Hearty Paws (Movie)

This Korean movie was unbelievably beautiful and sad. It was fascinating to watch and you really feel yourself attached to that adorable and loyal dog. You can feel for the characters when you watch this movie. I absolutely enjoyed this movie. Not to mention, the main lead (besides the dog) is played by Yoo Seung Ho when he was a bit younger!
To be honest, the dog in this movie was absolutely amazing. That dog can act and the real dog's name is Dolly. So it's probably a girl. But I think the character of Hearty (the dog) is actually a boy because a the subtitles often wrote "he" for Hearty.

Synopsis:
        The movie starts with a young boy named Chan Yi stealing a puppy in the middle of the night. He wanted to give it to his sister, So Yi, as a birthday present. So Yi wakes up to discover a puppy by her side and loves him a lot. She names him Ma Eum (which was translated as Hearty in English subtitles). They raise the dog till its fully grown. So Yi loved the dog a lot and treated it as if it was her own baby and she played a lot with the dog. Chan Yi also liked the dog as it continued to grow older. So Yi always talked of her mom, waiting for her mom to come back. Whenever Chan Yi went to school, So Yi would play dress-up with Hearty and then go to the bus stop to pick her brother up. The dog was extremely good-natured and clever. He was very much liked by So Yi and Chan Yi and he returned their love with loyalty.
        Chan Yi, a young boy, is looking after his little sister So Yi. Their mother had left them to find her own future and almost seemed to have abandoned these two children. She left them with the neighbors. However, the neighbors later on left these two children also because they got relocated to another place for work, leaving them with a little bit of money. Despite being alone, the two continue on in life. The brother takes care of his little sister well. So Yi, the little girl adores the back pack that her mother had bought her and never lets it go. She's also scared of the dark and refuses to wash her hair with her eyes closed. The two share a lot of adorable moments with one another. The little girl liked to draw pictures. They helped one another and took care of one another in their own ways. She would wait at the bus stop for her brother to come home from school and he would tease her about wetting the bed. She would often cry and call her brother a bird brain. They were happy in their own way with just one another and Hearty.
         Just when it felt like this small family was going to be happy. A sudden accident causes it all to change. It was in the winter when they decided to go sledding and to play on the pond (the pond had frozen over). However when Chan Yi told So Yi to wait for him while he went to go behind the bushes to do his business, the unexpected happened. A kite fell on a certain part of the pond and Hearty started barking at it.
         "No, he told me to wait," she said, not noticing what Hearty was barking at. Hearty ran to the kite and was trying to pick it up when the ice underneath him buckled and he went underwater. By now, we all know that So Yi absolutely adores the dog. Hearty is her best friend. As the dog struggled to come out of the icy water, So Yi began to edge closer and closer to where the dog was. Chan Yi looked up from where he was in the bushes and noticed So Yi edging to that huge puddle in the ice. She turned around and said, "Oppa." He immediately started running towards where she was telling her to stay put. But then the ice broke and So Yi went down into the water. He tried to run towards them to save her but the people watching over the pond stopped him, in fear that he might also go underwater like the girl had. In the water, the backpack came off of So Yi and floated to the surface. Hearty managed to crawl to the side of the ice and be safe. So Yi didn't and drowned, the entire time the brother trying to reach her but being restricted by the man who worried about Chan Yi's safety also. So Yi passed away, leaving Chan Yi and Hearty behind. Hearty, thinking that So Yi would return, waited at the bus stop for her. Chan Yi stayed at home, depressed. When Hearty went to the house, Chan Yi beat the poor dog calling Hearty a mutt and telling Hearty to leave the house.
