[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Lovers of the Red Sky" Episode 1

I had that "Lovers of the Red Sky" would mostly be a historical romance. We've got the handsome, blind astrologer Haram (played by Ahn Hyo-seop), and the female Joseon-era painter Chun-gi. Neither appears to be based on a real person but they've got the whole tragic irony thing going for them. So I was surprised to actually watch "Lovers of the Red Sky" and learn that no, this isn't really a romance at all, but a fantasy story about a fearsome God of Death that we first see sealed inside a painting that inevitably breaks free of it.

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But I'm getting ahead of myself. So far the adult versions of the lead characters haven't actually shown up yet, although the conclusion to the first episode makes a timeskip seem likely. The child actors, Choi Seung-hoon-I for Haram and Lee Nam-gyeong for Chun-gi, are adorable. I loved watching them wander around with minimal adult supervision, mildly annoying the adults around them.

Alas, it's only inevitable that they get dragged back into the struggle between the Gods, who drive almost all of the actual action. This, despite the fact that the computer graphics budget can only just barely afford to even put them on screen. While the Gods themselves look all right, the wolves and the smoke looked awful. I guess the butterfly tattoo effect was decent, although it's noteworthy mainly for the entirely irrelevant reason of bringing "Nevertheless" back to mind.

The bigger issue than the quality of the special effects is that the story they depict simply isn't interesting at all. Despite being comparatively minor characters with little screentime, I found myself weirdly engaged with the apparent love affair between senior artist Won-ho (played by Kim Kwang-kyu) and artist colony housekeeper Joo-daek (played by Yoon Sa-bong). They act like bashful teenagers despite having positions of clear social importance in the colony.

And the God of Death wants to do what, just start wars I guess? Not only is that motive quite boring, the God of Death isn't even going about it in an interesting way. All the deity does is make vague promises to Prince Suyang (played by Park Sang-hoon-IV for now) that he can become king with all this evil power. Why does Prince Suyang even want to be king..? Well, "Lovers of the Red Sky" still has time to get into that, but for now I'm already sick of all this divine drama.

Review by William Schwartz

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"Lovers of the Red Sky" is directed by Chang Tae-you, written by Ha Eun, and features Ahn Hyo-seop, Kim You-jung, Gong Myung, Kwak Si-yang, Kim Kwang-kyu, Choi Kwang-il. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2021/08/30~Now airing, Mon, Tue 22:00 on SBS.