Lately, I been on a historical drama (Sageuk) kick. After watching some period dramas, I decided to give Great Queen Seon Deok a go. I wasn’t quite sure but I wanted to watch some dramas set in the Shilla Dynasty. I just finished two dramas set during the Paekche Empire so I thought it was appropriate for me to give this one a try.

The thing that left an impression on me were the fighting sequences. The people that worked on this show seemed to focus on the action-y stuff a lot. Seeing different sections of Hwarang ( flower boys) was an added bonus.

The thing that made me stay and watch the show from start to finish was it had everything I was looking for in a historical flick. From nice ancient architecture, beautiful period wardrobes, lovely props of that era,insane but scary main villain, to gorgeous hwarang boys were some of the attraction that kept me coming back for more. And that’s just an icing on the cake. The only thing that made me frown was certain historical inaccuracies but I learned over the years that I can’t take these shows too seriously since it won’t be a perfect replicant of real history. However, I can’t help myself since I am a history buff and all.

I would like to talk a little bit about the premise or a short synopsis of the story to give you a general gist of what this drama is about. There is this girl named Deokman (Lee Yo Won) that grew up as an orphan in a land that was far away from where she was born but one day she became curious about  her real identity so she left the place where she was raised and goes onto travelling to find her true self. Along the way she met a few people that would be helping her with her endeavors that could change the coarse of history People like: Kim Yoo Shin (Uhm Tae Woong), Juk Bang (Lee Moon Shik), Go Do (Ryu Dam), Princess Cheon Myung (Park Ye Jin) join forces with Deokman and Later on her nephew Kim Chun Chu gets added into the crew along with others that are there to  help her get important matters taken care of regarding the country. However, Deokman’s archnemesis Mishil (Go Hyun Jung)  and her crew gets in the way. Bidam (Kim Nam Gil) falls for this  young charismatic woman but is he really what he seems to be and will be joining hands with Deokman to make change?

This show is loosely based on the real historical figure of Shilla Dynasty and it’s set during the early to mid 7th century. Deokman (Lee Yo Won) is a very peppy and brave character. She is boyish and has had a rough childhood. There are a lot of things about her life that hasn’t been revealed so she goes on for a quest to find out who she really is. In the process of finding her true identity she goes through some shocking events that leads to a lot of excitement and also danger.  Deokman goes through a series of changes throughout the show. She starts out as someone that’s fearless and would have nothing get in her way, however, after meeting certain people in her life along the way, her personality changes a bit by bit and this makes her yearn for the past as she grows older.

I think the villain of this show really shined, even though there were moments where I was a little disgusted by her. Mishil( Go Hyun Jung) is another psychopath that i ran into in these Sageuk flicks. I remember in Emperor’s daughter Soo Baek Hyang  there was another sociopathic character just like this one  in this show there was one in the likes of a character called Soo Baek Hyang  too. However, unlike Soo Baek Hyang, Mishil was smart,cunning,and a brilliant political mastermind.I felt that Mishil was a borderline sociopath but an upgraded one. The  thing that makes her more scary than any typical  villain is the fact that she talks to you calmly and nicely. However, she has her own agendas she needs to fulfill and she will get it done in  any way she is able to, while sacrificing those around her.

I also  really enjoyed Mishil going head on head with the people that were  fighting against her. Mishil was a good villain because you really couldn’t  help but to despise her but at the same time compliment her intelligence, although there were moments where you actually pity her a bit. Mishil was charismatic and she was full of charm. With this kind of aura, she was able to become a“people magnet.” Also,  Mishil had a whole bunch of people under her and she was able to control them at her will.

Sejong (Dokgo Young Jae) and Seolwon (Jeon No Min) were two loyal men that Mishil possessed. This woman was  a sexual prowess of her era. Through her stunning beauty she was able to move men and she was also  able to control them for her benefits. Obviously, both Seolwon and Sejong loved Mishil in their own little ways but it’s really hard to cage an ambitious woman like her. It seemed like it was possible for a lady like Mishil to fall in love but I think that only happened once, when she was a young woman when she was once in love.  Mishil used her stunning beauty to get these men to totally submit to her in every way for the most part. I am not so sure if Mishil really loved Seolwon and Sejong. I want to say that she did somewhat care about them but it’s hard to say that she actually loved these men. She probably manipulated these guys to fulfill her own wild ambitions. I kind of felt bad for these guys because, obviously, they really did love Mishil. This applies more to Seolwon more than Sejong. Sejong loved Mishil no doubt but I felt like there was more of an ulterior motive with Sejong than Seolwon. Mishil even said something that hints at this towards the beginning of the show, she mentions about  how a lot of people want something from her. So at the end of the day, maybe, Sejong is no different. Some want to get into these relationships so they can move up the ladder while some want to get higher positions so they can obtain the woman they love. I think Seolwon should be under the latter statement and perhaps Sejong is probably the earlier.

