This review may contain spoilers
MORAL of the story ... Revenge does not bring happiness or contentment!! Overall I did enjoy this ... It is an 'epic' however it's a kind of Korean 'Telenovela' (soapy) ... I thought the three MC's did a wonderful acting job as did many others of the cast & great to have a consistently strong determined FL ... the pace was relentless (that was both good & bad!) So many plots so many characters so many bad guys ... I don't know how people lived in those times tbh (especially women) Yes there was some love I enjoyed the bromance too between the King's group ... Some humour which was great It mostly wasn't boring but for me a LOT of frustration ensued I certainly enjoyed the first 30 episodes more than the last 20+ ... It did go from sublime to ridiculous ... Firstly it was waaaay too long ... too much faffing about with merchants ... counterfeit currency ... Eagle House ... Mining town (yes all part of the story) but all those scenes could easily be condensed down Secondly ... I hate my intelligence being insulted ... I'm happy to suspend disbelief for certain things of course but when for instance Yang is giving birth at the same time as Tanashilli (fake birth) even though they are MONTHS apart ... & Yang gives birth to a healthy full term baby ... Sorry that was too much for me ... Things like ... All those crates of gold (the fund) are unloaded from the Grand Councillors house in no time even though that would be impossible without anyone seeing (especially with TalTal's arrival imminent) & the weight & volume of it all ... Again nonsense! ... Transcribing all those text books by hand in one night LOL! The many many times they had chances to kill bad guys & let them go (usual plot fav) The way these dramas have the same bad guys coming back again & again & again (CDramas do it too) The plots were just never ending & too much ... We start to go around & around ... There is not enough time given to the rare happy moments for us to enjoy ... We just leap into another plot & crisis more death & sadness I could go on & on ... I hated the fact that the script writers got to the end & then just killed off most of the characters left even though they had gone through 51 episodes avoiding death & traps & plots (good guys & bad) To kill Tal Tal just on a whim for the 'story' with no good reason especially was unforgiveable!! He was my fav character & the King for that matter Didn't make sense! ... There were still people who knew the secret & the Emperor was dying so why kill Wang Yu?? Just pure jealousy that's why Using Wang Yu's love for Yang against him! He couldn't help but be vinditive He enjoyed it You could see it in his face... & don't get me started on the bad hammy acting & those stupid villains maniacal laughs ... haha OMGI knocked off an extra star for the LUDICROUS story line that Golta the Emperor's eunuch was the leader of Eagle House! with one of his personal body guards as his assistant ... I literally laughed out loud at that ... & the fact that although they could find out anything mostly neither Yang or Wang Yu could uncover his identity & that he was the leader ... What? ... Just use spies!! ... Isn't that what they usually do? Don't insult me script writers ... & Yang didn't notice the King was ill or being poisoned Really!!? SMH
I must be the only one who didn't like the Emperor character & I don't know how she could 'love' him like she did Wang Yu ( I mean she forced the situation completely so I didn't buy the 'love' thing)... Well-acted but totally unlikeable character ... Childish selfish controlling abusive unstable paranoid ... I don't think it was 'love' It was obsession with him He latched on to the first person who showed him kindness ... No woman I know would stay with a man like that Yes at times he could be sweet loving funny BUT mostly NOT ( I know he had a hard time) but no excuses ... I liked Yang better with the King ... Handsome Stoic Honourable Kind Intelligent Loyal ... Yes he could be 'cold' perhaps but his heart was filled with all the good stuff Great expressive eyes ... I actually shipped her with the King or my lovely Tal Tal ... He would've been a good partner
So would I rewatch? NO ... (I'd rewatch Tal Tal scenes) but not the rest ... It's not the best ever for me
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It is one of the most complete drama I've watched so far.
The romance is nice, realistic and definitely convinced me.
The politic plots were interesting, got all my attention caught during the fifty one episodes.
The main actress honestly is behind the success of this drama. She is everything insipid. I found her strong. I found her weak. I found her loved and loveable. I found her cruel and nice. Ambitious. I found her very realistic.
Don't be afraid of the 51 episodes, the time you'll spend watching it worth it.
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This review may contain spoilers
Roller Coaster Ride
This drama for me is one hell of roller coaster ride. It seems different with every body that said that the last part of the dramas (last 11-12 episodes) is the most boring and dragging. But for me, it is the most intense and twist here and there. I usually said that this Drama has 3 stages : before enter the palace as concubine, concubine stage, and noble consort stage. Well I know that the first 2 stages we all have one enemy and we are all emotionally driven and we have that peak when El Temur and family dies. Some people perhaps cannot get out from that setting and feel that it is dragging, I gotta agree with that. But turns out the last 15 episodes is the one I rewatch, because it is more complicated and depict more reality about politics, hatred, despise, and full of angst in the palace.It makes you doesn't want to sleep and I spend 3.5 days to finish without skipping it (of course it is because holiday :p)
Plot holes? Yes it do have, but I think the whole story overcome that and the subplot manage to build that whole plot.
