Empress Ki (2013)

I held off on watching this drama when it was airing b/c of the episode count (but I had it in my ptw list for JCW) - I'd look at clips on YT and was wary about starting this drama b/c of the other lead guy. I'm a person who hates "love triangles" and I especially hate "strong love triangles" and unfortunately this drama had a very strong "love triangle".
Cast: JCW (Huizhong Ta Hwan - Emperor) I loved the way he sincerely loved Nyang (HJW); his character was innocent/naïve and quite a bit stupid I must say... I liked him for the most part but I had hoped his character would really mature as the drama progressed but except for a few things he never really changes the way he is - I was "ok" with it for the most part up until the last 10 episodes where well he kind of goes crazy....(he makes up for it in the very end)...He is very handsome (biased on JCW as he is a favorite actor of mine).
HJW (Nyang Sungnyang Empress Ki) I liked just about everything about her character and personality except for the fact that she had the hots for the other guy for most of the drama (that really grated on my nerves and is the main reason I could never really like the guy - looks aside...)
JJM (Wang Yu King of Koryo) If I had to pick a ruler I'd probably pick him - but never as a lover (he is unattractive in my eyes - my own personal opinion) I hated him for the most part ONLY b/c he never truly let go of Nyang (HJW) - it really bothered me; if he had let go and vice versa then I could have liked him more, b/c he was a good ruler (even if exiled) and leader to his people and he helped out around Yuan a LOT - I appreciated him for all of that - but that's about as far as I got with him - just appreciation nothing more...
JYH (Tal Tal) I always wondered what peoples obsession with this guy was when I was watching earlier on in the show, it's not until half-way into the drama that we get more of this guy and what he is all about that makes people like him so much - I didn't care at all about him early on but later on I started to really really like him ;)
I'll throw all of the bad guys together in one group - I hated each and every one of the "bad guys" which is pretty obvious - they were all horrid people - well deserving of my hatred.
Story: I've seen better - much better as in: Jumong - this drama was written well but I could have done without the "love triangle" aspect.
Re-watch Value: right now not happening - it was good to watch once but I can't see myself watching this again. for me the best part of the show was from episode 28ish - 40...
Music: everyone raves about the ost - but it was just alright to me - I have no complaints but there weren't a whole lot of the songs that would stick in my head or that I would sing along with - the exceptions were: JCW's solo (I think it was him singing), Junsu's (JYJ) song, and 2 songs in the later episodes one by a girl and one sung by a guy (don't know the titles but I do know I started to sing with them surprisingly.

Lot's of people fell in love with JCW (actor) through this drama - I on the other hand loved him since Smile Donghae (I'm glad I saw him in all his other dramas before watching this one - his acting was flawless but not his best character in my books).

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This drama is currently airing here in the Philippines. I was watching other kdrama from other network, then during commercial, i decided to switch the channel to the network where this show is currently airing on. It was on its episode 7 then when the 1st time i saw this drama, yeah! its kinda late coz initially, i really didn't want to watch this coz i want to sleep early since this show is airing in a little late time slot. i thought that like JUMONG (my late father's fav. drama) and QUEEN SEON DOK (my mom's favorite), this show would give me a heart pounding feelings watching this.

yeah! right this show makes me thirsty to know of how things is gonna turn out. i couldn't resist watching the next episode after the other and the next and so on. There is no boring scene, this show gives only excitement to all viewers..

The cast are so amazingly perfect in portraying their characters, especially Ji Chang Wook, OMG he made me fall for him and to Tal tal, wow! his serious looks made him even cuter. Ha Ji Won! Clap! Clap! Clap! you are the best actress ever. There are so many supporting characters and each one character plays important role on how things would develop.

i'm done watching online but i can't resist of re watching this in tagalog version and completely abandoned the previous kdrama i used to watch.

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Excellent drama. Fast-paced and plot driven. This is the reason earlier dramas are usually my favorites, the plots used to be so much better like this one.

