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Those still missing the talented cuties in MBC sageuk The Red Sleeve Cuff will have a treat coming up, the network has re-assembled the cast for a one-episode variety program to film this month on January 20th. It’s a talk show style discussion and fun games program that will air for Lunar New Year 2022. The cast led by Junho, Lee Se Young, veteran Lee Duk Hwa, and many more will be participating, so I’m thrilled that there will be another chance to assemble this talented group as well as give more exposure especially to some of the rising stars who were the anchoring leaves of this beautiful flower with so that Junho and Lee Se Young could be the blooming petals on top. I finally watched the entire drama and was blown away, it’s as good as the critics and audiences alike have said it was and even better it’s actually the sageuk I was hoping for when Korean Bu Bu Jing Xin that was Moon Lovers was announced. That adaption ended up haphazard but Red Sleeve captured the love and futility of a court woman who ends up catching the eye of the King. The final episode had me bawling my eyes out and I’m glad I didn’t miss watching this gem after worried that it would be too sad. It’s not too sad, it’s just bittersweet and beautiful.
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The life of a court woman catching the eyes of a king wasn’t definitely an easy one ,considering the restrictions women had in that era.
Most youthful sageuks protray the romance between a royal and a woman as cindrella story , as if a rich chabeol and a poor woman fall in love in modern days.
It’s not that easy in 21st Century either, but still both parties in relationship can try to adjust their needs .
It’s funny reading comments from review sites, viki ,etc where they criticised the male lead for being a red flag . People found the female lead character annoying as she was playing too hard to get, etc. etc.
This happened because they have been seeing things with rose tinted glasses when it comes to sageuks. They were judging the joseon era from the lens of 21st century.
Red Sleeve made sure to incorporate the realism part from that era. People may assume his actions as being romanticised. But those who watched the drama carefully can see that it was more than just a mere love story. The drama never shied away from showing how the leads themselves were flawed. Being in love doesn’t mean it’s all rainbows and sunshine.
I so agree with you!
Yeah , both leads are flawed in their own ways .
Some may agree with me whereas some may not.
( Should I say Spoiler Alert )
San was groomed to become a king since he was a child. It was in his bones , the responsibilities as well as the previleged mindset came with it.
When he set his eyes on our FL, he wanted it and especially ,when he became a king , he kind of lowkey forced his love upon this woman . This action seems like ‘Red Flag ‘ to some audience.
But I think this was part of his nature for being a king and accepted it while watching.
Some viewers may think RS is the same as puppy sageuks cause it has its own share of’ Meet Cute ‘ and ‘ML’s swoony gestures ‘ in early parts.
But the drama took a dark turn when he bacame the king ( yeah the power disparity became clear since nothing could be against him anymore ) .
So the viewers with initial expectations seem to be frustrated by this.
…….
For our FL , DI, she is an intelligent woman who have been reading lots of books and as a girl who grew up in the palace , she understands that ,The King’s Affection Is Fragile.
( Hong Deok Ro did say that if San laid her once, the desire would be fullfilled and the interest would be lost).And we know this happened many times in History .
She did need to worry about that
during 10 days after their first night.
Even if the affections are sincere, the life of a woman in the King ‘s harem is limited .
Power and Greed in Royal Court can change a person and she doesn’t want to lose herself in those.
I completely understand her.
RS portrayal, of two people who are in love, but yet they can love each other with half love only because they are different in status and have different interests in their lives , is So Real .
This portrayal made the drama bittersweet.
Certainly agree is better than any other Saeguk drama than I watch. Deok Im is not playing hard to get. She is smart and understand Court Lady has no standing even as Royal Concubines and the king inevitable will have many wives even he want to be faithful to one. The King can never go against the system because he need their support so the citizens do not suffer.
I feel so emotionally sadden becos both died at such a young age and different from Dong Yi.
Applaud must go to Junho and Seyoung for portraying the character so well and you would want to watch over and over again on their conversation and appreciate their sacrificial love for the good of others.
Kudos to the director that the storyline was not too dragging but the whole history of this reign was illustrated to the understanding of viewers.
Good Job to the whole production team that put up a real good drama for the audience
The Red Sleeve is truly a masterpiece that gets better and better every after episode. I love all actors performances and am particularly impressed Lee Jun-ho’s performance. I also love those explosive scenes between LJH and Lee Doek-hwa.
I find Lee Deok-hwa to be a monotonous. Not to disrespect a veteran actor but to me, he was so bland in many dramas; take Midas, Hotel King, Jekyll and Hyde, Suspicious Partner and many more. But lo and behold, I witnessed a different side of him as an actor in this drama.
