The Heavenly Idol is about a powerful High Priest (Kim Min Kyu) from another world that ends up in the body of an idol who is part of the unpopular boy group Wild Animal. He must somehow succeed as a star in order to return home and fight off the devil.
Kim Min Kyu plays the High Priest Rembrary. He is kind man with healing powers from another world that is battling the devil. But he gets unexpectedly transported to a different world where he finds himself in the body of a struggling idol named Woo Yeon Woo and has a difficult time adjusting.
Go Bo Gyeol is Kim Dal. She is a long-time fan of Woo Yeon Woo and ends up becoming a manger for the group Wild Animal. She works to help Rembrary succeed as idol.
Then we have Lee Jang Woo who plays the Devil. After battling Rembrary in their world, he continues the fight in the new one by unleashing plenty of hardships upon him. I got quite a kick out of Lee Jang Woo. He was perfect for the Devil with his sinister charm.
I was honestly surprised by just how much I enjoyed The Heavenly Idol. It has a fun premise with a High Priest being transported to another world and inhabiting the body of a failing idol. Then we get to watch him awkwardly navigate his new world. The fish out of water trope is a favorite of mine, so I was there for it.
Most of the drama is on the lighter side with a lot of cheesy comedy and fun hijinks as Rembrary learns to be an idol with the help of Dal. And Rembrary is truly an interesting character.
Of course, it’s a lot of fun watching him struggle to adjust to the new world as he comes off as a bit of bumbling idiot, but he’s much more than that. He’s an incredibly kind man who wants to help those around him with his healing gift.
He is also very dedicated to his god and saving his people. He goes through a lot of emotional turmoil between being stuck in a new world and learning some very distressing things throughout his journey. He’s a very admirable man that had quite a lot to go through.
Dal is a great character too. She’s a long-time fan of Yeon Woo, so she had a lot invested in helping Rembrary, even after she finds out who he really is.
She’s also a very fleshed out character. She has her own trauma story that greatly impacts her in the current time, and we get to explore the impact this has on her as well as the events happening around Rembrary.
I also really like Rembrary and Dal together. They had such a fun chemistry. Now, the romance is quite the slow burn though. I’m not usually a big fan of slow burn romances, but in this case, I thought it fit perfectly.
Their relationship progression felt so natural as they moved through the phases of her thinking he’s Yeon Woo and wanting to help, then realizing he’s Rembrary, then having to build a different kind of relationship with him, eventually becoming friends, and ultimately falling in love and having to face some serious difficulties. It was lovely to watch.
We also take some time to get to know each of the band members in Wild Animal. We learn about their struggles as a group and each member gets a little bit of time in the spotlight to add in some padding to our story.
There is a serious story running in the background though. We get a brief opening to the drama of Rembrary’s world and his battle with the Devil. I do wish we could have spent more time to set up his world though because it is quite interesting, and I think it would have made things more impactful not only throughout the drama but especially towards the end.
For the bulk of the drama, this more serious story mostly serves to cause Rembrary difficulties as he tries to succeed as an idol. A lot of it is played for fun, but more serious moments are woven in. We also learn of a mysterious religious group in the new world and a group from the Afterlife/Underworld.
Then as we get to the last third of the drama things got surprisingly serious. The stakes are huge as the characters find themselves in horrible situations. Multiple showdowns are had that require big sacrifices. There were even some pretty nice twists that I didn’t see coming.
The back story for this drama was actually quite developed. For being on the lighter side, there was a lot of detail and world building. This is another reason I would have loved to have see this woven more throughout the drama. Instead, it felt like we were just scratching the surface for a large chunk of the show.
I loved the last few episodes though as we get fully immersed in the core story with all of the dramatics, magic, love, and betrayal. There was definitely a big tonal shift towards the end, but I really enjoyed it.
A little heads up though if you are considering watching this drama. Although plenty of people enjoyed this one just as I did, I think more people were disappointed in it. It’s one of those unusual experiences for me where a lot of what I liked about the drama was things that other people didn’t.
Most seem to greatly prefer the comedy elements of the show and weren’t as thrilled with the fantasy. Whereas I would have liked more of the serious fantasy. Many thought it felt too simple and low budget. I thought the actual back story was well-developed, and the overall production wasn’t anything spectacular, but seemed perfectly adequate.
Mostly, I would recommend not taking this drama too seriously or expecting to much from it. It’s fun and cheesy while taking a stab at weaving in a more serious fantasy story. Your mileage may vary with this one though.
So overall, I was very happy with The Heavenly Idol. It gave me plenty of lighthearted laughs and interesting characters. Then it created an in depth back story that really packed a punch in the end be delivering plenty of emotion and suspense. I definitely had a great time with this drama.
My Rating: 7.5/10
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