I watched Hotel Del Luna And It Was Amazing
Hello to my second review of the second drama I’ve watched this 2020. I’ve been indulging myself into YouTube after my first drama, ‘Mysterious Personal Shopper’, getting updated with the drama within the beauty community and watching a lot of YouTube drama channels. I realized that since I’ve been into dramas this entire quarantine season, why not see another Korean drama?
And so I’ve checked some that were aired last year and meh, most are the usual boy-meets-girl stories. Then Hotel Del Luna popped up into my list and I was intrigued and took a peek. This is the first IU drama that I will ever see if ever. After reading the summary, I’ve decided to give it a try.
Overview
Hotel Del Luna is a 2019 South Korean drama written by screenwriters Hong Jung Eun and Hong Mi Ran. It aired on cable channel tvN from July 13 to September 1, 2019. It stars Lee Ji Eun and Yeo Jin Goo as the lead characters, with supporting casts including Shin Jung Geun, Bae Hae Sun, Pyo Ji Hoon, Kang Mi Na, and Seo Yi Sook.
Categorized as dark fantasy and romance, it tells the story of how a broken woman became an owner of a hotel that exclusively caters to ghosts. The hotel helps the dead rest for several days before crossing the Sanzu River going to the afterlife by. It also fulfills their clients’ requests to interact with the human world such as talking to the living via ‘dream calls’. Although it only accepts wandering souls, Hotel Del Luna also caters to human guests in rare cases of if they receive invitation from the hotel owner. To accommodate the requests of their guests and perform human tasks like paying bills, taxes, etc., the hotel hires humans to work as a manager.
Characters and Story Plot
The story revolves on the lead characters, Jang Man Wol and Gu Chan Sung. Jang Man Wol (Lee Ji Eun) is the owner of Hotel Del Luna. A smart and warm woman, she later turned into someone full of hate after being betrayed by the man she fell in love with. The hatred she had caused her to kill people along her way. To atone for her sins, the deity Ma Go condemned her to be the eternal owner of the Guest House of The Moon (present day Hotel Del Luna) until she lets go of her hatred. In the drama, Man Wol has been the owner of the hotel for 1,300 years; this means that for centuries, she’s still hasn’t changed a bit and even became worse. During her time as the hotel owner, she indulges into drinking and heavy gambling, leaving the hotel almost bankrupt if not with the help of her human managers. In the present day, Man Wol indulges herself into lavish things; owning several luxury cars, expensive clothes and jewelries, and engaging in extortion to fund her extravagant lifestyle. Although at times she is considerate and compassionate, she is moody and has bad temper especially when her lifestyle is being questioned. Above all, she’s still waiting for the day the man she hated the most arrives so she can get her piece of revenge. Things began to change after Man Wol made a deal with a human who happened to be Gu Chan Sung’s father.
Gu Chan Sung (Yeo Jin Goo) is a Harvard graduate and the 99th General Manager of Hotel Del Luna. In 1998, his father wandered inside the hotel as a soul, and after being accused of theft, he made a deal with Man Wol to bring him back to life so he can live decently and raise his son well. Man Wol, being a mischievous hotel owner agrees in one condition that she’ll claim his son after 20 years. Desperate to live, Chan Sung’ father agrees and came back to life. After 20 years, Chan Sung returns to South Korea hoping that the deal is already off, but is shocked as Man Wol appears to meet him and forcing him to work at her hotel. To ensure Chan Sung will not escape from the deal, she opened the young man’s ‘third eye’, giving him the ability to see and interact with ghosts.
The hotel employs several spirits, all of them choosing not to cross the Sanzu River yet as they still have unfinished businesses in the living realm.
Employees include Kim Seon Bi (Shin Jung Geun), a scholar from the Joseon Dynasty and works as a bartender. He is the hotel’s longest employee and has died of suicide after being accused of writing ‘salacious’ stories of commoners. He hopes to get his name cleared before crossing the river.
Ji Hyun Joong (Pyo Ji Hoon) is the hotel’s receptionist and the youngest employee. He was accidentally killed by his friend during the Korean War and is waiting for his younger sister to pass away so they can cross the river together.
Choi Seo Hee (Bae Hae Sun), also from the Joseon Dynasty, works as the hotel’s housekeeper. She was killed by her husband’s men and like Man Wol, was also full of hatred to the point of almost being burned as a vengeful spirit. Man Wol saved her and asked her to work at the hotel. Before she crosses the river, she hopes to see her husband’s family tree die out.
