This weekend was the premiere of new MBC Fri-Sat sageuk romance and war drama My Dearest (Lover) starring Namgoong Min and Ahn Eun Jin. The promos are just lush and visually sumptuous and from the screencaps of the first two episodes the end product delivers as promised. It’s not pretty in a sanitized way though and brings back memories in a good way of epic sageuks like Chuno, The Princess’ Man, and even Damo. The first two episodes started off with 5.4% and 4.3% ratings and the reviews are generally positive but it feels like this drama isn’t buzzy since it probably appears to an older demographic so it’s unclear whether if further episodes get increasingly strong reviews the ratings will rise. I’ll dive in once I get a breather but it’s definitely must check out for me.
I really wanted to love this drama but it reminds me more of a fusion sageuk – the dialogue and mannerisms seem almost contemporary with none of the restraint that I associate with real sageuk.
However, the cinematography is the opposite of the dialogue & characterization. It’s atmospheric without being overpowering and very loosely framed. There’s a sequence in the first episode where the heroine runs through various seasons in a dream that is stunning. From a technical standpoint, this drama reminds me very much of Chinese historicals and xianxia.
In summary, I like it but don’t love it yet. I hope it’ll take an extra leap in quality once the war portion actually unfolds.