The Uncanny Counter Season 1 (2020)

Refreshing Take On Classic Shounen Tropes, This Time In A K Drama

Whilst not necessarily the most original plot, Uncanny Counter manages to bring the tried and true Shounen format over to Korean television whilst still somehow keeping the story fresh and interesting.

The best thing for me I think I would like to talk about is some of the character writing.

So Mun's base traits are kind of nothing too new — righteous young man with the spirit of a hero and the tragic back story to boot — but the way the world around him works makes him feel like a new character. Generally in these types of Shounen-esque stories main characters are rarely ever presented with the consequences of their actions, and as a result stakes can begin to feel pretty low. Fortunately, with So Mun you can see that the world around him doesn't hold as much of that main character leeway for him, whether it be in his actions or the actions of those around him. This is best exemplified by the rest of the counter team getting strikes put against them and becoming close to being stripped of counter status due to them trying to help So Mun. So Mun also, quite miraculously, doesn't feel too overpowered during the show until closer to the end of the series. This is due, in part, to the fact that his emotionality as a character is his biggest weakness for a fair part of the show. His emotional sensitivity also contributes fantastically into making him feel like a real kid as well. Very rarely do the teens in any media feel like actual teens, but So Mun and his adorable friends are like a breath of fresh air that I, too would beat an entire group of delinquents half to death for if they were kidnapped. Overall I really like the way So-Mun is written, and am looking forward to future character development in the next season.

The women in Uncanny Counter are also all treated with a level of respect that I found to be jarring in the absolute best way possible. After spending the better part of a decade binge watching shows from all over the place, I've gotten very used to women being presented as secondary, not in the way that they're supporting characters, but rather in the way that they are afforded a lot less personality and agency in their own lives. Screenwriter Yeo Ji-na does a fantastic job setting up all of our strong, capable female characters throughout the beginning of the show. Do Hana is both physically and mentally one of the strongest characters in the show, and even though the show tends to let So Mun treat her like your regular love interest a bit too much, Hana is shown to be incredibly independent and well rounded. Chu Mae-ok is a well rounded mother figure, who whilst shown to be the weakest of the counters physically, fills the irreplaceable role of group healer, and is shown to be able to get rough, and also still be incredibly physically strong, instead of being portrayed as just a feeble older woman. So Mun's best friend Joo-yeon is a great beacon of support for him, whilst also being shown to comfortably exist outside of So Mun, allowing her the agency she deserves. Ga Mo-tak's past significant other Jung-young is a smart and capable detective, who has been dealing with extreme workplace sexism, which has tried and failed to relegate her to only doing useless tasks. And Finally the possessed Baek Hyang-hee is one of the physically strongest characters in the show, though she's completely feral, her raw power is something to be respected and feared, which is something the show is quick to remind viewers whenever she comes on screen.

I just absolutely adore all the characters in this show and I feel the character writing misses much less that it gets right with this show.

The casting decisions are also fantastic, for all of the significant (a lot of the delinquents look like their actors' ages... Which is around the 25 mark) characters that are in high school, the casting director chose actors that actually look and feel like real teenagers for once. The chemistry between all the actors is also no joke, the Counters both on earth and in Yung all feel like a cohesive family, and So Mun, Ung-min, and Joo-yeon feel so authentically like childhood friends that you forget all three actors are from entirely different generations. The antagonists in the show are so well cast too, Lee Hong-nae (Ji Cheong-shin) and Ok Ja-Yeon (Baek Hyang-hee) never fail to send chills down your spine whenever they're on screen, and Choi Kwang-il (Shin Myeong-hwi) is so successful at playing the corrupt politician/abusive father that I think he may have ruined any other film or show I see him in from now on forever.

The music in the show is probably the least memorable part of the entire drama, which is really no insult when you take into account how well the music is chosen for certain scenes in the show (A personal favorite music choice of mine is at the very end of episode 4 iykyk).

In conclusion, Uncanny Counter is an incredibly fun, action-packed, emotional Shounen, all packaged into the look and feel of a supernatural mystery K Drama. Over the next few years I'm actually certain I'll be re-watching this show whenever I'm feeling a little bored, so all I can say now is, if you haven't watched it yet, what are you waiting for???

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