I first watched this for JCW and wasn't disappointed at all. In the beginning episodes, I saw lots of resemblance in his character to Park BongSoo from Healer, which was a nice surprise. Literally the only issue I had with this masterpiece was the FL. I couldn't stand the actress. She might be the most stone-faced FL I've ever seen, and her only actual change of expression through the whole drama was staring awkwardly wide eyed and motionless when something surprised her.

Still highly recommended. One of the best dramas of all time.

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O drama narra os acontecimentos da Nyang que de uma escrava de Goryeo chega ao poder se tornando imperatriz da Dinastia de Yuan.

Para um fã da história mongol essa obra vai ser um prato cheio, pois é rica de referências a Genghis Khan, Kublai e os Mongóis, a obra também faz referências e uso da rota da seda, caminho esse aberto pelo grande Khan, quando impossível ter fazer comércio pelo mar.

A obra também tem várias referências a "Arte da Guerra" e faz uso por várias vezes de suas estratégias, seja no campo militar ou no campo da política.

O drama começa nos apresentando uma pequena escrava e sua mãe sendo levadas para Yuan como concubinas, porém nesse trajeto um jovem príncipe se depara em como em como elas são tratadas e as libertas, todas são mortas pelos homens de Yuan inclusive a mãe da menina, que da sua vida para protegê-la e ass começa a história de vingança pelo assassinos de sua mãe e pelo seu povo.

A história se inicia no período em que Goryeo é submissa a Yuan e tem que enviar tributos (pessoas) para Yuan. Percebemos de cara que quem manda em Yuan não é o Imperador e sim o regente El Temur, e num primeiro momento ele é a principal causa da maioria das desgraças que ocorrem aos 3 protagonistas. Entre conspirações, traições, luta pelo poder e guerras é que a história da que será a futura Imperatriz Ki se desenvolve.

O começo do drama é espetacular, a maneira como o drama consegue prender o espectador, todos os os conflitos e como eles são resolvidos, os personagens e até os vilões, antes de chegar no vilão principal da série é incrível, as traições por poder, as ambições dos personagens, deixa o telespectador vidrado.

O drama então que narrava apenas um acontecimento, passa a narra dois, um no palácio de Yuan (Nyang) e outro na fronteira de Yuan contra os turcos (Wang) , e não se engane, pois os drama não deixa de impressiona, seja com as batalhas e estratégias de guerra na fronteira ou com o jogo psicológico e estratégias políticas no palácio de Yuan.

Depois que esse evento chega ao fim, o drama volta a trabalhar com apenas uma narrativa e tudo acontece no palácio, foi aqui que achei que o drama começa a deixar a desejar e ficar bem cansativo, mesmo várias coisas acontecendo, ele começa a ficar menos interessante, porém depois de várias reviravoltas o drama melhorar de novo e deixa o telespectador mais animado.

Sinceramente esse e o drama que eu mais estou tento dificuldades em por no "papel" o drama é ótimo, com excelentes intrigas, disputas por poder, vilões excelentes, alguns arcos mesmo necessários deixaram a desejar como o da maldição que prometeu mortes e não deu ou como o da falsificação de títulos, que foi bem cansativo. O drama era pra ter acabado entre os episódios 38 a 39, já que todos os vilões haviam caído com excessão de um, mas era o menos, era só dá um jeito, pois depois de toda União dos "mocinhos" para vencer a tirania de El Temur, eles viraram inimigos deles mesmo e outra batalha por poder acontece durante mais 12 episódios, em resumo não aprenderam nada com o regente El Temur e a Imperatriz Tanahsiri, o drama faz do Bayan um regente quase como o El Temur e jogar outra Imperatriz como a Tanashri e tudo começa de novo, por mais rápido e interessante que essas intrigas foram, foi algo bem desnecessário.

Os personagens são incríveis e bem construídos, todos tem uma crescimento e mudanças excelentes, principalmente a Ki e o Imperador, que passa de um personagem medrosa que não sabe ler pra um personagem corajoso e que aprender a ler, tudo isso por causa da Ki.

