I feel like I'm still in two minds about whether to watch this or not. On one hand, I love Nam Ji Hyun and have been a fan since SKL and Suspicious Partner but I'm not entirely sold on the premise or on D.O as an actor personally. The similarities to SKL are also what makes me hesitant to watch haha... I feel like I can't help but compare too much if I watched this after. From the small amounts of clips I've seen I also somehow don't really see the romantic chemistry being there, but maybe that's just me judging too soon...
I think a lot of the comments are taking this much too literally... While I agree that it's highly unfeasible as an actual Korean drama remake (a movie is more probable) given the subject matter in the show and Korean censorship laws on TV, there's still no harm in being creative and imagining the "what if" behind it for fun.
I haven't seen the original show as it personally hasn't interested me but I can see the reasoning behind your casting choices based on the character descriptions and appreciate the effort that went into this article. I hope the negative comments don't dissuade you from writing further articles like this in the future as I enjoyed reading it.
Episode 21 was such a wild ride - a real rollercoaster of emotions with some happy, some sad and then that mindblowing twist at the end... I really did not see that happening but I also fear for all of our characters, especially Dong Mae after the preview
I noticed the teasers officially say September 26th for air date but on Viki and a number of other places it's October 3rd? Did the air date get pushed back for some reason?
"I feel like non-Asians will not appreciate this drama in quite the same manner as those whose ancestors were…
Exactly, I'm glad you understand my point there sonya : ) My intention was simply to say that it's going to be overall more impactful to those whose ancestors were directly affected by these specific events in history than those who weren't, not that only those people can appreciate this drama.
Nice article, though the only one I can comment on is Min Hyuk in SWDBS and I agree with your pick there for sure!
Aside from Min Hyuk, my own choices would be: - Seo Jung Hoo from Healer (played by Ji Chang wook) ... especially in his Park Bong Soo guise - Kim Min Gyu from I'm Not A Robot (played by Yoo Seung Ho) ... probably one of the fluffiest male leads I've seen - Noh Ji Wook from Suspicious Partner (again, played by JCW)... I may be saying this because I'm JCW biased, but his petty/playful side really showed and brought out some good "cute" moments in my opinion - Han Woo Tak from While You Were Sleeping (played by Jung Hae In)... he's technically second lead but I felt he deserved a mention still, haha
I was in no way prepared for this week's episodes, especially not Ep 19.
I feel like non-Asians will not appreciate this drama in quite the same manner as those whose ancestors were affected to some extent by the actions of imperialist Japan - although Koreans undoubtedly suffered immensely, the extent of damage done by Japanese imperialism was by no means limited to Korea at the time, spanning across numerous countries in east Asia.
They didn't shy away at all from the imperialist Japan imagery in this show at all, and watching the way their actions are depicted in this drama both make me immensely angry and unsettled. It really is hard to watch during certain scenes. I can only imagine the horror that my own ancestors and of course the Korean citizens of that era would have experienced during those times.
I have never seen such convincingly portrayed villains in a drama, purely because they really were so real during those times. Such kinds of people actually existed and did those horrific things. That realisation is raw, hard-hitting, and surely provides a powerful insight into the war crimes not brought to light to many, even to this day - crimes of which so many people are still suffering the repercussions.
That being said, I did have a good sense of satisfaction upon watching the traitorous Lee Wan Ik's demise during episode 20. It was only fitting that Ae Shin would be the one to end his life, especially following her mother's final words.
Seems like Lee Joon Gi really shines in this element... I enjoyed Lawless Attorney a lot too as a revenge drama. I do plan to watch Iljimae at some point, so thank you for the reminder, haha.
On paper, City Hunter would be the kind of drama I'd like to watch (I also loved Park Min Young in Healer)... but I always struggle whenever it comes to liking Lee Min Ho dramas. I think his acting just doesn't appeal to me personally and I need to be invested/care about the leads to keep my interest in a drama so it's not been for me haha...
Nice article and casting choices! I remember reading the Wolves of Mercy Falls many years ago and had the same thoughts as you that it would be a good drama.
