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Post by ajk on Feb 26, 2017 0:10:19 GMT -5
Sorry this took longer than expected; had some streaming issues this afternoon. Plus, unfortunately the subtitling doesn't include character names and so I was reduced to pulling out my Hangul chart and slowly decoding them one at a time. And wow they threw a lot of characters at us for a first episode! Anyway... They sure didn't hold anything back for a first episode, did they. Some viewers probably didn't care for the amount of torture and killing, but this was during a terrible period and those things really happened so I didn't have a problem with it (as long as we don't get that in every episode). The only part of all of it that I didn't care for was putting the crying little girl in the middle of it. That was manipulative and went too far. Nice opening sequence. Here's the text in case anybody wants to read it again: "Winter, 1217, fourth year of the reign of King Gojong. The warrior monks were in revolt. In 1215, Mongols drove the Khitan into Koryo's northern territory. The battles still raged. To aid the king, General Choe Chungheon assumed the title of Overlord. The Choe House brought stability to a nation beset by internal strife, a nation devastated by over 100 years of corruption. But with reform came abuses. Across Koryo people joined the resistance. Among them were the warrior monks." We saw the actors' breath in the cold outdoors in the village scene. Score one for authenticity.
Got some major Shin Don vibes from the Musang scenes with the abbot. Wonder how far they'll go with that parallel, if it's intentional. But at least this monk has short monk hair rather than long flowing TV-star hair. That's another good sign for the series.
Hey monk dude, you don't have to snuff out a candle with your fingers--ouch. You're allowed to blow it out.
Archers in the first seventeen minutes--yay! But wait, the soldiers guarding the city gate didn't have any? You know, the guys on top of the wall, with that big advantage? Ugh.
"Too many losses, too much liquor, and the complaints piled up." Not only was that hilarious, one of the best lines ever in a historical, it truly does explain how those monks could have snapped and turned back on the leadership.
The visual transition from the full prayer room to the emptier one as we hear of monks being executed, great idea.
Anybody know what that game was that Choe Chungheon was playing? The subtitling said "chess" but it wasn't the chess we know. It looked a lot like like Go, just with bigger pieces and the pieces had writing on them.
Why did Musang get his own horse and rope when everybody else was in a line? I don't like things like that. So obviously staged, it reminds us we're watching a TV show.
I'm happy to see Jong Bo Suk in this one after seeing his great performance in Shin Don. And Jung Sung Mo, who plays the other Choe son, he was in Shin Don and QSD and was excellent in both, so I'm sure he'll give us another interesting character in this one. Only problem is Jong Bo Suk being the older son. No. Sorry but he clearly looks younger than the "younger" son.
Speaking of which...Musang and Wola grew up together? Huh? Is this another one of those time-travel dramas? Come on, he's old enough to be her father. Stop it already. Somebody blew it on the casting. Wola's cute, though.
Overall I thought this was a real good start for a series. Not much plot development, mostly just establishing the setting and the political situation, but that's perfectly fine for a first episode. Definitely looking forward to the next one.
p.s. It was like clowns coming out of a Volkswagen--how many Choes were they gonna throw at us in one episode? Wow. One more and I'd have started singing: "I've got that Choe, Choe, Choe, Choe, down in my heart"!
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Post by jewel on Feb 26, 2017 0:30:50 GMT -5
Musang and Wola grew up together? Huh? Is this another one of those time-travel dramas? Come on, he's old enough to be her father.
Really? I thought he looked older too but not THAT old. Maybe like an older brother... I watched the first episode a couple days ago. I liked it okay but didn't really understand most of what was happening. I liked the main guy though which will help me stick with it (though don't know how long). I saw him in a movie once and liked him quite a bit. Are you watching it at DramaFever? I am and the translation is god-awful. I think I might watch it over again...
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episode 1
Feb 26, 2017 0:42:54 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by truth on Feb 26, 2017 0:42:54 GMT -5
"Winter, 1217, fourth year of the reign of King Gojong. The warrior monks were in revolt. In 1215, Mongols drove the Khitan into Koryo's northern territory. The battles still raged. To aid the king, General Choe Chungheon assumed the title of Overlord. Choe House brought stability to a nation beset by internal strife, a nation devastated by over 100 years of corruption. Anybody know what that game was that Choe Chungheon was playing? The subtitling said "chess" but it wasn't the chess we know. It looked a lot like like Go, just with bigger pieces and the pieces had writing on them. I'm happy to see Jong Bo Suk in this one after seeing his great performance in Shin Don. And Jung Sung Mo, who plays the other Choe son, he was in Shin Don and QSD and was excellent in both, so I'm sure he'll give us another interesting character in this one. Only problem is Jong Bo Suk being the older son. No. Sorry but he clearly looks younger than the "younger" son. Speaking of which...Musang and Wola grew up together? Huh? Is this another one of those time-travel dramas? Come on, he's old enough to be her father. Stop it already. Somebody blew it on the casting. Wola's cute, though. Weird how the subtitle refers to Gojong as a "king." The actual Korean in this drama refers to him as an "emperor," which is how it should be. You'll notice that the court officials and warriors in this drama call Gojong "Peha," which means "Your Imperial Highness," as opposed to "Chonna," which means "Your Royal Highness." Koryo's emperor title changed to king during the Mongolian vassal state era. Choe house didn't bring stability to the nation. I pointed this out in the other thread, but this drama tries to turn warrior dicators into some kind of great reformers, which you can just ignore. CCH was playing Janggi, which is basically just Korean chess as the subtitle said. Sometimes your younger brother can look older than you. People all think my two younger brothers are older than me for example lol. Musang, as he is called in this episode, has never been a monk in history. Wola is a fictional character.
