The Princess' Man - eps 1 and 2
Jul. 27th, 2011 11:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousie(Note, nope, haven't seen City Hunter ep 19 yet and am utterly unspoiled - waiting for subs)
I am so very obsessed after the first two episodes. The drama is layered and gorgeously shot (and no, I am not just referring to my massive clothes envy) and somehow manages to address the stifling expectations placed on women, political infighting and class issues even besides the gorgeous love story.
Ah, yes, the love story. Two episodes in, I ship Seung Yoo and Se Ryung like mad. Not because they are star-crossed and doomed but because they are both lovely, smart, well-adjusted people who you could see having a long and happy life together if history let them be. But it won't and they are doomed, separately and together. Their fathers are on a deadly collision course and her father has ordered him killed (little knowing his daughter was with Seung Yoo when the goons attempted to carry it out). And yet, they were almost married, if only his father chose a different political calculus. And layers of false identity, even though assumed for benign purposes, further doom them - if she never pretended to be Crown Princess, they'd never meet and fall in love, but she was assuming he was her future husband and was motivated by curiousity. If she didn't pretend to be one, he would have never gotten even closer to her when told by his father he was chosen to marry Crown Princess and thus felt he had the right. Now, mind you, the tragedy with Seung Yoo's family would have still happened, but Se Ryung would be happy and SY would at least be free from loving the favored child of his worst enemy.
But then, we'd have no drama.
One of the things I love the most about this so far is that the tone is deceptively light for most of these two eps but we have the constant, inescapable echo of the horror we saw as the opening and the ominous jockeying for position as the king is dying.
Yeah, this drama is going to make me bawl.
We are introduced to our starcrossed lovers and I fall in love at first sight.
She asks her friend, the Crown Princess, to let her substitute at the lesson CP gets from him (it's his first day) because her servant told her that her father picked him as a husband. Awesomeness ensues as they are both smart and strong-willed and good at teasing (side note - this drama has a Victorian obsession with ankles. I approve).
FYI, I have no basis for it whatsoever, but I ship Crown Princess with Jung, the sweet but broke and kinda hapless friend of hero.
Mmmmmm. Hottie Alert! Too bad he's Lee Jong Hyuk to Seung Yoo's Tae Ha (yup, Chuno reference)
More lessons:
She tries to ride a horse (she's always wanted the freedom but as a noblewoman is not allowed), it runs away with her, and we get awesome rescue AND teasing.
Bwahahahahhaaha he takes her to a brothel for a change of clothes. ILY.
The most adorable adorableness which ever adorabled.
Crown Princess found out she's supposed to marry her bestie's potential husband to stabilize her brother or whatever. Oh well, at least she finds him hot?
They meet yet again :)
He knows she's always wanted to gallop fast and she now told him she's given it up (because her mother made her swear) and ohhhh, darling! He offers her a lesson. I kinda love that he tries to be v.v.v.v. proper but he was just told he's been selected to be Crown Princess' husband (and he assumes she's the princess) so he allows his inner fun person to come out full force. They are so adorable I want to take them far far away and hide them.
Se Ryung's daddy's assassins decide this is the perfect time to take him out (so he won't be CP's husband). Ah, the irony. They run but he gets shot.
Preview for ep 3 promises me this. I've seen enough period kdramas to know this means nothing good. Honestly, dude, just kill yourself right now, you'll be better off.
Did I mention this drama's gorgeousness?
Yup. Addicted. Utterly.
I am so very obsessed after the first two episodes. The drama is layered and gorgeously shot (and no, I am not just referring to my massive clothes envy) and somehow manages to address the stifling expectations placed on women, political infighting and class issues even besides the gorgeous love story.
Ah, yes, the love story. Two episodes in, I ship Seung Yoo and Se Ryung like mad. Not because they are star-crossed and doomed but because they are both lovely, smart, well-adjusted people who you could see having a long and happy life together if history let them be. But it won't and they are doomed, separately and together. Their fathers are on a deadly collision course and her father has ordered him killed (little knowing his daughter was with Seung Yoo when the goons attempted to carry it out). And yet, they were almost married, if only his father chose a different political calculus. And layers of false identity, even though assumed for benign purposes, further doom them - if she never pretended to be Crown Princess, they'd never meet and fall in love, but she was assuming he was her future husband and was motivated by curiousity. If she didn't pretend to be one, he would have never gotten even closer to her when told by his father he was chosen to marry Crown Princess and thus felt he had the right. Now, mind you, the tragedy with Seung Yoo's family would have still happened, but Se Ryung would be happy and SY would at least be free from loving the favored child of his worst enemy.
But then, we'd have no drama.
One of the things I love the most about this so far is that the tone is deceptively light for most of these two eps but we have the constant, inescapable echo of the horror we saw as the opening and the ominous jockeying for position as the king is dying.
Yeah, this drama is going to make me bawl.
We are introduced to our starcrossed lovers and I fall in love at first sight.
She asks her friend, the Crown Princess, to let her substitute at the lesson CP gets from him (it's his first day) because her servant told her that her father picked him as a husband. Awesomeness ensues as they are both smart and strong-willed and good at teasing (side note - this drama has a Victorian obsession with ankles. I approve).
FYI, I have no basis for it whatsoever, but I ship Crown Princess with Jung, the sweet but broke and kinda hapless friend of hero.