We also see Man Wol hiring a high schooler Kim Yu Na (Kang Mi Na) as an intern. Kim Yu Na is actually Jung Soo Jung, a high school student who took over Yu Na’s body. She was killed by the real Yu Na who bullied her for years. After making a deal with Man Wol, Yu Na’s parents unknowingly burned their daughter’s own spirit and Soo Jung decides to live and assume the former’s body and identity. She fell in love and dated the ghost Hyun Joong until the time he left for the afterlife.
In the drama, we also see the appearance of the Grim Reaper (Kang Hong Seok), who guides the souls to the afterlife. He occasionally appears to hang out at the hotel bar to drink and often teams up with the hotel employees to capture evil spirits.
Of course, we also see Ma Go (Seo Yi Sook) as the deity who controls the life and death of humans. We see her appear in the drama in many forms- wealthy Ma Go, pharmacist Ma Go, beggar Ma Go… it was revealed that there are actually 12 Ma Gos and are all sisters. Ma Go selects the hotel’s next owner. She cursed Man Wol by making her become the owner of the guest house until she changes her attitude. It may be unconventional, but Ma Go is actually my favorite character in the drama. She is kind and even did favors at the requests of Yu Na, Chan Sung, and Man Wol herself. While she punishes Man Wol for her wrongdoings, she has hopes that the latter would let go of her resentment and eventually cross the river to the afterlife. In the drama, we sometimes see the two them bicker at each other, but nevertheless, Ma Go still helps her by giving out trivial words and questions, and Man Wol would always take note and remember her words. I would like to think that because Man Wol’s hatred is deeply rooted, Ma Go decided to send help in the form of Chan Sung.
I like how the characters deal with different spirits every episode, sort of like the ‘monster-of-the-week’ style while working on to resolve their own issues. Eventually in the last episode, we see them go to the afterlife after finally finishing their business in the human world. Memorable moments for me include Seo Hee expressing how she’s hurt whenever she sees her boss Man Wol lonely and Man Wol crying after reading Seon Bi’s letter after he finally left. Her crying signifies that the time for her to leave and for the hotel to close down is near.
Man Wol and Chan Sung’s attitudes had put them at odds with each other at the start of the drama. It’s funny how Chan Sung tries to scare Man Wol by saying she will be reincarnated as a pig or dog if she does not change her attitude. But as the story progresses, we see them becoming warm and open until love finally blossoms towards the end. Rather than crossing the bridge to the afterlife, Man Wol, initially chose to be burned and cease to exist after she gets her revenge. But later on, we see how Man Wol finally redeeming herself and letting go of her painful past. This is also evident in Seo Hee’s character. It’s the typical character arc we see in Korean dramas.
When Chan Sung starts dreaming about Man Wol’s past, it got me confused. Did Chan Sung and Man Wol crossed paths in the past? Is Chan Sung the reincarnation of the man deeply hated by his boss? We finally learned that he and Man Wol had previously crossed paths, not as lovers, but as children. It was the little boy Chan Sung who told the little girl Man Wol about the Guest House of the Moon. They both made a promise to meet again in their next lives, and when the time finally came, Gu Chan Sung has fulfilled his destiny of becoming Hotel Del Luna’s last General Manager and the person to send off the hotel’s last guest, no other than his boss and lover, Jang Man Wol.
The bittersweet fate of the two lovers brought viewers to tears; but the ending scene has again caused some confusion. Did they really meet again in the future? It was stated in the drama several times that once you cross the bridge to the afterlife, all your memories will be erased. In the ending scene, we see Man Wol approaching a sitting Chan Sung and when the latter said she’s early, she told him she hurried so he wouldn’t wait. Questions were raised as to why Man Wol still remembers Chan Sung, and we suddenly remember about the tree Man Wol regularly visits. From the start of the drama, we have been reminded that the tree represents the owner’s life- it’s a dead tree, but it slowly showed signs of life as Man Wol shows signs of change in her attitude. We remember that Ma Go had put a flower from the tree inside Chan Sung, so some viewers took It as the reason why Man Wol still remembers Chan Sung in her new life. But then, how come Chan Sung did not age at all?
