8/10: Kangchi as a character is the only reason you need to watch this…he deserves the best in life LOL.
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I recently re-watched this drama with my mom because after watching “Vagabond”, she fell n in love with Lee Seung-gi (although tbh who hasn’t at some point in their lives?) and wanted to watch a drama with him and Suzy as the leads. And honestly, I liked it a lot more the second time through surprisingly!! I watched it the first time because I ALSO fell in love with Lee Seung-gi after Vagabond (lmao), and while I enjoyed the story and adored the lovable cinnamon roll that is Cha Kang-chi, the ending fell quite flat for me and perhaps that’s why I didn’t feel the desire to write a review. But having watched it again with my mom and finding myself just as entertained and invested, despite knowing everything already, has made me appreciate it a lot more.
[SPOILERS AHEAD]
So definitely, Cha Kang-chi as a character is the indisputable highlight of this show. He is the perfect hero in my opinion: noble, but not flawless, innocent, but not an idiot, and charming, but not arrogant (also he’s cute and hunky at the same time, A++!!). He is the character the audience can sympathize with because of his warm and friendly nature. When he laughs, we laugh, when he cries, we cry, because his responses to injustice and pain and love and friendship are always so pure and wholesome!! Lee Seung-gi did a 100% job of portraying Kang-chi into a character that is we all gush after and want to protect, lol. No one can ever say anything bad about Kang-chi, because he’s just a lovable half-gumiho (nine-tailed fox spirit) half-human who has the humble wish to be human so that he can live with his love, Dam Yeol-wool, AND MY GOSH IT WAS HEART-BREAKING TO WATCH HIM GET HIS DREAMS SNATCHED. His back-story was just tragic enough to be terribly sad, but not over-done to the point where it was unnecessarily dramatic. It’s somewhat of a cliché troupe (gumiho father and human mother fall in love, but a misunderstanding causes a betrayal and deaths, you know how it goes), but I didn’t mind it at all, and it was an element in his story that made sense and felt natural. The writers did a great job of making us care about Kang-chi’s parents, which in turn enhanced our love of Kang-chi’s character.
Maybe the only thing that elevates Kang-chi as the highlight of the show is Dam Yeol-wool (played by Bae Suzy) and their pure and healthy relationship. Right away, we see a great juxtaposition between Yeol-wool’s relationship with Kang-chi, compared to the other people in his life. While others (namely his adoptive brother and sister) shun him, fear him, or betray him once they find out his identity as a half-gumiho, Yeol-wool not only doesn’t fear him, she whole-heartedly continues to stand by him. She is the reason he is able to regain his humanity when he was struggling to reconcile his demon-half. One of the themes of the show is definitely that appearances are not what makes someone human. Rather, it is how you view yourself that determines who you are. Kang-chi initially became consumed by his demon-side because he was devastated by the fact that he was a monster; he labelled himself as such, and therefore that was what he was. But Yeol-wool was the one who brought him back, reminding him that even though he is half-gumiho, he was still Kang-chi, and that nothing has to change. One of the cutest things about their relationship was the fact that her being by his side is what allows him to control his gumiho-side without his spirit-suppressing bracelet, and I thought it was such a smart way to develop their relationship. Her love and support gives him the confidence to be human! It was also very convicting to see Kang-chi trying his best to be a noble righteous person, while real humans were often the ones acting like monsters.
Watching the ending for the second time, it wasn’t nearly as bad, maybe because I was anticipating it, so unconsciously justified it? Who knows. Anyways, it was by no means a good ending, but it at least tied up all the loose ends, lol. I just really don’t like the time-jump endings that involve people being reincarnated. I think it cheapens the death of the characters and makes the “happy ending” less satisfying. Yeol-wool should have either not died, or stayed dead, in my opinion. Having her die in Kang-chi’s arms, but then allowing him wait 400-some years to be able to meet her again in the modern world (LOL WTF) didn’t do the drama much justice. Maybe it would have worked better if it wasn’t so rushed, literally crammed into the last ten minutes of the last episode lol. That being said, the ending doesn’t destroy my overall love of this under-rated show.
I would recommend this drama to anyone who enjoys historical/fantasy/action dramas. The pacing overall was really good, and there was a nice balance between action and fighting, romance and humour, and emotional scenes, all of which are Korean drama staples, haha. I guarantee that you will fall in love with Kang-chi and his friends, and want him to just have some happiness in his hardship-filled life.
Thanks for reading, and happy watching!
Thought Bubbles 