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kdrama: The Blade and the Petal eps 3-6
Jul. 20th, 2013 10:36 pmAKA, Sword and Flower and Sword and Petal. The Blade and the Petal is the version of th title I'm seeing used the most, though, so I guess I'll use it.
This is apparently a ratings flop and I'm told it's been pretty poorly received by fandom in general, but the people I actually follow who've commented on it like it, and I don't really feel compelled to seek out the negative reviews. I do wonder, though, if the ratings might be partly because of the timeslot? Since I can't watch kdramas live and rarely even the same day they air, I'm not good at keeping up with the timeslots and the numbers they pull in, but I do know that Mandate of Heaven is the show it replaced, and that apparently didn't do well with ratings either. (I have seen and greatly enjoyed the first few episodes of Mandate of Heaven, and like Gu Family Book, I should post on it.)
Ah well, at least with kdramas, you don't have to worry about either shows getting renewed seasons and seasons after they lose what you initially liked about them, or getting cancelled on a first season cliffhanger. With the rare exception, at worse it gets extended or shortened a few episodes and while the scramble to to work with the new episode count may affect the overall quality, it's better than the western alternative.
So, as much as I love that someone apparently went "I want to write about the fall of Goguryeo and the conflict between Yeon Gae So Mun and King Yeongnyu and it's fallout, but that could use some women so we'll give King Yeongnyu a daughter and heve the whole thing through her POV," I don't at all love that we have exactly 1 major female character and 2 minor female characters, 1 of whom is exclusivel on flashback duty, and everyone else is a dude. I mean, seriously, it wouldn't be that hard to give Moo Young a female confidant, or have a couple palace ladies who are involved in all the politicking and scheming? The difference between this series and most other sageuks that I've watched in that regard is pretty stark.
Despite that, though, I am enjoying the series a lot, and a lot of that does have to do with the fact that it's framed as Moo Young's version of events, and many of the things that I'm told others have problems with are, IMO, being depicted through Moo Young's memories and interpretations of events, and that's why we have scenes of dreamy gaga-ness mixed with scenes of stark reality, scenes of surreal tension, and others that are almost in the abstract.
( spoilers )
This is apparently a ratings flop and I'm told it's been pretty poorly received by fandom in general, but the people I actually follow who've commented on it like it, and I don't really feel compelled to seek out the negative reviews. I do wonder, though, if the ratings might be partly because of the timeslot? Since I can't watch kdramas live and rarely even the same day they air, I'm not good at keeping up with the timeslots and the numbers they pull in, but I do know that Mandate of Heaven is the show it replaced, and that apparently didn't do well with ratings either. (I have seen and greatly enjoyed the first few episodes of Mandate of Heaven, and like Gu Family Book, I should post on it.)
Ah well, at least with kdramas, you don't have to worry about either shows getting renewed seasons and seasons after they lose what you initially liked about them, or getting cancelled on a first season cliffhanger. With the rare exception, at worse it gets extended or shortened a few episodes and while the scramble to to work with the new episode count may affect the overall quality, it's better than the western alternative.
So, as much as I love that someone apparently went "I want to write about the fall of Goguryeo and the conflict between Yeon Gae So Mun and King Yeongnyu and it's fallout, but that could use some women so we'll give King Yeongnyu a daughter and heve the whole thing through her POV," I don't at all love that we have exactly 1 major female character and 2 minor female characters, 1 of whom is exclusivel on flashback duty, and everyone else is a dude. I mean, seriously, it wouldn't be that hard to give Moo Young a female confidant, or have a couple palace ladies who are involved in all the politicking and scheming? The difference between this series and most other sageuks that I've watched in that regard is pretty stark.
Despite that, though, I am enjoying the series a lot, and a lot of that does have to do with the fact that it's framed as Moo Young's version of events, and many of the things that I'm told others have problems with are, IMO, being depicted through Moo Young's memories and interpretations of events, and that's why we have scenes of dreamy gaga-ness mixed with scenes of stark reality, scenes of surreal tension, and others that are almost in the abstract.
( spoilers )
kdrama: Sword and Petal, eps 1-2
Jul. 4th, 2013 09:40 pmThe last few weeks haven't exactly left me feeling particularly patriotic, which might explain why I spent most of the day watching kdramas.
Sword and Petal (also being translated with interchangeable "blade," "knife," "flower" and optional "the"-s) is a sageuk drama that started airing this week. The plot is set in Goguryeo, inspired by General Yeon Gaesomun's overthrowing King Yeongnyu in 642, with the main plot focusing on Yeongnyu's daughter, So Hee, seeking revenge for her father's death, while being in love with Yeon Gaesomun's illegitimate son, Yeon Choong. It seems to be somewhat experimental, with unusual camera shots and fewer closeups than most sageuks, and various scenes have a sound effect (or no sound at all) drowning everything else out. The first episode actually has very little dialogue, relying largely on visuals and sound cues, though there's much more in the second.
