SPOILER WARNING: DO NOT READ IF YOU STILL PLAN ON WATCHING THIS SERIES OR HAVEN’T FINISHED IT YET!!

Joan’s Galaxy
(우주인 조안/Ujuin Joan/Astronaut Joan)
MyDramaList rating: 7.0/10

It’s oddly satisfying to go through this anthology while I’m also working on my end of term deadlines – whenever I have a moment to spare I find myself continuing with it. I got some unexpected time to sneak in another episode and I started working on the review immediately after finishing it because again, the story turned out to be an absolute gem. To give a short summary of the setting of this episode: it’s 2046 and the world is covered in thick fine dust. The population has been divided into two categories of human: C (clean) and N (non-clean). These categories refer to the health differences between each person. Cs are people that were injected with antibodies at birth, which allows them a lifespan of a hundred years. Ns are people who did not have the chance or means to get vaccinated, and they have a lifespan of only thirty years.

SF8: Joan’s Galaxy is the third episode in the SF8 anthology. It has a duration of about 54 minutes and was directed by Lee Yoon Jung. It’s based on the short story ‘Astronaut Joanne’ by Kim Hyo In.

As the population has been distinctly divided into these two categories, it is to be expected that there is a clear difference in lifestyle between the people from both groups. This difference is mainly expressed through the way the people have adapted to the dire environmental conditions. Cs, although perfectly healthy, tend to be more cautious and fearful of the toxic particles in the air. They see getting soaked in the rain as something extremely risky, for example, and they make as little contact as possible with the outside air, wearing protective suits and masks and driving in automatic cars so they don’t have to touch anything. On the other hand, Ns seem to have a much more liberated lifestyle. Despite the ‘misfortune’ of their shortened lifespan, Ns tend to make the most of the time they have. As they are forced to become independent and plan their whole lives ahead from when they are teenagers, they find much more freedom and time to focus on things they enjoy doing. Ironically, the freedom of not having to worry about what will become of their future allows them to enjoy the little moments of their life more than Cs. As it happens, many talented and creative artists have sprung from N communities.

Besides the two main categories C and N, there are also subcategories. For example, there are NCCs (non-clean but clean). This group consists of Ns who strive to extend their lifespan by acting like they are Cs. They wear special purifying suits and try to blend into C communities.
There’s also a mention made of TNs (total non-clean), which seems to refer to Ns who are beyond any possible chance of extending their life spans, for example people who have an illness on top of their lack of antibodies.

It is within this societal setting that we are introduced to Yi Oh (played by Choi Sung Eun). Her parents are both scholars (her father is a biological researcher and her mother a college professor) and it’s established that she has quite a wealthy background. Coming from a family of consistent Cs, Yi Oh has grown up under the impression she was vaccinated as a baby and lived her life for 26 years believing she was a C. Imagine her shock when she got some very serious news a month earlier. As it happens, her doctor discovered Yi Oh had a tumor, and when checking her records it was revealed that she actually didn’t get any antibodies when she was born. Her antibodies were accidentally given to another baby – an N baby who wasn’t even qualified to receive it. To sum it up: Yi Oh finds out that, despite spending 26 years believing she was a C, she’s actually been an N all her life.
While Yi Oh tries to wrap her head around this, her mother remains very firm: no one has to know. They keep it a secret that Yi Oh is a C by making her wear an NCC purifying suit that will hopefully retain her current health levels and keep the tumor’s growth stagnant (it has yet to become malignant). Whenever she’s asked why she’s wearing an N-type protective suit, Yi Oh just has to say her mom is making her wear it for safety just in case.

So basically, at the beginning of the episode’s story, Yi Oh is an N pretending to be a C. She’s not allowed to share her secret or talk about it with anyone except her adamant mother. She can’t even tell her good friend Kyung (Yoon Jung Hoon), who is an N himself. Through her newfound interest in Ns and their way of life as she starts identifying with them more and more, Yi Oh starts to develop an interest in the only other N girl in her college class: Shin Jo An (played by Kim Bo Ra). Initially, it seems like Yi Oh wants to get closer to her in order to find a kindred spirit – after all, Jo An is the only girl her age she knows who’s also an N. Yi Oh eventually finds herself sharing her secret with Jo An, and Jo An agrees to help her find the N that received her antibodies in her place.

