Post by ajk on May 2, 2016 0:36:27 GMT -5
Well, no turning back now, for better or worse. The first episode was a lot like Jang Youngsil's first episode. Visually beautiful, well produced, looks and sounds great. The manipulative storyline with the young slave boy getting bullied, no thanks.
Have to say though...unlike JYS, this kid, tough to feel bad for him so far. Maybe that's the goal (in which case it's an interesting goal, very unusual), but he doesn't really come across as a sympathetic character, not with that angry sneer on his face all the time. Not that he doesn't have reason to be angry, just saying. Then he starts a fight, and then groin-kicks to win it? Ugh. And then shoots a hawk for no reason at all...and gets outraged because the owner beats him up for doing it. But it's early, we shouldn't judge too soon I guess.
That's quite an opening scene; a real attention-grabber. Anybody know where it was filmed? The terrain is remarkable, never seen a place like that. The introductory text mentioned Shandong Province, but Shandong is a coastal province and it would be surprising to find such a bizarre desert landscape so close to the Yellow Sea.
And I hate to be a party-pooper...but come on, no military commander with half a speck of Neanderthal brain would ever lead a mission through that place. It's hard to imagine a more ambush-ready place. So they get ambushed, surprise surprise.
Why the long visual montages that mean absolutely nothing to us at this point? I guess it's to tease interest but if you don't understand any of what you're seeing, it's just annoying.
Oh dear, there's somebody running through the woods at night and there are bright lights coming up from the ground. That's too bad, looked totally phony. But hey, we got the obligatory cliff-dive out of the way early! Not even ten minutes in; gotta love the efficiency.
Yay! Kim Gapsoo and Jeong Hokeun, already in the first episode, how about that. The obnoxious older brother, he was Santak in QSD. Played a very annoying character in that series too. And the shipyard foreman, have we seen him before? Seem familiar to anybody else?
That business about the sea voyage...Chunghae was on the northeast coast, along the ocean, and the merchant ship was going to sail along the east and south coasts, and then either hug the coast all the way around the Yellow Sea until they got to Yangzhou in China, or else take the riskier but much faster direct route straight across the sea. It's around 300 miles to go straight across so that's not trivial...but honestly it doesn't seem like a five-day trip, no way. That works out to 2.5 MPH and even a merchant ship can do better than that.
The merchant using the fencing entertainment to call attention to his products, that was very interesting, enjoyed that scene a lot. 1100 years before commercial radio and television!
p.s. "They say feces water is good for bruises." Who does? And how? Maybe you get so grossed out you forget about the bruises.
Have to say though...unlike JYS, this kid, tough to feel bad for him so far. Maybe that's the goal (in which case it's an interesting goal, very unusual), but he doesn't really come across as a sympathetic character, not with that angry sneer on his face all the time. Not that he doesn't have reason to be angry, just saying. Then he starts a fight, and then groin-kicks to win it? Ugh. And then shoots a hawk for no reason at all...and gets outraged because the owner beats him up for doing it. But it's early, we shouldn't judge too soon I guess.
That's quite an opening scene; a real attention-grabber. Anybody know where it was filmed? The terrain is remarkable, never seen a place like that. The introductory text mentioned Shandong Province, but Shandong is a coastal province and it would be surprising to find such a bizarre desert landscape so close to the Yellow Sea.
And I hate to be a party-pooper...but come on, no military commander with half a speck of Neanderthal brain would ever lead a mission through that place. It's hard to imagine a more ambush-ready place. So they get ambushed, surprise surprise.
Why the long visual montages that mean absolutely nothing to us at this point? I guess it's to tease interest but if you don't understand any of what you're seeing, it's just annoying.
Oh dear, there's somebody running through the woods at night and there are bright lights coming up from the ground. That's too bad, looked totally phony. But hey, we got the obligatory cliff-dive out of the way early! Not even ten minutes in; gotta love the efficiency.
Yay! Kim Gapsoo and Jeong Hokeun, already in the first episode, how about that. The obnoxious older brother, he was Santak in QSD. Played a very annoying character in that series too. And the shipyard foreman, have we seen him before? Seem familiar to anybody else?
That business about the sea voyage...Chunghae was on the northeast coast, along the ocean, and the merchant ship was going to sail along the east and south coasts, and then either hug the coast all the way around the Yellow Sea until they got to Yangzhou in China, or else take the riskier but much faster direct route straight across the sea. It's around 300 miles to go straight across so that's not trivial...but honestly it doesn't seem like a five-day trip, no way. That works out to 2.5 MPH and even a merchant ship can do better than that.
The merchant using the fencing entertainment to call attention to his products, that was very interesting, enjoyed that scene a lot. 1100 years before commercial radio and television!
p.s. "They say feces water is good for bruises." Who does? And how? Maybe you get so grossed out you forget about the bruises.