          Chan Yi started carrying his little's sister back pack everywhere. The dog, still loyal as ever, began to follow Chan Yi around at a distance. Chan Yi decided to go find his mother and tell him about their situation and So Yi's death. Hearty was unable to go on the train with him and followed the entire way on the train tracks and using different tactics to get food. Chan Yi finds his mother but was greeted with a rather confused and annoyed mother. The mother didn't even know why he came "all of a sudden." It made him feel like a burden. He listened to his mother on the phone and heard her say, "I'm not taking him, okay?" Then at night, he saw his mother drinking and letting out deep sighs. This made him feel horrible to know that his mother didn't want him there. The next morning she says that she's going to America and won't be coming back. He was unable to tell his mother about what happened to So Yi and he left. He confided in So Yi's back pack which sort of represents her in a way. The entire time, Hearty was trying to get to Chan Yi and it was so touching how the dog wanted to be with Chan Yi.
           By himself, he meets two beggar children that were making up sob stories to earn money. They take him to their leader and he stays with them. He puts his sister's bag in a safe for the time being, but remembering that she was scared of the dark, he placed a light in the safe with her backpack. At that time Hearty managed to find the safe where So Yi's back pack was placed and stayed there all night, head leaned against the safe. Chan Yi starts to work with the other beggar children to get money in public transport. He makes friends with the girl that worked with him. Then Hearty found Chan Yi and started following him to where he was currently staying at. Hearty was mistreated at the place as the leader tried to turn him into a "real dog." It turned out the leader wasn't a nice guy and was using the kids to earn money. He would beat them if he felt like they earned less. The kids were all scared of the leader and after managing to escape, Chan Yi encounters the leader again. This time the leader is ready to get the kid and kill him. Hearty follows Chan Yi and takes care of him when he was sleeping in the subway station. Hearty used newspaper to cover him and managed to get a sandwich for Chan Yi. Hearty's eyes were also deteriorating (he had acute glaucoma). The dog can't see but continues to follow Chan Yi. Chan Yi feels bad and sorry for hurting the dog as he still loves the dog. Chan Yi wants to help Hearty by getting Hearty's eyes treated.
          However Chan Yi got weaker and weaker. Police officials finally find Chan Yi in the subway and take him to the police station. However the leader kidnaps Chan Yi and plans to kill him by drowning him. Hearty runs after the car for Chan Yi, trying to save Chan Yi, despite having a deteriorating eyesight. The bad guy tries to drown Chan  Yi by placing a hose in this container that continued to fill up. Hearty pulls away the hose but gets severely injured by the bad guy. Thankfully, Chan Yi is okay. Hearty is in pain but Chan Yi says that he wants to take Hearty home and let Hearty rest there. His mother, meanwhile, found out what happened to So Yi and went to their home to find Chan Yi. She realized how much they were suffering and went to go find Chan Yi and apologize. But Chan Yi is hateful towards her after suffering though so much.
          They go back to their home where Hearty continues to be in pain. One day Hearty urgently pulls on Chan Yi's jeans and Chan Yi realizes that Hearty wanted to go somewhere. Hearty wanted to go to the bus stop...to wait for So Yi. There Chan Yi tells Hearty that he stole him as a puppy, he told Hearty that he was sorry for being mean when he came to find him, he told Hearty that if he really missed So Yi, he can go find her. He also tells Hearty to remember all the good times the three had together.
           "I love you, Hearty," Chan Yi says and Hearty passes away to go find So Yi in heaven. He's heartbroken. After a while, his mother finally comes home to take on the role as a mother. As if a spirit was there, the picture that So Yi had drawn (that had fell underneath the desk) floated out and settled next to Chan Yi. The picture was a drawing of Chan Yi, So Yi, Hearty, and their mother all happy. The ending was sweet in its own way. This time instead of So Yi waiting at the bus stop with Hearty, it was Chan Yi waiting for So Yi at the bus stop. She gets off the bus. Chan Yi gets up and Hearty does too, energetically. The three of them run down the path as petals fly towards them. They are happy. And it ends with Chan Yi running forward and then stopping to look back. I guess it was way of showing that Chan Yi was going to always remember the happy memories the three of them had shared.

This movie is definitely heart-wrenching and it will bring you to tears, but I recommend it.

Heaven's Postman (Movie)

This is a Korean movie with Jaejoong and Han Hyo Joo acting as the main leads. I didn't expect it to have this sort of story line when I first saw the title. But I truly enjoyed this movie though I felt that it could've been longer and  I wished that the characters could've shared some more emotions and happy memories. However, I was satisfied with the movie because it was magnificent in its own way.

