Instead of the typical robin hood storyline, the director Lee Yong Suk creates a more realistic and harsher world. Iljimae does not simply rob the rich and help the poor. He has a motive - to find the sword that killed his father - and find revenge. Stealing the treasures of the rich only a pretense to give people a reason as to why he was risking his life to enter the guarded nobles homes.
Iljimae is not the altrustic hero that the citizens see. He is human.

The progress of his skill and training is very well detailed as well. Geom (portrayed by Lee Jun Ki) goes from a weak streetrat with bad habits to a determined, artistic fighter with a purpose. The path, as dramas would have it, was definitely hard, even to the point of disbelief. He loses his childhood memory after he stones his own mother and only retains after a series of life-threatening events. Childhood trauma aside, there were several moments of "no way how could he survive that?!?" such as major concussions and drowning in frozen water.

I would have deducted more points if Lee Jun Ki hadn't acted so well. Throughout the drama, nearly every emotion Geom was going through, I felt it. When he cried, I cried. When he resisted, I gripped my hands and held my breath. When he lost and failed, I anxiously waited for him to fight back and win. I've only known him from My Girl as the heartbroken one, so all these new expressions amazed me. Lee Jun Ki later continues his reputation in the drama Hero in the form of a news reporter, another heart-warming drama but that's for another entry.

The whole cast member in general played their character pretty well: Park Shi Hoo as Ja Dol was depicted with silent desperation and yearning quite well. He hasn't been released from this role yet it seems from The Prosecutor Princess, but that is only a matter of time.

Han Hyo Joo had a small role, but she achieved Eun Chae's purpose alright. It was after this drama as a relatively newcomer that she stared in Shining Inheritance that won awards to star in another favorite of mine Dong Yi.

We can't forget Bong Soon now. It was the first time I saw Lee Young Ah on screen. She isn't a beauty but that's her appeal. Young Ah is your down-to-earth next. She protrayed Bong Soon as a spunky, witty girl that helped Geom stay rooted in my opinion.

Last that I will mention are the young roles of Geom, Bong Soon, and Eun Chae; Yeo Jin Goo, Jung Da Bin, and Kim Yoo Jung all deserve much praise. Each one expressed their unique role very well. I look forward to how much of a mark they'll make on each drama as a child actor/actress and their progress.