 |
(Fictional drama based on General Choi Young's life)
(1316–1388)
|
Broadcast: Aug-Oct 2012
Episodes: 24, Historical, Medical, Fantasty, Romance, Time Travel, Period
Cast:
Lee Min-ho - General Choi Young
Kim Hee-sun - Yoo Eun-soo
Yoo Oh-sung - (Prince) Ki Cheol
Ryu Deok-hwan - King Gongmin
Park Se-yong - Queen Noguk
Phillip Lee - Dr Jang Bin
Sung Hoon - Chun Eum-ja
Shin Eun-jung - Hwasuin
Kim pin-bath - court lady Choi
Another time travel drama. This time with the very good looking Lee Min Ho. This is my 4th time travel drama this year. Kdrama genres seem to come in burst of similarities. Ahh....Lee Min Ho, I'm a fan but still not a big fan yet. This drama brought me closer though.
This drama starts off with General Choi Young leading King Gongmin & Queen Noguk away from the nation of Yuan where King Gongmin has been held hostage for a period of time. As the general and body guard, he is leading them back to Goryeo where King Gongmin will be enthroned to be the king of Goryeo.
During the journey back, the queen was slashed in the neck by assassins and is near death. Out of desperation, King Gongmin commands Choi Young to go to heaven's door to bring back the divine healer from the heavens. Previously, it was known that Hwata (the famous chinese surgeon Hua Tuo) had come down from heaven, who was able to heal anyone, had come through this very heavens door. Its not heavens' door. It is a time travel whirlpool.
Choi Young reluctantly walks into the whirlpool and time travels to 2012 present day Seoul into a medical convention, where Yoo Eun Soo (Kim Hee Sun) is presenting a seminar in plastic surgery. She is a gifted doctor in medicine but decided to switch to plastic surgery as it was more profitable and required less effort.
Security guards grab hold of Choi Young but he fights them off and continues looking for Eun Soo after her seminar, remembering her face and believing that she is a divine healer. He finds her looking through some displays of new medical equipment. There, he kidnaps her and drags her through the time travel whirlpool back to his era. Fortunately, she had packed some medical supplies with her.
She struggles with him and tries to run back into the time whirlpool. He promised her once she had healed the queen, he as the general of the Wooldachi warriors would send her back. However, the King initially refuses this. This goes against Choi Young as a warrior's promise. When Eun Soo accidentally stabs Choi Young with his sword, he pushes it even further because he was not able to keep the promise to send her back against the king's command.
Eun Soo treats both the queen and Choi Young. They both survive and recover fully. From that day onwards, she was known as the high doctor from heaven. Every person who had power wanted to have her, especially the evil villian Prince Ki Geol.
This drama was a bit complicated in that it focussed on a lot of areas. It focussed on the developing relationship of the queen and king, the relationship of Choi Young with his past red moon crescent teacher, his bethrothed who suicided, with his Wooldachi warriors, Prince Ki Cheol & his posse, the suribang kids and the political side of King Gongmin securing his throne. Beside all these focussed areas, the major storyline was the love story between Choi Young & Eun Soo.
Over time, they had gone through so much together, they had developed respect and very strong love for each other. Two times, Eun Soo was poisoned. She recovered from the first pretty fast as there was an antidote. The second time, there was no antidote. The only way for her to recover, Choi Young believed, was to send her back to the future where she can be treated with modern technology. However, Eun Soo did not want to go back to the future. It would mean living a lonely life and wondering how Choi Young is living his life. The time travel whirlpool only opens once every 100 years. She loved him too much to separate from him.
She finally convinced him to let her stay and was working on making an antidote. Before the antidote was finalised, it was ruined by Prince Ki Geol's posse. To start making the antidote again, there was not enough time. She would die before it was completed from the poison. Desperately, she tried taking another poison to fight the poison in her body. This was a harmful risk she was willing to take. Fortunately, this worked!
