dangermousie | Iljimae ep 4: largest picspam you are likely to see...

Still in doubt as to whether to give Iljimae a chance?

Reason 1:

Reason 2:

Reason 3:

Iljimae gets awesomer and awesomer, as the episodes progress. EEE! Ep 4! Though if you think bad things happened to poor Ryung in ep 3, just you wait until ep 4. Is Lee Jun Ki trying to outdo the beatings and trauma his character had in TODAW? It’s a worthwhile effort.

My favorite scene? Hands-down the boxing match between the unknowing half-brothers for the life of fake!Daddy (UGH. Evil Jr. is the WORST). The angst! The shirtlessness! The angst! The concern of Eun Chae for her sexy, half-clad fake-half-brother! The angst! Ryung getting beaten half to death and having his past memories literally beaten into him! The angst! Evil Jr. smirking! Oh, did I mention the angst?

It reminded me a bit of the scene out of Karan Arjun, the Bollywood hit with Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan who play unknown brothers. The same unknowing siblings about to fight, and one of them is the cheerful one and the other the half-clad angsty one! And the mother being horrified (here she is actually watching). YUM. In KA, btw, the cheerful one ended up with the rich daughter of bad guy and the angsty one ended up with tomboy gal who followed him around. See, Injimae! You too can give both guys an OTP.

Of course, for me, Hong Gil Dong comparisons are inevitable. Both GD and Ryung start out as layabouts, but I think there is a huge difference between Ryung’s determined, boyish cheerfulness and GD’s bone-deep uncaring and cynicism. But of course, that makes sense. Not only is GD much older (Ryung is just a boy, really) so had more time to confront the realities of his life, but Ryung does not remember the traumatic events in his past, and all he knows are friends and a loving Dad (even if his mom is not nice). GD does remember horrible things in his past (like death of his Mom), but, more importantly, he has no loving and supporting people around him. His family is even more horrid than Shi Ho’s (at least SH’s fake sister loves him and the Dad is pushing him through if for no other reason than pride). For GD, when he meets Yi Nok at what? At least late 20s, she is the first person who shows caring and love for him. That makes quite a difference.

Anyway, I know Shi Ho will probably be Iljimae’s antagonist and I am all set for him to be another Ho Gae (Legend), the antagonist to the hero who is, nontheless, noble and awesome and whom I love.

OK, enough blabbing, caps.

Evil Jr. telling poor Ryung that if he doesn’t win, his Dad’s hands are toast. HATE.

Enjoying the dogfight (ugh) and telling his toadie wouldn’t it be entertaining if the dogs were brothers, fighting for their dad.

Shi Ho arranged to meet fake!Dad in an awesome scene.

YUM. Ryung and Shi Ho’s Daddy clearly had good genes.

Awwww.

Evil Mother. Seriously. I hate her. It really must be Noble Daddy’s genetics and fake!Daddy’s nurture that got both Ryung and Shi Ho so awesome because she is a witch.

He remembers.

Running away (and he is all beaten up) and begging her to take him back and she is all ‘who are you, I don’t know you.’ DIEDIEDIEDIEIHATEYOU.

Poor Ryung is practicing.

His opponent and the owner:

Poor guy:

Shi Ho practicing. That was so hot but hard to cap. But hot. HOT.

Push that stick further, Shi Ho.

Evil Jr. tells Shi Ho that if he wins the bare knuckle fight happening this night, he will spare fake!Daddy (notice he told Ryung the same thing). Btw, Shi Ho is a noble so it is totally demeaning for him to do that sort of lowest-of-the-low prizefighting thing. So yeah, he is evil and I hate him, dieeeeee, Evil Jr.!

Psyching himself up. Good luck!

Heee.

Off to see the match:

HATE:

NOT HATE:

The ring:

Evil Jr. wants to see half-brothers battle to the death (and they are half, only not in the way he thinks…he thinks Ryung is bio son of fake!Daddy and Evil!Mom, and Shi Ho the kid of Evil Sr. and Evil!Mom, but in reality of course, they are both half-brothers through noble!Daddy. Man, I need to do a family tree).

