Fumiko

I suspect that one of them (likely Su-min) will leak the relationship of Ji-Won and Ji-Hyuk at the worst possible timing to the press or something for sure.

So far it's not lighthearted. The last series by the author The Crowned Clown was also rather dramatic. However it's still too early to make an estimation since the first episodes were building up a lot.

What made me laugh:
Bermuda Park (reference to Bermuda triangle).
Su-min checking whether she is wearing panties at the moment when Ji-won cornered Min-Hwan
The forged letter Su-min wrote to that couple using Ji-won's name mentioning that Min-Hwan cheated on her with a 'particularly beautiful woman'.

😅

It would have honestly been fun to be one of the employees during this episode XD.

Next week the anticipated (trashy) dream wedding of the year we have been waiting for. Let's hope that it will be particularly awful.

She is perfect for the role and gives everything. That Sumin can look/seem sweet and friendly if she wants something is kinda how she got through life so far.
She actually does needs Jiwon around somehow so that she can feel better about herself which is why she always tried to manipulate her with love bombing when it looked like that Jiwon is angry with her.
Since Jiwon seems to slip away she now is resorting to threats.

The Chinese OC characters from the Song dynasty are definitely there since Murasaki was able to read/write Chinese characters and speak Chinese exceptionally well much better than her younger brother Nobunori (that was established already that he is not good at studying unlike Murasaki and their father).

Matsushita Kouhei's character could definitely also inspire some plot line/parallel of Genji Monogatari especially since they are free to do what they want since he is an OC.
It would make sense that Genji as a novel would make a bigger progress if she is able to read more literature that otherwise wouldn't have been available to her.

I love seeing the Fujiwara clan itself and I am curious how they will depict the clan in full power when Michinaga is at charge.

I love Machida Keita as Kinto and Kuroki Haru as Michinaga‘s later legal wife so far.

I assume that the marriage of Murasaki that will take place soon will be covered quickly since in history her husband was much older than her, he didn‘t think much of her writing and preferred other women. They also only had one child, daughter Daini no Sanmi (cast not announced yet).

Websites mention Murasaki-Michinaga and Murasaki-Kinto as romance theories when Murasaki came to court.

So far Michinaga is the most interesting when he is shown interacting with his family at court very similar to how he portrayed in Nagai Michiko‘s Michinaga novel. I think the most crucial event will be when Murasaki is chosen to serve Michinaga‘s daughter Shoshi and can thus spread Genji much quicker.

Kinto is portrayed as super handsome, talented at writing at an early age good at calligraphy and interested in court ranks. In history the rise of Kinto regarding court ranks was blocked by Michinaga. This lead Kinto to become a force regarding culture as a literature critic since he was so good at writing he was allowed to judge the writings of other people. His series description from the guide book mentions that he will become interested in Genji Monogatari and that Murasaki‘s nickname Murasaki originated from him (like mentioned in Murasaki‘s diary).

On Murasaki‘s name Mahiro on the show:
In history Murasaki original name before Kinto gave her her nickname is theorized to have been 香子 Koko or Kaoriko (the name can be read multiple ways). Not sure why they didn‘t choose this name.

As for discussions for who the real life Genji was the most likely candidates are:
Minamoto no Toru who lived years before Murasaki, Michinaga and co. is often named as the real Genji.
The poet Ariwara no Narihira who also lived way before Murasaki, Michinaga and co. is often called a proto Genji since him and Genji share many similarities.
Emperor Ichijo kinda had a similar situation with Teishi and Shoshi as Genji had with Murasaki (the novel character) and Onnasan no miya. Hope this is pointed out on the show.
Fujiwara no Sanekata (not cast yet) is said to have had many affairs including Sei Shonagon some also think he might be possible as well.
Fujiwara no Korechika, the brother of Empress Teishi is also often cited as an inspiration, he will be played by Miura Shohei. Korechika was said to have had a magnetic effect on women by Sei Shonagon.

The series seems to go with Michinaga as inspiration for Genji which I don‘t see much in history since Michinaga is way too involved with politics in history and has no real similarities to Genji.

I love though that Machida Keita as Fujiwara no Kinto is dubbed ‚real Genji‘ by the Hikaru fandom since he looks really great in Heian outfits and is implied to be extremely popular with women since he receives a lot of love letters XD.

No this is just a new addition to FujiTV's Ooku series each entry is always a standalone title.

They usually choose the court of a shogun and build the series around it. This time they chose Tokugawa Ieharu one of the lesser known Tokugawa shoguns. The POV is his legal wife Tomoko.

In history Murasaki's mother died when Murasaki and her brother Nobunori were still quiet young. Michikane, Michinaga's brother is often portrayed as a villain in media about Michinaga/the Fujiwara. It was certainly to raise pity and to give Murasaki and Michinaga a common enemy.
Also the whole hiding the identity stuff also seems like from a kdrama.

Now that Fujiwara no Kinto (Machida Keita) has joined I suspect that we might also get the 'love triangle' trope. Kinto and Michinaga are often described as rivals (especially regarding court ranks) and friends at the same time.