Acting and cast, SUPERB!! From the villain that I want to slap them in the face and our main and supporting actors I see no flaw. Especially of course our empress Ki (Ha Ji Won). I think I need to give her heads up since I think no one can portray Empress Ki better with that development, from being a boy until being Empress. How she portray the Seung Nyang from the bottom status to the top status it is just wow! Action stunt, no questions! She is the best! And emotional ride that I can root for her. I know Seung Nyang in the last stage she is not the most favorite since she looks greedy and we don't actually what she wants. But for my self, I can connect to her. She just want to protect her son, but at the same time she still tried her best to bring goods for both Yuan and Goryo. But yeah, even the real world, we cannot get that perfect situation and I think it will be different "best" for everbody.
I'm rewatching some of the scene sometimes. But when I have time, I plan to rewatch the whole episodes.
Side note : I'm not King / Emperor side, definitely I'm Tal tal side. Sexy brain is more appealing that other sexiness :D The King is also smart but sometimes he is no clear headed like what Tal tal did.. If I'm Seung Nyang I will just love those three people.. Lol!
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Divine
Long story short, literally... This has the astounding 51 episode.Each episode is fun to watch and has all the elements.
You know when watching period drama, it’s crucial to get hooked at 1st episode. And then to be able to maintain the excitement of the story from then untill ending, that’s just how great this drama is.
Ha JiWon, Ji Changwook and Joo Jinmo love triangle is steaming and vibrant.
They deliver it so well, and created the divine worlds of the royals. History drama at epic level.
I’ve watched this back in 2013 and anticipating each episode release with high enthusiasm. In result, they’re amazing and breathtaking.
Ha Jiwon is excellent in capturing all the emotion of a woman in a men’s world. Tormented between love and affection. This is what it was and actually happening. She’s affectionated with one man. At the same time, falls helplessly in love with another man. So interesting...
Ji Changwook’s character is adorable in here. Not captivating or handsomely gorgeous glamorously heroic. However he’ll definitely melts hearts. And sheds us tears of sympathy and heart wrenching ways. His evolution from being vulnerable to become fiercely strong, just amazing.
Joo Jinmoo has that King elements in him which lit up every time his scene is on. And that makes him the perfect ultimate rival. He will torn you mindfully, and left with all the doubting moments of weatheyor not the writer would plot twisted this historic based drama. Diligently, the writer stays in the line of history.
Rewatched value is a must but with a plan. Considering its 51 episode.
Everything from costume to music scores, settings and soundtracks was done well with perfection. So, if you are looking for politics in raw, intrigue, betrayal and hard wrenching love triangle. This is your treats.
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Stunning visuals!!
I have been putting off watching Korean dramas for the longest time as I prefer the flowy costumes of Chinese dramas and can also improve my Mandarin.But after binging for a couple of months, I could no longer find any good Chinese dramas. Then I came across Empress Ki which was a Chinese story with Korean dialogue.
And I was blown! It was a real dramatic DRAMA with the usual share of plotting, back stabbing, betrayal, lost love and more. I found the story telling quite different from the Chinese palace dramas and the pacing was quicker. The opening scene created so many questions in my head.
It showed the female lead as an Empress-to-be then quickly cut away to when she was a child being dragged along with other women to be given to another country. With each episode that passed, I was kept on my toes wondering what would transpire that would make her the Empress and how she lost her first love.
Good to watch if you are into palace drama and politics.
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Story (9.0):
This show... It will make you question everything and change your way of thinking throughout.
First you will laugh when the good guys laugh, and sneer or cry when the bad guys laugh, and then you will cry when a good person dies, and cheer when a bad person meets their fate. But then you will cry when a neutral character suddenly dies offscreen, and even worse, start to question the good players motives and think how unfair it is and start crying when a villain meets their untimely fate. You will cry when an evil turncoat can't have his happy ending, and then you will laugh and cry some more and wonder how the protagonist suddenly became this person, realize what happened along the way to make her this way, and wonder how you didn't see it all coming, and why, why, why... And then you will bite into a lime covered in sweet, sweet sugar and wonder: why did I even watch this! And so you will have to go back to Episode 1 from the 18:30 mark just to assure yourself you didn't waste 50 hours of your miserable life and when you watch it you realize exactly what has happened in all those hours between episode 1 and the final episode and you are shocked just by how much this was NOT a waste of your life and it hits you like a slap in the face how amazingly sweeping, agonizing, beautiful, unfair, and awesome this drama story all was. And you don't regret a thing, while laughing and crying.
