the spring 2013 kdrama sampler plate, part 1
Featuring Gu Family Book and Jang Ok-jung, Live in Love. I've been in a drama slump ever since Arang and the Magistrate ended. It's pretty safe to say the drama slump is over.
Thoughts on Gu Family Book
This was the one I was really looking forward to. I was looking forward to a fun and engaging story buoyed by gorgeous visuals - after all, that's what the trailer promised. I was right to expect the latter, but the former leaves much to be desired. Which just enforces the lesson that you should never trust a trailer. Or even the first episode, really.
Gu Family Book is beautiful to behold, filmed with a deft hand using those HD cameras everyone's singing praises about (RedOne, I think?). The CGI isn't cringe-worthy at all. In fact, its unrealistic look only serves to emphasize the fantasy part of this show. I love it, and I love the otherworldly atmosphere of the Moonlight Garden.
This show is well acted and well cast. Choi Jin-hyuk and Lee Yeon-hee deserve much praise for breathing life into mountain deity Wol-ryung and fallen aristocrat Seo-hwa, respectively. The rest of the cast (no matter how despicable the characters were) were excellent in their roles. The first episode was a showcase for everyone involved: the director and the production team, the cast, and the writer. It was painful to watch (ugh, that rape scene!) but it was nonetheless gripping. The first episode promised me good stuff.
The second episode was just nonsensical. The fact that the writer was that person who wrote Baker King and the even more atrocious Man of Honor just confirms my worst suspicions. The engaging characters turned into character types: the beast who wants to be human, the damsel in distress, the bumbling but still competent best friend, the mustache-twirling villain, etc. The love story was gorgeous to look at but empty and shallow in retrospect.
And then there's a betrayal. I get why Seo-hwa would panic and want to kill herself and rid the world of a demon who put his spawn in her. I don't get why should would ally herself with the mustache-twirling villain who killed everyone she ever held dear to do so. The second half of the second episode was just so full of nonsense that I found myself getting detached and just wishing for the credits to roll. I could've stopped watching but hell, there was only around half an hour (or maybe less?) left. Might as well see it through.
My main issue here was that the writing turned sloppy just so we can get to some (literally) gut-wrenching conflict. Seo-hwa turned into an unfeeling bitch who apparently forgot all the villainy that happened in the first episode. Wol-ryung turned into some simpleton who only worshipped an idealized version of her. Nobody wins. Except perhaps the monk, who was entertaining and sensible to the very end.
This makes me apprehensive about the rest of the show. We're not even in the main act yet and we already have this ham-handed writing. I'd love to call it quits but my love for Lee Sung-gi knows no bounds. I lasted ten episodes of The King just for him.
The Verdict: Visually stunning but lazily written.
Thoughts on Jang Ok-jung, Live in Love
THIS is the drama that ended my drama slump. Of course it can still go to pieces later on, but for now I'm very happy with JOJ. It's a feast for the eyes (the clothes! the riot of color!) as well as the brain. I'm enjoying every single aspect of this show, from the present story to the flashbacks. Okay, perhaps the acting of the guy playing Prince Boksun is a little awkward, but the hamminess provided me with comic relief. It's all good stuff.
The drama promises a three-way slugfest involving Queen In-hyun and King Sukjong's most famous concubines: Jang Ok-jung and Choi Sukbin (better known to ajummas everywhere as Dong-yi). It's epic and bamfs are involved. Yes, even Kim Tae-hee, she of the wide eyes school of acting, delivers the goods. KTH is one of the weaker actors on the show but she holds her own, especially in that scene with her uncle (played, with maniacal glee as always, by Sung Dong-il). Sukjong, who is apparently most known for being involved in a love triangle, is no slouch either. The drama presents us with characters who are their own persons, with their own goals and conflicts. I'm looking forward to seeing them fleshed out more.
The childhood romance (if it can be called that) between Sukjong and Ok-jung is short and sweet and endearing, the marriage promise nothing more than an impulsive whim of two idealistic teenagers. I love that it's not a drawn-out angst-fest. KTH and my love Moon Jae-shinYoo Ah-in have surprisingly good chemistry despite her being obviously older. I find myself looking forward to more of their love story.
