One of the main criticisms that can be made of Korean audiovisual production is that, as happened until recently with Spanish series, most television productions lasted an eternity, that is, more than seventy minutes per episode. This tended to be a considerable toll to delve into their stories, especially when series that show their full potential from the pilot episode are in the minority. So when a forty-minute superhero drama series suddenly comes out, you can only applaud and be curious. And, according to Disney reports, this series, Moving, is already its most successful original Korean production.
Its starting point is not an outburst of originality. In our present there are people who must hide their superpowers if they want to have a normal life. They have a real danger: a kind of hitman is in charge of eliminating them one by one. While he visits men who have been hiding their identity for a long time, three teenagers live their extraordinary condition from anonymity.
They are Kim Bong-seok (Lee Jung-ha), an adorable boy who always carries a backpack with weights so as not to accidentally fly away, since he does not control this ability and it is accentuated every time he has strong emotions such as, for example, seeing your new classmate. Then there is, of course, the new student, Jang Hui-soo (Go Youn-jung), from a humble family and who relies on scholarships to study physical education at university. She can miraculously heal any wound. And finally, Lee Gang-hoon (Kim Do-hoon), the reserved deputy, who has boundless strength and speed.
Screenwriter Kang Full adapts his own comic that, although it could be described as a Korean-style Heroes, quickly finds a way to distinguish itself and, above all, justify the public’s interest. The plot around the bosses, agencies and the purpose that leads the agent to murder anonymous superheroes has that generic aroma, that could be interchanged with dozens of series and movies. And if Moving is worth it, it is because of the love that the script has for the teenage characters and their stories. This is the charm that good Korean series usually have.
It’s the innocence of Kim Bong-seok, the relationship with a mother who ties the duvet to the bed so her son doesn’t fly away in the middle of the night, the way he has to carry kilos and kilos of extra weight that make it difficult to get to class on time. The direction of Park In-je and Park Youn-seo helps the portrait, with those close-up shots of his feet always about to take flight. She is also the mundane Hang Hui-soo, reserved about her powers and her history but, in reality, simply concerned with her financial hardship.
The boy’s falling in love at first sight may be predictable, since Korean fiction is precisely obsessed with destiny and making it clear to the viewer who are designed to end up together, but both are credible teenagers who conquer more by their way of approaching the day. today than for its superheroic potential. And shouldn’t this be the key to every character, even though he can reach the clouds without realizing it?
The immersion in a well-known subgenre, this effort to bring the characters closer, and the length of the episodes allow Moving to be an ideal series to get started in Korean fiction, K-Drama, if there are still viewers who have not delved into it. in his fictional universe beyond, of course, The Squid Game. Of course, in reality, we are missing good examples of good television: Romance is a bonus book, Crash landing on you, Something in the rain, D.P. Deserter Hunters, Chief of Staff, Kingdom… It’s just a matter of giving it a chance and, it must also be admitted, at first having a little patience to adapt to its audiovisual identity.