Great review! Kingdom was my first KDrama, and as such, it was a gateway drug into a new world for me. I've now watched the two seasons 3 times, and each time I get more out of it. The first time I was flummoxed by lots of cultural things that now I understand, like the hats the guys wore (what is up with those beads?) and now I know the various hats are indicators of social status. Plus the beads keep the hat from flying off in the breeze. All the actors were excellent. The queen - oh my goodness! What a performance! And the zombies - unlike the zombies in the Walking Dead who just shuffle along, these zombies run! And run and run! Bae Doona was excellent as usual. The sequel, Ashin of the North, is excellent too, I just wish it had been longer. Anyway, thanks for the review, and keep them coming!
Thank you for your comments. So you discovered Kdramas through Kingdom? It's not a bad one to have started with that's for sure. :) Have you seen the writer's other projects? Signal for instance? My first Kdrama was something called Jewel in the Palace or Dae Jang Geum, an epic historical drama. It was over 54 episodes and I was hooked but didn't really get into Korean dramas in a big way until about 2011.
Yes, I've seen Signal, also her shows Revenant and Jirisan. Loved them all! And yes, I watch Jewel in the Palace too faithfully to the end. There is a similarly named show, Jewel in the Crown, or Dong Yi, which I also loved. The female lead, Han Hyo-joo, played the mother of the flying boy in Moving. I really like her as an actress.
My favorite Genre is Historical. My second Kdrama after Kingdom was Mister Sunshine, which I have watched twice and absolutely loved. Others I've watched: Empress Ki, My Dearest, Korea Khitan war. I've watched some Chinese historical dramas too: Yanxi Palace, Nirvana in Flower, and recently, Love Like the Galaxy, which is totally enjoyable thanks to the spirited female lead.
I was about 2/3 of the way through Story of Ming-Lan (it has 60 some episodes) when Viki took it off, no warning or notice. I'm not happy about that!
Correction: that should be Nirvana in Fire, not Flower. One of the best shows ever! I also found Nirvana in Fire 2 on Youtube and enjoyed it as well, although it isn't as popular as Nirvana in Fire.
NiF is my favourite C drama of all time. It's pure genius. I've watched it 5-6 times. I loved NiF 2 until the two brothers more or less disappeared from the narrative. My Dearest is a favourite as well.
If you like historical K dramas then I recommend Tree with Deep Roots and Nokdu Flower. Both works of art. I also enjoyed Red Heart or Bloody Heart although that went under most people's radar.
Hi friend! I had fun reading your reflections on KINGDOM. I am not one to care for zombies, and I remember when THE WALKING DEAD was all the hype. What I appreciate alot about our Asian dramas are that they wrap up and don't drag.
It's been a while it feels since I've watched KINGDOM, so I can't really write in detail of what I remember. I give YOU so much kudos for writing a lengthy reflection on this drama and loved that it was a refresher for me. I remember enjoying the tight storytelling of KINGDOM and its ensemble cast. Even the comedic relief if I remember correctly, was handled well throughout the show to balance it's more action heavy moments too. The drama was quite entertaining to me and I did enjoy both seasons. I do however feel that season 1 was stronger, but I was also frustrated at the same time with the fact that K-dramas are starting to do these breaks in shows to give a drama 2 seasons instead of just wrapping things up. However, I did enjoy the drama overall so much and felt that KINGDOM did great thanks to the Kim Eun Hee, whose work I absolutely loved in SIGNAL.
Did you ever watch JIRISAN and REVENANT? I've not and heard mixed reviews, though I know those are always subjective. Anyways, my brain is quite fried so I am so sorry my message might not make complete good sense. I just wanted to stop by and say hello, since you wrote a post of a drama I was familiar with. :)
Yeah, I have seen both Jirisan and Revenant. I know Jirisan cops a lot of flack for being slow and boring but I enjoyed the way she integrated the paranormal with the crime elements. Same with Revenant which was probably somewhat tighter. What she also does well is incorporate history with her stories. Her research is meticulous.
I'm not much of a zombie or horror person myself but I can watch a good show with horror elements which is what Kingdom is to me. I think it's really that K dramas are now made by these streaming platforms with money to throw around that we're getting multiple seasons although in all honesty I wish that something like Sweet Home or Uncanny Counter had been left alone.
YES~ See. I thought of watching SWEET HOME since I kept hearing great things about the drama too. But then I found out there's 3 seasons and that deterred me. I am afraid MOVING (I really enjoyed this one!) is headed in the same direction and wished they'd just taken time to wrap that.
Ohh, good to know that REVENANT is tighter. The reviews have been really polar as well for both the shows compared to an overall consensus of how great SIGNAL is.
I didn't think Revenant was that divisive. :D The ratings on MDL are pretty decent (although that probably doesn't mean much LOL). When I watched it while airing, I saw mostly positive comments online.
Signal is a hard one to beat. It does have flaws but she does a really good job with the two timelines which is rare for K dramas dealing with time skips.
This is good to know if it wasn’t divisive then, and it’s possible I am reading only more meh ones and less positive ones? hahaha. I’ll keep in mind too that you too aren’t a fan of horror but you did enjoy REVENANT, so maybe I will have to keep that drama in my radar. Yes, SIGNAL did have its flaws, but I agree that the timelines being woven in quite seamlessly.
