The Season of Kokdoo (2023)

Worth the watch for supernatural fans because of the unique deity

6/10 is my rating. This is a 2023 South Korean fantasy romance with 16, 70 minute episodes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review.  I provide a synopsis as with some, particularly Japanese and Chinese dramas, the available synopsis are not very good.  So, I hope to provide another description of the series that might help someone decide whether they want to watch it.

Synopsis

Dr. Han Gye-jeol (Im Soo-hyang) faces many struggles in life. Though working as a doctor, which is her passion, she didn’t excel in her studies and attended a mediocre college. Whenever issues arise—an inevitability in her field—her lack of elite credentials is often brought to the forefront. She is between jobs when she trips and nearly sustains a serious injury or worse, only to be saved by a mysterious man, Do Jin-Woo (Kim Jung Hyun). What she doesn’t know is that this man is no ordinary person—he is an underworld god, known as Kokdu, who was tasked with guiding the deceased to the afterlife after angering the creator. Kokdu (Kim Jung-hyun) inhabits human bodies to fulfill another part of his responsibility: executing immortals who violate supernatural laws. Kokdu inhabits the body of a doctor whom Gye-jeol was working under and, over time, develops feelings for. Their relationship starts out adversarial, but as Kokdu discovers their connection from a past life, he realizes that this unassuming doctor may be the only person with the power to break the curse he’s been placed under.

Review:

The premise was intriguing. I really liked the unique take on this god figure—not a Grim Reaper, but a God of Death who also acts as an angel of vengeance. That was an interesting twist. However, the romance didn’t resonate with me, largely because of the way the female lead character was written. I ended up not liking her much, so I wasn’t invested in her relationship with Kokdu. Despite giving it a low rating, I think it’s worth a watch for supernatural fans, especially for its unique interpretation of this deity’s role. I wouldn’t recommend it for the romance alone—it’s okay and resolves decently, but it’s not the standout aspect of the story.

Spoilers

I can mildly tolerate the female lead being a somewhat incompetent doctor. However, it made no real sense that they chose to make her a doctor with such limited skills, as it had no relevance to the overall story. I’m not sure if they were trying to make a point about elite schools or something, but that aspect just fell flat.

The female lead’s interactions with Kokdu were very frustrating. I get that it would be hard to believe someone was an actual god, so it was easier for her to think it was some kind of multiple personality situation. But when all the evidence was there that he was a god, she never questioned it. When she found out he was a god, her anger about it made absolutely no sense. I thought she was being petty and ridiculous about him fulfilling his duties as a god and killing the bad guys. Even a very basic understanding of gods suggests there are things a deity has to do—things that a higher god or the ultimate god would command. So judging him and making him feel guilty for fulfilling the duties of a god was unreasonable. She had sympathy for really horrible people, like rapists and other evil criminals, whom you would expect a god to judge, jury, and execute. That’s the way of the gods. She was also angry at him for deceiving her, but he did try to tell her the truth. She just never believed him, which was not his fault. So, she was angry with him basically for being a deity, and she acted hostile toward him.

I did not like any of the female characters in this show. The female lead was an incompetent doctor who quit practicing for a large portion of the series, and the second female character was just unlikable. The female lead’s sweet brother falls in love with her former friend, who has always been extremely toxic to her. It might’ve been somewhat forgivable if the friend had come around, but she continued to be a “mean girl” to the main character, even when she was in a relationship with her brother. The second female’s friend was also not very nice. She would give advice to the lead female character, but it was always in a condescending, mean-spirited way. So, virtually all the female romantic partners in this series were not very likable.

It also annoyed me when the female lead insisted on going along when Kokdu was trying to save her brother after he was kidnapped. I mean, if you’re a skilled martial artist or something, fine. But if you’re just going to be baggage, get in the way, and possibly become a hostage yourself, it always seems incredibly selfish and foolish to insist on going. Then, after the explosion happens, she’s shocked when he transports them, and she learns he is indeed a deity. She completely forgets about her little brother and goes off on a tangent about being upset with what he is, and I guess about him deceiving her. She completely stops trying to figure out what’s going on with her brother. So, she was so upset about her brother that she insisted on coming along, saw his cell phone, and got freaked out, but then when something unexpected happened, she completely forgot why she was even there. Was she really that dumb, or just that selfish? Neither quality was endearing.

