The thread is now open.
First Impression: Episode 1 was a veritable feast for the eyes, but the plot?? I wish the writer would pick a thematic lane and stick with it. First Episode was unnecessarily convoluted. Oh well. The writer will settle down soon.
Let’s enjoy the show!
Thanks @pkml3. I have yet to start this show or Uncle!!! And I did say I would probably cap it at 3-4 shows, but if I have time, I might squeeze in more *crazy laughter*
Thank you @Packmule3 for opening a thread for Bulgasal.
I found it interesting. Mostly because in episode 1 – the pilot, we learned that monsters existed in Goreyo, but not in Joseon.
We also learned some valuable information about the Bulgasal.
We know that a Bulgasal is a monster. I won’t reveal its characteristics. I will write down though, what made me an impression.
The Bulgasal had a grudge to an unborn baby.
This unborn baby was treated as non human with a curse from the other peasants. Until the general saved him. He gave the boy a name, Hwal and taught him how to be a good soldier.
From that moment on, Hwal who wished to die and never be born in the first place – from all crude remarks he was given time over time -, started to kill other monsters.
The Bulgasal in the end, deliberately I am leaving some plot unexplained, slaughtered everyone and killed Hwal.
Hwal’s human soul was taken from Bulgasal and the Bulgasal broke its curse and became Human, passing the Bulgasal virus let’s say, to Hwal who became the new Bulgasal and so their endless cycle started.
So, I want the writernim to explain to us:
Why the Bulgasal held a grudge to this particular unborn baby.
Was his soul a specific one that called the Bulgasal to hold the grudge, as a potential Bulgasal recipient?
As it seems, the Bulgasal is humanlike normal until a specific time in the night that loses its concsioussness and becomes a killing machine.
Let us see what it will happen tonight!
@pm3 thank you for opening this thread ❤️
@Cleo thanks a lot for explaining the lore and soul exchange cycle lucidly, I was starting to get a tad confused about the whole thing. I am also wondering why the Bulgasal was behind that child (only because it was cursed?) — the mum (before her suicide) was kind of inviting the monster to kill the child too, that felt odd to me — was she a descendant of a monster or were those peasants like a demon-worshipping cult or something, that the mother received a signal of her child being cursed? IDK, that part was too hazy. Hopefully the next episodes will explain that, although I very much doubt they will once they jump to the present timeline.
Another thing, is the Bulgasal a shape shifter? Because in the first scene of the 600 years back timeline (where the suicidal mum meets the monster feeding on a human), it didn’t look like Kwon Nara, so is it like a parasite that finds a host and latches on until it finds another host? That is my understanding for now.
As for the episode itself, pretty dark for a pilot, but beautifully shot. It’s edging on the horror side a bit too much and if that’s going to be the staple, then I will have to bow out because I have zero stomach for horror haha Is it tagged as horror or fantasy? Now I’ll have to go check 🙂 Anyway, the performance have been decent so far, I’m just in love with the cinematography so I can condone the other things temporarily. Let’s see what the present timeline holds 🙂
Hi @Cleo, how did you find the storytelling in this Show? It bothers me. At the moment the plot is nothing much yet, so the way the story is executed, will be more noticeable. Although the episode was 1 hour 18 minutes long, not much time was given to the characters. I felt that I was watching a montage of scenes that did not really connect or help me know much about the characters or even to recognise some of them when I saw them again.
SPOILERS
At the end of some scenes there was little clarity. Maybe the editing was at fault… for eg, we have no clue how long it was between Bulgasal saving Hwal from drowning to him waking up in the cave and then immediately being attacked again by the villagers.
I felt that the main star of the Episode was the curse. It was mentioned around 5-6 times by different people and even played on in Hwal’s head, but it was most often elucidated by the blind Shaman lady. I was starting to feel that Show didn’t trust us to remember the curse, since it was mentioned so often.
The Plot seemed to revolve around the curse, ie either that curse was getting fulfilled no matter what, or that Hwal would act to get it removed.