Synopsis: 
       Jae Joon is a mailman. He is not our typical mailman and he takes the letters that people write from this red mailbox in the middle of a grassy area. He delivers these letters from loved ones and friends to Heaven. Ha Na, a young girl, writes hateful letters to her deceased lover. She writes angrily towards him. Jae Joon talks to her and listens to her story. She talks angrily of how he was already with another woman when he dated her and she cried tears of sadness. She spoke of how he never really loved her. Jae Joon listened to her story and took the mail. She got curious of what he was doing with the mail and followed him around. She thought his job was to just read the mail and then help the loved ones that wrote the letter.
       She had asked him who he was and he had replied that he was an angel. She didn't take it literally, of course. They begin to hang out with one another as they help others deal with losing a friend or family member and also try to help them feel more comforted that their loved ones are in a better place. It begins a short romance between the two. He listens to her and loved her. He seemed to be very emotionless as she was going on an emotional rollercoaster. However, as she began to forget her deceased lover and start loving Jae Joon, she noticed that there were times where he would disappear. This scared her as she realized that he was fading away from her. He told her that it was because she had moved on and that only the people who didn't move on could see him. As he slowly started disappearing more often, this brings a lot of heartache to Ha Na and Jae Joon.
         The memories that she shared together slowly disappeared too.  She remembers them and he remembers them, but the pictures they took and the letters he wrote all changed. The letters disappeared and he disappeared from the pictures they took together. She continues to live her life. Jae Joon was actually involved in an accident that resulted in him in a coma. This was a reason why he was able to travel from the human world to the afterlife. He wakes up from his coma and meets Ha Na again and it was a beautiful beginning for those two again.

Jang Ok Jung Lives in Love

Episodes: 24 

           I have seen a lot of historical dramas dealing with the love story between Queen In Hyun-King Suk Jong-Jang Hee-Bin. Jang Hee-Bin is always portrayed as the evil character as that was how she was recorded in history. However, this drama gave us a whole new perspective of Jang Ok Jung and why history was written the way it was. It was absolutely amazing and it followed history also. The ending had me pouring buckets because it brought all the memories from the previous episodes all in a few sentences that the king said. It was absolutely perfect though it did get frustrating in the middle (because of what she was doing). No one actually knows what was going on between the women in the palace. Maybe Choi Dong Yi wasn't the quiet, sweet one but the scheming one. Who knows? So I really liked how this drama used all those "who knows?" and fit them in a perfect, realistic drama that followed how history was recorded.

Synopsis:

         The famous stories about Jang Hee-bin are going to have a twist of how everything came to be. In this drama series, Jang Ok Jung (Jang Hee-bin's name) loved fashion. She loved making clothes and she was skilled at it. Her mother was a slave and so she was often treated unfairly because of that. When she was younger, she had met the crown prince without knowing who he was. He liked her and said that by marrying her, she would be wearing the prettiest clothes. He said that he would be her clothes and help raise her status higher. However, trouble occurred in the palace and the young crown prince never fulfilled the promise and he never got to see Jang Ok Jung again. Jang Ok Jung also continued on with life thinking that the "young master" didn't fulfill his promise.

        They grow older and Jang Ok Jung has no intention of wanting any sort of power. She went through a lot. Her teacher died trying to save her in the fire and she's been going forward in life by making clothes and sending money to her mother. She encounters the crown prince a few times without knowing that he was the young master she met back as a child. She also thought that he was a military general because that was a lie that he told her. Prince Dongpyung, uncle of the crown prince, also came to like Jang Ok Jung. However Jang Ok Jung began having feelings for the "military general." 

         Jang Ok Jung enters the palace to help In Kyung get ready to be chosen as the wife of the crown prince. In Kyung is chosen but is not loved or favored. She's given the cold shoulder by the crown prince and then later on died due to small pox. When In Kyung died of small pox, the emperor felt extremely guilty as In Kyung truly didn't want power but just wanted to be loved. When the emperor dies, the crown prince becomes the emperor. He then marries In Hyun after the constant persuasion and pressure from his mother. He does not favor Queen In Hyun either, believing she wanted power more than anything. He continued to meet with Jang Ok Jung and she comes to find out that he is actually the emperor. She is favored by the emperor and she is made a concubine. She is still looked down upon considering that her mother is a slave and she's of low class.

