The Uncanny Counter (2020)

I didn't read the synopsis...

...before starting this drama. I went in not knowing what to expect, but I was up to my head with watching horribly written plots and bad acting that I was desperate to try anything. I was more than pleasantly surprised to stumble across this gem.

Plot; This plot was well thought out, nothing was questionable, no plot holes to be filled, everything flowed at a steady pace, and there weren't too many flashbacks to draw out the scenes.

Characters: Each character was fleshed out, even the main villain wasn't one dimensional...as an audience we can even empathize with him to some extent. If I would have to question anything about the characters, it would be about the ones in Yung...but since there will be a part two, I wonder if they will go into more details about those characters and what their motivations are.

If you are like me, someone that's watched a bunch of dramas and seemed tapped out, this may be the one that can get you going again.

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Disappointing

Though I enjoyed the plot theme, I really had high expectations from the characters and the story. The counters and the other world partners are shown to be pretty weak considering the incredible powers they actually possess.

To begin with, Wi Gen, the other world partner nearly died as she began aimlessly searching for a body to enter. When she finally does collid with So Moon's body, the ensuing scene is comical and almost silly.

Also, the writers probably wanted to create a powerful adversary but it just ended up making all the counters look incredibly weak and helpless. The other world partners also seem to be dishing out unjust punishments to the counters which was upsetting. Some of the aspects in the lead up to as well as the final battle itself were frustrating to watch (eg. The car scene).

The story started off pretty strong but towards the end, I started to lose interest. I completed it nonetheless. Probably not a show I would watch again nor recommend as there are a lot of better options.

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Well worth a watch

I'll admit, it's been a while since I finished this series. This was one of the first Korean shows I picked to watch. I found it absolutely amazing. It constantly surprised me. I loved the acting, the music was great, the story line was interesting, the fight sequences were well done, the special effects were surprisingly impressive, the pacing was spot on and, oh my god, that bad guy was top tier in my book. As is the norm with Asian shows there is always a touch of cheesiness sprinkled in (which is not to my personal taste), but it wasn't overbearing so I honestly could overlook most of it. I do strongly recommend this one. It was an overall great show to binge.

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It's a drama about love, loss, and epic fights!!

I just finished this drama and I am not the same, nor will I ever be. I thought going into this that it was similar to the drama Black, about grim reapers and stuff like that, and I didn't like Black. I couldn't stand how slow Black started and continued to be.
This, however, was never dull. Not one dull moment. It's action packed, funny, and sad in all the right places. I cannot recommend this enough!! It deserves so much and more for how much love I have for this. I do wish there were a few romantic moments here and there, but at the same time, it does so well without it.
There is a page about it getting a season 2. I don't know if that is true, but I don't think it could continue on to a season 2, like other dramas could. There isn't really a cliffhanger for there to be a season 2, but we shall find out. That being said, I must say it is now one of my favorite dramas of all time.

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Thank goodness i came back to this drama after thinking of dropping it off. I expected kinda lot from this drama seeing how much it was recommended. and maybe i expected too much from those reviews, and didn't meet what i initially expected. but after some time, i picked it up again and-- god, that was the best thing that i've ever did this month. i'm giving this 10/10 not because it's flawless, but because those flaws where overshadowed by lots of perfection.

i'd start off with the flaws.
- the initial theme of this drama is about this mortals counters who are bound to catch and summon evil spirits. however, i feel like the drama focus much about politics and corruption other than catching spirits. although there's a connection between those spirits and politics, i was just hoping that they kinda stayed true what they are supposed to be. i think they didn't even catch more than 5 spirits? since they focused more on catching Cheong-sin and the girl. i wished they were just more.

- i wasn't too heartbroken by the punishment that they receive because they've violated too many rules even though they have reasons. at some point, the rules that Yung created seems to be mere decoration. although they were punished for violating them, it just feels as if they were beginners to ignore too many rules. but i'm glad that it served as a lesson for them to be better esp Mun since he was getting out of hand at times.

so far those are all the flaws that really bothered me. there are actually more smaller plotholes but i don't want to mention them yet as i'm hoping that they'd be answered by the second season.

moving on to the good points.
- THE WHOLE TEAM. yep. that's right. the best thing in this drama is the whole team and the way that their characters were fleshed out. it's just so rare to see a main lead having such a great chemistry with everyone, may it be Mo Tak, Ms. Chu, Mr. Chairmain and of course, Ha Na. and these people interact with each other in such a heartwarming-- aaaaa, i can't even describe. i want to each and everyone of them safe.

- Hana and So Mun. my god, i can't believe i'm watching an OCN drama. i feel like they're spilling us too much with these heaven sent chemistry that it's starting to make me feel anxious with what they have in their sleeves for the next season. please don't break them apart. come on, OCN, just give it to us for the next season. kidding aside, that subtle teasing and gestures and actions of the two, my god i'm melting. i love the fact that Ha Na's character develop, being more open to people, smiling, remembering her family and of course allowing someone to touch her finally-- yes i'm talking abut So Mun, thank you very much.

- the oh so satisfying revenge and catching ghost scenes. i can't stop myself from laughing whenever they catch those bastards.

- the ending. damn. that start of episode 16? that was the thriller that i've been waiting for in this. i've pinched my sister so hard that we almost end up fighting. lol. that was the best and one of the most satisfying thriller scene, ever. i love the fact that they put back So Mun's limp as he beat the hell out of that devil. and the rest of the episode? one of the best and most satisfying ending ever. i dn't care if it looks like a fan service with all things too good, i think it just stayed true to its theme as this is not like the usual dark and twisted OCN. i couldn't ask for more with that ending.

i've never had the urge to rewatch a drama after watching this (i don't rewatch). and i will surely be waiting for the second season, hoping that it would focus more on them catching ghost and some progress *ehem* Ha Na x Mun *ehem*. this is definitely a drama for you if you're looking for something suspenseful but lighthearted and comedic toned.

