This review may contain spoilers
**This review was cross-posted on r/KDRAMA subreddit with a few changesThere were many things that I really loved about this drama, namely the emotional engagement. I love the dynamics between Hwi and Seon Ho. It incredibly destroyed me to see their friendship fall apart and see them on the opposite sides of conflict.
The OST was really immersive, although I've read that some people may not like it as is. Also, the high production value was no joke and this really translated to captivating fight sequences, well-written dialogues/characters, and cinematography.
I initially watched this drama because of WDH, but I ended up falling in love with the entire cast! They were superbly phenomenal, and I'm glad that each character got a chance to really shine in this drama. I love how the cast were able to give life and bring justice to such compelling characters.
I love the bond between the Hwi, Moon Bok, Jung Beom, and Park Chi Do. And they have a lot of endearing moments. But what stood out the most was of course, Seon Ho and Hwi's compelling friendship. They are in many ways, opposites. But they also complete each other. Star-crossed is one way to describe them.
Jang Hyuk as Bang Won was incredible! He's definitely a scene stealer and I now get all the buzz surrounding him. Seeing Bang Won and Hwi's paths meet and how their relationship fluorished and withered away was very interesting.
I liked Hui Jae and I think Seolhyun did a good job. She was brave, smart, and quick-witted in a male-dominated world, albeit underutilized. She started off as a strong character, but thought she fizzled out a couple of episodes later. I wish the writers gave more depth to her character.
I really appreciated the flashbacks and how it gave us insights on the circumstances that shaped the characters at present. On the flip side, it was particularly tragic to see all of the characters' turmoils when it comes to choosing between the greater and lesser evils.
Seon Ho is such a complicated character. I'm quite happy that the writers were able to flesh him out, and thus, we get to see his character development. Half of the time I'm kept guessing on where his loyalties lie. I've always inherently believed that he never wanted to hurt anyone. But for the times he was painted as the "bad guy", it aggravated me to see him make his choices. I felt like he was no better than his father. Though it was sad to see him lose himself in the process, Hwi wasn't a saint either. In his own way, dire circumstances had led Seon Ho to choose the lesser evil to survive, seek revenge against his father, and most importantly, keep the people he cherished safe.
There were many times that I felt immense emotions for Seon Ho. The most notable would definitely be grief for being completely alone after the sacrifices he made and consequences he suffered, especially at the very last moment(s). Another would be fear that he may have no reason to do the right thing anymore given the circumstances.
Seon Ho's animosity towards Bang Won was very compelling, and I can't blame him for that. Bang Won personified the discrimination Seon Ho has experienced for being an illegitimate child. At the same time, Bang Won represented everything he has been fighting for -- a world where everyone are treated as equals and have equal opportunities.
I won't deny that the show had its own share of flaws. The heavy plot armor was quite jarring. Dying after getting poisoned, stabbed or shot by arrows seems to be illegal in this drama. There were also inconsistencies wherein the writers/characters tend to forget where the battle wounds are. Secondly, I think that the romance contributed nothing to the plot. Although it was cute, the drama would've lived without it. However, these didn't really deter me from watching this drama because the plot was very compelling enough for me to stay.
I love how the finale mirrored the scene in the first one wherein Seon Ho and Hwi charged towards the palace gates together. Overall, I think that the episodes were well-stacked and although fast-paced, it was well executed --- wherein each episode set an intense precedent for the next ones. I could feel the anticipation building at the end of every episode. I also like how they were able to intricately weave very complicated characters' into historical facts. And most of all, they did an excellent job with portraying the characters' interpretations of what their country is; in focusing on how these events shaped the characters' fates and choices; and in blurring the lines between good and bad.
Though the finale was really heartbreaking, I thought that it was the only realistic one out of all possible endings. And I wouldn't have it any other way. I would gladly go through the process of rewatching and feeling very intense emotions all over again. It was such an incredible journey to have witnessed Seon Ho and Hwi's friendship fall apart and find each other again. Their bond had been tested by time, and more so by many betrayals and repeated stabbings. But in the end, they would always choose each other.