           The emperor's mother detested Jang Ok Jung and tried to do whatever possible to pave out the path for Queen In Hyun. The emperor's mother even tried to feed her infertility medicine. Thankfully, Jang Ok Jung was very strong about it and she had the grandmother of the emperor to help her. Queen In Hyun's father also tried to get rid of Jang Ok  Jung and because of that, she wanted to gain power so that no one can do that to her ever again. She begins to become very power thirsty and would do anything to rise in power while still being in the emperor's favor. She manages to become queen and became very vicious in trying to hold on to that power. When she finally realized that this wasn't the way to go, she tried to change herself for the better. Queen In Hyun gets reinstated, bring Jang Ok Jung back to her original position. Jang Ok Jung plans to live her life normally while still protecting the love the emperor gives her. She went through many challenges brought to her by her uncle and her childhood friend who had a crush on her. She wanted to be a good mother to her son and to love the emperor with her whole heart.

              However, when her son gets small pox, her mother said to do an offering to help her son get better. At that time,  Queen In Hyun also became sick. Due to a misunderstanding, Jang Ok  Jung is under political attack again. The emperor tries to protect her as he knows the truth. However, Jang Ok Jung wanting to protect the emperor and his love, asked for her life to be taken. The emperor, reluctantly, does so and then plans for her to escape. However, she comes back to the palace and drinks the poison, to protect the emperor from any political attacks. And in the drama, the emperor made a promise to her that he would never let go of her hand. However, he was forced to and she wanted him to and he told her not to forgive him for letting go of her hand. He held her after she took the poison and it showed that with her death, he became very lonely also.

Personal thoughts: 

         In history she was shown as this power-thirsty and ruthless woman that would do everything possible to have power. But it shows that sometimes, there are more sides to a person. No one knows how Queen In Hyun was, how Jang Ok Jung was, or how Choi Dong Yi was. The records and writings about them could be biased as it was shown in the drama. So it was very interesting to see how Queen In  Hyun was portrayed as a very righteous queen but she was also very tough on keeping her position and also even tried to take away Jang Ok Jung's son for herself. Choi  Dong Yi was portrayed as scheming and sly as she tries to help Queen In Hyun and ruin Jang Ok Jung. Jang Ok Jung, in this drama has more sides than being the evil concubine and it shows that she also has a personality and it was a reason why she was favored. So it was a nice perspective to see compared to the other dramas about this love story.

        A lot of people had complained saying that Jang Ok Jung was not like how she was portrayed in history in the first few episodes, but who knows how history was recorded? Jang Ok Jung was under political attack often and they show how she was portrayed as evil when she did not have those intentions. I thought this was very well done and allowed the audience to be put in a different perspective than how we are usually put. Great drama and the ending truly made me have all these emotions and it truly was an amazing experience watching this story unravel. 

Gu Family Book

                                     

Episodes: 24 

I suppose most of you probably already watched this since it is pretty popular. However, if you haven't, this is definitely a must watch!  This drama brought a lot of feelings out and it sucked me into the story. It has a combination of humor, sadness, action, and it was also serious in some parts too. This was a beautiful and well-crafted drama series. I really hope that there is a second season of this. I feel like the producers might make a Gu Family Book 2 because the ending of the drama series seemed to lead on to something more.

         I started off watching this for fun. It started off with the parents and I didn't expect the love story between Mom and Dad to draw me in so quickly. Their relationship was so beautiful in its own way and I kept feeling these indescribable feelings about how their relationship and story could've been different. But its amazing how well they set everything to keep the audience intrigued. So let's get to the synopsis, shall we?

If you guys had followed dramagirlreview.tumblr.com, you will see the different pictures that I posted of the drama and how much I've watched. So some of the pictures are there. But I've put them in the synopsis also. 

