It was nice :) haha interesting concept. not the best for me though lol
Story is interesting had a lot of potential but I think they didn't use the whole potential of it. Better watch it without huge expectations. It turns into a mystery/detective with a bit of comedy and a tiny bit of fantasy. At first i didn't like it because they were too fixed on korean norms of beauty and ugly. However later they do say that all the people liked the guy before too who was ugly at the time. And the girl was beautiful but a bit annoying lol. Well Park bo Yeong is not ugly at all so idk why they consider her ugly but i guess they made her a haircut that doesn't suit her well.
Anyway the concept of abyss was nice, the cameo while giving out the abyss was also nice haha. idk why they call them aliens. They could have made the whole story much better with that concept but they failed to do it. As a mystery it wasn't bad. not the Best, but not the Worst either. They could have explained it more, much more... but they left everything unexplained.
the side character couple was cute. i liked that detective-mido couple the most haha.
i didn't like that they made the ending like that so i skipped most of it. But still it was happy ending so all good. wish they could explain more about the homeless person and what happened during the gap. it felt rushed in that way. or rather... felt like they had nothing to say so they made se yeon fall asleep in the middle lol
actually i skipped a lot of scenes as they were all lovely bubbly when there is a killer walking around. lol

What i liked:
- ahn hyo seob (but i think he is still too green for a lead)
- a hilarious scenes when abyss was with killer (they could have made it even funnier, but i think i just thought all the funny stuff to myself that's why found it hilarious)
- Male Lead Cha Min's mother! lol (would have thought she is that cliche mean rich mother but they made all those things very funny lol she was great, i loved when she said "bring Food!!!")

What i didn't like:
- Plot (which i liked it it was not made well, i think the writers themselves didnt get how to use it)
- Acting (well idk... i dint like it much)
- Too much romance in the later part of the drama which should have been intense
- Ending (it was a happy ending!!! but it had many things not explained, i'd say VERY not explained. but kinda a DOTS like ending again)
- Beauty/Ugly norms lol

Overall:

I can't say i liked this drama, but i can't say i hated it either. I'd say you can try it to see for yourself, because I didn't like it mostly cause i like different genres.... well i do like mystery the most, but for me this was more romance than mystery. So it was ok, not bad, but not very good for me.

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I recommend this drama to anyone who loves historical fantasies.
I don't recommend it to people who like mostly lovely bubbly romcoms.
What I didn't like:
- seasons.... lol so meaningless, why separate it into seasons... ><
-too many names at the begging might be overwhelming plus the first episode is hectic as it doesn't show "passed...years" every time they time-skip.
What i liked:
- the story. It's different from what we usually see so i like it.
- twists and turns.
-costumes
-scenery

Overall I liked this first half of the drama :) but the whole season is more like an intro. and the real stuff will start i guess in the second. the story is nice and it gets more and more interesting later. as I said it is more like an intro and it gets power mostly during the 6th episode. However many historical dramas (and not only) have long introductions that are necessary for us to learn about characters, so it was okay for me. I liked this first season. The only thing is left is for the second and especially the last to be great. because an ending can ruin a drama lol. the first season is nice though.

MYTHOLOGY:
This series are based on Korean mythology about Dangun, who is considered the founder of Koreans. you can read about him on the internet. It is set in Ancient Jeoson and about Korea's first nation and Bronze Age. The myth depicts a story how a Heaven's Son comes to Korean Peninsula and makes The First Kingdom. Because he was the second or third son and couldn't become the ruler of Heaven. He lands on Great White Mountain. Later a Tiger and Bear come to him and ask him to turn them into human. So he tells them to go and eat mugwort and garlic only during 100 days or something. The Tiger gives up in the middle. But the bear eat's it and becomes a woman. The bear woman and Heaven's son have a child, Dangun. Dangun becomes the first real ruler of korea. Actually people say that he symbolizes a human as he was born from meeting of a spirit and an animal. Also he symbolizes the start of Bronze age in Korea. later he goes into a mountain and his spirit rests there. Well there are several versions and in one of them the capital they make is called Asadal. To compare it to the drama Dangun must be the Aramun Haesseula in the drama. Nheantals are the tiger tribe and Sarams (which means literally "human/person" in Korean) are the bear tribe. As you can see in the first episode, Naeanthals come to the meeting with tiger fur, tiger skulls, and Sanung Niruha (at the time ruler of Sarams) wears a bear mask. So this drama took this myth about creation of Koreans and made a fantasy :)

I think the production team just made several mistakes and that's why got so much criticism and low ratings. maybe im wrong, this is just my opinion but:1. they made this show come out not long after GoT ended.... many fans fresh from GoT came to this and saw many similarities. However historical fantasies all have similar clothes and similar power struggle. This series are based on Korean mythology. 2. they overestimated viewers lol I think many were not ready to get a different-like kinda a bit European setting fantasy from Korea. And were just too used to that the Korea usually does historicals mostly in Jeoson or Georyo (and sometimes Silla).

