Fantasy, romance, allegory, silly comedy and the surreal quality of folklore and mythology

This is one of those cases where I feel rather perplexed by popular opinion and question general sanity; the hated flaws in this show do not really diminish the worth of the show. But I'm getting ahead of myself: let me analyse this show component by component and write what made me love the show and rewatch it 4 times already, so that if there's anyone else who looks for similar things in a show as me, they will feel piqued enough to watch.

Update: I had initially given the show a full 10 while riding the aftermath of bingeing the series the first time. I have since edited it, not because I loved it less on repeat watches (in fact, it even grew on me), but because I wanted to be more objective (as much as one can be in what is ultimately subjective anyway). Many parts of the show deserve a perfect score, but a few are quite subpar by contrast and have to be scored less.

Let's get the objectively bad stuff out of the way: inconsistent CG. In some places, the CGI was fairly decent and blended well without harming the suspension of disbelief, but often it was evidently substandard. For me, this rarely took away from the story: I tend to abstract out (what I think were) production/budget issues and look at whether I can believe what the CG is trying to convey in the context of the world created. And needless to say, in a world with deities, demons, zombies and priestesses, a badly animated animal would not harm my suspension of disbelief, if the reactions of the characters and story are realistic. And this show certainly does that, and does it well.

Let's move on to the excellent stuff:

Overall, this show gave me the feel that I want and expect from myths and folklore. Mythology and folklore are different from modern fantasy, in that they are much more surreal and allegorical than modern fantasy is. There is an element of magical realism and a dreamlike quality to mythology and folklore that is difficult to pull off with modern fantasy. This show manages to walk that line of allegory and fantasy well, with just a hint of a tantalising deeper subtext at places that makes you ruminate beyond the superficial. At the same time, the show does not take itself too seriously. The comedy is hilarious all the more because it is evident that the cast and crew were rather enjoying themselves while filming it.

Lack of noble idiocy, cringe-induction and cliches:
What I hate from the bottom of my heart in shows is when characters act in ways real people would not, either by noble idiocy or a lack of communication, just because the writer wants the plot to progress in certain ways. This show does not resort to such nonsense to create tension. If a conflict exists, it is not induced by the stupidity of characters, but by events genuinely outside of their control. At times I sensed the impending doom of the arrival of tropes, but the show subverted them tastefully. Even when there were tropes, I was interested to see how characters would react to them, because I trusted in their common sense and personalities.

Which brings me to perhaps the best part of this show: Characters.
This show (and the lore upon which it is based) has wonderful, memorable, hilarious characters with their own goals, motivations, personalities, quirks, and character development. I usually get impatient with side plots and tend to fast forward through them, but I was compelled to watch the stories of every single character in this show.

I will not dwell too long on Son Oh Gong (and Lee Seung Gi's stellar performance of that role): other reviews have already done so ad nauseum. If all the other aspects of this show were terrible, this show would still be worth watching for that character and actor alone.

Sam Jang:
I understand why the character and actress were not well received: the character is, unlike other female leads, poised, somewhat introverted and quiet, stable, resistant to impulses of noble idiocy, compassionate and respectful towards the male lead and other characters, and is not very flawed in general, while still managing to avoid being a 2D plastic figure. She is independent (however much you can be independent against supernatural evils if you don't have powers of your own) and mentally stable, and I think that kind of independence and stability in women often triggers what I think are subtle misogynistic tendencies in viewers. And so, it is for these very reasons that I really loved her character and I think they did justice to how they adapted the original Sam Jang from the lore.

Ma Wang:
Oh, it was such a pleasure whenever he came on screen! He had an excellent storyline, I was always interested to see his reactions to plot elements, his dynamic with Son Oh Gong was electric and hilarious, and there was sometimes a surprising poignancy to his thoughts, actions and dialogues that reflected his long age and complexity. If I have to watch another ten episodes with just him on the screen, I still wouldn't get tired of it.

I can go on and on about the other, equally wonderful, colourful characters (how can a zombie be scary, cute, hilarious and creepy all at once, how can I say the sentence "a pig, a dog and an octopus were at a bar" with a straight face etc), but let's pause here and go to the next component.

Story:
The show did what it wanted to do from the start: a modern spin on a well known tale. Not any story can blend horror, romance, mystery and allegory into one seamless story. And comedy, let's not forget the comedy!
I really liked the romance, contrary to popular opinion. I thought it was neither rushed, nor lacked chemistry. It was a realistic progression founded upon a supernatural beginning, and felt like a warm comforting hug.

Visuals:
The costumes and set were really stunning. Son Oh Gong, especially. They very much contributed to the wonderful fantasy feel of the show.

Music:
Good music, not the most amazing but fairly appropriate. One of the main lead OSTs got stuck in my head for a long time, but my favourite melody was the one played during Ma Wang's love story scenes.

Finale:
The finale seems to be hated almost universally. Again, I am inclined to disagree. The finale fit the arc of the story, and anything else would tend towards a Deus ex machina. It is important to remember the source material for the show: fantastical, whimsical things happen in the lore to Son Oh Gong, and fantastical whimsical things happened (and could happen) in the show and post-finale. I won't give any spoilers, but I think the ending was consistent with the plot. Even if you don't like the ending, I think that hardly takes away from the otherwise wonderful rest of the show.

Overall, this is one of my favourite shows, and I have and will rewatch it again and again.

Lees verder