I enjoyed the hell out of ep 6 of Arang and the Magistrate. It was dark, spooky (that mass grave stuff? Yikes), and I love that there are all these mysteries percolating. I also confess to enjoying the story more when it focuses on Eun Oh than Arang herself - not because I like him better (tbh, I find all the characters madly intriguing but I am not emotionally bound to them) but because he's a more relatable/fuller character. Arang is cool but not really human acting and makes me think of manic pixie dream girl. She's linear like a plank.
I wonder how any possible romance will go (leaving aside how the mysteries can influence it, I am referring to their characters). Or not. Tbh, despite commercials to the contrary, this isn't a melodrama fantasy segeuk with a dash of horror but a horror/supernatural mystery with a teeny dash of romance. Oddly, I don't mind at all - if they do a romance, great - LJK and SMA have wonderful chemistry and there are scenes sprinkled throughout to showcase it despite it not being the focus. If not, I don't care as my romance craving is satisfied by plenty of other airing dramas and I haven't seen anything quite like Arang in kdramaworld.
Eun Oh digging in the mass grave, looking for his mother's effects (ummm, monomaniacal has reached new bounds). Oh, if you only knew your Mother is a demon who put all those bones there (my money, btw, is on EO being demon's biological son - that would explain why he can see ghosts. I do wonder why she had him and then ditched him. Hmmm. And I do think her grudge must be against Jade Emperor himself, for wiping out her unnatural family. But we'll see).
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Arang wakes up from being dead. What are you, now?
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I love all their scenes together, especially when she gives as good as she gets, and also that it takes him a little to cool down but he does inevitably realize he did wrong - EO, you need to watch this obsessiveness! And his faaace when he sees her coming back. See, there is shippiness, if understated. I also liked his jealousy of Joo Wal (if you guys only knew he was a creepy murderer!)
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So, to sum up - I love Arang because I have NO idea where it's going at all, which is rare with kdramas, and because it's going to be a hell of a ride. It has a lot more in common with cdramas like Tales of Liao Zhai or off-beat kdramas like Joseon X-Files than the lush angsty romance the trailers seemed to sell it as (I wonder if that is why the ratings aren't great) but I, for one, am pleased about false advertising in this matter :)
Oh, and the ultimate life lesson - lose your virginity as soon as humanly possible, ladies. Otherwise you'll end up dead!
I also checked out the first episode of A Thousandth Man, a short 8-ep drama about a fox who needs livers of 1000 men to become human (alternative is disappearance from the world) and is up to 999 and had three months left. Problem she is ethical and only wants the guys to volunteer. It's not a bad drama or anything but there is nothing to motivate me to watch. All of it has been done elsewhere and better (it doesn't help that I am watching Arang and have enjoyed both Forbidden Love and Gumiho Girlfriend in the past). It does have Lee Chun Hee looking scrumptuous in a white shirt as a quirky chef, but however shallow I am, this isn't enough. This one is off my list.
Also, driven by an unhealthy Lee Min Ho craving, I finally watched Mackerel Run, an 8-ep sitcom from early in his career. It's not really my thing (cartoony sitcoms aren't really my bag) but it was fascinating to watch LMH (who had not yet fully grown into either his features or his frame) and Moon Chae Won, before they got famous, playing each other's OTP, no less. Say it with me - awwww!!!!!!
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I wonder how any possible romance will go (leaving aside how the mysteries can influence it, I am referring to their characters). Or not. Tbh, despite commercials to the contrary, this isn't a melodrama fantasy segeuk with a dash of horror but a horror/supernatural mystery with a teeny dash of romance. Oddly, I don't mind at all - if they do a romance, great - LJK and SMA have wonderful chemistry and there are scenes sprinkled throughout to showcase it despite it not being the focus. If not, I don't care as my romance craving is satisfied by plenty of other airing dramas and I haven't seen anything quite like Arang in kdramaworld.
Eun Oh digging in the mass grave, looking for his mother's effects (ummm, monomaniacal has reached new bounds). Oh, if you only knew your Mother is a demon who put all those bones there (my money, btw, is on EO being demon's biological son - that would explain why he can see ghosts. I do wonder why she had him and then ditched him. Hmmm. And I do think her grudge must be against Jade Emperor himself, for wiping out her unnatural family. But we'll see).
Arang wakes up from being dead. What are you, now?
I love all their scenes together, especially when she gives as good as she gets, and also that it takes him a little to cool down but he does inevitably realize he did wrong - EO, you need to watch this obsessiveness! And his faaace when he sees her coming back. See, there is shippiness, if understated. I also liked his jealousy of Joo Wal (if you guys only knew he was a creepy murderer!)
So, to sum up - I love Arang because I have NO idea where it's going at all, which is rare with kdramas, and because it's going to be a hell of a ride. It has a lot more in common with cdramas like Tales of Liao Zhai or off-beat kdramas like Joseon X-Files than the lush angsty romance the trailers seemed to sell it as (I wonder if that is why the ratings aren't great) but I, for one, am pleased about false advertising in this matter :)
Oh, and the ultimate life lesson - lose your virginity as soon as humanly possible, ladies. Otherwise you'll end up dead!
I also checked out the first episode of A Thousandth Man, a short 8-ep drama about a fox who needs livers of 1000 men to become human (alternative is disappearance from the world) and is up to 999 and had three months left. Problem she is ethical and only wants the guys to volunteer. It's not a bad drama or anything but there is nothing to motivate me to watch. All of it has been done elsewhere and better (it doesn't help that I am watching Arang and have enjoyed both Forbidden Love and Gumiho Girlfriend in the past). It does have Lee Chun Hee looking scrumptuous in a white shirt as a quirky chef, but however shallow I am, this isn't enough. This one is off my list.
Also, driven by an unhealthy Lee Min Ho craving, I finally watched Mackerel Run, an 8-ep sitcom from early in his career. It's not really my thing (cartoony sitcoms aren't really my bag) but it was fascinating to watch LMH (who had not yet fully grown into either his features or his frame) and Moon Chae Won, before they got famous, playing each other's OTP, no less. Say it with me - awwww!!!!!!
