Dear Hongrang ~ Grim Reaper, Snow Man, or Soul Reaper?
“Dear Hongrang” (aka “Tangeum”) is a 2025 Korean drama series, with 11 episodes, categorized as Historical, Romance, Fantasy, and Supernatural; streaming on Netflix.
SUMMARY: A young boy goes missing at the age of 8, and returns home with no memory of his past. Yet all of the tests prove that he is the legitimate heir, including the blood test. Even so, his sister does not believe it, so she keep looking for her lost brother. She must find the real one and bring him home. The fake one who showed up and tricked everyone in the household needs to be exposed. Uuhh … yeah. He doesn’t like her either! He may not have his memories, but there’s no way he’d have a sister like her.
♦ Soul Reapers are White ALL OVER? This is Confusing. (O.o)
In “Dear Hongrang “, Hongrang, the son of a wealthy merchant, went missing at the age of 8. He was in the forest alone, and he was the only one who saw his kidnapper. A giant snowman! The monster was white everywhere, even his eyeballs. It would have been so much better if it were the Grim Reaper. For one thing, they wear black, and they usually leave your body, so people can know that you crossed over into the afterlife. When that snowman monster or whatever it is gets you, nobody knows what happened! (O.o) Are you dead? Are you alive? They don’t know, so they keep looking for you.
That’s what Sim Jae-Yi has been doing for years. She’s Hongrang’s sister, the merchant’s adopted daughter, and she loves him dearly. Sim Jae-Yi refuses to believe he’s dead. She leaves her house at night, dressed like a man, to go searching for him. Several impostors have come trying to deceive the father, Sim Yeol-Guk, and the mother, Min Yeon-Ui. Once their deception is exposed, the con men probably wish the Grim Reaper would come for them. Some of them do get to go to the afterlife. But others live through unimaginable torture and punishment. It’s not likely they’ll ever try to trick anyone else.
Each time someone shows up claiming to be Hongrang, Sim Jae-Yi jumps for joy and comes running, only to be disappointed. It is no different this “last time”. Yes, it will be the last time that Hongrang’s parents will search for their son because this time the young man brought to them has passed all of the “experts’ identification tests”. They are experts who can examine a person from head to toe, including a blood test, that’s sort of like a DNA proof of parentage test**.
The young man, presented as Hongrang passed all of the tests with flying colors. But Sim Jae-Yi insisted that he was a FAKE! She said that even though it’s been many years, she would know her brother if she saw him. Her parents have stopped searching but she will keep looking. It seems Hongrang didn’t think she was all that great either! He had no memories, but if he did remember, he wouldn’t want her to be his sister. There was a mutual instant dislike!
Then there was Mu-Jin. He was adopted and trained by the father. The father loved his son, but he was also practical. He wasn’t going to live forever. Somebody needed to be trained to take over the business. If the true heir ever did return, Mu-Jin would be pushed aside. That’s exactly what happened when the real (or fake) Hongrang appeared.
However, Mu-Jin was not concerned about being replaced. He didn’t trust Hongrang and believed he a dangerous and hiding something about his identity. Plus, he didn’t like him being around Sim Jae-Yi. Neither men were related to Sim Jae-Yi by blood, and quite frankly, Mu-Jin had feelings for her that were not “brotherly”. Although he never behaved inappropriately toward her.
Mu-Jin performed a background investigation and discovered something about Hongrang that was horrifying! Hongrang is not human, he’s a Hwi-Su, i.e. a soul reaper. A soul reaper? Don’t know what that is, but it can’t make anybody who knows feel easy being around him. Mu-Jin is not worried about being replaced. But a soul reaper living in the same house, so close to Sim Jae-Yi, is terrifying. The most frightening thing is that Mu-Jin doesn’t know if he can protect her.
Meanwhile, the parents are adjusting to having their son back, Sim Jae-Yi continues searching for her lost brother, and it seems that ~ whether Hongrang is real or fake, he has his own agenda. He hasn’t told anyone, but he wants to find that snowman too!
(**The “blood test” was often used during the Joseon Era, especially when the royal family had a question about the bloodline. FACT: Supposedly, the blood test seen in K-dramas is fictional, and it’s not (nor has it ever been) a scientifically valid method for verifying identity or relationships. But it does lend itself to a dramatic effect. However, Koreans do believe blood type is often associated with personality traits. No science for this either.)
Main Characters:
- Hongrang (played by Lee Jae-Wook, “The Impossible Heir”, “Death’s Game”, “Alchemy of Souls 1 and 2”, “Search: WWW”)
- Sim Jae-Yi (played by Cho Bo-Ah, “Destined with You”, “Tale of the Nine Tailed 1 and 2”, “Military Prosecutor Doberman”, “Forest”, “The King’s Doctor”, “My Strange Hero” )
- Mu-Jin (played by Jung Ga-Ram, “Gangnam B-Side”)
- Min Yeon-Ui (played by Uhm Ji-Won, “For Eagle Brothers”, “Little Women”, “The Cursed”)
- Sim Yeol-Guk (played by Park Byung-Eun, “Citizen of a Kind”, “In Our Prime”, “The Bequeathed”, “Eve”, “The Moon”, “Decibel”, “Hyper Knife”)
Viewership and Rating:
- IMDb: 8.9 of 10 stars
- My Drama List: 8.1 of 10 stars
My personal rating is 10 out of 10 stars.
(If it rates 8.9, might as well give the whole 9! This series gets one (1) star just for the soundtrack. It’s rare for me to give a perfect score. But I’m all in.)
“Dear Hongrang” got added to my watch list because of my addiction to historical period Korean dramas. If an element of fantasy or the supernatural is added, then I’m all in. From the very first episode, I was hooked! In addition, I like the male and female leads for this series.
LINKS OF INTEREST:
Netflix Review: ‘Dear Hongrang’ – Lee Jae-Wook Is Back, Baby | DMT
Dear Hongrang Weaves A Tangled Web Of Lies And Need | But Why Tho?
Breaking Down the Ending of Dear Hongrang | TIME
Dear Hongrang review: Is the Netflix historical drama worth watching? | sportskeeda
TRAILER/TEASER:
Netflix K-Content. “Dear Hongrang.” YouTube, 29 Apr. 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfCrKi-ifl4.
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