Mystery & Deceit rolled up into a Fantastic Series

First, I want to say that this was my first watching of a Xianxia (I didn't realize before watching this and being told LOL) that this is a separate genre from Wuxia. I'd steered clear of these because I pretty much assumed (wrongly) that they would be all fighting and stuff and I was so super stoked when I fell in love with the layers of plot and that while yes there is some fighting it's not anywhere near the amounts I was expecting. I will definitely be watching more in this genre! :D

I'm not going to layout the plotllines or analyze the characters. Suffice it to say that there are the good, the bad and the ones that irritate and even having said that I think they all worked fine within the script. One of the things that I enjoyed most/appreciated most was that there was a constant thread of mystery going on through the series. And even better--it was well explained at the end so that there were no gaping plotholes (or at least I didn't notice any. I'll be rewatching it again and again so maybe if there are and I missed them I might notice them then--but I'll still enjoy it!

I fully admit that there were a few scenes that made me cry (ok, maybe even sob once!) but even so the ending was far more upbeat than I had ever hoped!

I have read that this was heavily censored--but I didn't feel like that seriously impacted the story. The 2 MLs were so perfect and there were a lot of meaningful looks, small stances of body language and musical cues that let you watch it either as a Bromance or BL Romance (depending on how you prefer to interpret it).

If you're on the fence about watching this--do it! It really, truly is worth it!

Read More

This K-Drama has a solid Story!

I tend to stay away from overly fantastical (ok, creature-based) K-Dramas but the reviews on this one (and the holiday blues) made me decide to binge it and see what I thought.

Most important thing to know: This drama has a solid story to it.
Definitely hits all the buttons on being a drama. It's filled with conflicted desires, jealousy, hate, passion and people driven by need, revenge and love.

It sounds cheesy but it's good anyway!

Here's my list of likes & dislikes *without spoilers*

1)It's a really good story. The plot is thought out, and there aren't any gaping holes at the end where you go "Yea, but what about...."

2)The symbolism peppered throughout. Very nice touch the producers and writers had on that one.

3) Lots of interwoven motives between the wide cast of characters.

The Cast:

1)Han Da Gam as Gu San Daek - wonderful range of expressions that were really pivotal in making one feel empathy for her character.

2) Jang Hyun Sung as Yoon Doo Su - I've only seen his more recent works and seeing him in his younger years and in a real, meaty role (as opposed to the smaller parts I've seen him in) is a treat!

3) Kim Gyu Chul as Head Minion of Yoon Doo Su. For me he was a sleeper-star in this drama! This guy really, really didn't have a lot of words but he didn't need them! You could feel his emotion and worry in his scenes and it was fantastic.

What I wasn't keen on:

1) The OST is awful. Lots of overly long, quasi-wailing singing. The non-singing bits tended to be repetitious and kind of annoying.

2) A lot of scenes were drawn out much longer than they needed to be.
I get that the producer (obviously) thought they had to be to make an emotional/dramatic impact, but I think they could have been edited out/down a considerable amount without losing impact or flow of the drama.

General Comments:

The Production:
Considering the age of this drama, I have to say it's much better than I expected. A lot of dramas made in the 2010-time frame (including Arang and the Magistrate for example) have awful OSTs and lighting that is horrible at times. You know, the glaring spotlights of light even though it's nighttime, or they're indoors in the dim light? You know the stuff I mean! Gumiho: Tale of the Fox's Child is better than average in that respect--while the soundtrack is awful, the lighting for most of the interior and exterior shots was very good and not glaringly artificial.

It'd be a 9.5 for me if it came with the overly long scenes edited, but even as it is I feel it's a firm 8 because the acting and the overall story is worth those hours of my life spent watching it!

Read More

Engaging -- but it Could Have Been Better

A League of Noblemen IS good and entertaining so don't skip it!

Watch it for Jing Bo Ran & Wang Duo's acting. They both shine and their performances are ace. I'd like to say the same for
Song Wei Long but I still haven't figured out if his lackluster performance is simply bad acting/casting for the part, or if he's meant to have a very flat affect/quasi-deadpan or detached personality for the character of Zhang Ping.

