*spoilers* LAST EPISODE

[tim]

In LA, where I live, tonight's show was the last episode. I thought it was nicely done, unlike most of you. Yi Young Nam's death was very touching. However, that last battle was very distorted. Yi Soon Shin did not destroy every Japanese that was in sight. I've researched and found this one weird site that said Wakizaka Yasuharu returned to Japan and became a monk... and... i thought Yi Soon Shin died before seeing his victory. One other thing, Deng Zi Long died on this battle too, but that didn't show that... o well.

Overall, I was very impressed with this drama series. It is much better than most history drama series that i've seen. However, I think it could've been shorter without all those fictional stories adn pointless episodes where they just discuss tactics and training. (training and tactics are essential, but it just gets too repetitive after a while.)

[WangKon]

Tim,

This most be your 1st Korean Historial Drama. They are all kinda dragging, long, etc. As I recall, some Chinese and Japanese historical dramas were also the same way. I recall a NHK series on Hedyoshi where there were too many episodes and some of them were boring. Also recall an old Chinese drama about their three kingdoms period that was draaaagging at times too. It's the genre, deal with it.

I think you are new here on this board because many of us have been talking about some of the historical inacurracies of this drama. You probably don't know this but this drama is based on a ficticious book called "Song of the Sword" so it's telling a story from a novel, not directly from history books.

Also, the drama never directly claimed that all ths ships were destroyed or that Wakizaka was killed. Whether it implies it or not I believe is a matter of personal opinion.

This drama takes dramatic license at times. Personally I wish they had not, but I think they do it because so many Koreans know about Yi Soon Shin and the history around the war that the writters and directors of the show just wanted to spice things up and not be predictable. That's just my theory. There is a thread here on this board that does talk about fact vs. fiction. You should check it out.

[tim]

lol, ok. Sorry that I sounded so stupid, but you are right, YSS is my first Korean drama. technically, i've watched AOW, but i saw only the last ten episodes of it.

[florel]

Tim, welcome to Korean historical drama world ! ;D You didn't sound stupid. There are also South Koreans who criticized this drama regarding historical inaccuracies and killing-time-with-useless-fictional-elements.

I also preferred historical accuracy to artistic license, but the fictional characters like as Chun-Su or Chung-hyang didn't bother me. And I liked tactic discussion and training scenes. ;D (Everyone can receive a cultural production in different ways.) It was an emotive historical drama that I've never seen before.



Wangkon, this drama is initially based on two novels : "Song of Sword" (Kim Hun) and "The Immortal" (Kim Tak-Hwan).

[20]

tim said:

However, I think it could've been shorter without all those fictional stories adn pointless episodes where they just discuss tactics and training. (training and tactics are essential, but it just gets too repetitive after a while.)

Are you kidding me? Those make the drama more interesting. I bet you think the training scenes werent worthwhile either.

OI! I live in L.A and also witness the final episode. OI! This is my second korean drama series (first one being Age of Warriors) and this is my all time favorite show. Nothing can compare to it, well to me anyways. I LOVE KOREAN TV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ronin]

Wakizaka did not die in the Imjin War as indicated in the 4th episode/ 104th episode and I don’t think he became a monk. He returned to Japan to fight in the final decisive battle of Sekigahara in the Sengoku Jidai (Japan’s Civil War). In 1600, he led his 1000 troops with the Western Army under Ishida Mitsunari in that battle (who was protecting Toyotomi’s son Hideyori). But Wakizaka along with Kobayakawa Hideaki and other Western Generals decisively switched sides to Tokugawa Ieyasu’s Army, which paved the way for the Tokugawa Shogunate and 250 years of peace. He along with the other Western Generals that switched sides contributed greatly to the Tokugawa victory at Sekigahara. After the battle, he continued to be a daimyo of Awaji island and gained several more fiefdoms. I think he died of a natural death and passed his fiefdom to his son who took over as head of the family clan.

[tim]

Ha! I knew the Wakizaka-became-a-monk-after-the-war theory was messed up... lol. Anyways, to the guest that lives in LA with me... wow, we share alot in common. o, but not the fictional part. ur right, the fictional part did make the drama a bit more interesting, but most of it was repetitive. Not to mention, they didn't even finished most of their fictional side stories! (the Chun-su incident is the most popular one) that made me pissed off! lol, ok. Anyways, i know they had budget problems, but they could've used those money to introduce us to real people. I mean, for example, when Won Kyun died, I kinda felt bad for him (if ur Korean, please don't flame me! I'm not Korean, so I don't know the Korean version of it!) because I knew him well enough. However, when Myon (YSS's son) died, I didn't really felt that bad because I hardly knew who he was other than he was our beloved admiral's son. You see, I meant that should've spent more time on real important people, like Myon, or Kwon Yul, etc, and not on fictional characters that don't have an ending like Chunsu, Mujik, Hong, Mijin, and Chohee. But overall, I really liked it!

[moreshige unlogged]

they should have concentrated on kwon yul more. he was like YSS on land.