Before she was able to recover fully, she was kidnapped by Prince Ki Geol who wanted to travel to the future with her as the time whirlpool was opening again. On that day, Prince Ki Geol fought with Choi Young. Both were injured, with Prince Ki Geol dying in front of the entrance of the whirlpool. Choi Young was badly injured and lying on the grass. Eun Soo was able to free herself from prince Ki Geol and ran for the whirlpool to travel back to 2012. (She and Choi Young had decided already that she would stay in Goryeo time to be with him. She was only travelling back to the future to say good bye to loved ones).
When she travelled back to her office, she grabbed a backpack, and packed as much medical supplies as she could, then ran back to the whirlpool wanting to travel back to Goryeo to save Choi Young. When she jumped back into the whirlpool and had travelled back in time, she had travelled back to the same day when Choi Young was injured but only 100 years before that day! She was early 100 years!
She spent her days treating patients, writing in her diary letters to herself, and putting reminder notes under a rock that she would find later on in 100 years time. When the day the whirlpool opened again, she stepped in for a minute or two into the future and then stepped back into the whirlpool to travel back to Goryeo.
This time, she had travelled 5 years later from that day Choi Young was injured. She was in the Yuan nation (this was where the whirlpool was located). She was inside a restaurant with Wooldachi warriors and asked them why they were in Yuan. She was told that the Wooldachi warriors led by the general had conquered Yuan.
Another time travel drama. This time with the very good looking Lee Min Ho. This is my 4th time travel drama this year. Kdrama genres seem to come in burst of similarities. Ahh....Lee Min Ho, I'm a fan but still not a big fan yet. This drama brought me closer though.
This drama starts off with General Choi Young leading King Gongmin & Queen Noguk away from the nation of Yuan where King Gongmin has been held hostage for a period of time. As the general and body guard, he is leading them back to Goryeo where King Gongmin will be enthroned to be the king of Goryeo.
During the journey back, the queen was slashed in the neck by assassins and is near death. Out of desperation, King Gongmin commands Choi Young to go to heaven's door to bring back the divine healer from the heavens. Previously, it was known that Hwata (the famous chinese surgeon Hua Tuo) had come down from heaven, who was able to heal anyone, had come through this very heavens door. Its not heavens' door. It is a time travel whirlpool.
Choi Young reluctantly walks into the whirlpool and time travels to 2012 present day Seoul into a medical convention, where Yoo Eun Soo (Kim Hee Sun) is presenting a seminar in plastic surgery. She is a gifted doctor in medicine but decided to switch to plastic surgery as it was more profitable and required less effort.
Security guards grab hold of Choi Young but he fights them off and continues looking for Eun Soo after her seminar, remembering her face and believing that she is a divine healer. He finds her looking through some displays of new medical equipment. There, he kidnaps her and drags her through the time travel whirlpool back to his era. Fortunately, she had packed some medical supplies with her.
She struggles with him and tries to run back into the time whirlpool. He promised her once she had healed the queen, he as the general of the Wooldachi warriors would send her back. However, the King initially refuses this. This goes against Choi Young as a warrior's promise. When Eun Soo accidentally stabs Choi Young with his sword, he pushes it even further because he was not able to keep the promise to send her back against the king's command.
Eun Soo treats both the queen and Choi Young. They both survive and recover fully. From that day onwards, she was known as the high doctor from heaven. Every person who had power wanted to have her, especially the evil villian Prince Ki Geol.
This drama was a bit complicated in that it focussed on a lot of areas. It focussed on the developing relationship of the queen and king, the relationship of Choi Young with his past red moon crescent teacher, his bethrothed who suicided, with his Wooldachi warriors, Prince Ki Cheol & his posse, the suribang kids and the political side of King Gongmin securing his throne. Beside all these focussed areas, the major storyline was the love story between Choi Young & Eun Soo.
