Wikipedia

Black (South Korean TV series)

Black (Korean: 블랙; RR: Beullaek) is a 2017 fantasy-thriller South Korean television series starring Song Seung-heon, Go Ara, Lee El, and Kim Dong-jun. It aired on OCN from October 14 to December 10, 2017, every Saturday and Sunday at 22:20 (KST).[1][2][3][4]

Black
Promotional poster
Hangul
블랙
Genre
Created byStudio Dragon
Written byChoi Ran
Directed byKim Hong-sun
Starring
ComposerNam Hye-seung
Country of originSouth Korea
Original languageKorean
No. of episodes18
Production
Executive producers
  • Kim Jong-sik
  • Song Jae-joon
Producers
  • Kim Ryun-hee
  • Kim Jong-sik
  • Song Jae-jun
Production companyiWill Media
Original release
NetworkOCN
ReleaseOctober 14 (2017-10-14) –
December 10, 2017 (2017-12-10)

Synopsis

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Black is the story of a grim reaper who is forced to track down his fugitive partner. In the process, he uncovers the truth about a series of cold case murders from 20 years ago. Investigating the murders complicates the reaper's primary role of guiding the deceased to their respective afterlife, especially after he falls in love with a mortal woman - which leads him to break supernatural rules against involvement in human affairs.[5][6]

Cast

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Main

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Han Moo-Gang newly joins the detective team of the Regional Crime Unit in order to find out the truth of a case that happened 20 years before. After his death, he is possessed by the messenger of hell, No.444. When Han Moo-Gang dies unexpectedly, the bracelet Kang Ha-ram gave to Kim Joon appears on his hand, so Kang Ha-ram mistakes him for her childhood first love, "Joon Oppa".
A woman who can foresee death as a dark shadow looming over someone which turns out to be a grim reaper following them to their moment of death.[7]
  • Lee El as Yoon Soo-wan/ Kim Sun Young
    • Song Soo-hyun as young Yoon Soo-wan/ Kim Sun Young
A doctor who is in love with Han Moo-gang. She was adopted by Kim Joon's family decades prior to the main storyline, and was the victim of several filmed sexual assaults by the perpetrators of the serial murders.[7]
  • Kim Dong-jun as Oh Man-soo
    • Lee Seung-woo as child Oh Man-soo
    • Lee Geon-ha as young Oh Man-soo
A second generation chaebol.[8]

Supporting

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People around Han Moo-gang

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  • Kim Won-hae as Na Gwang-gyun / Crazy Dog
  • Jung Suk-yong as Bong Man-shik
  • Lee Chul-min as Oh Soo-tae
  • Huh Jae-ho as Park Gwi-nam[9]
  • Ji Su-won as Seo Young-hwa, Han Moo-gang's mother and Kim Joon's adoptive mother who is a cardiologist.

People around Kang Ha-ram

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  • Kim Jung-young as Choi Soon-jung, Ha-ram's mother.
  • Kim Hyung-min as Kang Soo-hyuk, Ha-ram's father.
  • Go Seung-bo as Hoon-seok, Ha-ram's stepbrother.
  • Park Jung-hak as Ha-ram's stepfather

Grim Reapers

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  • Kim Tae-Woo as Grim Reaper #444
  • Park Doo-shik as Je Soo-dong / Grim Reaper #419[10]
  • Jo Jae-yoon as Grim Reaper #007
  • Lee Kyu-bok as Grim Reaper #416
    • Jung Joon-won as Jang Hyun-soo / Grim Reaper #416 (real form), a friend of Kim Joon who was killed in the Mujin Time Mart incident.

People around Man-soo

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  • Lee Do-kyung as Oh Chun-soo, Man-soo's father.
  • Choi Min-chul as Oh Man-ho, Man-soo's half-brother.
  • Choi Won-hong as Oh Sang-min, Man-ho's son.
  • Kim Jae-young as Leo / Kim Woo-shik, a K-pop star
    • Jeon Jin-seo as young Kim Woo-shik
  • Oh Cho-hee as Tiffany / Lee Young-hee
  • Kim Young-sun as Man-soo's mother

Others

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  • Lee Hae-young as Min Jae-hong
  • Woo Hyun as Wang Yong-chun, a man with spider tattoo.
  • Kim Bo-yoon as Soo-jin
  • Lee Kwan-hoon as Chen (man with missing finger)
  • Bae Jung-hwa as Han Jin-sook
  • Lee Hyo-je as Kim Joon / Han Moo-chan, Han Moo-gang's older brother who is renamed as Han Moo-chan after being adopted by Moo-gang's mother.
  • No Tae-yeop as Steven Yoo
  • Lee Joon-seo as Park Seung-chul
  • Song Min-hyung as Woo Byung-sik
  • Cha Chung-hwa as Clara
  • Yeon Jae-wook as Lee Byung-tae

Production

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  • The script reading of the cast was held on July 24, 2017.[11][12]
  • The series was under negotiation with Netflix for a simultaneous streaming deal, and it is currently available on the streaming service.[13][14][15]

