Even though I'm profoundly sad about the fact that there won't ever be another new Arang episode to look forward to, I owe this drama enough to be able to write a favorable review. Not only have I been entertained to the core by the Arang makers and actors, but been gifted with a story so heart-warming and wonderful that I'm going to remember for a long time to come. Despite the naysayers and the people unhappy with the ending, I'd say the end couldn't have been done more realistically yet satisfyingly. I rarely give a drama a 10 and to be honest the sad feeling that the end left me with (despite being fitting) made me want to give it a 9. But then Lee Jun Ki and Shin Min Ah have done so extremely well as the leads and made Eun Oh and Arang so endearing to me, that I can't possibly do them that disservice. Coming to the plot, oh writer-nim how have you managed to mash up all genres - drama, intrigue, mystery, comedy, suspense, romance into one single story and made everything seem so believable and legitimate too? How? HOW? It's a remarkable achievement for which you deserve an award anyway. To tie up all loose ends of a story with such a convoluted plot must have been an ordeal that few writers would want to go through. And must I say anything about the actors? Lee Jun Ki, do you need to sound so modest that you have to apologize to the viewers for perhaps not being able to do well enough after having just returned from the army? Exactly who are you kidding? To describe your performance in one word I'd say you were FABULOUS. You played not one but several roles with such panache that the (female) viewer could only be glued to their tv or pc screens and pine for you in their hearts. Eun Oh, the magistrate. Eun Oh, the investigator. Eun Oh, the protector and savior of Arang. Eun Oh, the devoted son. Eun Oh, the administrator. Eun Oh, the top-notch martial artist. Eun Oh, the lover of Arang. You made all the Eun Oh-s so genuine, lovable and dignified that you deserve awards. Not one but lots of them. And Shin Min Ah, even though you might be typecast in paranormal/supernatural being roles after this who the heck cares? You can play those characters terrifyingly well which lots of other accomplished actresses will have trouble with. Your Arang will definitely remain ingrained in every viewer's memories as a lovely young maiden ghost who never gave up and earned for herself a life and love that had been previously denied to her. Arang rocked our worlds and so did your performance. Honestly, both Lee Jun Ki and Shin Min Ah had crackling chemistry and should work together again. About the rest of the cast, Yoo Seung Ho was particularly stellar as Jade Emperor and so were others like Yeon Woo Jin. Joo Wal appeared as a creepy, vulnerable and perpetually confused man drifting through life as if he were in a daze and Woo Jin's portrayal ensured that we got the message. Kwon Oh Jung, Hwang Bo Ra as Dol Soe and Bang Wool were equally amazing and without their incredible comic timing things may have gotten a bit drab. Han Jung Soo as Mu Yeong was another plus for the drama - I was a teensy bit unhappy about his fate at the end but the writer turned things around and gave us a little bit of hope that his existence was perhaps not completely wiped out. If I'm to list the shortcomings, then a few stand out. Like how Joo Wal and Lord Choi came in contact with the evil fairy Moo Yeon and how Lord Choi came to adopt Joo Wal as a son were never shown. Seo Rim's father, the previous magistrate who died searching for his lost daughter was never shown either. Also the songs were a weak link with the notable exceptions of K.Will's 'Love is you' and Jang Jae In's 'Fantasy' which I've been listening to on a loop. Why this marked difference between the kickass background music, those hauntingly melancholy themes and the actual songs? Even Baek Ji Young's rendition of 'Love and love' comes off as an annoyance. But anyway, in the light of the brilliance of the other parts of the drama and the story, I'm ready to forgive such minor oversights.