Emily

Kept scrolling till I found a comment that shared my feels. Glad I found it! He's my fave! And he doesn't even think that she liked him back when she totally did;;; hurts my heart

I just started and am only on episode 4 but I'm already all kinds of angry and emotional over this drama. This bitch of a cousin, I swear;;; Tearing apart my otp

I was gonna mention Iljimae, but considering HGD and Iljimae are two of my absolute favourites I wasn't sure if they were actually similar, or if they were just similar in that I like them both a lot. Lol.

I guess in terms of how they portion fantasy and reality into the mix it's similar, although I haven't seen Hwarang so I can't speak for that. I'd say it's more fun than those however. Slightly less melodrama.

How to put it...
It's not OVERLY modern, but it certainly has a twist that makes it clear it isn't faithfully historical. The best way I could describe it is that it feels more like an anime or cartoon, or like a story of Hong Gil Dong the way that the story would actually be told, considering it IS based off of a piece of fiction as opposed to an actual historical event- it feels fantastical, and it tells stories in fairly distinct arcs as Hong Gil Dong and his band grow and progress while still also telling a more serious and epic-feeling story around the prince and monarchy that is more in line with your traditional historical.

If you give it the same suspension of disbelief you would any over-exaggerated fairy tale, I think you're in the right state of mind to watch it.

I gotta second what nastou said. Hong Gil Dong was ridiculous in the first episode, and it sort of continues that mild eccentricity and fun fusion-sageukness a little bit throughout, but it is a pretty great drama imo. It may feel a little bit dated nowadays but it's definitely worth giving another try.

That blood bowl... Do you want diseases? Because that's how you get diseases.


Gotta say, I'm LOVING the music in this. Not sure if it always fits the scene perfectly, but I'm jamming to basically every track.

Not objectively good, but I low-key enjoyed it.

This drama made me happy. The very ending was just so ridiculously heart warming on all fronts. I was already a fan of Jung Joon Young, first because of his music and then because of 2D1N, but seeing him in this role was just the end of me. So adorable.

I can't wait till the rude mothers' committee gets whats coming to them.

I like this genre a lot, I liked this movie a lot. Ridiculous and hilarious and just thoroughly entertaining.

This movie was trying so hard to be artsy and minimalistic, it forgot to tell an actual story. Whoops. At least the bagpipes at the end were pretty jammin'.

When is this drama supposed to take place?

Slightly more dismal than your usual thriller, but I liked it.

I watched this once when it originally came out, and although I found it a little bewildering I generally enjoyed it. Watching it again 4 years later, I gotta say. I genuinely really enjoy this movie. It's ridiculous and fun and there's serious chemistry between SJH and JJ.

I loved her in Empress of China. She was one of my faves.

Finding out he's the one in Herb, and that he's in Time Between Dog and Wolf... he's in so many things that I've watched before I even really noticed him in Cruel City.

These two together again? Ooh, I might just watch this. My only qualm is that Korean dramas with 30+ episodes don't tend to fare as well as, say, Chinese dramas that are 30+ episodes. At least in my books. Does this get snoozy?

Whenever Meiniang and Shimin fought, it was w/e. But when Zhinu and Meiniang fight it's so stressful and sad omg. A sad Zhinu is a sad me. But yay, preggo Meiniang!


Okay, edit: I'm near the end now, and the Crown Prince died. The rift between them is killing me. They were my OTP. Minyue needs to die!

EDIT EDIT; THEY'RE OLD AND IN A MARRIAGE WHERE THEY DON'T TRUST EACH OTHER AND HES ON HIS DEATHBED AND THEIR CHILDREN ARE TERRIBLE PEOPLE THIS ISN'T THE REALITY I WANTED AHHHH

Edit x3; "But all I ever wanted was to watch the fireworks with you..."
I hate everything this is so sad my heart hurts... Zhinu was such a sweetheart;;;

Agh, this is why I love Chinese dramas SO SO much. They always go really in depth with the important times of the protagonist when they're young, but then as they get older each important event is quickly covered and glossed over- really symbolizing how far above everything the protagonist has found herself. The last 15 years of Empress Wu's life seem to be covered in the last 15 MINUTES of this drama, and every moment just fills you with a wistful melancholic bittersweet feeling. She had been such a badass all her life, and she still was, but she had seen so much, and she was tired. Seeing her don those golden robes and ask her lifelong servant; "Where are my enemies? Where are my friends? Where is my husband, my children?" Dead, dead, dead... The most powerful woman, the most powerful person, and she was all alone.

??? I'm watching like 12 dramas right now? Why did I start watching this one too? Somebody stop me sos

Really REALLY liking this so far. I can already tell that this drama is gonna emotionally ruin me. I love the couple already as well~
I don't know, people are saying that the first episode is confusing, but I disagree. Maybe I just trust the drama makers more than those people? Lol. I always find it funny when people are asking boatloads of questions and having doubts about first episodes because they don't hand every single detail of the story to you on a silver platter. Sometimes you gotta let things play out~