Synopsis: 

           The story starts off with the parents. Yoon Seo Hwa is the daughter of a nobleman. Her father was unfairly accused of being a traitor and was killed. Her father was framed by a man named Jo Gwan Woong. Yoon Seo Hwa, her brother, Jung Yoon, and her maid Dam are sent to a gisaeng house. Yoon Seo Hwa was to work as a gisaeng. However, being born in a noble family, she refused to do so. She held on to her pride and dignity as a woman. She was stripped of her clothes and tied to a tree, without food or water, for several days. Gu Wol Ryung is a gumiho (also known as a nine-tailed fox). He is mythical creature and protects the forest. He watches Yoon Seo Hwa from a distance and wants to go free her from the tree. The monk that is friends with Wol Ryung told him not to interfere with human lives. He still plans on saving her but she was already taken inside from the tree. 

          Seohwa was taken inside the gisaeng house. After witnessing her brother being beaten almost to death, she agrees to be a gisaeng. They give her the gisaeng tattoo and do everything as planned. However, Yoon Seo Hwa faces the worst situation possible. The first person she is to "tend" to was Jo Gwan Woong, the man that had framed and killed her father. Jung Yoon, the brother, upon hearing this immediately asks the maid Dam to swap clothes with Seohwa. Dam agrees because she's a faithful and noble maid. Jung Yoon and Seohwa make their escape in the middle of the night. In the darkness, Jo Gwan Woong did not know it was Dam instead of Seohwa and raped her. Jung Yoon and Seohwa are in the forest and they split up to confuse the people chasing after them. Gwan Woong discovers that he was tricked and sends men to find Seo Hwa and to bring her back. 

            Wol Ryung notices something going on in the forest. Seohwa was about to commit suicide. However these blue lights appeared and in the moment, she dropped the hairpin she was going to use to stab herself, and faints right into  Wol Ryung's arms. Wol Ryung falls in love with her and protects her by using his powers. He brings Seohwa to where he lived (in this BEAUTIFUL cave) in the forest. Seohwa wakes up and over time she falls in love with Wol Ryung also because of his personality and the way he always tried to make her smile. She asked Wol  Ryung to find out what happened to her maid and her brother. Wol Ryung finds out that Dam had committed suicide and Jung Yoon was found and hanged. Wol Ryung, always wanting Seohwa to be happy, was unable to tell her the truth. He told her that they were able to run away and were safe and he never revealed that he was a gumiho. Wol Ryung and Seohwa get married. Wol Ryung decides to become a human in order to be with Seohwa forever. In order to become a human, he must live 100 days without showing his true form to a human and without taking a life (which means not eating meat in any form.) He must also help people when they ask for it. However, if he fails to do so, he will not become a human and will turn into a thousand-year demon. 

               Wol Ryung managed to do so for a long time. However, Gwan Woong's men find Seohwa in the forest and in order to protect her, he reveals his true form. Seohwa is horrified of what her husband is and leaves. She turns herself in and is shocked to hear that her brother and her maid are dead. In her anger, she leads the men to Wol Ryung's cave. He tells her that he truly loved her and asks why she did what she did. He gets killed by Dam Pyeong Joon, a righteous general, who killed only because he was told that there was a gumiho murdering innocent people. Seohwa then finds out that she is pregnant with  Wol Ryung's child and gives birth to a son. Her child wasn't a monster like she thought it was and she regretted betraying  Wol Ryung. She leaves the child in the monk friend's care and attempts to kill Jo Gwan Woong. However Seohwa was unable to kill him as Jo Gwan Woong was protected by soldiers and Seohwa was killed. This was the end of the parent's love story as it begins new with the baby boy. 

                                                             

             The monk, following Seohwa's wishes, was going to allow the baby to live with humans. Pretending that the infant had flowed with the river, the monk managed to convince the kind nobleman Park Mu Sol to adopt the boy. They name the boy Kang Chi and they decided to make Kang Chi the son of the Park Mu Sol's servant, Choi. Choi Kang Chi was raised as a part of the Park family and he brought a lot of good luck to Park Mu Sol. Lord Park adores him like his own son, his son Tae Seo treats Kang Chi as a brother, and his daughter, Chung Jo loves him even though she is to marry someone else. Lord Park's wife never really felt attached to him. Choi Kang Chi is said to bring good luck to Lord Park's family business (Hundred Year Inn) and is a good-hearted and loyal person. Choi Kang Chi also causes a lot of trouble at the same time. 

