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This article, R.I.P. (Reaper In Practice), is created, written, and owned by JayStev85.

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R.I.P. (Reaper In Practice) is a South Korean fantasy-comedy drama series created by Ryu Hyun-Sik in his debut as showrunner. The series was broadcast for 12 episodes, from June 19 to September 4, 2025, on VESK TV in South Korea, as well as being simulcast on the streaming platform VEXcess internationally. The series stars Kim Ryan, Min Hyojin, Seung Jaesang, TBA, TBA, TBA, and Yoon Soobin. Its theme song, "Gajyeogaseyo! Telepathy", was performed by The Last Children of Presagia.

The series follows Park Yoon-jae (Ryan), a 22-year-old South Korean salesman who dies in a road traffic collision and awakes in the afterlife, where he is soon recruited to work for the Grim Reaper's company, Judgement Corporations, as a "Reaper in Practice". Yoon-jae's job involves reviewing the lives of newly deceased souls - often by simulating and reliving their memories - before eventually deciding whether they deserve to ascend to the Higher Level or descend to the Lower Level. Yoon-jae encounters individuals from his past who test his moral strength, whilst also forming new relationships with his fellow R.I.P.s and attempting to satisfy his boss, the Grim Reaper (TBA).

Ryu Hyun-Sik, known for his work writing for the television series Show of Life! (2014-2018) and Sanso (2016-2018), developed the pilot for over two years and pitched it multiple times to VESK executives, who eventually greenlit the project in September 2024. The series was filmed at Mantra Studios in Seoul, with principle photography spanning January to March, 2025. K.aerom composed the series' soundtrack, whilst The Last Children of Presagia performed the opening theme.

Upon release, R.I.P. garnered critical acclaim for its interesting premise and office setting, as well as its blend of humour, drama, romance, and philosophy. The series was praised for tackling mature themes such as sexism, homophobia, domestic violence, child neglect, homelessness, and suicide. TBA was lauded for his emotional range, with the series' supporting cast also the recipient of significant acclaim. The program's narrative, dialogue, direction, and soundtrack were also highlighted as key strengths.

Airing at the primetime slot of 20:00 KST on Thursdays, R.I.P. was a ratings success, averaging over 1 million viewers per episode and ranking at number 1 on the VEXcess top 10 for the duration of its run. The moral dilemmas presented within the show sparked intense discussions online across South Korea, which aided the series' ratings. Its theme tune was a chart success, reaching the top 10 on the Circle Digital Chart. In July 2025, the program was renewed for a second season.

Premise[]

Park Yoon-jae (Ryan) is a 22-year-old car salesman in Seoul, South Korea, who dies when a lorry skipping a red light T-bones his car, killing him in a fiery wreck. He awakes in a reception waiting area when his name is called out by a receptionist named Oh Dae-hyun (Jaesang), who tells Yoon-jae he is dead and is now in the afterlife awaiting his judgement, which is given out by Reapers In Practice (R.I.P.s), employees of Judgement Corporations who work for the Grim Reaper. Yoon-jae is taken to an open-plan office cluster and is paired with an R.I.P. who views his 'file', a document containing every notable moment in his life. He then re-lives some of his old memories alongside his R.I.P. before a final judgement is bestowed upon him: Yoon-jae is not destined for the Higher Level or the Lower Level, but rather he is going to become one of the R.I.P.s at Judgement Corporations.

The series follows Yoon-jae as he becomes a Reaper In Practice and begins making important decisions that affect others. All R.I.P.s - including Yoon-jae - use a process called Memory Review in order to aid their judgement: the process involves a simulation of a deceased soul's memory which allows both the soul and the R.I.P. to relive the memory. Yoon-jae encounters a variety of individuals of all ages and personalities, including those who he has a personal connection to, where he is expected to make unbiased decisions regardless of the emotional implications.

Yoon-jae works in Judgement Corporations alongside other R.I.P.s, including: Shin Na-eun (Hyojin), another recently hired R.I.P. who Yoon-jae develops a crush on; Lee Hye-won (TBA), a harsh and pessimistic R.I.P. who has the highest rates of enforcing Descension, and Hwang Hyeon-seo (TBA), an overly hopeful and trusting R.I.P. who has the highest rates of granting Ascension. Also in the workplace is the receptionist, Oh Dae-hyun, who helps welcome souls and aids them in coming to terms with their deaths, and the head of the firm, the Grim Reaper (played by TBA), an apathetic and nonchalant figure who subverts the typical Grim Reaper trope.

