Historical Dramas Club

 xinya:

So I know people here mostly only talk about C-dramas, but why is no one here screaming about My Dearest?! 

my dearest, the contemporary, modern drama?  this is where people discuss historical dramas.  

 purpleh2o:

my dearest, the contemporary, modern drama?  this is where people discuss historical dramas.  

My Dearest as in the drama set in 1636 against the backdrop of major events in Korean history, unlike half of the the dramas we call "historical" on this site set it fictional dynasties and fantasy realms.

https://mydramalist.com/733821-lovers

FYI, I just updated the Currently Airing section! 

https://mydramalist.com/discussions/general-asia-forum/59877-historical-dramas-club?pid=1610589&page=1#p1610589

We have:
 7 Chinese dramas (2 costume fantasies, 1 historical set in Northern Song Dynasty, 1 fictional historical set in a made-up dynasty, 1 wuxia rom-com, 1 wuxia parody set in what alludes to be Ming Dynasty, and 1 Republican-era tribute drama),
1 Korean (which as @xinya said, is set in 1636, against the backdrop of Qing's invasion of Joseon),
3 Japanese (1 taiga about the life of Tokugawa Ieyasu [1543 – 1616] , 1 asadora about the life of Tomitaro Makino [1862 – 1957], and 1 horror anthology), and
1 Thai (weird/spoof costume wuxia-like backdrop time-travel I think?).

Feel free to share your opinion on the dramas, if any, that you're watching and/or plan to take a look into! :) 

From those currently airing, I've started Love You Seven Times (It seems cute though typical xianxia romance) and The Legend of Zhuohua (Seems interesting, but it's too early to tell, I love the leads though! The premise reminds me a less serious & more modern Legend of Lu Zhen, more serious Ban Shu Legend, and a not that lighthearted & idealized New Life Begins).

I plan to start Young Blood Season 2 and, maybe, Legend of the Undercover Chef when/if they provide good, intelligible English subs.

And I plan to watch Lost You Forever and My Dearest when/if their 2nd parts start airing!

 xinya:

So I know people here mostly only talk about C-dramas, but why is no one here screaming about My Dearest?! 

Oh I actually wish to talk about sageuk more here, ^^ thank you ! But in the case of "My Dearest", even if I'm watching it (like almost all sageuk except if they are really too rom/com cheesy), I'm not really fond of it. The production is very good, and getting better after few silly things in episodes 1 and 2, and I love the period and the historical events it depicts, some of the most interesting during Joseon/Ming/Qing eras for me, with the accurate representation of Manchus too, but as most sageuk now it's started as a very comedic and focus on romance story, and then become more serious, but still mixing a little bit of everything, which I don't really like, especially when I'm not really into the main characters and/or actors, which is the case here with Namkoong Min and Ahn Eun Jin and their characters.

Historicals I'm currently watching ...

My Dearest — Literally the best thing ever ... I'm obsessed.

The Wind Blows from Longxi — Objectively everything about this drama is really good — excellent performances, amazing production, well-written intricate plot ... but for some reason, I'm finding it pretty tedious, despite only being 24 episodes? The last couple episodes I watched grabbed me a little bit more, so maybe the last 8 episodes will finish strong?

The Slave Hunters (aka Chuno) — Similar to Longxi, I feel like I should really be liking this drama more than I am. I think the problem is that it spent such a long time gradually laying the groundwork for the main story while the characters just ran around episode after episode that it started to feel a bit tedious and I stopped giving it 100% of my attention because the story wasn't really moving forward .... but that probably impacted my investment in the drama. I'm at episode 14 and I'm going to take a break from it for a while and try to come back and watch the last 10 episodes giving it my full attention.

