Kdrama Kisses

10 responses to “Korean Drama Scarlet Heart: Goryeo Moves Up Premiere Date”

1. 

   Timescout

   May 9, 2016

   Interesting to see how Korea tackles this premise. The original wasn’t a masterpiece but it was really addicting and looked pretty. I cired my eyes out through the last fiew epis, LOL!

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   1. 

      Kay

      May 9, 2016

      Lol, I’m sure it will have much more of a classic Korean flair to it. I was planning to check out the original, then they announced the Korean remake, and I decided to just hold off for it. Plus Lee Joon Gi! Of course, I’m pretty excited about it 🙂

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      1. 

         Timescout

         May 10, 2016

         Well, the Chinese version had a cast that really fit the parts they were playing. I like LJK but I just can’t see him as the 4th Prince. Nicky Wu sort of made that role totally his own.

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         1. 

            Kay

            May 10, 2016

            That’s where I’m definitely at an advantage having not seen the original. Of course, I’m a big advocate of trying not to compare remakes too much anyway. We know the kdrama version will take a lot of liberties and likely change up the characters.

            Of course, I pretty much exclusively like the k-versions betters than their counterparts. But I still didn’t want to chance it by watching the original first. I want to be able to enjoy Lee Joon Gi’s drama to the fullest extent possible 🙂

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      2. 

         joybran2015

         May 30, 2016

         I’ve never watched a Chinese drama, but when Dramafever offered Scarlet Heart to watch while waiting for the new Korean version, I couldn’t resist. I love historical dramas, especially those with a fantasy element, and I was especially interested in how they would change a drama set in the 18th century Qing dynasty to one set in the 10th century Goryeo Dynasty. What they have in common is that the powerful founder of each dynasty consolidated his power by lots of political marriages, which produced lots of princes who vied for the succession. The Qing dynasty actually numbered the 24 princes who survived early childhood, but the Goryeo dynasty didn’t officially number the 25 princes who are listed in Wikipedia. However, the fourth-born prince of the Goryeo dynasty, like the Qing Fourth Prince, did become the most important Emperor after his father. Although two of his older brothers had short reigns before him, his (presumably false) reputation for cunning and ruthless ambition was similar to the Qing Fourth Prince. I can see how the Goryeo princes could be slightly re-numbered and portrayed as similar characters to their Qing counterparts in a drama. For example, the thirteenth and fourteenth princes in Scarlet Heart: Goryeo don’t need to portray the actual Goryeo princes who were born in that order, but just portray younger princes in similar situations with similar personalities.

         I’m only on episode 20, but the problem I’m having with Scarlet Heart is, surprisingly, the same kind of problem I’m having with Vampire Detective–missed opportunities and disappointed expectations. The fantasy element is that the leading lady is from the future and knows the history she is living through. Like San not seeming to know that he is a vampire, she seems to forget that she is from the future. Except for a very brief flashback in episode 1, we know nothing about her life in the present or how much history she actually knows. From her actions, it doesn’t seem like she even knows as much about the period as I learned from a brief Wikipedia article. Maybe a Chinese audience would be perfectly comfortable with that, but I keep wondering why we didn’t get a look at her life before she went back in time, or why we don’t get more voice-over as she is staring into space and presumably thinking about what she knows about the history of the people she is living with. The show misses so many opportunities to explore what she thinks about the real people versus what she learned in history classes.

         Fortunately, I like historical dramas more than I like crime procedurals, so I’m enjoying the drama for what it is, but I hope the Korean version pays more attention to the fantasy element and takes better advantage of the time travel opportunity to explore the angst of living with people who were previously known as historical figures and the conundrum of whether history can be changed.

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         1. 

            Kay

            May 30, 2016

            Scarlet Heart has been hard for me to resist since it popped up on DramaFever! I was interested in it a while ago, but when they announced the Korean version, I decided to wait on it. Although I tend to like kdrama versions better than their counterparts, I didn’t want to chance any comparisons for this lovely Lee Joon Gi drama, lol. Of course, I may still watch it afterwards, so please let me know how they compare.

            I think the history of the princes is really interesting. Scarlet Heart Goryeo will be using the same characters as Shine or Go Crazy. I found the idea of so many princes battling it out for throne very interesting in that. I’ve just read the very basics of each prince’s personality in Scarlet Heart, but I’m interested to see how the Korean version tweaks things.

