Love Song for Illusion

Love Song for Illusion (Korean: 환상연가) is a 2024 South Korean television series starring Park Ji-hoon, Hong Ye-ji, Hwang Hee, and Ji Woo. Based on a Naver webtoon of the same name by Vanziun, it is about the romance and fierce obsession between a man with two conflicting personalities and a woman with a dark past.^[1] It aired on KBS2 from January 2 to February 27, 2024, every Monday and Tuesday at 22:10 (KST).^[8][9] It is also available for streaming on Wavve in South Korea, and on Viu and Viki in selected regions.^[10][11][12]

Love Song for Illusion
Promotional poster
Hangul	환상연가
Literal meaning	Fantasy Sonata
Revised Romanization	Hwansangyeonga
McCune–Reischauer	Hwansangyŏn'ga
Genre	Fantasy[1] Period[1] Romance[2]
Based on	Love Song for Illusion by Vanziun[3]
Developed by	KBS (planning)[4]
Written by	Yoon Kyung-ah[2]
Directed by	Lee Jung-seop[2]
Starring	Park Ji-hoon Hong Ye-ji Hwang Hee Ji Woo
Music by	Choi In-hee[4]
Country of origin	South Korea
Original language	Korean
No. of episodes	16
Production
Executive producers	Sung Jun-hae[4] Kim Young-jo[4] Lee Ye-won[4] Kim Deok-jin (CP)[4] Jung Byung-hyun (CP)[4]
Producers	Kim Hyung-joon[4] Lee Eun-jin[4] Park Choon-ho[4] Nam Goong-jung[4] Kim Chul-min[4]
Cinematography	Kim Gwang-soo[4] Lee Joo-hoon[4]
Editors	Lee Re-ne[4] Kwon Da-hae[4]
Running time	70 minutes[5]
Production companies	Monster Union[6] Fantagio[6]
Budget	₩10.5 billion[7]
Original release
Network	KBS2
Release	January 2 (2024-01-02) – February 27, 2024 (2024-02-27)

Synopsis

Yeon Wol hides her identity and becomes an assassin to avenge her family. Her mission is to assassinate the king but fails when she falls into a trap set by an unknown person. She wakes up the next day with no memory of her past, and is appointed as the crown prince's concubine.^[13]

Cast and characters

Main

• Park Ji-hoon as Sajo Hyun / Ak-hee^[1][13]
  • Lee Joo-won as young Sajo Hyun^[4]
  1. Sajo Hyun: the intelligent and multi-talented crown prince who works as a fashion designer at a downtown boutique while hiding his real identity.
  2. Ak-hee: Hyun's alternate personality who is charming but is cursed to feel extreme pain whenever Yeon Wol touches him.
• Hong Ye-ji as Yeon Wol / Kyera /Consort Eun-hyo^[13]
  • Kim Soo-ha as young Yeon Wol^[4]

The royal descendant of the fallen Yeon dynasty and the only daughter of Yeon Pung-hak who becomes an assassin called Gye-ra.

• Hwang Hee as Sajo Yung^[14][15]

Sajo Hyun's half-brother.

• Ji Woo as Crown Princess Geum-hwa / Jin Chae-ryun^[6]

Sajo Hyun's first wife who goes to any lengths to satisfy her desires.

• Kim Tae-woo as Sajo Seung^[16]

Sajo Hyun's father and the king of Asatae who overthrew the Yeon dynasty, and ascended to the throne through rebellion.

• Woo Hee-jin as Consort Cheong-myung^[17]

Sajo Seung's concubine and Sajo Yung's mother.

• Kang Shin-il as Jin Mu-dal^[18]

Jin Chae-ryun's father.

• Hwang Seok-jeong as Chung-ta^[15]

A mysterious shaman with various personalities.

Supporting

People around Sajo Hyun

• Woo Hyun as Eunuch Neung^[15]

Sajo Hyun's closest eunuch.

• Han Eun-seong as Ji Jeon-seo^[19]

Sajo Hyun's bodyguard.

