Disney+ K-drama Moving presents touching tale of superhumans

Korean creatives Kangfull and Park Inje are behind the narrative and mise-en-scéne of Moving. Now streaming on Disney+, the action-packed series is about three teenagers with superhuman powers and their parents, who have worked for the National Intelligence Service (NIS).

“About a year ago, we started shooting,” director Inje got nostalgic when he looked back on the series’ journey to the screen in a recent virtual press conference, which was also graced by Moving writer Kangfull and the ensemble of lead and supporting actors. “We worked so much with the staff and crew, who are so talented, and I feel like I wish I could have done more, I could have done better. I just hope that when the audience watches our show, they will feel like this is something that they haven’t seen before.”

And director Inje, also behind the hit Kingdom Season 2, hoped that viewers “can truly feel and (immerse themselves) in those (aspects of the series like) the high tension and the emotional journey” throughout the 20 episodes.

He added, “I feel like we did a great job (in) maintaining that level of excitement.”

Director Park Inje shares that he and his production team wanted to put all the story details on the screen and paid attention to them. So, each episode captures those minute details as presented in the narrative.

That feeling of thrill, along with those of fun, mystery and drama, is again based on the plot and story of Kangfull, the writer behind the webtoon of the same title on which Moving was built.

“I have been in this job (writing webtoons) and I’ve been a cartoonist for a very long time,” said he, who also compared it to writing a script. “Usually, when I work on a series like webtoons, I work by myself. But working on this show, I had people that I would lean on, you know, I depended on other people, and there was the cast and the crew. And I just feel like it was a new experience, you know, it was such a mixture of emotions and I was very moved.”

In terms of series length, Moving is composed of 20 episodes and crafted in three parts, as compared to the usual short ones, which are made up of six episodes. The intention was to keep viewers engaged.

The recollections of Kangfull revealed that Moving was initially conceptualized as a 12- to 16-episode story and then eventually became a 20-episode series.

“If it is a 20-episode long (show), (I thought) I would take on the screenplay,” said he. “What’s really important for stories is not just the narrative but (also) the characters. So, I wanted to make sure that there were 20 episodes, so that we could dive deep into each character.”

Webtoon creator and TV series writer Kangfull says there’s so much to watch in the action-packed series on Disney+, from visuals to stories, and that viewers get to learn about every character’s backstory.

“There’s so much to watch, it’s going to be visually appealing, and there’s going to be so many stories, but most of all, you’ll get to learn about the backstories of the characters. That’s why it’s 20-episode long,” shared Kangfull.

Again, the more than a dozen episodes allow viewers to get to know more about the characters, making the story very heartfelt.

Telling and capturing all of that on the screen was what director Inje took on.

“It was very challenging for me because it was 20-episode long, and because there’s so much detail in the characters and the different narratives of different characters,” said he. “So, we wanted to make sure as a production crew that we put all those details onto the screen. For every single episode, we had to pay attention to all the minute details.”

“So, it was difficult, but I hope people love it. Yeah, it’s 20-episode long and so, there (are) three chunks of stories, so, it’s kinda like three seasons in one season,” added he.

Another interesting character in Moving, the series is Jeon Gye-do, played by veteran actor Cha Taehyun.

“Gye-do is not in the original webtoon; he is a new character,” said Taehyun, star of My Sassy Girl and Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds. “He can generate electricity. He has just a little bit (of) electricity, he can create some static, but when (as my character) I have an amplifier like a battery, I hold it in my hand and I can kind of explode my power. So, that’s the kind of character Gye-do is, and in the show, he also takes on the role of Thunder Man in children’s shows.”

“If you watch Moving, the parts that I’m in are not very dark and heavy. I think I take more on the lighter side of the show. So, if you’re watching the show, I think you’ll have some air to breathe,” the actor concluded.