Wasn‘t vincenzo also a korean netflix production ? It was also 20 episodes
No, it was a TvN drama. Netflix got the international distribution rights, but it did not commission the production of the drama, which is why it followed the conventional TV format and complied with domestic TV regulations (such as the ban on showing people smoking, hence Vincenzo never actually getting to smoke).
This sounds cool! Alternate history is always a fun genre, and sageuks haven't revisited the seafaring theme and the sea as a setting in a while. It should be more interesting than the usual palace intrigue fest. I just hope SBS gives this project a big enough budget to make the naval battle scenes look good.
Ridiculously melodramatic premise AND grandpa Yoon Kye-sang and Go Ah-sung are going to try to act like they have buried romantic history and sexual tension? (Also can Korean directors stop casting 28-year-olds as accomplished criminal profilers/prosecutors/judges/whatever? It's so cringe, and here the fact YKS is so old should have FORCED them to cast an age-appropriate female lead, yet here we are.) Sounds like a mess on multiple levels.
Is it just me or is this the first Korean Netflix production that has 16+ episodes? All the ones I can think of that weren't collaborations with Korean TV channels were 6, 8, 10 episodes long.
I wonder if they're starting to adjust to the preferred format of Korean audiences and international drama fans or if they're thinking of co-producing this for regular TV.
This drama is much better than I expected! I really like the main characters. And I don't usually talk about chemistry between actors because most of what fans call chemistry comes down to the screenplay and directing (and whether fans like the actors' looks) in my opinion, but in this case Seo In-guk and Park Bo-young do actually have great chemistry together. The way their bodies turn toward each other and the looks they give each other feel intimate, like they're off in a world of their own.
Very curious to see what will happen next after the ending of episode 2. It seems like the pace of relationship development might be faster than in most kdramas.
What is the king up to? Is he really planning to sacrifice the princess to topple that minister?
It looks like it. He's a terrible father, but it's understandable.
Joseon kings often had multiple wives/concubines and many children, and weren't close to all of them; they usually had a favourite or two and mostly left the others alone, since they weren't expected to play a role in their children's upbringing. It's not like they were part of a nuclear family. Plus, Soo-kyung is a woman and female children were less valuable to kings and therefore less likely to develop close relationships with them.
In addition, as their conversation made clear, Yi Il-cheom can be an existential threat to the king. In matters of life or death, members of the royal family often picked their own self-interest over the lives of their relatives, and this was true for other medieval societies, like medieval Europe, and not just in Korea. It was a harsh world.
As the scheming court lady told Soo-kyung, it's better/safer for her father that she stay dead. Obviously Court Lady Kim had ulterior reasons for saying that, but she didn't actually lie. I know we all assumed she was feeding poisonous lies to Soo-kyung and the king would have a different reaction from her prediction, but then his actions (ignoring SK and eventually trying to use her as bait for YIC) showed Court Lady Kim was completely right.
Can’t believe that the ML attempted to kill the FL and then actually sold her. But at least he saved her from…
He definitely deserved to get smacked and more for trying to sell her into sexual slavery, but just to clarify, he did it to cover up her abduction and evade the authorities, not because of his feelings toward the king.
Do people think if the princess commit suicide she will take a vip ticket to heaven?
According to Confucian morality and especially the hardline Neo-Confucianism that dominated in this period of Joseon’s history, women needed to be faithful and loyal to their husbands and by extension to their husbands’ families. Laws were passed that made it increasingly hard for widows to remarry legally since to marry another man would mean putting him above one’s first husband and his parents.
Someone here described widows’ situation as a “social death” and that’s what it was, really. Perpetually confined to the role of a wife/daughter-in-law and separated from her own family but without an actual husband who could protect her from his family’s abuse and give her sanction to engage in acceptable forms of social activity, a widow was basically a ghost who provided free labour to her in-laws. Or at least that’s what she was supposed to act like! Otherwise she could be branded as unfilial and disloyal, or worse.
