kdrama: Arang and the Magistrate (complete)
I watched (and psoted on) the first few episodes of this when it was first airing, and then had a subs burnout, and when that happens, it takes me months to get back to things, no matter how into them I may have been before. Thankfully, it only took an episode or two for Arang to regain momentum for me once I started watching again.
Loosely based on a Korean folktale about a ghost who asks the new magistrate to solve the mystery of her murder, the bulk of that plot is resolved in the first few episodes, and the bulk of the series revolves around finding and stopping a demon who devours the souls of young women to allow her to maintain a human disguise. When Arang's true identity was learned early on, I was afraid that it meant that the series would end up mostly focusing on the magistrate, Eun Oh, and his plot instead, and I was right. While I really like the series and plot it ended up being, I'm still bitter that I didn't get the series focusing on Arang and the mysteries of her life that I was told I was getting. For a lot of the first half, the writers seemed more interested in developing the male characters than the female characters, but that definitely changed a lot in the second half.
DramaWiki lists the series' genre as "fantasy, period, mystery, comedy, romance, action, melodrama," and it's a very good blend of all those things, as well as a healthy dose of gothic horror, and generally strikes a good balance between them. Most twists could be guessed at at least an episode or two in advance, but the point of the twists wasn't "ZOMG! Didn't see that coming!" but the impact that it would have on the characters, and it pulled most of them off well, and maintained a great spooky atmosphere throughout, and the supernatural visuals are frequently amazing. The soundtrack is also great, regularly switching between anachronistic, rousing music, and more traditional, often haunting, instrumentals. There's less romance than the previews implied, and instead of a straight up romantic plotline it's more a case of partners who ended up falling in love but didn't let it get in the way of the bigger picture.
And Arang and Eun Oh make for great partners. They're both very roughly and prickly and prone to bickering with everyone, and especially each other, and Shin Min Ah and Lee Jun Ki have great chemistry. They also actually communicate and a lot of instances that would rely on conflict springing from a misunderstanding or one character not telling another what's going on are avoided. When they do keep things from the other, it's because it's personal (and so not actually the other's business) or because they want to figure something out first.
There's also a subplot involving a grim reaper looking for his siter that I was very into, and Yoo Seung Ho pops up for a few minutes every episode as the Jade Emperor. Which is certainly far from the traditional depiction, but when you're the King of Heaven, you're allowed to look like an almost overly-pretty 20-year-old if you want. The last 3 minutes of the series are also possibly the most adorable kdrama scene ever.
-No, seriously, Moo Young and Moo Yeon are lovers who were reincarnated as siblings and she just wanted to have a life again at any cost but he was Rules Boy? Where's my spoon
?
-I'm glad Eun Oh's father turned out to be pretty decent. Early on, I was worried he'd show up and be a douche.
-I really liked how, after a little while, Arang viewed Seo Rim as a separate person who she was avenging, and accepted that what she and Seo Rim had wanted were completely different. I might have been wibbly for various reasons when she told Seo Rim that she loved her.
-Those were some heavy duty kissing scenes for a sageuk. (Well, not cable sageuks, but...)
-I didn't buy Joo Wal's redemption arc at all, and actually feel that they retconned some of his earlier compliance in his actions to woobify him. Early on, when he was just strange and creepy and a bit repressed, I enjoyed him as a villain, but as soon as he started being tormented or whatever, I was alternatively bored or annoyed with all his scenes. I mean, until the last handful of episodes, Dol Swe annoyed me, but in a passive "well, there's been worse comic relief" way, as opposed to actual active dislike and annoyance, and I annoyed with how much of Arang's screen time was spent with him instead of characters I actually cared about and enjoyed her interactions with, like Bang Wool or Moo Young. (Or Eun Oh, but they always had plenty of screentime together. Still, that arc was the only part of the series I didn't care for, so it's a minor price to pay overall.
Loosely based on a Korean folktale about a ghost who asks the new magistrate to solve the mystery of her murder, the bulk of that plot is resolved in the first few episodes, and the bulk of the series revolves around finding and stopping a demon who devours the souls of young women to allow her to maintain a human disguise. When Arang's true identity was learned early on, I was afraid that it meant that the series would end up mostly focusing on the magistrate, Eun Oh, and his plot instead, and I was right. While I really like the series and plot it ended up being, I'm still bitter that I didn't get the series focusing on Arang and the mysteries of her life that I was told I was getting. For a lot of the first half, the writers seemed more interested in developing the male characters than the female characters, but that definitely changed a lot in the second half.
DramaWiki lists the series' genre as "fantasy, period, mystery, comedy, romance, action, melodrama," and it's a very good blend of all those things, as well as a healthy dose of gothic horror, and generally strikes a good balance between them. Most twists could be guessed at at least an episode or two in advance, but the point of the twists wasn't "ZOMG! Didn't see that coming!" but the impact that it would have on the characters, and it pulled most of them off well, and maintained a great spooky atmosphere throughout, and the supernatural visuals are frequently amazing. The soundtrack is also great, regularly switching between anachronistic, rousing music, and more traditional, often haunting, instrumentals. There's less romance than the previews implied, and instead of a straight up romantic plotline it's more a case of partners who ended up falling in love but didn't let it get in the way of the bigger picture.
And Arang and Eun Oh make for great partners. They're both very roughly and prickly and prone to bickering with everyone, and especially each other, and Shin Min Ah and Lee Jun Ki have great chemistry. They also actually communicate and a lot of instances that would rely on conflict springing from a misunderstanding or one character not telling another what's going on are avoided. When they do keep things from the other, it's because it's personal (and so not actually the other's business) or because they want to figure something out first.
There's also a subplot involving a grim reaper looking for his siter that I was very into, and Yoo Seung Ho pops up for a few minutes every episode as the Jade Emperor. Which is certainly far from the traditional depiction, but when you're the King of Heaven, you're allowed to look like an almost overly-pretty 20-year-old if you want. The last 3 minutes of the series are also possibly the most adorable kdrama scene ever.
-No, seriously, Moo Young and Moo Yeon are lovers who were reincarnated as siblings and she just wanted to have a life again at any cost but he was Rules Boy? Where's my spoon
?
-I'm glad Eun Oh's father turned out to be pretty decent. Early on, I was worried he'd show up and be a douche.
-I really liked how, after a little while, Arang viewed Seo Rim as a separate person who she was avenging, and accepted that what she and Seo Rim had wanted were completely different. I might have been wibbly for various reasons when she told Seo Rim that she loved her.
-Those were some heavy duty kissing scenes for a sageuk. (Well, not cable sageuks, but...)
-I didn't buy Joo Wal's redemption arc at all, and actually feel that they retconned some of his earlier compliance in his actions to woobify him. Early on, when he was just strange and creepy and a bit repressed, I enjoyed him as a villain, but as soon as he started being tormented or whatever, I was alternatively bored or annoyed with all his scenes. I mean, until the last handful of episodes, Dol Swe annoyed me, but in a passive "well, there's been worse comic relief" way, as opposed to actual active dislike and annoyance, and I annoyed with how much of Arang's screen time was spent with him instead of characters I actually cared about and enjoyed her interactions with, like Bang Wool or Moo Young. (Or Eun Oh, but they always had plenty of screentime together. Still, that arc was the only part of the series I didn't care for, so it's a minor price to pay overall.