In ‘The Uncanny Counter’ Chasing Evil Spirits Is Contract Work

There’s nothing normal about being a “counter,” that is a person contracted by the after-life to chase down evil spirits. But the paranormal counter characters featured in the k-drama The Uncanny Counter do try to seem normal. Besides using their super abilities—super strength, agility and ultra-heightened senses—to pursue evil, these superhero counters also have a day job. 

Together they run a noodle shop that serves noodles so delicious customers cannot just eat them once. People line up to visit the shop, but are often disappointed when the counters have to run off on a mission in the middle of lunch.

Do Ha-na, played by singer-actress Kim Se-jeong, is one of the counters. She can sense evil spirits from miles away and read the minds of those she touches. The noodle shop chef and Ha-na’s fellow counter is Chu Mae-ok, played by Yum Hye-ran. The third team member is Ga Mo-tek, played by Yu Jun-sang and the head counter, to whom they report, is Choi Jang-mool, played with great comic effect by Ahn Suk-hwan.

Capturing evil spirits before they feed off the souls of humans is the counters’ first priority. In the action-packed first episode, the hoodie-wearing counters use all of their powers to pursue a very evil spirit, but the villain manages to escape, murdering a counter in the process. 

The murdered counter needs to be replaced, but this time, the recruitment process differs. It could even be called uncanny. Previous counters were all adults, recruited while they were in a coma, so cooking noodles and chasing down evil seemed like a good alternative. They easily accepted the work in exchange for waking up from a potentially endless sleep.  

The new recruit, So Mun, played by Joe Byeong-Gyu, does not get recruited while in a coma. He’s a physically handicapped, but very conscious, high school student, not even sure he wants to join the team. His grandparents need him and if anything happens to him, they would be devastated.

He was raised by his grandparents after his parents died in a suspicious car accident that also left him with a disabling limp. That disability and his early sense of powerlessness shaped his interest in the paranormal. In his spare time he draws a webtoon with a superhero character, perhaps living out his own fantasies of being stronger. If he decides to become a counter he could live out those fantasies in real life. He might even become the strongest and most uncanny counter, but he must weigh that possibility against the responsibility he feels for his grandparents.

When Mun is describing his superhero webtoon character to friends, they suggest making him somehow different from existing superheroes. Maybe the character should be born poor or have a bad personality, just to distinguish him. What Mun might become in real life is a superhero who knows what it’s like to have a disability. His real-life super power might be compassion, the ability to identify with those who suffer and the desire to protect them.

The drama is based on the Daum webtoon Amazing Rumor by Jang Yi, developed by Studio Dragon and directed by Yoo Sun-dong. Joe recently appeared in the hit dramas Hot Stove League and Sky Castle. Kim was last seen in I Wanna Hear Your Song. Yum appeared in the dramas When The Camellia Blooms, Hospital Playlist and Mystic Pop-Up Bar. Yu was seen in the drama Graceful Friends.