My good friend @lovebangwon gave me another mission. This time, it’s to give my first impressions on Angel’s Last Mission: Love.
One of two things will happen in the near future:
either I will drop this kdrama because of a) Shin Hye-Sun, b) Shin Hye-Sun, and c) Shin Hye-Sun,
or I will continue this kdrama because of a) Shin Hye-Sun, b) Shin Hye-Sun, and c) Kim Myungsoo (formerly known as “LMNOPQRST”).
The cutiepie Kim MyungSoo is the deciding factor. He’ll be my scapegoat if I don’t like this kdrama. Not Shin Hye-Sun.
Let’s raise the curtain on this new kdrama. Here’s a list of things I found noteworthy in the first two episodes.
1. YeonSeo runs her household like a ballet school.
Her servants are her “corps de ballet” or the ensemble of ballerinas who always dance in unison. They even wear a uniform like in a ballet production.
And she’s the ballet master. With her probing stick, and her rhythmic count of 1-and-2-and-3, she can easily pass off as the directrice of a dance conservatory.
She conducts everybody’s precise movements like this ballet master in Degas’ painting.
She isn’t a tyrant order people around on a whim. To me, her severity and discipline in training her servants have a logical premise. All must strictly adhere to her rules because it’s extremely vital that hazards in the house are eliminated. One careless action (i.e., leaving a step stool out of place) can cause an accident and injure her.
Personally, I don’t mind her rules. They seem to be commonsensical and clear-cut. They’re also consistent: safety is paramount. However, her punishment must be tempered with mercy and made more humane.
And that’s where the Angel Dan comes in. Dan is her opposite. When he was an angel, he lacked discipline and did things on the spur of the moment. He received warnings from his Supervisor Angel for not following protocol and going with his instincts.
Take for the instance, the truck driver of the caged animals. At that time, Dan’s duty was strictly to escort the dying dog but he couldn’t resist punishing the driver/dog vendor for his animal cruelty and releasing the dogs. Teaching the dog vendor a lesson wasn’t part of his job.
Same with saving YeonSeo. That wasn’t his job either but he took pity on her.
His kindness offsets YeonSeo’s harshness. He’ll provide the crucial balancing act for YeonSeo when she ultimately needs to let go of her anger.
If it weren’t for YeonSeo’s hatred for God for His indifference to her plight, Angel Dan would have sympathized with her sooner, too. He’s a softy and easily takes pity on people, unlike her.
But on the other hand, if it weren’t for YeonSeo’s seething anger toward God, then she could’ve turned into a most wretched creature. Her fury prevents her from appearing pathetic. Her defiance ensures she doesn’t breakdown. She distrusts God because He didn’t answer her prayers. She thinks He turned a deaf ear on her pleas to make her father lived longer and to save her eyesight.
In her mind, it’s better to be the master of her own fate because God cannot be relied upon. Thus, she seeks control of her surroundings by organizing and patterning it after the ballet world she had grown up in and lost.
It would be interesting to see their how their interaction and hijinks will change each other’s mindset.
2. Her company’s name is Fantasia.
Readers in this blog should know that Fantasia is a real word. It’s not a made-up word like “oppahjussi”.
I’ll limit myself to three interpretations. Feel free to have your own interpretations.
One, its plain definition is a free-form or unstructured work or composition. Remember the dance that YunSeo performed in the roof terrace? That can be considered a fantasia.
She was copying the movement of the arms (or the port de bras). But the footwork and body motions were her improvisation as she could no longer dance the choreographed pas de deux. She was dancing freestyle. That’s what fantasia is: flowing and unstructured.
To me, her dance demonstrates that the spirit of the dance hasn’t been extinguished. Although she’s no longer a premier ballerina, her gift and love of the dance still live on in her. That’s important.
Two, her company is named Fantasia but it has been stagnant performing the same repertoire for three years. The new director Kangwoo wants the company to perform new works. He says, “works that excel in both artistry and traditional ballet, and also have mass appeal. We’re going to do a kind of show that’s never been seen before: a new performance of ‘Giselle’”.
He’s revitalizing the ballet with new mission and a new structure, and in this sense, he’s being attuned to the meaning of fantasia. It’s creativity, originality and imagination. It can’t cease to explore new ideas.
Three, I associate Fantasia with Mickey Mouse’s “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.”
Remember this?
In Disney’s Fantasia, the Sorcerer’s apprentice, Mickey Mouse, was assigned a simple mission of carrying water to the cauldron yet he managed to bungle it.
He used the sorcerer’s magic to make a broom carry buckets of water and he lost control of this magic. To his horror, he created an army of water-carrying brooms and he couldn’t stop them.
