Hymn of Death

Based on a true story, the drama tells the tragic love story of Kim Woo Jin, a married stage drama writer, and Yun Shim Duk, Korea's first professional soprano, who meet while studying at Tokyo University in the 1920s. Yun Shim Duk's recording of "Death Song" became the first Korean pop song in 1926.

Hymn of Death (2018) is a South Korean period romance miniseries created for SBS, a six-episode limited series of thirty-minute episodes based on a true story. Lee Jong-suk plays Kim Woo-jin, a married stage drama writer, and Shin Hae-sun plays Yoon Sim-duk, Korea's first professional soprano, whose paths cross while both are studying at Tokyo University. Their attraction is an unspoken engine: every step toward each other runs into the marriage Kim is bound to, the expectations of the families around them, and the rigid social codes of the era. Park Sun-im and Lee Ji-hoon round out the principal cast as figures tied to the couple's artistic and personal worlds. The story moves through the performance halls and private spaces of 1920s Tokyo and Korea, with the songwriting and recording of Death Song giving the drama its emotional center. The tone is melancholic, lyrical and restrained, with each episode building toward a sense of inevitable loss. Fans of Mr. Sunshine and Blood and Sand will find resonance in its blend of historical texture, music and doomed romance.

Audiences rated the single season positively, praising its melancholic romance and historical reconstruction of 1920s Korea and Japan.

• Blood and Sandtragic romance across class and marriage obstacles, period melodrama with a historical basis
• Mr. Sunshineforbidden love in a historical setting, tragic romance with a true-life musical figure
• Sakuranbomelancholic period romance, tragic love in early twentieth century East Asia

Release Date

2018-11-27

Episode runtime

30 min

Rating

7.6 / 10 (114)

What is Hymn of Death about?

A married stage writer and Korea's first professional soprano fall in love in 1920s Tokyo, and their doomed romance becomes the first Korean pop song.

What is Hymn of Death like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Hymn of Death as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as simple.

Is Hymn of Death violent?

No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Hymn of Death.

What did critics think of Hymn of Death?

Audiences rated the single season positively, praising its melancholic romance and historical reconstruction of 1920s Korea and Japan.

Which shows are like Hymn of Death?

Shows with a similar feel include Blood and Sand, Mr. Sunshine, and Sakuranbo.

How long is Hymn of Death?

Hymn of Death: 1 season, 6 episodes.

Is Hymn of Death still running?

No, Hymn of Death has ended.