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It’s character driven with complex and well portrayed characters and compelling relationships between them, amazing actors, lots of angst, good fighting scenes and interesting political game set in the past. Even though I could feel what’s going to happen in the end because so many things throughout the whole show led to it, I still went into every episode feeling anxious and excited.
What I loved the most about this drama were its characters: Nam Sun Ho, Seo Hwi and Bang Won. I felt their pain throughout the whole show, and even when they did horrible things I couldn’t hate or fault them for it because I could understand their reasoning. This drama does a great job at showing how things are never black and white but always grey, how people tend to do bad things with good intentions, how good deeds aren’t always followed with gratitude, and how circumstances and environment change good people into someone we view as monsters.
I strongly believe these three characters were inherently good people who were forced to do bad things in the turbulent times by the environment that allowed only the strongest to survive. I could write a whole essay about them, but I’ll only say that you’ll see a lot of conflicting emotions, bad decisions, pain, regrets and great displays of strong friendship and loyalty. Sun Ho and Seo Hwi’s friendship (bromance) is probably my favourite relationship ever. The drama started and ended with it. They faced impossible odds and tried to break their bond numerous times but were always pulled back together. They hurt and backstabbed each other as much as they risked their own lives to save each other. Watching them was heartbreaking, but seeing the good sides of their friendship was so satisfying.
Woo Do Hwan, Yang Se Jong and Jang Hyuk were incredible. They brought these characters to life with their acting and I can’t imagine anyone else in these roles. Woo Do Hwan was especially good and his portrayal of Sun Ho made him one of my favourite actors.
Kim Seol Hyun as Han Hee Jae & Ahn Nae Sang as Nam Jun (Sun Ho’s father and villain of this story) were also good. I liked Nam Jun as a character, but hated him as a person.
One thing I didn’t like about this drama was romance between Hee Jae and Seo Hwi. Hee Jae on her own wasn’t a bad character, but their relationship felt rushed and I couldn’t feel it at all. It felt like they knew each other only for a few days before they were separated, but somehow their love lasted for years and they were ready to die for each other despite them barely knowing each other. I couldn’t buy it. However, their relationship isn’t the focus of this drama and there weren’t many dramatic, over the top, scenes so it didn’t really affect my score.
Other thing I didn’t like is how the plot in the beginning felt convoluted (?). I couldn’t really understand what was happening with the king (who is never shown but only talked about) and his generals, who fought whom, why and where, but to someone who is more familiar with the end of the Goryeo period it probably wasn’t that confusing.
OST was, in my opinion, amazing (even though I’ve seen people saying they didn’t like it). Different genres fit different types of scenes and I really can’t complain about the song choices. Many of them are part of my regular playlist now (Wild Road and River Flower deserve to be mentioned separately).
Camera work and fighting sequences were exceptional. Can’t complain about that either.
This review is already too long so I’ll stop here. I recommend My Country: The New Age to everyone who likes period dramas & doesn’t mind angst. If you’re like me and you like angst, morally grey characters and character driven plots this drama is definitely for you.
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This review may contain spoilers
Loving the series "My Country: New Age"! Yang Se-jong (as Seo Hwi) is amazing. The interaction, friendship & emotion portrayed by him & Woo Do-hwan (as Seon-ho) in the series feels authentic, sincere and fun. Seo Hwi's disappointment, the moment he takes to control his emotion when facing his sister, was so tangible-real. I can relate so much to him in that painful moment. Yang Se Jong is a very talented actor and seeing his performance as well as the rest of the cast in this series, is just amazing. I'm also loving Ji Seung-Hyun as Park Chi-do, I like the mysteriousness, serious expression he always has & the loyalty he conveys well as this character. He is amazing, and handsome too! They are doing a beautiful job and I was hooked by episodes 1 & 2! I'm looking forward to how the series ends. Thank you so much! Was this review helpful to you?
A MUST WATCH!
I LOVED THIS KDRAMA!! It's not your typical historical kdrama. Easily one of my top favorites!Everything about this drama was amazing. I can't rave about this drama enough. The quality of the acting by the cast was just top-notch. I felt every single emotion they gave out. My eyes would automatically tear when it was an emotional scene, I laughed when they laughed and felt extremely moved constantly throughout. The action scenes were all captivating, there was never a moment when I was bored. There are tons of moments where your mouth will drop open and you feel that urge that makes you feel like you have to keep watching.
