daunte29
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Flashback to ep 59 KBSW....there was a short scene of replacement Queen Yak Yeon, together with her female bodyguard - no doubt also trained to also jump in and take a spear for Her Royal Highness if need be - supervising and checking gifts of food and supplies for the families of soldiers who got chopped to death in the recent battles with Asin's forces.
Aww... makes your heart bleed, doesn't it?.....ain't it awfully sweet of HRH Yak Yeon to be thinking of the bereaved families of the poor foot soldiers who in Korean historical dramas usually die faster than a mosquito being swatted - one swing or swipe from the enemy's sword and it's bye bye birdie....and I've always wondered how dead bodies by the hundreds are disposed of in those ancient days....
Did they have a special unit of soldiers whose task it was to pile up the dead in carts and then cremate them? Or did they just leave the rotting bloating corpses out in the open fields for the korean wildlife, and domestic dogs and cats and poultry to feast on? At least that's what korean comic books on ancient history sometimes depict.... without any historical evidence of course.
Certainly I wouldn't envy those chaps In those days going about a battleground filled with body parts, and severed heads and picking each human body part and throwing them into the cart so that they could cremate them later. In an era where dog tags and instant photos weren't yet invented, how in blazes did they go about identifying the dead Goguryeon soldiers?
And if some or many dead bodies of soldiers cannot be easily identified, how would HRH Yak Yeon know which family to give those 'death gratuity' or food aid to?
So for Sagal Hyeon to die while face-2-face with Damdeok, we can at least rest assured that Asin's next-of-kin will receive Goguryeon state's death compensation for sure and hopefully not get bogged down by bureaucratic red tape.
Now it was expected for our PDs and writers to give a grand scene to send off Sagal Hyeon and everyone from Damdeok right down to his generals and warriors plus a few mosquitoes all crying their hearts out - and realistically, according to Korean (& Chinese) funeral customs, on the 49th day of Sagal's death, this same contingent will return and then cry some more.
The many history experts in this thread will tell us the exact numbers of Damdeok's conquests throughout his 22(?) years of war - so my take about all this crying by a real DD for his top commanders killed during battle is this - with so many wars, the numbers of his commanders killed will surely not be a small number, so are we to imagine Damdeok will wail and cry everytime after a battle that took the life/lives of another of his commanders? And don't forget, according to custom, DD must again return 49 days later to honor the tablets in the temple one last time before the soul departs for the afterlife for good. Or else the soul will wander aimlessly about because it didn't get the final farewell and offerings.
Those of you who knows what I'm saying here will understand; those of you who have no idea what I'm saying better stay put.
As I rewatched Ep 59 just now, I'm also tickled by the drama writers' 6-prong attack which they credited DD with - how come DD didn't place one of those 6 prongs at the one place DD ought to know would be Asin's escape route? Asin's speedboats.
I call them speedboats because the very same time PD showed us DD and his posse running..... ok jogging... towards the pier, at that same time Asin and his posse (& one lost & found ex-queen in pretty pink) were hustling to board their boats... and when DD & his posse arrives at the pier and prepares to fire arrows, the boats seem to have miraculously travelled quite a distance away. Did the Baekje gods suddenly provide sudden huge gusts of gale-force winds or do those Baekje boats have propulsion technology nobody knew about?
Relax folks, I myself have no doubt Damdeok the real dude is a great tactician and any great general would anticipate where his enemy might scamper away to and one of his first priority would be to cover possible escape routes. And if you want to escape from an island, where might that escape route most likely be?
Shame on those two writers for not thinking these simple things through, things even an elementary school war-gamer would have known. Anyway it won't be their last boo-boo because I believe the next few episodes are also about battle scenes.
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Another dimension to understanding and appreciating historical dramas, distorted though they are, is KNOWING what the real people of the era actually contributed to the culture and arts.
Too often after watching many episodes of historical dramas, as in this one, some of us are left only with the politics and personal infighting bits, with one or two love subplots thrown in. For example, does anyone in this thread ever think differently of Baekje or Silla or even Goguryeo, other than the conquests and invasions, and all the yelling and killing? What did the common people do? What did the common folks leave behind?
These 3 short clips in English narration might open your eyes to what the Baekje & Silla cultures also left behind and to say that their creations were beautiful or wonderful is something for you to decide.
Baekje
Silla
GoguryeoHistorical distortions are commonplace in Korean Historical dramas, in the name of entertaining, but how many here are also aware about historical distortions being currently done to Goguryeo's historical legacies by China?
I'm not anti-Chinese, not at all, but I am a naturalized citizen of Korea, married to a Korean and have been living in Korea, on and off, for well over 27 years now.
Therefore I cannot help but feel sad & disappointed at what's happening to Goguryeo's historical artefacts and tombs and centuries-old structures that unfortunately lie within another country which has systematically done nothing worthwhile and instead wants to re-write history and claim it as their own.
Some will surely continue to argue strongly that distortions are okay and acceptable, whether done by dramas or done by a state, because the public in general know better. Are you so sure?
The 2 clips below will tell you China has registered all its many historical claims/distortions over Goguryeo's legacies with UNESCO and these distortions has been published in textbooks as well as in maps and other books published by Western countries i.e. outside China.
Ask any korean kid or teenager what King Gwanggaeto looks like and the response would probably be Mr Lee Tae Gon, instead of the more accurate 'nobody knows for sure'.
I also won't be surprised some of us watching this drama may end up thinking that Goguryeo are the 'good' guys and that every other kingdom around them like Baekje, Silla, the Chinese dynasties, Houyan, the Japanese, etc all deserved to be invaded and punished.
Distortions have a funny way of quietly escalating and being slowly embedded in human psyche. Just give it more time to bake and then voila! the distortion may end up as accepted fact.
The 2 clips below also produced by the same agency above examines the SINIFICATION (the word the producers use actually is 'destruction') of all things Goguryeo, including Goguryeo's remaining fortresses, the tomb of Damdeok and the Gwanggaeto stele itself.
Just imagine if Damdeok were alive today, or brought back from the dead...I wonder whose geopolitical position he would take... China's or Korea's .... it does sound like a future sci-fi movie project, eh?
Part 1
Part 2...just see what has happened to the tomb of Goguryeo's King Jangsoo? -
Note: this post has to do with the ACTUAL historical sites, artefacts and findings surrounding the ancient Korean 3 Kingdoms as described by Korean and Chinese scholars in a KBS investigative documentary and only recently English-subtitled and uploaded on Youtube by a kind historical buff. However around halfway in Cut 4/8, he/she stopped subtitling and so I'm afraid that's that.
Therefore if you have no interest in exploring real historical investigations done by scholars on Damdeok and Goguryeo's historical legacies, then I suggest you ignore this post and move on. The views and opinions reflected in the clips are NOT mine so please don't reply to this posting.
Several pages back there were some questions posed as to the reasons why Baekje went to war with Goguryeo and vice versa.
For the sake of accuracy, I won't use this drama's plots as a possible answer because why refer to a fictional dramatization when you have 'more accurate' and reliable sources that are based on korean scholars research? I use the word 'possible' because in the days of the 3 Korean Warring Kingdoms, there was still no recorded history (other than tomb inscriptions and paintings) and when there was recorded history, it was first done by Chinese scribes.
The Samguk Sagi was finished only in 1145, many many centuries after (in classical Chinese which was still the standard language for the ancient Koreans who also mixed it with local tribal dialects, because Korean Hangeul, the language spoken today, was only invented during King Sejong's reign). Luckily for those still interested in or researching ancient Korean history, Korean scholars (both South & North) today have a more complete list of historical secondary sources that are cross-referenced with the much larger collections from China over the many Chinese dynasties that co-existed with ancient Korea.
I'm also placing the youtube links within spoiler tags below so that before you click on them, know that it's your own choice in doing so and that nobody forced you to click and watch. You are always free to back away and continue to rely on the askewed views as presented by KBS drama GTGC. Perhaps some of you have already seen these clips so it'd be stale info for you.
The first one (Cut 3/8) postulates the idea that Damdeok attacked Baekje for two reasons, one of them being that Damdeok's grandfather was killed in a battle with Baekje's invaders and that they supposedly took his head off.
to view the eng subs, ensure the red annotations icon is 'turned on'. This is Cut3/8 so you may want to watch from Cut1/8 for a fuller story. Mid-point onwards, this clip explains why the WHITE SUBSTANCE was such an important commodity, worth conquering and dying for, and how it was PARTLY used as CURRENCY to pay the hundreds of thousands of soldiers involved in ancient wars.