Over time, they had gone through so much together, they had developed respect and very strong love for each other. Two times, Eun Soo was poisoned. She recovered from the first pretty fast as there was an antidote. The second time, there was no antidote. The only way for her to recover, Choi Young believed, was to send her back to the future where she can be treated with modern technology. However, Eun Soo did not want to go back to the future. It would mean living a lonely life and wondering how Choi Young is living his life. The time travel whirlpool only opens once every 100 years. She loved him too much to separate from him.
She finally convinced him to let her stay and was working on making an antidote. Before the antidote was finalised, it was ruined by Prince Ki Geol's posse. To start making the antidote again, there was not enough time. She would die before it was completed from the poison. Desperately, she tried taking another poison to fight the poison in her body. This was a harmful risk she was willing to take. Fortunately, this worked!
Before she was able to recover fully, she was kidnapped by Prince Ki Geol who wanted to travel to the future with her as the time whirlpool was opening again. On that day, Prince Ki Geol fought with Choi Young. Both were injured, with Prince Ki Geol dying in front of the entrance of the whirlpool. Choi Young was badly injured and lying on the grass. Eun Soo was able to free herself from prince Ki Geol and ran for the whirlpool to travel back to 2012. (She and Choi Young had decided already that she would stay in Goryeo time to be with him. She was only travelling back to the future to say good bye to loved ones).
When she travelled back to her office, she grabbed a backpack, and packed as much medical supplies as she could, then ran back to the whirlpool wanting to travel back to Goryeo to save Choi Young. When she jumped back into the whirlpool and had travelled back in time, she had travelled back to the same day when Choi Young was injured but only 100 years before that day! She was early 100 years!
She spent her days treating patients, writing in her diary letters to herself, and putting reminder notes under a rock that she would find later on in 100 years time. When the day the whirlpool opened again, she stepped in for a minute or two into the future and then stepped back into the whirlpool to travel back to Goryeo.
This time, she had travelled 5 years later from that day Choi Young was injured. She was in the Yuan nation (this was where the whirlpool was located). She was inside a restaurant with Wooldachi warriors and asked them why they were in Yuan. She was told that the Wooldachi warriors led by the general had conquered Yuan.
She saw Deok Man, Dae Man, & Bae Choong-Sik (Choi Young's warriors). They had aged a bit and were talking about the whereabouts of the general. She overheard that the general, every time he makes a trip to where the tree is, (that is where they parted when he was injured and she had jumped into the whirlpool), he would stay there for 4 days.
She ran all the way to where the tree was. There, she saw his back, sitting, waiting for her. It looks like he frequently visits this place, knowing that one day she would return. He turns around after hearing footsteps, sees her, stands up and walk towards her. He has aged slightly, sporting a light mustache. He looks tired, a bit worn out but finally at peace now that he sees her. She smiles, tears in her eyes. He smiles back, and they both stand there looking at each other with such love and confidence. That was the ending of the drama.
OMG, what an ending! It was awesome. I was shattered when she travelled back and realised she had travelled 100 years before that day. I was thinking, would they ever meet again? I hoped it would not be another cruel ending similar to Fashion king. It wasn't. It was a very emotional ending; but a happy one. I'm satisfied and it touched my heart.
Although, this drama was not a comedy, there were a lot of funny scenes and funny characters. Oh Dae Man, the fastest running young guy that stutters is cute and funny. Lady Choi, Choi Young's aunty and head of the palace maids. She was wise and funny at the same time. The high doctor Eun Soo was comical at times. She's intelligent, clumsy, tries to act tough in front of the villian Prince Ki Geol but just looks plain funny. She brings her 21st century traits and characteristics to the Goryeo era, making cosmetics & soaps for the queen and palace maids. She makes raisin tea and teaches the Wooldachi warriors to high five. She tries to teach Choi Young to say "aja" and how to handshake.
