"Midnight Photo Studio" Is One Strange Mix Of Ghost Stories And Forensics K-Drama

I just finished watching Midnight Photo Studio and I feel it's a bizarre combination of ghost stories and forensics. It's got some Anime-ish or Japanese J-Drama kind of humor. One may think of X-Files and Mentalist with some K-Drama twist. The supernatural element is done c/o Seo Ki-Joo (Joo Woon) and Han Bom (Kwon Nara) who is a lawyer It was fun to see Nara act in a legal drama again after seeing her in a secondary role in the crime drama Suspicious Partner. The novel was written by Kim Yi-Rang.

I'll admit supernatural crime drama may not be my biggest cup of tea. I prefer non-supernatural crime drama because the inspiration is closer to real events. In this case, I was able to say that Nara has been more versatile than Erika Toda-Matsuzaka ever was in J-Drama. I find Nara's acting more convincing than Erika. Not that I find Erika to be a bad actress. Erika was able to do her job in Death Note. However, Nara could still do a better performance even if she's usually a secondary lead character. In this case, Ki-Joo's acting isn't all that spectacular. I think pairing her with Ki-Joo balanced things out. Both try to do better than they could and it worked to a certain extent.

I found myself complaining whenever the ghost studio overlaps the forensics. Then I remember that the crime plot is secondary to the show. It's all about the studio and fulfilling the restless spirits' requests. I think about The Devil Punisher from Taiwan. Unlike Devil Punisher, it involves mortal people dealing with restless spirits. I usually cheer for the legal drama section. I'm not too fond of the ghost studio plot. However, both give some good plot and action to go along with it. I'd say the ghost studio plot is still well laid out overall.

For me, this is another of those obviously Manga-inspired K-Dramas. I'd say it's good to give it a shot as well.

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