So if you are interested in this genre, don't let these things stop you from trying :) watch till the 4th or 5th episode and then decide if you like it or not :)

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this review contains a little bit spoilers at the end!!!

I do recommend the drama to people who like oh yeon seo, Lee Honey, Jang hyuk(or charismatic actors), who like logical political strategies. who like fighting scenes, who like historical dramas, romance, who like gender bender! If you like only happy endings (like me), if you hate rushed endings, bad endings and everything concerned with endings then hmmm more than telling you I don't recommend, I'd rather say be warned and prepare that the ending is bad. It's mosntly the last 20 minutes of the last episode i think. When you think about it, they actually do show some kind of "happy ending" but I didn't find it happy.

intro:
I watched this drama for Jang Hyuk, as I fell in love with him after Chuno (Slave hunters). I also watched this drama a long time ago so i don't remember it quite well. I just wrote a review for it on another website before so I wanted to move that review here. I have also watched this drama long before the Scarlet hearts.

Acting/Cast:
Well, acting in this drama is top notch! Jang Hyuk never disappoints. He is amazing actor and Oh Yeon Seo also did a great job as a female lead. Other actors were also great! I think Jang Hyuk really suits historical dramas! I totally like the way he talks, his beard, and long hair. He is amazing!! <3

Music and cinematography:
Music was okay, nothing that was left in my memory, but nothing bad that can keep one away from watching. It was normal. The cinematography is also normal, i included it just because the Scarlet Hearts which depicts the same period has an incredible cinematography! this one is normal, nothing fancy, but nothing bad either.

Characters:
As acting was great characters could really stand out! I really really like this version of Wang So. He is cool, strong, active, funny, with a scar in his heart from his childhood and all, as he is an exiled prince, but still he doesn't have inferiority complex because of that. Anyway I totally liked his version of Wang So much much much better than the one in Scarlet Hearts. Maybe because I love Jang Hyuk. He played the king as a beggar very well, at first you watch and think he is really a peasant or street gangster and all, but then later you slowly start to think that this guy is suited to be a king! that is is the True King of this nation!! (I didn't get that feeling from Scarlet hearts unfortunately, maybe because i'm biased :) apologies to scarlet hearts' fans^^)
among characters i can't leave out the women in this drama. Great female characters! very strong and not losing not men with their thoughts and strategies. Very smart! The female lead is a real business lady and the second female lead is a real politician.
I kinda like that there is no overwhelming amount of beautiful princes dying one after another. Though the real story was like that I think.

Story:
The whole idea of the story is awesome! If you have watched Scarlet hearts you will now that Wang So was an exiled prince who later is meant to become a king. Here the prophecies sound somehow more interesting for me. The male lead is a prince that was exiled because of the prophecy which foretells that he will turn the country into a river of blood. And the female lead is a princess of Balhea who nearly escaped death from her own people because of another prophecy which foretells that she will become a light of another country! The royal fortune teller tells the king that his son's curse can stop and he can become the greatest king despite the prophecy he he meets/marries a light! a woman that is born under a certain star. Unfortunately that woman is not our female lead as no one knows about her real self. I also enjoyed the gender bender here!
Other than those beautiful prophecies i totally liked that this drama is very very smart! sometimes you watch a drama and die to tell all the characters do or not to do something. Well in this drama people can take one information combine it with another and get a new answer which helps them build their moves! They are all smart and strong and I liked it a lot. the story goes on really well but then suddenly "Poof!!" and everything disappears ><

a little bit SPOLERS ahead.

What I didn't like and biggest flow of this drama:
one is that from the middle, near the end of the drama, the girl starts to cry a lot and i don't quite like it. Second is, as many people already told, it's of course the ending! it ruined the whole drama for me and for many i think. I can understand why the leads can't stay together. The female lead is a strong business woman she wouldn't be able to live happily as a royal concubine, closed inside the palace walls. I understand it, but still the ending was rushed and not well made. It seems as they just tried to wrap it up very quickly without thinking through it well. so the minus 2 points is for the ending.

The overall score for me is 8.5. It would have been 10 if not for the ending. And it would have been 3 if not the great plot (+jang hyuk) before the ending.

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Disclaimer: all written below is just my opinion. I tried to be as objective as possible.
(Viki is full of reviews on this drama i'm surprised there are not many in here. and surprised it doesn't have a high rating)

Let me start by saying that I loved this drama!! It is about family, justice, righteousness! I don't usually watch long episode dramas, however I started it without knowing that it will be a 50 ep drama, but I was so hooked after the first ep, that I couldn't stop. Watching it every week was like a torture lol so I put it on hold and then picked it up again. I didn't give it a 10 for some reasons, I will talk about them below.

