Korean Drama: Hotel Del Luna

Hotel Del Luna aired back in the summer of 2019 where it gained much attention across social media and with the international k-drama fanbase. It also features famous Kpop singer IU who is well known for her role in Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo. Hotel Del Luna has also achieved spot number 11 on the Highest Cable Rated K-drama chart and was written by the Hong Sisters who have well known for there uniquely crafted worlds. But is the drama really worth all the attention? 

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PLOT

The drama follows CEO of Hotel Del Luna Jang Man Weol, and due to a considerable sin which she committed years ago, she is tied to the hotel. However, Hotel Del Luna is not normal as it caters for the dead before they cross over into the afterlife to begin the process of reincarnation. Although, Del Luna is not supposed to be visible to living humans, one day a man stumbles into the hotel and ends up picking a flower from the Moon Tree. Man Weol spots him and decides to make a deal for his son to work for her after 20 years in return for his life and money. As twenty years pass by the son Ku Chan Seong and Man Weol eventually crosses paths and he finally fulfils the agreement to become the hotel’s general manager. He becomes entwined in the mysteries of Del Luna and the secrets behind Jang Man Weol’s past life.

The drama takes off to a relatively slow start as it sets up the world and gives enough information for the viewer to understand the rules of this world. The series has a relatively slow pace to it which could work, either way, it can keep you engaged, or it can make you lose interest. But the romance between Ku Chan Seong and Jang Man Weol does not fully take shape until halfway through the drama, and there were plot points that had the potential to be included earlier. Some plot points even felt extremely random. This was particularly with Ku Chan Seong’s mother, who made an appearance in episode 11, yet there was not much emotional focus on her. Instead, Chan Seong does not get any closure from seeing his mother and hardly sees her until she is due to leave. It was an abrupt introduction to a character who had the potential to give some more depth to his character. The same thing happened with Sanchez’s girlfriend who seemed to have one mention in the drama and then was then killed off, which was rather unnecessary.

However, the concept of Hotel Del Luna is strangely unique, and the themes that the drama touches on were certainly beautifully executed. It touches on the topic of grudges which many of the characters have in this drama, and it showed that anger/revenge is one of the basic and natural human reactions we have. It emphasis how having ill feelings can lead to a terrible income, and how we should strive to forgive so, we may move forward with life. But the most prevalent and reoccurring theme that is consistent throughout Hotel Del Luna is the ability to let go of loved ones. It is depicted as one of the hardest things to do for both the dead and the living. So with each passing death characters are faced with letting go of there old lives and ties so they may start a new one. The drama did a stunning job at presenting this on-screen through its scripting as it doesn’t hesitate to remind us consistently that one day Chan Seong will have to send Man Weol off and will need to find the strength to do so.

“Feeling sad and disappointed is only natural when witnessing disappearances. When a flower withers away, just like it dreams of new blossom, you’ll live, meet, and love again.”

– Hotel Del Luna

CHARACTERS

JANG MAN WEOL

The majority of Hotel Del Luna is focused on the character development of Jang Man Weol and her backstory that dates from 1000 years ago. So the drama feels more character-driven than plot-driven overall. She is a jaded soul who bathes in luxury but also has moments of vulnerability when she is around Chan Seong. Man weol character also proves to be fascinating to see unfold over the course of the drama as Ku Chan Seong slowly begins to make flowers bloom on the moon tree. So a lot of her actual character development is due to Ku Chan Seong. The dreams that Chan Seong continued to have about Man Weol also allowed her character to be fleshed out even more. They allow us to learn life, her first love, and what led her to run Hotel Del Luna. It was engaging, and IU’s delivery is almost faultless in Hotel Del Luna, making Jang Man Weol a stellar character overall.

KU CHAN SEONG

Ku Chan Seong is the human that is brought to Hotel Del Luna to pay off his father’s debt. He ends up becoming the hotel’s human manager and becomes a critical character in sending Man Weol off into the afterlife. He is a stoic character and is also relatively weak-hearted when it comes to seeing ghosts. However, he evolves from this to someone who is able to help ghosts with the problems with ease. His character development wasn’t the most believable, and there was far too much focus on his job to see Man Weol off. There were also times were Chan Seong lacked emotion, for example, when he has to part with Man Weol, and she professes her heart out to him, there was minimal reaction. Whilst he may have been trying to be the strong one in the situation, some form of emotional response would have worked much better. What is also unfortunate is that Chan Seong may appear next to Man Weol in the posters for Hotel Del Luna but for a ‘main character,’ there was not enough development or personality which ultimately was its downfall.

“Man Wol. I’ll keep you in my heart and become the moon that never falls, to watch you from afar.”

– Hotel Del Luna

THE HOTEL CAST

The support hotel cast of Kim Seon-bi, Choi Seo-hee and Ji Hyun-Joong were also great additions to the drama. You are sure to grow fond of them throughout the show as they are united to help the ghost guests fulfil what they could not do when they were alive. They all each have there own backstories, making them much more than ghosts who were simply serving their time at the hotel. Hyun Joong backstory was particularly heart wrenching as it revolves around him waiting for his sister to finally pass away so they can head into the afterlife together. He also develops a relationship with Yu Na, which was endearing and also made his departure rather emotional. Although the drama does not emphasize how important these people are to Man Weol by the end, they all show subtle actions of affection and stay loyal to one another until the very end.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

The cinematography of Hotel Del Luna is clearly very top-notch. Jang Man Weol had a new outfit a variety of different scenes in each episode to go with what she was doing. It is clear that Hotel Del Luna had high production values as everything was stunning and well polished.

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OVERALL

Hotel Del Luna isn’t entirely worth all the attention it has been getting, and it can be seen as underwhelming due to the slow plotting. However, Man Weol’s story definitely takes the spotlight, and IU had excelled in yet another role. The drama also happens to be somewhat satisfying and unsatisfying at the same time. Man Weol is successfully able to be sent off into the afterlife with no last minute rescues but we also leave leave off on cliffhanger where the audience sees a new owner of Hotel Del Luna. Viewers can be reassured that Man Weol gets the ending she deserves but unfortunately, no season two has been confirmed which may leave viewers slightly baffled and if not frustrated.

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