Three (3) Sageuk Dramas for K-Drama Newbies
If you are a K-drama newbie, you should start with historical period dramas; preferably those set during the Joseon Era. These Korean dramas are Viki Original series.
(1) “Grand Prince” (2018)
It’s a love triangle. But only because one grand prince does not want to accept the fact that the woman he wants has already chosen his younger brother. Her choice just adds to the list of all of the rest of the reasons that he is jealous and envious of his younger brother. It’s a one-sided rivalry because the feelings are not mutual. The younger brother truly loves his big brother. It’s not his fault that the royal adults chose to send his brother away from the palace and allowed him to stay in the palace. Whenever his older brother comes to the palace he is always happy to see him.
- Yoon Shi Yoon plays the younger brother, Lee Hwi, Prince Eun Sung. He doesn’t really want to be king, even though he has the charaacter to become a great king. He is sent to serve in the military to prove that he is worthy to rule.
- Jin Se Yeon plays Sung Ja-hyun, a noble lady, who falls in love with Grand Prince Lee Hwi. They pledged their hearts to each other but when the grand prince is called to serve in the military, she vows to wait until he returns. If he does not return she will remain unmarried and live her life in a Buddhist temple. One thing she has determined in her mind is that she will NOT become his older brother’s woman.
- Joo Sang Wook plays the older brother, Lee Kang, Prince Jin Yang, who covets everything that his younger brother has, including his woman. Unlike his younger brother, he has a strong desire to be king. He secretly arranges for his brother to be killed in battle and intends to take his brother’s woman and the throne.
This 21-episode series is historical fiction, although it is loosely based on the true stories of Grand Prince Anpyeong and King Sejo.
(2) “Queen: Love and War” (2019)
A young prince meets and makes friends with a nobleman’s daughter, when they were children. An accident happens on a boat and the girl he met is tossed overboard. Her father believes that she drowned. Her twin sister grows up and the prince, now king chooses her to be his bride; not realizing that she is the twin sister and NOT the girl he met when he was younger. Corrupt officials arrange to have both King Lee Kyung and his queen, Kang Eun Bo, assassinated on their wedding day. They succeed in killing the sister but the king miraculously comes back to life. The people are terrified of him. How can he possibly come back from the dead?
The twin sister realizes that her sister has been murdered. She takes her sister’s body and secretly buries it. Then she returns to the palace AS IF she has also risen from the dead, just like the king. The king not knowing that she is the young girl he had met as a child, also believes that his wife has come back to life. However, the twin sister’s main purpose for returning to the palace is to discover who murdered her sister. For all she knew, even the king may have been involved. As she investigates to uncover the truth, she eventually realizes the king is innocent and falls in love with him. The problem is that she has already deceived him into believing that she is the one who died. This makes their personal relationship very complicated. AS IF life in the palace wasn’t already complicated with all of the scheming, conniving, ruthless, greedy politicking that was going on.
- Kim Min-kyu plays the king, Lee Kyung
- Jin Se-yeon plays the twin sisters, Kang Eun-bo and Kang Eun-gi
This series is 16 episodes. It’s love and war alright and the queen is right in the middle.
(3) “The Red Sleeve” (2021)
Lee Jun-ho plays Yi San, later King Jeongjo. He continuously strives to be a good king; a ruler who is kind and benevolent to his people. During the Joseon Era, everybody knows that all of the women in the palace are the king’s women. He can have free access to any woman he chooses and does not need their permission. The king knows this is the rule. But aren’t the court ladies also his people?
Court ladies in the palace wear uniforms that have a red cuff on their sleeves. The king is attracted to a particular court lady named Seong Deok-im played by Lee Se-young. He does not want his relationship with her to be based on fear. He wants her to love him and willingly become his woman. Seong Deok-im initially resists the king’s advances toward her. She feels that her life as a court lady affords her a certain amount of freedom. If she becomes the king’s woman, she will no longer be free. If she becomes the mother of his children, she can not love and cherish them as an ordinary mother. They are her children, but they are also royal children and if they are sons they are heirs to the throne.
She eventually falls in love with the king but still tries to resist becoming his woman. In the end, LOVE WINS. She becomes Royal Noble Consort Ui-bin Seong. Just as she predicted, she did have to give up her freedom. The king was very happy to have her by his side and she was happy to be by his side. But she was not completely happy because in order to live as the king’s woman, she had to sacrifice her free spirit. Not to mention, since it was obvious to everyone that she had the king’s favor, some of the other king’s women were “haters”. You can imagine the malicious backbiting she endured from them.
“The drama is based on historical records such as the fact that Uibin Seong, whose real name is Seong Deok-im, rejected Jeongjo’s proposal to make her his concubine, not just once but twice. …” (Source)
This series is 16 episodes and it is a very sad love story. There was no fairy tale ending. Choosing to marry the prince or the king does not always result in living happily ever after.
Thanks for reading.
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