The repetition of Hwal being ostracised, treated cruelly and unfairly, being blamed by everyone except the General, for every misfortune, and even attacked by his wife, got tiring for me.
@Cleo, Yes to what you say about the exchange of fate/souls/essence or whatever… It seems the Bulgasal draws out or drinks blood, therefore even after stabbing Hwal, the blood flowed towards Bulgasal and created a wound in her hand, somewhat in the way Hwal was born with the wound in his hand. However this wound with the blood of Hwal, makes Bulgasal human (with the ability to be reborn many times?) while Hwal becomes Bulgasal and immortal.
The thing is that such a big deal was made of either dying or killing the Bulgasal to end the curse, that in the end, when both don’t die, it feels like a cop out. Or to be fairer, one might say that Hwal died only for his body to be possessed by Bulgasal, while the destruction of Bulgasal meant that she had to become human (ie a non-monster). But since both still exist, it feels like the Show ‘tricked’ us.
And what of the curse on Hwal? Becoming a monster does not sound like the curse on him is lifted, in fact, it’s worse! Bulgasal gets a good deal for several hundred years but poor Hwal has to suffer. Yes, like you, I want to know what he did in his previous life to deserve this.
You are saying that Hwal and the woman are tied together in an endless cycle? In order for Hwal’s curse of being a monster to be lifted, he has to kill that ex-Bulgasal (aka Min Sang Woon in modern day), but that only means that they will exchange souls again for another 600 years!?!? That’s pretty meaningless.
It seems like Hwal was destined to be used by Bulgasal when he was an adult, so that may be the reason why she ‘saved’ him from being killed as a child, twice. He thought she was his friend and he wept over her when she appeared to have died.
I will give Show a bit more time to see if it can endear me to the characters. If the plot is nothing but Hwal out for revenge, and hunting for the ex-Bulgasal throughout several lifetimes, it may get old very soon.
@dashman1010, I think the Bulgasal does not shape shift. There were many other monsters in the Goryeo period, so the early ones killed by Hwal were not the Bulgasal.
I too, do not care for horror. There was too much blood letting in this first episode. My Drama List and Drama wiki sets the genre as romance, fantasy, supernatural or fantasy, historical respectively. I feel My Drama List is more accurate.
Show may become less horrific as we head into modern times. 🙂
My agapimeni @GB,
I was thinking about what you have asked me and I am going to answer using Literature terms:
I feel that the Narrator is unreliable.
What does this really means? It means Episode 1 was mostly Hwal’s memories. We were watching what Hwal remembers from his human life. That’s why it was fractured and you felt uneasy about it.
If that is the case then, the Writernim and the Director made a briliant choice, because it made the audience confused! LMAO!
Of course he would remember that everyone was calling him a monster. He was the only one that was abused several times over, his father even left me with no name. He was just the boy with the curse, his mother committed suicide, his father abandoned him.
Only three people showed him warmth, that old man that his father left Hwal to, the Bulgasal or so the young Hwal thought, and the General who adopted him.
That’s my interpretation and I think it makes sense!
@dashman1010, Hwal’s mother didn’t encounter the Bulgasal. It encountered another beast that was appaled by her because of Bulgasal’s grudge / curse. Like there was already a contract for that boy that none other creature could break it, in order to take it from her.
I didn’t expect anything when I watched the first episode since I really wasn’t planning to check this out.
Even my sister who said she didn’t like blood and gore, ended up glued to the screen and watching it even more intently than I am.
I liked that it felt like I was watching a movie instead of a drama. That nothing was explained and yet I immediately guessed the identity of the beautiful stranger.
The first episode reminded me of classic HK movies such as The Bride with White Hair starring Leslie Cheung.
Though I know that by the second episode, the setting would be probably moved up to the present times. But basing on the first episode it makes me want to see what will happen to the poor cursed lead.
I sure don’t want him to be that blood sucking monster. And definitely hope that his adopted father would not be killed by him.