As they gradually become closer, Jo An continuously inspires Yi Oh with her determined mindset and carefree way of living. Despite the fact that she’s accepted she only has about three more years to live, Jo An shows incredible determination and goes after all her dreams without regrets. For example, she’s been applying for a job at the Aerospace Research Institute while they’ve never hired an N person before. She doesn’t even mind that she won’t actually be able to work there, but she just doesn’t leave any chance open to at least try, because it’ll be better than never even taking the first step. When Yi Oh reveals that she’s been hired by the Institute and admits she feels guilty about it towards Jo An, Jo An doesn’t even mind and is just as excited for her as she would’ve been if she’d gotten in herself.
As she starts hanging out with Jo An and gets attached to her more and more, Yi Oh gradually begins to accept her new identity as an N more and more as well, much to the dismay of her mother. She starts coming home after dark, starts wearing skin-revealing clothes and even deliberately gets soaked in the rain once. Her mother is extremely worried, especially when she receives the news that Yi Oh’s tumor has officially become malignant.

At some point during their search for the N who got Yi Oh’s antibodies, Yi Oh and Jo An visibly start to see how there’s so much more to the time they’re spending together than just that mission. It even starts to look as if they’re developing more than just friendly feelings for each other – a certain intimacy rises between them as they keep spending time together. On the day that they’re supposed to do a presentation in class together, Yi Oh doesn’t turn up as she has to undergo surgery for her tumor. She hasn’t told Jo An about this, as she fears she might not survive the surgery and she’d rather just quietly disappear instead of having to say goodbye. The real reason for this – the real reason for EVERYTHING – is revealed in the final scene of the episode, which takes place a year after Yi Oh’s surgery. As Yi Oh is recovering from her surgery (she survived, yay!) she’s zapping the TV when she suddenly comes across Jo An, who has been apparently been hired by the Aerospace Research Institute. As we see Yi Oh smile fondly at Jo An on the screen, we are shown through flashbacks how the real reason she approached Jo An in the first place came to be, and then everything suddenly makes even more sense. The day Yi Oh heard the shocking news, she was immediately given the information on the N baby who got her antibodies, and much to her surprise, it was someone she knew. It was Shin Jo An.

To be honest, I had a feeling from the start that it was Jo An who got Yi Oh’s antibodies. I just found myself thinking that could very well be the case, but since they made this whole deal about finding the person, I still kept an open mind in case it wasn’t what I thought. Even though I wasn’t that surprised by the revelation that it was indeed Jo An, the way in which it was revealed that Yi Oh had really known this all along and that her objective in approaching Jo An had been out of genuine compassion and interest to see the person with her antibodies live a fruitful life – that just got me all 😭😭😭. As soon as it was revealed I just knew I had to watch it again with that knowledge, and that gave the scenes between them and the endearing way Yi Oh looks at Jo An from the start such a heartwarming twist I’m glad I did it.
I’m not even lying when I say that this was the first episode in this anthology that actually made me cry at the end. Even while knowing Yi Oh did it out of pure compassion towards Jo An, I still believe that she didn’t actually expect her feelings for her to grow like that. There was still an element that hadn’t been part of the plan, but even so they both accepted it so naturally and warmly. I actually got butterflies during the observatory scene when they did the pulse experiment 😳, heck, that made my heart beat faster! 🦋 The way Yi Oh was like, “I can see the stars” 😭 and Jo An was like, “Me too” 😭. I loved that their relationship was made into something so pure and natural. There was no doubt or hesitation in either of them to just be together and enjoy life together. It was absolutely beautiful.

