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The latest Netflix Korean original is The Sound of Magic, a musical. Starring Ji Chang-wook, Hwang In-yeop and Choi Sung-eun in lead roles, the show sheds light on the difficulties faced by young adults who are forced to take part in the rat race set by society. The question that drives the show is ‘What would happen if students’ blinders were removed by a man who is not accepted by society?' A man who claims to be a magician, but lives in a dilapidated amusement park?
Over six episodes, each spanning about an hour, The Sound of Magic takes audiences on a beautiful journey about the importance of acceptance, individuality and friendship.
Who is Ri-eul in The Sound of Magic?
Ri-eul is a magician played by actor Ji Chang-wook in The Sound of Magic. He is introduced as a suspicious character who seems to be interested in high school student, Yoon Ah-yi (Choi Sung-eun). Something about her interests him and motivates him to convince her of the fact that he is a magician who can change lives.
From the very beginning, one of the most intriguing things about Ri-eul is the fact that he is disconnected from reality. He cannot understand Ah-yi’s financial struggles, let alone empathize with her. So despite his best attempts to convince Ah-yi of the fact that he is a magician, he fails. Rumors about him suggest that he is a trickster, a man of unsound judgment who is creepy enough to have used a real knife during an act.
However, he is far from all of this, and from the judgement that society has about him. Ah-yi has to look beyond these to understand the man behind all the tricks. Ri-eul doesn’t make things easy for her either. In fact, his dissociation from society leads to his ignorance about the power struggles within schools, economic hierarchy and more.
Why Ri-eul chose to disown the life of a functional professional in favor of magic in The Sound of Magic is a question that gets answered in the finale episode, and this unlocks the puzzle behind his eccentricities as well. Ri-eul, originally Ri Min-hyuk, used to be a brilliant student. An innocent boy whose aim was to only make his parents happy, learns that he is much different from his siblings.
There are hints that he is adopted, and this explains why the young boy obsesses over his scores. He loses himself in this obsession, and hopelessness sneaks upon him. At the height of such desperation — in what can be perceived as either hallucination or an otherworldly interference — he spots a beautiful blue butterfly. The one that appears every time he casts a spell around Ah-yi, and later, Na Il-deung (Hwang In-yeop).
He is a changed person after this intervention in The Sound of Magic. Despite being doubted, blamed and accused of crimes that he never committed, Ri-eul decides to dedicate his life to magic and convincing young people to believe in magic. Not the kind where you cast spells and fly away on broomsticks, but the kind that brings about a change in one’s life. Moments that, in hindsight, are treated as miraculous.
In this context, Ri-eul is definitely a magician. He cast a spell that neither Ah-yi nor Il-deung will forget in their lives. In fact, Il-deung struggles through a pressure Ri-eul himself is all-too-familiar with. By helping the young boy, Ri-eul finds closure as well. But it is Ah-yi that he chooses as his successor in The Sound of Magic.
The reason for this is simple really. He wanted a young girl who wanted to be a responsible adult, one that would continue to encourage the inner child in her. In Ah-yi, he found the right person, especially when he realized that the difficulties that she faced makes her an empathetic person.
This K-drama centers on acceptance, and by the end, Ri-eul also finds the first person who truly believes in his magic despite how society portrayed him. He also finds people who trust him, who understand his pain, and accept him as he is — flaws, eccentricities, ignorance and all.