He started something that he didn’t know how to finish.
Sounds familiar? That’s JUST like our bright and eager Angel Dan. He was on his last mission and he somehow messed it up. Like the Sorcerer’s apprentice, he started something he didn’t know how to stop. He himself said that he shouldn’t have done it.
And those are my three interpretation of the word Fantasia.
3. I think this kdrama is loosely based on the Swan Lake ballet.
I already tweeted this earlier to @lovebangwon.
Readers of this blog should know that that Swan Lake is considered a work in progress. Although there’s one well-known version made by Marius Petipa, the choreography and the finale are still being revised and adapted.
And you can guess why the ending is being tampered with, right? 🙂
You don’t have to be a ballet enthusiast to figure out that if the ending HAD BEEN happy, then there would be no need for a revised ending. lol. In the popular version of Swan Lake, the two lovers, Odette and the Prince, chose death in order to escape the evil Count and break the curse.
And this kind of ending doesn’t bode well for our kdrama.
Here’s the synopsis of the ballet. You can try reading it here from the screenshot or go to the actual source.
source: Swan Lake, Moscow Ballet
I also tweeted that Yeonseo is the cursed swan Odette. Yeonseo’s cousin and understudy, Nina, is the Odile. The Angel Dan is obviously the Prince Seigfried and director KangWoo is the evil Count von Rothbart and father of Odile.
Yeonseo was cursed by blindness to give up being a graceful swan or ballerina. When her faithful driver was alive, her place in the Fantasia foundation was secured, now she can only rely on herself to protect her inheritance. She can easily find herself destitute. I think I should point out that Yeonseo was originally a sweet child. Since I don’t know the backstory, I’m guessing for now that it’s the accident (and anger with the deities) that produced this mean streak in her.
That’s her real “curse” and for the curse to be lifted from her, she’ll have to learn to love somebody…even to the point of dying for the person. (Don’t all kdramas ask for this kind of death sacrifice?)
I’m not sure if Yeonseo’s cousin Nina is a villain-in-the-making or just a helpless pawn in the scheme of KangWoo. Right now, she appears to be similar to Odile in the Swan Lake who was used by her own father. However, if she’s going to be persecuted by Kangwoo or even Yeonseo, Angel Dan can easily become confused and rise to her defense. Angel Dan is a sucker for helpless creatures. lol.
It isn’t mentioned in the synopsis that I posted above, but if I remember correctly, Prince Seigfried’s childhood sweetheart was Odette. This part of the flashback in Episode 2 of Dan and Yeonseo meeting when they were children fits with the ballet story.
In the ballet, the Prince thought Odette mysteriously vanished at the Lake shore when in fact she was cursed by Count von Rothbart to live like a swan and in the company of swans during the day
It’s not far-fetched to imagine that KwangWoo had something to do with the stage light and chandelier falling on YeonSeo.
But I must point out. Who’s the idiot who’ll stare at glass raining down on her — not once, but twice?! The instinct is to shield the face with an arm.
KwangWoo – I pegged him to be evil as soon as I saw him because the actor Lee Gong Gun is the villain du jour. If a kdrama needed a sympathetic villain, it’d be him. Viewers feel ambivalent about him. He looks handsome enough to be a hero but his rakish looks make people suspect him of plotting something dastardly.
But what really convinced me that KwangWoo was evil is his love for dark chocolate. Chocolate squares and chocolate cake?
Yummmy. Only a truly wicked person can appreciate a sinfully delicious decadence.
4. How long has Dan been at her side?
Who rescued her when she first jumped off the bridge shortly after her accident?
She was doing her floor exercise on the railing on the bridge and trying to see (ha!) if she had a future in ballet. She did a simple pirouette on the beam, a move that she’s done a thousand times, and wobbled.
She knew then that she couldn’t dance anymore.
She then decided to make a grand jeté and literally throw herself off the bridge in one giant leap.
Her reason? There’s a BOGO promo deal on death. Buy One, Get One. Since a ballerina dies when she gives up dancing, she might as well give up on life, too. There wasn’t any point in delaying physical death when her artistic death is already present.
She must have been rescued from the water because here she is again contemplating death on the bridge while Dan in attendant. Her face is upturned to the sun and her eyes are tightly shut. He walks to her and superimposes his lips on hers. He chides her, “You foolish person. A human dies if she doesn’t breathe.”
My gut feel is he witnessed her first attempted suicide. That’s why he knew that she was thinking of it again when he approached her on that bridge.
So how long has he been at her side?