Original soundtrack

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Black
Original soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
Various Artists
Recorded2017
GenreSoundtrack
Language
Label

Part 1

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No.TitleArtistLength
1."Take Me Out"Nam Tae-hyun4:31
2."Take Me Out" (Inst.)Nam Tae-hyun4:31
Total length:9:02

Part 2

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No.TitleArtistLength
1."Like a Film"leeSA (리싸)3:37
2."Like a Film" (Inst.)leeSA (리싸)3:41
Total length:7:18

Part 3

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No.TitleArtistLength
1."Another Me"Han Min-chae (민채)4:35
2."Another Me" (Inst.)Han Min-chae (민채)4:41
Total length:9:16

Ratings

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Ep. Original broadcast date Average audience share
Nielsen Korea[16] TNmS
Nationwide Seoul Nationwide
1 October 14, 2017 2.141% 2.416% 2.0%
2 October 15, 2017 3.876% 4.170% 3.0%
3 October 21, 2017 3.963% 4.715% 2.7%
4 October 22, 2017 4.318% 5.080% 3.7%
5 October 28, 2017 3.595% 4.229% 2.9%
6 October 29, 2017 4.087% 4.714% 3.6%
7 November 4, 2017 3.580% 4.427% 3.0%
8 November 5, 2017 3.247% 3.727% 2.6%
9 November 11, 2017 2.966% 3.636% 2.3%
10 November 12, 2017 3.409% 4.245% 3.6%
11 November 18, 2017 2.535% 2.795% 2.1%
12 November 19, 2017 3.074% 3.613% 2.9%
13 November 25, 2017 2.532% 2.707% 2.4%
14 November 26, 2017 3.038% 3.234% 2.8%
15 December 2, 2017 2.453% 2.395% 2.0%
16 December 3, 2017 3.470% 3.810% 2.6%
17 December 9, 2017 3.085% 3.403% 2.2%
18 December 10, 2017 4.181% 4.518% 3.7%
Average 3.308% 3.769% 2.8%
  • In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.
  • This series aired on a cable channel/pay TV which normally has a relatively smaller audience compared to free-to-air TV/public broadcasters (KBS, SBS, MBC and EBS).

Remake

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The series was adapted into a Malay-language web series [ms] which was released on Viu for two seasons. The Malaysian adaptation replaced the concept of grim reaper with Orang bunian, a supernatural being in Malay folklore.[17][18]

References

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  1. ^ "Song Sung-heon, Go A-ra cast in OCN drama". Korea JoongAng Daily. 5 August 2017.
  2. ^ Mukhopadhyay, Riddhiman. "OCN's Black: Ara and Song Seung Heon confirmed for grim reaper drama". IB Times. International Business Times, Singapore Edition. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  3. ^ Lee, Ye-eun. "[단독] 송승헌X고아라, OCN 드라마 '블랙' 출연 확정…하반기 방영". Naver (in Korean). The Financial News. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  4. ^ Kim, Sol-ji. "OCN 측 "'블랙', 송승헌·고아라 출연 확정…올 하반기 편성"(공식)". Naver (in Korean). Maeil Broadcasting Network. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  5. ^ Choi, Na-young. "[공식입장] OCN '블랙', 송승헌X고아라 "긍정검토 중"". Naver (in Korean). Osen. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  6. ^ "5 Korean Horror Dramas You Should Watch During Halloween". Viu. 2017-10-16. Archived from the original on 2017-10-17. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  7. ^ a b <블랙> 송승헌-고아라-이엘-김동준, 대본 리딩 현장 공개!. iMBC (in Korean). August 10, 2017. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  8. ^ Jo, Yoon-seon. "[공식] 김동준, OCN '블랙' 출연 확정…재벌 2세役". Naver (in Korean). Sports Chosun. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  9. ^ Jo, Gyeong-yi. [단독]'귓속말' 허재호, 차기작은 '블랙'‥송승헌과 호흡. Naver (in Korean). Osen. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  10. ^ Hong, Se-young. [단독] 박두식, '블랙' 전격 합류…송승헌·고아라와 호흡. Naver (in Korean). Sports Dong-a. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  11. ^ Hong, Se-young. "[단독] 송승헌x고아라, OCN '블랙' 캐스팅…안방복귀 하나". Naver (in Korean). Sports Dong-a. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  12. ^ Kim, Na-hee. "[Oh!쎈 톡] 송승헌·고아라·김동준, '블랙'으로 뭉친다..오늘 대본리딩". Naver (in Korean). Osen. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  13. ^ Yun, Suh-young. "K-drama industry finds new breakthrough with Netflix". KTimes. The Korea Times. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  14. ^ Chang, Dong-woo; Youn, Go-eun. "(News Focus) More TV shows turning to Netflix as China's culture ban persists". Yonhap News Agency. Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  15. ^ Black on Netflix  
  16. ^ "Nielsen Korea" (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  17. ^ "Viu Gives Malay Adaptation to Korea's 'Black'". Variety. December 2, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  18. ^ "Viu's supernatural hit, Black, is back for a second season". Kepohchi. June 10, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
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