Historical Dramas Club

 Estelll:

Are you watching/plan to watch any of these dramas? What do you think of the recent premieres, and the Historical Dramas of 2021 so far?

I'm still watching Word of Honor, The Long Ballad and River Where the Moon Rises.

So far 2021 (Jan - Apr) has been fantastic for historical dramas in general.  Here's a recap:

• The first ever Zhang Ziyi drama and the first epic historical of the year, The Rebel Princess.  This drama has arguably the best ML-General ever (so says the many female viewers lol)
• The first live-action (full feature drama) historical-xianxia-wuxia BL since The Untamed, Word of Honor.  This show is even more "explicit" than TU :D
• The first historical slice-of-life harem drama (non-palace) since The Story of Minglan, The Sword and the Brocade.
• The second epic historical of the year just kicked off, the much long awaited The Long Ballad. 
• I noticed it's been a while since we had a Boran (historical) Lakorn, and the first one for the year just completed airing, Wanthong
• This year's Taiga drama, Seiten wo Tsuke, talks about modern banking in Edo Japan which is a very fascinating premise that hasn't been covered yet
• Aside from RWTMR, there are 8 more to look forward to making 2021 an exciting year for sageuk productions - Red Sky, The Red Sleeve Cuff, Bossam: Steal the Fate, Yeonmo, Tale of the Royal Secret Agent and Jo Yi, When Flowers Bloom I Think of The Moon, Kingdom: Ashin of the North, The Golden Hairpin (this one's interesting as there's a C-historical adaptation that's due out this year, also known as The Golden Hairpin).  We've already had Must You Go and soon the upcoming BL that was mentioned, Nobleman Ryu's Wedding.  The only sad thing was the Joseon Exorcist was cancelled, darn :(

 Estelll:

There are also some confirmed or rumoured to air soon Historical Dramas - these include First Sword of Wudang (wuxia drama based on a never-before-adapted novel of Liang Yusheng, this has been in production/awaiting release for 3 years now!), Court Lady (Palace drama, with Xu Kai & Li Yi Tong in the main roles)

I'm looking forward to Court Lady (Li Yi Tong is a superb actress).  As for First Sword of Wudang, still unsure if its airing date is confirmed, which is sad as the production has been completed for quite some time already.

 Estelll:

For the purpose of this discussion, let's say old dramas are those that are at least 10 years old, so anything that began airing during 2011 or earlier!

For this category, it would have to be Tree With Deep Roots as well.  Epic sageuk with Jang Hyuk in the lead and a great supporting cast as well.  Of course, our common love, Warrior Baek Dong Soo! I haven't seen Jumong (I heard this one's pretty huge) and Demi Gods & Semi Devils.

Here are some of my recommendations...

Chuno (2010)

This is a fantastic sageuk starring Jang Hyuk, Lee Da Hae and Oh Ji Ho in the lead roles.  Action packed with dazzling swordplay and a sweeping romance.

Jejoongwon (2010)

I still recall this medical-themed historical vividly.  Very heartwarming, wholesome and poignant depiction of medical practices and advancement during the Joseon era.  It stars several veterans in Park Yong Woo, Han Hye Jin and Yeon Jung Hoon.

Three Kingdoms (2010)

This drama is not for the faint-hearted because it's a whopping 95 episodes long!  :D

But if you're an avid historical fan and are fascinated with the fable of the 3 Kingdoms, then you should definitely give this one a try.  It has one of the most convincing portrayals of the famous characters ever (Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, Diao Chan, Sun Ren etc).

It is headlined by excellent actors in Chen Jien Bin, Yu He Wei (he was in The Rebel Princess as the PM), Lu Yi, Ringo Yu (the evil coach in The Karate Kid 2010), Nie Yuan (from The Story of Yanxi Palace), Ni Da Hong (the emperor in The Rise of Phoenixes), and Ruby Lin (from Singing All Along).  The supporting cast is insanely huge!

This drama was truly big budget (back then) and features massive battle scenes amidst the intricate political plotting.

Red Cliff I and Red Cliff II

Not a drama but 2 movies filmed back-to-back in 2008.  Also based on the Romance of the 3 Kingdoms, these 2 movies star some of the biggest names in the Asian film industry.  Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, and Lin Chi Ling.  If the 95-episode drama is too long, then give these 2 movies a watch instead.   Truly epic and timeless stuff.

Hong Gil Dong (2008)

From what I can recall, this sageuk is quite light-hearted with comedic elements and is about the timeless tale of Joseon's beloved people's hero (it's the earlier version of Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People).  It features action, adventure and romance as its main themes.

 WandereR:

The first ever Zhang Ziyi drama and the first epic historical of the year, The Rebel Princess.  This drama has arguably the best ML-General ever (so says the many female viewers lol)

Still have a long way to go but, so far, this female viewer is leaning on the 'I agree' side :P

Thanks for the tidbit on Three Kingdoms; it came on my radar last night when I went looking at Yu He Wei's other roles; I'm so loving his acting right now as the PM in Rebel Princess. Of course, I want to watch it but 95 episodes = scary :D

Among other Yang Zi dramas, I'm really looking forward to The Golden Hairpin; hope it airs this year.

