“Bring It On, Ghost”: Buffy’s Got Nothing on Hyun-ji
In anticipation of Ok Taec-yeon’s upcoming K-drama, “The First Night with the Duke” (남주의 첫날밤을 가져버렸다) — which will premiere on June 11 on KBS2 in South Korea and on Viki in the United States — I wanted to revisit one of his older shows that my family enjoyed watching together: “Bring It On, Ghost” (싸우자 귀신아).
Yes, he’s absurdly good looking. But the storyline is quirky (and cute). It takes an episode or two to rev up, but once it does, it’s highly watchable. “Bring It On, Ghost” includes a chaste romance as well as a potential serial killer. And the teenage Kim So-hyun was sooooooooooooo good playing a dead high school student who can’t rest in peace until she figures out who killed her.
Oh, and did I mention that she is to ghosts what Buffy is to vampires? She is not a damsel in distress waiting to be rescued.
☆☆☆ (out of ☆☆☆☆)
Park Bong-pal (played by Ok Taec-yeon)
Kim Hyun-ji (played by Kim So-hyun)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.
Full disclosure: It took me a long time to get through the first two episodes of “Bring It On, Ghost.” I thought it would be destined to be another K-drama that I watched sporadically while I folded laundry. But as each episode progressed and new plot twists were introduced, it got more and more interesting.
Hyun-ji is the ghost of a high school student, who can’t ascend to heaven until she figures out why she died. Bong-pal is a college student who can see — and fight — ghosts. Because haunted businesses are bad for, well, business, he makes a decent living vanquishing ghosts for his frightened clients. His goal is to save enough money for experimental eye surgery, which will rid his ability to see the dead. He is hoping that will give him peace of mind.
When he meets Hyun-ji, he meets his match. Though young, she can fight as well as he does. The two form an unlikely alliance that will benefit them both: she’ll help him earn money (which is useless to her) and he’ll help her figure out how she died. The duo eventually pair up with two of Bong-pal’s seniors at school, who are wannabe ghostbusters. Unfortunately, the latter are too scared (and weak) to do more than scream and hide behind Bong-pal. It appears that Bong-pal gets the short end of the stick. Other than driving, he does all the hard work for them and receives a portion of the fee they collect from clients. But since he has always been a loner, they also are his only friends.
Based on Im In-seu’s manhwa (comics) “Hey Ghost, Let’s Fight,” the series has a kinda/sorta second lead romance. Hyun-ji is jealous of one of Bong-pal’s classmates, who he has a crush on. But she is besotted with their charismatic veterinary professor, Joo Hye-sung (played by Kwon Yul). Actually, all the young women on campus — and Hyun-ji — are smitten with him.
About halfway through the series, it becomes clear that both Hyun-ji and Bong-pal have feelings for each other. I was worried there would be an impossible relationship, like the one depicted between a woman and her robot in “Absolute Boyfriend.” But in Episode 11, the writers revealed a clever way that there could be potential for a real relationship between a man and the ghost he loves.
FWIW, don’t yell at me for this reveal. Everyone who has ever watched any K-dramas knows that the main couple falls in love at some point or another in 99.99 percent of the storylines.
This series includes cameo appearances from members of the “Let’s Eat” cast. Lee Do-ueon portrays Hyun-ji’s boy crazy ghost friend. And Yoon Doo-joon reprises his role at a foodie (who has eyes for Hyun-ji) in the final episode. (And, of course, Kwon Yul was one of the stars of “Let’s Eat 2.”)
The Ick Factor: When they started filming the series, Kim So-hyun was still 16 years old. (She would turn 17 a month into shooting.) Ok Taec-yeon is a decade older. As with most K-dramas, the romance depicted here is sweet and chaste, rather than controversial. However, some netizens thought it was inappropriate for a teenager to kiss a man of 26.
Airdates: Sixteen hour-long episodes aired from July 11 to August 30, 2016 on tvN. (I watched this on Viki.)
Spoiler Alert: It turns out that Hyun-ji wasn’t dead or a ghost. She was in a coma. When she wakes up, she is now a year older in real life than Bong-pal and wants to hear him cutely call her noona/누나 (the Korean word that younger boys/men call their older sisters. This term is also used by men to refer to their older girlfriends). At first, she has no recollection of Bong-pal and doesn’t remember their adventures together fighting ghosts. But, of course, she will eventually remember and the two will live happily ever after.
But first, they have to vanquish the evil ghost that has taken over Professor Yoon Hye-sung. The ghost had tried to possess Bong-pal as a child, too. When it failed, it found a host body in Hye-sung, whose anger at his father (for viciously beating him and his mother) made him particularly susceptible to the demon being. His first kill was his father, who he pushed off their balcony. Bong-pal and his family friend, Monk Myung-cheol (Kim Sang-Ho), vanquish the demon from Hye-sung and the latter finally is free.
The series parable seems to be that if you have hate in your heart, you are susceptible to being influenced to hurt others, just because you can. (This concept is also explored in the 2025 show “Heavenly Ever After,” which I’ll review at a later date.) I appreciated that Hye-sung didn’t try to get out of being punished. He willingly admits to all the killings he had committed while possessed. For the first time in a long time, his mother is no longer afraid of him and the two slowly rebuild their relationship.
The Monk had spent most of the series trying to dissuade Bong-pal from fighting ghosts. But later, he gives the young man his blessing. Why? Because when Bong-pal was younger, the Monk could see the hate that Bong-pal harbored. His fate could’ve ended up like Hye-sung.
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K-DRAMA INDEX
These are some of my reviews and essays about K-Dramas (and also Korean films and other Korean-centric projects). You may also read more about my take on Korean pop culture in outlets such as Rolling Stone, Mashable, Victoria & Al…