My Agapimeni Cleo, I can accept the unreliable narrator or narrative and a fractured memory, if this was the case. Which would mean that Hwal has uppermost in his mind these main events, as either told him or observed by him and the curse which he replays multiple times.
The interesting aspect of the supernatural monsters in this Show, is that they seem to feed on humans, but can also be vanquished by humans. All but the Bulgasal, that is.
I was wondering if the people in the outskirts of the city, are living in the realm where the supernatural descends upon them from time to time. I say this because the night Hwal’s mother hanged herself, the scene outside the place the villagers slept looked warped for a moment. I’m not sure if this was shown us to depict a passage of time or that something supernatural was happening.
The saving graces: there are good people still even though there’s a lot of fear. Despite the bad treatment he receives, Hwal is shown to be a compassionate person and humane. He chose that the villagers who persecuted him should not be killed. Now that he becomes a Bulgasal, we watch to see if he can retain his humanity.
Kalimera my agapimeni @GB!
I have also watched Episode 2 and it is getting better.
I believe like in fairytales, they wanted to show us that during the night Monsters are out and about. So, this is the supernatural element you have been feeling.
If you watch Episode 2, you will see that Hwal will promise to his Father that he will remain human and he won’t kill humans. He said yes twice.
I am not saying more because I don’t know how many of you have seen this.
The thing is @GB Unnie, what happens with the ex-Bulgasal when Hwal stabs her. That scene is very important. The previous Bulgasal says something to Hwal that meams they had a past together, but Hwal is unable to remember. The thing is I don’t have time to trascribe the scene.
The other info we get is, that the ex-Bulgasal now human has taken upon her the karma Hwal god by killing all those monsters. We learn that those monsters are reincarnated into humans. Those humans recognize Hwal’s soul in the ex-Bulgasal and they are trying to kill her. Some times they have succeeded others not.
So Hwal is trying to kill all the ex-monsters who are trying to kill the reincarnated human now and previously Bulgasal.
I won’t say more. When you have seen Episode 2, we can analyze it better!
I like it so far. I also read that the Writernims are the ones who have written “The Guest”. It is pretty scary, but I have heard that it is pretty good. Kim Dong Wook, Kim Jae-Wook and Jung Eun-Chae are the main leads.
https://asianwiki.com/The_Guest_(Korean_Drama)
I started on Bulgasal ep. 1 while on dinner 🤭🤭🤭 I must say I forgot about this one grandpa(?) 🤭🤭 actor that I like i.e. General Dan Geuk. He always got me glued to the screen. ☺Ok, I am finishing this ep. So far, I like the fantasy, mystery theme. Hope the story remains engaging till the end cos once I disengage, that means it’s gonna go into the drop list.😁
Just finished ep 1 and this bulgasal vs Hwal reminded me of that old chinese movie i.e. The Bride with White Hair. Here is my guess (I am skipping your comments fellow BODers and will revisit after completing ep 2😘), the lady bulgasal is actually in love with this guy, either originally a bulgasal himself or human. Then he broke her heart and she cursed him to feel the pain that she felt before she killed him. Hmmm… a scorned woman. Or he killed her loved ones and she sought revenge. Hmmm…. ok off to ep 2 🤭🤭🤭
P/S: I am always fascinated by the actress who played Hwal’s wife. Her eyes! Beautiful! Iirc she has a twin.
I like this so far and it gets better with episode 2. I think this is a mystery-fantasy-kind of horror genre, and I don’t know if there is a fated romance plotline in there too (I can only hope 😛 ). I like the male lead (I’ve not watched him in any other drama before). The drama is not too gory and I like it for the stunning shots. It does feel like the epic HK movies, as M said.
By the way, I have many questions after episode 2. I’m going to ask them here, but those who haven’t watched episode 2 yet, please proceed with caution on this post.
