Review on Korean Drama: Queen Seon Duk (2009)

Title:  Queen Seon Duk

Genre: Period Drama, Action, Romance

Duration:  62 episodes

Cast:

Lee Yo Won as Princess Duk Man/Queen Seon Duk

Ko Hyun Jung as Mi Shil

Jo Min Ki as King Jinpyeong

Uhm Tae Woong as Kim Yoo Shin

Park Ye Jin as Princess Chun Myung

Kim Nam Gil as Bi Dam

Yoo Seung Ho as Kim Chun Chu

Lee Seung Hyo as Alcheon

Seo Young Hee as So Hwa

Synopsis: Was anyone born to become a hero? Was it not for every hero, circumstances and his abilities, aided with blessings from heaven that would make an ordinary person become legendary?

This is such a story.  It’s about a little girl who grew up in the desert, surrounded by merchants and travellers who thought she was abandoned by his father but nevertheless was leading a happy and carefree life.  She lives with her mother who has become sickly because she saved her when there was fire when she was little.  Deokman (Lee Yo Won) was naturally curious, witty, charming, naive and intensely loyal to the people she loves.  She led a simple and quiet life in the tavern with her mother unaware of her troubled past and the real reason why she lives in desert, so far away from the land from which she was born. 

She was only made aware that her life was threatened when a man came to kill both her and her mother and told her that he has been looking for them for the past 15 years.  Surprised to hear of someone so dedicated to look for her and kill her that she decided, after seeing her mother die in the desert, to get to the root of all these and look for the man who might have a clue to her true identity, Chunno.

It was a tumultuous era where King Jinpyeong (Jo Min Ki) is a mere puppet of Mi Shil who controls everything in the royal court.  Mi Shil is an ambitious, power-hungry woman who’s feared and at the same time revered by the people for her power to be able to control the heavens and accept revelations from the heavens.

Scheming to become the Queen, Mi Shil ordered to have the queen killed, but fortunately, she was able to make it alive with the help of Munno and also realizing that she’s pregnant. On day she gave birth, the king fearing Mi Shil will use the prophesy that giving birth to twins will result to the male lineage dying to depose the queen, he sent one of the newly born twins with the queen’s maid, So Hwa, to take away from the palace.  However, it was also written in the stars that the baby would be the one to contend with Mi Shil and accomplish great things. 

So Hwa took the baby away from the palace with the aid of Munno, a highly respected Hwarang whose martial arts skills are legendary.  Choksil who was the trusted aid of Mi Shil ardently pursued them for more than 15 years finally finding them in the desert of China.  Deokman(Lee Yo Won) grew up in the desert believeing So Hwa as her mother and that her father abandoned them.  Away from the pressure of the palace, she was able to learn many languages and read many books since different types of merchants travel for trading in China.  She grew up cheerful, resourceful, and brave, not afraid to put her life on the line to save others.

She simply want to live a quiet life with his mother.  All these were put to end when Choksil tried to kill them again in the desert and her mother, wanting to save her chose to die in the quicksand and severed the rope that tie her and Deokman.  Thereafter, a sandstorm appears and puts an end to all her hope of still finding her mother alive.  She then made a resolve to go back to her hometown and find out why she was abandoned by her father and why someone has been actively pursuing them even after all these years.  Her biggest clue is finding Munno who seemed to have traveled quite a lot and no one seemed to exactly find out where he is.  

At the time she went to the island where Munno was said to live, Princess Chun Myung( Park Ye Jin) has made a resolution to fight Mishil after her husband died in battle trying to pursue some glory to make him deserving to get the throne.  In order to escape the evil schemes of Mishil, she pretends to give-up and retire in the buddhist temple where she safely gives birth to Prince Chunchu (Yoo Seung Ho).  Thereafter, she sends people to investigate where Munno could be, believing he holds the key in fulfilling the prophecy of overthrowing Mishil.  Unfortunately, while boarding a ship, they were ambushed and all the men who were guarding her were killed leaving only her and Deokman alive.  Not knowing how to fend for herself, she follows Deokman ordering her to become her bodyguard and that becomes the beginning of their lifelong friendship.

