Arang and other things...

[dangermousie]

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).











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!!!!!!

Comments

[smothered-pith.livejournal.com]

Crap LMH! He looks so thin! Are you downloading this? Is it good?

Also, I haven't caught up with Arang yet tho I read the recaps but I am really enjoying the fact that it has a good plot that keeps things fresh! I just want to know how it all works out romance or no romance (though romance would be a definite plus!)
Also, Demon Mama is creepy and I haven't even seen her in action! She's already got me spooked!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I confess I dled it ages ago, long before the MU takedown so not even sure where the links would be now. Tbh, I didn't really care for it and only checked it out for young LMH, but then this isn't my genre so take that with a grain of salt.

Demon Mama freaks me out in the freakiest way!

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

I thing Arang's first death must have been a failed killing. Like she woke up (or wasn't quite dead) and escaped with the hairstick and then died after tumbling down the mountain. Otherwise she's be in the mass grave. And didn't she ask the Jade Emperor to live again if she solves the mystery within the allotted time? That's our opening for some kind of happily-ever-after, hopefully.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think so too - also, if she was like the other girls, killed and 'eaten' in that hut, her soul would have disappeared.

So fascinating, I love it!

[iviih.livejournal.com]

Btw, off topic but I'm watching the KBS special series ''ordinary love'' with the guy who plays Joo-Wal (Yeon Woo-Jin).

I actually liked him in Ojakgyo Brothers as the immature mankae, and I'm enjoying the 4 episodes of Ordinary love.
It made me think of soredemo ikite yuku, I mean the plot : main girl's father killed main guy's hyung. The victim's family and the murderer's family get together to find out more about the murder, he then ends up seeing how the murderer's family also suffered these last years and they end up falling in love. Plus the main girl believes her father didn't murder the guy, just like the main girl from Soredemo didn't believe it. Yeah, this special series reminds me of Soredeo Ikite Yuku but Soredemo is way better and deeper...

Somehow I think Yeon Woo-jin was better in this series and in Ojakgyo brother, I think he is struggling with Joo Wal character because he can express more emotion than he shows with Joo Wal.

Btw sorry for going off topic.

I think I might check Mackerel Run because of MCW, and woah LMH looks so weird... lol

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

OMG, thanks for explaining about JW being in OB - it kept bugging me where I've seen that actor before.

I dunno about Joo Wal though - I am not sure how much depth a serial killer for a demon really needs. I am perfectly happy with him just being bad and eventually disposed of.

I've heard good things about Soridemo. How did it end?

[walkwithheroes.livejournal.com]

Arang is getting better and better for me. I love the mystery of it all.

I'm jumping in here (please excuse me!) to ask where you're watching Ordinary Love? I can't find it anywhere.

Mousie: Soridemo is an amazing drama and terribly underrated. The acting and writing and cinematography are all amazingly beautiful. The ending is satisfactory; it ended the way it had to end. Not sad, but hopeful.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I should check out Soridemo then.

[timescout.livejournal.com]

That's what I love about Arang as well, that it's a bit different from your usual k-dramas. I actually thought it would be more comedic but I'm quite pleased that they decided to go with the 'mystery/horror sageuk with a dash of romance' and with some humour instead. :)

I've seen loads of complaints about how 'there's not enough shippy stuff and that they've been had' but I like my mysteries and action stories with as little romantic shenanigans as possible. Besides I'll prefer mysteries over romances anyway so Arang in this style suits me just fine. Yeah, I'm odd that way.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am watching 6 other kdramas and most of them are going to sate my romance craving nicely :) I do wonder whether the makers of Arang didn't shoot themselves in the foot ratings-wise, though - those trailers plus the fact that horror/mystery isn't usually a ratings-winning combo could certainly be why Arang's ratings aren't better despite the fact that TTBY ratings are straight-out awful and thus its only competition is Gaksital. I do think after Gaksital, the network is going to keep ratings winning streak with Nice Guy - I think NG is going to do very well.

But leaving the ratings aside, I do love that Arang isn't cookie-cutter in the least and is sticking to its own thing. I can't wait until EO finds out who Mommie Dearest really is!

[timescout.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't think Arang has much to offer against Good Guy, Koreans love their melos and GG sounds like a winner. Unless GG throughly disapoints me I'm going to watch both. Ratings never mean much to me.

I wonder though, if Mommie Dearest really is his mom. Could be her body was taken over by some bodysnatching, sinister entity. We'll see, I guess. *g*

[sanaenam.livejournal.com]

yeah, I'm so sincerely hoping that her body was snatched. perhaps the last sacrifice was her and the demon takes the form of the last victim?

as for the ratings, it only dropped with episodes 5 and 6. before it was 4th both nationwide and in seoul. my guess is that now people know the big reveal, people will come back.

[sanaenam.livejournal.com]

Arang reminds me so much of the old school ghost stories that Korean TV used to dramatize. They weren't so cheeky as Arang but the mix of spooky and romance is just about the same. I still shudder when I remember the one about a man who returns to his old home where he'd jilted his wife on their honeymoon night. He thinks that she's waited for him all these years, and indeed she greets him warmly and even leaves to prepare his meal when lo and behold... Blood Curdling Scream....

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

OMG, that sounds so creepy!

Yes, I am enjoying how scary this has gotten.