Black Knight (South Korean TV series)

Black Knight is a 2023 dystopian science fiction action series from South Korea centering the story of a “ delivery” man who delivers oxygen after earth was hit by a comet.

The story is set after 40 years since the accident.In this new world, The Korean Peninsula turned into a desert and only 1% of South Koreans survived the aftermath. The rest of the people survived through the polluted air with an invention called “ Air Core” in which it turns Oxyanium into oxygen. On top of scarce resources, eventually these survivors are divided into General, Special, Core and they all have a QR code implanted in their hand.

Somehow, there are people who are called “ The Refugees” who live outside the dome and they have to survive wearing mask, lack of of oxygen, and also dealing with starvation. These refugees resorted robbing from “ delivery men” who deliver oxygen and necessities to keep survivors (General,Special,Core) survived. These attackers are called “Hunters” and deliverymen must be tough because they have to fight brutality of these hunters and deliver the package safely.

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Then, enters 5-8, the narrator of the story, the protagonist, who is a refugee turned into delivery men. He is called the legendary 5-8 because he gets the job done. The conflict centers around a big corporation called Cheonmyeong Group, the company who supplies and monopolizes the oxygen and food. Inside the company there is a father and son’s conflict, The Chairman Ryu Jae-Jin was intending that his invention was for everyone but his son (Ryu Seok ) who is quite misanthropic, only wanted the select few to enjoy the benefit from the new world.So, the son made a few plan including mass murder to killing with vaccination program to kill the refugee. Black Knight eventually works with a major in the military to end Ryu Seok and his evil plans.

5-8, the legendary deliveryman is played by Kim Woo-bin.In my opinion, casting him in this movie was a good choice. He has that “delinquent” and “mysterious” look and he is especially fashionable. In this whole series, fashion is something that I want to highlight especially if you’re into dystopian, cyberpunk, and streetwear fashion in film.

In this film, the delivery men wear a hat that refers to the district they’re responsible for, an oversized parka, and a techwear mask. The colors are mostly in a darker and/or metallic palette.

Some delivery men especially the insurgent deliverymen such as 5-8(kim Woo Bin) also sometimes wears black hooded pound jacket.Meanwhile in this film, the style of the military was kept similar to current camo tactical style except it’s quite oversized.

While the regular citizens dress as usual, the refugees dress quite differently. Having to live outside the core district, they wear scarfs, oversized hoodies or dusty and scruffy parkas. The refugees also wear it with more colors than the delivery men.

These fashion choices are quite practical compared to most cyberpunk themes fillm out there. They all look pretty comfortable to wear and especially in a place where it’s often less than 30C in terms of temperature. I personally want the hat and the oversized parka, it just looks that good.

Meanwhile the story has quite a plot hole here and there including some flaws but to me, the fashion and the soundtrack kept me hooked.

Just to add some more context, sometimes I watch series not because of the story but because of the soundtracks and also the fashion. Such as this, Black knight where I not only enjoy the action scenes, the guns, the futuristic look to the smartphone, I enjoy the display of the fashion as well.The series runs only for 6 episodes, quite a typical Netflix South Korean and I have to say, I want and need more. I simply demand for Black Knight 2 and hoping they will create another sequel to it. If you want to check out some of the soundtrack, this playlist has highlighted some of the good ones.

That being said, even if you’re not into any cyberpunk fashion in series, this series is still worth checking out too.