The two eventually arrives at the temple only to find bodies scattered everywhere and assassins sent to kill them.  They were able to evade the assassins with the help of Kim Yoo Shin’s group, Uhm Tae Woo.  Princess Chun Myung was brought to their training camp not knowing her real identity.  She was impressed on how serious Yoo Shin tackles his training and not losing focus.  When he realized her real identity, she invites him to stay in the palace and serve her.  He pledges his undying loyalty.  She also asks that Deokman be allowed to join his group of huwarang so she could also keep her close.  Mishil didn’t have a choice but to allow them to come to the palace especially when there Deokman presented evidence that it was her son who tried to kill the princess.

Years after, Deokman maintained her friendship with the princess not realizing her true identity and still in search of her truth and wary of Mishil and her followers.  Mishil continued her control of the kingdom while the king continued his reign without any real powers. 

Everything was turned upside down when Mishil’s faction realized Deokman’s real identity and assassins were sent to kill her while she planning to escape with Yoo Shin.  The assassin believing Deokman was wearing the princess’ attire killed Princess Chun Myung instead which led Deokman to abandon the thought of running away and of living peacefully as a woman.  She decided to avenge her sister’s death and her family’s demise against Mishil head on.  On the process, she met Bi Dam (Kim Nam Gil) who is a man not afraid of anyone and unconfined by society’s mores and rules who could kill an entire village without any remorse. 

Together with Deokman and Yoo Shin, they decided to fight with Mishil to gain her identity back as a princess and to eventually become the ruling monarch.  They tried to outwit, and thwart her plans and in the process realize how power is gained and Deokman taking it further by ensuring that the people would benefit from everything she learned. 

Yoo Shin and Deokman’s love story though ended when Yoo Shin was forced to marry to save his people.  Although she already acknowledged that becoming the next ruler ends their love story, it still broke her heart when he got married to Mishil’s niece.  His marriage however did not make his loyalty wane since in his heart, he could only love Princess Deokman. 

After Princess Chun Myung’s death, her son, Kim Chun Chu was brought to the palace.  Prince Chun Chu (Yoo Seung Ho) distraught by his mother’s death but believing she betrayed him by never fulfilling her promise of being together rebelled against Princess Deokman.  He pretended to be a weakling and dim-witted whilst planning to avenge himself and his mother against everyone.  He dared to even marry Mishil’s niece and used Mishil to declare him qualified to become the next ruler.  The fight between Princess Deokman and Prince Chun Chu however made Mishil realize that her mistake was only wanting to become the queen when she could have set her goal to become the ruler.  She then decided to abandon all the principles she previously adhered to and declared an all-out war against the monarchy and took the king as prisoner with the goal of becoming the next ruler.

Amidst all this, Bi Dam begun to realize that he is more than ready to do anything and everything for Deokman not only because he believes her goal but because he begun to fall in love with her.  Although Yoo Shin is already married, he is still jealous that Princess Deokman seemed to trust him the most and gives him important tasks while he is given mundane errands.  He confesses his feelings to Princess Deokman but she repeatedly refuses him.  He is torn knowing he loves Deokman but also knowing that he has the potential of doing great evil since he knows he is the abandoned son of Mishil. 

In the end, will Deokman be able to overcome her great adversary Mishil as the prophesy revealed or will Bi Dam cause her downfall?  Will Prince Chun Chu realize who his real adversaries are? What will become of the great Mishil?

Review: If you dare to love someone great, is the love bound to fail? I can’t help but noticed that too many of these historical dramas end with tragic love stories.  The greater the goal, the bigger the pain for the people involved.

The story was indeed interesting enough that when the dvd I bought did not play, I frantically searched the net for the succeeding episodes.  There were some episodes I can’t find but I try my hardest to follow the story with the succeeding ones.

Of all the characters in the story, the one that made the biggest impact on me is the character of Bidam.  I mean the guy is super hot with his hair down, has excellent martial arts skills, smart, funny, brave, loyal but unfortunately slightly wacko at times like when he killed all the people just so they won’t be able to see his book.  It of course must have been the bad blood he got from his mother but he’s so cute when he’s childish.  Unfortunately, it was already set from the beginning that they would not be together. However, I wonder if the writers’ intent from the beginning was a love between the queen and Bidam or did they switch to him to become lead because he was drawing more attention that the male protagonist?