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A full package of action-supernatural!!

TUC is one of the action-supernatural dramas that I would recommend to anyone. From the beginning till the end, the storyline was written flawlessly except for the ending which may look slightly different (Some comments said they changed the writer in the last few eps because of conflicts, idk much about that). Furthermore, the drama's highlights were the cast's performance and the chemistry between each character. Even the antagonists did an outstanding job. I was so impressed by Lee Hong Nae's acting. I hope to see him more in the future. And as for Its OSTs, they were average for me apart from Meet Again by Kim Sejong and No Problem by Dvwn.

So overall, you MUST watch it at least once!! Don't miss out on such an action-supernatural pack!!

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Recommended, But with Reservations (Mild Spoilers, nothing too revealing!)

I've never been more conflicted on scoring a K-drama series. My watching partner (aka wife) and I are also divided on this score, which is very unusual. In the end, I had to look at how we'd scored other series and let my personal tastes have more of an influence than usual.

[Note: Using MDL spellings for names rather than Netflix's. Apologies for throwing in many Japanese manga/anime terms, but I can't find the Korean equivalents relevant to manhwa.]

Good:
Great cast and acting, good story overall, decent VFX and production values, some really great, memorable characters, a very fun watch, a lot of action.

I loved that the core team is an age-diverse group of unique characters with good motivations and backstories. They reveal much more about themselves as the story progresses. I actually could have used a lot more of just them casually interacting in the noodle shop, teasing each other, training, whatever.

Not-so-good:
A hero who's a bit too prone to completely falling apart, a few underdeveloped or weak supporting characters, some side stories that aren't as interesting as others, the overall concept has a lot of holes and inconsistencies, the ending and resolution are very weak and dragged out, some very inconsistent depictions of main characters, some missed opportunities.

(Light spoiler, but kind of funny: It really seems at one point that the MC, So Moon [Cho Byeong Kyu] is trying to exploit a sick child for BTS tickets. Dude. No.)

Do Ha-Na's (Kim Se Jeong) temperament is a bit all over the place. Her backstory is never fully realized, but plays a big part in the main plot. She is a great character (classic tsundere) and Kim Se Jeong is great. The script lets her down a bit. Her story could have been left open for a possible Season 2, but there is a lot of teasing and partial reveals that don't work well enough to support her behavior.

In the supporting cast, Kim Jung Young (Choi Yoon Young) has a key role, but her character is disappointingly bland and ineffective, even compared to many much more minor characters. She's so poorly depicted, I often felt bad for Choi Yoon Young for having to go through the motions of playing the role.

Similarly So Moon's friends feel like they were copied and pasted from a show with a total different tone. This makes some of what happens to them rather disturbing. It's also a bit weird that Im Joo Yeon (Lee Ji Won) is clearly the only actual teenager playing a student, and is surrounded by actors almost twice her age. It's common to have actors play many ages, but throwing someone so conspicuously young into the cast makes the difference very noticeable.

Normally, these issues would have been enough for me to score Uncanny Counter in the 7.0–7.5 range.

But… This one has specific appeal for me:
Uncanny Counter has a plot and premise very similar to many popular Shonen manga and anime (as well as manhwa influenced by those, including the original UC webtoon). It should be very familiar to fans of Bleach, Rin-ne, Yu Yu Hakusho, Soul Eater, and dozens of other "empowered people have to fight corrupted souls/spirits and send them to an afterlife dimension" titles. It takes a lot of cues from these, and the hero arc is similar to almost all of them. There are also quite a few Matrix references, even what appeared to be some Wes Anderson visual references.

So, basically, the roots of this drama are all things I love and was happy to see in this show.

At this point, how I feel about Season One may change after viewing Season 2, coming in 2022. If it offers better story resolution, a tighter script, and giving some characters the attention they deserve, I'd keep Season 1 at 8.0. If many of the first season faults carry over into the next, it may be downgraded to a 7.5.

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It was fun, i'll love you forever kim sejeong

It was my first time watching an action focused kdrama, and it was great!
I decided to watch this only because I love kim sejeong. Her performance on business proposal was great, her solo music is good, and she has a fun personality. Even though she was the reason I started watching this, I stayed because of the performances of the rest of the cast, specially the protagonist and the main villain, i now stan them.
Anyway, it would've been a 10/10 kdrama for me, but:
-1 pt for some plot inconsistencies, and because it drags a little in the last episodes, like 30 minutes or so were kind of unnecessary.
-1 pt because of Yoo Joon Sang (ga mo tak) performance. His character had many sad scenes, but it didn't move me like it was supposed to.
+0.5 pt I laughed so hard with wi gen, whenever she was shocked or something, she made a weird face like she was horny or something i don't know how to explain it, it was weird ksjdksjd.

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This show is amazing.

THIS SHOW IS AMAZING!!!

Coming from someone who generally doesn’t see the appeal of action/fantasty kdramas, (or just TV shows in general) Uncanny Counters is one of the best kdramas I’ve ever seen.

The storyline, the actors, everything is amazing. It has mystery, thriller, action, drama, romance, etc. anything you could ever want in a show. The emotional connections that I had with each character thoroughly surprised me, as i’m not someone who cries very easily or gets sad because of a show. But when I tell you, Tears. Every. Episode. because this show is just that good at making you feel what the characters are feeling!!

Give this show a shot, even if you don’t think you’ll like it (like I thought) you might surprise yourself. This show is a MUST WATCH 100%. There’s also a second season out now, which i’m going to watch after I leave this review. :) Please, do not have any doubts about watching this, i’m sure you won’t regret it.

p.s. Sejeong is amazing!!!!!

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