I watched this drama for both Song Il Guk & Choi Soo Jong and I was pleased with both of their acting. The story however was a bit slow and they drug out certain scenes that could have went by much faster (I think a lot of old historical dramas are like this) - so during the last half of the show I set it on speed & watched it in double time lol - honestly I liked it more that way :) I liked Goong Bok & Yon's deep friendship and how they'd risk anything for each other ^^ They were like blood-brothers. The relationship between Goong Bok & Yum Moon was strained at best, they were friends but enemies at the same time, more friends in the beginning & more enemies toward the end. I constantly found myself struggling between like and hate of Yum Moon's character. I pitied him at times, loved him at times and hated him at times... It seemed like the characters would go through the same exact things in a hundred different ways throughout the drama. Goong Bok & Yon were born slaves and lived most of their lives as slaves, they ended up meeting the right "master" and started climbing ranks and eventually succeeded in business & became powerful influences who strived to make all statuses equal, were not greedy for power & gained respect from people who liked that and made several enemies b/c of it too. Madam Jami was the worst I think - I really hated that woman (besides not really liking the actress & her horrible hairstyles all the time). I think I liked it most when Goong Bok was high enough in status & he started attacking the pirates (I think it's from episode 30 something plus). And then we have the girl that both men loved - One whom she loved and one whom she cared for but didn't love. Her fate is actually really sad and depressing - I wouldn't want to be her. I know she loved GB but honestly I was wanting her to be with YM so she could take him out of who he was under, then YM could have lived an entirely different life. I shipped GB with Chae Ryeong. The OST was the best thing in the drama I think ^^ My favorite song is "Leaving You" by Kim Bum Soo (ost 2) & then "Prayer" by Yi Hyeon Seop (ost 5) // other songs that were good but didn't catch my attention: "Love Like the Wind" by Moon Myung Jin (ost 6) and "Tears" by Kim Bum Soo (ost 9) It was good for a one-time watch but I won't watch it again.