HONG GIL DONG YOU ARE SERIOUSLY BREAKING MY HEART
Woe is you, Chang Hwe. I remember a time when you used to smile and not hide your amazing hair under really dorky hats.
I'm easily 20 minutes from the end in the final episode of Hong Gil Dong and I AM IN PAIN! I don't think I can even make it to the end. I'm actually a really easy person to please when it comes too dramas and movies; seriously, the most important criteria for me is 1) don't give anyone a bad haircut, 2) no main character deaths. The fact that Fushigi Yugi is one of my all time favourite animes is really a big shock even to me. I suppose the main reason is because of the characters and it remains the first anime I ever watched in its entirety.
But getting back to HGD; one of the main reasons I love the drama is because of the friendship between Hong Gil Dong and Chang Hwe. The outcome was admittedly inevitable, and really the most logical given the two very different world Gil Dong and Chang Hwe came from and aim for. But despite the good reasoning they gave, it still doesn't mean that I like it. I DON'T!
Hong Gil Dong started lighthearted, funny and really pretty weird (golf playing, nightclub-esque brothel in the Joseon Era what?) and remains that way for the most part. But then all this Chang Hwe angst happens as if they guy didn't have enough angst and trauma in his life already.
The pain and suffering he went through as a child by coming to terms with his brother's betrayal and his mother's death saving him. His only goal was to claim his rightful place on the throne and the sword left by his father stating that he is the rightful ruler of the country. Only to get completely kicked in the face when he finds out that the sword (and in a way, his entire claim for the title) is actually a fake manufactured by his power hungry mother. All evidence in the final seems to point in the direction of Chang Hwe going completely mad with power like his brother. AND he doesn't get the girl. Seriously, give the guy a break.
Madness was seriously the way the path was heading near the end even though throughout the series he wanted to maintain his integrity and his aim to become a king of the people. The basis of Chang Hwe's character and the development he had throughout the course of the series seems to have completely been flushed down the toilet.
It's really such a shame. Hong Gil Dong was a contender to be one of my all time favourites. But the ending and how nothing seemed to tie in to the scene in the first episode really pisses me off. But this is just my anger speaking.
Really, I've read some insightful reviews regarding the end and a lot of them bring up good arguments about the end, but I'm just too upset to think clearly at the moment. Never have I been so upset over a drama as I am over HGD.
I vowed never to watch the ending when I first read about it, but I'm obligated to do so because I might write some stories and I like to know what actually happened in a drama before I actually write sometime about it. But really, it's like I'm just not meant to see Hong Gil Dong in its entirety. I bought a HGD on DVD before, but the last disc wouldn't play. Then I bought a new one, which loses its subs 20 minutes before the end! NOW CHANG HWE'S SAD BALLAD IS PLAYING AND I'M TWICE AS DISTRAUGHT!
Normally at times like this, I console myself by reading fanfiction (like after the end of Harry Potter), but for this fandom there are NONE! WTH people?!