The plot was really simplistic: A story about K-pop and first-love in the 90's. After watching some plot intense dramas, the light and almost simple description completely drew me in. But at some points I felt like instead of watching a drama where the story progresses through the episodes, I was watching a series of almost unrelated episodes with little or no forward movement.
The set-up of the drama was amazing; I looked forward to each episode in hopes that I would find another clue to fill in the missing pieces of the characters' futures. In addition to this, I didn't appreciate and enjoy the humor of the show until around episode 5. The spontaneous goat noises paired with the most awkward situations made this show more fun.
The main character, Sung Shi Won, was an annoyance to me. If not for the phenomenal set-up of the drama, I would've dropped the show because of Sung Shi Won. I felt neutral to the rest of the characters.
Although there was a large presence of notable music of the 90's, I didn't care much for it; I couldn't relate to it. There was nothing about the music that I could attach myself to because they continuously played different songs. Although some people dislike OSTs that repeat in dramas, I love those and I don't believe this drama had any.
I openly diverge from the view that most people absolutely love this drama. Reply 1997 was entertaining at times, but was only "okay" and never "excellent".
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My absolute favorite aspect of this drama as the music. Goodness, the music in this drama was extremely appropriate for all the scenes. Creepy, chilling instrumentals gave me goosebumps during intense and scary scenes and sweet serenading vocals evoked tears during the emotional scenes.
The actors and actresses were acceptable. Lee Jun Ki and Shin Min Ah had tons of chemistry as Eun Oh and Arang. Neither Eun Oh nor Arang never were annoying lead characters, like so many other lead characters in other dramas. Other characters I would have cast younger or less creepy looking; however, I set their looks aside after seeing their acting skills.
Overall I think "Arang and The Magistrate" was a good drama. There was comedy, mystery, romance, action and much more. It was not perfect drama and it irritated me sometimes, but I enjoyed it.
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I recommend this to anyone who has some spare time and wants a few good laughs.
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