TL;DR: The story is brutally honest and amazing and mostly believable besides the fact that at one point multiple archers can't hit two people stretched out literally a single jumps distance away, and you may tire of scared and shocked and crying and dying faces, but all the happy stuffed in between was too good to give up.
Acting/Cast (9.5):
I'll admit, I can sometimes get fed up with Ha Ji Won's shocked/unbelieving face that she always seems to make, but she is a great actress and I've seen her in many, many other things and can hardly discredit her at all. The Emperor (Ji Chang-Wook) himself was an amazing cast for a likable cowardly nincompoop turned possessive feral puppy, and Wang Yoo (Joo Jin Moo) was great throughout.
But I'd also like to give special props to the Empress Danashiri (Baek Jin Hee) who perfectly portrays a perfectly justified "villain" who is completely understandable, easy to hate, and makes you pity her even in her downfall; also props to her brother Dang Ki Se (Kim Jung Hyun) and to Tal Tal. Frankly, I don't think there wasn't a good actor in this drama.
Music (8.5):
I'd love to give this music a higher rating because I thoroughly enjoyed the orchestral aspect of things and even some of the songs, but when you are at the very final episode in the very climax, the scene that LITERALLY finished off the drama, HOW DARE YOU make such a music change when I was expecting this one melody! I might exaggerate a little bit since it fit okay I guess, but I was supremely disappointed.
Rewatch Value (8.5):
Immediately after I finished episode 51, I went back and rewatched part of the first episode just to calm my racing heart. I've rewatched some of my favorite scenes since then, and while it's such a grand scope that it might not be easily rewatchable, it's not not rewatchable...
Overall (9.0):
Sweeping, romantic, utterly heartwarming and heartbreaking, actions that you can't stand and can't stand not to watch, if you enjoy historical dramas, then this is one that you can not pass up in good conscience. If you don't enjoy historical dramas or just can't do the 51 episodes, I don't blame you, but I'll say this (at the time of writing): it is the longest drama, almost by multiple of 2, that I've ever stuck with.
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My favorite actor in this whole drama was Ji Chang Wook, who made a GREAT Emperor of Yuan. I especially loved the storyline and the chemistry between the main characters. Overall, one of my top 3 Korean dramas! Superb job on this drama Korea!
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I am sorry, but I have to drop this series. Call me shallow all you want, but if I have to waste my time I'd like to watch beautiful ladies with beautiful costumes!! hahahahahahaah
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And P.S., this was my first historical drama as well as the first drama I have watched over 24 episodes.
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Cast: JCW (Huizhong Ta Hwan - Emperor) I loved the way he sincerely loved Nyang (HJW); his character was innocent/naïve and quite a bit stupid I must say... I liked him for the most part but I had hoped his character would really mature as the drama progressed but except for a few things he never really changes the way he is - I was "ok" with it for the most part up until the last 10 episodes where well he kind of goes crazy....(he makes up for it in the very end)...He is very handsome (biased on JCW as he is a favorite actor of mine).
HJW (Nyang Sungnyang Empress Ki) I liked just about everything about her character and personality except for the fact that she had the hots for the other guy for most of the drama (that really grated on my nerves and is the main reason I could never really like the guy - looks aside...)
JJM (Wang Yu King of Koryo) If I had to pick a ruler I'd probably pick him - but never as a lover (he is unattractive in my eyes - my own personal opinion) I hated him for the most part ONLY b/c he never truly let go of Nyang (HJW) - it really bothered me; if he had let go and vice versa then I could have liked him more, b/c he was a good ruler (even if exiled) and leader to his people and he helped out around Yuan a LOT - I appreciated him for all of that - but that's about as far as I got with him - just appreciation nothing more...
JYH (Tal Tal) I always wondered what peoples obsession with this guy was when I was watching earlier on in the show, it's not until half-way into the drama that we get more of this guy and what he is all about that makes people like him so much - I didn't care at all about him early on but later on I started to really really like him ;)
I'll throw all of the bad guys together in one group - I hated each and every one of the "bad guys" which is pretty obvious - they were all horrid people - well deserving of my hatred.
Story: I've seen better - much better as in: Jumong - this drama was written well but I could have done without the "love triangle" aspect.
Re-watch Value: right now not happening - it was good to watch once but I can't see myself watching this again. for me the best part of the show was from episode 28ish - 40...
Music: everyone raves about the ost - but it was just alright to me - I have no complaints but there weren't a whole lot of the songs that would stick in my head or that I would sing along with - the exceptions were: JCW's solo (I think it was him singing), Junsu's (JYJ) song, and 2 songs in the later episodes one by a girl and one sung by a guy (don't know the titles but I do know I started to sing with them surprisingly.
Lot's of people fell in love with JCW (actor) through this drama - I on the other hand loved him since Smile Donghae (I'm glad I saw him in all his other dramas before watching this one - his acting was flawless but not his best character in my books).
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