I loved how the drama revolved around strong deep-rooted relationships and friendships, it constantly emphasizes how being there for someone when it really counts prevails anything else. It also shows how not having a choice in where you are born into doesn't mean you don't have the power to becomes something great.
The only thing I would say is that I wish the ending was different, but I get why it ended the way that it did.
I would truly recommend this kdrama to anyone and everyone, even those who usually don't like historical.
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Even from the starting , you're pushed into this emotional whirlwind of characters . It'll make you feel sad, angry, betrayed and yet hopeful at time.
The character development for the main lead was nothing less than a spectacle. With every episode you'll be rooting for him everytime he goes down. You'll feel his pain and frustrations. I think, yang se jong did a terrific job.
Even the female lead is portrayed as strong character who helps in shaping the storyline and seolhyun (who I was bit doubtful about) made it look more badass !!. I'm happy that she took on this role so well
The second male lead , is a bit perplexing character. He'll make you feel angry and yet sad for him at time which shows the capability of the actor .
Even the other supporting characters were amazing especially Jang Hyuk and Ahn Nae Sang as protagonist .
The story is good if you're okay with watching period Korean drama, music is up there too but real kudos to the actors and casting.
PS: if you're sucker for happy endings, don't watch it .
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•Love for the family
•Love for the one that is special in your heart
•Love for friendship
•Love for your countrymen
•Love for the Country.
It has full of bloody action that is executed so well I really get excited watching all the sword fights and bow and arrow fights. It is also my first time seeing Yang Se-Jong & Woo Do-Hwan in a traditional and action drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
Amazing, but a little too much at points
My Country: The New Age provides some sensational acting, bromance, and chemistry through a perfectly selected cast that is sure to leave viewers on the edge of their seats, as long as they don't mind a story that can be confusing at times, contains a plot hole or two, and is also far-fetched at times, also. Now, when I mean confusing, I'm not on about the whole duration of the drama - however the first few start and final episodes is where I am pointing to the confusion. Also (spoiler warning) I know the ML's are strong individuals, but a sword that penetrates their bodies, and they are pretty much fine after a little amount of time? At least show the recovery process even if it's only a few minutes of air time! (Note: If I have missed something regarding this, it wasn't well shown or explained for that matter, so my feelings will stay intact no matter what).OST was pure perfection, re-watch value is a little low as I consider this to be quite a "heavy" drama - the ending was pretty shocking too, and really made me appreciate the drama as whole, especially the cast and characters, like I pretty much mentioned above previously.
All in all, I highly suggest watching this drama. I hope you find some enjoyment in watching this!
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I should note before I begin that 1. Although I've watched a fair few amount of historical dramas, I don't have anything to compare My Country to because I've never watched any historical dramas quite like this one (e.g six flying dragons). 2. Like many other people I'm sure, I put this drama on my list because of Woo Dohwan so I may show some bias (?) I only realised when I started watching it that Yang Sejong played the main character which was a very pleasant surprise :)
STORY: As I've said just above, I have not watched any historical drama quite as political, action-packed and violent as this one so my opinion on the story is based purely on my first viewing with no comparison. To put it simply, I absolutely loved almost every single aspect of the plot. The politics were a bit hard to follow because I know close to nothing about actual Korean history, but I still enjoyed what I understood of it and found it all pretty interesting.
This story is very heavily centred around the friendship between our two main leads, Seo Hwi and Nam SeonHo. I was a bit worried towards the beginning that this would just be about the two close friends drifting apart and Nam SeonHo's (played by my bby boy Woo Dohwan) gradual transition to villainy. But I couldn't be more wrong..I truly underestimated how close they were and how loyal they were to each other from the very beginning. I think this one thing said by Munbok (Hwi's friend) summarises their relationship pretty well: "I think Hwi and SeonHo were the sun and the moon in their past lives. That's why they seem so inseparable". The bromance is sTRONG in this one (and I mean like possibly one of the strongest I've ever watched which is quite the feat because I feast on bromance all day every day) which brings me onto my next point. The Romantic interest.