People around Yeon Wol

• Kim Dong-won as Yang Jae-i^[15]

Leader of the assassin group Baramkal.

• Lee Joo-an as Ha-rang^[20]

A member of Baramkal.

• Shin Gi-hwan as Hong-gun^[15]

Yeon Wol's gungnyeo.

• Oh Ji-ho as Yeon Pung-hak^[15]

Yeon Wol's father.

• Choi Yoon-young as Eun Mi-so^[15]

Yeon Wol's mother.

People in the royal court

• Yoo Hyung-gwan as the minister of finance^[15]
• Kim Kyung-ryong as the minister of personnel^[15]
• Lee Kwan-hoon as the minister of war^[21]

Others

• Jo Han-jun as Gi-chul^[22]

Sajo Yung's loyal right-hand man.

• Moon Yu-bin as Noh Ri-sa^[15]

Geum-hwa's gungnyeo.

Production and release

The first script reading of the cast was held in mid-March 2023, and filming was scheduled to begin in May.^[23]

Originally, the series was scheduled to broadcast the first two episodes consecutively on January 2, 2024, from 21:45 (KST).^[24] However, its time slot was changed to 22:10 (KST), and the broadcast of the second episode was pushed back to January 8.^[9][25]

Original soundtrack

Part 1

Released on January 3, 2024

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Never Lost"	Kim Min	Kim Min	Kim Ye-ji	3:32
2.	"Never Lost" (Inst.)		Kim Min		3:32
Total length:					7:04

Part 2

Released on January 10, 2024

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Beneath the Moonlight" (월하)	Snnny	Snnny	Sohyang	4:02
2.	"Beneath the Moonlight" (월하; Inst.)		Snnny		4:02
Total length:					8:04

Part 3

Released on January 17, 2024

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"I Was You, You Were Me" (나는 너니까)	Lovely E Park Ah-reum	Chaeipapa Lovely E	Klang	4:52
2.	"I Was You, You Were Me" (나는 너니까; Inst.)		Chaeipapa Lovely E		4:52
Total length:					9:44

Part 4

Released on January 31, 2024

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Reaching You" (닿을게)	KZ Kim Tae-young Hoff	KZ Kim Tae-young Hoff	Kim So-yeon	4:01
2.	"Reaching You" (닿을게; Inst.)		KZ Kim Tae-young Hoff		4:01
Total length:					8:02

Part 5

Released on February 5, 2024

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artist	Length
1.	"Be My Wind" (바람이 되어줘요)	Tenzo (Papermaker) Kibi	Tenzo (Papermaker) Loogone	Kim Jae-hwan	3:54
2.	"Be My Wind" (바람이 되어줘요; Inst.)		Tenzo (Papermaker) Loogone		3:54
Total length:					7:48

Viewership

Season		Episode number
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
	1	727	505	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Love Song for Illusion : South Korea viewers per episode (thousands)

Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Korea.^[26]

Average TV viewership ratings

Ep.	Original broadcast date	Average audience share (Nielsen Korea)[26][27]
		Nationwide	Seoul
1	January 2, 2024	4.3% (15th)	4.3% (13th)
2	January 8, 2024	2.8% (20th)	3.0% (20th)
3	January 9, 2024	2.3% (25th)	N/A
4	January 15, 2024	2.4% (22nd)
5	January 16, 2024	2.0% (27th)
6	January 22, 2024	2.5% (25th)
7	January 23, 2024	1.8% (29th)
8	January 29, 2024	2.4% (21st)	2.4% (19th)
9	January 30, 2024	1.7% (29th)	N/A
10	February 5, 2024	2.1% (27th)
11	February 6, 2024	1.7% (29th)
12	February 13, 2024	1.4% (34th)
13	February 19, 2024	1.9% (32nd)
14	February 20, 2024	1.9% (26th)
15	February 26, 2024	2.1% (27th)
16	February 27, 2024	2.3% (22nd)
Average		2.2%	—[a]
In the table above, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. N/A denotes ratings that were not published.

Notes

1. Due to multiple unpublished ratings, the exact average rating is unknown.