Six Flying Dragons

Photo credit: www.imdb.com

Six Flying Dragons turned out to be awesome. I have inhaled the 50 episodes and felt great that I was able to watch it at a legal platform with good subtitles.

The show tells a slice of Korean history, the time in which Joseon is founded (instead of Goryo) and its first few kings. This is a historical drama but with some action (surprisingly violent) and a smidgen or romance. It is mostly show to where the ideals lead depending on the actions of the owner of the ideals. The six dragons in the title is some of the main and side characters of the show. But the two real main characters are the ones in the above photo. One is Jeon Do Jeon (the architect of Joseon) and the other is Yi Bang Won (its third king??) acted by Kim Myung Min and Yoo Ah In respectively. This is amazing since I love both. They are among my favorite South Korean actors. Both are very talented and have a knack of acting just how the project requires. They are also very pleasing to my eye.

The other characters are a general, later the first King of Joseon, two warriors and a spy. Well of course there are many other spies, secret organisations, various types of scholars and warriors. The most interesting for me in this show is how out antagonist becomes one after being a protagonist for the majority of the show. (A similar thing happened at the only good Turkish show about Ottoman times "Soleiman The Magnificient").

There is very little romance and the main characters are driven by their ideals and political desires. A character whose death during the last few episodes had a wife and son that were never mentioned and I only know about them since I saw them at his funeral.

The women are given good roles as spies and warriors. They are smart, capable and driven even more than the men. Unfortunately they don't have enough screen time but still I liked it that they are presented like that even when they are in romantic scenes. They don't wait to be rescued, they rescue themselves.

There was a big glaring casting mishap and it is this guy

Photo credit: www.imdb.com

Byun Yo Han has a good on screen presence, very likable and I loved his character in Mr. Sunshine. However (or "Hauna" as they say in Korean sageuks) He just was not on par with the rest of the cast in this one. He just was not believable as the best swordsman. His acting skills were behind the rest of the cast and he is physically tinier. He has to stand on higher ground when talking to his love interest (tragic story that one and got many tears from me). At one very crucial scene he couldn't produce tears to save his life and it kind of jarred. He was better cast in Mr. Sunshine where he is not the warrior but the scholar and his range has widened a bit.

The main female lead is Shin Se Kyung, an actress I don't really like (ever since I have seen it in A Tree with Secret Roots??) but she was very good here. Despite not really caring for her, I appreciated that she was A LOT better actingwise than the first drama I have seen her in.

And now Yoo Ah In, for I feel like writing about him. Firstly I love the way he looks, he is not conventionally handsome I suppose (probably had a nose job too) but his looks are very very pleasing to my eye and more often than not I have found myself sighing at how handsome he looks. Furthermore he is a naturally talented actor who can act the way the project requires. This historical drama called for exagarration at some scenes, some melo and grander reactions and he supplied them all. I have watched him in a couple of episodes at an art drama called The Secret Affair (hope no intimate scenes in this one and it was really boring so I dnf'ed pretty early despite Yoo Ah In) his acting is subtle and minimal. I loved him in Veteran as the despicable villain. Also I think I have a fondness for actors with different eyelids (Song Kang Ho, Cha Seung Won, Yoo Ah In).