Listen, I like cheese, okay. Literally and figuratively. I like it on my pasta and I like it in my TV-shows. The world is a cold, cruel and uncaring void. Every story that tells me that goodness and kindness and miracles and magic exist out there, is very much needed. I think a big part of the charm of K-dramas is, how unapologetically cheesy they tend to be.
That being said, there comes a certain point in life where you will have to ask yourself: How much cheese is too much?
I feel like I know my answer now.

Clearly The Sound Of Magic offers enough redeemable qualities, otherwise I would not have sat through the entirety of it. I think our magical lead has the charisma expected of the role. I think some of the choreographies were kind of fun, especially the opening scene of episode one. Sadly, we got very few numbers with the same energetic vibe but it was still appreciated. The acting across the board is solid, albeit a bit over the top at times. There were moments of neat cinematography and a few creative ideas. It was not all bad, definitely not.

I guess this is the one K-drama where I cannot ignore the music? I don’t particularly care for K-pop or Korean ballads, so maybe this was doomed to disappoint me. I don’t think any of the songs were bad but none of them stood out to me either. I guess I just needed something a bit more upbeat and energetic. The premise of this show is so stupid and fun, but it was just ballad after ballad. I guess I liked the opening song, and the song by Na Il-Deung dedicated to our protagonist in a field. Or at least these are the only ones I can actually remember because they did not sound as similar as the rest.

The plot is anything but subtle. People are either practical saints or cartoonishly evil. Our female lead had to suffer through so much injustice that it almost felt comical at points, it all just seemed to pile up. I guess this was just too much. All of it. Every single aspect of this show. When our protagonists were riding away on flying carousel horses I was about to give up. It felt like Walt Disney on crack.

Despite my harsh words, I think media like this has a purpose. If this story about a poor girl getting what she deserves was heart-warming to you, that's your right. There is nothing problematic or offensively bad about The Sound Of Magic, so if it brought you joy, by all means, indulge in it. But this simply was not my cup of tea.
Cheesiness is omnipresent in K-dramas but more often than not they also have this tongue-in-cheek self-awareness about it. That was completely missing for me here. The premise was too out there to be played this straight. It's almost impressive how this drama had an actual magician as a protagonist and still was not even a little bit of fun.

How much cheese is too much? This much. I know that now.