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Post by sageuk on Feb 26, 2017 1:36:14 GMT -5
I can confirm this. From my mother's side, my youngest uncle looks older than my eldest uncle (I told my eldest uncle that, he took it as a compliment). His youngest son is also taller than older two.
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Post by ajk on Feb 26, 2017 2:22:48 GMT -5
Glad you checked it out, jewel. Yes I'm watching it on DF; the subtitles aren't perfect but we've had much, much worse. If this is what we get for the whole series I'll take it.
First episodes of these historicals can be confusing, especially with as many characters as we got in this one--and ESPECIALLY when their names aren't subtitled. I'll be starting the character roster in a few minutes; hopefully that will help people. Also the AsianWiki page for this series has pictures of all of the main actors along with their character names; that helped me plenty.
The actors playing Musang and Wola, in real life they're 17 years apart. I suppose if his character looks mature for his age and hers looks young for hers it would be easier to buy them growing up together. A quick flashback would have helped with that--something showing them as kids and he's older than she is. Too bad they didn't think of it.
truth yeah I got a good laugh out of them saying the Choes brought stability and then all we see is chaos and carnage! But definitely I'll keep an eye out for that kind of fudging as the series goes along.
Good point about the titles. That's something I remember struggling with during a couple of our previous series here.
Janggi--thanks! Good to know. Here's the Wikipedia page about it:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janggi
It's always interesting to learn about the sports and games and entertainment we see in these shows.
p.s. Incidentally, Heungwang Temple, which we saw in this episode (the big one, not the first one we saw) was also significant in the Shin Don series because of an attempted rebellion against King Gongmin. It's a real place and a historically very important temple. The smaller temple that we first saw is Chungyong Temple; not as sure about that one. I did find a photo of a Chungyong Temple but that may be a different temple.
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Post by jewel on Feb 26, 2017 11:45:38 GMT -5
1) the subtitles aren't perfect but we've had much, much worse. If this is what we get for the whole series I'll take it.
2) The actors playing Musang and Wola, in real life they're 17 years apart. I suppose if his character looks mature for his age and hers looks young for hers it would be easier to buy them growing up together. A quick flashback would have helped with that--something showing them as kids and he's older than she is. Too bad they didn't think of it.
1) For some reason, when I watched it the second time last night the translation wasn't so bad as I thought the first time. Don't know why that is. 2) Wow, 17!! I don't know if you know Korean at all? But right away I knew he was supposed to be at least a few years older than her cuz he spoke to her in the causal language while she used the honorifics when she spoke to him. And regarding the older/younger brother thing, I agree that there are instances when younger brothers CAN look older and vice versa in real life. But I also agree with Ajk - there's no need for that in a drama, it just confuses the viewers. I totally think a younger actor should've been picked for his (forgot his name) younger brother. By the way who is the actor who plays Kim Yook Jun or whatever his name is? He's cute.
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Post by truth on Feb 26, 2017 12:28:38 GMT -5
By the way who is the actor who plays Kim Yook Jun or whatever his name is? He's cute. If you are talking about Kim Yakseon, the actor who plays him is Lee Juhyeon.
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Post by jewel on Mar 4, 2017 17:40:50 GMT -5
Thank you. He's super cute. Hope he has a big role in this series, and I hope he plays a good guy.
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Post by jewel on Mar 8, 2017 21:20:41 GMT -5
Weird how the subtitle refers to Gojong as a "king." The actual Korean in this drama refers to him as an "emperor," which is how it should be. You'll notice that the court officials and warriors in this drama call Gojong "Peha," which means "Your Imperial Highness," as opposed to "Chonna," which means "Your Royal Highness." Koryo's emperor title changed to king during the Mongolian vassal state era. I think you mean to say, "Your Imperial Majesty" and "Your Royal Majesty" since "Majesty" is used for King/Emperor and "Highness" is used for Prince/Princess.
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Post by truth on Mar 8, 2017 21:33:33 GMT -5
Weird how the subtitle refers to Gojong as a "king." The actual Korean in this drama refers to him as an "emperor," which is how it should be. You'll notice that the court officials and warriors in this drama call Gojong "Peha," which means "Your Imperial Highness," as opposed to "Chonna," which means "Your Royal Highness." Koryo's emperor title changed to king during the Mongolian vassal state era. I think you mean to say, "Your Imperial Majesty" and "Your Royal Majesty" since "Majesty" is used for King/Emperor and "Highness" is used for Prince/Princess. Thanks for the correction!
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Post by truth on Mar 11, 2017 17:52:54 GMT -5
Thank you. He's super cute. Hope he has a big role in this series, and I hope he plays a good guy. The North Korean Kim family claims to be the descendants of his brother lol(the character, not the actor of course).
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Post by jewel on Mar 11, 2017 18:24:56 GMT -5
Who is the North Korean Kim family?
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Post by sageuk on Mar 11, 2017 18:36:16 GMT -5
The dictators that are in charge of North Korea.
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Post by truth on Mar 11, 2017 18:40:07 GMT -5
Who is the North Korean Kim family? The one and only North Korean Kim family that you've ever heard of, jewel.
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Post by jewel on Mar 12, 2017 14:17:15 GMT -5
Sorry... if I had stopped and thought for a minute I would've known.
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