No one—well, very few people—really went so far as to say widows should just kill themselves out of loyalty to their dead husbands, but at the same time those widows who did do that (or who were said to have done it...) were often celebrated as exceptionally virtuous, which included official recognition from the state. And having a daughter-in-law of virtuous status reflected well on her family (that is, on her husband’s family, to which she belonged after marriage), which is why the evil father-in-law in Bossam was happy to say Soo-kyung died by suicide and take the commemorative award/tablet/whatever. It certainly looked better in elite company to say your daughter-in-law was so devoted to your son she followed him in death than to admit she was kidnapped to be remarried (which often happened with the consent of the women involved, as we saw in episode 1, and was in any case perceived as a stain on a woman’s chastity and honour even if it happened by force).
Btw why is no one subbing it on kissasian and so on? Is everyone waiting for viki?How is it possible that some…
Seeing as KissAsian and Dramacool lift subs from other (usually legal/official but not always) sites and don’t provide their own, yes, everyone is waiting on Viki.
Unfortunately yes, I think so... Why do they always have to put in such a typical plot line. Why does a female…
I think a romantic subplot between him and Kang Hana would be better because her character is more interesting, but I agree it’s not a necessity, and a love triangle would be annoying.
What makes or breaks a drama whether the story plot holds water going into mid way. CG willful ways despite being…
Yeah, I think in the last couple of episodes unbalanced their relationship. Sun keeps risking everything for Changge and she keeps putting herself and others in danger, seemingly without realising how much she's costing him and his people. It's not realistic for someone in Sun's position to be so blinded by love (and for his men to go along with his orders to protect a woman who's conspiring recklessly against their own Great Khan, which puts them on a collision course with the other military divisions and the rest of the Ashile tribe, all because he's in unrequited love with her, without objecting at all) and Changge's character seems to be regressing in terms of decision-making and maturity.
THAT SAID, I get the sense this is meant to be a pivotal moment in their relationship and the coming crisis will help Changge realise how selfish she has been and also that she likes Sun, so they should both start acting smarter soon.
1 
I wonder if they're starting to adjust to the preferred format of Korean audiences and international drama fans or if they're thinking of co-producing this for regular TV.
Very curious to see what will happen next after the ending of episode 2. It seems like the pace of relationship development might be faster than in most kdramas.
Joseon kings often had multiple wives/concubines and many children, and weren't close to all of them; they usually had a favourite or two and mostly left the others alone, since they weren't expected to play a role in their children's upbringing. It's not like they were part of a nuclear family. Plus, Soo-kyung is a woman and female children were less valuable to kings and therefore less likely to develop close relationships with them.
In addition, as their conversation made clear, Yi Il-cheom can be an existential threat to the king. In matters of life or death, members of the royal family often picked their own self-interest over the lives of their relatives, and this was true for other medieval societies, like medieval Europe, and not just in Korea. It was a harsh world.
As the scheming court lady told Soo-kyung, it's better/safer for her father that she stay dead. Obviously Court Lady Kim had ulterior reasons for saying that, but she didn't actually lie. I know we all assumed she was feeding poisonous lies to Soo-kyung and the king would have a different reaction from her prediction, but then his actions (ignoring SK and eventually trying to use her as bait for YIC) showed Court Lady Kim was completely right.
Someone here described widows’ situation as a “social death” and that’s what it was, really. Perpetually confined to the role of a wife/daughter-in-law and separated from her own family but without an actual husband who could protect her from his family’s abuse and give her sanction to engage in acceptable forms of social activity, a widow was basically a ghost who provided free labour to her in-laws. Or at least that’s what she was supposed to act like! Otherwise she could be branded as unfilial and disloyal, or worse.
No one—well, very few people—really went so far as to say widows should just kill themselves out of loyalty to their dead husbands, but at the same time those widows who did do that (or who were said to have done it...) were often celebrated as exceptionally virtuous, which included official recognition from the state. And having a daughter-in-law of virtuous status reflected well on her family (that is, on her husband’s family, to which she belonged after marriage), which is why the evil father-in-law in Bossam was happy to say Soo-kyung died by suicide and take the commemorative award/tablet/whatever. It certainly looked better in elite company to say your daughter-in-law was so devoted to your son she followed him in death than to admit she was kidnapped to be remarried (which often happened with the consent of the women involved, as we saw in episode 1, and was in any case perceived as a stain on a woman’s chastity and honour even if it happened by force).
THAT SAID, I get the sense this is meant to be a pivotal moment in their relationship and the coming crisis will help Changge realise how selfish she has been and also that she likes Sun, so they should both start acting smarter soon.