‘Fate War 49’ Finally Revealed Today (11th)! Viewing Points ① Interview with CP Hwang Kyo-jin

Disney+’s original variety show 〈Fate War 49〉 is releasing episodes 1-4 today (11th), and a Q&A interview with the production team that enhances the enjoyment of the show is drawing attention. Even before its release, it garnered hot reactions such as “I found my dopamine” (YouTube na***), “Wow, this is innovative” (Instagram 25****), and “K-shamanism following K-pop and K-food” (YouTube Pa***********). Finally, Disney+’s original variety show 〈Fate War 49〉 is reaching viewers worldwide today.

The show, born from an experimental concept and setting that no one has ever challenged, will start releasing a total of 10 episodes today (11th) with episodes 1-4. Fate readers from various fields will fiercely compete, interpreting and confronting fate in their own ways, delivering a unique tension and immersion that viewers have never experienced in existing survival variety shows. To commemorate this, the production team reveals a Q&A interview detailing the planning intentions and behind-the-scenes of mission design, raising curiosity. Interviews with CP Hwang Kyo-jin, PD Yoo Soo-yeon, and writer Mo Eun-seol will be released in three parts. Below is the full text of the written interview with CP Hwang Kyo-jin from 〈Fate War 49〉.

[Full Text of Written Interview with Hwang Kyo-jin CP]

Q1. 〈Fate War 49〉 is a work that combines shamanism, fortune-telling, and tarot with the familiar genre of ‘survival’. I would like to hear about the initial question that sparked this project and its starting point.

While living life and experiencing various events that are hard to dismiss as mere coincidences, I found myself pondering, ‘Does fate really exist?’ The people who caught my eye were shamans, fortune-telling experts, and tarot masters. I thought they were the strongest messengers who could bring questions about fate into reality. As the generations of fate readers change, I noticed that there are many characters with unique charms that break existing prejudices. The appearance of MZ shamans, as shown in 〈Shamanic Love〉, completely shattered the old images of mysticism. Stylish and clever characters were emerging in large numbers. I wanted to gather these modern ‘MZ shamans’ and traditional ‘masters of fate’ in one place to conduct the first massive experiment to see if they could prove fate in different ways.

Q2. What were the first criteria or principles you set to differentiate from existing survival variety shows during the planning stage?

The survival of those who read fate was a world-first attempt, so there were no references to draw from. It was truly a design of creating something from nothing. Questions like “Which is faster, a tarot master’s shuffle or a shaman’s possession?” and everything from mission duration to the possibility of collaboration between shamans, fortune-telling, and tarot were all uncharted territory. Setting the rules itself was an adventure.

However, the one principle I could not give up amidst various difficulties was to ‘incorporate all human instincts about curiosity regarding fate into the missions’. I set themes for the missions around life topics that everyone has pondered at least once, such as money, compatibility, career, and health. During a pre-meeting, a participant said, “You don’t know what the production team is touching, do you? It’s going to be really tough,” and that statement lingered in our minds throughout the production period. There were many bizarre and overwhelming moments that made me feel like we were really touching something difficult, but the more it was like that, the more I didn’t want to give up, and I think that’s why we were able to see it through to the end.

Q3. The core concept of ‘The Divine War of 49 Fate Readers’ is very intense. What did you hope this program would be recognized as by viewers, and what aspects do you think they should focus on?

〈Fate War 49〉 will become the ‘ultimate fate interpretation’ that shows how those who have accumulated decades of experience interpret and unravel human fate in different ways. The spiritual and academic attempts that have continued for thousands of years unfolding in a modern survival context will provide viewers with a fresh shock they have never seen before. Beyond simply predicting ‘right or wrong’, there will be fresh enjoyment in witnessing the intense reasoning processes of masters from various fields.

Q4. Given that it deals with fate, the mission design must have been challenging as well. What was the most difficult mission during the production process, or what mission did you struggle with until the end? Also, were there any missions that went in a completely different direction than you had thought?

The first and final missions were the most challenging. Since fortune-telling, shamanism, and tarot are completely different tools for reading fate, fortune-telling has unique strengths in ‘academics and flow’, tarot in ‘psychology and love’, and shamanism in ‘life and spiritual aspects’. To ensure that no specific genre had an advantage, designing an ‘integrated mission’ where all fate readers could maximize their abilities was the biggest task of the first mission.

In the final mission, we challenged ourselves to visualize ‘how we communicate with the unseen world’ beyond simply predicting human fortune and misfortune. To do this, we had to touch on taboos that the industry avoids from the set implementation stage, and as a director, I coexisted with doubts and fears about “Is this really possible?” It was the most dangerous and fascinating mission.

Q5. Throughout the process from planning to production, was there a decisive moment or trigger that made you personally confident that ‘this program will succeed’? Additionally, if there was a moment that was the most chilling or surprising, when was it?

The most chilling moment during the production process was when participants began to guess the mission content even before it was revealed. There were several people who accurately pinpointed the mission topic prepared in secrecy by the production team without even seeing it, just based on their spiritual feelings. Witnessing their abilities, which cannot be explained logically, made all the staff on site deeply resonate with the fact that “a world we do not know for sure exists.”