Brief Story Line
Kang Sang-ung (Lee Jun-ho - Homme Fatale, The Red Sleeve TV series etc) was just an ordinary civil servant who had a long time girlfriend Kim Min-suk (Kim Hye-jun - A Shop for Killers TV series, Another Child etc) and had simple dream of gathering enough money to buy their own home. However his life was changed when he somehow gotten an amazing super power. Unfortunately it was directly linked with how much cash he was holding as every time he used the power, all the money would be physically drained. Obviously it was a super power that would complicate his life.
When Sang-ung had no choice but to use the power, other people who also had similar powers like divorce lawyer Byeon Ho-in (Kim Byung-chul - Best Friend, Doctor Prisoner TV series etc) and a mini market employee Bang Eun-mi (Kim Hyang-gi - Along With the Gods: The Last 49 Days, At Eighteen TV series etc) tried to recruit him to work together. Meanwhile a wealthy organization called Mundane Vanguard led by its heir Jo Anna (Kang Han-na - About Family, Bloody Heart TV series etc) was trying to collect all these powers by any means necessary, including the one owned by Sang-ung. Things became more complicated with the appearance of Anna's brother Jo Nathan (Lee Chae-min - Everyday We Are, Bon Appétit, Your Majesty TV series etc).
So what would happen to Sang-ung and his dreams? You could find out in this series.
End of Brief Story Line
As I said above, this series had a very unique premise. The usual super hero story would not have such difficulty in their lives (at most they need to balance their normal life and hide their identity while trying to save other people). In here, the people with powers were shown to have problematic repercussions, particularly the hero Sang-ung who need money to use his powers which would complicate his life (obviously it's no problem for people with unlimited wealth). Anyway the story started brightly and interesting enough especially in the early stage of learning to use the power. But quickly it would become clear that the fun was just temporary as Sang-ung had to face so many challenges.
As the series progressed though, I found that the story sometimes felt a bit disconnected here and there with one or two things not properly clarified or did not have closure. Some of the biggest examples were the crucial thing that Ho-in found out in the mid of episode 4 but was never resolved till the end, and that big twist in the final episode which was not explained in more details, resulting to us just having to accept it. Despite those shortcomings, the series still felt enjoyable with nicely done action, pretty decent special effects and the comedy. I also like watching the relationship between Sang-ung and Min-suk which felt like a real couple with everyday problem. The villains were quite well portrayed by the cast that made the fight between good and evil more interesting, although their characters might be a bit too shallow.
The cast in general did adequate job in their roles. Other than those above, there were also appearances of Kim Eui-sung (The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call TV series, Golden Slumber etc) as Mundane Vanguard chairman Jo Won-do, Jang Hyun-sung (Single in Seoul, Flex X Cop TV series etc) as Detective Hwang, Kim Gook-hee (Dark Nuns, Family Matters TV series etc) as loan shark Park Jeong-ja, Shin Su-hyun (Usury Academy, Study Group TV series etc) as lead researcher Lee Su-yeon, Jeung Sung-kil (Dream, Our Unwritten Seoul TV series etc) and Kim Soo-jin (Rebound, Mr. Plankton TV series etc) as Sang-ung's parents and few others. Btw the series itself was based on webtoon of the same title by Team Befar (Lee Hoon and No Hye-ok) which was not a surprise considering the premise that felt like coming from comics. The whole series only had 8 episodes and since it was categorized as Limited, we should not expect additional season after this (although Netflix did reverse their own decision in the past by renewing a Limited series).
For a series that focused on feel good factor and a bit of comedy, this one was pretty successful in entertaining audience as it went on to the top chart in many countries (including Indonesia). I think it's due to the light story, the engaging characters and the humor, plus some nice looking action even if the CGI was not so exceptional. The soundtrack were pretty nice too with the song By Yourside by STalent that played during closing credits of each episode, except for final episode as it played an equally nice song titled Forget About Yesterday by INAN.
Overall this might not be positively regarded by the more critical viewers (poor writing and directing were mostly used by them), but for a light entertainment series, I think it was still OK. Looks like audience either liked it a lot or just hated it and not many in between. It definitely will not win any awards, however I believe we could still enjoy watching these heroes saving the world. So if you just want to have fun seeing a different kind of super hero, then I think you would like this one. As long as you are OK to disregard the writing flaws and sometimes incoherent story telling, I believe you would still be entertained with the series. However, if you are not interested in the negative points that were highlighted by some audience, then better just skip it. The choice is yours.
Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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