This Friday was the Netflix streaming release of Kingdom: Ashin of the North, the stand alone side-quel to the currently two season strong Kingdom zombie K-drama series. Early reviews are positive and point out how the backstory of Ashin and the resurrection plant is actually wayyyyy darker (not in lighting but in tone) than even the Kingdom series has been so far. Lots of events where people are being evil even before zombies descend. Jeon Ji Hyun attended the press conference wearing a really cool and striking cutout dark blue dress with black patent booties, and she’s definitely even skinner and fitter than before. She also cut her long hair short and the only time I’ve seen her cut her trademark long locks was in 2014 when she needed to do it for her role in the movie Assassination. Her current look is probably from all that mountain climbing filming Cliffhanger (Mount Jiri) and perhaps even the recent tabloid gossip about problems in her marriage. It’s not easy living in the spotlight and needing to stay top notch in delivering acting performances and visual pretty both of which she still possesses in spades.
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Finished watching Ashin last night. Incredible. I forgot how good the quality of Kingdom series is. They're like films produced for the small-screen.
JJH was perfectly cast for this. Ashin is SUCH a meaty role, the kind that actresses fight for. IMO, JJH remains a cut above her all her actress peers. She has versatility in her acting: comedy, melo, action, and she has the star power to command both movie and drama audiences
Can't wait to see more of her.
For Kingdom season 1 was very weak and full of plot holes, season 2 was much better and more interesting but Ashin is till now the best writing in the entire series. Didn't even notice that JJH doesn't even turn up until the 43rd minute because the plot was amazing. For a titular character JJH has only about 20 mins of screen time 10 lines of dialogue but the last 15 minutes are so good you don't even notice that she was barely there. People who were asking for an anti heroin you now have one.
@Ugar - that was me. Ashin is the anti-heroine I wanted and after seeing her backstory, I am rooting for her.
Agreed with the point about writing carrying the episode. The actors including the child version of Jun Jihyun were all very good but the writing carried the actors and the director delivered. This was much much darker than anything Kim Eunhee has ever written. The twist was almost horrifying and Asin is more deranged than anti hero but she was fire in the rooftop scene.
The most beautiful and most charismatic Korean woman in my opinion..the greatest scene stealer in my view. But that short hair is a no no no
The dress she wore for the press conference is just *chef's kiss* so good
Culture Depot has the best stylists. KSH and SJH have slayed their press conference outfits too. Not to mention the iconic styling for SJH in CLOY.
i agree with JJh and sjh outfits? but KSH outfit? she looked matronly.
As per usual joane needs to be ignored. @Barcode Yup CD has the best stylists in the industry. JJH has always been fashion forward even when she wore that all gold dress and SJH has had great styling since joining CD even for her CFs. As for KSH she slayed that Miu Miu dress during Baeksang and her outfits for RWTMR and LA2 were a huge step up from whatever her previous agencies were giving her. Especially the Black dress she wore for LA2 was *chefs kiss*. The short hair is amazing on JJH and would be cool to see it in her next drama.
@Deb - it helps she's currently an Alexander McQueen ambassador. You can't go wrong with McQueen.
But yet, JJH is one of the most fashion forward kactresses. No bridesmaid or pastel dresses for her!
Kingdom is so expensive, and Ashin is the type of character actresses fight nails and teeth to grab. Can't wait for S3.
I literally gasped when I saw these pics! She is a goddess.
@Ophelia - yeah and before that Gucci (Alessandro Michele era when it was still fresh), she had some great dresses there. Her Cannes red carpet one from 2015 is still my fave.
JJH started off as a model and you can really see it in the way she wears clothes, her height and posture really takes things up a level in her fashion.
@Royal We - Damn, someone knows their fashion! *high five*. Prefer Gucci, Tom Ford era.
It's not just her height and posture. It's the clothes she picks. K-actresses are so dull on the red carpet, but she is one of the few exceptions.
A great performance from all the cast, especially JJH. Indeed, she's fashionably beautiful.