Great review! Kingdom was my first KDrama, and as such, it was a gateway drug into a new world for me. I've now watched the two seasons 3 times, and each time I get more out of it. The first time I was flummoxed by lots of cultural things that now I understand, like the hats the guys wore (what is up with those beads?) and now I know the various hats are indicators of social status. Plus the beads keep the hat from flying off in the breeze. All the actors were excellent. The queen - oh my goodness! What a performance! And the zombies - unlike the zombies in the Walking Dead who just shuffle along, these zombies run! And run and run! Bae Doona was excellent as usual. The sequel, Ashin of the North, is excellent too, I just wish it had been longer. Anyway, thanks for the review, and keep them coming!
Hi David
Thank you for your comments. So you discovered Kdramas through Kingdom? It's not a bad one to have started with that's for sure. :) Have you seen the writer's other projects? Signal for instance? My first Kdrama was something called Jewel in the Palace or Dae Jang Geum, an epic historical drama. It was over 54 episodes and I was hooked but didn't really get into Korean dramas in a big way until about 2011.
So what's your favourite genre?
Yes, I've seen Signal, also her shows Revenant and Jirisan. Loved them all! And yes, I watch Jewel in the Palace too faithfully to the end. There is a similarly named show, Jewel in the Crown, or Dong Yi, which I also loved. The female lead, Han Hyo-joo, played the mother of the flying boy in Moving. I really like her as an actress.
My favorite Genre is Historical. My second Kdrama after Kingdom was Mister Sunshine, which I have watched twice and absolutely loved. Others I've watched: Empress Ki, My Dearest, Korea Khitan war. I've watched some Chinese historical dramas too: Yanxi Palace, Nirvana in Flower, and recently, Love Like the Galaxy, which is totally enjoyable thanks to the spirited female lead.
I was about 2/3 of the way through Story of Ming-Lan (it has 60 some episodes) when Viki took it off, no warning or notice. I'm not happy about that!
I'm enjoying your substack, keep it up!
Correction: that should be Nirvana in Fire, not Flower. One of the best shows ever! I also found Nirvana in Fire 2 on Youtube and enjoyed it as well, although it isn't as popular as Nirvana in Fire.
NiF is my favourite C drama of all time. It's pure genius. I've watched it 5-6 times. I loved NiF 2 until the two brothers more or less disappeared from the narrative. My Dearest is a favourite as well.
If you like historical K dramas then I recommend Tree with Deep Roots and Nokdu Flower. Both works of art. I also enjoyed Red Heart or Bloody Heart although that went under most people's radar.
Hi friend! I had fun reading your reflections on KINGDOM. I am not one to care for zombies, and I remember when THE WALKING DEAD was all the hype. What I appreciate alot about our Asian dramas are that they wrap up and don't drag.
It's been a while it feels since I've watched KINGDOM, so I can't really write in detail of what I remember. I give YOU so much kudos for writing a lengthy reflection on this drama and loved that it was a refresher for me. I remember enjoying the tight storytelling of KINGDOM and its ensemble cast. Even the comedic relief if I remember correctly, was handled well throughout the show to balance it's more action heavy moments too. The drama was quite entertaining to me and I did enjoy both seasons. I do however feel that season 1 was stronger, but I was also frustrated at the same time with the fact that K-dramas are starting to do these breaks in shows to give a drama 2 seasons instead of just wrapping things up. However, I did enjoy the drama overall so much and felt that KINGDOM did great thanks to the Kim Eun Hee, whose work I absolutely loved in SIGNAL.
Did you ever watch JIRISAN and REVENANT? I've not and heard mixed reviews, though I know those are always subjective. Anyways, my brain is quite fried so I am so sorry my message might not make complete good sense. I just wanted to stop by and say hello, since you wrote a post of a drama I was familiar with. :)
Hi Kathleen
Great to hear from you again. :D
Yeah, I have seen both Jirisan and Revenant. I know Jirisan cops a lot of flack for being slow and boring but I enjoyed the way she integrated the paranormal with the crime elements. Same with Revenant which was probably somewhat tighter. What she also does well is incorporate history with her stories. Her research is meticulous.
I'm not much of a zombie or horror person myself but I can watch a good show with horror elements which is what Kingdom is to me. I think it's really that K dramas are now made by these streaming platforms with money to throw around that we're getting multiple seasons although in all honesty I wish that something like Sweet Home or Uncanny Counter had been left alone.
YES~ See. I thought of watching SWEET HOME since I kept hearing great things about the drama too. But then I found out there's 3 seasons and that deterred me. I am afraid MOVING (I really enjoyed this one!) is headed in the same direction and wished they'd just taken time to wrap that.
Ohh, good to know that REVENANT is tighter. The reviews have been really polar as well for both the shows compared to an overall consensus of how great SIGNAL is.
I didn't think Revenant was that divisive. :D The ratings on MDL are pretty decent (although that probably doesn't mean much LOL). When I watched it while airing, I saw mostly positive comments online.
Signal is a hard one to beat. It does have flaws but she does a really good job with the two timelines which is rare for K dramas dealing with time skips.
This is good to know if it wasn’t divisive then, and it’s possible I am reading only more meh ones and less positive ones? hahaha. I’ll keep in mind too that you too aren’t a fan of horror but you did enjoy REVENANT, so maybe I will have to keep that drama in my radar. Yes, SIGNAL did have its flaws, but I agree that the timelines being woven in quite seamlessly.