After years of being on my "on hold" list, and me being distracted by other dramas, I finally finished "Arang and the Magistrate" (Yay!). I guess technically this is a sageuk, but it's really more of a supernatural fairytale. There's romance, mystery, action, humor... There are ghosts, villains, and reluctant heroes... I am not familiar with the Arang folklore, or Jade Emperor mythology, so I was honestly confused at some points, but this really is a great drama, and I'm happy I revisited it. First, I seriously heart Shin Min Ah. She's beautiful, and confident, and my ideal anti-damsel in distress. This makes her perfect to play Arang, a ghost who knows how to fend for herself, and is determined to solve the mystery of her death. I loved her after watching My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, and this character has similar qualities. She is matched with Lee Joon Gi, who I've never seen (Yes, I've never seen Iljimae), but they are pretty much a match made in heaven (pun intended). I was really impressed by him, and his throat clearing became my weakness. Their chemistry is amazing, their banter is super cute, and they look great together. Their relationship is definitely my favorite part of the drama, but the drama offers so much more. The rest of the cast is filled with interesting characters. Kwon Oh Jung as Dol Soe is the best side kick ever, and perfectly matched with Hwang Bo Ra as the partially phony shaman Bang Wool - they were too cute, and their flirting was perfect comic relief. The supernatural characters were interesting. The villains had depth, although Kim Yong Gun was perfect at being absolutely evil. I was especially impressed with Kang Moon Young, who's bad plastic surgery (possibly mean, but true) boosted her creepiness, but she also played the role extremely well. There were no weak links in the cast, which helped make everything believable. The story is pretty epic. It was mostly interesting, and filled with mystery, and twists, and just enough tragedy to tug at my emotions, but there is a point in the plot where things start to drag. The first time I stopped watching around episode 12, and now I know why. I was absolutely hooked and eager to watch the next episode until about then. Then the plot started to stall/lag a little. It's not that it was boring, not exactly, but I just became less eager to watch the next episode. There's also a point where characters, Arang in particular, started to frustrate the hell out of me. The story eventually ends, resolving every complicated plot point in a coherent way, which is worthy of praise, but I still never regained the excitement I had in the beginning. At least I think it was all resolved. I still may be confused about some parts honestly, but it felt resolved to me. As much as I admired the cast, directing, and writing, I also have to applaud the soundtrack, and the costumes! I loved that the soundtrack. The soundtrack not only mixed genres well, but also incorporated the stars well... Lee Jun Ki's "One Day" is definitely swoon-worthy. I also don't normally pay attention to the costumes too much, even in sageuks, but I thought these were particularly good. I loved the ghost tattoo/mark, loved that each character had a signature look, and was particularly in love with Sato's hat! Overall, I would definitely recommend this one. It may not make my favorites list, but it really has so many great elements that make it a kdrama classic. I even felt myself grateful that it was 20 episodes long, because around episode 16 I still wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to the characters. I could totally see myself watching this again too, the same way I would reread a good fairytale. It's certainly a memorable, and unique drama.