Noodle shop employees by day, evil spirit hunters by night.
The Uncanny Counter is a Korean Series which is based on the webtoon Amazing Rumor by Jang Yi.
So Mun is an 18-year-old student who was in a car accident that killed his parents and injured his leg seven years ago. His life is relatively normal until he becomes a Counter, a person with special abilities that allow them to hunt down and get rid of evil spirits. While learning the ropes of his newfound powers, he is guided by his Counters Ga Mo-Tak (Joon-Sang Yoo), Chu Mae-Ok (Yeom Hye-ran) and Do Ha-Na (Se-Jeong Kim).
The first season has a total of 16 episodes and aired from 28th November 2020 to 24th January 2021 on Netflix and OCN. Netflix later revealed that the show had been renewed for a second season, which is currently airing on the streaming platform and tvN.
This show provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Ha-Na and Chu. They may work at a Noodle Shop during the day and look unassuming, but they can sure as hell kick ass.
- Action Mom: Chu is also this. Not only is she Kwon Soo-Ho’s (her Yung partner) actual mother, but she could be considered a mother figure to the other Counters (Mun in particular). Despite this, she can certainly hold her own.
- Action Prologue: The first episode has a fight scene between Cheong-Shin and the Counters. Cheong-Shin gets the upper hand and manages to kill Jang Cheol-Joong (who was trying to buy the other Counters time to get there).
- Amnesiac Hero: Mo-Tak. At the start of the series, he can’t remember any events from before he was in a coma, but he starts to gain his memories back throughout the course of the first season.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Cheong-Shin is nice to a child who's currently staying at the orphanage Cheong-Shin himself used to live at, which causes the child to intervene when the Counters try to summon Cheong-Shin.
- Heroic BSoD: Mun after finding out that his parents were intentionally murdered by Ji Cheong-Shin and that they didn’t die from a normal car accident. He reacts to it as well as you’d expect.
- Hollywood Healing: Justified, as Chu has healing powers. Said power has some limitations though, such as her hair turning grey and Chu becoming weaker.
- Hope Spot: In Episode 13. The Counters finally get the upper hand on Cheong-Shin and Baek Hyang-Hee and Mun is about to summon Cheong-Shin, but a child tries to stop Mun and Cheong-Shin manages to commit suicide before Mun can summon the spirit.
- How Do I Shot Web?: Mun while trying to learn how to use his Counter powers. He eventually manages to use his powers properly and get stronger.
- Karma Houdini: This applies to the antagonists for most of the first season. Shin Myeong-Hwi, Noh Hang-Gyu and Jo Tae-Shin do get exposed by the Counters for at least some of their misdeeds/crimes, but they get off scot-free due to their power and wealth. Cheong Shin also usually manages to get the other hand when fighting the Counters due to his increasing power. Cheong Shin commits suicide in Episode 13, but even then, Mun can’t summon the evil spirit inside of him and see his dead parents just yet because of this. However this is eventually averted at the end of the season.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Mun trying to fight Cheong-Shin on his own leads to the latter finding about the territories, thus allowing him to avoid the territory and making it harder for the Counters to take him down.
- Protected by a Child: Cheong-Shin in Episode 13. Crosses over with the Hope Spot mentioned above.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: A few of these a dished out throughout the first season.
- Rooftop Confrontation: Mo-Tak has one against Cheong-Shin and a few other people around the same time as Mun's car accident. It ultimately ends with Mo-Tak jumping off the roof and ending up in a coma.
- Supernatural Martial Arts: The series focuses on this premise. The Counters have extra abilities and fight enemies.
- Time Bomb: The Counters only have a certain amount of time to summon Cheong-Shin before the spirits of the people he’s killed disappear forever.
- Visual Pun: The noodle shop is a traditional little hole-in-the-wall joint. Inside, to get to one of the dining rooms there's a literal hole in the wall, as though they just knocked it through with a sledgehammer and then called it a day.