Overall, I don’t see anything seriously wrong with plot. I wish they had cast a different actress. Shin Hye Sun isn’t my cup of tea, but Kim Myungsoo is my glass of wine banana milk.
credit: infinitemyungsoo
@packmule3 Thanks for this. I’m enjoying this show and all the Scriptural references. Ep 3 has Dan calling her a noisy gong and I loled!
You certainly have a gift for finding meanings and connections. I like the idea of her running her household like a ballet company and the possible meanings of Fantasia. I’m quite tuned into the Disney version of it where it’s a metaphor for Dan. In addition, I like the free-form idea and the need to inject something new into the stagnant and this I see as the future for Yeon Seo. She needs to let go of her stagnant attitudes and let Dan work some free-form changes in her thinking.
I do agree that Yeon Seo was probably a nicer kid than she is now as an adult and her issue is anger, distrust and a self-loathing that is extended to all who come within her purview. I’m taking Dan’s task to be to help her love herself and forgive both herself and others. In the process of course, Dan is going to become a more mature and responsible person/angel. I guess at the end of his mission he’ll have to choose whether he wants to claim heaven at once or hang around on earth instead and put heaven on hold. (Harkens to the movie, “Heaven can Wait”?)
The character of Ji Kang Woo is still obscure. At least he is not as flat a character as the aunt. Whether he becomes a more sympathetic character and has good rather than evil up his sleeve remains to be seen. The cousin Ni Na is also hopefully not flat and not cliched.
I’ll be watching this (and maybe 3 more other kdramas!! My viewing plate quite full!) and maybe I’ll come by to report if anything strikes me. 😀
The only religious quote I recognized was the Prayer of St. Francis. But Dan said, “When there is light, there is darkness. When there is good, there is evil. When there is life, there is death.” He reversed it (or perhaps the subbers did). It started with “Make me an instrument of your peace. When there is hatred, let me sow love. When there is injury, pardon….” So the negative elements come first, to be transformed by the positive action.
Go ahead and give updates on the show you’re watching. There’s no “off-topic” here; we just talk about whatever we want.
The Swan Lake ballet has been undergoing changes. I heard from a friend of mine that in one version, everybody — including the evil Count — was given a happy ending. I think Odile and the Count ended up together.
I don’t know how the this kdrama writer will incorporate that, but I’m prepared for a sad ending where both Dan and Yeonseo die in the end to go to the afterlife together.
In other news, my bias is enlisting…early…I suspected as much. Always marching to his own drumbeat. I thought he would but was thrown off by the announcement that he would be in AWTG3 (movie) and I thought he would enlist AFTER filming it. I guess this means they will have to wait for him to finish in 2021 before they start filming. I will miss him. Go well baby boy. I am sure you will enjoy your hiatus away from the glare of spotlights. The buzz cut suits you.
https://twitter.com/inksoomissedit/status/1133921536904056832?s=21
So soon?
This deserves a special post.
Do you want to write a special send-off message here in the comment section for all of us? Then I’ll copy and paste it on the blog for easy access?
Awww That’s probably why he had the Japan holiday with the bffs. Good luck to him and good on him for doing his mandatory service.
Fighting DKS! 👊
“This deserves a special post.
Do you want to write a special send-off message here in the comment section for all of us? Then I’ll copy and paste it on the blog for easy access?”
Thanks for the thought but no thanks. As befitting his quiet introverted personality, the best send off for him would be in thought only. His fandom is already in mourning and up in arms that SM gave them zero warning. That’s more than enough furore. I will wait for him quietly. He will enjoy his time away I am sure. They may give him the Cook’s job after his Basic Military Training. He is qualified after all. 😂
Fortunately show does not give me those vibes, since there is still the lighter, comedic tone and even Yeon Seo’s fault-finding grumps or childish impatience are somewhat off-beat, and in the face of Dan’s talk back, she even ends up speechless. I’m expecting a show with hope and healing.
Let’s hope you’re right. 🙂 I try to avoid sad endings in my kdramas.
Okay. 🙂
Heeyyyy. I want him joining the Marines or Air Force (ala Top Gun!!!!!)
Minho of Shinee also started his training. He joined the Marines; I thought that was cool. Hyun Bin (Memories of the Alhambra) was in Marines, too.
“Heeyyyy. I want him joining the Marines or Air Force (ala Top Gun!!!!!)
Minho of Shinee also started his training. He joined the Marines; I thought that was cool. Hyun Bin (Memories of the Alhambra) was in Marines, too.”