Start of match:

Eun Chae finds out about it and is horrified and rushes off to do something about it. I love her so much: ladylike AND capable.

Poor Ryung is terrified.

Eun Chae mistakes him for her brother and this awesome scene follows. I love EC and want her with Ryung!

'Girl! Voluntarily touching me!'

She finds out he isn't Shi Ho.

*smaaaaack*

They won't let her in.

Fighting and beating the big guy through smarts.

I took about a billion caps of the fight between the unknowing half-brothers for fake!Dad's non-maiming. It's pretty clear that Shi Ho is oodles better at this (I doubt Ryung ever fought other than a children's brawl since he lost his family at 7) but Ryung just can't give up and won't. And of course, the rules are that one has to declare he loses before time is out, and since Evil Jr. told them both they have to win or hands are toast, they are both all desperate and tyring hard and AWWWW. Of course, Evil Jr, sprung this additional match on poor Ryung at the last moment, after letting him hope it was all over. HATE. But I love that Shi Ho is all gentlemanly: giving a hands up to Ryang after knocking him down.

(side note: YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMM!)

Even Jun Ki is impressed. :P

Fight:

Ryung is having his suppressed memories beaten into him, basically.

HATE:

Awww.

Eun Chae is really pissed and tells Evil Jr. to stop picking on Shi Ho. His attempts to be snide roll off her. She is awesome.

Evil!Mom sees the two half-brothers batter each other. Permit me not to care about your emo, Evil!Mom. I love how ready she is to assume Ryung has gone there for gambling, she always thinks the worst. DIE.

He sees Evil!Mom and is thinking, bitterly, that she gave him away for him to be a noble and if she likes what he has become.

DIAF, please.

More fight:

Still looking at Evil!Mom:

Shi Ho is all 'I beg you to concede.' Ryung refuses and Shi Ho is all 'I am going to kill you otherwise.'

Even swindler girl is horrified by the beat-down:

Ryung is in the middle of being beaten to death and he is all 'I can't give up, that is the only way I can keep my father's hands!'

And Shi Ho takes off Ryung's mask and realizes who he is and what has been going on.

And collapses by Ryung:

Yes, there is a lot of staring.

And then Shi Ho smacks down his badge as a symbol of defeat, letting Ryung win!

I love them both. Fake!Daddy has awesome fake!sons, the both of them, and not in a sarcastic way Evil!Mom refers to them.

Eun Chae has waited outside all night for Shi Ho since they didn't let her go in.

Poor naive Ryung is off with his prize money to give to Evil Jr. Little does he know Evil Jr. already ordered Fake!Daddy's hands chopped off.

Meanwhile Eun Chae finds Shi Ho who seems to be (a)emo; (b) self-loathing: (c) super-hot:

And he walks away.

Burn, Evil!Mom. I love that he is not acknowledging you.

Poor Ryung is off with the money to Evil Jr., but the contract assassins are still out for him.

After chasing and stuff, he actually ends up rescuing head assassin (unknowingly saving the man who killed his father, just as Shi Ho unknowingly helped to ruin his father).

He gets rolled down a hill:

Rescued by swindlers:

He sees fake!Daddy is OK because EC blackmailed Evil Sr. Awww.

Evil!Mom is, of course, evil.

So young. Awww.

I love it when EC manipulated Evil Sr. (in a flashback):

Mmmm. Shi Ho is being treated. And he finds out fake!Daddy is OK thanks to EC. Btw, he reacts to her name the way a puppy does to a bone :P

'Do I have to disrobe again? Isn't it Jun Ki's turn?' ~~Yes yes yes yes please God yes.~~

Mrs. Evil.

Ryung finally remembers and heart-breaking scene follows as he asks old friend of father's and then returns to his familial house and sobs that he promised never to forget but he did.