Korean Drama - Black

Hello

안녕하세요 

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは 

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

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It's time for another Korean drama post and this time it's the drama Black, this is my 2nd time with Go Ara, which was one of the reasons why this was on my to watch list on Netflix.
Black is a 2017 fantasy-thriller South Korean television series, the series is written by Choi Ran and directed by Kim Hong-sun.
Black aired on OCN on Saturdays and Sundays during the 22:20 (KST) time slot, airing from the 14th of October 2017 and ending on the 10th of December 2017 and ran for 18 episodes.
*If there is only 1 picture of a cast member, it's because I couldn't find a screen grab of them in the series*

Main Cast:
Song Seung-heon as Han Moo-gang/Black

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Go Ara as Kang Ha-ram

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Lee El as Yoon Soo-wan

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Kim Dong-jun as Oh Man-soo

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Supporting Cast:
Kim Won-hae as Na Gwang-gyun/Crazy Dog

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Kim Tae-woo as Grim Reaper #444

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Jo Jae-yoon as Grim Reaper #007

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Lee Kyu-bok as Grim Reaper #416

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Jeong Seok-yong as Bong Man-shik

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Lee chul-min as Oh Soo-tae

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Kim Jae-young as Leo

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Oh Cho-hee as Tiffany

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Ji Su-won as Seo Young-hwa

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The script reading of the cast for the series was held the 4th of July 2017, the series was also under negotiations with Netflix for a simultaneous streaming deal, the episodes aired through Netflix a week behind the original South Korean broadcast, and is still currently available on the streaming service.

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 Only 3 tracks were released as part of the series' soundtrack and each of those tracks take me back to the series.

Nam Tae-hyun - Take Me Out

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leeSA - Like A Film

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Han Min-chae - Another Me

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I really loved the opening song and the opening credits, I thought they were really chilling.

Freya Fox

Black is the story of a grim reaper who is forced to track down his fugitive partner. In the process, he uncovers the truth about a series of cold case murders from 20 years ago. Investigating the murders complicates the reapers primary role of guiding the deceased to their respective afterlife, especially after he falls in love with a mortal woman, which leads him to break rules against involvement in human affairs.

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I thought that I would firstly mention the theories used in both Goblin and Black about grim reapers, I'm not sure if they have thought these up specifically for the shows or if they are Korean folklore of the grim reaper, both of which I find interesting and made me curious to look further into it. In Goblin grim reapers are created from people acting out what is seen as the biggest sin in life; suicide, while in Black, grim reapers are created from lost souls, for example a soul that is unable to see closure from their death simply because their body has not been found.

I really liked Go Ara when I watched her in Hwarang, so as soon as I saw this on Netflix, I found myself adding it to my list to give it a watch, even the synopsis had me intrigued by what the show would bring; "A Grim Reaper, a detective and a woman who foresees death get ensnared in matters of life and death -- and dark mysteries of twenty years past." This was my first time watching a dark and chilling Korean drama, from the very first episode it had me on the edge of my seat, holding my breath and shedding tears for each of the characters. Black was my introduction to Song Seung-heon, Kim Won-hae (who I've just finished watching in another Netflix Original drama) and ZE:A's Kim Dong-jun. Even though the series was pretty dark, there was still moments of comedy, mainly coming from Black and Na Gwang-gyun aka Crazy Dog. All the cast did an amazing job, I especially loved watching Song Seung-heon, Go Ara, Kim Dong-jun, Lee El, Jo Jae-yoon, Kim Won-hae and Lee Kyu-bok, I don't think anyone could have filled those roles in their places.
Black is full of intense moments, as well as laughter and tears, I had to force myself on a night to stop watching so I could actually go to sleep, otherwise I would have binge-watched the series pretty quickly. I was really happy with how the series ended, nothing was left unanswered and I cried so hard, the series has such a sweet ending, just thinking about it gets me a little teary. I really recommend giving Black a watch, everything about it is on par to being a perfect drama. Even knowing how it ends, I'd happily sit and watch Black again and again and I'm sure I'd still be in tears by the end.

I'm in awe of how many Korean drama's netflix has got their hands on, they really seem to be noticing how popular not only Korean dramas but Asian dramas in general, I think I have all the Asian, especially Korean dramas on my list to watch.
I'm also slowly increasing my list of Korean and Asian dramas that I have watched.