I want to start with the words Dol Mok said by the end of the drama: "The law now is like a very huge net that lets go of all the big fish that lives in a castle, and it becomes a very tight net that doesn't let go even of the smallest fish that is outside of the castle. The society where law protects only the ones that live in a castle and makes others crumble is a rotten society, and won't last long. So I want it to change with this judgement today."

Story: I think this is the strongest point of this drama! The plot summary doesn't say anything about it actually. This is a story about the descendants of Korean Heroic troops a little squad of about 5 people, lead by General Baek San, that fought for independence during the Japanese occupation of Korea. And the Pro_Japanese family that actually betrayed Korea. It's about the unfairness, how the traitors back then, live a luxurious life for 3 generations, while the heroes that brought freedom to Korea live in poverty for 3 generations. However the 4th generation came to change the tables and to bring justice to the world! The title - good thief, bad thief sounds in Korean like "doduk nom, doduk nim", which can be also translated as punk thief and Mr. Thief. The so called Mr. Thieves are the powerful rich people that steal money from poor people, evade taxes, embezzle money etc. and the punk thief is our main hero who is like a modern Robin Hood, stealing from bad giving to poor (not exactly but something like this). Going back to the story: It had so much twists and turns so 50 ep were just enough for it. To be a little more honest the last 5 eps may be a little slower than the rest and could have been fit into 3 eps (one of the reasons to that i didn't rate 10), but the rest 45 eps were not slow imo. each episode ending with such a turn that I couldn't wait to watch what is next.
the story starts when the main lead was 4 years old, therefore the story focuses on their parents and how everything happened. I know many people avoid long flashbacks, backstories, but this was really necessary for us to fully understand the characters. Also some say that the first half of the drama is slow while the action starts in the second half. for this I want to say that the first half of the drama is where all the knots are getting tied and secrets appear, while the second half is where they start to untie the knots and unveil the secrets. Therefore the second part would have never been there without the first. Personally I liked the first half of the drama a lot. As much as the second. The story continues on and we see the the main hero as 10 year old, and here again many tragedies happen. After this we go on to were our lead is in a high school (this is where adult actors show up), again they show us little part of their past, because this is were the lead decides what to do in the future. All these stories were so interesting and so freaking heart-wrenching, I cried my eyes out during the whole backstory. Because it shows us a never ending unfairness, powerlessness and dark tunnel without a light or exit. The villains are super annoying and so bad that makes you wonder how can people be like this. The story goes around a coward that tries to save his children. About betrayals, greed and unfairness. But among all of these we see such a nice, kind and warm family that makes you want to cry. From the 10/11th episode they finally grow up into 29 year old young people. This is where we finally see how our hero becomes a Thief (Robin Hood, Hong gil dong, Kaito Kid). The poor kids grew up and many set up on the path of revenge. And slowly they start to learn about the present, and about their past, and about the people who fought for independence in 1984 or something.

Genres: I wanted to address this too as I saw many comments saying there are too many genres in this drama. From one perspective yes, this drama is suspense, action, crime, family with a splash of history, romance and comedy The main characters are prosecutors and lawyers, policewoman who became an investigator in prosecution, Thief, and villains of a conglomerate. It might also be a little of a makjang drama, because all of the birth secret and stuff and the villains' families. They also sing here couple of times. The romance is not a cliche love triangle. it starts as one but then it changes and we see that there is no room for triangles or squares, because the main characters are too much in love with each other! (btw I am also in love with Jang Dol Mok the lead <3) And finally the comedy is a nice breather among the heavy stuff, as Dol Mok says let's laugh a bit, even if like this. (kinda sloppy translation from Korean)

