It turns out that "Six Flying Dragons" is the story of the founding of the Joseon dynasty, and especially of Yi Bang Won who will be the third king but also the one who will participate in the establishment of this new country.

Now, coincidentally, I saw just before "My Country : New Age" which is based on the same historical period, with the same characters, except that it is centered around two warriors, their friendship and their vision for the country, so one of them, Hwi, will end up alongside Yi Bang Won, who is not the central character there, in his conquest of power.
In "Six Flying Dragons" however, the series focuses entirely on Yi Bang Won, his childhood, how he helped his father the most among his brothers to obtain the throne, the decisions he made that changed the course of history, his ambitions and his vision for his country.
Especially since the series is spread over 50 episodes, and although it remains fiction, nevertheless, a lot of historical events are discussed and historical figures are represented.

Now, this series was made in 2015, so I remain indulgent, I pass on the more than modest OST, on certain average special effects, on certain cheesy shots, and few scenes and plots which were not necessary.

Well, the first three or four episodes are a bit all over the place, and by that I mean, we're let loose in what seems like a major moment that will define the destinies and paths of our characters, and yet, the dramatic moments left me unmoved, plots and strategies are a bit easy ?
The only thing that I can treasure is a certain realism about human nature that is addressed even during these first episodes, such as war, good and evil, justice, power, dignity and shame. I like that our characters don't naively tell us "I'm a good person", but that there are many layers to the human nature, and that our young character understands that being "good" sometimes requires letting the evil thrive while justice sometimes requires being evil to do good.

So these first episodes, which were essentially a flashback in time, were really to lay the foundations of the story - a little awkwardly - which explains why certain characters will become what they become.

I have to say that although unlike "My Country : New Age" I didn't get attached to the characters, they were all enjoyable in their own way, even the antagonists but they didn't get much out of me except few laughs.

The portrayal of some characters rubs me the wrong way, like Boon Yi who in the very first episodes come across as a strong and passionate young woman, only after a while she spent more than half of the series with tears in the eyes in each scene that is annoying. Whether it was in moments of intensity, joy or whatever, she always had tears in her eye.
Yi Seong Gye, too, who still has that somewhat silly and bewildered expression, as if he were a simpleton. And honestly, the reality of his character is unenviable, he was only decisive with a bow in his hand, the rest of the time he spent avoiding any sort of responsibility, hesitating at crucial moments and begging for political strategies because he didn't understand anything, honestly the writers didn't do him any favors by writing him like that.
So, besides those two, I have to say the acting is good overall, but not outstanding.

As for Yi Bang Won, unfortunately, I expected more from his character because the actor has potential. Throughout the series, there were moments when it looked like a child throwing a tantrum, and then the actor's acting was predictable, his delivery of his lines repetitive, his expressions limited to angry tears or a serious and intimidating face. But honestly, the fact that he plays Yi Bang Won, such an important character who is decisive, hides his lack of overall skills, and honestly he is the one I enjoyed the most. Yi Bang Won remain the highlight of the show because of his apparent intensity and complexity.

Also, the character strategies weren't the best, but enough to keep us interested. I would have liked better sets on the other hand, I don't know anything about the budget of the series, but the king's room was a room so small that six people were the maximum, and the more the throne room where they met also seemed small and not really the image of a palace. The sets were very limited, and the costumes although beautiful, they were very basic.

Now, I don't want to say just the negative, so I would say the story is actually the most interesting part of the show, to follow a historical figure as he grows and goes on, as he becomes who he must be, it was really thrilling.

Now, I know this series is probably one of the most popular for a Korean historical drama, and that's kind of disappointing, because I'm like, that's the best South Korea can do when they excel everywhere elsewhere, but nevertheless, as I said, we have to remember that it was done in 2015.
Today, if this series was produced, it would surely have more sets and costumes, violence and fight scenes, more developed plots and more complex characters.

In the end, I'm not going to lie, I fully enjoyed this series despite its shortcomings, so I recommend, on the other hand, this kind of series does not compete with "Nirvana in Fire" or "Rise of the Phoenixes" which are two superb Chinese series.