Damo: episode 1
Mar. 13th, 2007 12:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieWhat is Damo? It’s like a wuxia-period-mystery-adventure-romance movie, only 14 hours long.
Damo, set in 16th century Korea, is a story of a ‘Lady Detective.’ The protagonist, Chae-Ok, is a detective with a Police Division. Well, actually, she is merely a ‘tea servant,’ a girl of the lower orders. But hey, very unofficially, she is also an integral part of the Bureau in investigative capacity as well. Mind you, that position is not because she is the special protégé of the precinct commander, the aristocrat Hwangbo Yoon (she is, she was his servant growing up), but because she is intelligent, quick on her feet, and a hell of an awesome fighter. Her latest assignment? To assist in busting a counterfeit ring. And what does the charismatic (read: HOT) rebel leader Sung-Baek have to do with it all anyway?
There are swordfights, doomed love, awesome period clothes, and production values to die for.
Damo is very very good. I do not think I will fall as emotionally, hurtfully in love with it as I did with Tree of Heaven (because ToH pushes every single one of my fiction kinks, even ones I didn’t know I had), but it’s awesome anyway.
We open in medias res. In fact, I thought that I put the wrong disk in. I think most of the story is a flashback from this moment actually: the impossibly gorgeous moment that hooked me. Chae-Ok and a man we will later learn is Sung-Baek, fighting to the death in the bamboo forest, wuxia style.
Chae-Ok asking why didn’t he kill her and Sung-Baek replying “I already did” is what really grabbed me. Whoever they are, whatever their relationship, it’s so intense. I don’t know if what they will have (or actually have had, since this is the end really) is romantic, but the chemistry is out of this world. And then finally, SB is surrounded, and he is so full of fatalism, and dignity and courage (not to mention he is hot) that I squee and am hooked on Damo forever. And the rows of soldiers part and Chae-Ok walks through, saying she would not forgive herself if she doesn’t kill him and there is fighting and staring and OMG! The chemistry! The angst!
I am afraid as of the start, I am a CO/SB shipper, sorry![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
meganbmoore (yes, I know why it can’t really be a ship, but whatever :P)
And…flashback.
Do you know what I love so much about this? The production values are out of this world. Kdramas are always the most sumptuous, the most beautiful dramas of the bunch, but this one really looks and feels like a movie: the costumes, the sets, the filming fluidity. It’s gorgeous.
I am struck by so many scenes: Chae-Ok defeating the murderer with a well-placed flap of heavy wet cloth. Sung-Baek, only the intent eyes and the rogue’s smile visible from under his hat (yes, I am a bit in love with him, why do you ask?), Hwangbo Yoon and Chae-Ok strolling under the falling petals. The elegant rim of the tea-cup. Most of all, the polo-like game in which the precincts compete against each other: it’s gorgeous, and brutal, and fluid and to die for. (Shin and Yul also play it in Goong, but in Goong, it’s a historical relic, something they are trained to do as Royals. In Damo, it’s contemporary, competitive, alive, like football or rugby).
I am also struck by the heroine! She is such an incredibly strong woman. If ‘heroine getting rescued by the hero’ is a standard (and beloved by me) trope in many dramas, in this one, Chae-Ok can beat up any evildoer herself, thank you very much.
She is a woman of reserved demeanor, and can serve tea as meekly as she is ‘supposed to,’ but she is not just an excellent fighter and a clever person, she is someone with a strong sense of social injustice which, in a society as stratified as this appears to be, ironically places her in closer sympathy with a rebel like Sung-Baek than the establishment. She has a temper and it can be a problem. Just watch her with the aristocrat who takes the place of a couple with a sick child, or earlier, at the ‘polo-type’ match, confronting the other captain. She does not know how to back down, even when prudent.
But she does have a weakness. A huge one. She does have something for which she will lose her composure and throw away her pride. And that something? Is Hwangbo Yoon. I don’t know if what she feels for him is romantic love or an affection of a sister. I know which way you go,meganbmoore, but I am not sure as of yet: she does have tons of chemistry/being drawn to SB, and I can buy her interaction with Hwangbo Yoon as sisterly (or not, time will tell). But whatever the type of love she feels, it really drives her.
