Let’s be honest. Shin Jung-tae should’ve died in nearly every episode. If you can look past that, which I managed to do, _Inspiring Generation’s_ story arc and setting are as appealing as they get in K-Drama. They involve the progress of Shin Jung-tae from his formidable days as a rickshaw runner in a small, provincial town in occupied Korea to his days of triumph as champion/freedom fighter on behalf of persecuted refugees in cosmopolitan, occupied Shanghai, on the eve of WWII. Along the way, all sorts of characters come and go, and I found these to be the real strength of the show. Do Ggoo, the fawning, treacherous lackey, I found especially fun to watch. The screen presence of Aka, the Ill Guk-hwae assassin of the few words and artificial left eye, was effectively menacing. There was So So’s latrine cleaning, sharp-tongued father whose jokes and irreverent remarks were good for many laughs. And then there was the roguish but charming Jung Jae-hwa, the boy who is sold by his parents for money but who grows up to be the boss of the Shanghai refugee district. (Kim Sung-ho, who plays Jung Jae-hwa, steals every scene he’s in.) Another thing that _Inspiring Generation_ has going for it is its lack of a gratuitous romance dragging down what is essentially an action thriller. _IRIS_ and _City Hunter_ had that problem, but at no point in _Inspiring Generation_ do you get the feeling that the writers are forcing the romance angle to prolong the series or to manufacture an artificial plot twist. I know that Ok Ryeon wasn’t a particular favorite, but I thought her character evolved nicely, culminating in a moving, tragic end.