Some picks of mine would be...
Books/book series:
- Divergent: I loved the book series but the movie adaptations were a bit of a let down... it could fare well as a Korean drama or movie given the success of dystopian genre works like Fabricated City and Train to Busan, so I think the effects would work very nicely
- The Demonata: Perhaps an unusual choice given its horror genre but I enjoyed the series a lot and would love to see some kind of adaptation of it. I don't know how feasible it will be given the length of the series though or even casting-wise (10 books)...
- Samurai Girl: I think this would be better off as a J-drama than a K-drama given the setting but I thought it still deserved a mention
I love how immersive this drama continues to be. The cinematography really is on a whole other level and the actors are so great at capturing emotions, be they subtle or not. The OST is honestly the best I've heard in a very long time as well. All of that makes this drama captivating enough to watch that you feel like you've been transported into another world.
Considering watching for Nam Ji Hyun alone but I'm personally not really sold on the rest of this from what I've seen... plot seems too similar to SKL and I'm not that big on D.O's acting out of personal preference
Great article! I appreciate the effort that went into writing this and enjoyed the Healer and I'm Not A Robot references but I haven't seen most of the dramas mentioned so can't relate as such. Any mention of JCW gets my vote though lmao
K-Drama 
I haven't seen the original show as it personally hasn't interested me but I can see the reasoning behind your casting choices based on the character descriptions and appreciate the effort that went into this article. I hope the negative comments don't dissuade you from writing further articles like this in the future as I enjoyed reading it.
Aside from Min Hyuk, my own choices would be:
- Seo Jung Hoo from Healer (played by Ji Chang wook) ... especially in his Park Bong Soo guise
- Kim Min Gyu from I'm Not A Robot (played by Yoo Seung Ho) ... probably one of the fluffiest male leads I've seen
- Noh Ji Wook from Suspicious Partner (again, played by JCW)... I may be saying this because I'm JCW biased, but his petty/playful side really showed and brought out some good "cute" moments in my opinion
- Han Woo Tak from While You Were Sleeping (played by Jung Hae In)... he's technically second lead but I felt he deserved a mention still, haha
I feel like non-Asians will not appreciate this drama in quite the same manner as those whose ancestors were affected to some extent by the actions of imperialist Japan - although Koreans undoubtedly suffered immensely, the extent of damage done by Japanese imperialism was by no means limited to Korea at the time, spanning across numerous countries in east Asia.
They didn't shy away at all from the imperialist Japan imagery in this show at all, and watching the way their actions are depicted in this drama both make me immensely angry and unsettled. It really is hard to watch during certain scenes. I can only imagine the horror that my own ancestors and of course the Korean citizens of that era would have experienced during those times.
I have never seen such convincingly portrayed villains in a drama, purely because they really were so real during those times. Such kinds of people actually existed and did those horrific things. That realisation is raw, hard-hitting, and surely provides a powerful insight into the war crimes not brought to light to many, even to this day - crimes of which so many people are still suffering the repercussions.
That being said, I did have a good sense of satisfaction upon watching the traitorous Lee Wan Ik's demise during episode 20. It was only fitting that Ae Shin would be the one to end his life, especially following her mother's final words.
On paper, City Hunter would be the kind of drama I'd like to watch (I also loved Park Min Young in Healer)... but I always struggle whenever it comes to liking Lee Min Ho dramas. I think his acting just doesn't appeal to me personally and I need to be invested/care about the leads to keep my interest in a drama so it's not been for me haha...
Some picks of mine would be...
Books/book series:
- Divergent: I loved the book series but the movie adaptations were a bit of a let down... it could fare well as a Korean drama or movie given the success of dystopian genre works like Fabricated City and Train to Busan, so I think the effects would work very nicely
- The Demonata: Perhaps an unusual choice given its horror genre but I enjoyed the series a lot and would love to see some kind of adaptation of it. I don't know how feasible it will be given the length of the series though or even casting-wise (10 books)...
- Samurai Girl: I think this would be better off as a J-drama than a K-drama given the setting but I thought it still deserved a mention