Arang and the Magistrate

This drama was absolutely wonderful. The score was great, the acting was spot on, and the story line was both funny and intense. What more could a person ask for? No much, if I may answer my own question.

This was the first drama that I watched with Lee Joon Ki and Shin Min Ah and they both killed it! I feel like I should have watched Gumiho before Arang though because all the timed commenters on Viki kept making Gumiho jokes and I felt super out of the loop. 

Oh, Lee Joon Ki, how beautiful you are as the Sato. This guy can kick some major but too, and it is really him doing it; that just makes me love him so much more. Anyways, he is our main character Eun Oh and he can see ghosts. He doesn't like seeing ghosts though because they think that he can help them pass on to the next world. It is fun to see him grow throughout the drama as this cold guy who wants nothing to do with the ghosts that are around him, but he ends up helping a lot, in very odd ways, by the end.

Also to make him cooler, if that is even possible, they gave him a MURDER FAN! Yes a murder fan and it is super amazing and lethal.

Our female lead is played by the lovely Shin Min Ah and she was wonderful as Arang. I liked (and also hated) how fearless she was. Much of the time, especially at the end, I just wanted to slap her silly for taking unneeded risks because the refused to talk anything over with anybody. That's what always happens in dramas though right? "I love you, so I will let you go because you will get hurt if you stay with me" blah blah blah. Don't give me that crap, just kiss each others' faces and get on with your lives, geez. 

That being said, something that I both love and hate about fusion sageuks is that it takes so long for the main characters to confess their love for each other. I like it because we can focus more on the story line and less on their love issues, but at the same time you are so frustrated with the characters and the sexual tension is almost tangible, it is unbearable!

 Anyways, back to that last part about ghosts.......

There are the guys in charge of us, that worries me. The Jade Emperor is played by Yoo Seung Ho who we all know is freaking amazing. I have previously gushed about him in the I Miss You post about how wonderful he is and he didn't disappoint here. I loved that his character was this kind of sassy playboy old man in a young man's body. His wig was also pretty cool, but only when it was down because sometimes he was rocking an ahjumma bun which was very questionable styling.

Also from the other world is our main bady who is truly bad. The woman who played her was creepy too. Not to be mean, but you could kind of tell that she had had a lot of work done and that definitely played into the fact that she was creepy as heck. I think that is all that I am going to say about her because anything more about her character and you will know everything about everything that will give away the horrible yet awesome reveal when you find out who she is and how she is connected to everybody. All of her connections are quiet tragic too, so even if you do hate her character, and trust me you will, there is a tiny baby amount of pity as you learn more about why she chose this path.

Like every good murdering demon bent on world domination and personal gain, our bady has a henchman. He is a little different that most though because you feel bad for him. At the beginning of the drama he is just the hands of the villain, but at the end, even though he still acts as those hands, your heart just absolutely breaks for him and what his life has become. Just thinking about it actually makes me tear up a little because 1) I am a giant baby and 2) it was actually quiet horrible and heart wrenching to the extreme. He just seems like this unfeeling psycho crazy, but is it all his fault? Joo-wol is one of those characters that puts you in one of those moral emotional dilemmas.    

I think that Joo-wol is a wonderful example of the tragic villain. He has done so many bad things and he does think of himself as a bad person and without any hope of salvation. He didn't start out bad though, he was brought into it; that doesn't mean that he shouldn't pay for what he did (and he does), but watching him come to the realization of everything is terrible and the actor does a wonderful job of portraying this turmoil that is going on within him.

On a more happy and non-murdering note, this drama has given me one of my new favorite OTPs. The male is Dol-swe, Eun-oh's man servant and Bang-wool a shaman who can't see ghosts, or much else for that matter. The two of them are so ridiculous, yet adorable, with a side of the grotesque, it is kind of wonderful.

Something that this drama does well is the way that it wraps everything up, and I mean everything. It is a total emotional roller coaster too, I am surprised that every person who has every watched this drama didn't just explode by the end. I feel that in a lot of dramas, only the main characters get an ending and that is something that really bothered me about Sungkyunkwan Scandal, the ending was rushed and half the characters just disappeared and you never found out what happened to them.

The first couple of endings do tug at your heartstrings and how I wish that I could just tell them to you, but that would be wrong. Just know though, that they are well done and both funny and sad because the Jade Emperor has a twisted sense of humor. The last last ending though was pure gold and.....I'll stop right there before I say something that I regret. Just know though, that it is wonderful. WONDERFUL!

So........should you watch it? Um, yes, is that even a question? The drama keeps you at the edge of your seat, and even though they don't reinvent the wheel or anything, they give it their own spin (unintended pun) and it is fantastic.
 
What else am I watching?

Full House -These people are making me so mad! How can two people be so dumb! They may be worse than Joon Pyo and Jan Di, no lie.

Cruel Palace: War of the Flowers - Everybody is slowly coming down with the crazies

Dating Agency: Cyrano - This drama is amazing!

Nail Salon Paris - This week's episode actually interested me because of the romance, but I am pretty sure that they are going to pull a Dream High in the romance department; if that happens, I will have to kill someone.

~ Alora