#KokeuSeasonofDeity #ImSooHyang. #KimJungHyun

Lire davantage

The season of terrible writing/acting for one of the two leads

The show is dragged out way too long at 16 episodes, especially with all the interesting plot points that are wasted and goes nowhere and terrible ones that go on for ever. Kim Jung Hyun is doing a herculean job trying his best to act his way through this atrocious writing for Kokdu the character who has grown petty whims and tantrums during his long supernatural punishment after losing his memory or original personality to time. The worst part of his character is still anything to do with the forced romance between him and Gye Joel, both before and after they fall for each other. There's no spark between these two characters, it's just double the annoying scenes. There is no proper communication for most of the series either, with important information force revealed to one or both of them. His curse/promise to do literally anything she asks being used for comedic effect falls extremely flat to say the least and it cuts short the fascinating aspect of the other curse from the deity for him to hear the cries of victims to kill a specific person. He's shown to kill the scum of the earth that evade legal persecution, but he's also shown to hear the calls for the death of someone that's just based on made up hearsay by Gye Joel who he may more may not have killed if it wasn't the body he was currently occupying. He really is a serial killer with voices in his head telling him to kill and the plot where Gye Jeol's brother detective Han Chul tracks him down is way more interesting than romance storyline. There's also the storyline point where Kokdu's power was on the fritz and suddenly that's forgotten about and it was just fine. The part where he found the reincarnation of his younger brother who turns out to be ex-boyfriend Yi Deun who brutally dumped Gye Jeol albeit with a reason, was more exciting than anything with her. I wanted to see their new brotherly relationship explored more. More of Kokdu's original personality is scene in from the past with their reunion. It was actually sad seeing Kokdu's pain at being unable to protect Yi Deun from getting shanked whereas there is no feeling or stakes with anything between Kokdu and Gye Jeol. Unlike her Kokdu actually has his sentient moments and sees through people and makes interesting plans. It was clever of him to use his own end time in the mortal realm to set up his enemy as a murderer. Again it was a frustratingly dumb moment to see Gye Jeol just crying instead of using any of her ER doctor skills to even attempt to help him. She suddenly just wants to kill the guy like she's possessed by her past life instead of sticking to her morals about not killing.

Do Jin Woo's character feels like a wasted opportunity. He was trying to expose corruption and the killing of his birth mom before he was surreptitiously murdered and his corpse possessed by a supernatural entity. He's really sharp and immediately figured out the supernatural situation he's in and wants to live. Exploring the dichotomy between doing what's right and playing it safe to live longer while going against both the earthly forces pursuing him as well as Kokdu could have been interesting, but the show dropped it like a hot potato. It's such a relief to see his level headedness shut down and not enable Gye Jeol's ridiculously childish behavior. It would have been fascinating to see his story play out, but instead he just dies again at the end of his 49 days after death.

The biggest weak point is both the writing and acting for the female lead character Gye Joel who pretty unsufferable the entire time. There was a moment of hope when she stood up for herself to block one hit from an unreasonable patient, the first and last point I wanted to root for her, but then it's just a series of her being a clumsy, man obsessed, childish, whiny, immature overreactions to everything, literally tripping over her own feet charicature. She literally trips down the stairs multiple times. The worst part is the drama points this out as a point of pride, she's intentionally made this way because they think it's cute. It's not. The worst is that she can never advocate for herself or for her patients. There is no point to her as a doctor characer. She does use her status as a doctor to threaten her brother to sabotage the witness's testimony if he ever brings witness who saw her boyfriend murder someone to trial. She's always the fool. Again the drama does it on purpose like they are doing something great. The acting doesn't do anything to elevate this kind of grating character. She's comparatively fine as Seol Hui who for the most part is allowed to act like a human being, actively taking agency for herself her entire life , but as the reincarnation of the character she drags down the story every time she appears and she half of the lead pairing. She's a pretty awful doctor too, not questioning how Do Jin Woo who is severely injured by falling off a whole highrise onto a car is just fine with some amnesia, taking advantage of an amnesiac to lie for her in a hearing, telling people she's his accomplished doctor boyfriend, the extremely irresponsible way she treats Do Jin Woo even though she thought Kokdu personality was a result of a disorder, etc. She doesn't notice all the weird powers he has, even when it's shown to her face while she believes things she has no proof for. She doesn't figure it out for TWELVE out of the 16 episodes when he literally had to teleport her and heal in front of her face. She some how managed to become a doctor, but her brother detective Han Chul got the brains of the family even though he supposedly has double digit IQ. Her forcing him to not take bigger cases is pretty selfish too, it's his job to investigate. Ahn Woo Yeon as Han Chul carries all the sibling scenes they have together and Han Chul can be professional at his job, but she can't handle it. Gye Jeol's must be in the negatives. His romance storyline is leagues better and more mature than hers as well, the difference better acting and strangely better writing as well. The writing lampshades her terrible traits, but that's not the same as breaking through them.