** Spoilers for episode 2**
Doubt 1: I doubt it was Bulgasal who killed the mother (along with twin sister) because I felt from episode 2 that the current Bulgasal is a victim of the circumstances and doesn’t want to hurt humans unnecessarily unless needed. He is still keeping his promise to his father to stay as human as possible and to avoid drinking human blood (which is why he drinks bloods from the horses who died in battle earlier). So it doesn’t go with his characterization that he would unnecessarily kill a mother defending her daughters. When the other sister stabbed the intruder, his face wasn’t shown. So we never know if it was actually Bulgasal. My theory is it was one of the other monsters hunting the human female lead because of Hwal’s karma.
Doubt 2: If the twin who had the shoulder mark and was the reincarnated woman Bulgasal was trying to kill had been killed that night, why is Bulgasal still hunting for the other twin? This twin doesn’t have a mark on her shoulder and is not the reincarnated human that anyone should be looking for. His quest for this lifetime should have been over, whether he killed the other sister (with memories of reincarnation) or not. He simply would have to wait for her next reincarnation. I’m not sure what I’m missing here. Did the twins switch identities at the last moment? If so, why did the original killer that night spare the other twin (she is the only one who survived the massacre)?
**End of spoiler
I think @Cleo may have a point on the unreliability of the narrator. Episode 2 is mostly the surviving twin’s memories and she herself says she forgot parts of it.
Colour me intrigued so far…I just hope the show will deliver and answer all these questions in the end.
Hey @Phoenix,
*Spoilers*
Regarding your Doubts in Episode 2.
1. Although, we have seen that Hwal was in the neighborhood that night, I am not that sure myself that he killed the mother and the girl. The killer was wearing a hoodie and we only saw his mouth, based on the memory of the twin girl.
If that was Hwal, I don’t think he would kill the mother based on the promise he made to his Father. So, I am having a doubt myself and thank you for writing this!
Hwal was chasing the girl, because it was his revenge. She killed his family after all. But at the same time, Hwal would have in his mind that somehow he could take back his soul? We don’t know how this soul exchanging business goes.
2. The twins are sharing a bond. Although, one of them was the reincarnated Ex-Bulgasal, the other one could feel through that bond whenever someone was a baddie -ex Monster. The alive twin had a hunch via their twin bonding.
The Current Bulgasal aka Hwal, doesn’t know that the Ex-Bulgasal, now human with Hwal’s soul, decided not be reincarnated any longer. So, he is tracking the twin sister because if the Ex-Bulgasal was coming back to life, she would try to track her down. As she did to the old lady who called her Unnie.
Thank you for saying that I may be right about the unreliable narrator. I think that is the only logical explanation to the fragments of information we got so far.
I’m going forward with the idea that first 1.5 episodes were world-building, so I’m giving them leeway for repeated concepts, etc. I’m not a horror fan at. all. so I’m hoping future scenes set in modern times might be a little gore-light. I’ve got patience to spare, so I will see where they’re going with all this.
The strongest response I had was for the preview of episode 3, where I saw the token idol bit character introduced. He was being stuffed into a trunk, if I remember correctly, and I let out a smidge of profanity, I’ll have to admit. I was all set on this being an epic moody fantasy, then realized this yahoo might be introduced as comic relief. I’m not against idol actors at. all., but it made me wonder how much oppa dialogue I’ll be seeing online re: this drama.
@Cleo Thank you for sharing what you think 🙂 I think the same, that Bulgasal does not yet know that the other twin was kills 9the true one with memories).
Interesting point from @Miracle23 on the back story to the back story why the original lady Bulgasal saved Hwal in the first place, that they had a fated connection even before Hwal’s birth.
As pointed out by many here, I too have a low tolerance for true horror scenes. So as long as this doesn’t get to gory or scary, I’m fine with the mystery-fantasy element. I did read that it is a romance somewhere, but maybe pure speculation. Let’s see where the show goes.
*other twin who was killed was the true one with memories.
Sorry for the typo in the earlier post
@Phoenix,
I think he knows. If you remember the one who had the memories also had the scar Hwal gave her with the sword.
He left the other twin go because she didn’t have the scar.
@Phoenix @Skayt @Cleo @Miracle23
I’m trusting that now that the first 2 episodes are over, we’ll have less sword thrusting and blood. There really was a lot of it over and over again. So many wounds that magically healed.