What made me start watching the series was the mysteries that you are initially presented with--and how you are introduced to both Zhang Ping and Lan Jue. They were interesting to begin with and had the feeling of a detective show. Hey, they were interesting and also a good way to illuminate what the 2 ML personalities and motives are like.

I know that they were important to tie all the threads of the plot together though I wish they'd done some tighter editing to limit the amount of "place setting" shots and scenes. Those tended to drag out longer than they should be IMO (YMMV). Much of the information from one episode to the other tended to overlap and become repetitive.

The main issues I had were not specifically deal breakers for me (after all, I didn't end up dropping it!). Namely the pacing which was glacially slow in some areas and then far too fast in others, and the aforementioned acting of the character/personality of Zhang Ping. With regards to the pacing they spent a lot of time to the slow build-up of revealing who the "villian" is in the story--but when they ARE finally revealed, the show snowballs into what feels like a very rushed, not particularly satisfying ending.

I'd like to write a review that really praises the whole series but I can't. It's not a waste of time to watch it, but it's like eating a frozen pizza when you really were hoping for a fresh, stone-fired pizza! :P

Read More

If you've got time to kill you can watch this

I really, really wanted to love this show.

The CP's 3 companions were the best bits of humor in the show and I could have done with their lines and plots being developed more (and edit out so much of the extraneous mooning between ML & FL).

What initially got me to try the drama was the time slip aspect. Who doesn't love that, eh?
That was good, as well as the mystery which is finally wrapped up at the end.

I also enjoyed the past-life/reincarnation / karmic aspects of the plot. It worked well with the time slip stuff.

The first few episodes were intriguing, and I thought "Ah hah! this IS going to be good!" But while it had good bones it was over fleshed out and poorly edited. So many establishing shots were of them going from a to b, standing in someone's apt, house, car garden etc, and watching what I think of as talking heads repeating the same stuff over and over. Yes, after the 3rd time of it being said, we know the ML is the CP. We know that he's also currently masquerading as the heir, and that the cousin is as dirty and underhanded as they come. We don't need that being reiterated in just about every episode. Really!

What I thought though was that it could have been made a more dynamic and interesting show with better editing of the script and shooting. It should not have taken 20 episodes to tell the story (It is pretty basic after all) and I think it could have been done within 16 episodes and we'd have had a better show because of it.

So if you've got some patience, and some time to kill watch this show. It's got a good premise it's just poorly executed.

Read More

Not as Expected but Enjoyable Nonetheless

On the heels of series 1 I was really looking forward to this 2nd series of Poong!

I'd like to say that I loved it as much as I did the first series...but alas, I did not.
That isn't to say that it wasn't fun and had a lot of good (or even great) parts to it, only that it just didn't outdo the 1st series. (Note: You don't absolutely have to watch the 1st series to get this one but I think you'll lose a lot if you don't!)

Do I think it's worth watching?
Yes! (Although why I think so may vary from other's opinions)

What I want to say overall-- The "ensemble" characters really stole the show this time around.

Yes, yes, we all know that Poong and Eun Woo are going through that whole forbidden romance thing and it takes of the majority of the show but to be brutally honest I was more interested in Man Bok, Lady Namhae, Ip Bun and of course, Physician Gye and what they got up to (and how some of them grew) than what was going on with Eun & Poong. I'm sorry to say it but the ensemble were the most entertaining parts of the show this time around and I really wouldn't have minded at all if more time had been spent on them and less on Poong and Eun mooning around and will-he/will she/ won't they back and forth.

I understand that the neo-confucian mores for the period were also a big part of the awkwardness/waiting/being stuck in neutral gear but it was still hard to stay interested. Especially when Poong kept saying basically "Yea, I know it's a problem, I know my reputation is in trouble but I'll defend it and myself later." :P Uh, not being proactive much, are you Poong? >_<

I think some of my irritation with Poong & Eun Woo's story arc could have been solved with tighter editing of the script and shooting. I was more interested in the potential arc for Ip Bun with the Magistrate/Family connections, and Mank Bok's "secret" in Hanyang...and I'll admit it--all through this series I kept hoping (yes, shipping a ManHae!) for some romance to spring up between him and lady Namhae but sadly...none of that :( Heck, I was even hoping Physician Gye would get something going for a bit but that just didn't pan out...and of course, Granny and her final scenes was so bittersweet and timely.

