Will I watch “The Sound of Magic”?
Netflix Original (k-drama)
A new k-drama has come to Netflix. The show’s name “The Sound of Magic” is very similar to a movie I enjoyed from when I was a kid: “The Sound of Music.” This was my main reason for adding it to my watchlist and gives us a clue into the type of show I will be immersed in.
This is a review written after the first episode to find out if I’m going to watch more episodes. I typically make this decision when watching shows at the third episode, but k-dramas are super long shows. Each episode lasts over an hour and gets you right into the story. I have yet to find a show that I dropped after I liked the first episode.
Although the title is “The Sound of Magic,” I really did not expect a musical. Well, not to the extent that we get one anyway. The first episode has at least three music numbers in it.
This episode gave me a large swath of emotions. I was annoyed, pissed, happy, sad, crying, worrying and laughing. I was all over the place. I prefer to enjoy my shows subbed, no dubs, so this review is based off the Korean audio version.
The following will contain spoilers so don’t scroll on if you don’t want to find out what kind of issues you’ll be dealing with in the first episode. Just remember, even if the first song annoys the bejesus out of you, you can just fast forward it or pretend it’s a prologue giving you clues as to what’s to come.
The show starts off with a creepy scene at the beginning where the characters are talking about a good-looking magician who does real magic and breaks out into an entire group of high school kids singing a song.
My eyebrows were down the entire time. What the heck did I just click into? I was not impressed with the first song, especially since it’s basically the first thing you’re thrown into, but continued on anyway to find out if the rest would be just as disappointing.
I don’t regret that decision one bit. I’m happy I continued on. The show covers some heavy topics, right in the first episode.
The show is set in a high school and our main character (MC) is not popular. She’s having a real hard time in life and has to deal with the mean girls at school.
It appears her mother is most likely dead, as our MC is texting her updates of her day, but we never see a response from mom back. Her father is running away from creditors, leaving our MC to fend for herself and her little sister.
In order to survive, our MC and her little sister need to eat. Without dad or mom around, there’s financial issues piling up. Rent is unpaid and the cupboards are bare. The sisters are blessed with buffet-style cafeterias, so food is available at school for them at lunch. Our MC modestly takes advantage of this by taking a couple extra pieces so that she and her sister are able to eat something for dinner.
Our MC has the top spot for math, and this is all thanks to her needing to be good at math. She works one day a week part-time at a convenience store to bring in what little money she can.
The store’s manager lets us know that another part-time employee quit — I’m sure I can guess why — and our MC takes this opportunity to offer herself to cover the shifts. The store manager agrees and she starts working more days a week. Finally, there’s food to be eaten in the home for her and her sister.
This joy doesn’t last long. Our MC decided to ask her manager, an adult, for some help. She needs the rent to be paid by the end of the week but won’t work enough hours before then. The heartless landlord doesn’t care where their father is or if he’s even around and threatens to evict them.
The manager plays the good guy and fronts her enough money to help her out for the moment, but that all changes when we find out his true intentions and the likely reason the other part-timer vanished. He sees a vulnerable young girl with no loved ones and no one to run to for help, the perfect victim.
I have never yelled so much at my screen.
“Pick up that bag and run!”
“Throw that money back at him and run!”
“Run!”
“Now that he’s down, kick him in the face and run!”
She didn’t run. She did push him down, though, but just stood there. She was definitely in shock. What she thought was help from a responsible adult turned out to be a predator looking for new prey.
The man had the audacity to threaten to have her charged with assault for pushing him off her. He grabs her to drag her towards the police station. When she refuses to go with him, he resorts to violence.
My review doesn’t even cover the magic or the magician of the show because there’s no fun in revealing that stuff. It removes the beauty of it all. Watch the show to find out what happens to the jerkoff that takes advantage of young girls.
And, yes, if you haven’t figured it out yet, I will definitely be watching the next episode.