After the midway point, you'll see the actual tomb where DD is believed to be buried. The tomb inscriptions are translated for you to draw your own conclusions. Also you'll see the present-day city Jiban in Manchuria which was once DD's capital city (Goongnae) from where he ruled for 22 years. The WORLD"S GREATEST TOMB PYRAMID a.k.a Koguryeo Stone Tomb Complex, is also shown with its 12,000 stone pyramids
Explains the origins of Khitan and then why and how DD attacked them. Then attention is turned to Baekje and how Baekje was a threat to Gogruyeo well before DD ascended the throne.On a lighter note, here's a clip (not subbed) on the pre-filming ritual involving LTG, some of the cast and his happy, pretty ladies. Good chance to hear his natural voice and relaxed facial expressions
For those who didn't get the chance, here's the HAPPY TOGETHER episode (eng subbed) featuring in their early days of the drama - Lee Tae Gon (in a leg cast), Kim Junghwa, Oh JiEun, Lee InHye & Kim Seungsu. Do note the uploader has put all the 4 cuts as 'unlisted videos' so you have to scroll down a bit to click on the 4 links....this is about the only chance to see DamDeok..... err Lee Tae Gon ... say funny and weird things.
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honzbear.....this is a public thread which means it is for anyone and everyone to express what they want, according to how this drama impacts them or how you may choose to interpret the stories within.
There are some who love this drama to bits and there are those who will find it short but still interesting and damn funny.
Therefore I don't think it's appropriate for you or anyone else visiting this thread to use labels like "being a drag on others', or "being a negative nancy" because then instead of commenting on the drama, you're getting personal. What for?
You can write your disagreements on what is mentioned but I think you should not mention your dislike of what you read and pass your judgment. That would start an unhealthy trend in this thread.
You may think your opinions are correct and that's entirely up to you but as a gentleman or lady, we should refrain from chastising others who are not on your same wavelength.
I can say this because I have read every post in this thread from every contributor from Page 1, EXCEPT YOURS and does anyone here dare say their own comments were not "a drag on others' or represented a 'negative nancy'?
As long as our comments or remarks are on the drama and its characters, good or bad or even silly, I see no discord. But once anyone start making comments other than on the drama or its characters, and begin slanting remarks against persons who made those comments which irked you....well then that's even more reason not to watch it....then I think it's uncalled for.
Can't we all be more tolerant and not make snide remarks unrelated to the drama and/or its characters? Of course in keeping with the open nature of this thread (nobody but nobody owns this thread) anyone with two legs is free to disagree with and disregard my comments here and proceed to attack me or anyone else openly for our different views on this drama. I am never under any false delusions as to my participation in this thread.
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[quote name='honzbear' date='25 January 2012 - 01:39 PM' timestamp='1327469999' post='1758761
I think Sagal Hyeon and the volunteers had already left to climb the cliff. Damdeok couldn't see Sagal Hyeon or Yeoseokgae and so asked where they were.
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Might I also add that unlike Ha Muji, Xue Rengui was a real person and his exploits and contributions as a general (who actually led armies and fought on the battlefield several times, including one infamous defeat) are documented by several reliable historical sources in Chinese and Korean, and he was survived by two sons who also became great generals.
That much more we can actually say of General Xue but we cannot say anything of Ha MJ whose penultimate purpose as a fictional character has yet to be seen - not until this drama ends. He's just too good to be true, both in terms of human abilities and motives because a man of his talents could very well do something much worse (or better) than 'serve' a king.
Xue Rengui was also heavily distorted historically in the drama Dae Joyoung because the PD for Dae Joyoung is ....you've guessed it.....none other than the same PD who's giving us GTGC. This PD is of course very smart in injecting his own creative license and making XRG do things in real places and to other real personalities of that era but of course historical records cannot fully support those events dramatised in DJY.
By his own admission, the PD Kim Jong Sun said in an interview on a KBS SP on DJY that he wrote in those extra scenes about XRG (brilliantly portrayed by thespian actor Lee Duk Hwa) because his purpose as PD was to entertain, and not to do a biopic (or documentary) and he cheekily even said, Just because historical records do not support some of the events portrayed in DJY doesn't mean they didn't happen. It could have happened and may have happened but as a filmmaker, his main duty is to make history come alive and not necessarily be accurate.
Later in a press interview, some devoted Korean & Chinese scholars who have spent lifetimes researching DJY and the other kings of that era slammed both the PD & KBS for 'misinforming' the korean public about the fictional events created around the real Dae Jo Young...and guess what folks, the trend continues in GTGC.
Personally I couldn't care less because these kinds of historical distortions and controversies are to be expected...even Hollywood & filmmakers in other lands do it ever so often in the name of artistic license. Korean historical dramas are more concerned about domestic ratings, advertising revenue and overseas broadcast rights (in that order) than they are about historical accuracy. Moreover Korean historical dramas increasingly follow a templated plot and character arc - for example, every korean drama MUST have a PRIMARY love story, usually a love triangle and all other subplots evolve and revolve around it.
Now whether or not this was a 'secret' Korean government ploy to encourage korean couples to get married and increase the pathetically low birth rate is something I cannot confirm but suffice to say, korean citizens are not biting... the unmarried singles and suicide rates are still super-high while the birth rates remain dangerously low (using current OECD statistics).
Can you just imagine Damdeok's weekend drama WITHOUT the crybaby Doyoung and the ex-warrior babe turned expectant mother with glorious big-hair accessories Yak Yeon and the reigning Miss Mohe beauty queen, Seol Ji whose swordfighting & horseriding skills and boomerang twin blades are as unmatched as her smooth complexion, big eyes and immaculate make-up?
Remove these women from the plot entirely and we'll have week after week of men with unruly curly hair sitting around long tables and occasionally fighting face 2 face, and those who don't die repeat the same process above and the kings will slam the table, repeat the same message he just heard the messenger tell him, then ask stupid questions which none of his general can answer, but can only give the king looks of shock and awe, then the general with the lowest IQ will suggest some richard simmons plan that the king promptly rejects because the king is the only man with A plan, unless your family name begins with HA....as in Mu Ji.
If your royal spouse is half as beautiful as some of these korean actresses in Korean historical dramas (Park Ye Jin was the sole reason why I watched Dae Jo Young), which king would want to fight and die just to satisfy his conquering ambitions? Nah, if I were DD, I'd spend much more time in the bedroom with my replacement queen Yak Yeon and when she's out shopping with my royal credit card, the many willing palace maidens are also there to feed me grapes and pears with their long delicate fingers. Then there's my royal bodyguard and special envoy Miss Seol Ji whose babelicious qualities are just too overpowering for my aging old generals to date her and so any wise king like DD would have used Seol Ji as an additional sparing partner in horizontal positions.
Therefore since I'll be too physically drained giving TLC to my women in the palace, that's why it's good to have someone like Ha Mu Ji do all the thinking and strategizing and then I'll just select his gameplan that maximizes victory and pass the job to my chief general Hwang for him to assemble the forces and unleash them at my enemies.
Thank the heavens for Korean Historical Dramas...I'm sure the REAL Damdeok would even approve from where he is now...if he had lived & fought beyond his 39 years, who knows what else might have happened historically, eh?
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Korean historical dramas over the decades are fond of stating "Based On A True Story" but the writers usually neglect to say "Only The Facts Have Been Changed By Us Week After Week".
Yup, I agree with the view that Ha-Ha Muji seems to have jumped out from nowhere, and certainly the writers have not fleshed him out properly. Nobody, not even Damdeok knows his background and the more I look at the small-eyes actor playing him, the more I see shades of Zhuge Liang in the way he makes speeches as if memorized from a drama script, right down to narrowing both eyes for dramatic effect and the cocky arrogant ha-ha manner he treats commanders.
Maybe he attended the same Ivy League institution as Zhuge Liang and other well-known war advisors but Ha MJ didn't make the Dean's list and that's why he ended up in Korea's 3 Kingdoms instead of the 'more famous' China's 3 Kingdoms.... just joking.
Plus Ha MJ seems to be a walking Wikipedia & Google rolled into one because not only is he an accomplished astronomer who can accurately predict solar eclipses, he's also a master of human psychology & behavioral sciences who can easily foretell human decision-making/bahavior weeks before it actually happens. Like Zhuge Liang, this Korean version has in-depth of every geographical terrain of the Korean Peninsula and who needs maps and weather satellites when Ha Muji can tell DD when exactly when the wind will shift and when the tides will change without even glancing at his Rolex.
Perhaps the biggest mystery to me at least is why on earth this brainiac chooses to 'serve' our Great King DD? And he doesn't crave rewards, not limited edition souvenir swords, not money, not even a house filled with young female maids to make his every fantasy come true. Perhaps Muji by himself can indeed make every fantasy come true, depending on what our two drama writers conjure up.
