Hi everyone. Today I would like to tell you about kdrama called “Empress Ki”. First of all, it is one of my all-time favourites. I sort of have a love-hate relationship with it. The main reason I’ve decided to watch it was Ji Chang Wook. It was the time when I just discovered him and was watching all of his dramas one by one. I started with dramas on Netflix, and Empress Ki was the last of those that I watched. I think it was because it had so many episodes. Most kdramas have around 16 episodes where “Empress Ki” has 51. So it was long, but it also meant that I could watch Ji Chang Wook longer, so I dived into the first episode. Right after watching it, I wanted to know what will happen next, so I continued. I think I’ve spent about three days and nights to complete it. I didn’t go to sleep until I finished all episodes.
I’m not going to talk much about the plot to avoid spoilers. Long story short. It is a drama about a girl named Ki Seung Nyang and how she became an Empress of Yuan dynasty from being just a slave. This drama is full of emotions. Love, hate, betrayal, fear, fight for survival, desperation. It is a historical drama, but at the same time, it isn’t. By historical I mean it was happening a few hundred years ago and it has some characters that existed in real life including Empress Ki. However, almost everything what is happening is fictional. There might be a few events that occurred in reality. However, even those were changed and placed within the storyline with mixed up order. I would not recommend learning history from this drama. We can categorise it as a work of fiction.
We also get an epic love story (a triangle, or rectangle or I don’t know, I got lost). Main characters are Ki Seung Nyang (Ha Ji Won), Emperor of Yuan Ta Hwan (Ji Chang Wook) and King of Goryeo Wang Yoo (Joo Jin Mo). The main love triangle within the storyline is between those three characters. So of course, throughout the drama, we are wondering who will she choose. I must admit that I’m probably biased if it comes to Ji Chang Wook and his performance in this drama as I was team Emperor all the way through. His portrayal of Ta Hwan completely overshadowed character of Wang Yoo. Because of that, King seemed to be boring. I disliked his character but not only because of that but also because he had some character traits that I could not stand. I didn’t notice any character development. I wanted to skip his storyline sometimes, but I didn’t do it. In comparison, the Emperor’s character development was significant. He started as someone you want to punch in the face and then go through all sort of stages. Throughout the drama, we learn a lot about the emperor and why he acts in specific ways. I can say without any doubts that the role of Ta Hwan was Ji Chang Wook’s best performance. I like all his dramas and his acting there but “Empress Ki” was just on another level. I just can’t imagine anyone else in this role.
“Empress Ki” also has many interesting supporting characters. There are dramas where I just don’t care about those as they are either dull or don’t bring anything into the story. In “Empress Ki” this is not the case. We are introduced to many characters that are important to the story. They are all different with different traits. We also get high-level actors that portray them and their skills make those characters unforgettable.
Another thing that I love in this drama is the soundtrack. Music brings watching experience to an even higher level. Ji Chang Wook himself sings one of the songs. It is called “To he Butterfly”. It Emperor’s song and it matches his character perfectly. It became one of my all-time favourite songs.
In conclusion, “Empress Ki” is one of those dramas that stay with you. It’s been many months, but I still can’t get over it. Some parts are dragging, especially ones that involve Wang Yoo storyline but it doesn’t happen often. It’s probably I didn’t like his character. The entire drama was an emotional roller coaster. It is a classic an must watch even for those who don’t like historical dramas. I’m recommending it to everyone, so don’t hesitate.
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