I do believe that Show is going to turn this into a romance. I thought I saw that word under genre. So the way they’ve done it is to have the innocent twin, Min Sang Un, survive, so that Hwal can fall in love with her without being disloyal to his family.
Suddenly we hear that there’s another monster out hunting for the same woman. We have to wait to hear more about this. It could be another being from the past who was killed by the female Bulgasal.
My guess … in the end, instead of hunting her down to kill her, Hwal is going to end up protecting Min San Un from monsters. 😉
Yes, I agree that it was probably the other monster who killed Sang Un’s mother and sister.
Ok done with ep 2 and I agreed with Pheonix that it was not Hwal who did the killing at the twin’s house. The jaw is different 😅 The main question that needs an answer for me is why this unborn baby (Hwal) was cursed? Why female bulgasal hunted him, waiting for him to build a family and destroyed it while at the same time blame him for her reincarnation fate. Well, she should have known what is coming her way, no? It seems she did not expect for his soul to transfer into her.
And I noticed the difference in the way she handled the killing of Hwal as opposed to her other victims. She used the sword. She did not bite nor scratch him like she normally did. I wonder why?
Does it mean that the beginning of the circle started when Hwal, in his previous life was a Bulgasal. The female bulgasal was a human. Similar event happened when they killed each other. Her human soul transferred to him which caused his death (since he has become human) and he was then reincarnate as the one soul cursed by her. Since she became a bulgasal, she hunted him down just like Hwal is doing at the moment i.e. to get her/his soul back. I think she did not expect to get his soul when she killed him, hence it finally dawn to her the circle will continue and she will be the hunted this time. The sword is the key that allow transfer of the soul, possibly.
Interesting so far. Hmmm… as for the leads, is it even possible not to feel anything towards the handsome and tall male lead 😅… I am annoyed that the General was killed by his own man 😒 although it is expected to happen. Glad to see him again in the present time.
@GB, I think San Un only carries the remnants of her sister’s soul, hence she can only sense the dark force but do not remember or understand the history. Convenient way to put love in between them 😅
Meanwhile, I think her sister is the one carrying Hwal’s soul hence she was killed and San Un was spared. Hmmm, could it be San Un has a cursed of sort, hence she was left alive? Reminded me of how the monsters are avoiding unborn Hwal, not wanting to kill him. It has to be a relation.
I think the one that killed the sister and mom was the male Dueoksini aka the monster that rules ones mind since he was the one who was shown to hunt him down. I am not sure about the other monsters that Hwal killed though. Perhaps they too have vowed to do the same.
At the moment, I don’t really feel anything towards the leads. I just wanna know what is the reason behind the first happening of the endless circle that should start with the female bulgasal not Hwal. The look in her eyes when she saved him. It was regret, sadness, hurt and love. There is something there, or I might be wrong 😂
@Miracle23 Oh yes! I forgot to mention that part – the nice old general is reincarnated as the cop? (I think he was investigating the massacre at the twin’s home). That relationship between the adopted son/father was poignant, the father who believed in Hwal over his own blood daughter.
I’m keen to see what happens when they meet in this lifetime – if they still forge a connection.
I like the female lead – she looks appropriately eerie with long flowing hair. And the male lead is tall and manly, as @Miracle23 says (and he doesn’t look evil and bloodthirsty).
So @GB, I’m all for this turning into a fantasy romance where the monster turns out to be not-so-monstrous 😉
Hi ladies, finished ep. 2 and I must say I am missing the flashback cinematography already heehee (@Miracle23 awww you’re watching this too yayyyyy ❤️) I can KIND of get behind your theory of female Bulgasal loving baby Hwal, because she was so protective towards him in the two instances they met before she killed him, it definitely didn’t look like she was out for his blood lol And if they were lovers in some past life, it makes sense why she always kept an eye out for him through lifetimes. Maybe the writers are already setting up fated-to-be-doomed-lovers angle to the leads’ story with the flashback, which MAY indicate sad ending for the drama.