Kim Yoo Shin (Um Tae Woong) could come off as someone that’s a bit foolish but he was very dependable and trustworthy. I really liked his genuine personality, despite how foolish he could be at times. He was the type of person that even Mishil would want by her side because of his complete loyalty for the most part. Kim Yoo Shin was the captain for one of the Hwarang groups; he was responsible for YONGHWA HYANGDO. He had a handful of men under him and  he was the type that can be a bit inflexible. Because of this, the guys could be a little grumpy at times but later on they grew to have a lot of respect for him since he was a man with integrity.

Bidam (Kim Nam Kil) was a multilayered character. I enjoyed him because he was kind of hard to figure out. Although, I was a little frustrated because I wasn’t sure what he was about, at least on the surface anyways. However, the more I thought about it he seemed like an interesting character since he was hard to figure out. He was very complicated but that made the character more intriguing. He was Yoo Shin’s rival but at the beginning it was kinda of hard tell who’s side he was really one and this made me constantly playing guessing games.

My eyes were festive because there were so many handsome men. I really enjoyed feasting over our young Kim Chun Chu (Yoo Seung Ho) and also most of the 10Hwarang men got my eyes so perked up. Right now, I will talk a little bit about Chun Chu.

Kim Chun Chu comes off a like a dumb kid but he had more up his sleeves than one would think. When I barely got acquainted with him I thought he was kind of an airhead child but  I was so wrong about this. Yoo Seung Ho’s role as Kim Chun Chu made me a fangirl of him without realizing it. I have seen Yoo Seung Ho do his thing in other dramas, while I was fangirling over other people but I had no idea that I would become such a die hard fangirl for this boy.

I also accepted the fact that he was a very cute guy in the past but this very show just got me so smittened for this fine actor. I need to mention that Yoo Seung Ho was only 16 years old when he took this role for Kim Chun Chu and he really looked fabulous  in the traditional garments  of the Shilla Empire as well. I really was surprised when Kim Chun Chu was a good strategist when it came to being on the political stage. He was young but he was very charismatic and knew how to move people. However, he was able to do such things by being cunning. He had a different ways of being witty than Mishil but similar at the same time. Kim Chun Chu was all about looking a bit ditsy and also making people think that he is being dragged along but he is the on that’s  calculating everyone’s move while the others are thinking that they got him in a net.

I would like to talk about the 10  Hwarang boys now. They were certainly an eye candy for me and some of were able to convince me that they could  really fight. My favorite Hwarang boys were Alchun (Lee Seung Hyo), Im Jeong (Kang Ji Hoo) and Dae Nam Bo (Ryu Sang Wook). Alchun, I liked because he was pretty much Yooshin’s loyal sidekick. Im Jeong and Dae Nam Bo were really good looking but sadly they didn’t have a whole of scenes. Dae Nam Bo gets bossed around by his father and gets treated like some idiotic kid and I felt bad that he had to go through that. I had a small wish that Dae Nam Bo could switch sides and be a part of Kim Yoo Shin’s group. Im Jong didn’t seem to have too much significance but I guess it’s enough for him to just look cute and be in the action sequences.

The side characters were fun. I had fun with Jukbang (Lee Moon Shik) and Godo (Ryu Dam). Historical flicks can be so heavy that they do need side characters that can make you chuckle here and there. Jukbang was a very witty character that can pretty much think on his feet and Godo was this  big dude that was very strong in a physical sense. There were other side characters but came off a bit annoying to me at times. The man that played Mishil’s younger brother, Misaeng (Jeong Woong In) is one of those annoying characters. This guy gets typecast into playing a slimy weasel with an irritating laughing sounds. Another guy that was just as annoying but amusing was Yeom Jong (Eum Hyo Seop). This guy laughed in such goofy ways that even Bidam got irritated by it.

I was able to tell that a decent amount of money went into this project. A lot of historical dramas get pumped out every year but a lot of them feel incomplete or even half-assed. But with this drama, it’s easy to tell that the production value seemed rather high than other historical flicks

. One of the things that stuck out to me like a sore thumb was the music. This is pretty unusual for a Korean Drama since they tend to use the repetitious music for their OST (Original Soundtrack). I understand this sentiment because  they have a very low budget in making these shows, which is besides the point. I really loved Mishil’s theme. It’s like a xylophone music that’s very creepy and eerie. This theme was perfect for Mishil since she is a very eerie  character.