Mmmmmm. Hottie Alert! Too bad he's Lee Jong Hyuk to Seung Yoo's Tae Ha (yup, Chuno reference)
More lessons:
She tries to ride a horse (she's always wanted the freedom but as a noblewoman is not allowed), it runs away with her, and we get awesome rescue AND teasing.
Bwahahahahhaaha he takes her to a brothel for a change of clothes. ILY.
The most adorable adorableness which ever adorabled.
Crown Princess found out she's supposed to marry her bestie's potential husband to stabilize her brother or whatever. Oh well, at least she finds him hot?
They meet yet again :)
He knows she's always wanted to gallop fast and she now told him she's given it up (because her mother made her swear) and ohhhh, darling! He offers her a lesson. I kinda love that he tries to be v.v.v.v. proper but he was just told he's been selected to be Crown Princess' husband (and he assumes she's the princess) so he allows his inner fun person to come out full force. They are so adorable I want to take them far far away and hide them.
Se Ryung's daddy's assassins decide this is the perfect time to take him out (so he won't be CP's husband). Ah, the irony. They run but he gets shot.
Preview for ep 3 promises me this. I've seen enough period kdramas to know this means nothing good. Honestly, dude, just kill yourself right now, you'll be better off.
Did I mention this drama's gorgeousness?
Yup. Addicted. Utterly.
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no subject
Date: 2011-07-28 09:13 am (UTC)Ah, so you liked it! It's great isn't it? I'm not 100% totally obsessed yet but I'm getting there. I watched some of episode 3 raw yesterday to see if SY would discover she wasn't the princess. It killed me to see him so happy in ep 2 when he learned he had been chosen to be the Princess' husband, believing all the while it was SR. The angst and pain will start even before the bloody massacre.
I'm not totally writing this off as a complete tragedy with none of the leads surviving though. Not yet at least. I read on Soompi that both SR and SY are actually fictional characters. So they basically can do whatever they want with them. I know I shouldn't get my hopes up but I can't help myself.
Can you think of when the opening scene will happen? I was thinking maybe mid-drama with the second half featuring SY as a fugitive hiding his identity. Probably sworn to avenge his family but still in love with SR. Ok, who am I kidding? Even with fictional characters, this has almost 0 chances of having a somewhat happy ending.
On another note but still about saeguks...I've started watching Warrior BDS and I'm WORRIED. When I saw the caps of your two favorite OTPs for this drama I knew I had to watch it regardless of the risks but now I'm wonderring if I shouldn't chicken out until more episodes are out and we know more clearly who the "official" OTPs will be. I so want to buy those very OTP moments between JS and YW but but but....I've never seen a relationship chart lie and they threw in some OTP stuff about JS and DS as well (the fateful meeting of hands in ep 3, the fact that it's DS who saw she'd dropped an ornament, how affected she was when he applied the herbs to her ankle, how touched she looked when she covered him with his shirt when she saw him shivering in his sleep etc...).
What would anger me about a JS/DS pairing is not only that JS/YW is more interesting but that DS already has a perfect OTP of his own. YW will clearly be in love with her (but will probably stand aside, believing himself not worthy of love) but I do think the writers are indeed setting her up with DS. Our only hope would be that YW and the YW/JS couple become so popular that the writers will decide to go that route (and that's when I'm all for the filming while airing orean system). I wish my Korean was good enough for me to be able to go on message boards and see what the people are saying.
Also, I kind of felt like a perv when I thought I saw some tension between Crown Prince Sado and the young JS. Was I off my rocker or will he be in love with her as well? There is a red line from him to her on the relationship chart but it could just represent the fact that she's technically his woman as per his agreement with her father.
The summer will be so angsty with those two great saeguks. I think I'll need to watch something fluffy and funny as well!
no subject
Date: 2011-07-29 01:48 am (UTC)As to WBDS. Tbh, I don't care if the ships are canon, which is rare for me, but there it is. I like them anyway.
I can see Sado/JS but he already has 800 wives.
MW should cover the fluff :)
City Hunter 19-20 (no spoilers, don't worry)
Date: 2011-07-28 05:07 pm (UTC)Re: City Hunter 19-20 (no spoilers, don't worry)
Date: 2011-07-28 05:52 pm (UTC)So excited!!!
Re: City Hunter 19-20 (no spoilers, don't worry)
Date: 2011-07-28 06:02 pm (UTC)I'll be looking forward to your post about it! *off to watch ep 4 of Princess' Man raw*
Re: City Hunter 19-20 (no spoilers, don't worry)
Date: 2011-07-28 06:16 pm (UTC)It's training, so it's ok :)
no subject
Date: 2011-07-28 09:56 pm (UTC)Have you caught up with Myung Wol the Spy? Episodes 5 and 6 are out! =D SO MUCH LOVE!
Please please please be careful with any posts regarding City Hunter. I've watched episode 19, but not 20 yet. It can only be enjoyable if we're not spoiled!
no subject
Date: 2011-07-29 01:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-28 10:04 pm (UTC)So far you've covered:
- A Love to Kill
- Aishiteru to Itte Kure
- Que Sera Sera
- Someday
6 to go! =D (I'm really interested in seeing which ones you pick. I've just started Que Sera Sera based on your list)
no subject
Date: 2011-07-29 01:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-29 09:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-30 02:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-07 11:19 am (UTC)Check in with ya tomorrow after I catch up through Episode 6.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-07 09:49 pm (UTC)Albino? LOLOLL