The costuming is also very garish for all the characters from lead to supporting. They literally give Han Chul a leather jacket with spikes during the scene he first meets Kokdu as his sister's boyfriend. It would be fine if it looked cool, how did they manage to find the worst cheap looking one. There are so many lower budget productions that do better in dressing the characters both for the story and just aesthetic wise. All of the jewlery looks so fake like toys except for the bog laurel ring and hair stick. The pink jeweled tiara and the matching necklace are the worst after the big ruby ring. It makes no sense because Ok Shin chaebol underling is filthy rich and could afford real jewels for her.

There is one thing the series surprisingly does right and that's actually planting the seeds for a plausible reason for the disappeared forever character to reappear again. Kokdu had his contract with Gye Jeol and also the prayers from her kokdu cult of patients that she makes pray for him in lieu of payment. Kokdu remains a entity with his underworld job and Gye Jeol continues her cycle of death and rebirth without the tragic death in this timeline like she has in every life. They just dropped that nugget last second without having established that info anytime in the 16 episodes. It's also a bummer there's no final reunion between Yi Deun who survived the stabbings but no line about whether he's in remission or not which he hopefully is after five years.

If you skipped to the end here, just skip this whole drama. There's better ones out there.

Lire davantage

A little gem, don't mis it !!

Story of the Kokdu (god of death more or less Reaper) who comes to earth every 99 years, and finds his doctor (after reincarnation) lover, embroiled in a plot of corruption/medical shenanigans.

The story is remarkably well-written, played by very talented actors (Kim Jun Hyun is absolutely fantastic ❤❤❤), the special effects are TOP and the direction smart.

A little gem!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Histoire du Kokdu (dieu de la mort +/- Faucheur) qui vient sur terre tous les 99 ans, et retrouve sa lover (après réincarnation) médecin, embrouillée dans un complot de corruption-magouilles médicales.

L'histoire est remarquablement bien écrite, jouée par des acteurs très talentueux (Kim Jun Hyun est absolument fantastique ❤❤❤), les effets spéciaux sont TOP et la réalisation intelligente.

Un petit bijou !!

Lire davantage

Has the potential to become a hit drama

Omg, the first episode is the most chaotic one that I ever witnessed in a kdrama not gonna lie😂😂😂
BUT I had a lot of trust in the main lead kim jung hyun. He is a fantastic actor who impressed with all his roles so far (Mr. Queen, Cloy, Welcome to waikiki,...) and I was so curious what he would do with this character. What can I say? He's nailing his role again! It's been only 4 episodes but I had so much fun watching it. The chemistry between kim jung-hyun and im soo-hyang is so lovely and fun and I loved every scene between them. Dialogues, cinematography and story is worth watching👌❤
Really curious in which direction the storyline will go in the following episodes😊

Lire davantage

It's one of those..

Let's take an awesome story, spend lots of money on production, cast perfectly decent actors, add second-rate scriptwriters, and make sure the directors force the actors to be as annoying as possible on screen so we can do the opposite of entertaining viewers. We're not here to entertain, we're here to annoy.
Yes, it's one of those. Although predictable, you already know the story will be good so hope everything else will make up for its predictability. The only parts worth watching are Kokdu and his group. Is it Han Gye Jeol or Im Soo Hyang who ruins it? Or both? Didn't watch enough to determine which. Mainly because I threw everything within reach at a year-old 60-inch 4K television starting with the remote control due to being so annoyed and embarrassed for the character/actress. Please delete this show from the internet

Lire davantage

It is ridiculous and fun. Just roll with it

I normally don't write reviews, but with people being so absurd and prematurely hating on this drama without any capability to chill even a little, I felt the need to say something. (I will update this review with my impressions as the drama goes on and of course after its ending two months from now.)

