'Hwarang' actress Go Ara and 'Autumn in My Heart' actor Song Seung-heon have been confirmed to star as leads in grim reaper-human romance drama 'Black,' from Orion Cinema Network (OCN).
Website Soompi notes that the confirmation came on June 29. Song Seung-heon will play the grim reaper, immortalised on the South Korean television screen by Lee Dong-wook in 'Goblin.'
No information about the Go Ara's character has been made available yet. Logically, she'll be playing the love interest; a role which was played by Yoo In-na in 'Goblin.'
The drama written by screenwriter Choi Ran, will focus on a grim reaper who borrows a human body and eventually falls in love with a woman. However, by falling in love he breaks the divine rules of a Grim Reaper, just like in 'Goblin' and as punishment, he gets erased from everyone's memories.
The drama is said to be styled as a thriller and focus entirely on the mythical figure of the grim reaper, unlike 'Guardian: The Lonely and Great God.' But, it is very obvious that it was the success of 'Goblin' that has led to OCN's 'Black' coming to fruition.
Lee Dong-wook's performance as a melancholic, lovelorn grim reaper was so influential in 'Goblin' that viewers were, for some time, more drawn to the subplot surrounding that character than the main plot about the immortal Goblin played by Gong Yoo. So, it'll be a tough act to follow for Song Seung-heon.
In fact, it has recently been noted that upcoming tvN drama 'Bride of the Water God' also has many similarities with 'Goblin.' It too deals with the story of a supernatural figure and his falling in love with a mortal girl. It seems this is the trending drama theme and genre now, especially due to the success of 'Goblin' across Asia.
However, 'Bride of the Water God' director said, "After 'Goblin' aired, we made many changes to the script. There are still inevitable similarities between the two even after our changes, as the overall narrative structures are similar," adding, "I didn't watch 'Goblin' after the first two episodes. Our writer watched 'Goblin' and told me to avoid watching it."
OCN's 'Black' is set to air after the channel's upcoming drama 'Save Me,' starring 2PM's Taecyeon and Seo Ye-ji. The latter also starred with Go Ara in 'Hwarang.'
