Post by ajk on May 28, 2018 13:31:49 GMT -5
Sorry this one’s late; got busy with some other stuff.
Some good and some bad in this one. Actually more good; not great but at least okay.
Some signs of good character development so far. I liked the little flashback showing Jin Jeong teaching Yeogu as a boy. That kind of thing makes characters more complete and interesting and deeper. Wasn’t at all necessary to include it so it was encouraging to see. And then generally the four brothers and their different situations and the tension among them, all of them are already interesting characters and show promise.
Hey, two outdoor scenes with steam on characters’ breath. Yay! Not to make a big deal about it but I’ve mentioned this before, seeing it or not seeing it. Certainly a complete 180 degree turn from the visual phoniness in Episode 2.
“I thought I saw a nymph descending from heaven to bathe among us mortals.” Why you smooth talker you. But then wait, he just grabs her and plants a kiss on her? Well okay, whatever...sort of the Romeo and Juliet thing going on here, with the feuding families. A lot more to be revealed so I guess we reserve judgment.
“We might have briefly shared the same dream, but now that we are awake we must walk along different paths.” That’s an awfully well-written line. Right there is a good sign just on its own. We’ve watched some entire series that haven’t had anything like that.
Poop on the fortress walls, that’s a new one! And it does make sense...but only if you apply it right before the battle, not when we saw them apply it. Because one good rain would wash it away, wouldn’t it? And then, that whale-extract stuff the Mohe had, is the idea that it’s both flammable and sticky so you throw it at a wooden gate or door and then use a flaming arrow? We only got a brief glimpse of the stuff; too bad we didn't get a more thorough explanation.
When Yeogu was berating the crown prince, his brother had a funny look on his face like he was enjoying it but didn’t dare laugh. If that was intentional it was very good.
The negatives:
--There’s too much artificial lighting in the nighttime scenes so far. Okay you have to let them have some of it, it’s TV after all, but if it’s much brighter or more frequent than a full moon then it starts to look cheesy. It’s not as bad as it was in Emperor of the Sea but it’s already distracting.
--Okay so how does Yeohwa know exactly where to go to find Yeogu out there in the countryside? This happened twice already in four episodes. Explain please!
--Now about those Mohe hang-gliders...On the surface it seems completely ridiculous but is it plausible? Wikipedia says that “By the end of the sixth century A.D., the Chinese had managed to build tethered kites large enough to sustain the weight of an average-sized man.” As far as controlled flight, there doesn't appear to be anything from before the 19th century. So what we literally saw, no chance, and the idea of any sort of air-drop into the fortress is most likely baloney as well. At least it wasn’t cartoon physics; it could have been worse....Actually what I had more of a problem with was the east gate being so lightly guarded that that a few enemy soldiers could overwhelm it, even by surprise from inside. That was very weak. It’s good that the producers didn’t overdo the hang-gliding but if they’re going to stretch the truth in the first place then they should have come up with something more clever.
Here’s the narrated text:
“Could it possibly compare with yours, sire?” Oh that was a good ending. Gotta like this woman. Putting female characters into historicals, some of them have worked and some haven't. Yeohwa, already working well and a lot of potential.
Overall it’s certainly not bad so far; at least it hasn’t been full of weaknesses and annoyances. And it certainly has a different feel to it than most of what we’ve watched, which you want because this is set so far back in history. You can definitely tell we’re not watching a Joseon drama or even a Goryeo drama, even aside from the subject matter.
Some good and some bad in this one. Actually more good; not great but at least okay.
Some signs of good character development so far. I liked the little flashback showing Jin Jeong teaching Yeogu as a boy. That kind of thing makes characters more complete and interesting and deeper. Wasn’t at all necessary to include it so it was encouraging to see. And then generally the four brothers and their different situations and the tension among them, all of them are already interesting characters and show promise.
Hey, two outdoor scenes with steam on characters’ breath. Yay! Not to make a big deal about it but I’ve mentioned this before, seeing it or not seeing it. Certainly a complete 180 degree turn from the visual phoniness in Episode 2.
“I thought I saw a nymph descending from heaven to bathe among us mortals.” Why you smooth talker you. But then wait, he just grabs her and plants a kiss on her? Well okay, whatever...sort of the Romeo and Juliet thing going on here, with the feuding families. A lot more to be revealed so I guess we reserve judgment.
“We might have briefly shared the same dream, but now that we are awake we must walk along different paths.” That’s an awfully well-written line. Right there is a good sign just on its own. We’ve watched some entire series that haven’t had anything like that.
Poop on the fortress walls, that’s a new one! And it does make sense...but only if you apply it right before the battle, not when we saw them apply it. Because one good rain would wash it away, wouldn’t it? And then, that whale-extract stuff the Mohe had, is the idea that it’s both flammable and sticky so you throw it at a wooden gate or door and then use a flaming arrow? We only got a brief glimpse of the stuff; too bad we didn't get a more thorough explanation.
When Yeogu was berating the crown prince, his brother had a funny look on his face like he was enjoying it but didn’t dare laugh. If that was intentional it was very good.
The negatives:
--There’s too much artificial lighting in the nighttime scenes so far. Okay you have to let them have some of it, it’s TV after all, but if it’s much brighter or more frequent than a full moon then it starts to look cheesy. It’s not as bad as it was in Emperor of the Sea but it’s already distracting.
--Okay so how does Yeohwa know exactly where to go to find Yeogu out there in the countryside? This happened twice already in four episodes. Explain please!
--Now about those Mohe hang-gliders...On the surface it seems completely ridiculous but is it plausible? Wikipedia says that “By the end of the sixth century A.D., the Chinese had managed to build tethered kites large enough to sustain the weight of an average-sized man.” As far as controlled flight, there doesn't appear to be anything from before the 19th century. So what we literally saw, no chance, and the idea of any sort of air-drop into the fortress is most likely baloney as well. At least it wasn’t cartoon physics; it could have been worse....Actually what I had more of a problem with was the east gate being so lightly guarded that that a few enemy soldiers could overwhelm it, even by surprise from inside. That was very weak. It’s good that the producers didn’t overdo the hang-gliding but if they’re going to stretch the truth in the first place then they should have come up with something more clever.
Here’s the narrated text:
Lord of Wirye Palace, Buyeo Jun. He was the eldest son of Baekje’s tenth ruler King Bunseo, but Biryu took the throne away from him, consigning him to four decades of seething resentment. With King Biryu waging war against Goguryeo, the ongoing conflict between the crown prince Buyeo Chan and the Jin clan supporting Buyeo Gu begins to wane, moving Buyeo Jun to negotiate a covert alliance with Sayu of Goguryeo. It was Buyeo Jun’s strategem to secure a future on the throne, even if he would have to join forces with the enemy to achieve it.Okay so there’s our answer about the Jin clan, they support Yeogu. Which would make sense since he’s the eldest; it just isn’t clear right now because Yeogu is the outcast and they’re holding back on some of his story.
“Could it possibly compare with yours, sire?” Oh that was a good ending. Gotta like this woman. Putting female characters into historicals, some of them have worked and some haven't. Yeohwa, already working well and a lot of potential.
Overall it’s certainly not bad so far; at least it hasn’t been full of weaknesses and annoyances. And it certainly has a different feel to it than most of what we’ve watched, which you want because this is set so far back in history. You can definitely tell we’re not watching a Joseon drama or even a Goryeo drama, even aside from the subject matter.