I'm also rewatching the first season (meaning all 3 parts) of Arthdal Chronicles, since the second season is FINALLY coming. I have some complaints about it (particularly the production/costume design), but it is quite unique as it's sort of a historicized foundation myth (it draws some inspiration from the Tangun myth, but isn't really based on an particular myth).

i binge whatch it 

 kYuBin:

I hope you will try to finish it soon. ;)

This is good encouragement to stick with it! I was honestly contemplating dropping a week or two ago, but then I had to remind myself that there was actually a lot the drama had done right and it was probably too soon to give up on it.

 kYuBin:

I liked a lot season 1, and didn't mind anything as I watched it as a fantasy drama, not a sageuk. But watching the second season will be painful for me, because I absolutely hate changes of cast between seasons, except when it's because a character have grown older significantly or experienced some physical change.

This one is kinda weird, because you’re right that it’s not really a sageuk … but even if it’s not really historical, it’s not that heavy in fantasy elements either … plus given the writers’ previous works, I think I definitely went into this the first time expecting a sageuk … I view it kinda like many of the Chinese dramas that aren’t based on any real history but having settings that are meant to resemble real periods — Arthdal is just set so far back that it’s hard to separate myth from history, so naturally the fantasy elements fit in the quasi-historical setting … but the production design kinda undermines this by being totally incoherent — not only does it not match the historical period the setting the story is inspired by, it’s also just poor world-building judging from the perspective of looking at it as a fantasy drama.

I was kinda ok with the actor switch — I think there’s going to be a time skip and neither Song Joong Ki nor Kim Ji Won were doing much for me. I really like Song Joong Ki but I think Lee Joon Ki is the far better actor, so it’s kinda an upgrade … Rewatching, though, Song Joong Ki is actually a bit better than I remembered and I feel like maybe I will miss him and Kim Ji Won after all …

 kYuBin:

So far, non of the 2023 sageuk really impressed me. I hope the ones scheduled for the second part of the year will have good surprises.

So far My Dearest is the only 2023 sageuk I’ve watched (I tend to binge shows from previous years more than keep up with current ones), but even after I catch up on some of the others and watch the ones that come out later in the year, I’m pretty sure My Dearest will still be my favorite, haha. I’m definitely looking forward to the Goryeo-Khitan War one! And I think there’s also some sort of youth time travel or fantasy fusion sageuk (though it’s not clear to me how much is set in the past and how much in the present, so I’m not sure it’s actually going to be a sageuk?) that I can’t remember the name of supposed to come out this year — it will probably be kinda mediocre / bad, but I’ll likely still check it out because Silla dramas are few and far between.

 xinya:

This is good encouragement to stick with it! I was honestly contemplating dropping a week or two ago, but then I had to remind myself that there was actually a lot the drama had done right and it was probably too soon to give up on it.

Nice, I really think it worth trying, even though you might not feel the same as me when finishing it. ;)

 xinya:

it’s also just poor world-building judging from the perspective of looking at it as a fantasy drama.

Yes, I understand that, but it didn't really bothered me when watching haha, and even if I like Kim Ji Won a lot, it's not even about that because I also like Shin Sae Kyeong, I just don't like cast changes, even if the actors aren't the best or if I like the new one better than the original. I stopped watching "River Where the Moon Rises"  when they changed the actor playing On Dal, even though I liked the drama. ^^ 

 xinya:

I’m definitely looking forward to the Goryeo-Khitan War one!

Same ! This historical period and events have all the potential for the epic stories I want to see and watch. And I feel like this one might be a very good surprise for me, based on the first trailer. I kinda have the feeling of 2000/2010 sageuk with this one, with the increased quality production, so I hope it will not disappoint.

I don't see which one it is the time travel one you mentioned though. I may have missed it, or just ignored it because it's a time travel one. ^^

On "another" subject, I watched "Full River Red" a few days ago. I don't watch Chinese dramas, but I like Chinese historical movies a lot. And for this one, I must say Zhang Yi Mou never disappoints, at least for me. Surprisingly I liked the unique settings of it and also the mix of humour/thriller. Anybody having watching it here too and wanting to share his opinion ?