Sobre o triângulo amoroso do drama, não foi eu que fiz, mas tem muita coisa que eu concordo aqui, então créditos a autora:

Não consigo dissociar o paralelo de que Wang Yoo representa Goryeo e o Imperador, Yuan. E quanto mais Ki se aproxima de um, mais se distancia do outro. Ao se tornar concubina do Imperador, Ki estava fazendo sua escolha e infelizmente não era guiada por amor, mas por vingança.

Ao mesmo tempo que Ki é uma personagem maravilhosa por ser enigmática, foi difícil acompanhar suas motivações. E, por isso, foi difícil entender o que o Imperador significava pra ela. Ora ela dizia que queria o bem de Goryeo, ora dizia que faria de tudo por Yuan, parecia gostar do Imperador, mas era incapaz de respeitar as vontades dele. Em um certo momento, no plot do dinheiro, ela disse ao eunuco e à criada que estava apenas usando o Imperador para o bem de Goryeo. Episódios depois ela o protege da Imperatriz Dowager e de Bayan.

E era por conta dessa dualidade da personagem que, enquanto eu assistia o drama, eu tinha certeza de que ela não amava o Imperador verdadeiramente e que ele era apenas um meio para que ela conseguisse o que queria.

Pra mim o amor dela pelo Imperador parecia mais com um sentimento de cuidado cheio de afeto. Ela cuidava e se preocupava com ele, mas não o procurava para pedir conselhos, não confiava nele para contar seus problemas nem mesmo deixava de agir se sua ação fosse magoa-lo. Me dava a angústia ver quantas vezes mais ela iria manipula-lo para que pudesse alcançar seus objetivos. E isso me fez sentir uma raiva enorme dela em diversos momentos.

Já o Rei foi seu primeiro amor, foi por quem ela prometeu que lutaria, é o homem forte, corajoso, inteligente e honrado por quem ela se apaixonou perdidamente. O Imperador foi aquele que a traiu, que não parecia ter nada a lhe oferecer, mas que com o tempo mostrou que podia fazê-la feliz e dar a ela um lugar para chamar de lar. Ela ficou tocada com a gentileza do imperador e com a vida que construiu com ele, mas esse afeto não foi e não seria capaz de fazê-la desistir dos seus objetivos.

Empress Ki é baseado em fatos reais e conta grande parte da história da imperatriz Qi que foi uma das principais imperatrizes de Toghon Temur da dinastia Yuan ela era de uma família aristocrática de Goryeo, atual Coréia.

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First of all, yes this drama is 51 episodes long so it looks like a scary number, but there is so much happening and it is SO worth watching all of them. I've watched this drama 3 times and it still has the same emotional impact on me. There was this one part I literally BAWLED and I kept telling myself "it's a drama. it's fake. it's fake" but the tears wouldn't stop coming HAHAHHA. I really felt her pain in that one part. The female lead was SO good and she portrayed such an amazing variety of acting she had to do in this one drama alone. WHAT A QUEEN and of course, Ji Chang Wook was amazing and his eyes literally told the story. This drama was so heart wrenching though and it was one of the dramas I couldn't decide between the two male leads because I loved both in their own way. And you will see that they both loved Sung Nyang in their own way.

Music: Okay, can we just talk about the music? The OST is so beautiful and I've been searching for piano music sheets but it's not there. T^T Just listening to the music makes me think back on the whole drama and I get tears from the music alone. The dynamics and emotions just pour out of the music and it's simply so beautiful. Like even before watching the drama, listen to Main Theme-Empress Ki. BEAUTIFUL

Cast: They did SUCH a great job on casting like each person was MEANT for that role. I was so captured by the acting and this drama that I felt like I was IN the drama. That's why the emotional impact was 10000x more for me.

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Empress Ki is an amazing drama with great actors and a great story. It may have a lot of episodes but you will want to keep watching and the show will go by quickly. Truly it has left an impression on me!