I have so many favorite characters in this show. Law of averages I guess, since there are so many characters in Great Queen Seondeok. Historical dramas usually have a lot of characters. I watched Emperor’s daughter Soo Baek Hyang and I thought that show had a lot of characters but I think this show has even more or at least it feels that way. Maybe it’s because of the Hwarang Boys that makes this drama seem so full. I have a handful of characters that I really like here. Empress Seon Deok,Bidam,Kim Chun Chu,Jukbang,Kim Yu Shin,Al Cheon,and Mishil. I liked Empress Seon Deok because for one she is a woman and was able to get up there while experiencing all kinds of hardship. You can’t help but to root for someone that wants to go for it despite the fact she’s living in a man’s world and also in Mishil’s world. Mishil is Seon Deok’s archnemesis and Both of them are charismatic,charming and intelligent to have men surrender to them despite the fact that they are living in a man’s world. This is the reason why I like them a lot. Yu Shin and Alcheon are really loyal to the person that they are supporting while they also rely on each other, although, it wasn’t always like that from the get go. Jukbang is a character that you really need in a show like this. Like I mentioned earlier historical shows usually need a handful of funny characters and this man got the job done for sure. He is very witty,can think on his feet and he is also an idea maker. He is able to come up with ideas on the fly so this helps a lot to those around him. Bidam is such a complex character and this is why I think he is the most interesting character of them all. You don’t know what’s really going through  his head. He is bit of a tragic character for sure but a lot of the times it’s hard to tell what he is really thinking. He might be smiling but who knows what’s really on his mind. Last but not least Kim Chun Chu. He is so adorable and now that I think about it I don’t think there is no other guy that can play him other than Yoo Seung Ho. Yoo Seung Ho as Kim Chun Chu made me a fan, it really suits him. Kim Chun Chu is a cute young man and is an adorable  prince but then he comes off like a ditsy kid. I love his little banter with Jukbang where he has to explain things to him many times for him to get it. However, you realize later on that he is actually a brilliant strategist. Without realizing it, I was fangirling over Chun Chu.

The thing that was very impressive about Great Queen Seon Deok more than anything was the action sequences. I need to bring up a few more characters to get into it in detail. Munno, he is Bidam’s master. Munno (Jeong Ho Bin) is the head of Hwarang. He is also known as Guk Seon. Munno is so good at what he does and he can fight so many dudes all at once, it almost felt like watching Bruce Lee kicking whole bunch of people’s butts. I really enjoyed the intriguing fighting scenes a lot, I couldn’t help but to think about all the Kung Fu/martial arts movies that I’ve watched over the years. Chil Suk (Ahn Kil Kang) is a skilled martial artist/swordsman as well. Munno and Chil Suk are almost like rivals.

This show might be set in the ancient times but some of the things that happen in the drama can be applied to what happens in our modern times. The royal government going through a reform to tax the rich. The super nobles buying all the grains and the poor and lower middle class having a hard time paying taxes. Once the super nobles buying off everything the prices goes up and that’s kinda like an inflation of our modern days. Even the small and middle nobles get involved in the reform and the royal government thinks that they are the ones that will help the reform come to reality. The more and more I watch these shows I am beginning to realize that extreme ambition and greed move us humans to do things but then at the time same time it can be our downfall.

Overall I thought the show was good. I think it could have been a little better. The quality wasn’t as good as this other historical flick I  like called: Emperor’s daughter  Soo Baek Hyang. The Great Queen Seondeok came out in 2009 and Soo Baek Hyang came out in 2013 so maybe this the reason why that maybe Queen Seondeok lacks a bit compared to the other Sageuk. However, the overall quality of this show was  actually really good for a historical flick. My problem with this show was it kinda has certain parts in the middle where it gets a little dull and  moves a little  slow at times. However, at the same time there is so much going on that it’s hard to keep track and that could be entertaining in itself. Also, there are a lot of battle scenes and fighting scenes and getting those right can be quite difficult and this could possibly be what made the drama look a little messy but  despite that I liked pretty much everything about it. My favorite part about the acting was Mishil. She is the villain but a very smart one so I had like a love/hate relationship with her while viewing this show. My rating from 1-10 is an 8 with this one. If you are into epic historical genres for Korean dramas then  I assure you that you will enjoy it. Go watch some Great Queen Seon Deok now!!!!!

The credit to the photo goes to MBC~