Characters (Acting/Cast): The Characters where sooo complex in this drama. We see their whole past so we can see how many sides they have, and there is so much character development going on! Let's start from villains :D They were amazing! The Hong clan (LOL) - Pro-Japanese family that tries to find the ancient artifacts the Heroic Corps have hidden. Hong il Kwon - a very very bad old man! funny how he changes a little at the end. The older sister Hong Mi Ae and her son Yoon Ho.....(I will not talk about the husband) Omg.... They were soooooo annoying and super stupid at first, I hated them so much during the whole childhood part... kicking, beating, bribing, yelling.... gosh... however when Yoon Ho got older I started to like the character, and by the end of the drama he was great XDD haha so funny XDD same goes for the crazy Hong Mi Ae who was like super bad and annoying, but by the end of the drama I started to really like her parts as they were a very funny comic relief XD lol. The next are the little sister Hong Shin Ae, her daughter Hwa Yeong, and finally her husband the chief prosecutor Yoon Joong Te! they started of as dignified family but in the end couldn't escape the greed that run in the family. Hwa Yeong is your average rich mean girl. I won't talk much here. I want to applaud for Yoon Joong Te as he did a totally amazing job as a villain! and the last scene with him and the gold bird was great. It had a really nice message! There are also small villains like Choi Tae Seok and Choi Kang gyu who are the kind of people who do stuff for money and all. But in the end both of them played a big role in the story. I totally hated Choi Tae Seok at first but later I started to kinda like him. Choi Kang gyu was annoying, stupid and poor XD
Now to our good characters :D First of all is our dear main hero Jang Dol Mok/Kim Soo Hyun!!!! Standing ovation to Ji Hyun woo! To be honest I didn't like him at first. during the childhood part I thought it's a girl, and it was a shock to learn he is boy XD I also didn't think he will be the main lead. XD And the adult actor... I saw him in queen in hyun's man and didn't like him, I also saw him in angry mom (here i liked him though). But as the drama went on... I fell in love with the character Jang Dol Mok!! A Perfect man! As someone said he is the type that attracts women like a honey can attract bees ROFL. After going through so much he grew up so well! Such an affectionate man! His super warm relationship with his father and brother and others is just very sweet!! <3 <3 He has sooo much different licences! and is very strong! so precious! <3 My Ideal type!! <3 I can talk about him all day long but i'll stop here XD next is Jang Pan Soo and his wife! :D the father of jang dol mok, this actor received an award for this role! he was amazing at portraying a warm and kind coward, who cries a lot. The whole drama starts with him coming out of prison and going back to his family. He is a small town thief, that stole a little bread to feed his family, but got caught. he is one of the descendants so he tries to apply to some kind of charity foundation that can give money to the descendants of the heroic squad. However he gets himself in a BIG trouble after doing this. In the end he becomes the foster father of Jang Dol Mok. I havn't seen such a warm cute father-son relationship is a drama yet. Now Han Joon Hee prosecutor or Jang Mi Jae. the childhood version of him was played by Nam Da Reum, who is everywhere XD Han Jonn Hee's adult version was that kind of person, who does what he believes and is very very stubborn. However as he learns the truth he changes for the good. he still fights for what he believes in, but now he joins his brother to uncover all the crimes that the bad people were doing. I started to like him very much later :D The brothers relationship is also one of the most warmest relationships i have ever seen. <3 <3 I want to say just a little bit about the side characters. The grandmother and Master Kwon that appear during the high school days of Jang Dol Mok are like cherries on a cake at that time xD gosh, the appearance of Kung Fu master was kinda strange and funny at first XD but it was really refreshing and they became the characters I love. <3 San Woon Yul becomes the house where Jang Dol Mok and his father and many other people start to live and become a very cute, warm, big family! <3 . Shorry plays Dol Mok's friend who helps him with work. he brings comedy to this drama. And we also get many other side characters that play a big role in the whole story. However sometimes the appearance of those characters is quite random, that makes you wonder if they are really necessary, but they indeed are! I will not talk about them much so that it won't be a spoiler xD. Next is the father of our female lead, detective Kang seong il! He playes a big part during the backstory. a corrupt detective that does everything to raise his cute daughter alone, however he gets himself into a mess while investigating a certain case. Now finally onto his daughter, the female lead, played by SeoHyun (her first main role), Kang So Ju! yes, her name is after soju lol and she like soju. I think, many don't like the romance in this drama because of her, also the whole drama ... well.... She was great during high school, a strong, happy girl with glasses. and seohyun played her well. the problem starts later XD While being a 29 year old girl So Ju keeps being strong, loud, happy girl, just without glasses. That is her character and I don't think that the problem was the acting. the acting is ok. But this character get super annoying. There actually people who didn't find her annoying at all and liked her, so I think you should judge yourself, after watching the drama. For me she was very annoying and always doing what she shouldn't do, her way of thinking resembled han joon hee prosecutor at fisrt, very stubborn and righteous, thinking that law is everything and everyone needs to protect it. She is right actually! very right! however the law couldn't do anything against all those powerful people. She really gets in the way and all her decisions are stupid. Maybe all of that came from not knowing a lot. Because later when she learns all the truths and after getting in the way really hard, she starts to change!! :D she become less annoying, and finally starts to help. she becomes a really good partner for our Dol Moki. the thing is that for me her character was so annoying in the middle of the drama, that it made me think that she doesn't deserve Dol Mok, and seeing how she changed for the good didn't make me feel satisfied with the character, but somehow relieved. You know, like thinking: "Gosh, finally she does something normal!!!" . This is only my opinion however, you might really like the happy, strong So Ju. :) It is more like a warning in case you don't like her. XDD So wait till the end, and she will become good. XD
Music: Well the music complemented the drama a lot. It gave that old feeling of 90s at first and later. I also liked the songs the characters sang during the drama. The song that father and sons sang, also the song that so ju's father sang her, and then Dol Moki kept on singing to her (gosh he also sang and played guitar, and cooked well, and played chess and.... omg i need to stop)
Rewatch value: I don't usually rewatch dramas, but due to complicated-ness and richness of the story I gave it a high rewatch value.

