The Reputable Family - I am in love!
Jan. 4th, 2010 10:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieETA: Double-checked and this is apparently only 16 eps long. So you have no excuse!
Nobody is more surprised than me by how hard I have fallen for The Reputable Family. After two episodes, I am borderline obsessed.
I never thought this would be the case - I mean, the description sounded not my thing at all - a 50+ ep period saga about a merchant clan dedicated to charity? No, thank you. I only checked it out because my drama slate was so empty and because I adore Han Ga Eun, the female lead in this. I was sure I would scroll through the eps, decide it was not for me, and be done.
Instead, I am hooked, hooked, hooked!
Why?
* I got tired of period dramas centered around royals - they can be very good dramas (Legend is my favorite drama of all time) but after a while, one wants to see something else than court intrigue.
* The pace - so far it really has excellent pace - not so fast as to be incomprehensible but not draggy at all. Everything is fleshed out for the future but not dragged out - the steward's son's future resentment against Guksan's family, the love between the OTP, political turmoil, the fleeting nature of wealth - it's all started here in the childhood portions, and done very well.
* Balance of childhood/adult stuff - the first two episodes encapsulate all of the childhood stuff - it is just enough to build the backstory but it avoids the trap of having childhood portions go for too long, thus either making people bored while they wait for the main event, or creating such an attachment to children's characters that when grown-ups show, it's a disappointment. No, I adored child-versions of Dani and Guksan but I was glad to see Guksan's grown-up self and (in previews) Dani as a grown-up.
* Characters, characters, characters. I love them all but especially Dani and Guksan. Dani is a strong girl with a secret (she is a slave but clearly is someone from a noble family who is hiding this way otherwise she'd be executed for treason with the rest of her folks - Koreans seem to be strong believers in family discipline of that sort, ugh). And I utterly adore Guksan - do you know how rare it is to have a protagonist who is both good and unscrewed-up in a period drama? But that's the thing - Guksan is remarkably sane and a very good guy - he has flaws - temper, occasionally thoughtless, but he tries his best and, most importantly, he learns from his mistakes. I love. When his family lost all their money in the war, thus becoming noble only in name, you don't see him whine - he goes working like a laboroer to earn money for his mother's medicine. I totally love.
* The OTP potential is off the charts - she lives a false identity, they were childhood friends, he has no money etc etc. MMM.
* The preview for next ep promised me (a) Han ga Eun! (b) Guksan bound up for punishment (why so good to me, drama?) (c) OTP pining of UST.
* viikii subs are very good and very fast - they come out less than 24 hours after each ep.
* It's a long drama, yes, but it's currently airing which means two eps a week - and that's doable - after all, it's 2 eps a week whether it's a 16 ep drama or a 50+ ep one.
GO WATCH!
Nobody is more surprised than me by how hard I have fallen for The Reputable Family. After two episodes, I am borderline obsessed.
I never thought this would be the case - I mean, the description sounded not my thing at all - a 50+ ep period saga about a merchant clan dedicated to charity? No, thank you. I only checked it out because my drama slate was so empty and because I adore Han Ga Eun, the female lead in this. I was sure I would scroll through the eps, decide it was not for me, and be done.
Instead, I am hooked, hooked, hooked!
Why?
* I got tired of period dramas centered around royals - they can be very good dramas (Legend is my favorite drama of all time) but after a while, one wants to see something else than court intrigue.
* The pace - so far it really has excellent pace - not so fast as to be incomprehensible but not draggy at all. Everything is fleshed out for the future but not dragged out - the steward's son's future resentment against Guksan's family, the love between the OTP, political turmoil, the fleeting nature of wealth - it's all started here in the childhood portions, and done very well.
* Balance of childhood/adult stuff - the first two episodes encapsulate all of the childhood stuff - it is just enough to build the backstory but it avoids the trap of having childhood portions go for too long, thus either making people bored while they wait for the main event, or creating such an attachment to children's characters that when grown-ups show, it's a disappointment. No, I adored child-versions of Dani and Guksan but I was glad to see Guksan's grown-up self and (in previews) Dani as a grown-up.
* Characters, characters, characters. I love them all but especially Dani and Guksan. Dani is a strong girl with a secret (she is a slave but clearly is someone from a noble family who is hiding this way otherwise she'd be executed for treason with the rest of her folks - Koreans seem to be strong believers in family discipline of that sort, ugh). And I utterly adore Guksan - do you know how rare it is to have a protagonist who is both good and unscrewed-up in a period drama? But that's the thing - Guksan is remarkably sane and a very good guy - he has flaws - temper, occasionally thoughtless, but he tries his best and, most importantly, he learns from his mistakes. I love. When his family lost all their money in the war, thus becoming noble only in name, you don't see him whine - he goes working like a laboroer to earn money for his mother's medicine. I totally love.
* The OTP potential is off the charts - she lives a false identity, they were childhood friends, he has no money etc etc. MMM.
* The preview for next ep promised me (a) Han ga Eun! (b) Guksan bound up for punishment (why so good to me, drama?) (c) OTP pining of UST.
* viikii subs are very good and very fast - they come out less than 24 hours after each ep.
* It's a long drama, yes, but it's currently airing which means two eps a week - and that's doable - after all, it's 2 eps a week whether it's a 16 ep drama or a 50+ ep one.
GO WATCH!
