Akage Girl
Northern New England
Different from the Normal Cliched Drama
Mystic Pop-Up Bar or Ssang Gap Pocha is not your standard k-drama. In fact, it is just different enough, that I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to watch something out of the ordinary. It is the story of Wol Joo (well done by Hwang Jung Eum) and her tragic death five hundred years ago which means for the last five hundred years, she’s been working as a after-life employee helping people deal with their life long regrets through dreams.
STORY: Wol Joo is someone who can enter others dreams (even when she was alive and mortal 500 years ago. In the beginning, we see that she is called in to help the crown prince who appears to be in a coma because of some bad vibes. Because she’s young and pretty and so is he…..well, you know what happens. The resulting turmoil leads to Wol Joo committing a sin involving a spirit tree and a curse. Now 500 years later, she only has a few more people to help. She is aided by Chief Gwi and her friend the Sam Shin. She also finds a mortal (Han Kang Bae) who can help her and agrees to help him with his problem if he helps her with hers. I’d say more but then I’d be giving spoilers and frankly……you don’t want to know these spoilers ahead of time.
Its enough to know that Wol Joo is doing time as an afterlife government employee and over the next twelve episodes, she needs to complete her quota in order to save those she loves most. There is very little romance in the show, but I didn’t miss it (There is some….don’t worry). There is a good amount of comedy which made all the difference in the world!
CHARACTERS: Han Kang Bae played by Yook Sung Jae is actually the most fascinating character as the mortal who would love to give up his spiritual abilities and live a normal life. Is there anyone sweeter in this show? He’s nice, he’s caring, and all he wants is a family. A character such as him sometimes can be played too melodramatic making us pity him, instead I found myself cheering him on. Maybe its that super sweet smile of Yook Sung Jae, but I just loved his character and how selfless and loving he was. Watch the show just for him.
Choi Won Young plays Chief Gwi who is kind of goofy and a little mysterious. He’s also a civil servant that helps Wol Joo with her quest. We don’t find out the truth about him until much much later into the episodes (not that we didn’t see it coming). His story line is interesting, and his character is both funny and engaging with just enough enigmatic behavior to make me curious to keep watching and hoping he was who I thought he was. Okay…Watch the show just for him.
Wol Joo (great job by Hwang Jung Eum) was loud, funny, sad, strong, but NEVER whiny. Oh, how I love strong female characters and Wol Joo is up there as a strong female character. The more we watch her the more we see that Wol Joo has her heart in the right place and is willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING and I do mean everything for those she loves. This is my first show with Hwang Jung Eum in it and I will say, she’s got fabulous comic timing and I do love that she was able to be vulnerable without being weak. I have no patience for weak female characters. Now that I think about it….Watch this show just for her!
There is a whole cast of smaller characters including Jung Da Eun playing a young mortal and an old immortal (great job…by the way). Each enhance the story of the three main leads instead of taking from it. I especially enjoyed the friendship between Sam Shin and Wol Joo……again with those strong and interesting female relationships.
MUSIC: The music was good and enhanced the show. None of the songs stood out to me but its likely because there were only 12 episodes instead of the usual 16ish….barely enough time to really flesh out the characters let alone the music.
REWATCH VALUE: I haven’t re-watched it yet (because I’ve moved on to something else) but I will likely revisit Mystic Pop-Up Bar again. It’s a very interesting story that I wouldn’t mind viewing it again and again. Its doesn’t have me in the throws of obsession like some dramas (ahem…I’ve written many articles about those), but it was really well done.
OVERALL: Mystic Pop-Up Bar was a refreshing and new type of drama for me. It was a gripping story line that blended magic, mythology, and modern-day issues in a very entertaining way and I just loved all those fun characters. Heck! In the end…..I’d watch it again, just for all those enjoyable characters.
STORY: Wol Joo is someone who can enter others dreams (even when she was alive and mortal 500 years ago. In the beginning, we see that she is called in to help the crown prince who appears to be in a coma because of some bad vibes. Because she’s young and pretty and so is he…..well, you know what happens. The resulting turmoil leads to Wol Joo committing a sin involving a spirit tree and a curse. Now 500 years later, she only has a few more people to help. She is aided by Chief Gwi and her friend the Sam Shin. She also finds a mortal (Han Kang Bae) who can help her and agrees to help him with his problem if he helps her with hers. I’d say more but then I’d be giving spoilers and frankly……you don’t want to know these spoilers ahead of time.
Its enough to know that Wol Joo is doing time as an afterlife government employee and over the next twelve episodes, she needs to complete her quota in order to save those she loves most. There is very little romance in the show, but I didn’t miss it (There is some….don’t worry). There is a good amount of comedy which made all the difference in the world!
CHARACTERS: Han Kang Bae played by Yook Sung Jae is actually the most fascinating character as the mortal who would love to give up his spiritual abilities and live a normal life. Is there anyone sweeter in this show? He’s nice, he’s caring, and all he wants is a family. A character such as him sometimes can be played too melodramatic making us pity him, instead I found myself cheering him on. Maybe its that super sweet smile of Yook Sung Jae, but I just loved his character and how selfless and loving he was. Watch the show just for him.
Choi Won Young plays Chief Gwi who is kind of goofy and a little mysterious. He’s also a civil servant that helps Wol Joo with her quest. We don’t find out the truth about him until much much later into the episodes (not that we didn’t see it coming). His story line is interesting, and his character is both funny and engaging with just enough enigmatic behavior to make me curious to keep watching and hoping he was who I thought he was. Okay…Watch the show just for him.
Wol Joo (great job by Hwang Jung Eum) was loud, funny, sad, strong, but NEVER whiny. Oh, how I love strong female characters and Wol Joo is up there as a strong female character. The more we watch her the more we see that Wol Joo has her heart in the right place and is willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING and I do mean everything for those she loves. This is my first show with Hwang Jung Eum in it and I will say, she’s got fabulous comic timing and I do love that she was able to be vulnerable without being weak. I have no patience for weak female characters. Now that I think about it….Watch this show just for her!
There is a whole cast of smaller characters including Jung Da Eun playing a young mortal and an old immortal (great job…by the way). Each enhance the story of the three main leads instead of taking from it. I especially enjoyed the friendship between Sam Shin and Wol Joo……again with those strong and interesting female relationships.
MUSIC: The music was good and enhanced the show. None of the songs stood out to me but its likely because there were only 12 episodes instead of the usual 16ish….barely enough time to really flesh out the characters let alone the music.
REWATCH VALUE: I haven’t re-watched it yet (because I’ve moved on to something else) but I will likely revisit Mystic Pop-Up Bar again. It’s a very interesting story that I wouldn’t mind viewing it again and again. Its doesn’t have me in the throws of obsession like some dramas (ahem…I’ve written many articles about those), but it was really well done.
OVERALL: Mystic Pop-Up Bar was a refreshing and new type of drama for me. It was a gripping story line that blended magic, mythology, and modern-day issues in a very entertaining way and I just loved all those fun characters. Heck! In the end…..I’d watch it again, just for all those enjoyable characters.
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