So is this guy for real? (I'm sure you already know the answer, eh?) And why does Ha MJ travel the land accompanied by a birdbrain male follower when HMJ himself is poor or is there a hidden meaning in HMJ's sexual orientation? Hmm.... since he's always sleeping out in the open (too poor to afford accommodations), he'll need a warm body to cuddle up with?
I also agree with the view that HMJ character somehow diminishes DD's decision-making and influence - in fact the mission that Sagal Hyeon undertook was indeed masterminded and approved by HMJ. If you recall the scene, even after DD rejected the suicidal nature of the plan, his top generals went to HMJ for further discussions and indeed it shows the hypnotic power of HMJ - and later when DD again stood his ground and objected to the plan, ALL his commanders knelt down and speaking in perfect unison, begged DD to reconsider.
And only in korean historical dramas do we see generals speaking in unison, and actually what the generals and troops were doing to DD is in today's parlance called - INSUBORDINATION. Does anyone seriously believe that democracy existed within DD's military force and that the king can be overruled with oral majority vote, vocally delivered in unison?
No wonder DD was mad when he found out Sagal Hyeon's suicide mission...it's because Sagal signed his own death warrant and that violates the law of that era because only the king can sign or sentence you to death, at his whim.
You'll also remember the scene that Ha-ha Muji was even prepared to have his head chopped off by DD's sword and just when DD was about to send Muji's head rolling around like a soccer ball, his generals all went to their knees and sang in unison. And what's more surprising was DD listened and that's when DD stopped acting like a great king and became a wuss. For a full 9 seconds.
And did DD's 'compassion' for HMJ change Sagal Hyeon's fate? He still died, didn't he...with Asin's javelin staking his sorry richard simmons to the ground. Of course our writers expectedly want us viewers to say "but Sagal died while protecting DD from being made into shish kebab' done in dramatic way but think about it - on that night and in that scene, had DD punished Muji and made him headless, then the entire general staff would be reminded 'WHO"S THE BOSS" and I doubt if Sagal and his group of 'ever-ready-to-die' volunteers would have gone ahead anyway....DD is their king and he makes the decisions, not HMJ. Kings like DD are never wrong in making decisions, even when they're wronger than wrong, they're still right.
Now when I think about poor Sagal with the spear embedded in him, what would the undertaker do in such a situation? Does he lop off both protruding ends and bury/cremate him with part of the spear still embedded, or will the undertaker pull out the spear, along with Sagal's entire innards, stomach contents and blood all spilling out, and then stuffing back Sagal's intestines and stitching up the gash? One wouldn't want to see a Goguryeon hero-warrior walking around in the afterlife with a war accessory sticking out front and back, now would we?
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Ep 59 on KBSW this evening was another fun and enjoyable plot.
It begins with Sagal Hyeon being skewered by Asin's Olympian standard of javelin throwing and the spear kept Sagal from falling to the ground and thus he expired while on his knees, but not before he managed to make a speech to Damdeok of how he would gladly die for DD again in the next life. Talk about taking a bullet......err spear.....for your king.
This skewering scene reminds me of how Danny Ahn also similarly met his end in Chuno and Danny's character also expired standing upright while being supported by the spear. And in both cases, there was no copious bleeding except from the gums and mouth. So much for realistic death scenes.
Korean historical dramas are very fond of outfitting those dozens of nameless foot soldiers with some protective torso armor but they neglect to arm them with body shields, which in military history was a standard defense for foot soldiers in those warring era. Why these dramas have continued to distort battlescenes is mainly so that the stuntmen can perform more dramatic sword swings and flying kicks, sans shield, or else they'd spending more time slamming each other's shields with each other's swords. Or that's what Korean comic book versions of famous ancient battles love to depict.
You'd notice that those so-called torso armor plates worn by foot soldiers in korean historical dramas DO nothing to protect them - every arrow easily pierces through them like thin paper and of course every sword cuts them down with a single strike. So why bother to wear them? Eh?
Speaking of arrows, this evening DD and his archers, including Seol Ji who looks like Miss Goguryeo beauty queen of the time, were about to unleash their arrows towards Asin and his fleeing forces in their speedboats when suddenly the telescopic vision of first Seol Ji, then Yeon Salta, spotted the ex-queen Doyoung in pretty pink also lurking on the boat. Talk about human shields - Asin and his posse were spared becos of the telescopic vision of Seol Ji.
Speaking of queen, this episode confirms that replacement queen Yak Yeon is probably expecting because in typical Korean drama fashion, any woman who has nausea and is about to throw up but never does, is almost always pregnant. You can disregard mild stomach upset or intestinal gas or food poisoning. So who dare says (except KBS drama writers) DD hasn't been actively working out in the bedroom and physically de-stressing with the help of his ex-warrior wife, eh?
Lastly while on the subject of warriors, eps 57-59 has this repeated line spoken by DD's commanders - i.e. IT'S NO GREATER HONOR FOR A GENERAL THAN TO DIE FOR HIS KING. Sounds brave and 'heroic', yeah...but I beg to differ.
If every 'brave' general under DD is so willing and quick to die, then who's left to command his forces when his generals have all been dropped dead to the ground? Mr Ha Muji is about as useful as a modern-day computer gamer who's more skilled at shooting CGI arrows than tasting real blood and white gunky brain matter being splattered across his face.
Nah, I should think it's AN EVEN GREATER HONOR FOR THE ENEMY GENERALS TO ALL DIE FOR THEIR KING - in that way, the enemy would then run out of commanding generals just like chickens running round without their heads. VICTORY surely comes when your enemy generals have all been depleted and sent to the other world, while more of your generals are still standing and ready to fight the next battle.
Even by today's standards of modern high tech warfare, plain bravado and the willingness to sacrifice oneself indeed has little to do with securing battlefield success than without proper strategic planning and having numerical advantage plus the necessary political will of the citizenry behind you. Which is why DD this evening was gently reminded by his council of ministers NOT to favor the military commanders too much if only to maintain a proper balance between managing wars and civil governance.
Of course I'm more inclined to think these ministers were also (again) feeling sore because DD rewarded (yet again) his surviving generals with more land and treasures and didn't give even an autographed T-shirt to his civilian ministers. Or DD could have given one or two discount vouchers or season coupons to his old geezer ministers to visit Goguryeo's best courtesans who specialize in full body herbal massages and/or spa/sauna treatments while listening to traditional kpop instrumental music played by beautiful maidens in flowing hanboks.
After all I'd imagine even the REAL historical characters in ancient Korea's 3 kingdoms took time off to celebrate and welcome the Lunar New Year. Let's get the party started!!
PS - Come to think of it, isn't it dandy that replacement queen Yak Yeon is expecting while Doyoung is still playing mental video playbacks of her once-happier times with his greatness....will Doyoung leap for joy when she discovers her replacement is about to produce the fruit of her bedroom romps with DD? Or will we yet again see (please stop the torture, dear writers) for the umpteenth time Doyoung's sad and morose facial expressions like she's in permanent state of mourning or moaning for DD, whichever rocks your world, eh? Oi, woman, time to move on and enjoy the charms of Baekje....maybe Asin might make a better life partner for Doyoung because the guy's been crying so very often as well.....he even cries when's he's fuming mad every single time he sees DD and DD sees him.
Imagine putting Asin & Doyoung in the same room night after night...those two will have a busy time, not on top of each other or trying out the various Kamasutra positions but most likely engaging in a contest to see who can shed more tears or see who can do more often the k-drama classic of crying with tears rolling down ONLY one cheek from ONLY ONE eye.
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For me, the snarling, growling in deep throaty voices and table banging are fun and funny to watch, and that's one reason why this weekend drama makes me laugh every time. So keep in mind my contextual basis when you read my comments below.
Yes...the bumbling fools syndrome is by no means monopolized by the Houyans...even our Damdeok and Mr Ha Muji had their fair share of bungled military tactics in ep 56 on KBSW.
Which commander is his right mind would send out a fleet of ships (but Damdeok did just that) to sail under a brilliant moonlit night just to intercept Asin's Baekje ships sailing with bright lights, as if to say, Please Come Attack Us...See We Even Light The Way For U To Find Us.
Now we are told several episodes back that Asin and his naval forces know the waters around Gwanmiseong like the backs of their hands and feet, so to all intents and purposes, they could navigate their way blindfolded, without radar or GPS.
The same couldn't be said of DD's forces now, can we? So did his hatred of Asin cloud the military mind of His Greatness?
OK.....now how dumb were DD's forces in chasing after brightly lit enemy boats? Here's what the on-scene Goguryeon general said:
THERE ARE ONLY 20 BOATS. IT MEANS THEY HAVE A PLAN. WE SHOULD STOP THEM. AFTER THEM!
