17. Arang & The Magistrate

Broadcast: Aug - Oct 2012
Episodes: 20, Fantasy/Horror/Comedy/Period/Romance/Supernatural
Cast:
Shin Min Ah as Arang / Lee Seo Rim
Lee Jun Ki as Kim Eun Oh
Yun Woo Jin as Choi Joo Wal
Kwon Oh Joong as Dol Swe
Han Jung Soo as Moo Young
Hwang Bo Ra as Bang Wool
Kim Yong Gun as Nobleman Choi
Yoo Seung Ho as Jade Emperor
Park Joon Gyu as King of Underworld
Kang Moon Young as Lady Seo / Hong Ryun / Moo Yeon 

(based on the forklore of Arang who died unjustly and returns as a ghost in order to reveal the circumstances surrounding her death  
~ courtesy of wiki)

I liked Lee Jun Ki in My Girl, but have never been a big fan of his until I started watching this drama. His acting has improved so much. He doesn't look as feminine anymore. He has matured a lot and look quite manly now. He is aging quite gracefully and perhaps, his army stint has contributed to this also. 

Kim Eun Oh comes from a wealthy family, where his father holds a government position. He travels to the town of Miryang with his slave to look for his missing mother. Eun Oh has a natural ability to see and hear ghosts, spirits and the supernatural. He pretends he doesn't see them otherwise these ghosts would forever hound him to help get closure so they can move onwards to either heaven or hell.

Arang is a young maiden ghost who was murdered brutally. When she became a ghost, she lost all her memories of her human life. She is curious who she is and how she died. When she found out that Eun Oh was able to see ghosts, she was ecstatic. Finally, a younger & braver human she could ask for help to figure out why she had died and what her identity was. The last 3 magistrates she showed her presence to either died of fright or rang away.

Eun Oh was tricked into filling the position of the town's magistrate by the 3 bangs (you'll get it when you watch it). He was unwilling to help Arang solve her death mystery. He only decided to when he saw that she was wearing his missing mother's hair pin that he had given to her before they parted. He was curious why Arang had it, and in helping her solve her death, perhaps, he was able to find his mother.

Arang, with the help of a reluctant shaman summoned the grim reaper and tricked him into letting her go to heaven to talk to the Jade Emperor and the Hell King. The Jade emperor made a deal with Arang. She was given 3 months to live as an immortal human on earth if she is able to solve her death mystery. The Jade Emperor's motive was for Arang with the help of Eun Oh to catch the fairy who had possessed the body of Eun Oh's mother. The fairy did not want to live in heaven (because in, heaven she was unable to have or posess desires), and the only way she could live on earth was by possessing human bodies.

Eun Oh had actually died at the age of 6 years old. He was ressurrected to life by the Jade Emperor, and later trained in martial arts by the Jade Emperor disguised as his martial art's master. The Jade Emperor had plans for him from an early age to capture the fairy Moo Yeon.

Together, Arang and Eun Oh solved the mystery of Arang's death and his mother's disappearance. Along the journey of discovery, a lot of surprises, both bad and good arose. The two fell in love. However, Arang didn't want to accept his love because once the 3 months was up, she would either go to heaven if she had solved the mystery, or go to hell if she failed. Either one she goes to, one of them would lose their memory. She didn't want to lose the memory of him nor did she want him to lose the memory of her. She didn't want him to hurt either when she had left. She was in conflict for a long time. It was only at the advice of the shaman that she finally gave in to accept him.

The ending was a happy one. Off course, they both succeeded to capture the fairy; however, in the process, Eun Oh's mother died. Both Arang and Eun Oh reincarnated and was still together in their next life. Arang was able to keep her past life's memories and so was able to repeat the story to Eun Oh in their next life.

Memorable scenes: The measuring scene where Eun Oh is measuring Arang for new clothes. It was awkward chemistry which I think attraction stemmed.

The scene where Arang told Eun Oh she was only given 3 months to live to solve this mystery. You can see the hurt and pain on Eun Oh's face. He thought he had a life time with her! He was so angry she didn't tell him earlier because they didn't have much time left together. 

The confession scene where Eun Oh confessed that he liked her but she wouldn't accept his heart. off course, he knew that she felt the same way but just didn't want to admit it. The second confession scene, this time, with Arang telling Eun Oh she loved him, which lead to a long and passionate kiss. 

It was refreshing that they played rapped music during some of the fight scenes. I didn't think it was that appropriate for a period drama to have rap music but nevertheless I liked it.

Annoying characters and things about the drama: the eery music they played every time there was a scene with Eun Oh's mother who was possed by the fairy. I didn't like that music at all and thought it was used too often. 

Eun Oh's mother. Goodness, her face had been done up in plastic surgery, it looked unnatural. I found it unpleasant looking at her.

The jade emperor's hair and costume looked like a woman's! He was dressed up like little dragon girl from the Condor Heroes - the hair style and the long white feminine clothing.

OST: Love Is You – K.Will (you got to love K. Will. He sings so many drama themed songs) ; My Secret Dream – Yoon Do Hyun (very strong vocals here). He had a cameo role in episode 1 as the former magistrate.

The ending was nice. I loved the two leads. They had strong on-screen chemistry. A very enjoyable drama. Although, it's about spirits and ghosts, it wasn't scary at all. A lot of funny scenes too. I love how Korean dramas can embed funny scenes when the drama itself is not a comedy. I highly recommend this one.

Rating: 4.8/5

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