Let me elaborate on the two main characters in a bit more detail. I don’t know if it was just Jo An’s interpretation of Yi Oh’s name or if it was really the case, but I liked the planetary reference that Yi Oh was named after the planet Io, one of Jupiter’s fifth moon. I thought it was a nice little wink to the girls’ interest in space as well. We meet Yi Oh as quite a privileged girl, she’s from a wealthy family and has never had to worry about anything. Naturally, it’s only after her doctor’s announcement that she starts navigating between the life she’s lived so far (as a C) and the life she might now have to start living (as an N). Without knowing her true objective in approaching Jo An from the start, it might be seen as a bit snobby of her to just pat the only N person around on the back and be like, ‘hey, I’m going to have to live like you now, tell me all there is to know about being an N’. However, what’s so typical about Yi Oh is that she’s extremely compassionate and humble towards Jo An from the start. She doesn’t mean to offend or bother her in any way, and is just extremely relieved when Jo An accepts her. Watching the episode with the knowledge of Yi Oh’s objective, there’s not a single moment where I thought she was lying to Jo An or owed her an explanation. It was genuinely out of the goodness of her heart that she wanted to see with her own eyes how Jo An would live on to live out her full potential. From the start, there was never any sense of bitterness or betrayal that Jo An had ‘stolen’ her antibodies or anything (just saying, we know people get like that in K-Dramas 🤷🏻‍♀️). Whereas her mother may have demanded a compensation, Yi Oh actually found it in her to be genuinely happy for the N baby that got the chance to live. I feel like she didn’t even mean to actually get involved in Jo An’s life, as we can see from the beginning it’s obvious she’s content with just looking at her from afar. When she finds herself drawn to Jo An’s presence more and more it also becomes a bit sad in a way, because now she also knows that it will hurt even more to say goodbye to her. I think that’s why she ultimately decides to not tell her about the surgery and just quietly disappear from her life rather than tell her the truth. Although it was sad that they couldn’t stay together, it did ultimately allow Yi Oh to see for herself how Jo An got admitted to her dream job, and she went back to square one by fondly watching her from a distance. The way she was just so happy for her, even if she didn’t get to personally be a part of her life, that’s true love goals.

As the story is framed through Yi Oh’s perspective, we only see Jo An through her narrative as well. We don’t get to see any scenes of just Jo An, except maybe the one where she turns up alone at the presentation. Just like the majority of the people we see in the N-community (by the way did anyone else notice N-Town actually stood for Noble Town?🤔 I wonder if it was abbreviated to N-Town to give it a more derogative association for being a community of Ns😓). In any case, we see Jo An’s little ways of enjoying life through the way she smiles at the smell of the coffee she sells at her café and the way she gets excited about new adventures. Her lifestyle is representative of what Yi Oh is told about Ns when she visits N-Town for the first time: while knowing she won’t be able to live for much longer, Jo An doesn’t skip a chance to run after anything she’s interested in. Even if she can’t pursue her dreams, she might as well go as far as she can to give it a try before her time runs out. I loved how the difference in lifestyle the two girls grew up in were expressed in such subtle ways. For example, at one point they’re having a beer together after talking to the final person they thought could be the one who got Yi Oh’s antibodies, and while Yi Oh comments her beer tastes bitter, Jo An comments “I think it’s refreshing.” Not much later in that same scene, Yi Oh says “Don’t you think living becomes more bitter the more you know?” to which Jo An replies, “No. I like learning new things every day.” Comments like this just proved that, despite their differences, Jo An continuously managed to show Yi Oh a positive new outlook on life. The two girls were drawn to each other so naturally and this made their different lifestyles fit into each other in such a matter-of-factly way that it seemed like they were meant to be together. Whether they were soulmates or kindred spirits or twin flames or whatever you want to call it, these two were simply bound together by something much greater than those swapped antibodies.

Speaking of their relationship, I couldn’t help but identify some specific events that just made me believe those were the moments they fell in love with each other. I mean, they’d been close from the start, but there were certain events within their times together that jumped out to me and just made me go ‘LOOK AT THOSE HEART-SHAPED EYES’ 🤭🤭🤭. For Yi Oh, I definitely feel like it was the part where Jo An was singing to her. The way her face changed as she was watching her, as if she was suddenly realizing her true feelings for Jo An. You could just feel something shift in their energy everytime they shared an intimate moment. The pulse experiment was probably the most defining moment for the both of them. I don’t know about you, but don’t tell me I’m the only one who translated “I can see the stars” as “I love you” in their head. I feel like it started with Yi Oh, even from the scenes in which she was checking out Jo An’s ankles when she was walking up the stairs (I interpreted it as that she was watching her ankles, lol). When the subtle touches and displays of public affection through lying on each other’s lap and stroking each other’s hair became more apparent it seemed to me like they were officially on the same page.