😂. I can’t picture him as a Marine or a maverick like TopGun. So showy. MinHo I can see coz he loves fitness and all things physical and he likes being upfront. Even Taecyeon. I think KyungSoo doesn’t actually like to sweat (so he doesn’t like exercising). He prefers sitting quietly and taking flights of fancy (not of the aeronautical variety). 😂 So he’ll serve diligently with little fuss and few waves. Although I am pretty sure with his calm and level persona he will undoubtedly be the rock which other recruits will lean on in times of trials or uncertainty. Just like he is in EXO. They will miss him more than he will miss them. I never worry about him. He is very centred.
So, you still give another chance to Dan,only love?
😍😍😍
Because in latest ep, it was proven kangwoo has a wing too (probably evil wing lol), and yeonseo died in his hug 🤭
@lovebangwon @packmule3 I’m still in the middle of Ep 4 of Angel’s Last Mission: Love. Kang Woo is quite an intriguing character. Although I’ve never specially cared for Lee Dong Gun, his role here is kinda interesting. We are left wondering how far he is truthful and if he has another agenda rather than the stated one. He looks for all the world like a fan-boy who wants to reinstate his ‘idol’ ballerina.
Dan and SY bickering and interactions are loads of fun. I like that Dan does not just take her rudeness, but tells her off and leaves her sputtering.
I’m still on Episode 3 (the half-hour). Episode 4 wasn’t subbed yet on Viki last night. 🥴
So KW has wings, eh. What’s HIS mission? He must have been “punished” too by heaven if he interfered in human life and used his power to bring YeonSeo back to life.
I only liked Lee DongGun in “Sweet 18”. 🙂 That show is an anachronism. The young heroine’s ambition was to be a housewife because she fell in love at first sight with Lee DongGun’s character. Feminists would roll their eyes but I didn’t mind it. It was her decision and she followed through with it.
I also watched him in the movie “My Boyfriend is Type A” where he played a tsundere guy.
It doesn’t surprise me that he’s taken on villain roles nowadays. He’s good at them. The Devil Lucifer was considered the “most beautiful” angel in heaven before his ejection from heaven and descent to hell.
SY likes to bicker with her Butler so she’s also bickering with her driver Dan now.
@packmule3 Seems like Kang Woo is out for revenge. He was in a dimly lit area and his shadow threw out wings although we didn’t see them on him. So he’s an angel of darkness with shadow wings?
About the Scripture reference. Commenter @pakalanapikake bothered to quote it: “Sure enough, @54:00 in episode 2, Dan paraphrases the opening of the First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 13, verses 1-3:
13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.” – ever since this, he calls her a Noisy Gong. I just love it!
Ep 3/4 has him looking for one who can be “…bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh…” for Yeon Seo, thinking he was meant to find her a romantic love. Unfortunately he chose the wrong guy.
Yeon Seo was worried that Dan would fall for her (since Butler Jung made it out that that’s why Dan came), but in fact it is the other way around and she’s looking for him. She just hasn’t admitted it to herself yet.
Thanks @GB.
I’m about to watch second half of Episode 3 now. Will report back later.
I think one of the differences between the two angels, Dan and Kang-Woo, is Kang-Woo wants her to give in to her selfish desires. To be self-centered. It’s love that turns inwards.
Just like how the devil tempted Jesus for 40 days and nights in the desert with concupiscence, power, and wealth.
Kang-Woo’s offer sounds good but it’ll inevitably become self-absorbed, self-obsessed, trumpeting her own greatness.
Dan works the opposite. He wants her to love another person, to be thoughtful of others, to thank God (despite her pain) for her gifts, to be something more than a noisy gong.
😂 Guess I don’t need a separate post. It’s a worldwide phenomenon. So much for “I want to enlist quietly”. 🙄
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByJVl4hhtc4/?igshid=1px5twg1xkgje
Heh! @packmule3, I quoted you on Dramabeans. Comment: http://www.dramabeans.com/2019/05/angels-last-mission-love-episodes-5-6/#comment-3468756
hahaha. I’ll blame you if I get angry fans of the show, okay?
Thanks. 🙂
D.O.’s enlistment was compared to Elvis’ draft.
Elvis looked handsome in his uniform. I’m sure Kyungsoo will rock his uniform, too.
https://www.elvispresleyphotos.com/design/images/army/army-elvis-first-day-in-friedberg.jpg
@packmule3, I am hereby giving you due warning that I’m once again going to mention in Draamabeans, you, and this time, your take on Swan Lake as a metaphor for the roles our characters are playing. Kindly be prepared to be swamped by readers because this show has a higher ‘vocal’ (commenter) following than many other recent shows. Fortunately, we seldom come across angry fans at DB, so I believe we both are safe!!!