Overall: This drama was a real roller-coaster. With many characters, many genres, many twists and turns. It was paced really well. The story goes on really fast, not slow at all. I suggest watching it when you have time, because watching it with just 2 eps a week might make you feel it as a boring drama. The first episode might be a little slow at first, but it gets intense from the middle of it. However prepare yourself as the first 10 episodes are super sad, the high school era has a little bit of a bright side, but it still has super sad and unfair moments. I really cried a lot. Later it gets better, because our kids grow up and are no longer those powerless poor little children. They become strong powerful adults with very kind and warm hearts. And the real action with the thief "J" and all starts from 11th ep. From about 25th ep they start to learn the truth, so the fight gets more intense. However romance also starts to bloom.
To add one more thing that maybe a little of a spoiler!! So go down to the next part, if you don’t want it. In this drama they also emphasized the respect towards women during the wedding scene. In traditional Korean wedding woman bows 3 times and the man 2. But here they did it so that both of them will bow 3 times, saying that in 21 century men also should show respect and not only women, to show that they will become friends and companions to go together from now on. I really liked it!

And finally the ending is satisfying. :D they finished all the story-lines they started and showed the "end" of all the main characters and some main-side-characters.

So if you are wondering to watch this drama or not, give a try to about 17 eps and only then decide to drop it or watch till the 50th. I don't regret the time I spent on this. It has been a day since I finished it, and I am thinking about all the characters, especially Dol Mok, and don't want to watch anything else yet.

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First of all if you like mystery/thriller genres then dive in. If you like ghost future/ghost/death-seeing powers then again dive in. For comparison there are other OCN dramas like Missing noir M, Duel, Voice, Signal, Save Me, etc. If you liked these dramas you may also like this one.

Now, on to the review.
Firstly, I wanted to write a review because i saw that there are not many reviews and more importantly I think this drama was a little overlooked. Maybe because of the subs that came out so late and are still not so "good".

Story: It's a complex story, that many drama fans may have seen. A scary case that happened a long time ago, a new case that triggered the memories of the old one nowadays, and people who start to investigate it. However this drama is not so simple. Why? Because the story can't go on without characters that start to build it. That is why I want to talk about characters here. Out female lead is a strong policewoman. She is tomboyish and lives happily with her father, but we start the drama already knowing her past. I will not talk about the past but it's super creepy and scary. What is important here is that she can see people's death. well actually not only. She has a fortune telling power from her grandmother. On the other hand we have chic elite detective. His favorite phrase is "do you like science?". As you can guess from it he is someone who believes in science, is great in deduction and may other stuff. So these two get together and try to solve scary mysteries. As the detective says as a joke, she shoots a fantasy and he shoots a scientific crime drama. But together it become super great!Here I want to say a bit about Black it may sound similar. However it is not similar at all. I didn't think about Black even a single moment while watching this drama. Black had a very complex story and even the people who made it messed up in the end because of it. The girl was crying till the end. And the story lost it's logical thread, but had a promising start. Here, everything is different. The female officer is strong. she doesn't cry all the time. If something tragic happens she overcomes it and fight bravely. she is also physically strong and can beat many men. The male lead is also strong physically. (capable police :D) And she doesn't think she is cursed. She accepted her power. She is sad, that she can't save some, but she still tries. She is also smart! And as I said the male lead is somewhat a genius. And more importantly the story is logical till the end. Her powers only grow, and she uses them well. Male Lead also Uses his brain very well, and the story comes to a logical conclusion. So If you didn't like black, Doesn't mean you will not like this one. And visa versa. I can't leave out the second lead who played prosecutor. As he said himself you can't figure out he is good or bad, which makes you curious to see more of him. A man who strong and soft at the same time. You can't really tell what is he. But of course later you start to see other sides of him. The villain character where also interesting. Especially the "small" villains that go used by others. The story starts of as really creepy (like Save me) it gets creepier as the main leads visit a strange island. Later you get used to it and the entangled information slowly reveals itself more and more. Also the little homeless squad :D Honestly I totally loved them!! they played some big roles in this story and they were also a nice breath of fresh air.