The Verdict: Enchanting and engaging. This will probably be as great as The Princess's Man (hopefully with less idiots and more bamfs) if its quality remains consistent. Jang Ok-jung, Live in Love is, obviously, the better of this week's two premieres.
Thoughts on Gu Family Book
This was the one I was really looking forward to. I was looking forward to a fun and engaging story buoyed by gorgeous visuals - after all, that's what the trailer promised. I was right to expect the latter, but the former leaves much to be desired. Which just enforces the lesson that you should never trust a trailer. Or even the first episode, really.
Gu Family Book is beautiful to behold, filmed with a deft hand using those HD cameras everyone's singing praises about (RedOne, I think?). The CGI isn't cringe-worthy at all. In fact, its unrealistic look only serves to emphasize the fantasy part of this show. I love it, and I love the otherworldly atmosphere of the Moonlight Garden.
This show is well acted and well cast. Choi Jin-hyuk and Lee Yeon-hee deserve much praise for breathing life into mountain deity Wol-ryung and fallen aristocrat Seo-hwa, respectively. The rest of the cast (no matter how despicable the characters were) were excellent in their roles. The first episode was a showcase for everyone involved: the director and the production team, the cast, and the writer. It was painful to watch (ugh, that rape scene!) but it was nonetheless gripping. The first episode promised me good stuff.
The second episode was just nonsensical. The fact that the writer was that person who wrote Baker King and the even more atrocious Man of Honor just confirms my worst suspicions. The engaging characters turned into character types: the beast who wants to be human, the damsel in distress, the bumbling but still competent best friend, the mustache-twirling villain, etc. The love story was gorgeous to look at but empty and shallow in retrospect.
And then there's a betrayal. I get why Seo-hwa would panic and want to kill herself and rid the world of a demon who put his spawn in her. I don't get why should would ally herself with the mustache-twirling villain who killed everyone she ever held dear to do so. The second half of the second episode was just so full of nonsense that I found myself getting detached and just wishing for the credits to roll. I could've stopped watching but hell, there was only around half an hour (or maybe less?) left. Might as well see it through.
My main issue here was that the writing turned sloppy just so we can get to some (literally) gut-wrenching conflict. Seo-hwa turned into an unfeeling bitch who apparently forgot all the villainy that happened in the first episode. Wol-ryung turned into some simpleton who only worshipped an idealized version of her. Nobody wins. Except perhaps the monk, who was entertaining and sensible to the very end.
This makes me apprehensive about the rest of the show. We're not even in the main act yet and we already have this ham-handed writing. I'd love to call it quits but my love for Lee Sung-gi knows no bounds. I lasted ten episodes of The King just for him.
The Verdict: Visually stunning but lazily written.
Thoughts on Jang Ok-jung, Live in Love
THIS is the drama that ended my drama slump. Of course it can still go to pieces later on, but for now I'm very happy with JOJ. It's a feast for the eyes (the clothes! the riot of color!) as well as the brain. I'm enjoying every single aspect of this show, from the present story to the flashbacks. Okay, perhaps the acting of the guy playing Prince Boksun is a little awkward, but the hamminess provided me with comic relief. It's all good stuff.
The drama promises a three-way slugfest involving Queen In-hyun and King Sukjong's most famous concubines: Jang Ok-jung and Choi Sukbin (better known to ajummas everywhere as Dong-yi). It's epic and bamfs are involved. Yes, even Kim Tae-hee, she of the wide eyes school of acting, delivers the goods. KTH is one of the weaker actors on the show but she holds her own, especially in that scene with her uncle (played, with maniacal glee as always, by Sung Dong-il). Sukjong, who is apparently most known for being involved in a love triangle, is no slouch either. The drama presents us with characters who are their own persons, with their own goals and conflicts. I'm looking forward to seeing them fleshed out more.
The childhood romance (if it can be called that) between Sukjong and Ok-jung is short and sweet and endearing, the marriage promise nothing more than an impulsive whim of two idealistic teenagers. I love that it's not a drawn-out angst-fest. KTH and my love Moon Jae-shinYoo Ah-in have surprisingly good chemistry despite her being obviously older. I find myself looking forward to more of their love story.
The Verdict: Enchanting and engaging. This will probably be as great as The Princess's Man (hopefully with less idiots and more bamfs) if its quality remains consistent. Jang Ok-jung, Live in Love is, obviously, the better of this week's two premieres.