Yup, Asin and his water buddies did have a plan but this Goguryeon general threw caution, along with his brains, overboard and went ahead to attack Asin's fleet of 20 boats WITHOUT ANY PLAN. Duh!
No wonder these dim-witted generals are always caught sitting with their king Damdeok or DD around the long table whenever reports flood into the room of an invasion from (take your pick) Baekje, Silla, Houyan and other rastafarian tribes (korean men in dreadlocks but with beautiful fairer complexion) of that 3 Kingdoms era - maybe these battle-hardened generals's brains have had their heads banged hard once too often - now incapable of even making simple decisions and leaving both big and small decisions to DD.
Aren't generals supposed to be on frontline duties defending walled cities and fortresses and leading their garrison troops instead of sipping latte or green tea or whatever they drank those ancient days and having group debates at the long table with DD on who's and where's the next attack?
If Goguryeo's generals and their best soldiers are all holed up together with DD every time in conference, then one should start wondering who are the unlucky blokes commanding and defending Goguryeo's fortresses that sits on their borders?
Do they (and the drama's writers) want viewers to think that when the time comes for a counter-strike, our DD's generals can just jump on their turbo-charged horses, gallop full speed to the battlesite and reach there within minutes translated into days?
For sure, what Blackhawk troop transport helicopters can do nowadays in swift response deployment cannot even beat our k dramas version of rapid response....our good guys cavalry and infantry can somehow arrive at the kill zone faster than fast food delivery and still have enough human energy to slaughter...err chop down...their enemies.
Those of you with basic military knowledge will know that even to march a small ancient army of say 1000 infantry, from the capital to the destination fort or city under siege, you need to be accompanied by a supply/logistics line of korean-style carts and wagons pulled by animals and forced day & night marches (another k historical drama favorite) are out of the question because if you do that, then by the time your troops arrive at the killing zone, they'd be too exhausted to even stand and fight - korean dramas NEVER show these aspects of military reality due to airtime - so a few days march is compressed into mere minutes on TV.
Also the supply cart/wagon train is vital when the cavalry and their infantry do arrive at the beleagured city or fort which have been under siege for days or weeks, assuming of course they succeed in beating back or chasing away their invaders.
And don't forget, KBS do not have enough horses or stuntriders to show a full-sized cavalry of say 500 or more, so instead we always see only the generals, commanders and lovely female heroines (like Seol Ji) on horseback while the poor foot soldiers have to jog behind them holding their long spears or swords.......now you try jogging in ancient battlegear from Seoul to Incheon - not along the current highway mind you - but travelling on foot across undulating terrain, and steep hills and crossing some rivers and you know what I mean when in almost every historical drama, the cavalry almost always seems to arrive in record time to save their endangered comrades from being minced and skewered. Ouch!
So much for historical and military tactics accuracy but hell oh yeah....it's still fun to watch our heroes jump onto their horses, then with a rebel yell, gallop out of their home base to meet their enemies out in the frontier, followed by yelling foot soldiers carrying spears and colorful advertising banners, jogging behind the horses, and sometimes if you look closely, you can even see the foot soldiers' helmets bouncing up and down ridiculously.
In a real situation in ancient times, the enemy spies would ALSO see this grand spectacle and they'd note down the size of the forces right down to who's the lead commander and then relay the info either by carrier pigeons or more often than not, by lone rider on turbo-charged prancing horse. The rider would switch to a fresh steed at certain intervals along the route, usually at inns or farmhouses whose occupants are paid handsomely for their ...er....services, and that's how enemy commanders can track their rival's troop movements to a certain extent in ancient warfare.
Back to the end scene of Ep 56 - you'd recall that Damdeok and his posse were able to watch his naval forces being bombarded with flaming arrows launched by Asin's forces (John Woo's Red Cliff?) - trouble was if you realize the distance and topography of where DD and his generals were actually located, even under a beautiful moonlit night, you'd require superhuman eyesight (or night vision binoculars with powerzoom capabilitiy) just to see who's shooting at who - but suffice to say from the wild facial reaction of DD that he pretty much knew his naval forces were being richard simmons whupped, and running aground in unfamiliar waters as the tides receded.
Certainly you could say this one of a few tactical mistakes by DD makes him 'more humanly fallible' and history confirms Asin will end up the bigger loser. Nonetheless as I said at the beginning, these implausible scenes make for good entertainment fun.
Anyway the 'blame' if any, lies squarely with the two main scriptwriters Jang Gi-Chang (장기창) (Immortal Admiral Yi Sun-shin 2004) & Jo Myeong-Joo (female) (조명주) (3 Dads, 1 Mom 2008; The Man of The Vineyard 2006; Over The Rainbow 2002; Goodbye My Love 1999: Love Wind, Love Song 1998; The Contact 1997).
In spite of that, I think for a historical drama, KGTG is much more entertaining than some others current or recent. Just wait for the next time when a messenger again delivers 'shocking' news to the war council around the long table, and you'll see the generals (again) one by one activate their individual looks of shock & awe, followed by brief expressions of worry and then DD (or the other king), after banging the table, would get the debate started by asking 'deep' questions which usually none of the commanders or their attack dogs can answer, except for those red-robed ministers with small eyes and wearing black hats.
And whenever Ha Mu Ji delivers his short but brilliant lecture on counter tactics and strategy, the commanders all give him looks of contempt and envy: why? Becos everything Mu Ji says to do (DD certainly will agree) is to be done by the commanders who must put theirs and their men's lives on the line while Mu Ji & DD sit and patiently wait at the long table for the next messenger to (again) deliver breaking news.
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I hope the ratings pick up. For the current episodes it's nationally in fifth place (15.4%). If the ratings go up, it will encourage KBS to make more dramas like this. I think the drama will make money when it's sold to other countries and the producers will be heartened by this as this makes up for the less than stellar ratings in Korea. Though I think the price tag for the series ($3 million) when it was sold to Japan is an error in reporting. It can't have been sold for that price. Three million dollars barely covers the salary of the main actors in the drama. Maybe $3 million per episode but not $3 million for the whole series (100 episodes in all).
It's interesting to think that tax dollars (including mine) are paying for Lee Tae Gon's salary. KBS doesn't have advertising on its channel.
Hi honzbear......the $3M (in US$) sold as distribution rights to a Japanese TV network sounds about right for the whole series. Being someone in that same business, I can attest to that.
Just for comparison, and I'm sure your research will also reveal that IRIS (another KBS production) was sold to TBS for a whopping US$4.3M (then a record) and the lead actor Lee Byung Hun's salary was the third highest in the history of Korean television dramas, amounting to 100 million won ($90,000 USD) per episode and was six times greater than that of the Korean industry guideline. His salary was inclusive of an overhead deal of 1.5 billion won ($1.35 million USD) in guarantees due to his namesake drawing potential investors, particularly in Japan, and opportunities in other overseas markets.
As for advertisers on KBS dramas, actually there are because a whole list of sponsors are listed at the end of the drama, even in Gwanggaeto, when the end credits roll - although I think on KBS World, it's edited out.
Although KBS (including its terrestrial TV, cable & satellite TV networks, and 7 radio stations) receives government funding, as its own corporate entity, KBS receives 39% of its revenue from TV Licence fees and nearly 48-49% from commercial advertisement sales.
Of course KBS doesn't mention what they get from their sales of drama distribution rights to the scores of overseas broadcast stations ever-hungry for korean wave dramas which by the way is far more lucrative than what domestic advertisers can match. In short, the revenue from overseas sales of TV broadcasting rights are what is propelling the drama industry in all the main Korean broadcast networks, not just KBS.
So you and I and my wife (who's Korean) do not have to worry about our precious citizen tax dollars being used to fund the salaries of overpaid Korean male actors, although privately I think Lee Tae Gon still has some ways to go yet in terms of appearance fees (the official term used in Korean).
I have watched nearly all the KBS historical dramas since 2003 and though some were duds (very expensive failures too), some have stood out as groundbreaking. This latest project Gwanggaeto has benefited from all of KBS hits and misses - especially in terms of the action stunts (horse riders being violently thrown off, swordplay with high leaps, flaming arrows landing on stuntmen's chests, etc) but I'm still amused as to why in every scene involving the king and his generals and advisers, everyone sits shoulder-shoulder around a long rectangular table, and another line of officers standing behind those seated.
It doesn't matter which camp because all the factions always meet in the same pattern around a rectangular table - and korean scholars would tell you that no military commander alive in those times would even dare sit at the same small table with their king to discuss 'strategy' - perhaps unless the commander is hard of hearing. The king would be sitting for sure but all his advisers, military & non-military, would be standing around him at least two sword-lengths away.