I like the acting of the female lead at times specially when she smiles, she’s really pretty.  But I can’t help feeling that sometimes, she is overdoing it and at the latter part of the show, all she seems to be doing is glaring at people even when the situation does not call for it.  I felt that her acting was very weak sometimes specially when her nanny died and she was supposed to act distraught in private but wasn’t able to deliver the emotions.

What kept me watching? It was because Bi Dam literally lit the screen whenever he is on.  I loved his smile.  Prince Chun Chu also looked so adorable even when he was being naughty and was trying to manipulate Mishil’s faction. 

I give this show 8 out of 10 stars because I love the costumes, I love Bi Dam and Chun Chu and I love how the females were depicted strong and powerful instead of the usual damsels in distress.

Review on Korean Drama: Take Care of the Young Lady (2009)

Title: Take Care of Aghassi/My Fair Lady/Take Care of the Young Lady

Genre:  Comedy, Romance

Duration:  16 episodes

Cast:

Yoon Eun Hye as Kang Hae Na

Yoon Sang Hyun as Seo Dong Chan

Jung Il woo as Lee Tae Yoon

Moon Chae Won as Yeo Yi Joo

Yoon Ye Hee as Jo Mi Ok

Synopsis: Kang Hae Na belongs to the richest family in Korea and the most sought after by men and hated by women for her looks and her background.  She is the sole successor to the largest conglomerate company, Kang-san Group and has always lived her princess-like life in her castle-like house.

She lost both her parents when she was young and was brought up by servants who scamper to fulfil her every demand making her ill-tempered, rude and obnoxious.  Her grandfather could never say no to her demands further encouraging her princess-type attitude. 

Being the sole successor of the company, her grandfather had been pressuring her to marry and to take over the company but she continued with her devil may care attitude with the mentality that her grandfather would always shield her from everything and she would always have the money to make everything right.

When she met Seo Dong Chan, Yoon Sang Hyun, in a traffic accident, she refused to apologize for cutting him and threw him some bills to pay for the inconvenience.  Dong Chan’s pride was ruffled and a car chase ensued that ended in the police station after Hae Na tried to run his truck over. 

When Dong Chan and Hae Na’s lawyer was negotiating the price for settlement, Hae Na refused to settle and struck Dong Chan’s pride again telling him that he was really only after the money.  Instead of accepting the money, Dong Chan decided to pursue the case which led Hae Na to do community service and was humiliated in the tabloids. 
After that, it was an act of revenge after another for both parties that eventually led to Dong Chan rushing over to Hae Na’s house to demand an apology but meeting her grandfather instead.  After hearing the whole story, her grandfather decided to hire Dong Chan as Hae Na’s butler hoping that he could change her attitude for the better. 

In the process of changing her, Dong Chan eventually realized that Hae Na’s princess image is a ruse to protect herself from the hurt from others.  In reality, she is very lonely, clueless and wanting to trust someone without the fear of them being after her money.  Gradually, he started to fall in love with her and wanting to sincerely protect her instead of his initial plan of making her fall in love with him and pay for his debts.  Against his better judgement, he helps her develop a relationship with the Human Rights lawyer Lee Tae Yoon, Jung Il Woo. 

After some time, Dong Chan has developed his innate sense of knowing when Hae Na needs his protection; Hae Na started to depend on him more and more.  She even trusts his advice on how to run her company.  She was however devastated when she learns that his initial purpose was actually to seduce her and get her money.  She also learned that he was previously a gigolo and that made her doubt his sincerity from the beginning.

While she was debating whether she would trust him again or not, Tae Yoon begun to notice that she might not just be feeling friendly towards Dong Chan and begins to feel pangs of jealousy.  In the end, he demanded that Dong Chan stay away from his girlfriend specially when he learned that he had developed real feelings for Hae Na.

Hae Na realizing that she has fallen in love with Dong Chan was determined to give everything up just to be with him.  She however changes her mind when her grandfather suffered a major stroke after she confesses her love for Dong Chan and insists on marrying him. 

In the end, will their love be able to conquer all?  Will Hae Na give everything up for Dong Chan including her beloved grandfather?

