Odds and Gods: a review of A Korean Odyssey
Hangul 화유기
Based on Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en
Developed by Studio Dragon
Written by Hong Jung-eun, Hong Mi-ran
Directed by Park Hong-kyun, Kim Jung-hyun, Kim Byung-soo
Creative directors Choi Hyun-sung, Geum Won-jung, Lee So-jin
Cast
Lee Seung-gi as Son Oh-gong the Great Sage Equal to Heaven (based on Sun Wukong)
An extremely powerful immortal who was exiled to the human world with his powers sealed, due to his mischievous and prideful nature. Jin Seon-mi is the love of his life. He possesses many powers, such as pyrokinesis, levitation, telekinesis, and body imprisonment.
Cha Seung-won as Woo Hwi / Woo Ma-wang (based on the Bull Demon King)
CEO of Lucifer Entertainment. A gentle and charismatic businessman, he is the object of others’ envy due to his popularity. He has a bad history with Son Oh-gong in the past, and now seeks chances to become a deity through ‘collecting’ points in order to change the fate of the woman he loves. He has supernatural powers that can affect Son Oh-gong.
Oh Yeon-seo as Jin Seon-mi / Sam-jang (based on Tang Sanzang)
Kal So-won as young Jin Seon-mi
A real estate CEO who resells houses that have had notoriously bad luck (inhabited by evil spirits). She is wealthy, beautiful and has an unyielding tenacity. When she was a kid, she was ostracized by her peers. She meets Ma-wang, and releases Son Oh-gong from his prison, and later meets him again by fate. She is put off by Oh-gong initially, but eventually comes to enjoy his companionship, and he finally becomes the love of her life. She has the ability to see ghosts.
Lee Hong-gi as P.K / Jeo Pal-gye (based on Zhu Bajie)
A top star under Woo Hwi’s agency Lucifer Entertainment. He has the power to seduce women and sucks the life force out of them. He is a pig demon.
Jang Gwang as Yoon Dae-sik / Sa Oh-jeong (based on Sha Wujing)
CEO of MSUN, a mobile phone manufacturing company.
Supporting
Lee Se-young as Jung Se-ra / Zombie / Jin Bu-ja / Richie (Bu-ja) / Asanyeo (based on Baigujing)
An idol group trainee under Woo Hwi’s agency. She is actually a woman who lives in a dead zombie body that is rotting. In later episodes, she becomes possessed by an evil spirit named Asanyeo who was a priestess to the king 1,000 years ago, and now seeks to marry Son Oh-gong for power and love.
Song Jong-ho as Kang Dae-sung
A politician who is a candidate for the presidential election, and is popular with female voters for his good looks and his gentle character.
Kim Ji-soo as Cha Eun / Seo Yoon-hee / Na Chal-nyeo (based on Princess Iron Fan)
Woo Hwi’s first love, who is serving her punishment for stealing human children souls for her child.
Sung Ji-ru as Soo Bo-ri (based on Subhūti)
An elderly deity who knows hints of the heavens’ plans and helps Woo Ma-wang in tabulating the points needed to be accumulated for him to achieve his goal of being a deity.
Lee El as Ma Ji-young
Woo Hwi’s secretary and number one follower. She is a dog demon.
Kim Sung-oh as Lee Han-joo
A real estate employee who works under Jin Seon-mi.
Sung Hyuk as General Winter and Summer Fairy
Two spirits in a body whereby General Winter is Son Oh-gong’s advisor who owns an ice cream shop in the day, whilst Summer Fairy is a warm and social lady who owns a cocktail shop in the night, offering a listening ear to the demons as well as Sam-jang.
Yoon Bo-ra as Alice / Ok-ryong (based on White Dragon Horse)
A top star in Woo Hwi’s agency. She has “unwittingly” lived as Jade Dragon, the second son of one of the four Dragon Kings.
Im Ye-jin as Peddler (based on Guanyin)
She owns a general store at Pirun-dong 28 where Woo Ma-wang bought the Geumganggo.
Jung Jae-won as Hong Hae-ah (based on Hong Hai Er)
A mysterious youth who is also the grandson of a peddler. Woo Ma-wang’s son.
“This section’s plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed.” That’s the warning Wikipedia has on the A Korean Odyssey page. At 865 words, it’s actually a marvel of concision and brevity. But there’s a few things you need to know about this show before diving in.
First, it’s twenty episodes, which run over an hour each. Second, it features 15 significant characters, and dozens of secondary characters. Most, but not all of the characters are part of the classical Korean pantheon, including the Monkey King, White Dragon Horse, Princess Iron Fan, and the Bull Demon King. There are various demons, a zombie, and humans with varying degrees of capability at handling this celestial host. They all have the manners and morals one associates with gods, ie, none to speak of, and they all work at cross purposes, and irritate the hell out of one another as they do so. Some of the characters die, but for some that’s a minor inconvenience on the level of getting your license renewed at the DMV. And sometimes a character will possess one or more other characters.
Oh, and the show is written in an unmistakable soap opera format, so in addition to all the complexities listed above, there’s lots of slamming-doors misunderstandings and start-and-stop romances. The Monkey King is spiritually (and romantically) bound to the female lead, a human girl he tricked as a child into releasing him from celestial imprisonment. He must love her, whether he wants to or not, as long as he wears a magic bracelet called a “geumganggo.” That sounds pretty horrible, a type of mind rape, but this is the Monkey King we’re talking about. He’s affable, charming, and a complete and utter asshole. It’s fun watching him being forced to love and serve this mortal. Trust me, he brought it on himself.
Only she’s not a regular human. She can see ghosts, and adds more powers as the show moves along.
Oh, did I mention that some of the gods are CEOs in the entertainment and tech sectors? No? Well, that too.
At 865 words, the plot description is a marvel of tight writing.
If you’re wondering why you should put vast amounts of time and energy into following a subtitled 25-hour Korean soap opera, the answer is that this is an amazingly engaging show, often funny as hell, and a great look into the mythology and religion of feudal Korea and China (and to a degree, Japan). The actors are genuinely charismatic, and the plot, while often convoluted and ridiculous, is never stupid or boring.
I watched the show, which is on Netflix, over about an eight month period. Trust me, you don’t want to try binge-watching this. It will destroy your mind. But if you take your time, and mull over each episode, then it’s worth the effort—and surprisingly fun.