ibisfeather
really wonderful watch, part one
A story of mages and magic with both western and wuxia elements woven together. Recommended for fantasy lovers. Excellent world-building by the Hong Sisters ( their 13th script). Good CGI. An insanely cool soundtrack with a huge range, by the great Nam Hye Seung. Classy cinematography throughout never misses a beat -- a big budget production by Studio Dragon. 2022-3. Comical, thrilling and cute with a really epic romance, you can skip the intellectual understory or be amused by it. Classic Hong Sisters.
In two parts, not seasons. Likewise two separate reviews here on mdl are as one. 30 eps at 1hr.20mins ea. = about 40hrs watch-time. Part One is 20 eps and Part Two is 10. Its all, both parts, worth it.
Lee Jae Wook. then 24, took the world by storm as the ML, Jang Uk. LJW is a meticulous, skilled, flexible and charismatic actor. Jung So Min plays one-half of the FL (I wont list all of their names); a powerful, intelligent and experienced actress, together with LJW she took the series to a higher level. The gorgeous Go Yun Jung, the other half of the FL, begins and ends the series with great panache.
Out of many great performances in the main and supporting casts I would pick out three favourites. Shin Seung Ho, as the Crown Prince, actually carries the main plot through Part One, more so than the adorable lovers. Jo Jae Yoon, as the discontent Jin Mu, is the most wonderful creepy villain ever, a consistent scene-stealer. And Im Chul Soo as the hempen Master Lee, the Hong Sisters' "deus ex machina", stole everyone's hearts just a little.
How can there be two actresses and one FL? Easily. The body of the first actress is destroyed and via the 'alchemy of souls' the soul of the first actress (Go Yun Jung as Naksu) inhabits the body of the second (Jung So Min as Mudeok) for Part One. Or, to put it another way, Jung So Min portrays the soul of Naksu inside the body of Mudeok.
The 'alchemy of souls' goes beyond the standard body swap. Forbidden sorcery, the powerful use it to steal new bodies and they employ skilled assassins to dispose of the unfortunate souls trapped in their old bodies. At different points the FL and ML are employed to kill one end or the other of this devils bargain.
How is our identity connected to our souls or our bodies? The Hong sisters pose this question off and on again in their inimitable way through this whole series. Is who you are due to genetics? Is it due to your life experiences in this body? Is your soul, in this popular sense it means consciousness -- is your consciousness separate from your body? Do you have a destiny and does that pertain to your body or your soul/consciousness, or do you create that from the choices you make as you move forward? These questions are not limited to vague popular ideas of reincarnation throughout Asia or to the theological conundrums of body and soul that leak into horror and occult films in the West. Its all one.
So, therefore; the ML was conceived while his father's body was forcibly and temporarily occupied by the soul of a creepy king near death. Is Jang Uk the son of his father, a great skilled mage who crossed a line in his magical practice, or is Jang Uk the son of the previous king and since the childless king's brother acceded to the throne, thus a cousin (mentally/physically..which?) to the current Crown Prince ?
So, therefore; the FL, a skilled assassin, mortally wounded, performs the alchemy of souls on the nearest healthy woman she can find. She wakes up in the body of a blind woman named Mudeok being sold to a brothel/pleasure house for debts, temporarily disoriented and mildly amnesiac. The energy of her soul as Naksu can heal the blindness and her memories return slowly, but neither memory or soul can restore to her the lost athlete's body.
Fate brings our soulmates together not without a lot of noisy complaining by both. The merry flirtatious upper class Jang Uk, desperately seeking a master who will open his gate of energy, suddenly recognizes a girl attacking him with a crab leg as soul-shifter by the blue marks in her irises.
The rest is an enormously fun show. Enjoy. Since I am doing two revuews for two parts, hint hint, an absolutely enormous cliffhanger ending to part one which cannot be revealed heer can be gently hinted at in the part two review.
In two parts, not seasons. Likewise two separate reviews here on mdl are as one. 30 eps at 1hr.20mins ea. = about 40hrs watch-time. Part One is 20 eps and Part Two is 10. Its all, both parts, worth it.
Lee Jae Wook. then 24, took the world by storm as the ML, Jang Uk. LJW is a meticulous, skilled, flexible and charismatic actor. Jung So Min plays one-half of the FL (I wont list all of their names); a powerful, intelligent and experienced actress, together with LJW she took the series to a higher level. The gorgeous Go Yun Jung, the other half of the FL, begins and ends the series with great panache.
Out of many great performances in the main and supporting casts I would pick out three favourites. Shin Seung Ho, as the Crown Prince, actually carries the main plot through Part One, more so than the adorable lovers. Jo Jae Yoon, as the discontent Jin Mu, is the most wonderful creepy villain ever, a consistent scene-stealer. And Im Chul Soo as the hempen Master Lee, the Hong Sisters' "deus ex machina", stole everyone's hearts just a little.
How can there be two actresses and one FL? Easily. The body of the first actress is destroyed and via the 'alchemy of souls' the soul of the first actress (Go Yun Jung as Naksu) inhabits the body of the second (Jung So Min as Mudeok) for Part One. Or, to put it another way, Jung So Min portrays the soul of Naksu inside the body of Mudeok.
The 'alchemy of souls' goes beyond the standard body swap. Forbidden sorcery, the powerful use it to steal new bodies and they employ skilled assassins to dispose of the unfortunate souls trapped in their old bodies. At different points the FL and ML are employed to kill one end or the other of this devils bargain.
How is our identity connected to our souls or our bodies? The Hong sisters pose this question off and on again in their inimitable way through this whole series. Is who you are due to genetics? Is it due to your life experiences in this body? Is your soul, in this popular sense it means consciousness -- is your consciousness separate from your body? Do you have a destiny and does that pertain to your body or your soul/consciousness, or do you create that from the choices you make as you move forward? These questions are not limited to vague popular ideas of reincarnation throughout Asia or to the theological conundrums of body and soul that leak into horror and occult films in the West. Its all one.
So, therefore; the ML was conceived while his father's body was forcibly and temporarily occupied by the soul of a creepy king near death. Is Jang Uk the son of his father, a great skilled mage who crossed a line in his magical practice, or is Jang Uk the son of the previous king and since the childless king's brother acceded to the throne, thus a cousin (mentally/physically..which?) to the current Crown Prince ?
So, therefore; the FL, a skilled assassin, mortally wounded, performs the alchemy of souls on the nearest healthy woman she can find. She wakes up in the body of a blind woman named Mudeok being sold to a brothel/pleasure house for debts, temporarily disoriented and mildly amnesiac. The energy of her soul as Naksu can heal the blindness and her memories return slowly, but neither memory or soul can restore to her the lost athlete's body.
Fate brings our soulmates together not without a lot of noisy complaining by both. The merry flirtatious upper class Jang Uk, desperately seeking a master who will open his gate of energy, suddenly recognizes a girl attacking him with a crab leg as soul-shifter by the blue marks in her irises.
The rest is an enormously fun show. Enjoy. Since I am doing two revuews for two parts, hint hint, an absolutely enormous cliffhanger ending to part one which cannot be revealed heer can be gently hinted at in the part two review.
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