Review: I felt bad for Il Woo.  His character was neither given any depth nor any chance to really shine.  Sadly, the story revolved only around the two main protagonists.  I wonder why he decided to go with this project specially after being the lead for the Return of Iljimae.  Although he looked so much better in his previous drama, he didn’t look bad.  Just too bad that he did not display any particular strength for his character in this drama.

I just felt that the drama lacked a cohesive story and an eventful ending.  It was simply a story of two people falling in love despite their past and their backgrounds.  I wished the writers gave it more depth and gave Hae Na’s character some growing-up pains and changing for the better besides realizing that she loves a man against everything she believed in.

Tae Yoon’s character started really well but went down flat and became a mere third party in the story.  Although his character lacked depth and story, I still loved seeing him smile.  It could melt my heart just seeing him smile and wishing earnestly that he would end up with YEH in the end.

I give this show 6 out of 10 stars because I like YEH but her hair drove me crazy.  It was just too red, too dry and too painful to watch specially that she’s a princess that could have gotten everything with money.  She could at least have her hair rebonded, fixed or could have worn a wig.  

Review on Korean Drama: The King and I (2007 to 2008)

Title: The King and I (2007 to 2008)

Genre:  Romance, Period drama

Duration:  63 episodes

Cast:

Oh Man-seok as Kim Chuh-sun/Chun Dong

Ku Hye Sun as Yoon So-hwa

Go Joo-won as King Sungjong

Jeon Gwang-ryul as Jo Chi-gyum

Ahn Jae-mo as Jung Han-soo

Jeon In-Hwa as Queen Insoo

Jung Tae-woo as Prince Yunsan

“You will become a hero or a traitor.  It’s a very thin line...”

Synopsis:  Where should loyalty and sacrifices for the greater good end and loving oneself begin?  How much should we give-up for love and for one’s country?  Plotting and scheming for the betterment of the nation, is it all worth it in the end? 

This drama focuses on the political struggles, sacrifices, loyalty and the pain behind the desire to maintain control of the throne.  It strived to show how one’s love could drive a man to castrate himself and become a eunuch in wanting to be close to the woman he loves.

Chun Dong/Kim Chuh-sun, Oh Man-Seok, was a man who was destined to become a eunuch and achieve the greatest feat in the history of eunuchs.  His foster mother refused to believe his son’s destiny and tried everything possible to make sure he does not become a eunuch.  However, Chun Dong decided to do his own castration when the love of his life, Sohwa (Ku Hye Sun), decided to become a concubine and enter the palace.  In order to stay by her side, he decided to become a eunuch notwithstanding death in becoming one. 

After becoming a eunuch though, he was filled with the zeal of maintaining moral fortitude and eradicating corruption.  He led his fellow eunuchs in making a stand to force the corrupt eunuchs admit their guilt and change their ways.  His childhood friend who is now the king lauded his achievement but sent him on exile after the ministers and royalty pressured him to punish the leader of the eunuch’s reform calling it mutiny. 

The queen eventually dies and King Sunjong decided that he would make the love of his life, Sohwa, his queen specially after she gave birth to his first son.  Amidst heavy objections from almost everyone, he triumphantly makes her a queen.  However, her personality is just too strong, too straight and too frank that she made an enemy against the king’s mother, the concubines and court maids and servants.  The only person who did not go against her was Kim Chuh-sun, more so because he is secretly in love with her than anything else.  Because she has successfully alienated herself from everyone, she became an easy target for a frame-up to depose her and eventually kill her specially after the king had an affair with Ulwoodong which drove her to jealousy.  It was during the king’s affair that she realized that the king’s love has waned and that she could not find the reason to stay in the court anymore except to be with her son. 

Because she stood alone against everyone, she failed to prove her innocence, was deposed and eventually ordered to drink poison to maintain peace and control in the court. 

Many years later, when her son became the king, he was driven to insanity when he realized that his mother was framed and mercilessly killed by the people whose desire was to gain power.  He started a bloodbath in the name of pursuing justice for his dead mother.  He also rebelled against all the court rules and laws and was haunted to maintain his complete control of his court officials and ministers that he became a tyrant while drinking all day and night and sleeping with various women.  He also brought in a slave and declared her to be his concubine. 