But since this is a drama, the directors for the sake of efficiency (a few quick changes in tablecloth and backdrops would change Gwanggaeto's meeting table to his rival faction) and camera placement, makes everyone sit around a rectangular table - smaller space and easier for the cameras to focus on whoever's yapping.
But what makes me crack up is whenever during such meetings, when messengers come running in to deliver groundbreaking news obtained from their overhead satellite imagery, or from CNN - the usually 'shocking' news always-always generate the same stock reaction from the senior generals at the table.
Upon hearing unexpected news, the facial expressions and head movements are just like a startled dog's - the head would jerk slightly instantly followed by widening eyeballs and mouth open agape, and then the head would then again jerk slightly to look at Damdeok, For effect, the camera would in turn zoom in the 'Oh-my-gawd-surprised' faces from the most senior general (General Hwang) to the junior ranked one.(Yeon Salta).
Then Dandeok would slam the table with one hand and say, "WHAT DID U JUST SAY?" and then the camera also zooms in to show us Damdeok's snarling and grimacing and menacing expression, all 3-in-1. But all I can see is how white and polished his teeth are - dang! the Goguryeons must be making some high-tech toothpaste unknown even to Colgate Palmolive.
Speaking of the 3-in-1 snarling-grimacing-menacing look that this drama shows week after week, the hands-down winner is Asin - I really applaud this handsome actor for making this his very own artform, being able to contort his face everytime he hears the name 'Damdeok' - before he goes ballistic and shouts in anger, his chest starts heaving up, his cheeks puffs out and in, and his eyes will widen then widen some more and then narrow, his nostrils flares up, his mouth will curl up around the corners, and when he yells at Damdeok, even spittle flies out!! And if the camera stays on him long enough, even his eyes are reddening.
His acting professor must have made him watch endless footage of male tigers snarling at each in slow-mo. Lately our Damdeok has also been ordered by the PD to do the same set of facial reaction whenever he hears the name "Asin" - but everytime Lee Tae Gon does it, I cannot help but be fixated by his pearly whites.
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She was in Kingdom of the Winds (as one of the baddies) so she has experience in acting in a sageuk. She is a very classy lady too so I think that's why the producers cast her here. I like her character in this drama. Even though she is a woman she is willing to get her hands dirty and put her life on the line the same as all the grunts - the rank and file. She expects no special treatment because she's a woman, and she doesn't use feminine wiles to get her way. She is extremely loyal once she decides whose side she will join. I think she is still loyal to her tribe. It's just that she has different ideas to her brother about what is the best for the Mohe. She thinks the Mohe should work with DD, not against him. I like how the actress gets really stuck into her role with all the training for the fighting scenes that's involved.
My take is she's too classy and too experienced to be acting as an insignificant character in this drama. What a waste of talent on the PDs part.
As for her previous sageuk, I believe it was The Land Of The Wind Baranui Nara where she was Yi Ji.
Anyway just finished ep 42 on KBSW and pretty lady Kim Jung Hwa once again showed her chops and extended leg kicks - awesome!!
Not to mention her boomerang twin dagger.....I'm almost tempted to ask why they haven't already formed an army of Goguryeo warriors all armed with this boomerang dagger that can easily decimate opponents with a single swipe and since the weapon returns to its user, it's rather environmental -friendly too. ....wouldn't be fair to the opposition, yeah?
Even with fake dirt on her face after a swordfight, she looked extremely babelicious.
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Hello everyone,
I follow this drama on KBS World and it's at ep 41 and so far, all I can say is that 'The Great Conqueror" is nothing but.
True, he's still only Damdeok and not yet achieved the 'greatness' as his historical self but the writers here have given him a bad deal.....ALL the baddies in this drama (& I do mean all of them) have signalled their selfish power-usurping intentions from the start of the drama and yet every few other episodes, our DD (Damdeok) is caught off-guarded, and has to 'rescue' the situation using his 'no-kill' policy, only to allow the reprieved to plot yet again.
The writers may have taken 'great' pains to portray him as compassionate and merciful but he comes across as a pathetic wimp who never learns frm his mis-judgments.
For a 'great' rookie ruler, his learning curve is virtually non-existent....he KNOWS who his enemies are and WHAT they are after and yet, time and time again he sits there relying on his enemies 'good-nature' to prevail over their evil one. If that is what the writers call 'great' then surely DD would win the Nobel Peace Prize hands down.
You can almost imagine him giving his acceptance speech in his 'forced' contrived deep voice and glaring eyes lined with eyeliner, telling everybody Goguryeo is the greatest land ever to exist - and in the meantime all the citizens and animals and trees of Goguryeo are still under threat and open to foreign invasion from left, right and center.
The best fun moments for me is for sure when every time something 'unexpected' happens that threatens the lives of his underlings or his mate or whoever he likes, DD will bark orders loudly in his deep throaty voice and trying to look angry and fierce with extra eyeliner. All his underlings in animal headgear will then show their support and unity and just like in true gangsta fashion, his posse would be seen galloping towards their destination with him leading the pack and you'd never miss DD at the head of the formation because he'd be the one with the brightest and most colorful garb. Only thing missing is the target sign on his chest with the words "SHOOT ME!".
Makes you wonder where ALL the assassins in ancient Korea have migrated to, because even a one-eyed grannie assassin can take him down with a single (or two) arrows. But if you remember, in this drama thus far DD has survived numerous attempts on his life and methinks the various drugs and potions used to heal him may have already garbled his brains.
And why izzit all the BADDIES try to outdo each other & DD himself by purposely and forcefully speaking in deep throaty voices, as if to show who's suffering from the worst case of sore throat? I'll never understand why korean historical dramas are filled with such cliches where all the lead actors in historical costumes and horny headgear by default MUST speak in that manner or else, maybe we viewers might confuse them with the palace eunuchs?
Perhaps that''s why very few, in fact hardly, any pretty boy kpop male idol has ever been cast as a lead in a historical drama because young men with deep throaty voices ARE A MUST - fake beards, mustaches, gorilla eyebrows, chest hair, even deep scars can be applied on but if you don't have a deep voice that sounds like Morgan Freeman or James Earl Jones, you're out.
Thank goodness the korean drama producers do not impose similar standards for pretty female kpop idols or prettier actresses to make the crossover to historical dramas....which brings up my question why actress Kim Jung Hwa took part in this project at all as an insignificant character. True, she was about the only 'baddie' character that came to realise they were fighting for the wrong reasons, being manipulated and all, and every time KJH appears, she just lits up the screen with her presence, beauty and charisma. Those sculpted cheekbones and big doe eyes of hers are too good to be playing on the wrong side.
As mentioned, after 41 tedious episodes, we see time and time again DD and his underlings running here, running there, reacting to everything including mosquitoes farting. About the only thing DD has yet to conquer and should conquer first and foremost is his own stupidity. Now wouldn't that be great to see? .
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This gripping action-packed drama broke some stereotypes that were overly used in mainstream korean dramas...one of them being the killing of the idol-boy who was too busy skirt-chasing his classmate until he found himself at the wrong time at the wrong place and he was summarily executed by another skirt-wearing female, no less.
WTH! The writers killed him(?!)....he's a kpop idol, you know, and his character was a harmless schoolboy!?!.
You think killers in the real world will spare you just because you were wearing a silly grin & a school uniform?
How's that for realism.
Best of all, this 3 episode drama needed only 3 episodes to tell its high-octane and adrenaline-pumping revenge story.
Some stereotypical viewers say it was too short and should have been the 'regular' 16-plus episodes.
Nah...it's not too short when you consider all 3 episodes actually adds up to a feature movie length.
The biggest advantage of this need-to-tell story was its compactness without bringing in unnecessary subplots like love-lines and a few low lifes for comedic effect.
Avoiding the normal 16-plus episode drama to me is a great way to keep the characters tight and consistent - and sharpens the focus on the main story.
I also follow Japanese dramas and theirs is exactly like that - most Japanese dramas have no pre-determined number of episodes that korean dramas follow almost religiously - and the advantage is that when the story ends after 7-9 episodes, sometimes even 11, the main story remains in your head for some time, without the fluff and subplots that only end up diluting the main story.
I hope the producers of Killer K will do another drama in the near future.
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I wonder why this show as such poor ratings. Its a great offering by KBS, which is think is much better than some of their other shows. On the other hand, I'm surprised Star King is still so high! *quoted image*
100/100 for sure has its funny moments but if you remember a few episodes back, MC Park Myung Soo did joke that all his previous shows where he was main MC (other than Happy Together where actually Yoo Jae Suk is the main man), the ratings were low and the shows eventually got cancelled. Perhaps unknown to many viewers outside of Korea, PMS was joking AND telling the truth at the same time. You'd notice that 100/100 is not sticking to its old original format but even now every couple of shows is being re-invented, and this is a direct response to try to jack up its low ratings. Even Tony An joked recently that he's been told not to use his former slogan that he yelled at the beginning of the show.
