the man she loves has deep affections for our princess instead. To add more jealousy to the plot, Miao Rong loves Li Qian immensely and hates Bao Ning for snatching her man away.

Well, just from that brief summary above, you should have an idea what to expect from this drama. 4 jealous people are certainly enough to make a 40-episode drama but the question is do you really want to sit through never ending efforts to create trouble for a loving couple?

In Dire Need For A Better Script

As mentioned, the drama begins with Li Qian seeking an answer to his mother’s death. That is the overarching plot that viewers are given in the first 2 episodes which could have been developed into something much better just like Maiden Holmes. But for the next 30 episodes thereafter, this storyline disappears. It is replaced with the antics of the jealous antagonists. In fact, the leads have given these people a direct rejection a number of times but they just couldn’t take no for an answer.

Li Qian’s mother’s case resurfaces only in the last 8 episodes and that is also interspersed with more schemes to cause the main couple harm. No doubt toxic love rivals are common in historical romance dramas. You can find one in A Female Student Arrives At The Imperial College as well as One And Only. But Rebirth For You has taken it to the extreme by giving too much attention to the schemes of these villains that the romance has taken a backseat when it is supposed to be a love story.

Therefore, the drama suffers from poor scriptwriting which fails to balance out the romance, investigation, and jealousy for a more pleasant watch. To me, if you want to build almost an entire drama on jealous love rivals, there need to be more depth to these people’s stories. As it is, their stories are very superficial as the focus is on their schemes and obsessions.

The Romance Is Lacking

Bao Ning and Li Qian is depicted as a very loving couple in the drama. You know that they love each other a lot but the romance doesn’t have the intensity and passion to make it more memorable. They are sweet at times but that is about it. I don’t know if passionate kissing scenes might help to elevate the romance but they are certainly missing from Rebirth For You. So, all you would get are simple pecks.

Personally, I would have preferred a more matured and intense romance because that would be consistent with the fact that they are a married couple with a deep love for one another. Some stories don’t need such scenes and they still evoke deep feelings in viewers such as The Long Ballad. But Rebirth For You just doesn’t have that same quality to be able to make do without more passion in the romance. As a result, the main couple’s romance becomes muted against the nonstop onslaught from jealous love rivals.

Leads’ Chemistry

While the romance is lacking in the drama, it doesn’t mean that the couple has no chemistry. I would say Ju Jing Yi and Joseph Zeng have good chemistry between them and they are easy on the eyes as an on-screen couple. Their sweet scenes are perhaps the bright spot of the drama amidst all the toxic characters but they are too few to really make an impact. Neither do they stick in your mind once the episode is over.

I know Ju Jing Yi doesn’t do intense kissing scenes which then brings to question if they have done the casting right given the script on hand. I guess she does have that mischievous look which is required for this role. She has played more or less this kind of adventurous character in Legend Of Yun Xi and The Blooms At Ruyi Pavilion and Bao Ning in Rebirth For You just seems another of the same.

My Verdict – Find Something Better

I just wish Ju Jing Yi and Joseph Zeng had picked a better script to showcase their talent and looks. They couldn’t save this drama despite their popularity. I guess if you don’t want to sit through the endless evil schemes of those delusional characters, you can watch the first 12 episodes and then skip to the last 4. But then, what is the point of watching when you are skipping more than half of the drama, right?

Anyway, the ending is also a little rushed. The produces tried to cram too many things into the last 2 episodes to wrap the story up that the pacing quickens considerably. Some of the fighting scenes are also laughable because what it is supposed to be a war between 2 nations is reduced to a gangster fight. I don’t know if the producer is constrained by a low budget or other reasons but the final battle is anti-climatic to me.

For this Rebirth For You review, I could only give it a score of 6/10. It may be a little harsh especially for the fans of the leads but the drama is really lacking in substance. If you don’t mind watching jealousies of bitter love rivals, then this would not be so bad. Their evil schemes are interesting at times and you will be waiting for the day they get just retribution which would be the main motivation to continue watching. But overall, Rebirth For You is not a drama that will leave you clamoring for more. In fact, you might even regret starting on it because there is only so much delusional jealousy that one can take!