I am excited to see TRS cast reunion and hoping international fans will get to watch with eng subbed.
Lee Se Young really set the bar high for future sageuks on this one. I wonder how the next ones will be able to compare to her performance in TRS.
what i find fascinating is that all supporting actors act really well in this drama, which is very rare. esp kang mal geum, yi sans mother. jun ho and se young, along with other 4 actors, will also shoot radio stars on 19th january to air on 26th january
Koala, perfectly said, its not sad but bittersweet, could not have described it better. I personally cannot get over the drama and I’m recommending it left and right. I’m looking forward to this special show and rewatching as we speak.
I see some people feeling a bit disappointed with the writing but for the rest, it’s been unanimously agreed that the drama is quite well made. From the fabulous acting, directing, cinematography to the magnificent music score which was able to perfectly capture the essence of the drama, the list goes on.
Infact even bts scenes are entertaining. It’s like there is a rom-com going on which is totally different from what they are filming for the drama. Ngl, i have never seen a filming set this lively. Lee Deok Hwa said during the press con that he worked with a female director for the first time and it was 3 times easier to work with her.
Anyways, i am looking forward to the spin off. This drama is being adored by everyone. It even broke the record of the ott platform in which it was airing. I am sure the special episode going to bring in lots of viewers.
Lee Junho é maravilhoso ator desde sempre e nesse drama ele só comprova isso mais uma vez…
Ele possui um carisma inegável e após The Red Sleeve coloca no alto novamente o 2PM, seu grupo maravilhoso de K pop…
Gosto de tudo no drama, desde o enredo, passando pelas músicas e vestimentas …atuações primorosas, direção exímia…um drama a ser lembrado sempre…
Lee Junho você é fantástico…. parabéns!!
I just love every episode and it was so good to be able to watch it every week . I miss it .i will watch it for sure . It’s the MBC’s new gem . Off of topic but after Coffee prince ‘s reunion, i’d like to see the same for the cast of Goong and Kim Sam soon .
Oh I love your “off of the topic” part. I still am a believer that old dramas hit diffrent and I love all these three dramas. Specially i think one of the points that made The Red Sleeve so popular is the fact that they did it in old fashion way when historical drama were actually historic not a modern twist of what it should be and audience would like.
This really was such a brilliant and awesome drama. I still cant move on:
There are two more chances to watch and soothe some lingering longing we have as TRS nation:
1. Radio star (for Junho’s ratings promise: filming January 19 (tomorrow), airing January 26 and with attendance: of Junho, Seyoung, Kang Hoon, Jang Hyejin, Lee Minji
2. Variety Talk Show with filming January 20, airing on January 31 with attendance: of Junho, Seyoung, Lee Deokhwan-nim and 7 more of cast.
So thank you Cast for feeding my longing.
Yes, this drama really reminds me of BBJX. It was filmed in the slow, restrained way that really brings the audience to the lives of the old court palaces, but keeping the romance fresh to hold the audience attention to the sad ending.
Right?! Like, when was the last time we got a Sageuk romance this good!? I cried so many times. What a beautiful and perfect piece of art.
Me Too. Tears flow even repeatedly watching over and over again on the various episode. Their facial expression, voice projection and their conversation of love and resignedly to their fate make you reflect and wonder how life is .
Seven Day Queenn was really well done in all such aspects and it was inevitable comparison to that show that I couldn’t enjoy RSC that much.
I can’t stop rewatching this when nothing better to watch. Haha. Beautiful story, beautiful scenery and shots, beautiful actors, beautiful songs, beautiful endings, beautiful drama. Hoping the best for everyone involved in the drama, cast, directors, crews.. etc. Thanks to their hard work we have such an amazing masterpiece to enjoy.. lovely.
I also feel that RS have the same vibe as BBJX (Chinese) which I really loved. I think LSY would have been the perfect Korean version of RX.
I hope the success of RS opens more doors for classic sageuk. I’m tired of the fusion sageuks as well as those campy, comedic ones…
I agree with you @Na . Fusion sageuks were ok at first but now i prefer to return to the classic genre . It’s like reading some romance novels but finally to return to a Jane Austen, Bronte sisters or Elizabeth Gaskell one .
Seeing that so very many of us live TRS do much and have difficulty moving on, let’s all request for a sequel on their happy married life together as per history. We only got the length of one episode showing parts of their married life Ep 16 and 17 can easily be used as a dream Yi San has..