How desperate are the KBS PDs in raking up this show's ratings? Well, they're bringing in an additional MC (which I never liked bcos she's so unfunny on Invincible Youth) and even some of the original starters for Oh My School are now gone and been replaced by more "gag" men. Minho is totally being wasted here unlike the past where at least he was a star attraction (flashback to his 'musical segment' with SNSD Yuri) but nowadays the camera shows Minho laughing MORE than he is talking.
If I were you, I wouldn't compare this show to Star King because SK is one of Korea's iconic variety shows which has been running since 2007. Star King offers real talent by real people and the performances can be as eclectic and unusual all the way to the mainstream. There is REAL variety in SK unlike 100/100 which is still trying to find its identity. I'm sure you know Kang Ho Dong helms SK and when you put Park Myung Soo up against KHD, there isn't much anyone can say about PMS. Back in the good old days of X MAN, both Park Kyung Lim & Park Myung Soo were underlings to the indomitable pair of Yoo Jae Suk & Kang Ho Dong.
Anyway I still watch 100/100 because I'm a sucker for Kim Jae Kyung as well as the two other pretty ladies who were regulars but now they too have been replaced. The day they replace Kim Jae Kyung is the day I stop watching this show.
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Final entry - this writer was ever so determined to stamp "And They Lived Happily Ever After", so don't expect any last-minute shocks bcos some do live even MORE happily.
The two not-so-young folks got married and had a sleepless night....doing nothing but talking. The following morning, the super-sized family are sitting together having breakfast and it required 2 tables for all the food and people to be placed. Then our priest made his final bad joke to the newlyweds: HOW WAS YOUR FIRST NIGHT TOGETHER? Instead of everyone laughing (except for Jeongu) Gyutak should have said, I ran out of blue pills or I think I'll need a heart transplant soon. Do not underestimate the pint-sized soonjin...that woman dropped 5 babies from 2 different men.
Speaking of transplant, isn't it nice how the writer is packing Jeongu off to Japan on an origami scholarship given by the Japanese Origami Association (it REALLY does exist but it doesn't offer scholarships) and we're also told hot and homeless girl Yunju will follow her (most probably future husband &) paper-folding friend to Japan. A few months later in Japan, Yunju will probably also teach Jeongu how to do more wonderful creative things with his hands other than folding paper bcos I expect Jeongu still cannot sleep without a woman beside him. I assume he'll quickly become from Soonjin's baby to Yunju's baby expecially since there's every reason Yunju will also introduce Jeongu the magical intoxicating properties of Japanese sake.
Hell, I'll gladly welcome Yunju & Jeongu into my home in Kyoto if only they were real persons. Anyway it's back to more real world for me now that this morning drama has ended its run. I'll probably watch it again 5-8 years from now and have another good laugh. Thanks for the memories. Sayonara!
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The second to last episode today showed everyone so happy except for 2 - the evil mrs kim and Jeongu.
As expected the writer has to 'punish' jenny's mum for making this drama so unnecessarily long thru her 'failed' attempts at making everyone miserable but as to how Jenny can actually give away all of her mum's financial assets to charity boggles me. Do they share a joint bank account or something? The less said abt mrs kim the better but I'm a bit 'worried' that after she's been sacked as director of the private art museum, she'll even have more free time - after all even when she was supposed to be a director of the museum, she was already so darn free walking here and there, and contorting her face at everyone.
Anyway the real unexpected loser when gyutak marries soonjin is Jeongu. Up until now the boy was happily sleeping with his mum but after the wedding gyutak will move in with the Oh family and bring his year-long supply of viagra pills, and that means Jeongu CAN no longer be sleeping next to his mum - as it turns out conveniently, JS is leaving for the UK to study auctioneering so there'll be an extra room.
It makes good sense for gyutak to move in with the Oh family and not have only soonjin move in with him. The advantages are obvious:
1) if gyutak should suddenly injure his back or other body parts while humping his new wife, there're more than enough people at Oh's household ready to piggyback him to the hospital. We all know what newlywed couples do during honeymoon but frequent test-riding and horizontal gymnastics can be downright hazardous for elderly folks.
2) should gyutak need rest & recuperation after that, househusband minhyuk is on permanent standby to cook for him and perform other household chores, in addition to his new wife. They won't even have to hire a maid!! All those savings can go into stocking up on the magical blue pills.
So it does seem poor Jeongu is the big loser in the Oh Family after the wedding. And someone had better tell him the short version of the birds and the bees or else he'd be asking embarrassing questions like why in the middle of the night, he can hear moaning and loud rhythmic panting sounds from his parents' bedroom. Imagine what would happen if he punps those sensitive questions to his only friend, hot girl Yunju? Heavens have mercy!
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Ep 172 - two more eps left and today we learned two things - hospitals and makkeoli.
In K drama hospitals, post-surgery recovery is super-accelerated....while real liver transpant patients may wait days b4 normal solid food can be consumed, our gyutak is seen eating a selection of dishes cooked by his future slave. What's more Wujin is already up and about at home looking chirpy not less than 24 hours after donating his liver. It does seem undergoing liver transplant at that nameless hospital does not require prolonged post-op recovery when compared to some plastic surgery procedures that require 1-3 days of post-op recovery. No need for complex stitches in kdrama hospitals ...just use supaglue and it's as if the incision never happened.
Speaking of recovery, Yunju made all of us so very proud of her when she 'encouraged' Jeongu to drink makkeoli, and whether it was the alcohol content or the distinctive flavor, Jeongu's brain DNA has morphed forever bcos he now is speaking in proper korean honorifics (as opposed to speaking in overly casual manner without deference to his elders). When praised by the Oh siblings, Yunju even managed a so-pretty smile to herself b4 looking away after she saw elder brother Jeongchul giving her the kind of lecherous looks which he should have given her 170 episodes ago.
Jeongsu also made me so very happy bcos she was able to flash her trademark dimpled smile twice today. You don't see those dimples of hers every day and especially in daily morning k dramas where it's rare to see tall pretty actresses and in this drama, we have at least two (Jenny & JS). Sigh, only 2 more days.
Did anyone else notice that the 'hammer' JS used (given by Youngju) during the auction looked suspiciously like the type of wooden mallet used for tenderising meat? Is a proper gavel so difficult to find? Whoa, I can almost imagine JS playing a super sexy but confused female judge in a future drama. Haha! At least the career path for JS is on the up and up since we saw her in ep1.
By comparison her brother Jeongchul started as a bad-tempered detective, then became an aerobics instructor complete with leotards, then for s while he helped to hang..oops sorry....helped to set up the displays of artpieces at the gallery, and now we hear he's VERY happy as a bellboy at gyutak's hotel. Boy oh boy, he sure didn't get a good career path in this drama, did he?
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Ep 171 - 3 more eps to go AND just when you thought this writer couldn't make the plot any nonsensical, she/he has topped television history. Here's why - in almost all stories involving waiting for organ transplant, either the patient is saved in the nick of time - the freshly harvested organ is transported by either a helicopter or Airbus but for dramatic effect, most likely in a taxicab bcos ALL the ambulances are pre-occupied with TWIN skyscraper infernos, and then the organ transporter goes thru an obstacle course of blazing machineguns, traffic gridlocks, attempted hijacks by gangbangers, and a tornado/cyclone of biblical proportions (you know the stuff of hollywood acton scenes) b4 arriving at its destination - or the patient dies waiting.
But here we have not one but TWO suitable donors and instead of happiness, everyone seems even more depressed than before - wujin & the priest are arguing as to who has THE RIGHT to donate his liver(??!!). The argument scene wasn't friendly at all - it's just like 2 korean men...err boys actually...arguing about who can pee the furthest. Geez...So I suppose if there was a third compatible donor, there would be all-out war.
Thank goodness these two clowns are NOT required to donate their sperm or else their argumant would swiftly degenerate into whose swimmers are faster and can break world & Olympic records like Ian Thorpe.
In a nutshell, if there was no suitable donor, everyone is depressed. If there are two suitable donors, everyone is EVEN MORE depressed. Get it?
Speaking of nutshell, initially gyutak refuses to accept the livers from either one! Can you beat that? His reason is simple - he's been a lousy father to both and therefore it isn't right of him to TAKE anything from either one. Since time was running out - I'm referring to the remaining 3 eps of this drama, not gyutak's situation - he relented.
