“Bring It On, Ghost” (싸우자 귀신아)

By Jae-Ha Kim
jaehakim.com
September 14, 2021

☆☆☆☆
Park Bong-Pal (played by Ok Taec-Yeon)
Kim Hyun-Ji (played by Kim So-Hyun)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

It took me a long time to get through the first two episodes of “Bring It On, Ghost.” I thought it would be destined to be another K-drama that I watched sporadically while I folded laundry. But as each episode progressed and new plot twists were introduced, it got more and more interesting.

Hyun-Ji is the ghost of a high school student, who can’t ascend to heaven until she figures out why she died. Bong-Pal is a college student who can see — and fight — ghosts. Because haunted businesses are bad for, well, business, he makes a decent living vanquishing ghosts for his frightened clients. His goal is to save enough money for experimental eye surgery, which will rid his ability to see the dead. He is hoping that will give him peace of mind.

When he meets Hyun-Ji, he meets his match. Though young, she can fight as well as he does. The two form an unlikely alliance that will benefit them both: she’ll help him earn money (which is useless to her) and he’ll help her figure out how she died. The duo eventually pair up with two of Bong-Pal’s seniors at school, who were wannabe ghostbusters. Unfortunately, the latter are too scared (and weak) to do more than scream and hide behing Bong-Pal. It appears that Bong-Pal gets the short end of the stick. Other than driving, he does all the hard work for them and receives a portion of the fee they collect from clients. But since he has always been a loner, they also are his only friends.

Based on Im In-Seu’s manhwa (comics) “Hey Ghost, Let’s Fight,” the series has a kinda/sorta second lead romance. Hyun-Ji is jealous of one of Bong-Pal’s classmates, who he has a crush on. But she is besotted with their charismatic veterinary professor, Joo Hye-Sung (played by Kwon Yul). Actually, all the young women on campus — and Hyun-Ji — are smitten with him.

About halfway through the series, it becomes clear that both Hyun-Ji and Bong-Pal have feelings for each other. I was worried there would be an impossible relationship, like the one depicted between a woman and her robot in “Absolute Boyfriend.” But in Episode 11, the writers revealed a clever way that there could be potential for a real relationship between a man and the ghost he loves. FWIW, don’t yell at me for this reveal. Everyone who has ever watched any K-dramas knows that the main couple falls in love at some point or another in 99.99 percent of the storylines.

This series includes cameo appearances from members of the “Let’s Eat” cast. Lee Do-Yeon portrays Hyun-Ji’s boy crazy ghost friend. And Yoon Doo-Joon reprises his role at a foodie (who has eyes for Hyun-Ji) in the final episode. (And, of course, Kwon Yul was one of the stars of “Let’s Eat 2.”)

The Ick Factor: When they started filming the series, Kim So-Hyun was still 16 years old. (She would turn 17 a month into shooting.) Ok Taec-Yeon is a decade older. As with most K-dramas, the romance depicted here is sweet and chaste, rather than controversial. However, some netizens thought it was inappropriate for a teenager to kiss a man of 26.

Airdates: Sixteen hour-long episodes aired from July 11 to August 30, 2016 on tvN.

Spoiler Alert: It turns out that Hyun-Ji wasn’t dead or a ghost. She was in a coma. When she wakes up, she is now a year older in real life than Bong-Pal and wants to hear him cutely call her noona/누나 (the Korean word that younger boys/men call their older sisters. This term is also used by men to refer to their older girlfriends). At first, she has no recollection of Bong-Pal and doesn’t remember their adventures together fighting ghosts. But, of course, she will eventually remember and the two will live happily ever after.

But first, they have to vanquish the evil ghost that has taken over Professor Yoon Hye-Sung. The ghost had tried to possess Bong-Pal as a child, too. When it failed, it found a host body in Hye-Sung, whose anger at his father (for viciously beating him and his mother) made him particularly susceptible to the demon being. His first kill was his father, who he pushed off their balcony. Bong-Pal and his family friend, Monk Myung-Cheol (Kim Sang-Ho), vanquish the demon from Hye-Sung and the latter finally is free.

The series parable seems to be that if you have hate in your heart, you are susceptible to being influenced to hurt others, just because you can. I liked that Hye-Sung didn’t try to get out of being punished. He willingly admits to all the killings he had committed while possessed. For the first time in a long time, his mother is no longer afraid of him and the two slowly rebuild their relationship.

The Monk had spent most of the series trying to dissuade Bong-Paul from fighting ghosts. But later, he gives the young man his blessing. Why? Because when Bong-Pal was younger, the Monk could see the hate that Bong-Pal harbored. His fate could’ve ended up like Hye-Sung.

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