Seems like those who watch this drama don't visit this site. Or perhaps like me, they're hesitant to sully a beautiful…
The haters of TKEM hated being called haters. They hated TKEM, Lee Min Ho, Kim Go Eun, etc. but violently complained about being called haters. Go figure. Makes you also wonder why, if they hated TKEM so much, they kept on commenting in the TKEM section. I guess they wanted to ruin it for everyone else. Nasty. I had hoped to enhance my enjoyment of TKEM by joining Mydramalist and discussing the drama with other afficionados. Instead, it turned out to be a nightmare for many fans, being hounded by green-eyed (envious) monsters.
those who rabidly hated The King: Eternal Monarch, Lee Min Ho, Kim Go Eun, etc. yet complained about being called haters. Check out TKEM comment section and see how TKEM fans were harassed
Why is this comment section so empty? People were pretty hyped about this before it came out and now it looks…
Seems like those who watch this drama don't visit this site. Or perhaps like me, they're hesitant to sully a beautiful experience by posting comments that green-eyed monsters would ravage, as what happened with The King: Eternal Monarch.
Why am I not surprised at a much lower rating than what this universally acclaimed show deserves? This is not fluff, that's why. And green-eyed monsters abound here. Just look at how The King: Eternal Monarch was treated.
This got a 98% rating from 56 critics (note: not fans) in RottenTomatoes. It also got 87% from 29 critics in Metacritic.
'hope u finished it and found out that the divorce request was part of a sting operation.
yeah, the concubine system is an abomination. it tried to overcome the problem of having no heirs and was a tool for forging alliances but created more problems, not to mention being immoral
The sea ban was enforced during the Ming and Qing dynasties mainly to deal with Japanese piracy. Under the sea…
The sea ban has an all-pervading presence in the series; understanding it would help the viewer fully appreciate the drama. For example, Shiyi's mom was killed because she witnessed a meeting between smuggling cohorts. Also, Shiyi was sentenced to be executed because she was framed as a smuggler in violation of the sea ban. Lingyi's political alliances were mostly based on this issue. And outing the real smugglers was vital to the plot.
does anyone understand/care about the sea ban plot? all i see is people saying they skipped it lol
The sea ban was enforced during the Ming and Qing dynasties mainly to deal with Japanese piracy. Under the sea ban, foreign trade was undertaken by tribute missions overseen by the empire. Engaging in foreign trade privately was punishable by death. Because of the tight control on foreign trade, ordinary Chinese merchants along the coast, including fishermen, lost a substantial source of income. Smugglers were the ones who made money, so merchants and fishermen were forced to go into smuggling. The lifting of the sea ban was therefore necessary to restore the livelihood of ordinary merchants and fishermen, but it was opposed by smugglers and cohorts who were benefitting from the sea ban.
Having said the above, I can understand why viewers would rashly judge the ML for going along with the concubine…
Being a filial son, Lingyi went along with his mother's plan of making her maid his concubine. And, mindful of his then weak clan's standing, he accepted a rich merchant's daughter as another concubine. The only relationship he seemed to have made on his own volition was with his first wife. But even in this case, he did it out of gratitude of the help her grandfather extended to his then struggling family. He married Shiyi per plea of his dying wife. He also accepted Lianfang as concubine at his wife's behest. In all these cases, he took a concubine at his mother's or wife's bidding or for the sake of his family's survival. He was barely out of boyhood when the position of head of the clan was thrust upon him. It was admirable how that he took filial and espousal duties seriously. Even British shows involving royalty emphasize the responsibility that "privileged" children have from birth. Kdramas show this dilemma among chaebol heirs. In China during Lingyi's time, male children of noble classes were expected to have concubines if doing so would help a family's survival.
Lingyi inadvertently "abandoned" his concubines because he didn't know his inattention would bother them. He was, after all, not a sleazeball who relished having multiple women. He was torn between filial duty and his innate desire to be true to one woman. Being serious about his responsibility to the point of participating in a disgusting system, he probably expected the concubines to also be content with their part of just being available whenever needed. He might have even thought he was doing the concubines a favor by not forcing them to do an act that, logically, they should also find repulsive. Being intelligent, he must have been aware that the concubine system was akin to sex slavery. And giving the concubines attention, even without doing the act, would be akin to leading them on. When he matured and became powerful enough to do away with this abhorrent practice, he did. How he was able to do this without giving his mother more grief than needed and without endangering his clan's survival makes this drama a compelling watch. The writing, direction and acting were all so masterfully done that the story glides so smoothly among the various elements tackled by the drama - romance, the sea ban, women's rights, concubine system - while also giving the viewers an understanding of Lingyi's intelligence, strength of character and growth.