As Yoon-jae garners experience as an R.I.P., he begins to grow as a person, finding meaning in existence even though he is dead. Having to make tough decisions isn't easy, but his dedication and willingness to maintain his moral rigidity helps guide him through even the most ethically conflicting scenarios.

Judgement Corporations[]

Judgement Corporations is the in-universe firm created and run by the Grim Reaper, resting in the Judgement Plane. The Grim Reaper created the institution to delegate her work as both reaper and judger, and this allows her to maintain a laid back attitude and immerse herself in hobbies. The company operates outside of an office surrounded entirely by white and light pink clouds. Deceased souls enter the building via a lengthy escalator known as the End Escalator, and exit the building via the Lifetime Lift. Its interior is an open-plan desk cluster, with the Grim Reaper in a raised private office at the back of the room, whilst Oh Dae-hyun's reception area lies at the front of the room, fit with its own waiting area.

The Lifetime Lift, the Higher Level, and the Lower Level[]

The Lifetime Lift is an elevator which grants its passengers access to either the Higher Level (a heaven-like realm) or the Lower Level (a hell-like realm with psychological torture and pain inflicted as opposed to physical). To enter and ride the Lifetime Lift, passengers must be granted access via key cards from a Reaper In Practice. R.I.P.s will decide whether the souls decide to Ascend (to the Higher Level) or Descend (to the Lower Level). The key card is tapped against a pad on the right of the lift doors, and this automatically calls the lift as well as routing it to its destination.

Reapers In Practice and Soul Sweepers[]

Reapers In Practice, or R.I.P.s, are deceased souls that have been enlisted by the Grim Reaper to carry out her actions, whilst Soul Sweepers are angel-like beings who act as "janitors" for Judgement Corporations and help transfer souls to the afterlife. In the series, the Grim Reaper historically would collect souls who had died, before bringing them up to the Judgement Plane and judging their lives to determine whether they end up in the Higher Level or the Lower Level. However, since the conception of Judgement Corporations, Soul Sweepers are now the beings which collect the souls who have died and bring them up via the End Escalator, and R.I.P.s are now the beings that judge the souls. R.I.P.s look at all elements of an individual's life (which can be found in their file), and can relive any memory individually by simulating it using the Memory Review process. After asking a series of questions, they then stamp the file with either a green Ascend stamp or a red Descend stamp, before providing the souls with the corresponding key card. There is a guideline for R.I.P.s to follow but the system largely relies on trusting the R.I.P.s and allowing them to make the decisions they feel are the most appropriate.

Memory Review[]

Memory Review is a process used by Reapers In Practice to simulate the memories of a deceased individual to allow said individual, and the R.I.P. themselves, the chance to relive the memories. This has two benefits: if the R.I.P. is uncertain about whether the deceased soul was in the right or wrong in a given situation, reliving the memory allows them to gain a better understanding; and if the R.I.P. is suspicious about any answer a deceased soul has to a question they ask, the Memory Review process allows them to put pressure on the soul to tell the truth, as well as to see the truth themselves. Throughout the memory, the soul and the R.I.P. are "invisible" to the parties within the memory, simply observers standing directly in the scene. This means deceased souls will be watching themselves. The process can be mentally taxing, and there are heavy guidelines around its use: for instance, every R.I.P. has to log every time they use the process and explain why they felt it necessary to use it.

Cast and characters[]

Judgement Corporations[]