Acting: The acting was great! I was seeing the female lead for the first time but she was great!! I was so tired of this super cute, weak ladies who always get in the way and cry. She played very well and her voice was great especially when she was telling the prophesies. The actor of male lead also pulled of smart, cheeky, genius, scientific, sad, angry, serious, stupid character lol. he was annoying at first, for me, but he was great later. The prosecutor (second lead). I saw this actor for the first time in Rebel and I loved him! Here I loved him even more. He pulled off all those complex emotions the character was having - guilt, heart scars from tragic childhood, fear, loyalty, willpower, desire to live, anger, love and more. The villains were good as expected, the veteran actors always end up getting all the hate XD
the "small" villains also did great. They had to show many other emotions and pulled it off fantastically. The homeless squad and other policemen also acted well.

Music: Creepy stuff owes it's creepiness mostly to music. XD well there is also camerawork. But you know those sounds that are usually in scary movies. they help to build the atmosphere here. But thank God it's not much. so It's ok. If you don't like scary stuff like me, don't worry it's not scary (it's like Save me).

This drama has adult cast. These actors are not young. But actually that is a plus for this drama. All the actors were great in it. And the plot actually captured me from the first scenes, because of it's creepiness. xDD

The cons, I think, are the subs!
This drama wasn't subbed when it was airing, maybe this is the reason it was overlooked at that time. Now it is subbed, but at the time a I am writing this the subs are a mess. I mean on the website where I watched it, the subs finally appeared, but they are very very bad. So I guess many people tried to watch it, but the subs were so out of the context that are very difficult to understand. I understand a little bit Korean, but there were parts I couldn't understand and the subs weren't of help. The genders are mixed, women are men and visa versa. From one point all the names started to appear in Chinese. Later that female lead's name Kim Dan was appearing as "altar" "small altar" or "gold altar" lol and there were part were the subs just told whatever. especially on the last episode. in all the important scenes there was written a nonsense. xD
What I was trying to say is don't give up on this drama because of the subs. :)

Overall it was a good drama, worth watching. I don't regret one bit. If you are wonder to watch it or no, I suggest giving it a try. The actual story begins two years from the events happening on the first two episodes. So try to keep on at least until that. Around 3rd or 4th ep. :)

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If I could I would have given this drama 100.
First of all I want to notice the period of time when this drama was aired. Yes, it was during that controversy with South Korean president we all heard. All the stars going to election and posting photo-proofs, that they went there. The time, when the whole nation stood to remove the old president and choose a new one. This perfectly correlated with this dramas story! That is one of the reasons it was so loved in Korea. Actually the ending also shows that. All the lines in the ending scene are all related to the president issue, as it was aired right after elections. I will not give spoilers, so find out what was told at the end of this drama, after watching it till the end :P

So why did I give such scores?

1. Music (OST) - 10
This drama in my opinion has one of the best ost’s I have ever heard. Especially among historical dramas. My favorite has been Six Flying Dragons (for everything), the songs Muiiya, and song of a blue mountain were the best! Here, the whole ost compliments the drama very well, and the lyrics suit the situations. Moreover all of them have this traditional Korean feeling, using the language one usually hears in sageuks. The music was phenomenal in this drama. I’m gonna download it as soon as possible. I want to give this drama The Best OST Award! The epic-ness of the music just can’t be described in words. In totally gave me SFD feels. It is also a nice delight to listen to k-pop star participant Ahn Ye Eun's songs!

2. Acting/Cast/ Characters - 10
To be honest I was both worried and excited that Yoon Kyun Sang will be playing this role. Worried, because, as Moo Hyul in SFD he was amazing, and this role was quite similar to it. Excited, because this would have been his first leading role, and I really wanted a Hong Gil Dong drama. However he was PERFECT for this role. His height and big built, sometimes stupid expressions made me think that this is Hong Gil Dong. Every time there was a scene were we could see many characters it was so funny to see the height difference.
The whole cast did an amazing job, so I want to address some of the characters.

Women:
Yes, women in this drama where fantastic. Honestly I totally hate those whiny woman characters that only cry during the whole drama, wait for their lovers and, more importantly, get in the way!! However this drama was filled with strong-willed women who knew what they want. An ambitious Guiseng who was an artist, an all smiley, talkative strong girl. Gil Dong ‘s mother was also great. These kind of women I also saw in Shine or Go Crazy, they were really smart there. I also want to give a separate credit to extra women in the town. While men were scared to act, women offered their help first!

Villains:
Extra credit for villains, because they did an amazing job portraying them. I loved how the writer showed us the villains from different perspectives. Here I would like to say that the king was the most complex of them all. Historically this king is knows as the most brutal and tyrannical king of Jeoseon. This drama also portraits his inner conflicts. We get to see how he started, how he was like an angry child, but then the drama shows us that all of his traumas, all of his thoughts in the end can’t justify his cruelty.

