Netflix has released a great teaser for upcoming drama The School Nurse Files (formerly known as School Nurse Ahn Eun-young). Jung Yumi (Live, Kim Ji-Young: Born 1982) plays a seemingly ordinary school nurse named Ahn Eun-young, who has the ability to see ghosts and all sorts of paranormal creatures–and they manifest as jellies. Nam Joo-hyuk (The Light in Your Eyes) plays her co-worker, a high school classical Chinese teacher.
The teaser begins with Eun-young beginning her day at school, as an adult’s gentle voice asks her if she’s seen the “jellies” again. She goes about her day asking about the students’ health and teaching them CPR. However, as she drags the CPR dummy back, it’s shown that cute little jelly octopi are following her. She tells us that it’s her destiny to help others in secret, and we’re introduced to Eun-young the jelly-fighting warrior.
Initially, Eun-young is confused by the appearance of a jelly heart. She goes around school ridding it of jellies with her carnival light saber and plastic toy gun. When she opens the door to a dark corridor, it’s revealed that she sees a special world of her own where sinister creatures lurk.
Just as she’s run out of juice fighting an immensely powerful jelly, the mere touch of Nam Joo-hyuk’s hand provides an auto-reload to her gun. Nam Joo-hyuk is the key to her instantaneous power-ups, and she seeks him out in order to “recharge.” She tells him that he has a special aura.
The following scenes show the school’s basketball game, where a green jelly appears to help a student dunk an impossible shot. The trailer ends with the school in pandemonium and Jung Yumi telling us that she’s Ahn Eun-young, the school nurse.
While the premise of a person’s unique touch providing comfort from supernatural phenomena isn’t new in dramaland (e.g. Master’s Sun, Oh My Ghostess), I’m intrigued by the adorable octopi and the colorful world Jung Yumi’s character inhabits. The bizarre creatures and her reaction to them also reminds me faintly of the underrated quirky film I’m a Cyborg, but That’s Okay, which was an us-against-the-world type of love story.
The drama series is based on an original novel by Chung Serang, who also penned the script. The School Nurse Files, directed by Lee Kyung-mi, will premiere on Netflix on September 25.
