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Pierce Conran

Lead cast: Ju Ji-hoon, Park Bo-young, Kim Min-ha, Bae Sung-woo
Kang Full, the celebrated webtoon author behind the small-screen superhero saga Moving, Disney+’s most successful foreign-language series to date, is back on the streaming service with Light Shop, another high-concept series based on one of his comic books.
This series once again features a sprawling cast and a mix of thrills and emotions in a visually appealing package, but those expecting another incandescent experience should prepare themselves for a lower wattage.
The title refers to a store that sells bulbs and lamps, a bright spot in a dark alley that is only open at night. Ju Ji-hoon, who is appearing opposite Jung Yu-mi in the romantic comedy Love Your Enemy, plays Jung Won-young, the man running the store who never takes off his sunglasses.


An odd assortment of people frequents his out-of-the-way establishment. Some are normal customers looking to replace broken bulbs at home, while others walk in with different agendas.
This latter group does not pay him for his wares, but we get the sense that these people must be the store’s real customers. They do not quite understand what it is they need as they walk in, but fate has brought them there nonetheless.
Among them is Lee Ji-young (Summer Strike’s Kim Seol-hyun, of the K-pop group AOA), who walks around with a dazed look pulling a suitcase dripping blood. She keeps waiting on a bus stop bench, where she bumps into salaryman Kim Hyun-min (Um Tae-goo, My Sweet Mobster) every night.
There’s detective Yang Sung-sik (Bae Sung-woo, The 8 Show), who drops by during an investigation; high-school student Hyun-joo (Shin Eun-soo, Twinkling Watermelon), who returns every night to pick up bulbs for her mother; as well as unusual figures such as a women who suddenly grow very tall or a man who brings a chill wherever he goes.

The alley is also home to the screenwriter Yoon Sun-hae (Kim Min-ha, Pachinko), who appears to be the only resident on the street. However, she does not seem to be quite alone in her flat, which includes a locked room she is not supposed to enter.
Meanwhile, once again in scrubs after Daily Dose of Sunshine, Park Bo-young plays Kwon Young-ji, an empathetic nurse who shares a special connection with certain people around her.
As with Moving, Kang also wrote Light Shop. Although many of his works have been adapted for the screen in the past, before these streaming series Kang had only put pen to paper for the little-seen animation Timing.
Those familiar with the webtoonist can easily recognise his style, as his work has a tendency to feature overlapping stories of characters whose lives are connected by events that are either supernatural or very violent.

Of particular importance in his stories is what happened to the characters before the point when they all come together.
This can be neighbours learning that a serial killer lives among them (The Neighbors), citizens of a town who come together seeking revenge for traumatic events in the past (26 Years), or ordinary people who become hunted when they develop superpowers (Moving).
Most stories are about where characters are headed, but for Kang, how they got to where they are seems to be of equal importance.
Light Shop takes this idea even further. The characters all find themselves in a strange place and, as we unravel the mystery of what that place is, we have to learn about the path that led them there.
This path is so important that it begs the question of whether the light shop itself carries much narrative significance.

In the show’s first four episodes – of a total of eight – the light shop does not serve much of a narrative function. Instead, it acts as a warm and inviting way station, somewhere caught between two worlds.
There is something comforting about this space; prosaic and tactile events that unfold there suffuse us with a pleasant sensation.
This includes the simple exchange of bulbs and cash – rather than credit cards – during the store’s transactions, or Won-young carefully collecting used confectionery wrappers in a box.
Pleasant as this sensation may be, what Light Shop is missing at the halfway point is a clear sense of direction. The mystery behind the store and the people frequenting it does not leave much to the imagination.

Actor Kim Hee-won (Behind Your Touch), directing for the first time, gets compelling performances out of the cast. But so far he has not quite managed to balance the elements of a show that is rich in tone but light in plot.
Light Shop is streaming on Disney+.


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Ju Ji-hoon as store owner Jung Won-young in a still from Light Shop, a new Korean drama series on Disney+ by Kang Full, the creator of hit series Moving. Photo: Disney+.

Kim Seol-hyun as customer Lee Ji-young in a still from Light Shop. Photo: Disney+

Park Bo-young as nurse Kwon Young-ji in a still from Light Shop. Photo: Disney+

Um Tae-goo as worker Kim Hyun-min in a still from Light Shop. Photo: Disney+

Kim Min-ha as screenwriter Yoon Sun-hae in a still from Light Shop. Photo: Disney+

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Lim Ji-yeon in a still from The Tale of Lady Ok.

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Lim Ji-yeon as Gu-deok in a still from The Tale of Lady Ok.

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Lim Ji-yeon as Lady Ok in a still from The Tale of Lady Ok.

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Gong Yoo as Han Jeong-won and Seo Hyun-jin as Noh In-ji in a still from The Trunk. Photo: Kim Seung-wan/Netflix

Gong Yoo as Han Jeong-won in a still from The Trunk. Seo Hyun-jin co-stars. Photo: Kim Seung-wan/Netflix

Gong Yoo as Han Jeong-won in a still from The Trunk. Photo: Kim Seung-wan/Netflix.

Jung Yun-ha (left) as Lee Seo-yeon and Gong Yoo as Han Jeong-won in a still from The Trunk. Photo: Kim Seung-wan/Netflix.

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Gong Yoo (left) as Han Jeong-won and Seo Hyun-jin as Noh In-ji in a still from The Trunk. Photo: Kim Seung-wan/Netflix

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This tale of customers at a mysterious shop that only opens at night is based on a story by webtoon author Kang Full


This tale of customers at a mysterious shop that only opens at night is based on a story by webtoon author Kang Full.
