Post by ajk on Jun 9, 2021 3:13:43 GMT -5
Didn’t try too hard to follow the plot intricacies in this episode because what’s the point. Continued to be vampire Kingdom, some of the same kinds of characters and plot devices. As in the first episode, the storyline wasn’t always clear and some things were shown with little or no explanation. Sometimes that can work but it wasn't very comfortable here—you just didn’t have that good a feel for how everything was unfolding.
Again in this one the production quality was very good and the monsters were excellent, and that’s what people are looking for so you can see why the initial response was positive.
Now as far as the trouble...Same as the first episode: nowhere near as much of it as I expected. Probably the worst of it was the plot development that the evil spirit causing all of the mayhem was somehow brought to Joseon by King Taejo and King Taejong. You can see how that would irritate some people, but to be fair we only got hints of it and never got to see how it developed or what the full story was. So to immediately criticize it is premature.
And the Choi Young business that people were complaining about, that was nothing like what we’ve heard about it. It came during a discussion among members of a traveling entertainment troupe that was in Uiju where Prince Choongyeong was. There seemed to be much more to them than just performing, as in a deeper agenda that we didn’t learn, and they definitely were not people from mainstream society. In the storyline, they’re looking for someone important, apparently to kidnap or kill him, and they start talking:
“I heard he might be related to the loyal subject, General Choi Yeong.”
“Loyal subject? Loyal subject, my foot. Those darned people from Goryeo used the words of Buddha to make us butcher cows and pigs. They treated us butchers like we were trash.”
“Nothing has changed even in Joseon.”
“I thought we would be free to butcher meat as much as we wanted once it turned into a new country. But they locked up all the butchers by creating a new government office with regulations against butchering meat.”
“That’s what I mean. The authorities of Goryeo and Joseon are all the same. Those darned punks.”
So there was nothing particular at all directed specifically at Choi. These are marginalized people who had a feel of vigilantism about them and they were complaining about government in general. It just so happened that Choi’s name was mentioned and that’s what transitioned into the complaining. In no way was the impression ever given that the general population had a bad opinion of Choi, at least not as I understood it.
There were more scenes in the Uiju building that upset Koreans, and apparently the continued use of Chinese-style swords and clothing.
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So in the end (or what passes for the end!) there were some legitimate criticisms to be made about the two episodes, but certainly not enough to warrant canceling the whole thing. And this isn’t to say that no one should have been offended—if Koreans had good reason to be bothered by inappropriate non-Korean elements then fair enough. But the series got caught up in the extreme tension over Chinese/Korean internet bickering and it was a case of bad timing. Heightened sensitivities turned some of these points into bigger deals than they actually were. Still, if the legacy of what happened here is more effort to be true to history in future series, then losing this one will have been a worthwhile sacrifice.
Again in this one the production quality was very good and the monsters were excellent, and that’s what people are looking for so you can see why the initial response was positive.
Now as far as the trouble...Same as the first episode: nowhere near as much of it as I expected. Probably the worst of it was the plot development that the evil spirit causing all of the mayhem was somehow brought to Joseon by King Taejo and King Taejong. You can see how that would irritate some people, but to be fair we only got hints of it and never got to see how it developed or what the full story was. So to immediately criticize it is premature.
And the Choi Young business that people were complaining about, that was nothing like what we’ve heard about it. It came during a discussion among members of a traveling entertainment troupe that was in Uiju where Prince Choongyeong was. There seemed to be much more to them than just performing, as in a deeper agenda that we didn’t learn, and they definitely were not people from mainstream society. In the storyline, they’re looking for someone important, apparently to kidnap or kill him, and they start talking:
“I heard he might be related to the loyal subject, General Choi Yeong.”
“Loyal subject? Loyal subject, my foot. Those darned people from Goryeo used the words of Buddha to make us butcher cows and pigs. They treated us butchers like we were trash.”
“Nothing has changed even in Joseon.”
“I thought we would be free to butcher meat as much as we wanted once it turned into a new country. But they locked up all the butchers by creating a new government office with regulations against butchering meat.”
“That’s what I mean. The authorities of Goryeo and Joseon are all the same. Those darned punks.”
So there was nothing particular at all directed specifically at Choi. These are marginalized people who had a feel of vigilantism about them and they were complaining about government in general. It just so happened that Choi’s name was mentioned and that’s what transitioned into the complaining. In no way was the impression ever given that the general population had a bad opinion of Choi, at least not as I understood it.
There were more scenes in the Uiju building that upset Koreans, and apparently the continued use of Chinese-style swords and clothing.
---------------------------------------
So in the end (or what passes for the end!) there were some legitimate criticisms to be made about the two episodes, but certainly not enough to warrant canceling the whole thing. And this isn’t to say that no one should have been offended—if Koreans had good reason to be bothered by inappropriate non-Korean elements then fair enough. But the series got caught up in the extreme tension over Chinese/Korean internet bickering and it was a case of bad timing. Heightened sensitivities turned some of these points into bigger deals than they actually were. Still, if the legacy of what happened here is more effort to be true to history in future series, then losing this one will have been a worthwhile sacrifice.