Strange, people liked it here but i saw lots of comments from k-fans. They were saying it was boring. And felt like Jjh couldn't connect to her character.
I agree with knetz, her acting quite stiff,bland and boring. The child actress has so much presence than her. Cheong song yi image to strong for her. I can see how her acting in jirisan will be like this one. Its good for park seo joon turn down jirisan because jjh was miscast and joo ji hoon will hard carrying jirisan.
Joo jihoo acting in Kingdom was bland too, it was Ryu Seungryong hard carrying the premise with his antique. Bae doona too was dull. Her chemistry with another actor (forgot his name) was great
Idk if it's just me but as opposed to popular beliefs ,for me, jun ji hyun has always appeared to have a limited range. She is good in some genres but she isn't versatile. Most of the time I can't connect emotionally to her characters. Even in my love from her stars, i knew they can't have a happy ending,still i couldn't bring myself to sympathise with cheon songyi.
To make it more clear, for example, cloy which was written by the same writer and pretty much dwelled on the same theme of star crossed lovers . Here unlike the previous case, i remember bawling my eyes out because i could feel the pain of the female lead.
But in case of cheon song yi, that didn't happen.
Anyways i am still excited for mount jirisan cause jun jihyun is good at action /adventure genre.
@Amy
It's not just you. I agree. She IS limited and definitely NOT versatile like some mooks around here claim. People get so mesmerized by her "goddess looks" that they give her a pass. It's telling how most of the comments here are all gushing about her beauty and fashion, NOT her acting. And I fully agree with @minas below as well.
@amy completely agree. I dont think she deserved her baeksang daesang either (for my love from the stars). Sorry to her fans I find her quite overrated. my annoyance got higher when i got called out on twitter for stating my opinion that she's too overrated. (fyi: i don't stan any of taehyeji actresses, i like actresses who starred in historical dramas in the past a lot better than all three).
TaeJiHye have never been popular for their acting so what is the point of raising the same argument 2 decades later? You want acting then watch SYJ but there is no point being dissapointed by TaeJiHye acting everytime their drama comes out. They have a limited range and everyone knows that so just watch it for their charisma and star power and of course beauty.
On the contrary, I actually think JJH can act, unlike the other two in that trio, who are straight up flower vases. JJH has a pretty versatile repetoire. I think she shines more in her films, although it was that one drama that gave her her iconic lifetime role.
Anyways, Ashin is a really well-written character and I want to see more of her. Kingdom S3 can't come fast enough.
@ophelia you seem to dislike shk a lot it's getting obvious
@Nad and you are policing every comment section for any comment that doesn't worship the ground shk walks on, its getting obvious. No one is forced to love her acting. Ophelia's comment is fair since the topic of TaeJiHye trio was brought up. I dont think its a stretch to say JJH is the strongest and most versatile actress of the three.
@Anon look who's talking? Weren't you the one disagreeing with some comments in the other post before?no one forced you to love shk's acting or to hail her as the most beautiful but seeing people having different opinions was one thing you couldn't stand, am i right?i absolutely have no prob with anyone thinking jjh the most talented out of the 3, i also respect her..it's the tone of ophelia's past few comments that i have an issue with so stop acting like i'm obsessed with wanting people to worship shk coz i'm not.i don't go after everything who thinks she's less talented or a boring actress.
@Anon and youre also getting obvious,not just ophelia.the love for sjk is something you 2 have in common?
I disagree with Ophelia here. Can JJH act compared to the other 2? Yes because the standard is so low anyone can be considered versatile compared to KTH and SHK. But can JJH actually act? Not really. She has charisma but compare her to real actors and she pales in comparison. Is her acting overhyped? Definitely and she really only is popular for her superstar aura and endorsements rather than her acting. That being said I still enjoy watching all 3 because of nostalgia and for the love of powerful women in their 40s but in no world are any of them good at acting.
@minas well i know kim tae hee and Song hye kyo aren't known for their acting. But i rarely see anyone criticising jun ji hyun. So your comment that "Tahyeji were always known to have weak acting skills" doesn't makes sense to me. Everyone says she is one of the best actress of korea. That's why i thought my opinion was unpopular. Regardless of how many years have passed , 10 or 20 people can improve.