For me, the ending scene is part of time jump- another typical plot on Korean dramas. It’s simple and does not involve any flowers or trees. The scene shows Man Wol, Chan Sung and the employees living their next lives. It could be 100, 200, or 1,300 years after Hotel Del Luna disappeared. At any rate, they made a promise that they’d meet again, right?
Acting
It is very evident from episode one that this is a Lee Ji Eun drama. As I mentioned earlier, I have never seen her previous dramas. But during the first few minutes of Hotel Del Luna, I was captivated by how she portrayed the moody, greedy, and funny Jang Man Wol. I found myself laughing whenever she tries out food or jewelries, or when trying to justify her reasons for getting a new car. It made me look forward to seeing the other dramas she starred in. A few singers and idols have been dabbling into acting recently, some have transitioned from being an idol to an actress and has gained massive popularity for their immense skills. Take note of Kim Yu Jin or Uie, a former idol and member of the group After School. The dramas she starred in always end with high ratings and has earned her numerous accolades. Like Uie, Ji Eun is also a singer and a talented songwriter known by her stage name IU. Hotel Del Luna has cemented her as a skilled actress.
Yeo Jin Goo’s acting, on the other hand, is mediocre. I’ve seen some of his works as a child actor before and for sure he is good, but maybe the character does not suit him? Or maybe it’s how his character was written. I don’t like it, but I don’t hate it either. If it’s bad acting, then his chemistry with Ji Eun would have been awful, but it’s not. I just think that it’s lacking something, though I can’t explain what it is. At any rate, I’m sure Jin Goo did his very best to portray Chan Sung, and it was well-received in the end.
The three ghost employees played by Bae Hae Sun, Shin Jung Geun, and Pyo Ji Hoon- I would actually like to thank them for accepting the role to be in the drama. Veteran actors Hae Sun and Jung Geun have played their characters very well and gave justice to the individual’s backstories. Ji Hoon, the youngest and relatively a new actor among the trio also did well in portraying Hyun Joong as a happy and youthful young man with a tragic past. Note that he’s also an idol and rapper that is currently trying his skills at acting. It was refreshing to see these types of supporting characters in dramas, whether it’s Korean or a Western one.
Of course, props to Seo Yi Sook for playing my favorite Ma Go in the drama. The character comes in different personalities throughout the drama and she nailed all of them. Her way of portraying the deity suits the character Man Wol really good. They’re both funny, stubborn, and compassionate at the same time. I just love an actor who is confident enough to play diverse roles, especially if those diverse roles are all in one drama.
Cinematography / Visuals / Colors
I know people might call me an ancient or old-fashioned, but this is my first time to see a Korean drama with an impressive cinematography and use of CG effects. Is this the new trend in K-Dramas? I was actually looking forward to seeing one in the upcoming series ‘SF8’, but watching Hotel Del Luna had set my expectations higher. The stunning cinematography really compliments the dark/fantasy genre of the drama, even the colors were well-chosen, from hotel’s walls to Man Wol’s garish clothing. One particular part of the drama where Man Wol’s life as the hotel owner was shown in sequence. The colors used for each era really got me; I somehow felt the loneliness of Man Wol as I watch that sequence.
Soundtrack
The drama’s official soundtrack featured some of South Korea’s brightest singers namely Gummy, Taeyeon, and Chungha. They were all good, but Taeyeon’s ‘All About You’ is my favorite. A special single ‘Our Happy Ending’ was also released and sung by IU herself.
Final Thoughts
Hotel Del Luna is South Korea’s most popular drama of 2019 and it’s a no-brainer. It is a drama that breaks away from the typical romantic comedy genres which in my opinion has saturated the Korean drama industry. A drama that deals with death and the unseen world, it also deals with justice, healing and forgiving which are good values. For me shows that one who have been wronged will always get the justice he deserves. But sometimes in order to achieve justice, one should let go of all his grudges and learn to forgive so he can be fully healed and be free. Overall, it’s a must-see drama with great story, great visuals, and great cast.
Studio Dragon, the drama’s creator announced last June that Hotel Del Luna will be remade into an American television series. I am not sure what to feel about this news as I’ve seen US remakes of some South Korean films and did not appreciate it at all. But then it’s going to be a TV series, so who knows? It just shows how popular the drama is and how it captured the hearts of Korean and international viewers.
My rating: 9.9/10 stars