*Dramas currently watching*
A Korean Odyssey
Murphy's Law of Love (Taiwanese)

Have you watched Black?
Did you like the series?
Where you happy with the casting?
Were you happy with how the series ended?
Let me know in the comments below.

See you soon!

안녕
(Annyeong)
さようなら
(Sayonara)
再见
(ZaiJian)
Bye

Korean Drama: Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth

Hello

안녕하세요 

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは 

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

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Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth or known as just Hwarang is a South Korean TV series written by Park Eun-Yeong and directed by Yoon Sung-Sik and Kim Yeong-Jo.

The series aired every Monday and Tuesday at 10 pm (KST) on KBS2, airing from 19th December 2016 up until 21st February 2017 and ran for a total of 20 episodes.

The series stars:

Main Cast:

Park Seo Joon as Moo-Myung/Kim Sun-Woo/Dog Bird

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Go Ara as Kim Ah-Ro

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Park Hyung Sik as Sammaek-Jong/Kim Ji-Dwi/King Jinheung

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Supporting Cast:

Sung Dong-Il as Lord Kim Wi-hwa

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Choi Minho as Kim Soo-ho

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Do Ji-han as Park Ban-Ryu

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Jo Yoon-Woo as Kim Yeo-Wool

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Kim Taehyung as Suk Han-Sung

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The series evolves around an elite group of young men called "Hwarang" who discover their passions, love and friendship in the turmoil of the Silla Kingdom (57 B.C. - A.D. 935). The series reunited Sung Dong-il and Go Ara who previously worked together as father and daughter in tvN's Reply 1994 as well as Sung and Yoo Jae-Myung who both starred in the hit series Reply 1988. The series also serves as a reunion for Park Hyung Sik and Choi Won-Young who worked together in the 2013 SBS hit drama The Heirs, it also reunited Park and Kim Won-hae who worked together on Nine: Nine Time Travels.

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The first script reading took place in March 2016 with filming beginning on March 31st 2016 and finishing on September 1st 2016.
Despite being fully produced before it's premiere with an ensemble cast, the series was a commercial failure and averaged single-digit audience rating of 8.4% in it's run. It was criticised for it's distracted storytelling, inappropriate use of background music and unnatural acting of lead actors.

The soundtrack had some amazing tracks with some of the actors participating on, check out my favourites below.

OST PT. 2

Even If I Die, It's You - V & Jin (BTS)

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OST PT.3

Dream - Bolbbalgan4

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I Can Only See You - Wendy & Seulgi (Red Velvet)

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OST PT.5

Our Tears - Hyolyn

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A Move of God - Yuseob (Highlight)

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A Move of God (Acoustic) - Kim Juna 

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I'll Be Here - Park Hyung Sik

KBS World TV

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Our Tears - Park Seo Joon

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Jiso has ruled the kingdom of Silla as regent since King Beopheung died, keeping her young son Sammaek Jong hidden outside of the capital Seorabeol and safe from enemies and assassins. As Sammaek Jong comes of age, nobles, citizens, officials and Sammaek Jong himself have all grown impatient for her to cede power. However the powerful nobles that tried to usurp power in the kingdom continue to eye the throne and Jiso fears the consequences of her ceding it. In order to break the power of the nobles, who have grown accustomed to their privileges under the bone rank system, Jiso plans to create a new elite, the Hwarang, that will cut across the existing power factions, and to bind them to Sammaek Jong and the throne.

As this new elite of male youths bond and grow, they are unaware that within their numbers i their future king, Sammaek Jong, and Kim Sun-Woo, a commoner with a secret even he is not aware of.

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Hwarang was my first proper Korean drama that I watched after watching Goblin and I was hooked from the first episode, the colours and costumes were really colourful and stunning. Throughout the series I got a little teary at times but from a certain characters death to the end of the series I couldn't help but cry as I kept thinking how sad it was that this character couldn't stand by the other characters and see everything that was happening. I already knew this character died but it still hit me like a tonne of bricks when it happened. I loved all the characters and the actors portraying those characters, I loved that there was comedy mixed in with the action and sadness, even though the series seemed to fail commercially I love it and have even sent a request for it to appear on the UK's Netflix. I think V (Taehyung) did amazing in his first acting and drama role, he fit the role perfect and at times I felt I was just watching V being himself instead of acting and speaking from a script.

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I really recommend that you check out Hwarang, it really is a breathtaking series and figure out if you want the romance or the bromance, it may not have topped Goblin in my all time favourite drama but it is part of my top 2, so why not check it out and see what you think.

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See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye