'Tis the season to be sageuk-ed

[dangermousie]

I found out first 6 (or of 24!) eps of Moon that Embraced the Sun are childhood portions. Ugh. The drama is falling further and further on my radar. 6 eps is fine (even if pushing it) for a 60 ep drama but for a 24 ep drama, it's insane.

OTOH, it's based on a novel by the author of SKKS, so there is that, the type of story is what I like, and Kim Su Hyun looks oddly appropriate in costume even if still nowhere near old enough to romance Han Ga In.



Hmmmmmm.

I guess I'll wait and see what the flisties think.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Kim Soo Hyun!!!! GAAAAH!!!!....yeah he may end up looking too young for HGI

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am cautious about this drama but I really hope it's good.

[happahaole.livejournal.com]

Idk...I'm excited! I really like the childhood cast (has the boy from Giant!) and this drama will have Kim Su Hyun and that guy from FBRS (sorry, totally blanked on his name)!!! just got to see how Han Ga In fits the part when the drama comes out. But I actually was fine w/ her in Bad Guy...so we'll see...

[sanaenam.livejournal.com]

Jung Il Woo looks too young for Han Ga In. Kim Soo Hyun? She would remind me of his babysitter. Whatever. This is when I hope the two male actors' skills make me believe otherwise.

[clairiere.livejournal.com]

Is that Kim Soo-Hyun's face morphed onto Song Joong-Ki's body? That's... just wrong, and all it does is to remind me of what could have been.

I was mistaken, btw. It's not 6 eps. out of 24, it's 6 out of 20.

They have a solid cast in the child actors, but it's still very unusual and potentially problematic, regardless of whether they do a good job or a bad job.

[cleobulle.livejournal.com]

I know, right? But has it actually been confirmed? It seems so wrong to me that a 20 ep drama should have 6 childhood episodes. One thing that would seem to support that rumor is that we haven't seen a trailer or even an official poster with the adult actors and the drama premieres in 2 weeks! I was kind of hoping the rumor wasn't true but it probably is. *sigh*

Despite the age difference between the leads I was super excited and had even picked it as my next translation project. Now I don't know. I'll definitely check it out because I've read the recaps of the first 3 chapters of the book it's based on and it could be soooo good...

Regarding the age thing, I read somewhere that the king is supposed to look much younger than his real age. Maybe that's why the two leads were casted that way?

BTW, have you seen the gorgeous movie War of the Arrows with Moon Chae Won? I think it would be right up your alley.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I like all of the cast, but their ages do not work together at all

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I so agree. Short of something like Woman Who Still Wants to Marry, they should not have cast actors with that age difference.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I think it is, you are right. I am glad SJK is away from promises to be an epic mess, though.

6 out of 20 is insane! It's 30% of the drama! The only one I can think which spent more time on the childhood versions was Ja Myung Go but at least there is was unintentional - it was going to be 13 out of 50, but then the drama got cut down to 39. And JMG had a great 'adult' cast.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I've seen it in multiple places, so yes. As I commented above, 6 out of 20 is insane! It's 30% of the drama! The only one I can think which spent more time on the childhood versions was Ja Myung Go but at least there is was unintentional - it was going to be 13 out of 50, but then the drama got cut down to 39. And JMG had a great 'adult' cast. Casting and now pacing. I have no idea what they are thinking.

Thanks for the movie heads up. I need to track it down.

[cleobulle.livejournal.com]

When you say it in percents, it's sounds even more insane. It was bad enough when I thought the drama was 24 episodes but when I learned it was only 20.... I have to wonder if they know what they're doing.

From what I understand the book opens with the adult characters so I imagine any childhood stuff takes place in the form of flashbacks.

If my Korean was good enough, I would order the book and read it for myself to see how great the story is or is not. But I only know a few words and it still takes me ages to make them out. Maybe in two or three years...I've ordered the three Princess' Man novels to give me some incentive to learn more and finally be able to read them one day :o)

Regarding War of the Arrows, you'll find it here (along with subs):
http://myac.asia/k-movie-arrow-the-ultimate-weapon-2011/

Be sure to download the 720p version, it's worth it! I'm buying the blu-ray as soon as it comes out. It's so gorgeous.

If you want to see screencaps to have an idea of what it looks like, you can go here:
http://missnymeriafansub.over-blog.com/pages/Bow_War_of_the_Arrows-6056675.html

Don't pay attention to all the French. It's a page from my blog (I translated it as soon as I'd finished watching it. I loved it so much). The caps are relatively non-spoilery. They were all extracted from the first hour of the movie.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the links.

Yes, such a lengthy childhood portion makes absolutely zero sense.

Also, have you heard the rumors that Han Ga In might bolt?

[cleobulle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I saw that report on Soompi. But it seems her management company denied the rumor and said she will be doing the official poster shoot today.

I see that you've watched the trailer! It makes me want to bolt as well. IMO it was done in haste by cobbling pieces of the few scenes they've shot so far because they couldn't get away with not having a trailer 2 weeks from the premiere.

MBC is screwing this up so bad. They probably wanted to ride the SKKS wave but they're doing it all wrong. Promotion has been crap (as in, there hasn't been any!) and the shooting schedule is so messed up (from what I understand the adult cast won't start filming before the beginning of january!).

This being MBC, I can see it going the way of Tamra Island: bad promotion and an episode cut. There's no way the target audience for that drama will sit through 6 childhood episodes. It's aimed at a younger audience and they want to see the two male leads ASAP to be able to gush over them.

I hope people in Korean will express their dissatisfaction on message boards all over the place and that it might get the number of childhood eps down to 3 or four. That would be one of the times when doing live shoots would be an advantage. But maybe they're okay with it. I might ask on soompi if anyone knows what's the buzz about this drama in Korea.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I bet the ratings for this are going to suck - they always do for childhood portions of even the best-rated sageuks or period dramas (compare the ratings for childhood v. main portions in Queen Seon Deok, Baker King, East of Eden, Jumong, Yi San, Giant, etc). It's one thing for a 60+ ep drama to be OK with 'wasting' ratings of a first 6 eps to set the story, it's another for a 20 ep one. I think it's about average for a 24-ep drama to spend a bit under 4 eps for childhood stuff (see Tree with Deep Roots or Legend) but 6 eps out of 20 is way too much, especially since Moon is hardly aiming for the same audience as e.g., Giant or (to ue a shorter drama example) Tree with Deep Roots. Largely older (and almost entirely adult) audience might sit through kid stuff and, if not, still tune in for adult stuff later. Moon is trying to attract teenybopper and 20-something fangirls and I severely doubt they are in it for 6 eps of kids and by the time the adult cast shows up, their attention is going to be elsewhere. They should take heed from ja Myung Go, which was an excellent drama but spent 13 eps (33% of its running time, though originally the drama was supposed to be longer thus percentage would have been lower) on childhood stuff and never recovered in the ratings. And I think JMG is very underrated and excellent and with a seasoned veteran cast but there it was...

Plus, much as I enjoy sageuks both traditional and fusion, it's pretty clear by now that if you make a teen-oriented sageuk, your sageuk has a much greater chance that it's going to bomb. It may be excellent, like Tamra, or horrible like Chil Woo, but the risks are a LOT more prevalent. You'd think that would make them extra-cautious.

ETA: clariere frequents DCGall, the big hub for people discussing dramas in Korea, and she told me people there were appalled by casting incongruity. No idea what they think about ep distribution though.

[cleobulle.livejournal.com]

I agree 100% on what you said about "teen saeguks". That's what leaves me puzzled. It's been proven than too large a number of childhood eps can make a drama tank. MBC has had a couple of bad years rating-wise and clearly want to get to the top again. Why are they doing everything they can to shoot themselves in the foot?

Re-netizens in Korea, I actually asked if anybody knew what their feelings were on Soompi. Dramaok said that they were more appalled at the casting of Han Ga In than at the childhood eps. Speaking for herself, she said that such a casting actually made her look forward to a long childhood part even more.

HGI's agency have squashed the rumor of her pulling out but if koreans are that opposed to her, I could see MBC trying to give her the boot.

For mayself, I'm more angry at the 6 childhood eps than at HGI's casting which I could kind of see working against all odds. Make it a 24 eps drama and I'd be somewhat reconciled to it.

If it tanks I could see it becoming a 16 eps drama though and what a mess that would be!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, MBC loves to chop things so lol at 6 childhood eps in a 16 ep drama. I am just glad the actors I like (except for JIW) are staying away from this.