Hong clan:
Yup! Hong clan was amazing. The 7 generals did great portraying memorable characters, cute thugs that later became heroes. But not only the main people of the Hong clan were great. Extra characters that joined along the way, all the people that got help from them, they all did an amazing job.

Main Characters:
As I said Hong Gil Dong was played perfectly and character development was no joke. However we need to give credit to other main characters than the lead boy. I already wrote about villains, ladies, Hong clan. But I cannot leave out our hero’s father - Amogae! Kim San Joong this year received Daesang ( the biggest/highest award) during the award ceremony for portraying Amogae. I think he also needs to receive the Father Of The Year award. As the drama says, we cannot start the story of Hong Gil Dong without telling his father’s story first. I liked his story so much that it was even difficult to let go of the young versions of all the characters. Even the stars chose as their best scene the scene with Amogae. The scene were even during the reading the whole cast and stuff was moved. Amogae’s way of talking was also so melodic that it was another reason to like him. I loved how Gil Dong later also sometimes talks like him. Slave Amogae was a big pillar in this drama. The other main characters are older brother and sister of Gil Dong who also did a great job. And of course Mori xD haha. After this drama he landed a lead role in School 2017 and later in Laughter in Waikiki. Why? Because he was such a memorable character in this drama that remained in the memories of viewers. Good job.

An amazing character development can also keep one captivated. All the characters changed over time.

3. Story - 10
This writer received the best script award this year. I think this already tells a lot. The interesting part was that it seems she combined two Korean Folk stories that synchronized very well with each other. The story of Hong Gil Dong bandit and thief that helped poor and scolded rich in the 15th century. The equivalent of English Robin Hood. A nice surprise was another Korean folk tale, this time not so based on a real hero but still, appears in old books. Legend of the Mighty Child. Born into a lowly family, such as slaves, a child with wings under his arms, that possesses a mighty strength. In the legend every time a mighty child was born his parents killed him, or made authorities kill him. People say that the wings symbolize Heaven, which in Joeseon was considered something to do with the King ( a son of heaven). However here, it symbolized that the child, born to a slave was actually sent by heaven and do its will. This was unacceptable in Jeoseon, so it is told that, the parents and authorities symbolize the people afraid of changes, afraid of the rebel. However the child is born again and again, even if the stories end tragically, people said that, the legend shows that the child is immortal. And that the desire of a hero, a savior is always there. The writer of this drama, who studied Korean history, combined this two legends into one. Therefore this story depicts the life of a mighty child who has actually survived. Born into a slave family, raisen higher than anyone else.
So the nice thing is that, this drama breaks the historical drama cliches about secret of birth. :D
The other part I love about story is that it tells us about equality. This kind of thoughts were pretty rare in old Jeoseon and Hong Gil Dong had them! He totally expressed that thought in the same way I was always thinking, haha.
Well the story had some great messages in it too. Very interesting and nice quotes, so listening to the is another part of the story that is very cool.

Many tell that this drama is slow at first and starts to roll after about 18th episode. Well in some cases that might be true. The main fight starts in the second half of the drama. However!! I didn’t think of the first half as slow. It was very well written, so many things happened, and it kept you on the edge the whole time. So don’t be afraid if people say it’s slow, as I was. The well written plot keeps you going and going.

The ending was the most perfect ending I have ever seen. Lol and I have seen a lot. Well I’ll correct myself. This was the most perfect ending for me. Because I personally like this kind of endings and they are rare. Especially in historicals. As I said in the beginning it also addresses issue with the president which has even bigger impact.
The story also doesn’t give us any loose ends. However! This part was a tiny bit disappointing because there were actually two little loose ends (that I can explain by my own imagination) but still I would have liked if the drama showed us a little about tiger and the uncle. But! This does not lower the rating of 10, because as I said those two little things can actually be explained by our own imagination.

Romance:
For those who look for romance. There is actually romance here! It shows such a deep, cute, sweet love between leads that I totally loved!!

4. The title - 10
I want to give a credit for the title. Rebel, thief who stole the people!!! Just how epic does it sound!! Amazing! I also love that in the drama they actually use this too!!

5. Rewatch value - 9
This one is low because i don’t usually like re-watching dramas. Actually I don’t rewatch them at all. So this score is pretty high, because the drama didn’t have any annoying and boring parts that I wanted to skip.

Overall I really recommend this drama. If you have liked SFD you will differently like this one! And visa versa.

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First of all I wanted to say, that I’m not into this kind of dramas. Family power struggle and a melodrama. However I enjoyed this drama due to amazing cast and plot twists.

