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How K-dramas are making shamanism cool for Gen Z and millennials

Forget horror, portraying shamanism in Korean dramas is now about relatable characters that offer emotional healing to the dead

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A scene from the MBC drama Oh My Ghost Clients. Where once shamanism on television was meant to evoke fear, producers are now reinterpreting the practice and occult themes in new ways. Photo: Courtesy of MBC
The Korea Times

In the TvN fantasy romance drama Head Over Heels, high school student Seong-ah, who secretly works as a shaman by night, says, “When life wavers in the face of crisis, people seek out shamans.”

She performs a ritual called cheondojae to send off spirits and holds exorcisms to drive away evil ghosts, but the overall tone of the drama is not entirely dark and gloomy. During the solemn cheondojae ritual, her watch alarm goes off, prompting her to hurry the ceremony, saying, “If I can’t finish the ritual in 10 minutes, I have to go.”

As a ghost protests, she says, “Today is the midterm exam. You know what it means for a high schooler to mess up their grades, right?”

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The drama, which premiered on June 23, depicts the relationship between Seong-ah (Cho Yi-hyun), a teenage shaman who can see ghosts, and Gyeon-woo (Choo Young-woo), a transfer student destined for an early death. Seong-ah strives to save Gyeon-woo, her first love, from his fate.

The drama convincingly portrays the tensions between rituals and exams, shamanism and high school life, blending them naturally into a compelling coming-of-age story.

A scene from Head Over Heels. Photo: Courtesy of CJ ENM
A scene from Head Over Heels. Photo: Courtesy of CJ ENM

There was a time when portrayals of shamanism on television were meant to evoke fear. It was typically used as part of a setting in remote rural areas or as the backdrop for strange ghost stories.

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