When the brawl at the polo (yup, I’ll keep calling it polo until I find out what it’s called) grounds results in Hwangbo Yoon deciding to go and give his resignation as satisfaction to the other commander, the composed, proud Chae-Ok goes to beg the nasty bad commander guy. She is willing to put up with anything (she says), face any punishment (and the unspoken part of this is, just so all the punishment will be on her and not Hwangbo Yoon). When the Evil Bad Commander Guy (EBCG) tells her two of his officers broke their arms so he could break her arm but that’s not much of a trade-off for a warrior’s arm so how about he chops her arm off as a trade, does she think it fair? Even though she is crying and clearly freaking out, she stretches out her arm and holds it steadily.
But…but…but.
And that is the awesome part.
Hwangbo Yoon shows up! (Sidenote: I really like the actor. He is very masculine and looks awesome practicing with his sword shirtless. But I really wish he’d shave. That beard is off-putting a bit).
And the most AWESOME scene follows. We already got the sense that he is very protective of her (he was chewing her out earlier for placing herself in unnecessary danger during an earlier operation) but here is where we see how much he cares for her.
Because he offers anything to the EBCG to not do it (and puts up with some severe insults. The EBCG basically calls Chae-Ok his whore), and says that it’s his fault and he will do anything EBCG asks: if he asks he will resign and go far away. He even draws his sword!!! DUDE. But Chae-Ok is begging the EBCG to chop off her arm instead. Chill with the Gift of the Magi here, guys. Or not. I like it ;)
So EBCG is fed up with it all (and probably doesn’t want to fight Hwangbo Yoon to the death) and just cuts her arm. And then we get this awesome awesome scene where Hwangbo Yoon is binding her arm, and telling her to be careful, and telling her she is like a younger sister to him, but sorry, Commander, I really hope you wouldn’t look that way at your sister! And he touches her face really gently and awwwww.
Anyway, later, off she goes on the counterfeit mission and on the boat, where they both give up their seats to the couple with sick child and get aristo off the boat is when she first meets Sang-Baek. And there is instant chemistry and a moment of connection! I am not sure who to root for in this future triangle.
For now, I am tending towards sisterly feelings on her part to Hwangbo Yoon (though I think he might love her in a different fashion) and something more with Sung-Baek but we will see…
P.S. I am very unspoiled for this one because I only skimmed the previous posts by people about it which is fun!
Damo, set in 16th century Korea, is a story of a ‘Lady Detective.’ The protagonist, Chae-Ok, is a detective with a Police Division. Well, actually, she is merely a ‘tea servant,’ a girl of the lower orders. But hey, very unofficially, she is also an integral part of the Bureau in investigative capacity as well. Mind you, that position is not because she is the special protégé of the precinct commander, the aristocrat Hwangbo Yoon (she is, she was his servant growing up), but because she is intelligent, quick on her feet, and a hell of an awesome fighter. Her latest assignment? To assist in busting a counterfeit ring. And what does the charismatic (read: HOT) rebel leader Sung-Baek have to do with it all anyway?
There are swordfights, doomed love, awesome period clothes, and production values to die for.
Damo is very very good. I do not think I will fall as emotionally, hurtfully in love with it as I did with Tree of Heaven (because ToH pushes every single one of my fiction kinks, even ones I didn’t know I had), but it’s awesome anyway.
We open in medias res. In fact, I thought that I put the wrong disk in. I think most of the story is a flashback from this moment actually: the impossibly gorgeous moment that hooked me. Chae-Ok and a man we will later learn is Sung-Baek, fighting to the death in the bamboo forest, wuxia style.
Chae-Ok asking why didn’t he kill her and Sung-Baek replying “I already did” is what really grabbed me. Whoever they are, whatever their relationship, it’s so intense. I don’t know if what they will have (or actually have had, since this is the end really) is romantic, but the chemistry is out of this world. And then finally, SB is surrounded, and he is so full of fatalism, and dignity and courage (not to mention he is hot) that I squee and am hooked on Damo forever. And the rows of soldiers part and Chae-Ok walks through, saying she would not forgive herself if she doesn’t kill him and there is fighting and staring and OMG! The chemistry! The angst!
I am afraid as of the start, I am a CO/SB shipper, sorry
meganbmoore (yes, I know why it can’t really be a ship, but whatever :P)And…flashback.
