Historical Dramas Club

 moonchild:

I watched JIN (plays in Edo period) and loved it, quite accurate as well. That being said it also has the genre medical which is not everyone's cup of tea. I wholeheartedly recommend it though. It has a Korean remake which I like less because they included a completely unnecessary love triangle in it. 

For mature watchers I recommend the movie Sakuran. Has wonderful cinematography and costumes. 

Promising titles I'd like to watch are: 

• Yae no Sakura
• Rurouni Kenshin (I know the anime adaption, it's good)
• Ryoma den (real person that lived from 1835-1867, is a character in JIN) 
• The Tale of Genji (also real person from Heian period, there's a famous novel about him) 

Thanks!

I actually watched (and dropped) the Korean version of JIN, but I think the Japanese one is supposed to be better. I'm not much a fan of medical dramas, but I might try it anyway. Rurouni Kenshin and Ryoma den are already on my list. I'll check out Sakuran and Yae no Sakura as well.

I've actually read The Tale of Genji. Genji wasn't actually a real person (though some characters may have been inspired by real people). It's just written in a style as if she's telling stories that happened in court. It's interesting that the author also seems to be a character in the movie.

Oh, and because I love picking on anachronisms, there's even one in the Tale of Genji! In the first chapter there is a man from Goguryeo who makes a prophecy about Genji, except that it takes place centuries after Goguryeo had already been conquered by Silla. :P

 moonchild:

I only watched the drama My Country: The New Age which plays in this period so far. Anything about it is appreciated. :)

I've watched about 10 episodes of My Country. I've also watched Faith, Empress Ki, Six Flying Dragons, and Moon Lovers. I think there are a few more Goryeo dramas, but some of them are pretty old. I'm not sure what the focus of your article will be, but I have a decent knowledge of Goryeo history too. 

 WandereR:

I'm quite familiar with C and K hostiry but for J history, ironically most of the historicals I've watched are Hollywood productions, such as The Last Samurai and ShoGun

Ever since The Last Samurai was released I've been thinking of watching it but never did because it's a Hollywood production. From the outside they always look so fancy but I'm afraid they are 90% action and 10% about historical stuff. Please tell me if I'm wrong. xD 

 WandereR:

Goryeo-related productions are easier to find compared to the earlier eras.  I can give a few examples that I've seen

Thank you. I will definitely give them a try. I previously started Moon Lovers and dropped it after 4 episodes but I think I give it a second chance. I planned to watch Faith but when I watched a scene it made me cringe so I retreated. xD 

 xinya:

I actually watched (and dropped) the Korean version of JIN, but I think the Japanese one is supposed to be better.

The Japanese version is indeed much better. I watched it after the Korean remake which was a good thing, otherwise I would've disliked the remake even more. xD 

Ah thanks for pointing that out. I must have misread it when I came across the novel. I edited my post. 

 xinya:

I'm not sure what the focus of your article will be, but I have a decent knowledge of Goryeo history too. 

I don't plan to write an article about Goryeo period. That's a misunderstanding, I meant I could write a couple lines for the drama My Country and Jin if we collaborate together and make an article in name of the club. ^^ 

The only drama I've seen of the Goryeo period so far is My Country. So my knowledge is like none-existent. :) 

 Vya van Velaris:

I totally recommend Rurouni Kenshin.

Me too. I just find it hard to stomach, it's quite sad. At least the anime version is. 

From what I know Fullmetal Alchemist is not historical. On MDL it's missing the genre historical. 

 moonchild:

Me too. I just find it hard to stomach, it's quite sad. At least the anime version is. 

True, the violence is quite graphic in the movie, too, so definitely not for everybody.

 WandereR:

Lol.  I totally feel you.  The movie was great though, in a Hollywood style.  But I did appreciate the performances of the Japanese cast and I did feel that Tom Cruise did justice to the storytelling.  It honestly felt quite compelling, you should give it a go :D

Next time I see it on local TV I'll watch it. ^^ 

I have a question for our resident history buffs. In The Story of Ming Lan (Northern Song dynasty), I noticed that the Sheng girls have 'Lan' in their names (Hua Lan, Mo Lan, Ru Lan, Ming Lan, Shu Lan, Ping Lan etc.) and I noticed something similar in The Sword and the Brocade (Ming dynasty), where the Luo girls have 'Niang' in their names (Yuan Niang, Er Niang, Wu Niang, Shiyi Niang etc.).

Was this a naming convention? Or am I overthinking it?

 WandereR:

Welcome, dear friend!  Glad you could join us - you totally belong in this club :)

For the situation in Story of Ming Lan (which I haven't watched btw), the naming convention is very common even until today.  It's either the parents use the same middle of third character of the given name for their kids.  In this case, Lan applies to the girls because it's a more feminine name.

In Sword and Brocade, however, the "Niang" is not a part of their names.  It's a suffix (not a title) to denote "young girl/ lady".  

Ah, thanks for clearing that up. And thanks for the welcome! On the weekend, I was thinking how, lately, I only want to watch historical and fantasy dramas, and then I stumble across this club :)