Fumiko

In some alternative universe in which the Queen is an inept ruler and her children evil the Physician could have been written as a 'tragic wronged true heir' who has a star-crossed romance with a concubine of the 'false King' and Uiseong would be the one you should root for. At least this trio still has some tangible motives, the Queen Dowager on the other hand is just spiteful for the sake of being spiteful lol.

I now really wonder what will happen in the final episode. There are still so many open plotlines. However no matter what happens we can all agree that this has to be the end for the Queen Dowager XD.

She is really awful, the actress does an excellent job. Also while watching you are always on guard regarding her since she is always plotting.

I am also really really looking forward to it. Hopefully the writing and budget is decent.

Also forgot to add: It's a perfect example how to write a fictional 'fight for the throne drama' in an engaging way.

I love court settings in general but this has to be one of the most entertaining court dramas recently in my opinion. I would love to see more than 16 episodes but hope that the ending will wrap up everything nicely. Loved the characters and how the budget was used. Also the QD is perfect to drive you furious XD.

At the beginning of the second half it recovered but then after too many comedy/domestic scenes and not showing dramatic scenes/battle scenes again it fell apart again (for example see Hatakeyama rebellion).

As a Hojo/Kamakura Shogunate drama Kusa Moeru wins against Kamakura dono in my opinion and the Gempei War was better in Yoshitsune and Taira no Kiyomori.

The only two interesting plotlines to me left are Jokyu War which will happen right at the ending and the actions of Yoshitoki's last wife Iga no Kata/Noe played by Kikuchi Rinko.

I recently finished the manga. Looking forward to this the cast looks great and I loved the manga a lot (had many scenes which moved me).

Looking foward to this the cast looks decent.

One of my favorite Taiga for sure. Fascinating era and excellent acting.

I love that Mayu is so busy this year 🥰.

Love the cast. From what I have gathered Mayu‘s character Naho seems to be paired with Nakagawa Taishi‘s character and Furukawa Kotone is paired with Kitamura Takumi.

Episode 31 was really well done I hope that the tone stays. It is also the first episode in which Yoshitoki finally really resembles his historical counterpart.

I have finished episode 29.
It picks up regarding a more serious atmosphere around episode 20. Afterwards it gets much better and is much more engaging and volatile especially post episode 25 which changes a lot plotwise . The beginning was rather weak and episode 16-18 with the Gempei War were the worst episodes so far (episode 16 being the worst episode of the show so far due how badly it ended a plotline).

Right now it has vastly improved after the Gempei War for example the Soga brothers and Noriyori‘s story were decent. It‘s good that Yoritomo will apparently be gone soon so that there is focus on the events post Yoritomo.

I am glad that it's moving along fast. I hope that Yoritomo is removed soon in the next episodes so that we can move on quickly.

Them already using Kaneko Daichi as Yoriie and Sakaguchi Kentaro as Yasutoki when the Soga brothers incident takes place should have been avoided (in reality Yoriie and Yasutoki were 10 years old at this point).

As for Yoshitoki's wife Hime no Mae the portrayal of her and Yoshitoki so far is not like described in the Azuma Kagami. In reality he chased after her for one year bombarding her with letters.
In Kamakura dono he fictionally chased after aunt Yae for such a long time that they apparently didn't want to give the same plot to Hime no Mae.

An amazing theme for a Taiga. I have always wanted Murasaki and her novel Genji Monogatari as a subject.

After episode 18 I have to say it's the worst Heian drama so far.

Battle of Awazu butchered. No interactions between Kiso Yoshinaka and Imai Kanehira and no death scenes (in particular, Kanehira's suicide).

Ohime's fiancee Yoshitaka was cast way too old to downplay that Yoritomo orders the death of a child. In the Yoshitsune Taiga Yoshitaka was cast with a 12 year old actor.

Dan no Ura in episode 18 was also butchered. While you saw the Taira women and child emperor Antoku drowning the male Taira were a non factor. In particular Taira no Tomomori the de facto leader should have gotten interactions and his suicide scene.

I am only still watching since the events post Yoritomo's death and rise of the Hojo are rarely depicted (only Kusa Moeru focused on this).

If you are watching this for the Gempei War you will be disappointed, totally.

All in all rather watch the Taiga Yoshitsune, Kusa Moeru and Taira no Kiyomori instead.

His portrayal of Kiso Yoshinaka in Kamakura dono was bad. They casted Imai Kanehira as a recurring character but completely ruined their ending scenes in Awazu which are the best scenes from the Heike Monogatari. Even in the Taiga Yoshitsune Ozawa Yukiyoshi was a more decent Yoshinaka since the scenes at Awazu were at least decently done.

In episode 16 the end of Kiso Yoshinaka and Imai Kanehira was so badly depicted, it is the most favorite scene of the Heike Monogatari for a reason since it’s touching and great. Whose idea was it to not show anything and just switch to a scene of Ohime and her fiancee Yoshitaka. This made me super angry 😡.