Hotel Del Luna is the eighth highest-rated Korean drama in cable television history. Receiving a viewership rating of 12.0, it exceeds all the cable dramas on the top-list of 2019. The show features sixteen episodes, each drawing an average of three million viewers. The success of this highly-grossing show can be attributed to the director, Oh Choong-Hwan, and the popularity of the world-famous K-pop star and actress, IU. Falling into the genres of fantasy, mystery, and romantic comedy, Hotel Del Luna will surely make everyone binge on this drama.

     For the unfamiliar, Hotel Del Luna is a story of Jang Man-Wol, a beautiful, greedy ghost, falling in love with Koo Chan-Sung, an intelligent mortal that graduated from Harvard. A thousand and three hundred years ago, Man-Wol made an unforgivable mistake that caused her to live as a vengeful ghost, with the punishment as the haunting Hotel Del Luna’s CEO; when a full moon arises, ghosts will wander into the hotel as guests. Although Man-Wol never ages, she suffers in isolation as her loved ones leave. Centuries later, Chan-Sung, a perfectionist, begins to work at Hotel Del Luna as a manager, due to an unexpected case. Love blooms between the CEO and the manager although it’s impossible for a spirit and a moral to be together. The show follows everyday relationship conflicts of Man-Wol and Chan-Sung, and whether Man-wol can escape her dooming punishment. 

     IU, playing Man-Wol, is the lead actress and Yeo Jin-Goo, playing Chan-Sung, is the lead actor of Hotel Del Luna. To the new audience, IU is one of the best-selling solo artists in the K-Pop industry, making an appearance on Forbes and Billboard. On the other hand, Yeo Jin-Goo won “Best-Actor” awards on numerous nominations, including SBS and KBS Drama Awards. Other notable roles are Kang Mi-na, from the girl group I.O.I., Sulli, from group f(x), P.O, a known rapper in South Korea, and Park Yoo-Na, an actress for roles in many popular television shows, like Sky Castle.

     Another exceptional component of Hotel Del Luna is its original soundtrack. “All About You” by Taeyeon was recently nominated as the “Best Original Soundtrack” on Korea Drama Awards. Other songs like “Remember Me” by Gummy, “So Long” by Paul Kim, and “Done for Me” by Punch, have earned a position of number one in South Korea. In addition, some of the soundtracks are covered by widely-popular girl groups like Red Velvet, which sang, “See the Stars,” and one of the best-selling solo artists, Chung Ha, sang, “At the End.”

Some of the more distinctive things about the show are the set design, apparel, and cinematography. Hotel Del Luna has a perfect blend of historical fiction, fantasy, realistic fiction, and mystery. This means that the set design is very unique with battle scenes, luxurious hotels, mile-long deserts, and even haunting tunnels. To contrast, the apparel is just as well put together, with fans calling IU’s fashion a “billionaire-look.” Ranging from expensive brands, like Gucci and Zimmermann, to hair done by top stylists in Korea, Hotel Del Luna has it all. As expected, this show’s cinematography is just as outstanding. Filmed by Jung Dong-Hwan, Hotel Del Luna has won the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Korea Drama Awards for its cinematography. Dong-Hwan has a very interesting cinematic style by using a legendary oak tree to symbolize the amount of time Man-Wol has left with Chan-Sung. When the petals fully wither away, Man-Wol will leave the mortal world and Chan-Sung, which really breaks the audience’s heart. 

     Hotel Del Luna left me in anger, laughter, and tears. This show is fit for teens to young adults and subtitles can easily be found on Viki.com. With a second season coming out soon, remember to look out for creeping spirits when the lunar eclipse hits.