Another excellent but flopped drama series: fantastic actors, funny yet humanistic storyline

“Cafe Minamdang” is highly regarded yet not widely known. 

“Café Minamdang” is a KBS2 drama series airing at the beginning of the week. Having aired 12 out of 18 episodes and reached a medium rating of 4 to 5%, “Cafe Minamdang”, on the contrary, is not so popular. On social media, relatively few viewers mention the name of this work. Objectively speaking, “Cafe Minamdang” has a considerably high quality compared to the general Korean drama series. Yet, it still flops in the face of big hits such as “Big Mouth” or “Today’s Webtoon”. 

“Cafe Minamdang” explores topics of spirituality and crime-solving, based on Jung Jae Ha’s best-selling novel “Minamdang: Case Note”. Carrying a bright, funny atmosphere, the series revolves around Nam Han Joon ( Seo In Guk), a former criminal profiler, who is now an exorcist and owner of a shaman coffee shop called Minamdang. He attracts customers with his “opulent” appearance and a rhetorical talent. Although his purpose is only to obtain information for investigation he also helps his customers with their personal problems countless times. Accompanying Han Joon is Gong Soo Cheol (Kwak Si Yang), owner of a private detective company and Han Joon’s younger sister Nam Hye Joon (Kang Mina), a genius hacker. 

During their investigation, Nam Jan Joon usually comes face to face with righteous female police officer Han Jae Hee (Oh Yeon Seo). Despite their opposite personalities, they all work to protect justice. 

Even though the series is a crime solving mystery with a blend of spirituality, “Cafe Minamdang” carries a bright and funny overtone, making it easier to watch while incorporating humanistic details. The series is highly regarded thanks to its in-depth and realistic depiction of Korean society, where a majority of the public still put their faith in shamans and spiritual tales. This is not a new subject in Korean television series. Yet, the development is interesting and easy to watch. Moreover, the cast has been doing an incredible job, especially the male lead Seo In Guk’s performance. 

Viewers’ comments: 

• At first I thought the series would be thrilling and gloomy; who would have thought it would be this bright and funny, it is a very entertaining watch 
• This series is truly excellent, don’t know why it just flops tragically
• Seo In Guk’s performance is top-tiered, he just looks defiant, totally different from his image with co-star Park Bo Young 
• I am so in love with this series, sadly there are not many people to watch with 
• A series many are overlooking, such a shame