Kang Pil Joo isn’t some child grown at orphanage driven by greed and working at a big company, as stated in the synopsis. He grew up going through lots of struggles until he came to Cheong Ah corporation when he was young. While having wits, guts, physical power he slowly became the most valuable dog of the family. Little did they know that the dog was a tiger cub.
This drama is all about Kang Pil Joo’s long awaited revenge. But what makes it unique is the character himself is coldhearted, calculating, manipulative, always maintaining a poker face. Amazing how Jang Hyuk even with a poker face managed to show such a sea of emotions through his eyes. I’m a fan of Jang Hyuk but never ceases to amaze me with his acting. The lawyer Kang is the biggest strength of this drama. His character is always one step ahead, calculating and manipulating everything. He is the one who sets up the stage, the puppet master. That is why I like the poster of this drama it shows it pretty well.
Romance is mentioned in the genre and based on synopsis many might think that this drama is about Kang Pil Joo and Na Mo Hyeon’s love, but it’s is far from that. This drama is about revenge and Na Mo Hyeon, although an innocent character to the contrast to all the cold hearted characters of Jang family, become a sacrifice, a puppet in Kang Pil Joo’s hands.
Boo Cheon’s character is also very well played. A boy who is not bad, but he also not that good. Sometimes you may dislike him, sometimes sympathize with him. He is complete opposite of Kang Pil Joo, who is strong, with guts, clever, everyone likes him. Boo Cheon is not strong, nor clever, nor has guts. But you can still sympathize with his character. He tried to do good, but it’s difficult for him. However he gets Kang Pil Joo at his side. As Pil Joo’s master he gets his help to reach the chairman’s post.
Jang Mal Rang, Boo Cheon’s mother. Very calculating and manipulative woman as many in this drama. Played fantastically. Her weird relationship with Pil Joo is sometimes disturbing, but you can still see that the clever boy with serious eyes is very precious to her. She trusts him and relies on him. Little does she know that all of that is part of his big revenge plan.
As I said in the beginning I’m not into this kind of shows. So for people like me it can be boring sometimes. Too much talk about company, their stocks and shares. This may have been boring because I am not able to understand all of it.
However Jang Hyuk’ scenes kept me mesmerized the whole drama. The eyes that could speak so loudly, his stance is what kept me watching. And while doing it i was astonished by the great cast of this drama. No wonder they won so many awards.
Many people are talking about the ending. I can’t give any spoilers, but in my opinion the ending was perfect for those characters. Because all of them were who they are, because the story moved like it did, the ending suited the drama really well.

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"There are people who think that a woman becomes a mother only when she gives birth to a child. But A woman becomes a mother when she gives all of her to an existence smaller than her" This phrase explains a lot about this drama. But the word "Mother" might actually be the very one word to describe it. Very beautiful and amazing drama. I started this drama because I love Lee Bo Yeong. Didn't see the original before, though expected it to be something emotional just reading the title. I usually need a special mood to watch these kind of dramas, but i don't regret starting it. As soon as I watched the first 4 episodes I already couldn't wait to see what happens next. This drama is all about being a mother. And it shows it so well that I can't find words to describe it. It's a very beautiful interpretation. I watch the original after this, but I still liked the remake better. Japanese are really good with doing emotional stuff, but this time the remake was better. I might be biased though. the girls in Japanese version is a bit smaller than here. Though she did an amazing job doing her role. But I was really amazed at Yoon Bok. She was fantastic. Delivering all those emotions so well. I think this drama should be watched by all mothers and children. No.... not just mothers... parents in general. It can teach one a lot. The fact he one becomes a parent not when they are related by blood, but when they are giving each other their heart. The music also was amazing and on point. Sometimes this drama was super scary. some kind of silent fear was ruling the first half of the drama. The second half was just full of emotions and full of motherhood. This drama has some great character development. Of all the characters. They all change as time passes. Learn a lot and develop. I putted the re-watch value lower, only because it is difficult for me to go through this kind of emotional roller coaster again and again. I don't re-watch dramas often. But this was amazing drama that will stay forever in my heart. It immediately went to my list of favorite dramas and will never leave it. I enjoyed every second of it. It left such a warm and kind feeling inside of me. That I want to keep this feeling for a long time. It was a wonderful drama. full of Love, Hope and Faith no matter how cheesy and cliche this may sound. Of course it was also full of Fear, Despair, Sadness. But the Love was above all. By the way I also like how this drama shows the importance of books in the digitized world. "Every book is a door to a different world" A beautiful phrase that made the girl read a lot of books. "the moment birds start to fly towards Egypt, there are already in Egypt" - Loved this quote too. I really recommend this drama to all. <3

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