Chuh-sun believed that his obligation and duty was to protect the king.  He refused his foster father’s suggestion to change the man on the throne and decided instead to confront the king to make him change his ways knowing full well that it may lead to his death.  It was during this confrontation that he first openly admitted his love for Sohwa and the reason why he became a eunuch.  The king hearing this confession and the reproach against his behaviour in court, in a blind fury, killed Chuh-sun with his own hands. 

The death of Chuh-sun led other eunuchs to make a stand that eventually led them to their deaths as well.  Court officials and minister seeing the slaughter decided to put an end to the tyranny and revolted to put another king on the throne and exiling King Yunsan.

Review:  Watching Oh Man-seok was painful specially when he is using a pained expression.  I understood how some people would like to tear their eye sockets out because I felt the same when I see him in this show.  I could not understand why in the duration of the drama, instead of becoming better in his role, he actually turned bad to worst.  Although he is the main protagonist in the drama, I could not sympathize with the character because I never felt the sincerity of his character.  His character was pitiful at all times because his acting sucked big time.  I could not understand how his character could have been the hero in the story when everything he does is actuality pursuing his unrequited love but shrouding it under the guise of his upright moral principles.  His struggle to provide justice becomes ridiculous at times it even became painful to watch after some time. 

Ku Hye Sun was alright but there were moments when I felt she was overdoing it specially when she became queen and she was standing up against Queen Insoo.  Her stare would just be of defiance but no elegance or depth.  It looked more of a rebellious teenager against her mother who is scolding her that even when I knew she was right, it made it hard for me to sympathize. 

Queen Insoo made me mad a couple of times when she was trying to control the court and even scheming with the ministers to pressure her son to do her bidding.  I could not understand why she had a hard time dealing with Queen Sohwa when she originally planned her son to marry her before he actually became king.  I do not understand how she could have wanted to kill the woman her son supposedly loves and the mother of the prince.

The one thing that competed with my frustration with Oh Man-seok’s mind-numbing acting is King Sungjong.  He promised his unending love for Sohwa and yet maintained 10 concubines and having an affair with a loose, married woman.  He was ready to leave everything behind him just to spend a moment with her.   I actually had the impression that he loved her more deeply than Sohwa because he was going against everything he believed in and against everyone, not withstand the slander to his image as the king.  All this while maintaining that Sohwa is and always will be the love of his life yet throwing her down, knowing that she is heavily pregnant with his child.  I just don’t understand it. 

I also do not believe that Sohwa was just merely protecting and worrying about the king when she went out the first time and met with Ulwoodong.  It was obvious that she was insanely jealous of her and at the same time worried about the impact of their relationship to the monarchy.  But maintaining that she did it out of her desire to solely protect the king is ridiculous.  I also don’t understand why she had to be so antagonistic towards her servants when she could have used more benevolence and understanding.  She was just pure mean.  It made me think that she might actually be guilty of all the cases thrown at her but the story made me think that it was a frame-up.  I think she was really a witch that’s why her son turned out the way he did.  I do not believe that a bad apple could have come from a good orange tree.   If she was as good as they wanted to project of her, her son could not have turned out so badly specially not when he is so bright and intelligent to begin with.  He did not become insane just because he discovered that his mother was innocently killed leaving him with no mother but enjoying the attention of everyone while growing up.

What made me watch this show until the end is actually his foster father, Jeong Gwang Ryul and his loyal bodyguard. Jo Chi-gyum character being complicated in the sense that he is more in the grey area and not just being good or bad.  When he is struggling with himself, it reflected in his eyes and his actions.  His actions always reflected the true meaning of his words although he might say otherwise.  I thought he was very regal and his presence commanded respect and attention although he was a mere eunuch.

I was frustrated with so many aspects of this show specially when they were flinging accusations and punishing people without even proving the guilt.  There were some scenes when they were stretching the human emotion and yet failing to gain the sympathy from the viewer.  I specially hated the part when the king developed a relationship with Ulwoodong proving that he goes for the look more than the character.  It also proved that he actually plays around a lot and not what was initially shown of him sleeping around in defying his mother who refused to marry him to his first love.

I give this show 7 out of 10 stars because my biggest frustration is the main male protagonist who made it painful for me to watch the show.