I somehow also think that this will have a slow build up both regarding the leads as well as the palace drama.

The court scenes so far have convinced me to keep watching. Hope that when the ML takes over as King that the intrigues etc. will increase.

Sumin and Minhwan are such a wonderful trash couple that you are totally rooting for them to end up with each other and leave everyone else alone XD.

I hope that we will see that their life together is super awful in the last episode. The actors are doing an excellent job by the way.

Like the cast a lot so far. Also the costumes look amazing.

The Heian era is fascinating to see. Many scenes and pictures are beautiful and it‘s nice to see characters featured that aren‘t depicted often in media.

The Murasaki and Michinaga relationship at the moment has very much romcom vibes. I hope that it becomes more seriously written when Michinaga has his big career rise and Murasaki becomes famous with Genji.
Any kind of romantic theories about Murasaki and Michinaga are bound to be theories since there is not much evidence for it in history or Murasaki‘s diary. His daughter Shoshi/Akiko later on was Murasaki’s protegee in the Shoshi vs. Teishi conflict but that‘s mostly it.
For example there are also romantic theories about Murasaki and the famous poet/courtier Fujiwara no Kinto who is played by Machida Keita and who will start appearing next episode. Kinto is mentioned in Murasaki‘s diary several times and is basically the reason why Murasaki is called Murasaki (after her own novel character) since he playfully called her Murasaki as a nickname at a banquet.

NHK thinks that Nara and Asuka period are too obscure and they have almost no resources for them like sets and costumes.

Mitani Koki wanted to write a Nara period Taiga centered on the rebellion of Fujiwara no Nakamaro. NHK told him to stop with his script.

There are three mini series about these eras though from many years ago:
Shotoku Taishi
Taika reform
A series with Ishihara Satomi as Empress Koken

They were interesting but had low ratings.

NHK even is kinda avoiding adapting Taiheiki again as well as the Muromachi/Onin War era since the two eras that sell the most are Sengoku/Edo and Bakumatsu.
Gempei War mostly has chances if Yoshitsune is an important character.

She and most of the other ladies should actually have hikimayu eyebrows. Both men and women should also paint their teeth black.

This might happen later on though perhaps when she becomes more famous in the second half (Ieyasu in Dousuru Ieyasu for example got the more accurate tonsure cut in the second half of Dousuru Ieyasu).

To be fair series like Kusa Moeru, Taira no Kiyomori, Yoshitsune and Hana no Ran and even most of the Sengoku Taiga should also have this more as well.

I only remember hikimayu eyebrows from the Takeda Shingen Taiga with Shingen's wife Sanjo and from the movie Kiyosu Kaigi with Matsuhime played by Goriki Ayame.

Taira no Kiyomori also still has a bit Heian era in it but is mostly the Gempei War already and since Yoritomo (played by Okada Masaki) already features prominently even has a bit of Kamakura Shogunate thus it's mostly the end of Heian which is way more often adapted than peak Heian era in Heiankyo.

Hikaru Kimi e and the Taira no Masakado Taiga are set in the time frame in which the imperial courts are way more prominent than the Samurai.

Hikaru Kimi e is also one of the rare imperial dramas.
Since Nara and Asuka period is never adapted it will likely be the only imperial Taiga.
Also it's one of the few artistic focused Taiga featuring Murasaki, Sei Shonagon, Akazome Emon, Daini no Sanmi and Fujiwara no Kinto. Izumi Shikibu and Koshikibu Naishi might also appear later on.

Tae-gyun and Ayano was obvious that was pretty much how I expected it. Also the only rootable pairing in the end.

I actually expected Rio to not choose Dong Kyu and just return to her work. I still don't think that it will last since at one point her work will have priority.

Won Shik should have chosen no one. Nozomi was just mislead once again with Won Shik faking interest ('the one I am interested in the most is you Nozomi') and Honoka wasn't framed as rootable and rather acted childish most of the time (only going after Won Shik again once he expressed interest in Nozomi and since it looked like she would end up partnerless).

The older ones like Dokuganryu Masamune, Takeda Shingen, Kusa Moeru, Aoi Tokugawa Sandai, Hojo Tokimune, Taiheiki, Hana no Ran and Komyo ga Tsuji are the best in my opinion.

However some recent ones like Gunshi Kanbei, Taira no Kiyomori, Kirin ga Kuru are some which I also really like.

Atsuhime was pretty great as well.
Yoshitsune despite the MC being very very sanitized had excellent battles scenes and some really good cast members.

I think if Won Shik chooses Honoka then ‚the one I am interested in the most is you Nozomi‘ is just as fake as the stuff Dong Kyu said. Then he shouldn‘t have chosen Nozomi for the audition and chosen Honoka.

Honoka should definitely be out however you never know (especially how much might be scripted). I would actually be pretty angry if I were Nozomi and he would choose Honoka since Nozomi was already mislead once. I would tell Won Shik that ‚the one I am interested in the most’ was fake then if I were her. Honoka also wasted episodes and didn’t really try to rekindle stuff and just actively put pressure on Won Shik when he chose Nozomi over her.