And then came the scene where you'll never see in another TV-land or in a real hospital - gyutak & wujin lying on separate beds and being wheeled SIDE-by-SIDE to the operating room and both were holding hands!! Now I suppose that's why hospitals have such wide corridors and hallways so that patients could be transported together side-by-side while holding hands. I assume when the operation is over, the staff are not going to wheel them back together in the same manner. For one thing, it's too darn difficult to orchestrate turning two wheeled beds around the corner. And what if another two beds with two patients also holding hands are coming from the opposite direction? That would result in a traffic jam of sorts and might erupt into a road rage situation. Hehe!!
Speaking of hands, poor Yunju really got nothing better to do every day than to fold paper origami with Jeongu. Her character really got the worst deal from the writer. At least mr & mrs white exists to torment the diner woman and vice versa, but Yunju...poor yunju......I wonder if she'll be cast in another drama soon.
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Today's ep 170 nearly killed me with laughter, and being the first auspicious day in the Year of the Rabbit, it felt good.
Did you see the (must-have) stumble-from-shock motion by Soonjin once she 'accidentally' heard that gyutak had liver cancer? It turned out to be a major NON-event. Nah, she didn't collapse on the ground in the way ALL the others had worked so hard to frighten us viewers and in fact told the (very disinterested) doctor, TAKE MY LIVER RIGHT NOW!
That was the beginning of the comedy.....
Diner woman to mr & mrs white: Don't you dare go to the hospital. Nobody in this world is going to get better by looking at your faces.
That was one of the funniest lines I've ever heard in a k drama but since neither one felt the sting of that disguised insult, diner woman let loose her second barrage:
People who should die live too long a life, whereas kind & honest people are cursed to the ground.
To this remark, mrs white innocently asked: "Are you saying that to my husband?"
This was too damn funny bcos both mr & mrs white were in fact sitting across the table while diner woman was peeling some veggies, so of course the 2 dingbats should know that diner woman was talking to both of them but the smarter woman asked if she was referring to only her husband. Kudos, to the writer.
Then came Comedy Act 2 - the evil woman was sitting in gyutak's hotel...oops sorry...hospital room and gyutak was asleep but in fact it turned out he wasn't asleep bcos he opened his eyes later when she left the room. He had heard everything she spouted, word for every silly word.
Here's the nonsense she confessed to him thinking he was asleep - CHAIRMAN HONG, WAKE UP. DO YOU KNOW WHY I WORKED TO THE BONES? I WAS EXCITED TO WORK WITH YOU.I WANTED TO COME BACK TO WORK EVEN AT NIGHT, BCOS AT HOIME ALL I HAD WAS A NEGLECTFUL HUSBAND AND A CRYING BABY.
As she continued toi spout more sweet words of love, the camera slowly zoomed in on a 'sleeping' gyutak, and I half expected the old man to open his eyes, and say, STOP TELLING ME ALL THIS HORSE CRAP.
But he kept them closed even when she made the ridiculous beyond ridiculous conclusion: YOU ARE BEING PUNISHED FOR NOT LOVING ME AND BEING SO COLD WITH ME. THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT. Don't you think the evil woman is a prime candidate to enter the mental hospital?
Comedy Act 3 - After the evil one left the room with watery eyes, Gyutak opened his eyes and said to no one in particular:
YOU FOOL. I'M NOT THE LAST MAN ON EARTH. YOU COULD HAVE LET YOURSELF FALL FOR ANOTHER MAN. YOU DUMB FOOL.
So there you go folks: the English playwright William Congreve wrote, "Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned / Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned."
Well k dramas has a much simpler version - woman will (always) turn cuckoo and go bananas once her love is unrequited.
And the last funny scene in today's hilarious story was when gyutak spoke to all 4 OH siblings in his hospital room and then after he had finished announcing his eleven commandments (it's faster, cheaper and more effective than a written will), he closed his eyes. When the four saw this, they thought he had suddenly died and was about to start their routine of loud wailing and crying, but thankfully mr kim told everyone he's just sleeping.
So next time you're on the hospital bed and you want pesky visitors to leave you alone, just say a few words before fading away and pretending to sleep almost instantly and even when they start talking nonsense thinking you're asleep, do not open your eyes and just listen. Hehe!!
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Does it make sense to anyone that the SECRET (of gyutak's cancer) MUST be kept even from the priest who is naturally the first-choice DNA-compatible donor? This obvious irrational progression in the plot was obviously to stretch the drama bcos any SECRET will do that by default. The writer is resorting to such silliness bcos clearly she's run out of ideas on how to prolong the 'suspense' as to whether gyutal croaks or not.
And what kind of doctor would ignore the fact that gyutak now has a biological son? Are you telling me the nameless doctor has no friggin' idea the priest can actually save his father by taking the DNA compatibility tests? Er...yes, that's exactly what this writer wants us to 'accept' as fact - the doctor is looking for a donor but he hasn't been told about the blood relationship of the priest & gyutak. How convenient!
And yes, the SECRET must be kept from the priest so that he doesn't donate his liver, and MUST never reach Soonjin for fear that she might collapse and die after hearing the news. Initially the idiot dogface wujin had wanted to keep the secret from gyutak himself! As unbelievable as this sounds, it's NOT my imagination but was in the script.
The logic perpetuated by k dramas is that telling anyone bad news especially of the terminal disease type is a surefire way to make that person collapse from shock and then die. That's why smart doctors always make you sit down or better yet, lie down when they tell you you're going to die from something that cannot be cured. Hospitals in k dramas are very strict about NOT letting you die from shock after hearing bad news bcos:
1) then they cannot make you stay longer in hospital and therefore keep paying unnecessary medical bills even though you have no chance of recovery and
2) if you die immediately after collapsing from shock, you'll give the hospital a bad name and of course, the hospital isn't able to suck you dry from paying medical bills.
In fact there was a typo error in today's subtitles when 'kidney' was mentioned instead of 'liver' - ordinarily you don't need a donor for kidney cancer bcos you've got a backup. The factual error is that any person suffering advanced stage of liver cancer would not even be able to walk or function properly bcos the liver would have stopped functioning 80-90% and the patient has no choice but to be bedridden in hospital. But for the sake of this drama, we saw gyutak and the priest romping naked in the bathhouse and scrubbing each other's backs - nobody beats the koreans or the japanese when it comes to MALE BONDING bcos once inside the bathkouse everything COMES OFF, and I do mean everything from clothes to egos to shyness/vanity to skin flakes.
Hmm..soaking together side-by-side in extremely hot water and watching each other's skin and private parts shrivel up is a surefire way of 'bonding'. This bathhouse method works much better than getting drunk together bcos the latter may incur some memory loss but the former gives everlasting memories of how the both of you looked while walking and soaking naked side-by-side.
Also it's too funny that JS is also the ONLY & FIRST ONE chosen to know abt the SECRET of gyutak's disease. That's why I've dropped the term 'ditzy' for her and yet again, Jeongsu has to once again show us her bad acting at concealing secrets from the other family members. **shudders**
Luckily for me, babelicious Yunju was featured yesterday and today - she had a chance to show us her snarling teeth when it was her turn to go one-on-one with mr white who picked on Jeongu when the boy said, 'Chairman is not sick". Even when Yunju looks angry with flared nostrils and super-sized eyes, she looks too sexy fpr words...hmm, she's the one I'll miss most when this drama ends next week.
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Ep 167 - as expected in almost all k dramas, we're now told with no surprise that the one who didn't make it to the wedding has advanced liver cancer. A k drama isn't a k drama without someone dying from terminal disease, the preferred choice being cancer and it usually involves the brain, stomach, liver, never anything lower than the intestines.
First I take back what I said earlier abt Jeongsu being 'under-dressed' for a wedding - being the only one who wasn't dressed properly was really a sign that the wedding was never going to happen (not yet anyway) and perhaps she's saving the real outfit when the wedding actually takes place in the finale episode. Today we even saw that that the 3 gallery hotties were indeed at the wedding hall waiting and the most junior gal lamented it was such a waste to see that ALL the sumptuous food were NOT even touched and that the chairman still had to pay for them nonetheless. How abt that for real-life authenticty?
So everybody was all worked up b4 the grand announcement abt WHAT felled the groom and you KNOW it's never a good sign in k dramas when even the doctor didn't bother to come into the room to tell the family members the good news; instead wujin & youngju had to go to the doctor's room to get the information. There was a good reason for this: it was another chance to keep YET another secret from those considered too weak to handle the news - the bride. In all kdramas, whenever news that your loved one is suffering from cancer, that news MUST NOT be told to anyone younger than 18 or looks older than 55. Why? Other than the excuse THEY CAN"T TAKE IT, rotten news like that always makes the listener stumble in shock, then fall down unconscious and they go into deep sleep for a few days thereby making everyone in the drama over-react, be worried sick and crying buckets.