Rating: 5/5 ♥
Lee Min Ho is an excellent actor. Every drama I have seen him in, his acting is brilliant. I feel that his acting is so good, he is able to create on-screen chemistry with any leading lady. There was definitely on screen chemistry between him and Kim Hee Sun. The age difference (10 years in real life) is not that obvious in the drama. He plays a 29 year old warrior and she plays a 33 year old doctor. His character is a strong, capable, righteous, & manly warrior. But yet, he was still affectionate and I love the fact that his actions speak louder than his words. His character is a desirable man.
Kim Hee Sun is awesome too. She has taken a 6 year hiatus from acting and this drama was her first to get back into tv drama. She reminds me so much of Kate Hudson. I'd dubbed her as the asian version of Kate Hudson.
A memorable scene was the bedding scene when he just pulled her to bed when she was about to walk away. She laid down next to him and without looking they held each other's hand and slept side by side.
One thing I have to get used to with Kdramas is that, especially within the period dramas, they refer to "this person" , "that person" instead of that person's name. I find this a bit odd but maybe it's just the culture. I guess we use it in chinese too, but not to that much of an extent repeatedly.
Discrepancies I noticed. Choi Young's hair style is too advanced for that time! I'm not complaining. He looks great with wavy hair and at times a head tie, but it's too modern for that period. How did he manage to have straight hair and then wavy hair later on? Did they have curlers at that time?
The scene where Eun Soo was running away from Prince Ki Geol. She fell backwards and Choi Young caught her from behind, and then disappeared. She had straight hair in that second, but as she ran and came out of the woods, her hair was curly! Inconsistent.
The scene where Eun Soo was running away from Prince Ki Geol. She fell backwards and Choi Young caught her from behind, and then disappeared. She had straight hair in that second, but as she ran and came out of the woods, her hair was curly! Inconsistent.
The time travel part. When Choi Young first travelled and dragged Eun Soo, they were able to get back to the same day and time. However, when Eun Soo travelled, she travelled in 100s of years. Are you only able to travel back to the same day if someone from that time travels with you? They said that the whirlpool only opens every 100 years. I don't think Eun Soo lived 100 years and then travelled back to the future. This must be wrong. The door must open several months or a year or so later.
Eun Soo didn't age one bit when she met Choi Young at the end, but he did. I guess time travel is only a few minutes for those travelling, but for those waiting, it's years.
The journal and notes part was interesting. She met him, then went back to the future, then travelled back another 100 years earlier, left those things for herself to find in in the next 100 years, knowing that she would meet up with him then. The notes were to remind her not to run away, to bath in his love and to remember everything and spend as much time possible with him. Interesting. Time travel is always interesting because it defies reality.
The royal doctor Jang Bin (Phillip Lee also in Secret Garden), when Prince Ki Geol's posse killed all the assistants in the royal clinic, he was killed along with them. However, they never showed him being killed or his face at all! He was a major character in the drama and they killed him off like that with no closure! He must have had a clash in his acting itinery with another drama but to be killed off like that?
I admire and understands Eun Soo's love which is so strong that she would stay in the Goryeo time to be with Choi Young. She would give up all of modern day's technologies and comforts? Wow. I had wondered if it would work out if Choi Young travelled to the future with Eun Soo and lived in today's time. Though, general Choi Young is famous, and all he knows is how to be a warrior, to lead armies to protect the king and gain land. He probably wouldn't be able to survive in today's time. That's probably why she decided to stay there. In the first episode, she had asked the fortune teller when she would meet her greatest love. She actually wanted to open up her own plastic surgery clinic. Ah well, I guess priorities change.
OST: Carry On – Ali, (you got to love Ali, such a strong voice. She sang Hurt for Rooftop Prince which was very nice also). Teardrop – Younha; Bad Person – Jang Hye Jin & MC Sniper.
OST: Carry On – Ali, (you got to love Ali, such a strong voice. She sang Hurt for Rooftop Prince which was very nice also). Teardrop – Younha; Bad Person – Jang Hye Jin & MC Sniper.
I loved this drama. It stirred my heart. I highly recommend it.
No comments:
Post a Comment