Yr/TV Stn: 2012/MBC
Cast:
Shin Min Ah ~ Arang / Lee Seo Rim
Lee Jun Ki ~ Kim Eun Oh
Yun Woo Jin ~ Choi Joo Wal
Han Jung Soo ~ Mu Young
Im Joo Eun ~ Mu Yeon
Yoo Seung Ho ~ Jade Emperor
Synopsis: (edited from Wikipedia)
A nobleman named Kim Eun Oh comes to town searching for his mother after hearing a rumor that she is staying at the village of Miryang. He has the special ability to see spirits, but pretends he doesn't because he gets annoyed when spirits come up to him asking for a favor. Arang has lost all her memories when she became a ghost and is unable to rest in peace until she finds out how she ended up dead. However, after appearing to three magistrates, none of them survive the fright of seeing her. When she finds out that Eun Oh is able to see her, she begs for his help. At first, Eun Oh rejects her request. However he changes his mind after seeing that Arang is somehow in possession of the hairpin that he gave his mother at their last meeting. He believes that if he helps her, Arang will regain her memories and give him information about his mother. Eun Oh teams up with her to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death, which may involve the mysterious nobleman Joo Wal and have supernatural ramifications. As Eun Oh and Arang gradually unravel the mystery behind her death, they find out the events that have been set in motion have been a trap of the Jade Emperor, in his attempt to capture a rogue Fairy of Heaven who feeds on human souls. The gods cannot touch her as long as she is in a human body. Arang and Eun Oh's participation in the events is crucial because this Fairy also happens to be the sister of Mu Young, the Grim Reaper of Hades, who cannot forget the love he once bore for his sister and is unable to bring her to justice.
In this game of supernatural stakes, Arang and Eun Oh who fall in love gradually have to pay the price because Arang has only three full moons in which to solve the mystery of her death and defeat their enemy.
Review:
Quite an interesting drama involving ghosts, jade emperor and grim reaper. Such theme is not common in K dramaland hence the high anticipation to see how they deliver the story. "Arang" basically has a good plot which flows well, despite some dragginess towards the end of the story. I was more interested to see how the couple defeated Mu Yeon rather than watching the couple's romance line though.
Shin Min Ah returns with another interesting character, but I saw traces of her previous role (9 tail fox) in "Arang". I am not sure if I am really impressed with her acting, but her emotional scenes were not bad.
Lee Jun Ki returned to small screen after serving his nation, and he's very man in the drama. He has successfully shed his girly image. Lolz! Eun Oh's role is less interesting as compared to Arang, but his storyline with his mum was pretty touching, and Lee Jun Ki delivered his acting very well in this story arch.
I believe many people are impressed with Yun Woo Jin's Joo Wal. This character was well layered and Yun's acting was very convincing. In fact Joo Wal is the most pitiful guy in the show. The ending is quite sad for him as well, but I like it. Ha!
Han Jung Soo and Im Joo Eun did a good job as the ill-fated siblings. I liked their story - entangled with love and hatred.
Last but not least, Yoo Seung Ho's Jade Emperor is perhaps the most youthful and handsome god I've ever seen on TV. I thought his role was just a cameo, but he has lots of scene with Hades. Lolz! These 2 guys are in fact one of the important characters in the drama as the whole story was controlled by them.