On the other hand, keeping secrets is a surefire device to extend the drama's episodes...And that's also why news of terminal disease and impending death are WORST KEPT SECRETS in k dramas to be kept as hidden secrets in the same category as ex-orphans, abandoned babies, runaway parents, and people who have had total facial reconstruction.
Back to today's episode: I'm sure many of you also thought - What a clever writer to make the 2 chaps walk to the doctor's room to get the bad news straight from the doctor so that everyone else could then be told the following:
Youngju's version: It's not at all serious. It's only temporary, due to all the fatigue and stress he suffered.
Man, you could see mr kim's (gyutak's asst) disbelieving grimace when he heard that cow crap.
Wujin's version: He's just having some liver problems. He's going to be fine in the hospital.
Dang, this is just so clever of saying the old man is not going to be fine the moment he steps out of hospital. Hmm, it's a bit of truth wrapped within a bit of untruth or izzit a bit of untruth hidden inside a bit of truth?
I did notice Mr Kim actually stepped out of the room after hearing wujin's cryptic message - methinks he just couldn't take any more BS OR he went out to explode in sheer laughter.
Folks, yer'all know what's going to happen next in the remaining 7 episodes, right? KDrama gods may have probably told the priest if you don't become the savior in this drama and donate part of your liver to your biological father, I'm going to send him up here beside me. The next time you pray, you'll be looking skywards bcos you'll be praying to both your heavenly father and your eartly father up in heaven.
The thing is - and we know this from the early beginning when Jeongu accidentally got drunk in the priest's office - our priest is also a drinker but for the sake of ending this drama on a happy note, his liver will surely be healtheir than a bull's.
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Ep 166 - only 8 more fun episodes left, and we saw Yunju today, albeit briefly, defending herself aginst mrs white's caustic remarks.
Well, we were supposed to see a wedding (finally) happen today but there were strong hints it wasn't going to happen anytime soon bcos our once-friendly priest is still walking around as if someone stole his entire Victoria's Secret lingerie collection. Don't worry folks, the wedding is scheduled to happen finally at the finale episode.
It was good fun to see almost everyone decked out in Hugo Boss outfits today (even yunju wore a spiffy jacket) but the wardrobe director gave Jeongsu a bad deal - instead of going to her mum's wedding, her outfit made JS looked like she's going to the supermart. The dress was those loose shapeless kind topped just by a colorful bolero - very yucks. Now we know the REAL reason why JS is delaying going back to work - she just doesn't like wearing those office power suits and so she hangs around in her tees and jeans for as long as possible.
Speaking of long, a darn sure way of extending a few more episodes is to make the groom collapse unconscious due to (perhaps) chronic constipation - methinks the man has not been eating well....just look at how recent series of events have made gyutak so stressed out ....his (shy) bride ran away twice, evil woman biting at his heels like a chihuahua in heat, dogface disowning himself, all 3 Oh siblings resigning from his hotel and gallery, then somehow he had to figure out the exact clothing sizes for each of the family member's gifts, including diner woman, mr & mrs white - I wonder how he was able to buy the right-sized (expensive apparently) clothes for about 8-9 people. Phew!!
However when the priest put on his gift of clothes, you could see his jacket was 'a little tight and a little short' - just the way they wore them in the 1950s and 60s, the days of Elvis and You Ain't Nothin' But A Hound Dog. Even then, the priest looked like he was setting off to a funeral rather than the wedding of his newfound parents. Gyutak's no-show at the wedding today (unless they prop him up in a wheelchair to take his vows) and soonjin's twice disappearing act - don't you think the k drama gods up in heaven are trying to tell us something about this marriage, eh? **Smiles**
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Ep 165 - Phew! The writer did a good job with today's story - the capacity-packed stadium erupted in raucous roar when Jenny told her mum to LEAVE the country. Then the crowd went mad with delight when Jenny used her arm to block her mom's attempted slap. We don't see this often enough.
YOU ARE IN NO POSITION TO NEGOTIATE WITH ME - the priest told the evil woman who then gave him her How-Dare-You-Talk-Like-That-To-Me look. This woman with rhinoceros hide felt the stinging effect of the priest and I hope we'll get to see more people talking back at her.
I found it particularly skilful of the writer where Soonjin wanted very much to go to the priest and beg for his forgiveness - normally people go to priests to beg for forgiveness from God - only this one wanted forgiveness from the priest himself. You don't see this everyday.
The conversations between Jeongsu & her new found brother Muyeong, and the exchange between wujin & the priest, and later between wujin & gyutak - all the dialogue did look like it was written by a grade A writer, instead of our resident one. However I think it was still our resident writer the moment we saw Jeonghui confiscate the chairman's wedding presents meant for mr & mrs white.
The best scene was when we saw mr white coming back to the diner after having made a food delivery. I don't think I've ever seen such a spiffy delivery man - the man was wearing a jacket - no wonder he was sweating buckets after climbing four flights of stairs.
Strangely enough this episode featured everyone in the drama including the bit players except for hot girl Yunju. Now that the priest has been lost and found by his parents, poor Yunju is the only one still without parents and a permanent home.
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Ep 164 - I think I may have lost today's plot - I'm not religious and neither am I an expert on Catholic matters, but it seems to me this writer is trying to make a meal out of whether Muyeong (the priest real name) should choose between heavenly father or earthly father and this dilemma is driving him nuts. So he's decided to act like nothing happened, go back to THE WAY WE WERE bcos heavenly father is his REAL parent.
I've no beef with the heavenly father part but do all priests have to disown themselves from their biological parents in order to function 'properly' in the priesthood? MUST all priests be forced to choose which father they should obey and devote themselves to? I think yesterday when the priest slipped on some wild pig poo and slammed agsnst a tree, some screws in his head came undone.Perhaps more than just some.
We were given a scene how his eyes met soonjin in the middle of the street, gave her an unsmiling faint nod of the head, then quickly walked over to Yunju & Jeongu playfully - this part-snub, part-cold shouldering of his own biological mom should not be within a priest code of conduct, right? Conduct unbecoming for a priest. Lucky for him, he still gets to enjoy free food at the diner since the diner woman is NOW in charge.
It's also fitting that 2day's end scene involved the evil woman and the priest - when she says he's the reason why gyutak is disowning (the subs say 'divorcing') wujin, the priest activated the 'extremely surprised' look - actually a REAL priest would probably just tell her: what gyutak does is NONE of my business nor yours. Gyutak is an adult, make that filthy rich adult and is entitled to doing what he wants, even though shameless people like you think otherwise always.
And please stop using your over-used excuse that you're the mother of the wife of the ex-son of gyutak bcos this is not a hisotrical drama which plays on bloodlines and family hierarchy....if you want to behave like an empress dowager, go act in a chinese drama. Don't you realise by now nobody but nobody likes you? Not even Jenny? So quit your mindgames and crawl out of my office so that I can listen to my kpop group Girls Generation. Amen.
[Drama 2011] Gwanggaeto, The Great Conqueror 광개토태왕
in k-dramas & movies
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Guess which of Damdeok's warriors gonna get married on Feb 12, 2012?
Hint: NOT Kim Jung Hwa (Seol Ji) because she's still dating musical actor Lee Seung-hyun - for the past 5 years.
http://www.kjkglobal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/201201241024141114_1.jpg'>http://www.kjkglobal.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/201201241024141114_1.jpg
A movie star Hong Kyung In(36) born in the year of the dragon will be 'PoomJulNam'
(* PoomJulNam is a new word which means a married man or a groom-to-be in Korea.)
Hong Kyung In said "I'll get married on coming Feb.12th" on the phone with MyDaily on morning 24th.
Before this, Hong Kyung In announced his wedding by posting his wedding invitation on the cafe of the movie 'Statute of Limitations'.His wedding will be conducted at Anniversary Cheong Dam in Cheongdam-Dong, Gangnam-Gu, Seoul on Feb. 12th at 5 p.m.
Hong Kyung In has gone out with his girlfriend, a businesswoman who is older than him for 8 years since last 2004. Last year, the newspaper carried a story about his wedding several times and Hong Kyung In said, "I'll talk about this correctly soon. Then you can write an article and congratulate me. I didn't propose to her yet" through his twitter at that time.
That day, Hong Kyung In was questioned "Did your propose work?" and he answered "It just happened. Just I'll get married because it's time to get married", giving a bashiful smile.
He also said that his best friends, Park Kyung Lim & Kim Jong Kook would each stand as the host and sing at the wedding. He added that he could go on a honeymoon after the end of the KBS 1TV drama 'King Gwanggaeto the Great' in which he is appearing.
Hong Kyung In is playing her role entusiastically as YeonSalTa and the movie 'Statute of Limitations' will be released this coming April.
Source: http://www.kjkglobal.com/blog/