My Demon (Review)
(마이 데몬; aired on SBS TV from Nov 24, 2023 to Jan 30, 2024; available internationally on Netflix; 16 episodes)
My Demon is a fantasy romantic comedy which had relatively low ratings in Korea but gained a popularity internationally on Netflix. All criticism is warranted though: the comedy follows a model repeated multiple times by recent K-Dramas with little to none of original elements: Fated lovers meet again after hundreds of years in modern times to fall for each other once again. They face a terrible destiny which they have to overcome to stay together. This short synopsis can be applied nearly to every other fantasy K-Drama out there with some variations (e.g., Kokdu: Season of Deity, Tale of the Nine Tailed, Island, to name a few I reviewed here), and obviously fits perfectly to My Demon too. Therefore, it is not a surprise that this scheme is becoming a little tiring and boring for audiences.
Unfortunately, My Demon has few elements to make it a unique and enjoyable experience. Kim Yoo-jung is cast here as Do Do-hee, a young executive in Mirae Group. She becomes entangled with Jeong Gu-won (Song Kang), who turns out to be a 200-year-old demon offering deals to humans. Gu-won ends up rescuing Do-hee from sudden troubles resulting from a ruthless power struggle at Mirae Group. As a result of their entanglement, Gu-won’s mystical tattoo, a source of his powers, transfers to Do-hee, so they have to stay together: Do-hee to survive countless attempts for her life, Gu-won to continue his duties as a demon.
This premise forces our main protagonists to stay together, which is a clever way to introduce elements of buddy comedy. The series does little with that premise though, there are not many scenes where they have to explain their sudden entanglement to people in their lives, neither their pairing causes many funny situations.
In addition, we have an ongoing crime plot line: someone is attempting to kill Do-hee, and our protagonists are trying to find out who. The show doesn’t make it very hard to guess for viewers though, and instead of mystery we are wondering why Gu-won and Do-hee haven’t found out the perpetrator yet (considering that Gu-won has nearly limitless powers).
The series starts as a somewhat forced and cheesy comedy, increasingly getting a more serious tone as we go. Tonally, therefore, the show is not very consistent, so sometimes we jump from serious scenes to comedy scenes in an instant, which can be jarring. For example, a similar concept is much better executed by Vincenzo, where a main male protagonist is similarly a dangerous and sometimes ominous figure, which, I guess, was initially the way Gu-won was supposed to be presented too. But in time Gu-won of My Demon is more akin to a genie, rather than a demon (which, indeed, is mentioned at some point in one of the early episodes).
The villain of the story (Kim Tae-hoon as Noh Seok-min, CEO of Mirae Electronics) is unfortunately very predictable and cliché, even for K-Dramas. Series also features Cha Chung-hwa in a typical for her comedic role, this time of a homeless woman who turns out to be more important than initially thought.
The main actors do as much as they can with the material they have. Chemistry and relationship between the two leads is good, especially Kim Yoo-jung is capable as a third-gen chaebol and young executive, often taking the lead in the series. So, while the series often is very predictable and unoriginal, it can be enjoyable if we turn a blind eye to its flaws.
My Demon on Wikipedia and MyDramaList