The series opens with a scene set later in (or perhaps after) the series with So Hee delivering a rather bitter and vengeful speech while in an empty palace courtyard before flashing back too the main plotline, much of which seems to be presented as So Hee's memories. As such, there are scenes that might appear to be cheesy tween montages of a girl going gaga over a hunk in the market. This is because it's a woman remembering being an innocent young girl going gaga over a hunk in the market. It happens. The second episode has less cheesy gaga-ness (and really, the cheesy gaga-ness is endearing in that emotionally manipulative "you have no idea what's about to hit you, kid" way) though So Hee and Yeon Choong's scenes still have the wide-eyed naive innocent POV with "the world is about to kick you in the butt" lurking in the background. Somewhere along the way, Yeon Chung also become So Hee;s bodyguard, because your first love being the angsty lowerclass boy who is secretly the son of your father's enemy just isn't quite enough angst and they needed that one extra trope to throw in. (I almost wonder if the writers are off somewhere, sulking because they couldn't think of a way to work fakecest in.)
So far, though, we haven't reached the Vengeful Princess stage, and the plot is largely centered around Yeon Gaesomun and Jyongnyu political battles, leading up to Jyongnyu being overthrown. (I imagine that will take place next week.) While I appreciate the writers obviously making a conscious effort to make So Hee as involved in that as possible...well, there are entire dramas devoted to important men of history doing important political things in a sea of greying beards and hats, and I know where to find them if I want them. While people are rightly praising the actors for their performances, I'm here for vengeful princesses being bitter and revengey whilst inconveniently in love with their enemy's son, and am ready to get to that. Also, so far, So Hee is the only female character of any importance, and I really hope that changes soon.
So, basically, I like it even though I'm not entirely sure what to make of it at times, and am ready to get past the background and to the angst and vengeance and Doom.
Also, I've been watching and loving Gu Family Book the last week or so (up to ep 14...my only issue is that they're so committed to making the villain eeeevil that I almost expect him to start literally twirling his mustache) and keep meaning to post on it, then realizing that I could watch a whole episode in the time it'd take me to post on my love, so I guess that's waiting until I finish the series. (I have this issue a lot lately "I could comment on my fiction...OR I COULD CONSUME MORE.") I do want to comment, though, that promo pics I saw of Bae Suzy and lee Seung Ki being all cute and smiley and saucy led me to expect slightly lighter fare than what I got.
Sword and Petal (also being translated with interchangeable "blade," "knife," "flower" and optional "the"-s) is a sageuk drama that started airing this week. The plot is set in Goguryeo, inspired by General Yeon Gaesomun's overthrowing King Yeongnyu in 642, with the main plot focusing on Yeongnyu's daughter, So Hee, seeking revenge for her father's death, while being in love with Yeon Gaesomun's illegitimate son, Yeon Choong. It seems to be somewhat experimental, with unusual camera shots and fewer closeups than most sageuks, and various scenes have a sound effect (or no sound at all) drowning everything else out. The first episode actually has very little dialogue, relying largely on visuals and sound cues, though there's much more in the second.
The series opens with a scene set later in (or perhaps after) the series with So Hee delivering a rather bitter and vengeful speech while in an empty palace courtyard before flashing back too the main plotline, much of which seems to be presented as So Hee's memories. As such, there are scenes that might appear to be cheesy tween montages of a girl going gaga over a hunk in the market. This is because it's a woman remembering being an innocent young girl going gaga over a hunk in the market. It happens. The second episode has less cheesy gaga-ness (and really, the cheesy gaga-ness is endearing in that emotionally manipulative "you have no idea what's about to hit you, kid" way) though So Hee and Yeon Choong's scenes still have the wide-eyed naive innocent POV with "the world is about to kick you in the butt" lurking in the background. Somewhere along the way, Yeon Chung also become So Hee;s bodyguard, because your first love being the angsty lowerclass boy who is secretly the son of your father's enemy just isn't quite enough angst and they needed that one extra trope to throw in. (I almost wonder if the writers are off somewhere, sulking because they couldn't think of a way to work fakecest in.)
So far, though, we haven't reached the Vengeful Princess stage, and the plot is largely centered around Yeon Gaesomun and Jyongnyu political battles, leading up to Jyongnyu being overthrown. (I imagine that will take place next week.) While I appreciate the writers obviously making a conscious effort to make So Hee as involved in that as possible...well, there are entire dramas devoted to important men of history doing important political things in a sea of greying beards and hats, and I know where to find them if I want them. While people are rightly praising the actors for their performances, I'm here for vengeful princesses being bitter and revengey whilst inconveniently in love with their enemy's son, and am ready to get to that. Also, so far, So Hee is the only female character of any importance, and I really hope that changes soon.
So, basically, I like it even though I'm not entirely sure what to make of it at times, and am ready to get past the background and to the angst and vengeance and Doom.
Also, I've been watching and loving Gu Family Book the last week or so (up to ep 14...my only issue is that they're so committed to making the villain eeeevil that I almost expect him to start literally twirling his mustache) and keep meaning to post on it, then realizing that I could watch a whole episode in the time it'd take me to post on my love, so I guess that's waiting until I finish the series. (I have this issue a lot lately "I could comment on my fiction...OR I COULD CONSUME MORE.") I do want to comment, though, that promo pics I saw of Bae Suzy and lee Seung Ki being all cute and smiley and saucy led me to expect slightly lighter fare than what I got.
