Joseon X-Files - Secret Book

Absolutely incredible... beyond my imagination... this mysterious sci fi drama will blow your mind (i bet..).. episode 6 will chill you to the bone especially if you watch it after midnight (because i watched it....) This series just have 12 episodes...so don't think whether you should watch this or not just give this a try, you won't be disappointed...

Set in the Joseon dynasty (1609 A.D. to be exact), this series blends historical drama with the investigation of unexplained phenomena by a detective and his two assistants. The first two episodes concern the sightings of unidentified flying objects, but the topics subsequently branch out into different phenomena (e.g., bizarre diseases, the Noguhwaho monster legend, mystical cult rituals, etc.) that contribute little pieces to an overarching puzzle. The infusion of science fiction with ancient Korea is very interesting. Much shorter than most K-drama series (12 episodes, 45 minutes each) and makes efficient use of each and every episode. Everything here (acting, production values, scriptwriting) is top notch as it masterfully crafts each individual subplot. Some mysteries are solved neatly, while others go largely unexplained – all of them are thought-provoking in how they contribute to the grand scheme of events. But the positives don't stop there. It almost completely avoids every cliché of the K-drama playbook and seemingly gets stronger with each episode. I also liked the characters and the dreamy mood.

Set in a time nearly contemporary with the first publication of the King James Bible in the West, this story of early modern Korea during the time of the Josean Kingdom suggests a land in some degree of social turmoil and an emperor who is afraid that new ideas or exposure to new phenomenon will undermine his rule. Nevertheless, his royal secretary realizes that to control the very real phenomenon affecting the kingdom requires gathering as much information about it as possible; and so, with or without the permission of the emperor--and probably with, the royal secretary tasks a government inspector to investigate and write reports about the strange phenomena he finds even though no one will read those reports in his lifetime--or perhaps ever.

All of the phenomena familiar to X-Files fans are there: conspiracies, lost time, unidentified craft hovering over lonely locations, whole villages caught up in mysterious goings on, legendary monsters and mysterious locations. The inspector is a kind of Mulder in that he is dedicated to pursuing the truth wherever it leads.

Back then when they dared to try something different to varying degrees of success. It's not fair to compare this to The X-Files, they have nothing in common other than sharing a similar genre. Anyway, the drama was a mixed bag, some cases were better and more interesting than others. The main story that was progressing in the background wasn't well fleshed out to tie everything together and the ending was just okay. The performance of the cast was alright, nothing major but some scenes lacked the effort. The performance of the cast was alright, nothing major but some scenes lacked the effort.