Soul

혼 (Soul, also known as Possessed) is a South Korean drama series that aired on MBC from August 5th to September 3rd 2009. The series consists of 10 episodes with a duration of approximately 1 hour and 5 minutes.

Story: Ha-na and Doo-na are sisters but one day Doo-na dies a terrible death and her sister cannot safe her. Her ghost comes back to take revenge and possesses her sisters body - the main problem is that not only Doo-na can possess her sister but also other ghosts. Ha-na rarely remembers what happens when ghosts, or souls, take over her body. One day criminal psychologist Shin Ryu becomes involved and soon he's one of the few who can actually help Ha-na but a tragedy in his past and a chance to take revenge might make things even worse.

Cast: Lee Seo-jin is really good as Shin Ryu. I liked his acting overall even though I found his character a little difficult to understand I just really thought he was an interesting character. As for Im Ju-eun as Yoon Ha-na I think they just solved the puzzle too fast to keep her character interesting for a long time. The possessed acting was a little weird but good in the end so there's nothing I can really complain about.
T-ARA's Park Ji-yeon as Yoon Doo-na was good but neither the best nor the worst character. Since this was one of her first roles in a series I think she might have improved a lot as an actress but I also think she wasn't one of the main characters regarding her screen time in this drama. Now this could be discussed of course.
And also Supernova's Park Geon-il is in this drama as Jung Shi-woo. He has some characteristics of a typical second male lead but at some point I feel like he's more extreme when it comes to protecting and helping Ha-na no matter what. At some point the innocent high school kid seems to be obsessed with the idea of doing anything for Ha-na. The acting was pretty good but again he seemed a little too insane sometimes.
And of course I need to mention Kim Gab-soo as Baek Do-shik whom I wanted to see punished until the very end. Now I don't know whether that worked or not but I still have hope. Somehow.
Other actors in this series include Yoo Yun-suk as Baek Joong-chan, Lee Jin as Lee Hye-won and Kim Sung-ryung as Ha-na's and Doo-na's mother.

Soundtrack: Personally I enjoyed how the music created the atmosphere at times so I think there's nothing to complain about. The number of songs that were actually sung by some K-music artists is pretty low though, there's only one song Yangpa performed so if you prefer soundtracks with more songs that are actually sung this might not be that much to your liking.


Overall I think this drama is solid for fans of unusual K-dramas that aren't all lovey-dovey. A 7/10 rating from me just because it failed to deliver the "horror" but that might only be me. And that's okay since me reviews are also based on my personal opinion. It's worth watching though and I might consider rewatching it at some point.

Secret Investigation Record

조선X파일: 기찰비록 (Joseon X Files: Secret Book / Secret Investigation Record) is an historical Korean drama that aired on tvN from August 20th to October 29th 2010.
It consists of 12 episodes that are relatively independent.

Story: In 17th Century Korea (Joseon Dynasty) strange things happen. Kim Hyung-do's former mentor Lee Hyeong-wook is sent to prison for "aggrandized his report with mendacious claims of a bizarre flying object” and “divine retaliation against His Majesty’s alleged lack of virtue." To save his own and his mentor's life, Kim Hyung-do needs to find an explanation and create a demonstration to a public that's terrified by an Unidentified Flying Object. At the end Kim Hyeong-do becomes an investigator for the secret Shinmuhwe.
During the next episodes the hero and his team consisting of his assistant Heo Yoon-Yi, a librarian, and Magistrate Jang Man is sent to various places to solve mysterious cases about supernatural objects, diseases and phenomena as well as ghosts.

Cast: Kim Ji-hoon did a really good job as Kim Hyung-do in this one. I've never seen a drama with him before but well, I think acting in a historical drama isn't that easy anyways. Im Jung-eun can be seen as Assistant Heo Yoon-yi. Damn, I like her character. Either she's a badass hot librarian or just a perfect not-so-nerdy bookworm but she's really really good. Jo Hee-bong can be seen as Magistrate Jang Man. Sometimes a little cowardly, always trying to save Kim Hyung-do once he's in trouble, so.. a plucky coward? To be honest I had to laugh about Magistrate Jang because it was just completely overdone from time to time. He seemed not to be that smart.. Last but not least I have to name Kim Gab-soo as Ji Seung who's the leader of the Shinmunhwe (if I remember right, however, he's the one collecting the records so.. I don't know how to describe that.)
YES, the acting was good and usually fit the story. It was relatively nice to see only four characters directly involved in the story, it wasn't too complicated.

Soundtrack: The soundtrack supported the drama. No modern pop music, no modern ballads, just some instrumentals and an effective use of silence as well. Nothing I could really criticize about this.

My personal ranking is 6/10 though. The first point may be that I'm usually not that experienced when it comes to historical dramas. Followed by the second aspect which was like "What the heeeell..." because of the effects. While I think they looked like some of the effects used in the 1990's and kind of old school others say those were awesome. Third thing is.. that I seriously couldn't take some things seriously because even if you do believe in the existence of aliens it's completely absurd.
I think the combination of a Korean historical drama and the X Files just didn't do it for me, I think it's more about the story than the actors who are indeed doing a great job.