My Demon: he need to hold her wrist to use his power since his tattoo (the source of his power) is now on her wrist. Ergo, if he doesn't hold her wrist, he cannot access his demon power.

myul mang kim sa-ram + trying to be a decent human being (luckily, his longer-human wife is helping him)

✧❁ wallpaper 〴 doom at your service ˗ˏˋ ´ˎ˗

reblog if you save ➳

Guardian Goblin...Guardian Mountain God...Guardian Demon

In the latest drama, "My Demon," we're introduced to a guardian demon. However, as I delved into the series, a sense of déjà vu crept in. Was this guardian demon truly distinct, or did he bear striking similarities to others we've seen before?

Questions about plagiarism first emerged when Gu Won's death scene in "My Demon" closely resembled that of Kim Shin's death scene in "Goblin". Many dismissed the notion that the writer had plagiarized the scene, citing the cinematographer had worked on both "Goblin" and "My Demon".

However, I believe the issue of plagiarism extended beyond cinematography; from the characterization of the male lead to the overall concepts, "My Demon" seemed almost identical to well-known fantasy kdramas, echoing themes, lines, and scenes from its predecessors. The writer, Choi Ah Il, appeared to borrow extensively from existing works, crossing the line between inspiration and outright plagiarism.

Gu Won, the guardian demon, was a mishmash of characters from various supernatural dramas. His personality, appearance, and even punishment seemed like something taken right out of "Goblin", "Tale of the Nine-Tailed", and "Doom at Your Service." Beyond his Thanos-like finger snap and cross tattoo, there was very little that made him unique.

For a writer who criticized goblins, nail-tailed foxes, grim reapers, and vampires, Choi Ah Il failed to differentiate her demon. Gu Won could've been a distinctive supernatural character with his own unique backstory or even a different style, but instead, he felt like a Frankenstein creation of well-established supernatural creatures. Ultimately, I was left to wonder if the writer or even Gu Won himself knew who he really was.

In my field, we constantly aim to create innovative and original ideas. Therefore, I understand the fear that can come with breaking new ground. For Choi Ah Il's first fantasy drama, the fear of her original ideas not being good enough might have led her to heavily rely on existing works.

My advice to Choi Ah Il is to have more confidence in both herself and her ideas. When we put our entire heart and soul into our work, our sincerity and passion will shine through, making them more likely to be appreciated by others. We should embrace all of our "crazy" ideas instead of plagiarizing others' work. Even if our idea doesn't work out, at least we know we gave it our all. And this, to me, is infinitely more fulfilling than imitating others.

So in conclusion, "My Demon" had the potential to be a great fantasy drama, but it seemed to copy too much from others' works. Whether it's an issue of inspiration or outright plagiarism, the drama left me wondering what ideas truly belonged to Choi Ah Il. As viewers, we deserve to experience a writer's unique voice, not a patchwork of borrowed elements hastily stitched together. Going forward, I'll probably give this writer one more chance to improve her scriptwriting. I must add that if it weren't for the great cast and their impeccable acting and adlibs, this drama would've been doomed due to its messy plot and lack of true originality.

Below are some scenes and concepts from other shows and movies that are nearly identical to the ones in "My Demon". I'll let you decide for yourself if you think the writer of "My Demon" was inspired by other's works or simply plagiarized them.

(Note: I might add more later, but it's a lot of work to go through each show and screenshot everything and then compile them in a collage)

p.s. I'll post my review, thoughts, and analysis for Eps 15-16 in a few days!

Goblin The Great and Lonely God

Hooded supernatural

2. Objects that represent the end of a human's journey...clocks instead of tea cups

3. The mother has complications with her daughter's birth and is saved by a supernatural being

4. In the past, the FL dies, ML kills a bunch of people, and ML ends his life. ML has memories of his past sins erased. As punishment, ML is turned into a grim reaper character.

Others:

The quote Madam Ju said in Ep 3 about plants and seeds was similar to the one said by Ji Tak in "Goblin": Humans have four lives. A life of planting seeds, a life of watering seeds, a life of harvesting, and a life of using the harvests.

The ML's had blamed God for all the obstacles in their lives and when they finally got a chance to talk to God, God told them they didn't have all the anwers to their questions and that they didn't know everything similar to God in MD.

The FL dies at the peak of her happiness similar to how in MD, the FL's parents died at the peak of her happiness.

The FL in "Goblin" was the key to ending the ML's life as an immortal just like how in MD, the FL was the key to making the ML human.

Tale of the Nine Tailed

Supernatural ML has an obsession with desserts

2. FL died in the past to save the ML

3. FL's parents is involved in a car accident on FL's birthday (9th birthday in TOTNT and 10th birthday in MD)

4. Wishes Granted By The Devils

5. Wishes and Exploiting Other's Misfortunes to Survive

6. FL wears object and remembers tragic past life

7. Personal Hell is being in a world without the FL

8. Working for the Divine as Their Best Performer

9. Mother-like Figure is a Goddess

10. Wearing Two Wedding Rings

Others:

In "Tale of the Nine Tailed," The Almighty granted Nine-Tailed Foxes or Gumihos various powers, but they were bound by one rule: they must fulfill their end of the deal/contract with humans or face death. This rule aimed to prevent Gumihos from murdering humankind. Similarly, in "My Demon," Gu Won faced a similar fate. If he didn't make deals with humans, he would die. Additionally, if Gu Won murdered humans, he would also face death. In both cases, rules and contracts were established to prevent supernatural beings endowed with god-like powers from killing humans.

The concept of wanting to live or die together in TOTNT was also present in MD

In TOTNT, the FL tried to protect the ML, but ended up dying. In the present, the ML made it a mission to protect the FL to prevent the same tragic fate from happening. ML ended up saving the FL in present but died in the process...and then ML came back to life just like in MD.

ML in TOTNT came back to life/was reincarnated as a mortal human with Gumiho powers similar to how after Gu Won came back to life, he was a human with demon powers.

Twilight

Supernatural leaves human because they hates their monstrous nature

2. Supernatural watches their human sleep

3. Human is kidnapped to draw out supernatural ML

4. Human gets a leg injury during kidnapping

Others:

Gu Won played "Clair de lune" just like Edward did in Twilight

Doom At Your Service

Listening to others' wishes and meeting a wisher that would change their fate

2. Beginning of a new journey filled with hand-holding, bubbles, and water

3. Necessaity of holding hands/wrist to recharge

4. Creating a dream of the FL's deepest desire

5. Celebrating a supernatural's birthday

Others:

One of the major themes in DAYS was choices just like in MD

Hotel Del Luna

Fireflies by the lake

Others:

SEO IN GUK as MYUL MANG