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Post by ajk on Dec 30, 2023 23:31:38 GMT -5
...is up on Kocowa now, with subtitles. Remember, after 24 hours it goes behind their paywall so if you want to watch it free with ads, watch it now.
I will say, subscribing is worth it. I'm subscribing for the duration of the series; it's only $7 a month, you can skip all the ads, and you can go back and check things in earlier episodes (without the onslaught of popups that Dramacool has). It's billed monthly so you can stop at any time without taking a big loss.
Anyway I just sat down to do 14 now, so I'm working on it.
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Post by ajk on Dec 31, 2023 3:52:42 GMT -5
(click for full size) Yeah buddy, you and me both! This was when Ha Gongjin’s army arrived, and it wasn’t supposed to be funny but I cracked up laughing. Because I sighed just like he did...but it was an Enough Already sigh. A disappointing episode. Far too cartoonish and overdone for the sake of drama. After a while it just got tiring. It felt like they let a comic-book writer handle this one. “They have been torturing him for hours, but he still will not talk.” Yes and the bloodied, bruised, beaten old man with flesh gouged out of him is still growling and glaring at his torturer like a comic-book superhero. An early sign of trouble. “Stop hurting innocent birds that did nothing wrong at all.” Anybody who remembers the LBKT trouble was laughing at that line for an entirely unintended reason. The scene with Kim Eunbu, we just got that same thing recently--his daughter comes to him all hot and bothered and he makes her understand and she clams up and feels bad for him. The very same thing! (click for full size) Well at least the writers let this one live, those cat-killing bastards. (Yes I should let it go....) “I...am a useless emperor to you.” Ugh. The big dramatic speech. All of those villagers want him dead, and then in two minutes they’re groveling and crying and begging forgiveness as the cinematic music swells up. Blecch. (click for full size) …and aren’t they all arranged perfectly for the camera shot. The whole thing was so phony and contrived. This entire flight south has turned into the Perils of Pauline and it wasn’t like that. And now even a regional lord has turned into The Black Assassin. Seriously. Yelu Pennu: “Assign a prisoner to him. You are to get his confession before he dies.” Huh? How’s that gonna work? Gamchan will tell the prisoner everything, knowing that the prisoner will be tortured too? No of course he’s not that stupid. This was just a dumb way of writing Gamchan’s wife into the episode so that even she could have her big moment. “Is this how the Khitans fight a war? Stop this and just kill us now.” Really? Her big moment and that’s what we got? Booooo. And then at the end of the episode, by the gorge, we get a dose of Yang Kyu and we’re reminded of how good this series has been at times. Thoughtful and inspiring, and you could see his men listening to him like his words were so important to them. He is the best character in the series so far. Well written and well acted. But that was one of the few bright spots. Thumbs down for this one.
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Post by truth on Dec 31, 2023 12:39:54 GMT -5
Choi Sujong won the Grand Award at the 2023 KBS Drama Awards for his role in this drama.
I believe this is his 4th time winning this award. (Last 2 were for his roles as Wang Guhn and Dae Joyoung)
Congratulations!
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Post by ajk on Dec 31, 2023 23:39:43 GMT -5
This seems so strange because how many episodes of this series could possibly have aired before the awards were decided? I mean, nothing against what he's done here, but aren't there people who have starred in very long dramas that have aired all of their episodes in 2023?
I'm not complaining, I have no idea if he did the best work or not. If he deserves it, great. It just seems like an awfully small amount of finished work for anybody to be eligible for an all-year grand award like that.
p.s. I just found the Wikipedia page for the awards and I see that the actors playing Hyeonjong and Yang Kyu also got awards. Same deal with them, seems like a pretty small sample size.
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Post by truth on Dec 31, 2023 23:43:33 GMT -5
It just seems like an awfully small amount of finished work for anybody to be eligible for an all-year grand award like that. I guess they prefer to give the award now when the drama has momentum instead of waiting until December 2024 which would be at least 9 months after this drama ended.
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Post by MTR on Jan 2, 2024 18:25:58 GMT -5
Kim Dong Jun and CSJ winning best couple at the KBS Drama awards was hilarious . They have great chemistry on screen . I’m not even a CSJ fan but this is the best role I have seen him in . The nagging wife is a great touch .
I came late to this drama so I’m playing catch up . I watched the first 10 episodes yesterday . I’ll be caught up later today . So far i really like it . It’s like Age Of Warriors crossed with Jingbirok . It’s actually a shame it’s only 30 episodes but than again I like the fast pacing of it . It does not waste any time that’s for sure .
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Post by sageuk on Jan 2, 2024 18:45:54 GMT -5
Wait seriously? I never would have expected such a thing (and I assumed only young’uns got those awards)
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Post by MTR on Jan 3, 2024 20:34:58 GMT -5
It totally surprised both of them, that’s one of the reasons it was so funny . They took it really well and made a lot of jokes ( in good taste ) . When it was announced CSJ was stunned in a good way, he really thought it was a joke at first .
They both deserved it, great acting from them .
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Post by sageuk on Jan 8, 2024 0:39:27 GMT -5
Just to be sure, Historically were the hojok/regional lords still around by the time of Hyeonjong’s reign? I thought they would have fizzled out after Gwangjong’s reign (especially with Gwangjong’s efforts to centralize the monarchy and his purges)
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Post by truth on Jan 8, 2024 2:26:16 GMT -5
Historically were the hojok/regional lords still around by the time of Hyeonjong’s reign? Yes, they were still around. And it is historically accurate that many regional lords attacked Hyeonjong while he was fleeing south.
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Post by sageuk on Jan 12, 2024 22:08:58 GMT -5
When would you say they disappeared?
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Post by truth on Jan 13, 2024 9:17:04 GMT -5
When would you say they disappeared? They never disappeared but their power started getting weaker during Hyeonjong's rule. They still held some degree of power even after getting weaker though as regional nobles all held onto their own private army all the way until Lee Bangwon of Joseon abolished it.
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