The rating does not do justice to how good this drama is. It seems the reason for this injustice is because viewers…
Having said the above, I can understand why viewers would rashly judge the ML for going along with the concubine system. However, one needs to understand that the system was an accepted practice, especially among the noble class, at the time. In fact, the status of households used to be measured by how many wives and concubines the husband had. When one grows up in a certain environment, especially when filial duty is of prime importance and the overriding consideration is family survival, one does not question existing practices.
But as pointed out, the ML eventually acknowledges the wickedness of the concubine system and abandons it in the end. That he is able to do this without sacrificing filial duty and family survival shows how formidable he is.
I consider it one of the best Chinese dramas ever. It's well done and acted. The story is well crafted, delving into serious matters like politics and women's rights without being boring. The romance is heart-flutttering
The rating does not do justice to how good this drama is. It seems the reason for this injustice is because viewers criticized the drama for featuring the concubine system. Using this rationale, if all dramas featuring evil practices are to be rated low, then all dramas about war and crime should get the lowest rating.
In fact, the drama subtly condemns the concubine system, showing the misery it inflicts on everyone involved in it, from the husband, to the wife, concubines and children. The male lead and his brother denounce it in the end.
Now that I know the SML's true color, I'm amazed at the web he spun, even before the start of the drama. Might…
Tan Songyun is a great actress and she chooses her projects well. I heard she wanted to play the lead in Because of Love, or at least to have another drama with Wallace
"A sweeping tale too epic for just one season. The critically acclaimed #Pachinko is coming back for Season 2."
https://twitter.com/AppleTVPlus/status/1520055305366691840
"After overwhelming praises from the viewers and critics, Pachinko is returning for season 2"
https://www.kdramastars.com/articles/124839/20220429/lee-min-ho-kim-pachinko-confirmed-season-2.htm
"Apple's stunning 'Pachinko' is so good it makes the competition look unworthy"
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-03-24/pachinko-apple-tv-review
"'Pachinko' turns an intimate story into a historical epic - and one of the best things on TV"
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-reviews/pachinko-review-1317492/
"A dazzling, heartfelt Korean epic"
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20220323-pachinko-review-a-dazzling-heartfelt-korean-epic
"A real epic that hasn't been seen in the cinema for a long time."
https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/tv/serien-tipps-slow-horses-pachinko-wolk-like-me-ptolemy-grey-landscapers-a-410fc36d-3629-4301-8c82-5a87182ce214
"a show whose groundbreaking vision of Korean history in both its cruelty and triumph, will be remembered as a television landmark."
https://www.npr.org/2022/03/23/1088179222/pachinko-apple-tv-review
"a sumptuous South Korean epic like nothing else on TV"
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/25/pachinko-review-min-jin-lee-south-korea
"'Pachinko' offers a sweeping family saga that earns your tears"
https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/25/entertainment/pachinko-review/index.html
"Intricate yet intimate, Pachinko is a sweeping epic that captures the arc of history as well as the enduring bonds of family."
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/pachinko/s01
"... it shows us how resilient and strong people can be despite what life throws at them."
https://fordhamobserver.com/68804/recent/arts-and-culture/pachinko-revealing-history-through-the-lens-of-a-korean-family/
"Pachinko is a gorgeous adaptation of a literary masterpiece..."
https://time.com/6160244/pachinko-review-apple/
"Pachinko, manages to take all of these tropes and refine them into something beautifully specific and new: a Korean family epic"
https://www.polygon.com/reviews/22994599/pachinko-review-apple-tv
This got a 98% rating from 56 critics (note: not fans) in RottenTomatoes. It also got 87% from 29 critics in Metacritic.
Lingyi inadvertently "abandoned" his concubines because he didn't know his inattention would bother them. He was, after all, not a sleazeball who relished having multiple women. He was torn between filial duty and his innate desire to be true to one woman. Being serious about his responsibility to the point of participating in a disgusting system, he probably expected the concubines to also be content with their part of just being available whenever needed. He might have even thought he was doing the concubines a favor by not forcing them to do an act that, logically, they should also find repulsive. Being intelligent, he must have been aware that the concubine system was akin to sex slavery. And giving the concubines attention, even without doing the act, would be akin to leading them on. When he matured and became powerful enough to do away with this abhorrent practice, he did. How he was able to do this without giving his mother more grief than needed and without endangering his clan's survival makes this drama a compelling watch. The writing, direction and acting were all so masterfully done that the story glides so smoothly among the various elements tackled by the drama - romance, the sea ban, women's rights, concubine system - while also giving the viewers an understanding of Lingyi's intelligence, strength of character and growth.
But as pointed out, the ML eventually acknowledges the wickedness of the concubine system and abandons it in the end. That he is able to do this without sacrificing filial duty and family survival shows how formidable he is.
In fact, the drama subtly condemns the concubine system, showing the misery it inflicts on everyone involved in it, from the husband, to the wife, concubines and children. The male lead and his brother denounce it in the end.