  • Park Yoon-jae (played by Kim Ryan)
    • Park Yoon-jae is a 22-year-old junior car salesman in Seoul, South Korea, who is killed in a sudden road traffic collision and awakes in the afterlife. He experiences judgement day, which takes place in an office for a business called Judgement Corporations which is headed by the Grim Reaper, where his file is reviewed by a Reaper In Practice (known as an R.I.P.). His fate is eventually decided: he is to be enrolled as an R.I.P. and help review the lives of other deceased souls and determine whether they must ascend to the Higher Level or descend to the Lower Level. Yoon-jae comes to terms with the end of his old life and struggles to adjust to his new reality. His job involves the use of a process called "Memory Review", which places Yoon-jae and the soul he is reviewing inside a simulation of one of the latter's memories, allowing Yoon-jae to gain a deep understanding of certain events in a person's life that can influence his decision. Throughout his tenure as an R.I.P., Yoon-jae forms bonds with his colleagues, developing a crush on one named Shin Na-eun, learning more about their pasts. Yoon-jae also finds his morals consistently tested as he realises judging people is not simply black-and-white.
  • Shin Na-eun (played by Min Hyojin)
    • Shin Na-eun is a 23-year-old Reaper In Practice, working for Judgement Corporations. She begins working for the Grim Reaper mere days before Yoon-jae arrives, and finds herself in a similar predicament as him, as she navigates her new way of life and grieves the loss of the life she had on Earth. Na-eun was a newly-recruited school teacher who died after suffering a blow to the head from falling scaffolding, and the sudden nature of her death initially makes her in denial of her new reality. By forming connections with her colleagues, however, she begins to immerse herself in her job and starts her journey to find inner peace. Na-eun has a pessimistic outlook on humanity initially, but as she engages in Memory Reviews, she begins to understand how complex the human mind is, and how many factors influence specific decisions. As her capacity to understand and feel for others continues to grow, so too do her feelings towards Yoon-jae, but her reluctance to truly open up stops herself from acting on her emotions.
  • Oh Dae-hyun (played by Seung Jaesang)
    • Oh Dae-hyun is a 21-year-old Receptionist Reaper, also known as an R.R. or an R 2. His time on Earth ended after a lengthy battle with depression with ultimately led him to commit suicide, a fact which he masks at Judgement Corporations by forming an overly upbeat and optimistic exterior. Dae-hyun's role is to initially welcome souls into the building and prepare them for their Judgement (including explaining the Memory Review process), as well as helping them understand how they have died and what their next possible steps are (i.e. ascending or descending). Dae-hyun's friendships remain light-hearted within the workplace but he struggles to form deeper connections out of fear that people would resent his true self.
  • Lee Hye-won (played by TBA)
    • Hye-won is a 25-year-old Reaper In Practice, working for Judgement Corporations. Whilst she was alive, Hye-won ran away from her neglectful parents and was later evicted from an apartment she was renting, rendering her homeless where she succumbed to pneumonia and passed away. Her lived experience has left her resentful of humankind and thus she has garnered a reputation as the R.I.P. with the highest rates of Descension. She has formed a harsh exterior, but deep down Hye-won is sweet and shy: she simply has learned to repress this to avoid seeming weak, which is what she believes resulted in her treatment whilst alive. With Yoon-jae and Na-eun joining Judgement Corporations, Hye-won begins to open up again.
  • Hwang Hyeon-seo (played by TBA)
    • Hwang Hyeon-seo is a 26-year-old Reaper In Practice, working for Judgement Corporations. He was a carer for his elderly mother, but contracted a terminal illness and passed away soon after being forced to put his mother into care. Hyeon-seo lives with the guilt of not being able to help his mother more, and is therefore very sympathetic to the souls he meets, especially mothers. He thus is known for having the highest rates of Ascension in Judgement Corporations. Hyeon-seo always tries to see the best in people, but as time goes on, and he finds himself exposed to more and more evil, his trust in humanity begins to waver and Hyeon-seo begins to doubt who he really is as a person, as well as whether mankind is as pure as he always envisioned it to be.
  • The Grim Reaper (played by TBA)
    • The Grim Reaper is the owner and executive manager at Judgement Corporations. She explains early on that after having to reap souls and judge them herself for thousands of years, she eventually set the company up and began to delegate work to Reapers In Practice. The Grim Reaper is a comedic character, whose apathy towards her job and company contrast the often stressed and morally conflicted R.I.P.s she interacts with. She is, however, a strict boss who demands transparency and authenticity from all R.I.P.s to ensure everybody gets fair treatment.

Soul Sweepers[]

  • Senior Sweep (played by Yoon Soobin)
    • Senior Sweep, often referred to as Senior, is the head Soul Sweeper at Judgement Corporations and the right-hand man to the Grim Reaper. Created by the Grim Reaper, Senior is a mysterious, angel-like being who helps pass on advice and wisdom to the R.I.P.s, namely Yoon-jae. Senior struggles to understand the human race, and despite trying to, often fails to practice empathy, disregarding the emotions of the souls he collects. However, after Yoon-jae and Na-eun befriend him, Senior begins to learn and grow into a kind, paternal figure. Initially maintaining distance from the R.I.P.s (and teaching others to do the same), Senior becomes closer to the other workers within Judgement Corporations.

Living and deceased characters[]