Spark

I never really have high expectations when I begin a webdrama. The budget can’t compare to a major Kdrama so I know right from the start there won’t be many top actors/actresses, the writer and director won’t have previously worked on anything big, it’s unlikely to have a large soundtrack, and the shorter length will also make it impossible to delve into what exactly makes the characters tick. Spark isn’t bad, though. In fact, I’d categorize it as pretty good.

After filming a music video, Yoon Ga-On, who is the leader of the boy group Dexter, goes out searching for the person responsible for taking a compromising picture of him with a female pop star. He runs into one of the part-time crew members, Son Ha-Neul, who had come out to relieve herself in the darkness of night, since all the bathroom stalls had occupants. Seconds after they meet there is a tremendously bright light in the sky that is headed right for them. Evidently, the two came in contact with a falling star and although Ha-Neul is just fine, Yoon Ga-On discovers something did happen to him – when his body comes in contact with anything there is a huge spark. Itt just so happens, Ha-Neul is the only thing he can touch without receiving a shock and if he’s in physical contact with her he is able to touch other things without receiving a zap of electricity. In order to try and carry on with his life, undetected, he hires Ha-Neul to be his manager and stay next to him 24/7. Will their close proximity bring the two together or just make matters worse?

When he was in middle school Ga-On’s parents died and he was raised by this grandmother. Unfortunately, she passed away a year before his debut as a singer. As the leader of Dexter, Yoon Ga-On is the one in the spotlight. The group has a concert coming up and Ga-On has promised to write a song for the Dexter members and his fans.

Son Ha-Neul is on her own. Her mother passed away when she was just a baby and her father, whom she adored, died in a car accident while she was still in high school. Ha-Neul works part-time jobs here and there to make ends meet and lives with a friend who is going to college. Ga-On says she is as small as an acorn.

Won Jae-Kyung and Yoon Ga-On went through idol training together for ten years and, although she has a major crush on him, he thinks of her only as a good friend. She is a solo artist with a huge following, in fact, she is called Korea’s Best Sexy Diva, and she’s decided to act the part.

Ji-Seung is also a member of Dexter and many people say he is in Ga-On’s shadow. That hasn’t seemed to stand in the way of the two young men being best buddies, though. Unfortunately, he has liked Jae-Kyung for quite some time but hasn’t let on yet because he knows how she feels about Ga-On.

Twenty-five year old Na Jong-Chan began his acting career in 2014 with the Kdrama Glorious Day. The following year he made his big screen debut in a supporting role in the movie Twenty. Yoon Ga-On was his first leading role. Other things I’ve seen that he’s been in include My Love Eun-Dong and Best Chicken.

Son Ha Neul is played by 30 year old Nam Bo-Ra. She went to Dongduk Women’s University with a major in Broadcasting. Beginning in 2006 she has appeared in film, music videos, and on TV. The only other thing I’ve seen that she’s been in is Glory Jane for which she won a Best New Actress award. She also released a single (song) called Bad Love in 2009 through Starsharp Entertainment.

I’m sure some of you are thinking, “A guy gets in the way of a falling star and now he emits electricity? And when a certain person is touching him, his body is just fine? Yeah, right.” But the scriptwriters, Moon Ji-Young and Moon Man-Se, anticipated that and explain things early on so we aren’t sitting though episode after episode rolling our eyes. Now, I’m not saying this could happen in real life, I’m just saying the show gives us their explanation on how it all works. Something about Ha-Neul, who contains the positive (protons or neutrons or something like that), neutralizes the negative in Ga-On’s body. For the first little while they always have to be touching but then he begins to store up some of her positive “stuff” and doesn’t have to be in direct contact with her in order to touch things. Eventually they find that two hours of physical contact with her equals ten minutes where he can function without her.

It’s funny, we only get a few sentences of background story on these characters but they are much more personable than people in other webdramas. Is that because of good acting or good writing? Maybe a combination of both.

Ga-On’s love, and first priority, is his music and I thought it was interesting the way he explained his feelings about a song to Ha-Neul, “The melody is the first impression, and the lyrics are the personality.” What a poetic way to look at it!

Lately, if an “oops” is small and doesn’t effect the story I’ve been skipping telling you about it (just putting “oops” under “The Bad: part of my review). But this one is just a little too big not to mention. When Ga-On thinks he hears someone take his and Jae-Kyung’s picture, the sun is shinning. Then, when he finds Ha-Neul and asked her if she was the one who “just” took a picture of him, it’s nighttime. Using the word “just” would make it still daylight hours, not pitch black.

Spark was released in 2016 and has 12 episodes, each around 13 minutes long, so it’s not a big time commitment. It features five members of the real boy group Pentagon (Yeo One, Hui, Woo Seok, E’Dawn, and Yuto) as the members of the factious group Dexter.

Since the story is about an idol group we expect good music, and get it. The most memorable is the ballad Ga-On and Ha-Neul write together which is a very pretty lullaby, one you might find yourself humming when the show is over. The opening theme song is upbeat and enjoyable, but I have no idea who sings it or what it’s called. At the beginning of the show we hear a song Pentagon (as Dexter) sings as they are practicing their dance moves.

We’re all over the place in this show, and that’s good because it give the production a bigger feeling. The outside shot (where they witness the meteorite) is pretty. They, of course go to a hospital. There is a spot where an interview with Dexter is done, and many other backdrops. But the most memorable one is Ga-On’s cool house, definitely fit for a Korean idol.