@Amy Maybe because Jeon Ji Hyun rarely does dramas or movies so you might have missed it but every time she does one there is a lot of criticism for her acting. Both My Love and Legend received criticism for her acting but since they both had high ratings you might have missed all the comments about the poor acting and lack of chemistry. Normally fans control the narrative about their bias and the bigger the star the bigger their fandom who wash away all the negative commentary. In Korea Jeon Ji Hyun is known for her cfs and not her acting but everyone agrees she was meant to be a celebrity and would watch anything with her in it. Her height and beauty have been a point of envy since her debut same for the other 2 who have always been loved for their beauty. I agree with @minas they have never been popular for their acting and nobody considers them versatile.
@battery i didn't know she was criticised for her performance in my love from the stars because i heard she won daesang for it.
Wow you must be new to kdrama Amy? JJH winning the Daesang was a huge issue even though everyone knew she would win because of the ratings! The next year KSH was pulled down for winning Daesang for Producers and the following year LJS for winning Daesang for W! Winning Daesang doesn't mean they don't get criticized by the audience!
@Wendyisback well i started watching kdramas and movies in 2018. And the things that you mentioned happened before that?. Ksh and ljs daesangs were still given by their broadcasting channels if i am not wrong but Jun ji hyun one was from Baeksang. So that's really strange that they gave her that just because of ratings even when people criticised her acting. I thought baeksang are quite prestigious award show.
Is*
Baeksang is the only prestigious award show for TV in South Korea. However when a drama has almost 30% ratings it can't be ignored. You'll notice Baeksang never snubs the high rated dramas because that would cause even more noise. In 2014 no other actress had the impact that Cheon Seongyi did and that is a good enough reason for them to give her the Daesang plus it was a role that was tailor made for her. Acting isn't the only criteria for giving awards Baeksang or otherwise. Actors and actresses win Daesang despite audience criticism so it does not matter. South Korea only cares about lookism so if you are beautiful you'll classfied as a Superstar and people automatically assume that it also means good acting.
@Nad - And you seem to like SHK ALOT...so...? Am I policing you for it? Dafuq???
What a weirdo you are.
Figured
@opheliaThe good thing about Nad is she will only comment to defend SHK while you comment to bring down, discredit and criticize. Big difference. I always see you hating on SHK and PSH. You are a hater that’s what you are. You feel your taste is superior which I am sure is not.
@ophelia Ignore Nad. That poster is SHK’s public defense attorney around here, stalking every single post for a SHK mention and jumping at anyone who doesn’t praise her obsession. You didn’t even single out SHK in your comment and that ? is still all up in your ass.
This is interesting that many commentators on this site were not around when the top actors today were in their 20s so they have no idea how much criticism taejihye, jis, hb, jjh, sma, ssh etc got during their entire 20s and most of their 30s. Wait for jirisan then you'll see all the negative comments for jjh and her acting same with now we're breaking up and shk. Even hhj is bound get criticism for her acting when she finally comes back with happiness. You thought idols were the only ones getting criticism then just wait for the veterans to return. Even syj tends to sometimes get comments about being typecast and having no versatility.
Hmmm its also quite interesting to know that hyun bin was criticised in his 20s . i felt his filmography pre -millitary was quite diverse which included the likes of snow queen, World's within, friend our legend, or I am happy etc. Maybe because his famous works mnikss and sega people typecasted him as the rich arrogant ceo and they didn't pay attention to his other lesser known projects.
But i agree that in his 30s he has been doing stuffs related to acton genre only.
You forgot millionaire's first love which is what made him known to the public in the first place. You're right though all his popular dramas are the ones where he is typecast as the rich male lead but yeah Hyun Bin was called wooden for a long time if I remember correctly.
Kim eun hee make mistake cast her in jirisan because you can see her hairstyle,expression,emotion and acting was same like ashin of the north kingdom.