New K-drama: My Demon review
The end of autumn was highly anticipated by K-drama fans — the 24th of November marked the start of an eagerly awaited new drama — “My Demon”. The scriptwriter Choi Ah-il is already well known for “Mr. Queen” and “Mr. Queen — Bamboo Forest”, which guarantees: we’re in for a treat! Furthermore, with the front line of young and dearly loved talented actors, such as Song Kang (you will definitely remember this butterfly from “Nevertheless”), Kim Yoo-jung (from “Gumiho: Tale of the Fox’s Child”) and Lee Sang-yi (I’m sure any self-respecting K-drama fan binge-watched “Hometown Chachacha”), this is bound to be the next big thing.
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If you haven’t heard of this drama or haven’t started watching it yet, the official trailer can be seen here.
The plot
“My Demon” follows a successful businesswoman Do Do Hee (played by Kim Yoo-jung). She is not the typical drama female — Do Do Hee is strong and confident, arrogant even. We soon learn about her circumstances: having been adopted into a wealthy family and thus struggling in an internal fight for succession. Yet the main character displays many layers — underneath the cold and calculating chaebol heiress, there is a clumsy and somewhat cute persona.
The plot unravels when Do Do Hee is forced to attend a blind date (of course, there is a forced marriage trope!). Surely enough, it does not go as planned: due to unexpected miscommunication, our female lead pulls the leg of an ancient demon — Jeong Gu Won (played by Song Kang). Being busy with contracts and endless collections of damned souls, the ungodly male lead shows little to no interest, eventually getting annoyed and bursting out into an open conflict. Thus the first clash between the charming personalities of our main leads.
As with any good story, “My Demon” does not wait long to plant the hook: due to a sudden assassination attempt on Do Do Hee’s life, Jeong Gu Won loses his demonic powers. As if that was not dramatic enough, we suddenly realise that in the process of attempting to save Do Do Hee, Jeong Gu Won’s demonic seal has been transferred to our female lead.
The impression
“My Demon” offers an ethereal beginning slowly walking the viewer through the mythology — an introduction to demons, if you may. And from that seemingly calm and slow mode, we are suddenly presented with a new scene — our heroine is running through the fog. It’s instant, it’s dynamic, our mood automatically changes and we’re hooked.
I appreciated the inner monologue allowing us to see through the feelings of the main character — Do Do Hee explained that she often felt as if her life was like running through the mist. The dark scene depicted a moonlit night, a dark figure emerging from the shadows. Do Do Hee contemplated whether the unknown man following her was a demon or an angel. As the female lead weighted the prospects of this stranger possibly saving or destroying her, we as the viewers could grasp an anti-hero trope coming along. We do love some shady boundaries when it comes to our male leads and most of us surely applaud a demon if he is one to chip in and save the distressed female character.
I will refrain from further spoilers, but will still mention that the frames change to take our story centuries back. No, this time we don’t get a mythological lecture, but rather a sneak peek at our male character. It’s only been a few minutes of the first episode, but the scenes changed several times. And although they are deeply connected through the dark fantasy aesthetics, one could easily sense different emotions and narratives deriving from them. At the same time, the viewers are reassured: buckle up, this is going to be one hell of a ride! I’m truly excited as the filmography offers wide resources to explore the main characters, as well as capture our hearts. The production spares no effort and offers us wide angles, a variety of approaches, and a range of costumes and setups. I tried digging into the production cost, but it still remains a mystery, yet I have no doubt — must be a whooping sum, because I can assure you: this is bound to impress.
The characters
A match made in heaven… or hell? Both characters emit strong charisma and capture us the minute they’re introduced. Could you believe the first sentence coming out of the ML’s mouth is “I’m incredible, as usual”? Neither could I, but here we are… I suppose that’s why Jeong Gu Won is so devilish.
When we’re properly introduced to our FL, we see Do Do Hee taking the stage at a prestigious award ceremony. A sweet and kind lady? Definitely not — our female lead is one feisty being, a truly strong and independent woman who is highly successful in her professional endeavours. She seems opinionated and feisty, yet soon enough we get to see a soft (funny even!) side to her. It’s a beautiful balance within the character and offers a great harmony with the male lead who reflects Do Do Hee with similar personality traits.
