See You in My 19th Life Volume 2 Review

Jieum was able to make the first step in reconnecting with Seoha: working in the same office. However, now she needs to make Seoha fall for her the same way she fell for him first as Juwon Yun and now in her 19th life as Jieum Ban.

However, Seoha is still traumatised by the car accident that killed Juwon when he was just nine. Jieum didn’t realise how traumatised Seoha still is and how it affected his life growing up. She has been debating whether she should come clean about being Juwon, but after seeing Seoha’s reaction in crowded places and with cars, she decides the best course of action is to make him fall for her, as she is now.

But getting closer to Seoha also means getting closer to Chowon Yun, Jieum’s little sister when she lived as Juwon. Jieum has a rule to not look for nor to get close to her relatives from past lives, but this time it’s different. Chowon and Seoha don’t get along, but it’s not as when they were children—Seoha carries the guilt of Juwon’s passing, and it seems he cannot let it go. He cannot even face Chowon, although she wishes for him to move forward. Jieum ends up in the middle of this awkward situation, but thanks to that, she can get a better understanding on what’s going on and what she can do to have Seoha open up to her.

See You in My 19th Life sees Jieum working to get Seoha to fall for her as he’s the only person she has ever loved in multiple lives. However, a past trauma makes it hard for Seoha to look at the future. The author, Lee Hye, narrates their story from the beginning. A good part of Volume 1 covered the relationship between Juwon and Seoha and what happened to them to then move to Seoha and Jieum as adults. Readers are in the known of what’s going on and who the people are and their relations. The only mystery that seems to appear is that there might be someone behind the accident that took Juwon’s life. It doesn’t seem like the series will adopt a mystery or crime tone, but instead it will be intertwined in the drama that’s already going on.

The trope of office romance usually tends to have a setting and a narration that’s wholesome and upbeat, but this manhwa series twists the trope a little bit. Some of the themes it covers are heavy—death, trauma, loss—and it seems those are the obstacles that the characters need to overcome. The enemies, in this case, are themselves instead of being third parties. Moreover, the narration is intriguing as the more the series proceeds, the more the relationships among the characters come to life and show how intricate they are. I think Lee Hye did a wonderful job in representing the intricacies of human relationships in the series, and not just the romantic ones.

The connection between Seoha and Jieum is difficult. Only one party knows the whole truth, and Jieum needs to keep adjusting her plans to get closer to her childhood love after witnessing how the aftermath of her death as Juwon affected Seoha. But that’s why she cannot give up on him nor on her feelings for him. She ends up making a deal with him—she’ll ask Seoha out three times and if he says no every time, she’ll give up on him. Seoha agrees before realising that there is no time limit. It’s thanks to scenes like this caused by Jieum’s personality that the story takes almost a funny aspect.

See You in My 19th Life is written by Lee Hye. It was originally published as a web comic on Webtoon, and a TV adaptation of the manhwa is available on Netflix. Ize Press published the print edition in the English language, and Volume 3 is slated for release in July 2024.

Our review copy from Ize Press was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.