dorama: Damo: eps 1-2
Sep. 20th, 2006 06:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreWell, I finally got to sit down with Damo, and am very happy. It starts off with a wuxia style fight, which actually had me a touch leery(love wuxia, but 14 hours of wobbly swords, flying, and weapon destroying sleeves? Uhm...no thanks...) Until I noticed the combatants actually looked like they'd been fighting for thier lives...blood, sweat, dirt, heavy breathing, et cetera. The fighting is a more reserved form of wuxia...largely limited to improbable leaps, and is very well done. This is the best shot/choreogrphed dorama I've seen so far(though from what I hear, the korean ones are better in that regard in general, and this one is better than most) and I can't help wishing Musashi had been shot like it(not that I have problems with how Musashi was shot, watching this just makes me really what it COULD have been...)
First, a reminder of how prettypretty it is
And, the drama wiki entry(if you skipped the link) for a breakdown: http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Damo
Well, the official description makes it sound similar to "House of Flying Daggers" but it looks like it's mostly superficial resemblance. While the main plot with the investifation of the counterfeiters is going strong, these 2 episodes are largely devoted to establishingthe relationship between Hwangbo Yoon, a 17th century police commander, and Jang Chae-Ok, a girl who's been his servant since childhood, and also serves as an assistant to the police force...apparently her role as something of a junior officer, or at least a female attached to the police, who does things like examine female bodies in a murder or attack, because men can't.
The official description makes it sound like he sends her out undercover and like it's set up for her to fall for Jang Sung-Baek, a rebel leader(actually, I'm laying odds on his being Che-Ok's brother, who Hwangbo Yoon has apparently been trying to find for her, or something) but it doesn't seem to be the case at all. Chae-Ok is the daughter of a man who was accused of being a traitor. He sent Chae-Ok(who was seven at the time) and her brother away so they'd escape, but they were separated almost immediately. She was turned into a servant and sent to Hwangbo Yoon's father as a servant. The father is a court official of some sort, and Hwangbo Yoon was the son of his mistress. As a result, he can't apply to public service, and is ridiculed by other students, not only because of his standing, but also because he's smarter and better educated than them, but his illegitimacy won't allow him to move very far up in the world.
He's immediately drawn to Chae-Ok(in as purely platonic way...they're 12/13 and 7 at the time, after all) and she's made his personal servant. When his father sends him away to train with a master(who's a hermit) she goes with him, and they grow up there. Hwangbo Yoon becomes a master swordsman there, and Chae-Ok is his only available sparring partner, resulting in her becoming almost as good. When his father judges him as being ready to take a place in the worlf, Hwangbo Yoon takes her with him, despite his father's warnings not to let her distract him from him work(notes that, at this time, Hwangbo Yoon views Chae-Ok along the lines of a cherished sister)
So far it's extremely good, though the fact that the episodes are each slightly longer than an hour was a bit odd at first(but I'm not complaining. Also, the music is amazing.
crossposted todorama_chat
First, a reminder of how prettypretty it is
And, the drama wiki entry(if you skipped the link) for a breakdown: http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Damo
Well, the official description makes it sound similar to "House of Flying Daggers" but it looks like it's mostly superficial resemblance. While the main plot with the investifation of the counterfeiters is going strong, these 2 episodes are largely devoted to establishingthe relationship between Hwangbo Yoon, a 17th century police commander, and Jang Chae-Ok, a girl who's been his servant since childhood, and also serves as an assistant to the police force...apparently her role as something of a junior officer, or at least a female attached to the police, who does things like examine female bodies in a murder or attack, because men can't.
The official description makes it sound like he sends her out undercover and like it's set up for her to fall for Jang Sung-Baek, a rebel leader(actually, I'm laying odds on his being Che-Ok's brother, who Hwangbo Yoon has apparently been trying to find for her, or something) but it doesn't seem to be the case at all. Chae-Ok is the daughter of a man who was accused of being a traitor. He sent Chae-Ok(who was seven at the time) and her brother away so they'd escape, but they were separated almost immediately. She was turned into a servant and sent to Hwangbo Yoon's father as a servant. The father is a court official of some sort, and Hwangbo Yoon was the son of his mistress. As a result, he can't apply to public service, and is ridiculed by other students, not only because of his standing, but also because he's smarter and better educated than them, but his illegitimacy won't allow him to move very far up in the world.