@GB unnie & @Cleo thanks for clearing up my doubts from ep. 1, although there are still more questions in my mind than answers, but I’m now clear on the Bulgasal 🙂
Now for the twins, I came across this: https://twitter.com/wsksnia/status/1472716035715665921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1472716035715665921%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fforums.soompi.com%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcoremodule%3Dsystemcontroller%3Dembedurl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fwsksnia%2Fstatus%2F1472716035715665921
It basically says that the female Bulgasal reincarnated as twins in the 2006 timeline, where one had the memories and scar (San-yeon) and the other had the “scent of the soul” i.e. Hwal’s actual soul (San-woon), which kind of explains why Hwal was particularly after Sang-woon and not her sister, because he wants the soul not the memories, so he is attracted to her scent, but he asks about the scar because he may not have known that she has a twin. Also I have read theories that maybe the twin sister is not dead but in hiding or that the wrong sister died i.e., San-yeon is the one who is alive but feigning innocence (acting like Sang-woon) so as to survive, etc. There are a lot of theories I’ve read about the twins, but I personally feel like Sang-woon is the one who is alive now. Also, the guy who killed the mum and twin, seems to me he is Lee Joon’s character. San-woon had a nightmare about that scene in the hospital and his facial features resembled Lee Joon’s character a lot more than Hwal’s (at least what I have seen in the teasers and trailer/highlights). It cannot be Hwal because he promised his father to remain human-ish. But Lee Joon’s characters looks EVIL and maybe Hwal and him will come to head over morality (in monsters).
Hi Everyone! @dashman @Phoenix @Miracle @Cleo Thanks for your posts!
I forgot to come back here to read you and just did so a few minutes ago. Your thoughts are so intriguing! And these show reviewers are saying about the same thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVyje_xH1dc
I think I’ll subscribe to their channel and see if they can give explanations all the way through this series. Heheheh!
Happy Christmas Eve!
😘 🎄
Merry Christmas eve, @GB and everyone here!!! ❤
Looking forward to ep.3 and 4 of Bulgasal this weekend. I need this drama to get me hooked because my current favorite Red Sleeve has just one more week of run left😔😔
Off topic, but I’m going to start Snowdrop too, I liked ep.1 (we don’t have a thread on that on BoD and I don’t know if anyone else is watching it).
@GB Thanks for that link. Interesting analysis..I hadn’t come across this channel before. I’ll subscribe too😊😊
@Phoenix, you’re welcome… however I checked out the contents of their channel and it seems they do only first impression reviews. I’m not sure if they have loads more videos on each show they’ve started up there somewhere or maybe they do, but that’s not on YT. One may have to be a Patreon of their channel before getting the rest of the reviews (if any) of the episodes.
Anyway, I’ll see how it goes and look out for more. What I’d like is Korean person’s take on the show or the opinion of those who’ve studied Korean lore/myths etc. In the meantime, we’ll just enjoy the show like normal. 🙂
Things got a bit complicated on Episode 3.
So, we have Hwal’s dead wife being reincarnated as the little sister of the twins who bore Hwal’s soul. How is he going to react on that? I will watch Episode 4 shortly!
As it seems, there is another Bulgasal who killed the one twin – ex Bulgasal and her mom.
Monsters are keep coming to the other sister, meaning that somehow she is connected to Hwal’s soul. I do hope they will explain to us more…
So, things got complicated!
What we have suspected is right, we have indeed another Bulgasal!
There is also a hidden story / deep connection between the oldest Bulgasal who killed mom and the twin sister (Lee Joon is playing the crazy 1000 y.o. Bulgasal). The ex-Bulgasal lady, now the mortal other twin lady and lastly Hwal now as Bulgasal.
Was the Lady Bulgasal an ex-witch? The older Bulgasal is having a grudge against her. He accused her that she gave him that dark hole.
Did she make Hwal a Bulgasal in order Hwal to kill the older Bulgasal?
