This review may contain spoilers
Wonderful show
I was watching this along with another show that felt like a chore to drag myself through....but this!!!! It was amazing.
I was concerned as some reviews are quite negative and I was worried it too would drag like the other thing. But it didn't.
I'm not a huge fan of historical kdrama unless it has a magical/supernatural element (Alchemy of the Souls is one of my favourite shows ever) and this fit that preference. I chose it for the the supernatural element and to see Kim Jihoon play a goodie (i'd just finished a show where he was a very bad baddie). And I was excited to see Bo Na in it as I'd just watched her in the Starships Company Games thing and really liked her and of course I knew Yook SungJae from Goblin (and BtoB).
It was a nice surprise to see Kim YoungKwang as Gang Cheol so when he disappeared and SungJae became that character I expected to be disappointed, but I wasn't; the subtle change in his character was a testiment to SungJae's acting.
The bad guys were awful the good guys were great. The king was such a great and noble king (a first for me as they are usually not great in things), his wife, his son, YunGap's mother, the Monk and his flightly old charge, the guards and the head unech were all wonderful. Even those who were slghtly morally ambiguous came good in the end.
The fight scenes were good, the effects were satisfying. It was emotional (I cried a lot) and funny (the eunuch had me laughing out loud) and all the relationships were lovely. Yeo Ri and Gang Cheol had far better chemistry than when he was Yun Gap. Yun Gap's mother and the love she had for both versions of her 'son' and Yeo Ri was delightful. Gang Cheol and the king's friendship, the king and YeoRi's trust in each other, Gang Cheol and the head eunuch's banter....all were so well written and acted. And I found it a very satifying ending....everyone got what they deserved and you can't ask for more than that.
If I ever make it through all the things on my to watch list, i would definitely watch this again.
I was concerned as some reviews are quite negative and I was worried it too would drag like the other thing. But it didn't.
I'm not a huge fan of historical kdrama unless it has a magical/supernatural element (Alchemy of the Souls is one of my favourite shows ever) and this fit that preference. I chose it for the the supernatural element and to see Kim Jihoon play a goodie (i'd just finished a show where he was a very bad baddie). And I was excited to see Bo Na in it as I'd just watched her in the Starships Company Games thing and really liked her and of course I knew Yook SungJae from Goblin (and BtoB).
It was a nice surprise to see Kim YoungKwang as Gang Cheol so when he disappeared and SungJae became that character I expected to be disappointed, but I wasn't; the subtle change in his character was a testiment to SungJae's acting.
The bad guys were awful the good guys were great. The king was such a great and noble king (a first for me as they are usually not great in things), his wife, his son, YunGap's mother, the Monk and his flightly old charge, the guards and the head unech were all wonderful. Even those who were slghtly morally ambiguous came good in the end.
The fight scenes were good, the effects were satisfying. It was emotional (I cried a lot) and funny (the eunuch had me laughing out loud) and all the relationships were lovely. Yeo Ri and Gang Cheol had far better chemistry than when he was Yun Gap. Yun Gap's mother and the love she had for both versions of her 'son' and Yeo Ri was delightful. Gang Cheol and the king's friendship, the king and YeoRi's trust in each other, Gang Cheol and the head eunuch's banter....all were so well written and acted. And I found it a very satifying ending....everyone got what they deserved and you can't ask for more than that.
If I ever make it through all the things on my to watch list, i would definitely watch this again.
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