            It seems like I remember reading that the leading lady becomes so accustomed to life in the past that she pretty much forgets about the future. I find that pretty strange. I’m right there with you in that with any fantasy/time travel show, I want to see the person reacting more to their situation and also deciding if they should alter things. I would think the Korean version would be more likely to play that part up. I don’t know how much humor is in the original, but I think kdramas in general like to include more humor in historicals. I usually like that mix of humor and seriousness that comes with time travel shows. I really hope they decide to include some of those elements.

            I like historicals better than crime dramas too. It’s good that you are still enjoying it despite some shortcomings. China makes some very gorgeous and elaborate historicals. I’ve only completed one Chinese drama, Wu Xin: The Monster Killer, which is a historical, but more recent. I’m 17 episodes in to the Chinese historical Chronicle of Life. The pace is starting to slow a bit, but I’m really enjoying the characters, love triangle, gorgeous costumes, and cinematography. The Chinese historicals remind me a lot of Empress Ki. I love the scenery and costumes in all sageuks, but Empress Ki is my favorite. That’s probably why I like the Chinese look so much. But I love the Goryeo period so much and from the pics I’ve seen of Scarlet Heart Goryeo, I’m very excited 🙂

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            1. 

               joybran2015

               May 30, 2016

               Wu Xin: The Monster Killer is pretty high on my list of dramas I want to watch, but I keep hearing about even more recent dramas that I have to put higher on the list. haha

               Shine or Go Crazy is further down on my list because I heard so many people hated it because of the ending. Since our tastes are so similar, and you didn’t hate the ending, I will probably have to watch it sooner. I imagine there will be an enormous difference between Jang Hyuk’s Wang So and Lee Joon Gi’s.

               There isn’t all that much humor in Scarlet Heart, even in the early episodes where waking up in the past gives plenty of opportunities for it. The leading lady is afraid of Fourth Prince because she knows he will become Emperor, which seems a little strange when she is so comfortable with all the other princes, but we know so little about what SHE knows about the past, it is hard to understand many of her reactions. I like the princes and the differences in their characters, although the bald heads make them look too much alike until you get used to it.

               It will be interesting to see if or how my watching the Chinese version versus you avoiding it affects our experience of the Korean version. Maybe I should avoid Shine or Go Crazy so we can compare whether seeing it or not affects our experience of Scarlet Heart: Goryeo.

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               1. 

                  Kay

                  May 30, 2016

                  Haha, your list sounds like what mine has been going through. Especially the last few months, my list has been shifting all over the place! It’s funny, I’m about halfway through Chronicle of Life, and I still can’t get used to the bald heads with just a pony-tale of hair running down the back. I can tell them apart, but it is sooo unflattering. I’m always much happier when they have hats on, lol. I’m also very interested to see our different experiences going into Scarlet Heart: Goryeo too 🙂

                  From what I have read, the characters in Shine or Go Crazy and Scarlet Heart: Goryeo only share the same names, but will be completely different. In Shine or Go Crazy, Wang So is very humorous, kind, and moral. So of course, Jang Hyuk nailed this role. I think Scarlet Heart: Goryeo will have the characters more similar to the original Scarlet Heart with the character of Wang So being more cold, cunning, and darker. Lee Joon Gi should be completely different. So I don’t think watching Shine or Go Crazy would have too much comparison to Scarlet Heart outside of the shared names and prince battles.

                  On that note though, Shine or Go Crazy’s ending is one even I would consider to be a bit of a slap in the face type ending. But it’s literally only like the last 15 minutes of the drama that went south (which yes is important). But for me, there were a couple things. 1. I understand what the PD was trying to do with the ending. But they ended up cramming into 15 minutes what probably needed at least an entire episode. The time constraint made the characters seem like their decision making comes really out of the blue and feels very abrupt. But the last few minutes were very artsy and the very end felt very bittersweet and beautiful. Horrible execution though. 2. Shine or Go Crazy was like perfection for me for all 24 episodes aside from that last little bit. I loved it to pieces and still gave it a 10 despite the ending. I’ve even rewatched it and still completely enjoyed it.

                  So I would definitely recommend it, but would either recommend stopping at one particular point about 15 minutes from the end at call it a great ending or be very prepared for a not so great ending and just try to appreciate what the PD was trying to accomplish, although poorly. I love Shine or Go Crazy so much though! 🙂

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2. 

   KBT

   May 9, 2016

   ACK! I loved Scarlet Heart!!! (and Scarlet Heart 2 was okay 🙂 ) And of course I love Lee Joon Gi!!! Can’t wait!!!

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   1. 

      Kay

      May 9, 2016

      Yes, I’m so excited for this! It can’t get here soon enough 🙂

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