Empress Ki can be viewed as a glass half-empty or half-full depending on which side you want to throw your leap of faith. On one hand, there is established A-list actors Ha Ji Won and Joo Jin Mo playing the OTP in a mega sageuk written by the screenwriters of Giant and History of the Salaryman. On the other hand, this drama comes from the network that just aired the recent trifecta of sageuk suck in Goddess of Fire, Gu Family Book, and Horse Doctor, not to mention this drama is being directed by the dude who did Dr. Jin and Personal Taste. Let’s not forget that novelization synopsis I translated last week showing that Empress Ki’s true love in this drama is the Goryeo King named Wang Yoo (no longer the real historical figure of King Chunghye but not a fictional Goryeo king) and they have a child together, as opposed to history telling us Empress Ki had a son with her husband Emperor Huizhong of the Yuan dynasty. At some point the fictionalization of a real historical figure crosses the line so definitively and thoroughly it no longer bears any resemblance to person being dramatized, might as well just give everyone a fictional name rather than just turning King Chunghye into Wang Yoo. The cast held a press conference last week and I thought the black-and-white complementary sleek formal wear by leads Ha Ji Won and Joo Jin Mo made them look so good together. If only Ha Ji Won’s dress was just a little bit looser on top, this is now the second drama press conference when she’s worn a dress that I loved but just a size too small. This drama has a huge sprawling supporting cast, but only the leads as well as second leads Ji Chang Wook and Baek Jin Hee attended the press conference. A long 11-minute trailer was released that actually looks good, mostly because Ha Ji Won and Joo Jin Mo’s characters are interesting right off the bat with a rather clever meet-cute and already showcasing fabulous chemistry together. Clearly this OTP is doomed since she ends up marrying Emperor Huizhong, but if this drama turns out to be watchable I’ll be onboard for the entire long ride starting when it premieres on Monday.
Written preview for episode 1:
It is the Yuan dynasty consort selection ceremony. Ki Seung Nyang (Empress Ki) takes Ta Hwan’s hand (Emperor Huizhong), and looks over and meets the gaze of Wang Yoo (King of Goryeo) with unshed tears in her eyes. Years earlier, Seung Nyang and her mother are escaping to avoid being taking to the Goryeo palace as serving slaves. Her mother takes an arrow and before she dies, tells Seung Nyang that her father may still be alive and gives her a ring. Grown up Seung Nyang meets Wang Yoo, who suggests a drinking showdown before an arrow shooting contest……….
I cannot take Emperor Huizhong seriously AT ALL when he’s a later Yuan dynasty Emperor and he’s sporting the classic Han dynasty imperial bead curtain headdress. It’s a good 1000 years earlier, costume designers!!! Giving him a non-Mongolian hair do is fine because holy gods is that an ugly style, but do not dead ringer copy a famous and instantly recognizable look from another dynasty wholesale. Make something up, it’s not that hard, especially considering the drama just made up a love child between Empress Ki and King Chung.
Long preview for Empress Ki:
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love her dress and love her body. She really is one of those fit women in KEntertainment but I am not so in Empress ki. The cast and writer is good for me but the director and synopsis is a big no for me. SO I think I'll stray far from this one until otherwise some review states that this is awesome
Poor JCW looks so objectionable in this drama that I no longer care about all the distortions. I mean, it's not like Empress Ki had a love story for the ages with her husband IRL (the man seemed like kind of a pansy), so why not let her have one with a smoldering but fake (kinda) Goryeo king?
But seriously, I'm sure Korean viewers are smart enough to figure out that the Yuan emperor should not be wearing Han court attire. They could have left off the imperial regalia and kept the robes, but no...
Ha Ji Won looks gorgeous in the press conference pics....love her with long hair...
Not interested at all in Empress Ki though...
Never though she was gorgeous or anything, but after Secret Garden I got so see how beautiful she is. No kidding, the more of I see of HJW the more ''wow'' She is. Stunning. Having girl crush here lol
Yeah, MBC's last 3 sageuks were bad, all wasted the amazing cast they had (Lee Yo Won and Moon Geun Young being the amazing sageuk actresses they are, hope that doesn't happen with Ha Ji Won) but none of the others had this visually pretty and this amazing and inviting posters. I hope this one is the right one. It would totally suck if MBC wastes another increadible cast.
Ji Chang Wook looks different. Did he do something to his face? He does not look like the same person that was in Warrior Baek Dong Soo.
Will check this out for Ha Ji Won. But not really into epic sagueks since Yi San.
Last saguek I watched was Horse doctor, which should have finished at 40 episode rather than 50. The story had a steady pace, not that addictive as yisan, Dae Jang Guem and Dongyi which had the same production company.
Addittionally I highly recommend Princess Man, Tree with deep roots and Damo,
Horse Doctor was rather Snore Doctor. There was nothing wrong with it other than it was totally bland and utterly boring. Frankly, the main channels seems incapable of producing good sageuks .e.g Queen Insoo / Cruel Palace.
I await MBC's offering next year concerning some plucky young heroine who suffers an unimaginable family loss who ends up working in the toilet department of the Royal Palace. However she gains an enemy in another poo collector/smeller who switches around the king's poo with the queen dowager's poo and gets the plucky heroine exiled until she makes a heroic return as the new concubine to the Crown Prince.
@bashful82, i guess in some/most parts it was a tad bland, that's why i think they should have ended at 40 ep or maybe 30. there were some interesting parts but i guess generally it was a let down.
cruel palace,heard/read some rambling on that drama. Knetizens found some scenes too rated but some blogs had high praise for it. was planning to watch it before the end of this year. might just check it out sooner than i had planned.
I think its his nose..it look soo PS...as long as he can give justice to the role..i'll be a happy noona
HJW looks really good. Thank goodness now we will see how gorgeous she is.Will be watching this drama on how the characters will be potrayed.
Ha Ji Won is gorgeous & she and Joo Jin Mo looks so good together. Well, the trailer looks interesting. I'm not into sagueks especially the really long ones, but I will watch this just for Ha Ji Won. Anything with Ha Ji Won on it is worth checking out.
Reside in the U.S.I will greatly appreciate if someone can provide me the live streaming website of this drama and other Korean network.Thanks in advance.
i don't know why the main actor reminds me of Sylvester Stallone specially the 4th pic .. .. :/
LMFAO I thoughtt tthe same thing :D