All in all, it can be said that in the short time the two girls spent together, they both learned the most important lesson of all, and I also think this is the main message of the story. It doesn’t matter how much time you have, as long as you spend it doing things you love, as long as you find fleeting moments of beauty of joy that will last a lifetime because they make up something that will actually continue to live for a lifetime: a memory. I think Jo An truly realized this as she was trying to give the presentation by herself, and I wouldn’t even be surprised if that was the moment she actually realized Yi Oh’s truth as well. But I think it was predominantly that she realized Yi Oh wouldn’t be coming back, and she was okay with it because she would always remember their time together. The times they ran and laughed together, when Yi Oh stroked her hair as she lay her head in her lap, when she felt her pulse at the observatory and when they got soaked in the rain together. I think the most important thing was that they both peacefully accepted that they couldn’t be together and still managed to think about their times together with a fond smile. As Yi Oh says in her final line while she’s crying tears of happiness seeing Jo An living her dream, despite the accidental nature of the swapped antibodies-incident, “it’s the most valuable gift I can give.”

When Jo An appeared on Yi Oh’s TV screen and talked about her work at the Institute so far, I couldn’t help but think of what she told Yi Oh when they were in the observary. “Whenever I call your name, I’ll think of the vast universe. Io, the closest moon to Jupiter, and the fourth largest in the solar system.” It just hit me for some reason that she probably thought of this a lot after she got hired at the Aerospace Institute. I’m not crying, you’re crying.

Before I move on to the final part of my review, I just want to say a little bit more about Kyung, Yi Oh’s friend. He doesn’t appear that much in the story, but I still want to mention him because he is the person who ultimately remains at Yi Oh’s side after her surgery, and it turns out he was in on way more than was initially revealed. As it happens, Kyung is training to be a doctor, and he is the person who passes the information about the identity of the person who got her antibodies onto Yi Oh. It was also during Kyung’s mom’s funeral that Yi Oh encountered the name Lee Hyun Soo, the person she told Jo An was the one who got her antibodies. Kyung is also the person who persuades Yi Oh to undergo the surgery. Yi Oh initially doesn’t want to waste the little time she has left on receiving treatment, but Kyung tells her that her condition isn’t hopeless and there’s still a chance she might live. All in all, Kyung is basically the person that ‘introduces’ Yi Oh to Jo An, so I’m grateful to him, haha.
To be honest, I first was exactly. I first thought he was Yi Oh’s brother because she once mentioned him in the same breath as her mom and dad, but then how was it that she went to his mom’s funeral? I only found out through MDL that he was ‘Yi Oh’s friend’. Not that it mattered too much, but their relationship could’ve been defined a little bit more clearly in my opinion.

Now that I’ve discussed the main story as a whole, I like to reflect a bit on any overlaps in the episodes I’ve seen so far. This episode was probably the farthest from the previous two so far. I found only one direct reference, as Kyung mentions that they got the purifying suits from TRS, which was also the company that manufactured the nursing robots in The Prayer. Apart from that, there was also a clear presence of capitalism that played a big part in separating the two human categories from one another. Only people with financial stability were able to afford antibodies and all the necessary equipment to live safely as a C. Without those means, you were basically marked as being ‘unlucky’ enough to be an N. It just reminded me of how the differences in financial status also contributed greatly to what type of robot people could afford in The Prayer. It just seems like TRS plays a major role in the capitalism of this anthology. What I find interesting to think about on the other hand is that, as this episode clearly proves, having less financial stability and security doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have to live a miserable life. It was proven to be quite the opposite, actually. Ns were overall much happier in life than Cs. I couldn’t help but make a link to Jeong In from The Prayer, someone with enough financial stability to afford a higher level robot but who was still absolutely miserable. I think the message we can take from these two episodes combined is that wealth, although undoubtedly a convenient privilege, is definitely not a defining factor to live a happy life.
Other than this, there were no returning actors or other direct references or links to the previous two episodes I watched. Still, it continues to remind me of Black Mirror, even when it just makes one mention of something that appeared in another chapter of this anthology.

