; the little -details- xXx

hallyu's the korean word for the term 'korean wave', which hit many asian countries hard with korean movies, tv shows, songs and even merchandises. i've not been a fan of this 'korean wave', although i've watched a few korean dramas here and there. i can't really say i like all the romance ones although the more historical ones like jewel in the palace and yi-dao seemed to appeal more to me. but like i said in the previous post, i'm surprised to find myself really attracted to this drama called Jumong, Prince of Legend.



i heard all the top actors and actresses were roped in for this drama and it really showed: the acting's really good and flawless. because there's very little historical information about jumong (it was set in the early AD centuries--during the time of the Han), many of the plotlines were developed from the creators' own fertile imaginations. very unbelieavable legends like jumong's mother yuhwa being the daughter of a river god and that he was hatched from a golden egg was made more down-to-earth. stuff like jumong's gay retainer and his future ex-emperess (sosuhno, the really pretty girl in the poster) gay retainer's 'forbidden love' (truly my favorite part of the whole drama XD) is really just some good writing.

the drama's all about politics within a country, within a palace and even within princes vying to be crown prince in the small country of buyeo. of course, war follows the chaotic politics (Han tried to invade the divided Korean countries while jumong, when casted out of buyeo, tried to subdue other smaller states to build his own nation, the glorious Goguryeo) and there must always be a lot of tragic love stories and unrequited loves to make it a successful drama. jumong's story with sosuhno is really ... tear jerking. god forbids anyone's as pitiful and as doomed as those two. it's worse than death separating them; fate and the gods separated them each time they came close together despite their best efforts. the oracled had said that while they would be close and become allies from time to time, helping each other to build a nation, they would never be together. she did end up being his empress for 15 years until jumong found his wife and son whom he thought to be dead, and to not cause any competition in the palace, sosuhno gave up her throne for jumong's wife and left to build another nation with her sons. (because of this, the gay couple got separated as well--real tearjerker).

anyway, go watch it; there's a reason why it's such a hit in philliphines and singapore and it was south korea's #1 drama of 2006.