            Dam Yeo Wool, daughter of the general who had killed Wol Ryung, grows up to be a tomboy. She is beautiful but she is dressed as a boy. She walks around town with her friend (also a student under her father). Her friend, Gon, likes her. However she doesn't have feelings for him. Then she meets Kang Chi. She begins to feel something for him but for a while he thought that she was a boy. 

              However, Jo Gwan Woong returns to the village. He believed that Lord Park has hidden treasure inside the inn. Wanting power and wealth, he decides to take over the inn labeling Lord Park as a traitor also. Lord Park is killed to protect Kang Chi. Tae Seo, Lord Park's wife, and the servants are thrown into prison. Chung Jo is sent to the gisaeng house. It seems as though history is repeating itself. Chung Jo was reluctant to be a gisaeng also. Lord Park seeing how similar Chung Jo was to Seohwa also wants to sleep with Chung Jo. Chung Jo tries to do whatever possible to prevent that from happening. However, she is convinced by the head gisaeng, Chun Soo Ryun to survive by using her beauty and then gain revenge and power later on. With that, Chung Jo begins to train is a gisaeng before actually having "customers."  

            As guards started chasing after Kang Chi, Yeo Wool saves him. She remembers him from when they were little kids but he didn't as he thought Yeo Wool was a boy. During a fight, a soldier purposely slices the bracelet on Kang Chi's wrist. Jo Gwan Woong had believed that was where Kang Chi's power came from but instead it was to keep him in human form and to contain his powers. However with the bracelet gone,  Kang Chi turns into a gumiho. He refuses to accept the real him even though Yeo Wool is willing to help him. Even the girl that he loved, Chung Jo was scared of him. Yeo Wool was willing to accept him which managed to keep him in a human form even without the bracelet. The monk tells him his origins. 

            Choi Kang Chi had managed to break into the prison. He wanted to bring them all out but Lord Park's wife refused to leave and the servants refused to leave her side. So Kang Chi only took Tae Seo out of the prison and brought him to Dam Yeo Wool's home. When Tae Seo wakes up, the first thing he does is stab Kang Chi. Tae Seo had been brainwashed by Jo Gwan Woong's guard. However, Kang Chi is also a mythical creature and he manages to heal himself when they take the bracelet off. Unlike Seohwa, Yeo Wool is not frightened with the fact that Kang Chi is a mythical creature and stands by his side to protect and help him. Tae Seo begins to try to break the curse placed on him by the guard. 

            After many events, Kang Chi begins to stay at Dam Yeo Wool's father's school. He is trained physically and mentally to control his transformations. He is watched by Master Dam, Teacher Gong Dal, Gon, and Yeo Wool. However, they face more problems. Yeo Wool finds out that her father had killed Kang Chi's father and worried how Kang Chi would feel about this. They managed to overcome many problems and gained many friends and supporters. However, the unexpected happens, Wol Ryung is back. Only now he's the thousand year demon. He has no memories, he's evil, and the only way to defeat him is to be killed by his son. Then they find out that Seohwa didn't die then either. As the parents bring some problems, Wol Ryung begins to remember Seohwa. Seohwa, regretting that she had betrayed him, decides that she wants to save him from being a thousand year demon. She commits suicide for Wol Ryung to be back to normal and dies. Wol Ryung later on decided that he wanted to be where Seohwa is. With that over, Kang Chi and Yeo Wool face more problems dealing with their fate and Jo Gwan Woong's constant scheming. Kang Chi found out that if Yeo Wool continued to stay with him, her fate was that she'll die. He breaks up with her only to find out that she got kidnapped by Jo Gwan Woong's men. 

                They manage to find her and they go to confront Jo Gwan Woong to end his bad doings. However, Jo Gwan Woong had more schemes. He had his guard on the side with a rifle pointed at Kang Chi. Yeo Wool blocks the bullet. They take her home and they are told she only has a few days to live (as they weren't as advanced in medicine then). She dies and Kang Chi promises her that if they meet again, he'll recognize her first and love her first (since he didn't recognize her from when they were children since she was dressed as a boy). Instead of finding the Gu Family Book to turn into a human like he planned, he decided that he wanted to stay as a mythical creature and to be able to meet Yeo Wool again. A few hundred years later, in modern day, Kang Chi starts to find his friends who have reincarnated. And he sees Yeo Wool again, who doesn't remember him which made him keep to his promise of remembering and loving her first. 