Runnnnnn!!!!! Head for the hills!!!!
Just kidding. 🙂 It’s fine. I’m more worried about rabid fangirls but they don’t take the time to read a 1000 word post like mine anyway. So all’s good.
Thanks!
At least one commenter has thanked me for leading her to your blog. 😂 They are generally a warm, right-thinking and thoughtful bunch at DB.
Omg you’re watching this! I’m so stoked! Off to reading now. 😀
Yah! You can’t read my posts and not post a comment. You’re just mining and exploiting me for info.
Did Shooastrid contact you, too? She suddenly left the netherworld and PM’ed me in that other forum. She misses the old gang. She’s watching Spring Night (or something like that).
😀 😀 I am really sorry I have started new school and it has been super busy. I will come regularly from now on haha.
Wow shooastrid is alive? Haha I miss our old Reply watching schedules and the excited deep breaths we used to take at different major reveals. :))
I am not watching spring night cause heroines who cheat on boyfriends are not my thing. :S
Huh??? The heroine’s a cheater? Ok. That’s not my thing, too. That’s a no-no for me, too. Thanks for the heads-up, nearsea.
Yes, shooastrid’s alive and well. She gave birth to darling baby daughter; her second (see me turn GREEN with envy, now). I told her to drop by here so I’ve been checking my spam box. (Ugh. I’m getting a ridiculous amount of spam so I’ve been cleaning up the spambox by banning certain IPs.)
Yes, I dearly miss our Reply days and our “underground” posts when it was just us three. Good times, indeed.
Good luck with your studies!
About the show, I really like the swan lake comparison you made. I didn’t know the story, have watched the cartoon when I was a child for sure, but the story does seem intriguing. I am just really surprised at the range of the writer, because previously she wrote that horrible ‘lucky romance’ and now this one. Although you don’t like shin hye sun much, 😀 the chemistry between her and myung soo really made it for me. Also many many times we see dan taking care of yeon seo from the sideline, with her not even knowing how many freaking time he saved her. First during the fall, then with his everyday mission for making her smile , or dance, or finding love again. And of course like you said, Myung Soo’s piercing gaze when he suddenly gets serious is too hard to ignore lol.
But I am curious to see how the story will progress or end. Whether like the swan lake story, it will have a tragic ending or it will end on a good note. Classic stories always have this sad melancholic angle, but with kdramas we never know right? Although here you can see the comparison both way, like it seems to me that, dan is like odette here, since he’s cursed now and have to solve his mission so that the curse is lifted. And yeon seo is like the rich prince lol, who still fails to see that he’s her odette. Although after reading the swan lake story, I am curious what’s the moral of the story? Hmm, something to ponder about. 😀
Yes, shooastrid’s alive and well. She gave birth to darling baby daughter; her second (see me turn GREEN with envy, now). I told her to drop by here so I’ve been checking my spam box. (Ugh. I’m getting a ridiculous amount of spam so I’ve been cleaning up the spambox by banning certain IPs.)
—-omg eee, that’s such a great news. I am so happy for her! <3
Yes, I dearly miss our Reply days and our “underground” posts when it was just us three. Good times, indeed.
—–Ikr? I so miss our underground days. Me and shooastrid would be waiting anxiously for your analysis and then we would have the live watch hahaha. Maybe when the lee min ho and kim go eun drama comes, we can do this again. 😉
About One spring night yes, I could give you a short spoiler. The heroine is basically not happy with her current relationship. So 'one spring day' while taking her medicine from this young handsome pharmacist, she falls for him suddenly and that's about it. That's not the bad part though, bad part is her being reluctant to talk about it and ignoring her bf who has been nothing but sweet to her. I understand that relationships can get tepid and boring, and you can feel different about someone, but then it's bad to still string someone along and not being honest with them. And that's the reason it's bit hard for me to find any likeable qualities in her. If you have any time maybe you can watch her previous drama radiant, which was just so good. Mostly because of kim hye ja and nam joo hyuk. 😀
Anyway I'll see you later and thank you for the wishes! <3
This is just the beginning. The “first” impressions.
Later on, the kdrama adds on another ballet, the “Giselle” and with it, another layer to the development of the characters.
“Giselle” is a more romantic ballet than “Swan Lake.” The first Act shows a girl dying of a heartbreak because her lover lied and deceived her. The second Act shows the IMPOSSIBLE love between a dead creature and a mortal being.
It’s impossible because the dead cannot come back to life again.
But it’s also impossible in the sense that it goes beyond what is ordinary and normal and “possible”. That is, she forgives him. She loves him so much that she forgives him.
And when she forgives him, they both conquer death.