Hwayugi
Time slot: Saturday & Sunday
Broadcaster: tvN
Genre: Fantasy horror romance
Episode count: 16
Reasons to watch: Yay, Hwaygi week is finally upon us! I know I’ve been disappointed by the Hong sisters writing duo on more than one occasion, but they’re also the writing team that brought us Master’s Sun, Best Love, and My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho, not to mention dramaland classics like My Girl and Delightful Girl Chun-hyang. So hope is still alive for them to come back strong in their latest project, especially when they’re reuniting with Lee Seung-gi, Cha Seung-won, and Lee Hong-ki.
The fantasy romance is a modern twist on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West that places an assortment of supernatural beings in the middle of modern-day Seoul, a city infested with dark spirits that must be eradicated. I’m going into it not expecting a faithful remake in any sense of the word, since the novel seems to be just a jumping off point for a few key characters (like the Monkey King or the Bull Demon King), and I expect the drama to create a mythology all its own that’s very different.
The one carryover seems to be the Monkey King’s mischievous personality, which I’m looking forward to most since this is Lee Seung-gi’s first post-army drama, and I like him best when he’s playing delightfully impish, immature characters. Come to think of it, I don’t know of a time when he didn’t play a character like that. Maybe it’s just fate. God, I hope his army comeback project doesn’t bomb.
Please don’t be a disappointment, Show. It’s Christmas for crying out loud! Have a heart!