Black

For my first ever blog post on K-dramas, I thought that I would start with the very first K-drama that I watched. I find it fitting to start with the drama that started my mild obsession. I first started watching Black when I was on a study abroad in Vietnam in the summer of 2019 and watched it for the second time this fall, and it still had me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire show. The series consists of 18 episodes all of which range from 68-87 minutes long. Black is a suspenseful crime drama with some supernatural characters. It is a very dark show and is for mature audiences only. It is not for people with weak stomachs or viewers looking for a quick and easy good time feeling. There are a lot of touchy subjects portrayed including murder, rape, suicide, teenage prostitution, child deaths, and illegal organ harvesting. 

The two main characters of the show are Ha-ram (Go Ara) and black/grim reaper 444 (Song Seung-heon). Kang Ha-ram is a loner who people have called psychic and tried to avoid since she was a child due to the fact she can see “shadows” and how and when a person will die. The shadows that she is able to see are actually grim reapers who are sent to collect the souls of humans destined to die. By touching the shadows when she sees them she is able to see how that person will die. She tried in the past as a child to save people who the shadows appear on but was never successful in doing so, and after the death of her father who she could not save she gave up on saving people. She now wears sunglasses at all times to keep from seeing the shadows. 

Black/reaper 444, is the male lead. He is known as the most efficient and cold reaper of his generation as he was “born” a reaper. Reapers come into existence by either being “born” or by being a human who committed suicide, and as punishment are sent to collect the souls of humans. Reapers who come to being after they commit suicide remember their lives from when they were alive and are envious of the humans that they watch. All reapers are assigned partners as a way to keep them in check and make sure they are completing their assignments. When Black’s partner, a human who recently committed suicide, runs away and jumps into a human body, he decides to hunt him down in order to keep his reputation intact and avoid punishment by the “death squad”. 

When the two main characters meet, Black decides to use Ha-rams’ eyes in order to catch his run-away partner as she is the only one who can see the shadows of reapers inside people. Throughout the series Black is trying to find his partner while keeping his cover as a homicide detective intact, and his identity as a reaper from Ha-ram. The murders that he is investigating end up being connected to Ha-ram, her father and her childhood best friend. Black has to learn how to navigate being a human while protecting Ha-ram and dealing with unexpected feelings that emerge after living amongst humans for extended periods of time. Ha-ram has to learn to get over her traumatic past and move on with her life while continuing to see death all around her. The dynamic personalities and the character development of the main characters as well as the supporting characters keep the viewer invested in their lives. The progression of the investigation surrounding the murders that Black is investigating also kept me coming back for more, there are so many twists and turns, and the outcomes and culprits are never who you expected them to be. If you are a person who doesn’t mind the premise of some pretty horrible crimes and loves to be thrown into a drama that you can never see coming, this is definitely the show for you. 

The only part of the show that I found inconsistent was the ending, which was very cheesy. I understand why the writers wanted to give the series a happy ending, but the series is not really one that you would expect to have a happy ending where most of the characters have good outcomes. If the last five minutes of the show didn’t happen then it would have been a very sad ending, but perfect for the individual drama’s theme. Overall, I would give this drama a 9/10, but it would be a 10/10 if not for the ending! I definitely recommend it as it is an amazing watch.