youfeng_yard
This review may contain spoilers
One of the K-Dramas that truly stood the test of time
Re-watched Jewel in the Palace so I thought it would be good to review it properly. I'll try to review it both in the context of the time it was released (2003) and how it appears now.
*Story*
This is a 54-episode show that starts before Jang Geum is born, focusing on Myeong Yi, her mother for the first episode. Then we follow Jang Geum through her life as she becomes a court lady at the palace, goes through trials and tribulations, gets exiled to Jeju and learns medical arts, returns to the palace as a nurse to get revenge and eventually becomes the king's main physician.
The story was good back then and surprisingly stands strong even today. The characters are well-written and the storylines are compelling. The court lady arc was my favourite as a child and I still thoroughly enjoy it today. I appreciate the fact that they allowed some of the villainous characters to be well-developed as well. Particularly Geum Young, how her relationship with Jang Geum changed over time, how she attempted to stay true to herself while struggling with her obligations to her family, I found her one of the best characters on the show. While most of the other villains like Choi PanSul and Minister Oh came off slightly one dimensional, I found Lady Choi to be quite well written as well, despite being cartoon-ishly evil at some points, particularly when she allowed Min Jeong Ho to go free once she found out Geum Young was in love with him.
One of my main issues is the fact that they don't let us linger on a satisfactorily resolved arc for too long. After many episodes of angst, when we get a happy moment it hardly lasts for 5 minutes before they throw us into the new arc. While I understand they had a lot of story to get through, I feel like they should have given some of the positive moments time to breathe. Everytime I watch the show, I can't help but think it would be nice if it ended once she fulfilled her mother's dream of becoming the First Court Lady of the Kitchen because I found that the most satisfactory ending. However, I understand the latter arcs were needed for her to reach the "Dae Jang Geum" status. The drama didn't fall into the typical trope of the main character making the same mistakes for the sake of the storyline, but I found that it happened with the side characters quite often (especially her fellow Royal Hospital nurses). There was a timeskip that was necessary but I didn't like the vagueness of its length and the fact that the ML was kept away for that time period, but the overall ending was still satisfactory and I liked that we saw Jang Geum living a similar life to her parents!
*Acting/Cast*
Loved it so much, even the child actors did really well. I was surprised to find out the child Geum Young was played by Lee Seyoung but she did really well even in this role. Lee Young Ae was incredible as always, I feel like I didn't realise how good she was at acting before because of how beautiful she is but she was so good with all the emotional scenes. The ML actor, Ji Jin Hee wasn't as good and there were parts that he felt a bit wooden but he did good at acting smitten so I can't be too mad. Overall, just an acting masterclass I was impressed.
*Music*
Gave 10/10. Am I biased? Yes, very much so. The nostalgia I get every time I listen to Onara is no joke...
*Rewatch Value*
Again, 10/10. I mean this genuinely, I rewatch this show nearly every year. No matter how much I watch, I still haven't got tired of it. The 54-episode length means that some of the details might slip your memory and you might forget some of the minor arcs, so its fun to rewatch and rediscover those sections.
*Overall*
Really really great show. If you haven't watched it before, I recommend you do. If you're considering rewatching it, I'd say go ahead, you won't regret it. I'll likely watch this next year as well! Every time I visit my childhood shows, I find myself wishing I left it in the past but this isn't one of them. Despite all the minor issues, Dae Jang Geum truly is one of my favourite dramas of all time and I hope more people watch it and appreciate it.
*Story*
This is a 54-episode show that starts before Jang Geum is born, focusing on Myeong Yi, her mother for the first episode. Then we follow Jang Geum through her life as she becomes a court lady at the palace, goes through trials and tribulations, gets exiled to Jeju and learns medical arts, returns to the palace as a nurse to get revenge and eventually becomes the king's main physician.
The story was good back then and surprisingly stands strong even today. The characters are well-written and the storylines are compelling. The court lady arc was my favourite as a child and I still thoroughly enjoy it today. I appreciate the fact that they allowed some of the villainous characters to be well-developed as well. Particularly Geum Young, how her relationship with Jang Geum changed over time, how she attempted to stay true to herself while struggling with her obligations to her family, I found her one of the best characters on the show. While most of the other villains like Choi PanSul and Minister Oh came off slightly one dimensional, I found Lady Choi to be quite well written as well, despite being cartoon-ishly evil at some points, particularly when she allowed Min Jeong Ho to go free once she found out Geum Young was in love with him.
One of my main issues is the fact that they don't let us linger on a satisfactorily resolved arc for too long. After many episodes of angst, when we get a happy moment it hardly lasts for 5 minutes before they throw us into the new arc. While I understand they had a lot of story to get through, I feel like they should have given some of the positive moments time to breathe. Everytime I watch the show, I can't help but think it would be nice if it ended once she fulfilled her mother's dream of becoming the First Court Lady of the Kitchen because I found that the most satisfactory ending. However, I understand the latter arcs were needed for her to reach the "Dae Jang Geum" status. The drama didn't fall into the typical trope of the main character making the same mistakes for the sake of the storyline, but I found that it happened with the side characters quite often (especially her fellow Royal Hospital nurses). There was a timeskip that was necessary but I didn't like the vagueness of its length and the fact that the ML was kept away for that time period, but the overall ending was still satisfactory and I liked that we saw Jang Geum living a similar life to her parents!
*Acting/Cast*
Loved it so much, even the child actors did really well. I was surprised to find out the child Geum Young was played by Lee Seyoung but she did really well even in this role. Lee Young Ae was incredible as always, I feel like I didn't realise how good she was at acting before because of how beautiful she is but she was so good with all the emotional scenes. The ML actor, Ji Jin Hee wasn't as good and there were parts that he felt a bit wooden but he did good at acting smitten so I can't be too mad. Overall, just an acting masterclass I was impressed.
*Music*
Gave 10/10. Am I biased? Yes, very much so. The nostalgia I get every time I listen to Onara is no joke...
*Rewatch Value*
Again, 10/10. I mean this genuinely, I rewatch this show nearly every year. No matter how much I watch, I still haven't got tired of it. The 54-episode length means that some of the details might slip your memory and you might forget some of the minor arcs, so its fun to rewatch and rediscover those sections.
*Overall*
Really really great show. If you haven't watched it before, I recommend you do. If you're considering rewatching it, I'd say go ahead, you won't regret it. I'll likely watch this next year as well! Every time I visit my childhood shows, I find myself wishing I left it in the past but this isn't one of them. Despite all the minor issues, Dae Jang Geum truly is one of my favourite dramas of all time and I hope more people watch it and appreciate it.
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