Story:
The story is very well written and has so many twist. I really like how Empress Ki was a strong female lead and she was smart! She actually thought about her actions, didn't let people push her around and she planned smart. The story has everything from love, betrayal, politics, hate, power struggles and so much anguish. It's truly worth the watch.

Acting:
GREAT! Everyone did such a great job. Ha Ji-Won was killing it in this drama. She is a great actress. Ji Chang Wook has completely changed in my eyes. I saw him in healer and he was great also and here he doesn't let me down. He does a great job playing Emperor. Joo Jin-Mo did great also. It's my first time seeing him in a drama. The whole cast did great with the acting overall I could find no flaws. Also Jin Yi-han and Baek Jin-hee did great. This was my first time seeing both these actors and I will look for more of their work.
:
Music was pretty great in this drama. It fits well. I especially like the instrumental.

Rewatch:
I would rewatch even though it's so long! Just so many emotions. (Do I want to go through it all again? :))

Overall:
10/10

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politics, love, destiny, patriotic ideals.

This drama got off to a cracking start, with fast action, witty dialogue and intriguing political machinations. Yang's story is immediately captivating and entertaining. The narrative continues at a very fast pace and it never gets boring.
At around the episode 39 mark the story started falling apart in my view, this is a show that has always had life and death scenarios at every turn and each conflict is quickly followed by another leaving no opportunity for reflection or satisfaction. I started to tire of this cycle and at times the show feels like it creates villains and conflict just for the sake of it with no real impact to the overall narrative.
I was especially disappointed with the lack of meaningful resolution to the love story (and it's product) of Yang and Wang Yoo, it felt as if the show was always trying to push the Tae Hwan / Yang loveline even though the very first episode tells us that she ends up with the Emperor, so what was the harm in fully exploring the separation of Yang and Wang Yoo? It was just very sloppily done and I for one was never convinced that Yang loved the Emperor, her relationship with him was a matter of survival and the best way of achieving her goals.

That being said, the acting in this was excellent by some and ok by others. Ji Chang Wook is very good at portraying the weak, childish and selfish Emperor Tae Hwan, whose character is shown to us in the first episode he actually never changed or improved; his portrayal of this character is so well done that even though I never warmed up to this character, I was moved at times by his suffering and his ultimate helplessness, being Emperor means everyone is always trying to use you for whatever they can get.
Wang Yoo portrayed by Joo Jin Mo is the direct foil to the character of the Emperor. Wang Yoo is everything the Emperor is not, brave, strong, selfless with clear political and patriotic ideals. Wang Yoo is a stoic character and he and Yang share the same ideals and aspirations.
I must give special mention to Wang Yoo's band of merry men especially Eunuch Bang, their loyalty to their King is so heartwarming.
Yeoncheol is another character that is portrayed very effectively, he is convincingly evil as is his daughter Tanashili.
Tal Tal also became a firm favourite of mine, I loved his calm assurance and his formidable intelligence.

The last quarter of this show certainly did not do justice to its first three quarters. It ended on a bit of a wimper, and I was especially outraged at the identity of the villain who was exposed in the last few episodes, this was definitely not a credible plot twist.

I was fully prepared to give this show 10 out of 10, but as the show progressed the score lowered because of the many plot holes and the failure to fully explore some emotional aspects of the relationships between characters, and it also seems that at some point the show was determined to kill off as many characters as possible, which in most cases was redundant.

Music is good and well employed.

Final score 8 out of 10.

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By far one of the best sageuks!

This is by far one the best sageuks ever made! I was intimidated by its length at first, and I expected the story to drag, but I was very impressed with how tight the writing is and how well all narrative threads are developed and come together by the end.

The entire cast is phenomenal, but most importantly, this is a drama that avoids most clichees. Its female characters are not the typical wimpy, submissive women we often see in historical dramas. Yang (brialliantly played by Ji-Won) is self-sufficient and outshines almost every male character in the story! I was also pleasantly surprised by Chang Wook's versatility; he plays the weak-willed (but also possessive) emperor amazingly! And finally, Joo Jin-Mo was born to play the King of Goryeo!

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