Korean Drama: Arang and the Magistrate 2012

This had been on the list for quite a while and I have just finished watching it last month. One of the reason I wanted to watch it was because of Lee Jun Ki. This drama was his first after he served the military in 2010.



Drama: Arang and the Magistrate
Revised romanization: Alangsattojeon
Hangul: 아랑사또전
Director: Kim Sang-Ho, Jung Dae-Yoon
Writer: Jung Yoon-Jung
Network: MBC
Episodes: 20
Release Date: August 15, 2012 - October 18, 2012
Runtime: Wednesdays & Thursdays 21:55
Genre: Period / Romance / Fantasy / Supernatural
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Cast:
Lee Joon-gi - Kim Eun-oh
Shin Min-ah - Arang/Lee Seo-rim
Yeon Woo-jin - Joo-wal
Hwang Bo-ra - Bang-wool, shaman
Kwon Oh-joong - Dol-swe, Eun-oh's manservant
Han Jung-soo - Mu-young, head ghost reaper

Kim Eun Ho has the ability to see ghost and he is an illegitimate son of a noble. He is in a search for his mother who left him. His search lead him to a small town where he met Arang, a female ghost who lost her memory after she died. Arang is trying remember what happened to her before she died and Eun Ho saw the hair pin that he gave to his mother before she left. This was the beginning of their adventure.
Arang even went to the after life to meet the Jade Emperor who was played by Yoo Seug Ho. There she made a deal with the Jade Emperor to give her time to find the reason why she died in exchange for the time, she will go to hell if the answer to her question is not found. She gained eternal life after that. Eun Ho will help her with her quest as it can also lead it to his mother. The two of them worked together as they met a lot of of people and ghost to help them, including Bang Wool, a shaman.

As the story progressed Eun Ho developed some feelings for Arang and so did she but she does not want to leave him hurt after her time on earth is done. Eventually they simply just went with their feelings towards each other. After their feeling were resolved, another problem arises as they discovered that Eun Ho's mother has been possessed by a heaven fairy who wishes to be a human. This even confuses our leads as they have to deal with personal matters. She remembers how she died and it involves the possessed other of Eun Ho. If Eun Ho had to rescue his mother from the fairy, she will die but he had no other choice. At least he was able to save her soul.

I thought it was the end of Arang's search when Eun Ho's mother was rescued but it was only the beginning of the finale. She now has to figure out who killed her. They have to go to the border between the after life and earth and look into the book of life and death to know this information. Eun Ho figured out that everything was all planned by the Jade Emperor to defeat the fairy. Since Arang is now immortal, she cannot die and she wold not be able to solve the mystery of her death and thus she will go to hell. Eun Ho's love for Arang was so strong that he offered to go to hell instead of Arang. The end.. Not a very happy ending but you will see that both Arang and Eun Ho had been reincarnated but Eun Ho has lost his memory this time.

.....CREDITS....

The series won several awards namely, MBC Best Couple and Outstanding Korean Drama Actor. Jun Ki is still as charming as he was in My Girl.  For a comeback series, it was worth the wait and more action. You rock Jun Ki!

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