Island (Review)

(아일랜드; released on Amazon Prime Video from December 30, 2022 to January 12, 2023; and from February 24 to March 10, 2023; 12 episodes)

Island is a fantasy/horror K-Drama, another release in the genre in 2023. The premise of the show is that on Jeju Island three people become allies to fight the forces of evil to save the world. Three leads of the show are: Kim Nam-gil as Van, a mysterious immortal protector of the island; Lee Da-hee as Won Mi-ho, a daughter from chaebol family, and a reincarnation of the island’s saint, Wonjeong; and Cha Eun-woo as priest Johan, a warrior monk and an exorcist. Their main enemy is devious Gungtan (Sung Joon), an immortal being like Van, and the villain of the show.

I find this show surprisingly similar to 2021/22 series Bulgasal: Immortal Souls. Both series feature the main male lead and main villain as some kind of immortal beings wielding superpowers of dark origin. Both series have strong female leads who are connected to main male lead with some kind of romantic relationship spanning centuries. Both also feature a reincarnation arc, and heavily rely on flashback sequences which slowly uncover past secrets and the reincarnations, which female leads forgot. In both shows, there is also an obligatory old wise woman who knows everything but doesn’t divulge any secrets so the audience may learn everything over time. Similarities don’t end there, also the tone and atmosphere of both shows are very similar.

That’s said, despite being rather unoriginal, Island is a rather entertaining, although pretty shallow and simplistic series. There is just one main storyline with no significant secondary arcs. The backstories and motivations of the characters are not very well established for the most part. The main storyline involves a lot of action and fights where main male leads protect Won Mi-ho against hordes of demons and evil spirits, all of which culminates in one big battle in the final episode. There is really not much else going on there.

The cast is pretty good. Lee Da-hee definitely fits the role of Won Mi-ho, either as a very stereotypical chaebol heiress, demanding and self-confident, or as a spiritual and sensitive priestess Wonjeong. Kim Nam-gil doesn’t have much to do as Van though, he mostly is featured as superpowered warrior in flashy fights. Unlike in similar arc in Bulgasal: Immortal Souls, his relationship with main female lead, Won Mi-ho/Wonjeong, is not very well developed. Mi-ho seems to care for him a lot towards the end of the season but is mostly unearned: they interact with each other only few times in the past (in the flashbacks) and nowadays, and for some reason modern Won Mi-ho seems to care more about Van than past Wonjeong did, which is really surprising.

Cha Eun-woo as priest Johan performs with his typical swagger and sense of humor, nevertheless he is definitely underused here. While the main leads at least have a relationship arc, priest Johan has no second lead partner, and his backstory is generally shown and resolved in a single episode. Besides a sense of duty, he has no real interest being near Won Mi-ho, while the main leads are at least entangled with each other throughout the ages. Reincarnation-based storylines in K-Dramas usually make other supporting characters also reincarnating and connected to the fate of the main leads, but for some reasons creators of Island decided against it.

Visually, the show is quite attractive. Definitely the show didn’t suffer from budgetary problems as much as it seems was the case with some recent fantasy K-Dramas (like Kokdu: Season of Deity and The Heavenly Idol), at least in my opinion. The demons and evil beings are quite compelling, similar in aesthetics and quality to those in Netflix’s Hellbound.

The show ends with cliffhanger, so at least initially, I guess, there was a plan to make more seasons than just one, but I haven’t heard if the show was renewed or not. It remains to be seen. Hopefully, they can fix the weaknesses of the show if they decide to renew it.

In sum, Island is an action-packed show if a bit shallow, but nevertheless engaging. So, if you’re looking for rather mindless entertainment, go for it.

Island on Wikipedia and MyDramaList