 Estelll:

River Where the Moon Rises (which unfortunately was more memorable for its casting mess)

It's actually a pretty decent drama. Even if I have a rather long list of complaints (but that's true of most dramas with me), at least it has gotten better as it goes on on rather than starting strong, then disappointing in the second half. As for the casting mess, it may be a blessing in disguise, since Na In Woo is turning out to be better than Ji Soo. They decided to reshoot the early episodes, so people who watch it after it finishes airing can see the whole thing with him. That's the only currently airing historical I'm watching. 

 Estelll:

What are some of the older (2011 or earlier) historical dramas you've enjoyed and still recommend to this day?

I second Warrior Baek Dong Soo, Tree With Deep Roots (though I haven't actually finished it yet), and Jumong (it is a bit slow at points). I would add Queen Seondeok (you might have to be a bit patient with this one, but the payoff is pretty epic). I'm currently (slowly) rewatching it, so I'll probably post about it on Feeds. I also enjoyed The Legend. I'm not entirely sure I would recommend it, because the villain is cartoonish (the only one of Choi Min Soo's roles I've seen so far that I haven't liked), CGI is terrible, and the ending is a bit unsatisfying (Bae Yong Joon was injured and it got cut short I think). But it's also a bit epic and manages to depart somewhat from the typical sageuk story. Most of all, Bae Yong Joon was a pretty charismatic as a warrior king (+ there's baby Yoo Seung Ho). 

 xinya:

it may be a blessing in disguise, since Na In Woo is turning out to be better than Ji Soo.

That's quite true and I've warmed up to his portrayal in the last few episodes.  Both him and Kim So Hyun are nominated for the Baeksang this year as well.

 xinya:

I started watching the first one a week or two ago (haven't finished yet). Do I need to watch both to get the full story?

Yes, you need to watch both, otherwise Part 1's ending would be left hanging.  You've started the challenge!  Good luck  :)

Thank you everyone for your answers! :)

@Wanderer, wow, that's a great summing up!! I agree it's been a great year for historical dramas so far!! 

My favourites from those I've watched so far is The Rebel Princess (epic historical and +1 on the swoon-worthy General!!!), The Blessed Girl (high fantasy done right), and The Sword and The Brocade (my CP award of the year)!

I also just started The Long Ballad, and it seems good (totally binge-worthy, lol) so far! And I plan to start either Word of Honor or First Sword of Wudang (it started yesterday) afterwards, I've been missing a wuxia for so long!!!

@Xinya, I wasn't bashing River Where the Moon Rises, in fact, its description make it sound like my kind of thing, though I still haven't started watching it!! It's just its misfortune that most people when thinking about this drama now (regardless of its quality or lack thereof), would probably associate it with the casting issues first... I really hope Viki or someone will upload the re-shooted episodes afterwards for the international audience, so I can watch it without an actor change if possible!

Regarding the upcoming Korean historical dramas, I admit I'm still sceptical & afraid something will happen with them, too, of course I hope nothing will!!

On the older dramas mentioned, I also second Chuno, I loved this one, too!! 

I also loved Queen Seon Duk, or at least most parts of it, 'cause my problem with this drama was its pacing & consistence of the story/ies... Though I loved all the characters, and Mishil is one of my favourite "villains" ever!!!

And I plan to watch Three Kingdoms (2010) for ages now, what's still keeping me is a quality (preferably official though that's not happening) source to stream it online, with both good visual (video) quality and good English subs! It used to be on YouTube fansubbed, but 480p max, and I think they removed it now? Oh well, I'll probably download it instead some day after all...

 Estelll:

The Sword and The Brocade (my CP award of the year)!

Please, please let me hand out the award with you! While the plot eventually got repetitive and predictable, I forgive everything because of this CP. Can't imagine getting a CP I like better for the rest of the year.

 WandereR:

OMG, you're right.  First Sword of Wudang just started airing.  Finally, 4 years after it wrapped up filming!!!  I hope they do justice to Liang Yu Sheng, the author.  This story reminds me of Fox Volant of Snowy Mountain - it's set in the Northeastern snowy frontiers near Manchuria (and although this is during Ming, it involves the Manchu too).

I'll watch this one with you - seems like there's only one streaming platform airing it.  

Yes, and the best part is that they've already added English subs for all aired episodes so far! 

I love the setting as well (wow, the cast & crew must had a hard time if any of all that snow is real!), and the martial arts scenes are very well done & entertaining (in the two & a half episodes I've watched) so far!

Though they may have gone a little overboard with the old-school feel of it (which I suspect was intentional) -- I'm all for old-school wuxia, but I still prefer my picture quality crisp & crystal clear! And those logos & posters are a bit cheesy.

Thankfully, they didn't add old-school make-up! xD In fact, the make-up in this drama is one of the most-natural I've seen, and not only the make-up, the whole aesthetics, e.g ordinary people indeed look like ordinary people!