So many questions from the beginning of the series. Let us see the answers…
Hi @Dashman1010🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗 sorry I missed your comments… yes, so far I am still in this puzzle/mystery trip 🤭🤭🤭 I might leave once I get my answer… I am still not invested to root for any of the leads. I am curious to see how Siho will handle this though. Seems like she carries with her the animosity towards Hwal in present time… and she is pregnant. Things are getting complicated. Who will Hwal return to in the end? Will she die again/ will her unborn baby survive this time? It seems like SiHo and the detective (the General) might die at the end of all this 🤧 Don’t know why I am more concerned about these two. And I want to know what Siho saw when she touched Hwal’s hands. She carries her skill from the past i.e. looking into other’s past but what does she see there?
Bulgasal – my tirade of sorts
Hmmm… I’m finding the show a bit of a mess. Too much is being thrown in but not all of it seems necessary, and the things we need to know are not being shown to us. It’s like the editing didn’t really keep up with the story. At times the story that was to be told by the cutaway to backstory, seemed to have been crammed in as an afterthought. Like in the middle of Hwal’s fight with the monster, we are suddenly told by Hwal who spoke to the monster “Just like you did in your previous life, you kill people when it rains, don’t you?” Then we see him getting strong with the sprinkler on, like what the heck. Why should Hwal allow him to put on the sprinkler when he knows that falling water makes him strong *eyeroll*. An unnecessary bit of backstory, I feel.
The interjection of the teenager Nam Do Yoon into the story was also quite clumsy. Why should a kid be out hunting for and accosting the kidnapper-killer of orphans, without any backup/help. He was just asking for trouble. And the way the ends up at Hwal’s place seems so odd. He has no home to go to? No school? It’s like the show needed Hwal to have a sidekick, and gave him this hapless, clueless kid. (Or maybe he’s yet another unknown monster in disguise?)
The outside thought that came to me was that, huh… the nice-looking Lee Joon is once again playing the villain, both in The Silent Sea and here. And he has a walloping dark-black hole of sorts in his chest. So we have yet another side story of another Bulgasal in search of revenge on the same human. We really need more backstory on the past female Bulgasal and what she was up to with all these other monsters that they are now seeking revenge. Yes, as some of us have said, what is her backstory with Hwal that his soul got transferred to her, and why did they look at each other in ‘that’ way.
Also what’s the deal with Hwal’s soul? Is it more tasty? Why do so many monsters want it?
Since Bulgasal can’t die, what was rain monster thinking when he ‘hanged’ Hwal? Did he expect him to remain ‘dead’?
I’m glad to see Shaman lady and all but why is Shaman lady helping Hwal in the present? Whose blood was Lee Joon drinking? Was it the hanging rain monster’s? Shaman seems to be there so that Hwal has someone to talk, then we get to hear what happened in the past.
Sang Un visits ‘halmeoni’ who only recalls her as a person in the past whom she called unni. That was another incarnation, another family destroyed because Sang Yeon was part of it. Out of the blue we get this slotted in, and we need to wait and see if this is important. But after she gets worked up and upset, suddenly halmeoni conveniently says: “Kill Bulgasal with Bulgasal.” Was that necessary? We find that Sang Un, just as she’s about to be killed by Lee Joon, remembers this same crucial bit of information that she forgot. It felt like halmeoni’s scene was superfluous.
Hwal runs into Lee Joon so that he’s flung down a slope. He looks at him from a distance but does nothing else to terminate him. Why, because he also can’t die? Of course we see him return later.
I almost found it funny that Hwal is accusing Sang Un of what she did to his family and she’s accusing him of the same thing. Cue more clueless staring.
Rain monster causes an accident when in Detective’s car, but why? Detective was going to bring him to the place where Sang Un was anyway. And another car bursts into flames, probably so that we have enough light by which to see Lee Joon drinking blood? So if he killed the rain monster, that’s one monster less, yes?
