Review | K-drama review – Kingdom: Ashin of the North sees Netflix’s hit zombie series return for revenge-fuelled special episode starring Jun Ji-hyun
- In this prequel Ashin, played by Jun Ji-hyun, embarks on a relentless campaign of revenge that will eventually result in the events witnessed in Kingdom
- Cool and capable, we sympathise with her motives, though her actions steadily force us to consider that she may in fact be a villain
3/5 stars
While we wait for a likely third season to materialise, Netflix invites us to return to the Kingdom saga this summer through this prequel origin story. Ashin of the North is a feature-length special that clues us in on the mysterious Ashin, played by superstar Jun Ji-hyun, who appeared in the closing moments of the second season.
Following a dense preamble that outlines the geopolitics of the Jurchen forces, officials of the ancient Korean Joseon kingdom and the Seongjeoyain tribe caught between them in northern Joseon, the special episode opens in a forest, in a nod to another Korean zombie smash hit, Train to Busan: a deer eats a mysterious blue flower and turns into a zombie, only for it to be immediately mauled by a tiger, giving rise to Netflix’s second zombie tiger of the year (after Army of the Dead).
Visually, Ashin of the North distinguishes itself from the main series through its locations, such as this dense forest and the ominous open plains. Zombies are once again used as a political metaphor. At the centre of it all is Ashin, a compelling character who challenges our conception of her as she embarks on a campaign of revenge that will eventually result in the events witnessed in Kingdom.
Jun is picky about the projects she takes on, but each time she does sign on to something she makes it her own. As an adult, Ashin is a character seething with anger, which Jun captures through disquietly vacant stares.
