Empress Ki Releases Teaser and Stills for Ha Ji Win, Joo Jin Mo, and Ji Chang Wook
The MBC special sageuk Goddess of Fire is ending next week. I can hardly believe it, having genuinely experienced a drama that has managed to suck from beginning to end that I bitterly stuck with. There is nothing that can happen next week to redeem this steaming pile of dung, even a group orgy will only leave me wondering how the heck anyone in that cast still musters up enough energy much less the passion. With an unexpected one week off due to Moon Geun Young‘s eye injury (which really is adding insult to injury), that means the follow up sageuk Empress Ki will now premiere on October 28th and hopefully that one extra week helped this massive production get some more footage in the can. It’s never too early to accumulate finished product, right? So speaketh someone with a type-A personality who did homework the day it was given rather than the day before it was due. The teaser trailer for Empress Ki aired this week after GoF and the network also released the first official stills for the three leads Ha Ji Won, Joo Jin Mo, and Ji Chang Wook. Currently Ha Ji Won and Ji Chang Wook are in Hendian, China filming the Yuan dynasty scenes for this drama, which will likely be shown towards the middle-to-end of the drama airing.
The origin story shows how the future Empress Ki grew up with the future King Chunghye of Goryeo and together they met the exiled Yuan prince played by Ji Chang Wook who will become the future Yuan Emperor Huizong. So far I’ve seen nothing that I love, and throw in being burned three times in a row with MBC sageuks starting from Horse Doctor to Gu Family Book and now GoF, my instinct for self-preservation tells me to avoid this one like the plague unless and until I hear its decent. The best Empress Ki can aspire to is the Queen Seondeok playbook – zero historical accuracy, lots of juicy makjang political intrigue and hubba-hubba romance. While QSD looked pretty, I’m pretty appalled at how terrible Empress Ki looks off the bat – Empress Ki was of noble Goryeo birth and Ha Ji Won looks like some bandit lady (still sexy as all), Joo Jin Mo looks old and tired, and Ji Chang Wook is cross-eyed and hunched over in some of his stills. I love how MBC thinks giving him a tiny little braid somehow will allude to the Yuan dynasty braid hairdo which is the look an entire male population of a race sported. What gives? Empress Ki claims to be a fusion sageuk but right now it’s bordering on fantasy sageuk, which is also fine as long as viewers don’t expect to learn any Yuan-Goryeo history from this. I think production values-wise this one will be pretty to look at and script shouldn’t be that bad coming from the team who did Giant and History of the Salaryman. Once again part of me LOLs at the far-out attire, which is like dressing Shakespearean-era Englishman in Roman togas and claiming its okay because this is a fusion take on Renaissance English. Whatever floats MBC’s boat.
First trailer for Empress Ki:
Lol, can we call her Ha Ji Win from now on? I love it.
Oh yeah, and Ji Chang Wook looks offensively bad. He looks more womanly than Ha Ji Won in the stills :-/ I’m guessing they’re going for the spoiled little emperor shtick? Urrrrgh.
I’m just thankful he doesn’t have to shave his head bald as we tot earlier 😀
I find him great! he looks like a young emperor to me
@sara, I just don’t like the styling – no problem with him as an actor whatsoever.
oh no problem with what you said. I’m just happy about this hairstyle than the pigtail one tbh.
I am actually really looking forward to the drama. There are couple of still pictures of HJW as empress Ki looking very feminine and gorgeous (not posted here). I can’t wait to see her character revolves to an ambitious lady. Fighting HJW!
Btw, I think JCW looks just fine (not so much from the above pictures though).
THAT is definitley not a “Mane of Glory”.
It’s a “Mane of Sorry” 🙂
I miss Ji Chang Wook’s baby face 🙁 But I’ll definitely be checking this out once it’s fully aired. The 3 leads look great in the poster shown right at the end of the teaser.
wow..fashion-wise, it is so horrible. well, second lead man should at least look as manly as the first. sigh
Hi ockoala, i want to ask that if they are filming in China, does that mean they already have script ready for later episodes? Because usually after few episodes, writers provide script to actors merely 1-2 weeks before the episode airing. Or they have different system for sagueks?
I loved your comment about the type-A personality! I can definitely identify with that 🙂
Yea so I don’t know how I feel about this coming out right now, especially since “Suspicious Housekeeper”, “Marry Him if you Dare”, “Unemployment Love”, and “Heirs” are all favorites that are representing for my fav. Korean stars. This right now just isn’t the right time, but hey that’s just me I do love the main actresses and always will.
I’m looking forward to this drama.Nothing in the latest dramas interest me.Love HJW.
Idk, I like how Ji Chang Wook looks. I have always found him cute and Ha Jin Won is a goddess. 50 episode sageuk isn’t really my thing, but I will at least start this one and watch it until I can’t take it anymore.
Idk, I like how Ji Chang Wook looks. I have always found him cute and Ha Jin Won is a goddess. 50 episode sageuk isn’t really my thing, but I will at least start this one and watch it until I can’t take it anymore.
So those little side braids are supposed to be like all the Princes’ hair in BBJX? Instead he looks like, um, I got nothing. He looks like a girl.
I don’t know how you manage to watch these shows to the end. I just cannot spend the time. Didn’t you also watch all of Jang Ok Jung, too?
The only sagueks I have finished were The Duo, WBDS (Unaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!) Faith, and Tree with Deep Jang Hyuk Roots. I have started twenty.
I am not counting QIHM because of the present stuff or Arang, cause that was awesome.
Dont find the current Mon/Tues dramas Suspicious Housekeeper and Marry him if you Dare interesting. Dont understand why the hype is all about as they are quite standard Kdrama fares. Dropping them after the first few episodes. Prefer the earlier pieces like I hear your voice and Master Sun.
On the lookout for Empress Ki for something different including the so called controversies over hairstyle, costumes, storyline and all.
So Im not the only one who thinks Joo Jin Mo look on old and tired in these stills…at lease he doesn’t look pale and sickl like Ji Chang Wook does in those first couple of stills…Ha Ji Won is the only one that is looking really great here…but then she always does
Hahaha I laugh ed
Maybe coz is h jinwa I will watch it
still can not find anything really interesting to see this drama, ep 50 is too much for me unless you really be impressive, but I see I see nothing to change my opinion.:(
agree with you.
I’m going to still watch this drama.Watch the Hongkong drama”Eternal Happiness and Legend of Kublai Khan ” and you’ll see their hairstyle..,