Then there’s another side story of how Lee Joon expects Hwal to know him (did he really have to wipe his face with his bloody hands?) Lee Joon says : “Is this really the first time we are meeting? You recognise me, don’t you? You’re the one who appeared out of nowhere 600 years ago. I’ve been walking on this earth for much longer than that. And I’m the sole survivor of the Monster annihilation during the Joseon era.” More clueless staring by Hwal.
It seems like Lee Joon wants to get rid of the soul in Sang Un. “Only Bulgasal can get rid of a human’s soul. She won’t reincarnate anymore”. So what’s the big deal about whether she can reincarnate or not? Why should Lee Joon care? He says she’s indebted to him as well…like the soul is the price to pay? Punish her by ensuring she does not reincarnate? But if in every life, her family is destroyed, ending her reincarnations is a gift and not a punishment!!
Teenager Nam does not seem to be phased by Hwal’s not being dead with a sword through him. Interesting.
When Lee Joon is near, those who were reincarnated from that time start bleeding from their nose, ears etc. This is unexplained. Not only does Detective’s nose bleed, but he collapses. Hmmm. Sang Yun’s nose also bleeds but she’s able to run away. So that leaves the Teenager Nam to locate Hwal, but why bother since Nam can’t even pull out the sword!
Then at the crucial moment, Lee Joon does not manage to stab Sang Un but collapses in pain saying to Sang Un? : “Again? What have you done? Your sister! What has she done? If I can’t crush your soul this time, you might as well die. I’ll crush it the next time you are reincarnated.” Eh … why? Why can’t he continue to get rid of her soul?
Of course by the time he says all that, Hwal is back with the very hard working sword, that always fails to kill monsters. And so Lee Joon walks off, because we always need the big bad guy for the next 12 episodes.
So there’s another side story of Sang Un’s sister having some power too? Maybe the one girl’s soul in one incarnation was shared by all three sisters in this incarnation?
Show depends a lot on fighting, travelling-running-walking, horror and gore and more sword stabs. Not much in the way of story building or character development. I’ve lost count of the number of times Hwal gets stabbed by a sword through his abdomen, but they must be making good use of the costume that has the blade sticking out at both ends. 😉
Ad hoc question, just as there are twin sisters, and a younger sister, in the present, might the past female Bugasal have been one of a set of 2 or 3? Did one take care of Hwal, even sacrificing herself to protect him, while another was the Bulgasal who took his soul? No clue if there was yet a younger sister. Almost like the 3 witches? 😉
3 witches, interesting 🤭🤭🤭… these are probably why I am not invested in the leads but more on getting the answers to my questions, and by SiHo. Yes she does have powers but probably not something to do with strenght. I do find I am not convinced that SW cannot remember that last piece of info about bulgasal… the writing is weak on that IMO… she has been living her whole life finding info on how to kill a bulgasal yet she did not know? I mean how depth is her research for all these year? 😂😂😂 another unconvincing plot.
On bleeding ears and noses, only a bulgasal with killer instinct perhaps will cause such happenings. Each times predatory bulgasal is nearby, his/her victims get that bleeding reactions. Question is why not Hwal? Is it because he is not predatory? Does not give a threatening vibe? He is slower and weaker because he did not drink human blood. It is as if human bloods just ooze out because bulgasal is kinda sucking them while he is circling his victims, calling for their blood? 😂😂😂😂
Hwal’s many revelations did come a little too late, more than once and yes it is becoming an eye rolling moments… and SW ran so slow that lee joon managed to catch up after fighting Hwal?😂
I think the car that exploded was the car of the dead detective. Lee Joon needs blood to gain power after such wounds so he killed the rain monster. If Lee Joon is a bulgasal from way before then, he would have made an acquaintance of SW in her bulgasal years. Is he that mind control monster? Another thing that does not make sense is Lee Joon said this is his/her last chance… but then when he suddenly got weak, he said that he will come for her in her next life again? 😂
@Miracle23 You’ve got a point there. The writing is weak, and the execution too. So is there a next life for Sang Un or is this the end? If it’s the end, does it mean that Hwal can never get back his soul and die as a human being?
Questions, questions….