Although far from perfect, Lee Jun Ki does a brilliant job of a vengeful ninja out to get the bad guys. Of course he has an ulteriour motive (finding the man who murdered his dad) but the way he switches personalities is just..!
Whenever he's around the villagefolk, he keeps up the image of an unsuspecting simpleton. But what highly impressed me, was the gritty resolve in his eyes, when he let the mask slip in private.
Every death is likely to make you shed a tear, depending how emotionally invested you are. But within minutes, you'll be laughing or on the edge of your seat as the drama unfolds.
I also like how Iljimae isn't automatically good at martial arts. You see him struggling a lot, so by the time he IS good at it, you're cheering him on every step of the way.
I found Eun Chae (his romantic interest) a little wet around the ears and was glad the drama wasn't more romance based. She was too...perfect, if you get what I mean. Never a hair out of place. When she gets angry, she still manages to look serene. I dunno...
Watch it, if you haven't already. NOW.
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1- The directing is sooo bAd , no, it's more than Bad.
2- There r many loopholes.
3- I think that the director, writer and the crew forgot or messed up on something important ,it's with the
type of relationships exist in this drama, i won't determines exactly what i mean but when u watch
u'll find out ,, it's a horrible mistake that i didn't expect. i couldn't understand what they want to
deliveres us because they didn't justify or even try to explain to us what happening but they
continued as it was a normal.
4- Rapid and sudden development, for me i didn't find it a gradual.
5- There r some dispersion and distractions in some scenes.
6- The End .........I'll let you comment
Note: without those mistakes i'll give it 10/10 .
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The music was matching perfectly well with the drama and some of the songs even now, I can't stop listening to them.
In general is a drama I would watch again and again without being bored. It has everything that is required for a drama to be a masterpiece!
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Three things:
1. I love Lee Jun Ki
2. I love Robin Hood stories.
3. I hated this drama.
To put it simply: Painfully slow beginning, fairly interesting middle, boredom, decent ending.
Well, I don't know how many times I hit my head into the wall while watching this show and how easily I could think of the better ways of implementing the plot. The writer ruined it all for me, everything of it. I'm not saying the plot sucked that much but hey, it could have been so much better. I'm dying all over again while thinking how easily it could have been so much better T__T
Acting was good, I don't have much to complain about it but the story was just boring, everything about this show was painfully boring and the comedy relief was only temporary. Even the love part was disappointing, all of it. I feel like everything happened in slow motion.
If given a chance I would rather watch something else.
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The Story
A Robin Hood story will always be an awesome sight specially when set as a historical drama. When I watch historical dramas, I have this feeling that it is bound for a doomed ending. Iljimae is a character that I like really slowly during the drama. Well, it is difficult to like a hero who is a bum and as worse as thugs. The drama manage to make every single obstacle and heartbreak matter on how to turn Ryung into the Iljimae everyone admire. The hero is imperfect but his cause is for the people.
Sometimes, I do get confused with the flow of the story because I feel like I've been missing out on a few things caused by some inconsistencies. There were scenes that should have been during the night but suddenly becomes morning. That's just a small thing I noticed but I did get confused. Other than that, everything works for me.
The Cast
Lee Jun-ki will always be good in a sageuk. He really knows where he excels and totally loks good. It breaks my heart everytime I see him agonized. What a way to steal hearts. Though I like Jun-ki, I sometimes do hate how his character remain to be the easygoing and selfish. But that is his mask to protect his identity that I am painfully watching him act stupid.
The supporting cast is amazing because I get to care for each of them, though I really don't remember their names. Hehe. I mind how their fates are tied to Iljimae and keep on rooting for them to have a happy ending.
And, I wouldn't miss to mention how adorable Yoo Jin-goo and Kim Yoo-jung is as the young version of our leads. They are so cute that I'm pinching their cheeks while watching it. :) I want to watch Han Yoo-joo and Lee Jun-ki together again to live an alternate life that is sweet and breezy.
Rewatch Value
I don't mind watching it again. Though sageuks really are a bit of a challenge.
Overall
I'm not really fond of historical dramas but I always tune in to Lee Jun-ki's. This one did not magically enchant me to love it but I felt compelled to watch every single episode and invested on how he will achieve his goals as Iljimae while keeping the people he loves safe.
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This drama is very good. you will laugth and cry. Actors skill are excellent. Lee Joon Gi as usual.he is perfect. In this drama, i fall in love with Lee Moon Shik. What an amazing actor. Superb!
Please Watch it !!!
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I already watched The Return of Iljimae by Jung Il-woo (who I also admire so much), though the story is different, I still love both.
This series melts my heart and really made me much more in love with Joon Gi! Though there are scenes that are kind'a dragging, I still love every thing about this series.
I love it that the young Joon Gi and young Hyu Joo are played by Jin-goo and Yoo-jung which played the young antagonists in Moon Embracing the Sun (a series the I also loved so much - and they are so much younger here!), and the way the young and the adults acted are superb!
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My time and effort in watching this drama was not wasted. I didn't like historical dramas before and for sure I just watch this one because of the cast. But I did started opening my heart for historical dramas because of this one as well. The story is well written considering that it's not really romance-centric but more on the Melo plus thriller/action genre which I also like. Iljimae may be a 2008 drama, but one of the best historical dramas that is still worth watching even up this time.
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This review may contain spoilers
A really good sageuk for what it's worth
Glad i gave this a chance. Lee Joon Gi's phenomenal fighting scenes in this reminds me of Warrior Baek Dong Soo that i have just finished recently, but his acrobatic moves here is probably a notch higher because he's so agile and fast like a ninja, and the way he moves around and makes use of spaces in ep. 18 fighting scenes kinda gives me some Jackie Chan vibe. So so good!The story is well done for the most part. I really liked the twist at the end about the main culprit of it all, it has similar energy to main villain's plot twist in City Hunter, Time Between Dog and Wolf, and Cruel City. But the ending proved that Yong was the most un-ruthless revengeful person i have ever known, he turned his back from his enemies because he just can't bring himself to killing people, and ended up being sliced because his enemies are ruthless. In that sense it really made us question whether taking revenge is really worth all the pain and sufferings. But perhaps it's something that can't be helped too since regaining his memory proved to be too painful a price for him to bear.
If I have to explain my score, then it's due to some plot holes that makes the viewing experience not as smooth.
First, in the first half, often times the drama gives confusing flashbacks or snapshots between stage-i Iljimae who was already an expert burglar to someone who's still novice about stealing and breaking into noble's houses with tight security. Not once in the duration of the first half were we ever exposed to Yong's upbringing whether he was passed down the skills properly by his father who is a retired petty thief so to have to connect the dots by ourselves was quite a jump.
Second, it wasn't very obvious for how long stage-ii Iljimae trained with the Monk Master to sharpen his sword fighting skills. We could see that he became very fast and very advanced in the later fighting scenes with Ja Dol/Shi Hoo, so that part was quite a mess. It's unlike in Warrior Baek Dong Soo which made it clear that the ML trained for a solid 3 years with his swords master in the mountains which was more reasonable.
I don't really have any problems with the romance. The chemistry feels very muted and considering her parents, it was always meant to be forbidden love so I was able to enjoy it for what it was, and for how short-lived it is. Quite sad that Bong Soon is hinted to abandon her adopted father who she found out he was the one who killed her family, and because of that she also stayed away from Yong because he's remained close to his Monk Master.
Aside from all the support characters that i found really elevated this drama, Lee Joon Gi's phenomenal action scenes are making me contemplate to watch all of his sageuks, even the non-recommended ones LOL because I really do enjoy them. The man's talent is no joke.
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