Time for the final arc! Moving started off strong and continued to outdo itself to the end, coming to a satisfying conclusion that ties enough loose ends to feel complete while also leaving tons of room for future stories. Like the previous acts, Kang Full makes some changes, which he mentioned in an interview, but for fans of the webtoon, the story is still intact and recognizable. On all accounts, Moving was a fantastic adaptation, so let’s dig deeper into what made it so great.
Note: Part 3 will cover episodes 15-20 in the drama and episodes 26-45 in the webtoon (a.k.a., the third act).
INTRODUCING THE VILLAINS
The final enemies in the original webtoon are the supers from North Korea, and in essence, their identities are the last twist of the story. Taking advantage of its format, Kang Full was able to hide where they came from because accents are much easier to camouflage in text. As a result, when they finally reveal their accents (using a classic term/curse that any Korean speaker can easily identify) the audience is clued into their background.
However, hiding accents is much harder in tv shows, and since the original story already exists, the final twist isn’t as impactful just by itself for a drama. It makes sense, then, that Kang Full decided to introduce the North Korean supers early (episode 13 with Jo Bok-rae as Park Chan-il, and at the end of episode 7, the show hints at the group), thus instilling a sense of mystery surrounding the future enemies and hinting at their return.
This brings me to my next point, and the reason I started this comparison series in the first place: the introduction of Jung Jun-hwa (Yang Dong-geun). The first glimpse we get of the bad guys right before the last fight is at the ending of episode 15 with Jung Jun-hwa following Bong-seok (Lee Jung-ha) and Hee-soo (Go Yoon-jung) on the bus. From Yang Dong-geun’s presence alone, the tone of the show shifts and an uneasy tension fills the air. Then, as soon as he speaks, the show reveals that he is from North Korea, and not long after, he demonstrates his powers.
The drama’s decision to reveal Jung Jun-hwa in this manner is both clever and artistic. While keeping our balls of sunshine in the dark so their future confrontation follows the original storyline, the drama showcases Jung Jun-hwa’s strength to the audience through Bungaeman’s perspective. Inside the moving bus, Jung Jun-hwa floats as if suspended in air, and while everyone around him panics, he remains eerily calm and observant. Rather than show some grand display of power, the drama depicts his strength through control—he isn’t just floating but flying with such precision that he looks still. His reservation actually makes him more terrifying and sets the tone for the upcoming fight.
“THOSE WHO FORCE SACRIFICE ARE THE ONES TO BLAME”
The biggest difference between the drama and the webtoon in this final arc is the characterization of Kim Deok-yoon (Park Hee-soon). In the original, Kim Deok-yoon is the leader of the North Korean group, and thus, he plays the antagonistic role. However, in the drama, Kim Deok-yoon becomes more empathetic—he’s a reluctant leader who cares for his subordinates rather than a power-hungry psychopath seeking revenge. This change actually makes Kim Deok-yoon a more fascinating character in the flashbacks and final fight, while also reiterating one of the core messages of the show: “The people are innocent.”
However, this change creates a void in the story, so the drama inserts Sohn Byung-ho to play the evil head (essentially, he is the northern counterpart to Director Min, aka Moon Sung-geun). Though this choice may seem minor, story-wise it actually makes a lot of sense, and in some ways, felt more believable than the original. While reading the webtoon, I always wondered why Kim Deok-yoon risked his life on the field if he was the one in charge, but in the drama, we see that he is another pawn like the rest of the team. Hence, his death is another nameless face in a long list of sacrifices, and in the end, the people in power never risk anything themselves.
UNEXPECTED FRIENDSHIPS
Since the show changed Kim Deok-yoon, the creators needed to adapt the rest of the story around it while still following the main path of the original. Unfortunately, this meant losing some of the backstories (I’m still sad Bae Jae-hak, aka Kim Da-hyun, died without sharing his), and creating a conundrum around some of the main story beats. In both medias, Kim Deok-yoon falls to his death, but in the webtoon, the one who watches him die is Kwon Yong-deuk (Park Kwang-jae). It is his first and last act of defiance, and marks Kwon Yong-deuk’s choice to leave his previous life. This is why he runs away, bumps into Hee-soo, and eventually joins Jang Ju-won’s family.
However, because Kwon Yong-deuk and basically all the North Korean supers understand Kim Deok-yoon’s true intentions, they would never voluntarily kill him. Even Jung Jun-hwa who abandons his leader after losing his arm in the original, hesitated to leave in the drama-version because of the respect he had for Kim Deok-yoon. It was only after Kim Deok-yoon gave him permission to escape and be with his family that Jung Jun-hwa flies back home. This change, though, creates a problem for Kwon Yong-deuk’s story because his catalyst to walk away from the fight disappears: Enter drama-only character Lim Jae-seok (Kim Joong-hee).
A common solution Kang Full chooses in this adaptation is to introduce a new character to fill in gaps. Lim Jae-seok does exactly that, and it works beautifully in the show. Not only does his presence add tension to the story, his friendship with Kwon Yong-deuk also humanizes the North Korean supers. Lim Jae-seok becomes the reason for Kwon Yong-deuk’s change, and while the original focused on Kwon Yong-deuk’s “revenge,” the drama emphasizes not only his desire for freedom but all the supers’ desire to be free from the burden of their powers and those who wish to take advantage of them.
HAPPY ENDING
The overall endings are pretty similar when all is said and done, but there are a few key distinctions that make the drama’s ending particularly satisfying. First, the drama kills off both leaders, and the parallelism between the fliers (Jung Jun-hwa and Kim Doo-shik) being the ones to try and stop this cycle of abuse is brilliant. The show also portrays how little acts of mercy cause huge effects, and in the end, the North Korean super was a parent, too, who wanted to protect his child.
The last moment I want to point out is Jang Ju-won’s final line, and the impact his story had on the overall drama. While the show had multiple themes, genres, and protagonists, Ryu Seung-ryong was the undeniable lead, and the main message of the show comes from a line in his backstory: “Martial arts comics are romance, too.” At the heart of the show was romance, and the happy ending was a present to Jang Ju-won and Hwang Ji-hee. Though they couldn’t be together, their story continues, and their romance lives on.
Read the other parts here: Moving: Drama vs Webtoon Part 1, Part 2
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