“Annarasumanara” is officially my new “Abracadabra” after watching The Sound of Magic. Starring Ji Chang-wook, Choi Sung-eun and Hwang In-yeop in the lead, The Sound of Magic is Netflix’s new presentation from South Korea this month and it finally gives fans a break from the recent wave of ‘realistic’ dramas.
The series is an adaptation of the Naver webtoon Annarasumanara by Ha Il-kwon. Sound of Magic revolves around magician Ri-eul (Ji Chang-wook) who lives in an abandoned amusement park, a financially troubled teenager Yoon A-yi (Choi Sung-eun) and Na Il-deung (Hwang In-yeop), who is under immense pressure to pursue his parents’ dream.
Spread across six episodes, the musical series begins with Yoon A-yi learning about mysterious Ri-eul and his ‘magical’ powers. While she is in awe of the rumours, Yoon A-yi has bigger things to worry about — one of it being making ends meet. After being abandoned by her mother when she was young, Yoon A-yi was left to fend for herself and her younger sister after their father goes bankrupt.
A brilliant student in class, Yoon A-yi takes up odd jobs to feed her and her sister, Yoon-yi and take care of the house. One night, when she was headed home, Ri-eul’s mystical powers draw her to the abandoned amusement park and she meets the magician. “Do you believe in magic?” he asks her before taking her on a roller-coaster ride filled with lights and colours. The night draws curtains with Ri-eul offering to teach her magic. However, she refuses and leaves.
Their paths cross again when Yoon A-yi lands in a problem with her boss. Ri-eul rescues her from a triggering situation and she warms up to him. She eventually starts visiting him at the amusement park, befriending the eccentric magician and learning a few magic tricks as well.
Meanwhile, back at school, Yoon A-yi’s classmates start to take notice of her financial difficulties. While she tries to not pay heed, she finds a friend in Na Il-deung. He, who also notices her financial crunches, offers to share his books with her and study together for he secretly grows fond of her and starts to like her. As he tries to wrap his head around his feelings, he is also facing his share of problems — the pressure to ace the rat race.
As both of them grapple with their share of problems, they find solace in Ri-eul’s magical world. While Yoon A-yi is relieved of her adulthood burdens for a few hours, Na Il-deung learns that the rat race isn’t all that is there in the world. Just as the three begin to lose themselves in their cocooned world, the dark reality hits and some shocking secrets surface.
The Sound of Magic is more than what it appears in the posters and trailers. It explores sensitive subjects such as mental health issues, pressure among teenagers at home and at school, and more with absolute ease. The series’ biggest advantage is its music. Choosing the medium of a musical to narrate a story made the subject a little less heavy on the viewer.
While the music was primarily in focus, The Sound of Magic also boasts impressive visuals. The cinematography truly brought life to his short series. However, a few parts of the series did bring back memories of It’s Okay To Not Be Okay. The scenes especially in the abandoned amusement park brought back memories of the massive castle set seen in the 2020 series. Given that the series also dealt predominantly with childhood trauma and mental health, it was difficult to not compare The Sound of Magic with It’s Okay To Not Be Okay in certain scenes.
Ji Chang-wook, Choi Sung-eun and Hwang In-yeop are truly the stars of this series. Their chemistry with each other takes the series a notch higher. Personally, this is my favourite Ji Chang-wook series since he returned from his compulsory military training. It was evident that the actor stepped out of his comfort zone and presented a number of shades in the six episodes.
Hwang In-yeop in the fields like Shah Rukh Khan made me want to see him in a typical rom-com. Whereas Choi Sung-eun lured the audience into her world from the word go that by the time the series ends, you feel glad for her.
Having said all this, The Sound of Magic has a major writing problem. The Sound of Magic is a good attempt at taking viewers to a magical land but it still needed a little more work on the writing-table. There are several loopholes that leave fans asking numerous questions. I feel the series could have had a couple of more episodes to fully develop the subplots and answer all loose ends. By the end, you don’t feel fulfilled with the series.
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