First thing first: Don't go into this drama with the expectation to see a solemn fantasy epic unfolding here, even if it has the typical tropes of past tragic love and loss and reincarnation do-over romance. Because in order to be able to truly enjoy this show, you have to roll with its irreverence and madness it throws at you in abundance already. The tone of the drama is often quirky and ridiculous, but it's not trying to be anything else either! It knows exactly that it is not to be taken serious, and bears its kdrama-crack identity with flying colors. Yes, it does sprinkle in some minuscule tragedy/sad backstory and detestable criminals as Kkokdu's killing targets for flavor, but it is not before long it goes back to more humorous shenanigans between its characters.

To find a lighthearted, goofy drama that runs with that silliness, nor pretends to be deep or grim on top of it, in the current kdrama landscape of doom and gloom is already rare and hard enough. So don't deprive yourself of its fun just because of a chaotic first episode. The second is already so much better, building up on the prior with more suitable pacing. and more backstory for Kkokdu. Also give its plot time to develop. A story-arc is not finished with one or two episodes, especially when there are sixteen episodes and hours in total room for this to happen. So this impatience and criticism due to it being not 100% perfect from the start and a bit rough around the edges is way too overblown and unbecoming, as is the hatred/bias toward FL/actress.

I, for my part, have been wanting to watch and eventually started this drama solely for Kim Jung Hyun. I am so happy about the comeback, since I missed this fantastic, versatile actor and his screen presence so much. Been way too long since Mr. Queen, seriously. His comedic timing, microexpressions and physical comedy has always been something else—and it is so very natural here too. At two episodes in KJH is already a one-man show riot in his interpretation of Kkokdu; a cynic, 10000% done grinch of death who just wants some R&R during his 99 days on earth but is unable to get due to his job/task he so openly and amusingly detests. And on the other side, he seems a tad unhinged with his high-pitched always-on-the-verge-of-hysteria voice coupled with teen girl giggles and anger management issues. He has plenty of reasons to be like this, however. He does have amnesia, hears crazy voices, kills villains every day each 99 years. Who wouldn't go a little cooky?

Once KJH is/was freed from the timid shackles of his human character Do Jin Woo at the end of episode 1, the fun (and true story) starts. It totally shows is that Junghyun has had so much joy playing the petty, blunt, ready for murder immortal, because his acting as Kkokdu has so much energy, vividness, sheer glee and the right amount of world-weary jadedness. It is his comedic and general acting chops that are also bringing out the best in his co-stars (yay for Mr. Queen reunion between the three gods, they are my chaotic faves rn). Even Im Soo-hyang, whose acting hadn't impressed me before, seemed to go toe-to-toe with Jung-hyun once the story picked up. She definitely isn’t as skilled as Junghyun at delivering all the tiny micro expressions that sell the humor of their bickering and squabbling. Even so, these two are pretty fun to watch and with FL exerting her controlling power over his reluctant, unwilling cynic self it's gonna be even more amusing... not for him, though xD

We are just getting started tho, so of course there is not much development in the rom part of the com, but it is bound to happen as a fated lovers kind of deal they are. I just hope we will see more of their bickering rap battles before the inevitable shift of tone to more angst happens. I will definitely stick around to see how the characters and story develop, as tropey as it is, it is simply and simple fun. And sometimes that is all a kdrama has to be to be enjoyable, yknow?

Lire davantage

The Grim Reaper may be a common theme. But the actors aren't. And just for Kim Jung Hyun alone i will rewatch this. Any project with him jn it is bound to be good. Acting-wise yes there may be some lapses on the part of the FL but the ML more than makes up for them. Music is also nostalgic, suited for the historical and modern times (as the case may be). And Kim Jung Hyun singing one of the OSTs is already a big bonus. The story is already getting more interesting after 2 episodes. Makes me curious and already anticipating the next episodes. Overthinking allowed of course.

Lire davantage

E nada mudou

Foi uma ótima distração, ri e me diverti assistindo. Já esperava que não seria grandes coisas. Algumas coisas até ignorei. Esperava mais química de fato, mas foi um bela casal. Tem umas cenas especificas que amei, como a cena do Totoro haha. A questão da fantasia foi meio "????", porém compreensível. Final feliz.

Lire davantage