GREAT DRAMA! Must watch! 

Chuno /The Slave Hunters

Chuno, also known as The Slave Hunters, is a historical drama series and was released in 2010. If you like dramas with a lot of action. This is the right drama for you. Plus there are quite a lot of brolic guys and a lot of fighting scenes and a love triangle. It was a bit frustrating at the beginning because the main lead, Dae Gil, was so close to finding the girl but couldn't. But this was actually a pretty good, action packed drama. It messed with my feelings so much towards the end because the guy that I was rooting for didn't end up with the girl. So, that basically messed with my feelings toward the end.

Episodes: 24

Synopsis:

This takes place during the Joseon dynasty. Before we start off with the story, it focuses on our main character Lee Dae Gil. Lee Dae Gil was a nobleman and he fell in love with a slave girl that worked for his family. He didn't care too much about her status and they had a lot of cute scenes together. The slave is called Un Nyun and is very beautiful. But they could not be together due to the differences in status and always had to keep their relationship hidden from Dae Gil's father. However, when Dae Gil's father found out about their relationship, he immediately put Un Nyun in restraints. In a desperate attempt to save Un Nyun, her brother burned down the house and ran off with Un Nyun. It was that night that Dae Gil's life changed. He had lost his parents, his home, his status, the woman he loved, and even received a scar on his face. 

       Un Nyun lived her life believing that Dae Gil had  passed away while Dae Gil spent ten years trying to look for Un Nyun. Dae Gil also changed from the kind, young master to a slave hunter. He wanted to take revenge for his parents and was known for his skill and ruthlessness as a slave hunter. He works with his two companions General Choi and Wang Son as they hunt for runaway slaves. General Choi is the serious type while Wang Son is the flirtatious and crazy kind. Dae Gil seems fierce as he captures all the runaway slaves but immediately says that he will let them go if they had seen the woman on the drawing. That woman on the drawing was clearly Un Nyun and it shows that throughout these years, his main goal was trying to find his love, Un Nyun. However, none of them knew the girl on the drawing and so the slave hunters brought them to the capital to turn over to an official for reward money. 

         Dae Gil appears to be ruthless and barbaric. However, it is soon revealed that he's still that kind master inside. He finds out that the mother and daughter that he had brought over to the capital were going to suffer a huge injustice. The poor girl was going to have to be made her master's bedmate. With that, Dae Gil breaks into the man's home and rescues the girl and her mother. He tells them to go to a certain mountain and you soon find out, as the story progresses, that he had been sending over a lot of slaves to a refuge on that mountain. Though he saved the mother and daughter, he did not save all the slaves that he had captured as he still needs to maintain his image as a slave hunter.         

            The next assignment for our boys is to capture a runaway slave named Song Tae Ha. Song Tae Ha ends up playing a huge role in this drama. Song Tae Ha is a skilled fighter and was a general in the military before. But then he was framed for theft and then made a slave. Tae Ha continued live thinking that he was a noble despite that he is already recognized as a slave. He hides the tattoo on his forehead, labeling him as a slave, with a bandana. Song Tae Ha is actually very different compared to Dae Gil in terms of the way they view things and what they think of society. 