Hee jae is established to be Seo Hwi's love interest pretty early on. Personally I didn't really see much chemistry before they unofficially got together but that's beside the point. Although I really admired Hee Jae's independence, strength and smarts, I feel like the romance aspect of this show was a tad lacking. I was never invested in their relationship but I'm pretty sure the writers intended it to be like that because the bromance over shined them completely. Honestly I felt like Heejae's character was established so that the writers could go ham with Hwi and Seonho's relationship and avoid getting shit on by conservatives for making Hwi and SeonHo's relationship too close to romantic. She's like a "These two main leads are closest friends and they both care about each other most in the entire world but don't worry they're both straight" insurance.
ACTING: The entire cast did absolutely amazing. Jang Hyuk's portrayal of his character gave me chills on more than one occasion and Yang Sejong's own personality translated perfectly into Seo Hwi's. For an idol-actress, Seolhyun also did pretty well over the course of the show, but I can't really help but wonder if she could've had better chemistry with Yang Sejong. Woo Dohwan did not disappoint at all either and I can proudly say that Nam Seonho is one of my favourite characters and I caNNOT WAIT for him to complete his military service omfg.
MUSIC: THE SOUNDTRACK IS BEAUTIFUL. THE OPENING THEME IS BEAUTIFUL I COULD LISTEN TO IT ALL DAY EVERY DAY IM NOT EXAGGERATING.
THE CHARACTERS: Honestly I could go on about this for days but I think I'll just cut it down (because Im getting tired) and say that every single character has so much depth and was so well-written. I've probably rooted for every single character at some point in the show.
The high production value for this show is probably one of the best parts about this drama. Literally ten minutes into it, after watching that killer opening sword fight war scene I knew I was going to enjoy the drama just because of how engaging that fight scene was. From beginning to end I can say that I never once skipped any fight scene even though they happened at least once every episode.
I think I can say that My Country The New Age is probably my favourite saeguk drama and I'll be thinking about this one for weeks.
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Far away from flawless, but still wonderfully heartwrenching
This drama has so many flaws, starting with the weak female lead, due to both bad writing as well as a weak actress. Then the absolutely useless romance, which no one asked for and no one wanted, the twisting of historical facts, the plot which did not make sense half of the time, the deadly battlefield wounds which would have killed everyone else except our leads of course (they must have like a 100 lifes).But dear drama-god, I still fell hard for this one… the morally grey characters, the character development of Nam Seon Ho, the heartwrenching moments, the battlefield scenes, all the fake blood (so much fake blood!), the costumes (!!!) and of course the complex bromance… from wanting and trying to kill one another to saving each others asses every single time risking their own life under the most miraculous circumstances. And don’t get me started about the acting of Woo Do Hwan and Jang Hyuk! I expected nothing less than a perfect performance of Jang Hyuk of course, but wow Woo Do Hwan outplayed himself and nearly everyone else too! And yes I am a sucker for heartwrenching dramas, but this one really made me cry every other five minutes after the 10th episode and left me feeling devastated to no end. I still cry listening to the OST Wild Road of Kim Jae Hee.
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also the actors did a spectacular job performing their characters perfectly ,, the young main leads actors were just breathtaking with their acting ,, they showed so much devotion to their characters
the swordsmanship was on point ,, all the choreographed acting sequences were just amazing to watch
the Archery level was excellent but my only complaint was the injuries that were severe yet not very realistic to deal with it medically properly ,, characters tend to appear insensible sometimes but that didn't ruin the experience of watching this amazing drama
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IT'S ONE OF THE MOST PRECIOUS , SAD AND BEAUTIFUL DRAMAS I EVER SAW !
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ ••• I loved the story, very well built and the scenery was very beautiful and well done, the OSTs were touching and they played at the right time !!! I loved the friendship of the protagonists, they gave it all, and they gave one of the best bromances I've ever seen !!! The script and the plots were very well developed. And the relations in the court were portrayed in a faithful and impactful way !! I would watch everything again !! This drama made me feel a mixture of emotions during the time I watched, I could feel joy, sadness, anger and several others. Who ever watched, knows how that cut can make us angry, aff !!! Anyway, I loved it very much !!!Was this review helpful to you?
