DISCLAIMER: this is not a recap nor has any synopsis. this is more of a review, a rant, to a drama that could have been more…

this is a drama that started with a light tone and moved on to getting darker and darker for every new episode. i am actually writing this post because i was very much affected upon how the drama turned out. i felt pain, unsatisfaction, and cheated. i actually can’t figure out why (i’ve felt that way) or maybe because of my great wonder of how EPIC (in all sense) the love story was. especially after knowing that this story may have happened in reality and was just blurred or burned in Korea’s history. SPOILER!!!!!

i could say that the ending was a happy one but  i am not satisfied, not with the ending, but of how the story went out. you get what i mean? (to those who have watched already) i have that lingering feeling that there are issues left out or that things should not have gone that way.

the writing was not the problem but more of the morality of it. i surmised that their world was of an endless struggle that is  so much like normal lives. but the story had more, in a sense, about life, death, greed, pain and revenge. like how a drama should be, it was very dramatic.

all the characters were interesting and flawed more because of how they reacted or/and affected by the actions of the people around them. very human! one should commend the writer for writing characters that has an impact on every other characters’ lives. no character were used simply as an extra. they made an impact. they were memorable and for some, they were lasting.

but what hurts me was with how the story unfolded to be just about one great tragic love. a love that sprouted from a wrong start to their supposed lasting happy ending. all the other people were used as instruments upon how this love could be tested,  challenged, and ‘survived’. the couple in-love are also bounded by their emotional and political ties. i could say that these two people have the most convincing love among all the other dramas I’ve watched. their love knows no boundaries even death and hatred and I was greatly affected with the selfish ending of living ‘dead’. it was like they should have done that from the start but then their love with each would not be strengthened and the individual maturity would not come at bay. making me feel that the story was really just about them. i was cheated because after writing those good supporting characters the story would just end with them. there might have been a change but the deaths that happened was just in vain. it was necessary for the story to move or maybe, as a reminder, upon how cruel this world is. relationships (familial, friendships, etc) were severed for this love.

i finished the whole 24-episodes with no skips nor fast forwards in just two days proving how engaging the series was.  i did not care much about the acting for the story and the music itself was enough to convince me of their ‘acting.’ the costumes were never an eyesore and very much appropriate. well, the hanboks were beautiful. as implied, the OST was timed well with all scenes. KUDOS to its musical director and of course the composers and singers! the music plus the acting really brought out all of this post’s feelings.

but the after taste, was not engaging. if you ask, ‘if i’ll watch it again,’ i might think for awhile and answer, ‘maybe just all the lovely scenes.’  ill skip the killings. overall, if you want a historical intrigue, long-haired Park Shi Hoo, and a convincing love story. watch this drama, and witness their reality for yourself.

i lost my revenge. i gained you.