Do you know what I love so much about this? The production values are out of this world. Kdramas are always the most sumptuous, the most beautiful dramas of the bunch, but this one really looks and feels like a movie: the costumes, the sets, the filming fluidity. It’s gorgeous.
I am struck by so many scenes: Chae-Ok defeating the murderer with a well-placed flap of heavy wet cloth. Sung-Baek, only the intent eyes and the rogue’s smile visible from under his hat (yes, I am a bit in love with him, why do you ask?), Hwangbo Yoon and Chae-Ok strolling under the falling petals. The elegant rim of the tea-cup. Most of all, the polo-like game in which the precincts compete against each other: it’s gorgeous, and brutal, and fluid and to die for. (Shin and Yul also play it in Goong, but in Goong, it’s a historical relic, something they are trained to do as Royals. In Damo, it’s contemporary, competitive, alive, like football or rugby).
I am also struck by the heroine! She is such an incredibly strong woman. If ‘heroine getting rescued by the hero’ is a standard (and beloved by me) trope in many dramas, in this one, Chae-Ok can beat up any evildoer herself, thank you very much.
She is a woman of reserved demeanor, and can serve tea as meekly as she is ‘supposed to,’ but she is not just an excellent fighter and a clever person, she is someone with a strong sense of social injustice which, in a society as stratified as this appears to be, ironically places her in closer sympathy with a rebel like Sung-Baek than the establishment. She has a temper and it can be a problem. Just watch her with the aristocrat who takes the place of a couple with a sick child, or earlier, at the ‘polo-type’ match, confronting the other captain. She does not know how to back down, even when prudent.
But she does have a weakness. A huge one. She does have something for which she will lose her composure and throw away her pride. And that something? Is Hwangbo Yoon. I don’t know if what she feels for him is romantic love or an affection of a sister. I know which way you go,
meganbmoore, but I am not sure as of yet: she does have tons of chemistry/being drawn to SB, and I can buy her interaction with Hwangbo Yoon as sisterly (or not, time will tell). But whatever the type of love she feels, it really drives her. When the brawl at the polo (yup, I’ll keep calling it polo until I find out what it’s called) grounds results in Hwangbo Yoon deciding to go and give his resignation as satisfaction to the other commander, the composed, proud Chae-Ok goes to beg the nasty bad commander guy. She is willing to put up with anything (she says), face any punishment (and the unspoken part of this is, just so all the punishment will be on her and not Hwangbo Yoon). When the Evil Bad Commander Guy (EBCG) tells her two of his officers broke their arms so he could break her arm but that’s not much of a trade-off for a warrior’s arm so how about he chops her arm off as a trade, does she think it fair? Even though she is crying and clearly freaking out, she stretches out her arm and holds it steadily.
But…but…but.
And that is the awesome part.
Hwangbo Yoon shows up! (Sidenote: I really like the actor. He is very masculine and looks awesome practicing with his sword shirtless. But I really wish he’d shave. That beard is off-putting a bit).
And the most AWESOME scene follows. We already got the sense that he is very protective of her (he was chewing her out earlier for placing herself in unnecessary danger during an earlier operation) but here is where we see how much he cares for her.
Because he offers anything to the EBCG to not do it (and puts up with some severe insults. The EBCG basically calls Chae-Ok his whore), and says that it’s his fault and he will do anything EBCG asks: if he asks he will resign and go far away. He even draws his sword!!! DUDE. But Chae-Ok is begging the EBCG to chop off her arm instead. Chill with the Gift of the Magi here, guys. Or not. I like it ;)
So EBCG is fed up with it all (and probably doesn’t want to fight Hwangbo Yoon to the death) and just cuts her arm. And then we get this awesome awesome scene where Hwangbo Yoon is binding her arm, and telling her to be careful, and telling her she is like a younger sister to him, but sorry, Commander, I really hope you wouldn’t look that way at your sister! And he touches her face really gently and awwwww.
Anyway, later, off she goes on the counterfeit mission and on the boat, where they both give up their seats to the couple with sick child and get aristo off the boat is when she first meets Sang-Baek. And there is instant chemistry and a moment of connection! I am not sure who to root for in this future triangle.
For now, I am tending towards sisterly feelings on her part to Hwangbo Yoon (though I think he might love her in a different fashion) and something more with Sung-Baek but we will see…
P.S. I am very unspoiled for this one because I only skimmed the previous posts by people about it which is fun!