By the way, and I’m only just noticing this, I like how the title of this episode refers to more than just a direct reference to a main character in the show. The Prayer and Manxin both have pretty self-explanatory names, even in Korean. The Prayer‘s Korean title refers directly to the main character Gan Ho Joong, and Manxin refers to, well, the app Manxin. I love how this episode is called ‘Jo An’s Galaxy’. The Korean title translates to something like, ‘Astronaut Joan’ or ‘Cosmic Joan’ – in any case all versions of the title refer to Jo An, even though we follow the whole story through Yi Oh’s perspective. Yi Oh is the one in the astronaut suit, as can be seen from the poster, yet the title of astronaut is assigned to Jo An.
Honestly, I’d like to think that Yi Oh was the one who named this episode 🥰. I can only assume that the story got this title because it all ultimately turns out to be about Jo An’s life, the one she manages to extend beyond her expectations because she unknowingly received Yi Oh’s antibodies. Jo An is the one who managed to get the job at the Aerospace station so she’s the one who ‘goes to space’.
I just found it interesting since as far as I can see all the episodes of the anthology have pretty straight-forward titles, and this was the first one that had a more suggestive and even symbolic meaning, one that you wouldn’t understand if you hadn’t seen the episode and grasped its true message.

Let’s do some very quick cast comments!

I kept thinking what I recognized Choi Sung Eun from, but then I realized she’s the female lead from The Sound of Magic! I really loved her performance in this episode. She exuded such genuine warmth and compassion and I loved her chemistry with Kim Bo Ra as well. It was nice seeing her in a completely different setting. She hasn’t even done that many acting projects yet, mostly movies, and TSoM is still her most recent drama appearance. It’s nice to see actors that aren’t that big yet get casted in interesting projects like this anthology, because it just gives me the feeling that specific directors are still recognizing their talent and potential. I hope she’ll get more roles in the future, because she definitely has much to offer! I’m curious to see more of her acting now.

I’ve seen Kim Bo Ra in a couple of things before, like Who Are You: School 2015, Her Private Life and Busted, and I also have a couple more series on my watchlist that she stars in. My most recent memory of her is from HPL, where she was kind of a brat haha, so it was nice to see her portray such a pure and bright character with such an addictive zest life. The role suited her very well and I really love what she did with it. The chemistry between her and Choi Sung Eun seemed so natural and effortless as well. I’m also glad I got to see some more variety in her acting, not just in the heart-throbbing scenes but also when she started crying during her presentation when it hit her she was probably not going to see Yi Oh again – her acting was clean yet powerful. I’m really excited to see more drama appearances of her!

I hadn’t seen Yoon Jung Hoon in anything else before, but I see he’s been in a whole bunch of dramas ever since 2018. I think I’ll see him in some other series in the future. Anyways, I liked that Kyung was such a solid person in Yi Oh’s life. I felt bad because she had to keep the secret of her being an N from all her friends at college, and while it seemed like she was keeping it a secret from Kyung in the beginning as well, I’m glad she ended up telling him. If it hadn’t been for him, Yi Oh probably wouldn’t have gotten the surgery and then she might not have gotten the chance to see Jo An on television a year later. We owe a lot to Kyung, so he can’t remain unmentioned. I hope I’ll get to see him in more different projects!

All in all, I loved how this episode again was completely different from the previous two I watched. I also loved how it again created such an original environment and setting for the story to take place in. So far worldbuilding seems to be this anthology’s strong suit! Besides the interesting setting, this story ranked high in my ratings because it gave yet another beautiful spin on a seemingly dire situation, and it was so refreshing to see two young people make the most out of their (believed) shortened lifespans. It was truly a love story of a kind I haven’t seen before that often. The fact that it ended in a separation that was more beautiful and heartwarming than it was sad or painful only added to its originality and charm. I truly enjoyed watching this, it actually made me think more about the fleetingness of life and how important it is to enjoy the small moments rather than worry about the big picture. Creating such a clear division between Cs and Ns and then go on to explore which category was actually the most happy one, and whether it was actually about the categories in the first place, was really powerful. The story, the themes and the message only complimented the acting and the cinematography. I loved it.

My excitement to move on to the next episode has only been increasing with every single chapter I watch, and I’m again incredibly curious to the next story.

See you soon!