As for Un Nyun, she had changed her name to Kim Hye Won. Her brother had managed to buy their way out of slavery and she was supposed to marry a noble but ran away from her marriage because she couldn't forget Dae Gil. On her own, she runs into problems and is saved by Song Tae Ha. Song Tae Ha offers her protection for as long as they are travelling the same direction. However, Song Tae Ha falls in love with her throughout the journey. Dae Gil, on the run after Song Tae Ha with his companions, believed that the woman with Song Tae Ha was his lost love. But his companions said he was probably imagining things like he always does.
        Though Un Nyun still thought and loved Dae Gil, she had believed that he had died. She gets married to Song Tae Ha and Dae Gil sees their marriage ceremony. This bring complications. First of all, the woman he loved so dearly was getting married to someone else. Second, that someone else was Song Tae Ha...and his mission was to capture and enslave Song Tae Ha. And if Dae Gil decides to let Song Tae Ha go for the sake of Un Nyun, he can expect his own death in failing to capture Song Tae Ha. He tells his companions that he's done with slave hunting and wants to enjoy life in the countryside. By doing this, it means he's in danger of getting killed by the minister who paid him to capture Song Tae Ha. Un Nyun sees him later on and is thankful that he is still alive even though they are now meeting as enemies instead of lovers being reunited. However, though Dae Gil spent ten years looking for her and staying faithful to their relationship, he could not bring himself to reveal the truth as Un Nyun was already married. He said everything that was opposite to how he felt. He spoke to her as a master would to their slave.
      Now as I mentioned earlier, though Song Tae Ha is now a slave, he still has the mindset of being a noble. He still thinks he is of a higher ranking and he feels that the class system is supposed to be the way it is. He did not know that his wife was once a slave. She has a burn mark on her chest from getting rid of the tattoo. He believed that she was a noble all her life and that that her name was Hye Won. But now he knows that there is more to her story than that. The story continues as they are currently protecting the young prince from danger. Hwang Chulwong continues to follow their tale, torture them, and also attempted to kill Dae Gil's comrades. Chulwong does not understand why Dae Gil will try to protect Song Tae Ha but Dae Gil continues to hold his place. However after listening to Dae Gil, he realized what a horrible person he was and regretted the way he treated his wife and the way he acted. Towards the end, as they fight, Dae Gil allows Song Tae Ha and Un Nyun to escape first. He keeps his place and continued to fight numerous soldiers and resulting in his own downfall. Towards the end, he wishes Un Nyun a happy life with Song Tae Ha and calls her his beloved.

This drama doesn't just revolve around their love triangle and the troubles they faced. It also revolved around a group of slaves that are plotting rebellion. They begin assassinating selected nobles chosen by their mysterious. They gained more weapons which helped. It showed what it is like for slaves who are treated so cruelly. This subplot was also extremely fascinating to watch alongside with our main story with Un Nyun, Dae Gil, and Tae Ha.

House of Flying Daggers (Movie)

This was a beautiful movie with great cinematography. It is a Chinese film and can be found online with English subtitles.  It had a lot of action and interesting love line. The actors playing the main leads are Zhang Zi Yi, Takeshi Kaneshiro, and Andy Lau. These actors prepared a lot for this action film.

Synopsis: 
     The House of Flying Daggers is a rebel group that had formed during the decline of the Tang Dynasty. The House of Flying Daggers is the largest rebel group and they steal from the rich and give to the poor. The authorities had managed to kill the leader of the Flying Daggers but the rebel group is still strong under a new and mysterious leader. Jin and Liu are two police captains that are ordered to find out and kill the new leader. At a brothel, Jin and Liu meet a blind girl named Mei. She's skilled in dance and has great martial skills. As she tried to assassinate Liu, she was arrested as they suspected that she was part of the House of Flying Daggers.
       They suspected that she was the daughter of the old leader. So  Jin and Liu decide to let Mei go in hopes of finding the new leader. Jin pretends to help her break out of prison and protect her. They hope that this would gain her trust. The plan works out. Liu was following behind them and pretended to ambush them. It was all a fake act. Over time, Jin and Mei fall in love. However they were attacked again, only it was real this time. It wasn't by Liu's men. However, when they were outnumbered, the House of Flying Daggers reveal themselves. They capture Jin and Liu and they are taken to the headquarters. They find out the truth of what was going on. Mei was not blind and she was not the daughter of the old leader. Liu was actually an undercover agent for the House of Flying Daggers. Liu was also in love with Mei and had waited three years for her. Mei, however, did not like Liu and had fallen in love with Jin. She was supposed to kill him but she lets him run away.
            Then it began a love battle between Jin and Liu. Liu was bitter with jealousy that he was rejected and ambushed Mei and started a battle with Jin. This ending was very sad and touching. This was a very good movie and I felt that some scenes were extremely awesome, like the Echo Game...like they did at the start of the film. It was very enjoyable. It was action packed and absolutely breathtaking.