He's immediately drawn to Chae-Ok(in as purely platonic way...they're 12/13 and 7 at the time, after all) and she's made his personal servant. When his father sends him away to train with a master(who's a hermit) she goes with him, and they grow up there. Hwangbo Yoon becomes a master swordsman there, and Chae-Ok is his only available sparring partner, resulting in her becoming almost as good. When his father judges him as being ready to take a place in the worlf, Hwangbo Yoon takes her with him, despite his father's warnings not to let her distract him from him work(notes that, at this time, Hwangbo Yoon views Chae-Ok along the lines of a cherished sister)
So far it's extremely good, though the fact that the episodes are each slightly longer than an hour was a bit odd at first(but I'm not complaining. Also, the music is amazing.
Hwangbo Yoon and Chae-Ok have a relationship that's almost symbiotic. She was the first person(aside from his parents) to place value on him beyond being his father's illegitimate child, and therefore a necessary annoyance) and after shewas made a servant, he saw her as "the same as me" and treated her as such, with her actual position almost a formality between the two of them, though they maintained the proper relationship.
They both know that they're the most important person in each other's life, and the one life they value above all others, but they're also aware that they can never be more than what they are now. She knows she loves him, but he's viewed her as a cherished sister for so long as is only just starting to realize that that's changed since they became adults. However, he promised his father that he wouldn't allow himself to be distracted by her, thinking at the time that he was just referring to his protective feelings, but realizes nowwhat he actually meant. Most "we can't be together" relationships end up being overdone to me, but this one rings true.
And, for the bits of OTP cuteness:
In the first episode, she's injured, and while he's patching her up, she tells him that he shouldn't let her hold him back. He tells her that he could never leave her behind, she's liked a beloved younger sister. If it were a manga, you would have seen the little knives stabbing into her heart. Then you get the romantic moonlit walk through the fields with rising music, just to make sure we understand that he's still just a bit dim on that subject.
Later, after he's sent her off undercover, she comes back briefly. When he finds out, he goes "Chae-Ok's back?" and straightens and brightens a bit and almost smiles. For him, this is the equivalent of bouncing up and down with joy(it should be noted that all the guys at the headquarters seem a touch depressed when she's not there)
At the end of that episode/beginning of the next, they're in a fight and it looks like Jang Sung-Baek is attacking her and Hwangbo Yoon attacks him, and is furious when she tries to interfere, thinking she's just being softhearted or something. However, as soon as she tells him "Young Master, this man has been helping me" it's instantly deflation and "oh, why didn't you say so sooner?"
They both know that they're the most important person in each other's life, and the one life they value above all others, but they're also aware that they can never be more than what they are now. She knows she loves him, but he's viewed her as a cherished sister for so long as is only just starting to realize that that's changed since they became adults. However, he promised his father that he wouldn't allow himself to be distracted by her, thinking at the time that he was just referring to his protective feelings, but realizes nowwhat he actually meant. Most "we can't be together" relationships end up being overdone to me, but this one rings true.
And, for the bits of OTP cuteness:
In the first episode, she's injured, and while he's patching her up, she tells him that he shouldn't let her hold him back. He tells her that he could never leave her behind, she's liked a beloved younger sister. If it were a manga, you would have seen the little knives stabbing into her heart. Then you get the romantic moonlit walk through the fields with rising music, just to make sure we understand that he's still just a bit dim on that subject.
Later, after he's sent her off undercover, she comes back briefly. When he finds out, he goes "Chae-Ok's back?" and straightens and brightens a bit and almost smiles. For him, this is the equivalent of bouncing up and down with joy(it should be noted that all the guys at the headquarters seem a touch depressed when she's not there)
At the end of that episode/beginning of the next, they're in a fight and it looks like Jang Sung-Baek is attacking her and Hwangbo Yoon attacks him, and is furious when she tries to interfere, thinking she's just being softhearted or something. However, as soon as she tells him "Young Master, this man has been helping me" it's instantly deflation and "oh, why didn't you say so sooner?"
crossposted to
dorama_chat