The Medical Mysteries aspect of it were good.
Especially the one with the bullying. The reveal on that was excellent.
The only the exception of the one with the concubine/wife towards the end (that felt so rushed and inconsequential that I think it could have been nixed without losing anything substantial. I think it was only there so Poong/Eun could realize that they were suffering the same issue?)

Over all it was a good watch.
It didn't drive me to keep watching the next one (like the first series did) but it was still entertaining.
I'd recommend giving it a go.

For what it's worth I'd LOVE to see:
Kim Sang Kyung, Ahn Chang Hwan, Kim Soo An, Jang Sun, and Yeon Bo Ra in more sageuks/ fusion sageuks! Please!

Read More

It's a sweet idea...that needed some fine-tuning

I'll be the first to admit that I am very spoiled when it comes to my k-dramas. I'm a fan of clean shots, sharp and bright cinematography and plot development.
..
Chart Running Scholar had the basics to pull me in - time slip/ joseon mixed in with modern day. Of course if you want to throw fate in and a dash of romance I'm happy about that too. And they did, and that's why I bothered to watch all 6 episodes (and I say all 6 -- but each one is around 15 minutes give or take so really, there's no excuse not to watch it!). There are enough short, sweet moments that make it worth the watch. If this had been planned out for a few more episodes with a little more detail about things I'd have liked it more. The cast is fine and noone seemed out of their depth. .. So, as it is for a bit of something to watch on a lazy Monday night it's ok.
The best line out of the whole 6 eps was this: "I got excited because I thought you were mad hot!" LOL
..
The things that bothered me / made it somewhat less enjoyable (and hence my ratings) were things like it felt like it was shot with someone's iPhone (without a good editing/color/ brightness adjustment). *I did mention I'm spoiled about things like that*. I expect that this was someone's project done on a shoestring budget and if that's the case I'd knock the rating up another notch because well, budget. Some of it could have been edited better for clarity and to move the plot along.

Overall, I'd suggest giving it a watch. Really!

Read More

A Fairly Lighthearted Romp

I'm deliberately avoiding going into much detail because I don't want to ruin this for anyone. ;)

This was one of the shows that I was really looking forward to being released this year. I hadn't read the manhwa/webtoon before watching it so I didn't have any expectations of what the story was supposed to be like. After watching it I'll say that it makes me feel like it's a not-too-distant-relative of My Only Love Song. Like MOLS The Forbidden Marriage isn't strict on historical accuracy or realism. That's Ok with me, since it's really a fantasy more than anything else.

The story can be boiled down to this: Depressed King gets conned by "Commoner", they fall in love and then have to overcome the trials and roadblocks that get thrown in the way etc.

It's not the most original combination of plot ideas but they work together to tell an entertaining story.
It hits the points of having competent actors/esses, good sets, and clear cinematography. To be completely honest the supporting cast characters are quite engaging and I'm glad that they got a fair amount of screen time/plot time.

There is a lot of romance going around (almost all of it is telegraphed early on so there are no surprises about who ends up paired off).

The "Villains" of the piece are meh.
I'll agree that they do work (albeit not near as well as they could have with a little more exposition of the WHYs of their motivations). I'm not sure if this is a byproduct of the 12 episode format (which if it had gone to 16 would surely have given the writers enough time to actually make their motivations have some teeth!) Or if they'd been given the extra episodes they'd have wasted them...

As someone who really enjoys the meat of political scheming that you often find in sageuks, I can say this is definitely lightweight--verging on featherweight--as far as that goes. It's very common in sageuks that there are murders, poisonings, and bent Ministers who want to control the dynasty or at the very least the King. But somehow, even with those elements in The Forbidden Marriage it still manages to keep the floaty, fairly up-beat tone for the series.

Would I watch it again?
Yes.

Should YOU watch it?
Yes. Just bear in mind it's a bit of fluff. Enjoyable, but probably not something that's going to burn itself into your heart.

Read More