I could not stop myself from noticing the interesting yet beautiful contrasts when depicting the main characters. Do Do Hee is illustrated through a bright lens, whereas Jeong Gu Won’s scenes are darker, and offer a different sense of contrast.
The side characters circling around both of our leads are awfully wholesome. They are both the support in Do Do Hee’s and Jeong Gu Won’s personal and occupational endeavours, but also a healthy distraction from the heavier themes of the drama. The supporting characters are entertaining, engaging and light, showering the audience with little conflicts whilst they bicker away and elevate the mood. At the same time, we are given a more personal angle on the main leads. These additional personas allow us to peek into the cute and clumsy sides of Jong Gu Won and Do Do Hee as well as illustrate a wider panorama in the big picture of their lives.
Attention to detail
I have to admit: there are so many subtle details scattered around, that I am not even sure if my radar picked up all of them.
The first thing that caught my attention — flower petals and red roses. One of the opening scenes depicts Jeong Gu Won wearing a black cape and disrupting a worship service. In the midst of it all, our demon sprouts red roses from holy water. Now, the mainstream meaning of a red rose is usually associated with love and passion. But it can also hold meaning — not that different, of course — pertaining to desire and a significant other. I will hold onto that one.
The next thing that I deeply appreciated — the meaning behind the names. “Gu Won” means saviour and I think it is a beautiful allusion to the beginning of the series where the audience was introduced to the mythology of demons and how the perception of these beings changed over time — they were once seen as guardians.
I could not quite grasp the meaning of “Do Hee” — I’m not sure if I missed it (only watched the first episode so far!) or if it was not mentioned yet. Did try looking up online and got some mixed results. I am not confident that any of them are true (so keep your eyes and ears open watching the series!), but there was one meaning that I found interesting — “bad blood”. I found it suiting for the story in the sense that we have interesting opposition and contrasts, so, it would make quite a good fit. Then again, take this with a grain of salt — might be my delusion!..
Lastly, when talking about attention to detail, Jeong Gu Won’s lair. The demon’s realm is illustrated as a maze of clocks, arching into a tall clock tower. Intricate structures encrusted with countless rushing arrows marking the time — an allusion to the devilish contracts signed. Through this labyrinth of clocks, Jeong Gu Won is able to track which contracts are coming to an end, hence set off to collect greedy souls from the human realm, unavoidably banishing them to the pits of hell.
All in all, attention to detail is absolutely superb — everything in this series seems to carry deep meanings. I take it as an invitation to explore further in order to unravel the hidden undertones of the characters as well as the whole story.
Tropes
As already quite usual, “My Demon” follows some standard tropes: our female lead is pushed into blind dates because a successful business person must always seek an arranged marriage to secure their position. As the K-drama gods would have it, the blind date gets messed up and instead of meeting her designated partner Do Do Hee interrupts a private meal of our demon. They hit it off. And by that, of course, I mean that they obviously clash with one another, offering us a good giggle as well as some second-hand embarrassment. It’s fun, it’s dynamic and the main actors share great chemistry making the fans wreak havoc — of course, we’ll come begging for more!
I could not stop myself from laughing out loud (poor neighbours!) — the peak of this scene was not just the mixed-up situation, it was also the typical miscommunication: our demon somehow concluded that Do Do Hee was an angel. Furthermore, he was led to believe that it was in fact a blind date — one set by the God themselves!..
As later said in the drama — “A match made in hell!”. And it couldn’t be more true!
Conclusion
The first episode wrapped up in a circular composition — we returned to the beginning and saw the full scene unravel in front of our eyes. Of course, this time we knew the context and could relate to the characters.
As a fan of works such as “Alchemy of Souls”, “Hotel Del Luna”, “Goblin” and the likes, I definitely feel interested. The plot seems intricately woven, the script and filmography definitely don’t let the audience down and there’s a lot of charm in the main characters, not to mention the chemistry between the actors. I have no doubt that the production cost would make us bleed if we could get a sneak peek at the numbers — many frames, angles, beautiful costumes and a wholesome view into different aspects (and timelines!) of our main characters.
I have high hopes for this drama and will stick to see what “My Demon” has in store for its audiences.
The episodes are aired every Friday and Saturday and the series can be watched on SBS as well as Netflix.
Have you started watching “My Demon” already? Let me know what you think!
