May 17 2014, 2to 4pm Japan Yomi Hall

Programme: JCW MV,  live 6 songs, MC Q & A, High five with fans

JCW spoke Korean throughout he show.

(Courtesy: Carnavaal at Baidu)

This time, the fan meeting is based on the love story in the MV as a background theme.

But my Japanese is not good so I am watching the subtitles on the big screen and guessing most of the time.

First, after lights out at 2.05pm, the big screen showed the title of the show and said that JCW split up with his girlfriend because his girlfriend need to go overseas for studies but they reunite later.

A MV was played about the two of them talking about breaking up outdoors. JCW doesn’t want to breakup and one guy drove by and asked the girl to leave, JCW immediately question the girl is she going overseas with that guy. I don’t understand what the girl’s reply was. Anyway the girl left with that guy and left jcw at the place. The screen darkens and the stage lights up and jcw start singing the first song (from the days musical).

When he finished singing, MV play again, this time jcw has already become a famous star and received a call from his friend or manager (played by another actor) who told him there is this cute waitress at this café etc. jcw quickly changed to his blue base flower jacket and went there to see, but both the girl and jcw was surprised that they met again. JCW then sing a second song called “Sorry”

After the song ended, an MV was played that jcw went to look for the girl again, the ex was very calm and didn’t quite entertain him. Jcw’s friend cheer him on outside the window. Jcw was very embarrassed and so went to the bar instead with this friend. Later jcw sang “ She” on stage. 

Jcw continue to pick her up in the MV, the ex-gf seems to complain about jcw’s clothes so he immediately went home to change into a formal suit but didn’t feel right and change again to some disco bling bling type of clothes (the audience all laugh, jcw was really quite funny).

That awful friend appeared again and laugh at jcw’s clothes. In the end, he wore a shirt and a black vest to see the ex-gf. When she saw him, she asked if he was coming to interview as a waiter. (everyone laughed). Jcw sat down and ordered coffee but started picking on her and complain about the coffee that he girl served but ex-gf is still a winner because she changed to an espresso and jcw had to spit out the coffee. Jcw had no choice but to look for his bad friend again and sang his  4^th song.

This time the MV showed that the bad friend was in the café chatting happily with his ex-gf, the atmosphere was very flirtous and jcw was unhappy. So he interrupt them by ordering coffee. When the coffee came, his friend got a nice heart shape foam but jcw just got a blob.

Finally jcw seat in the garden and drank cass in frustration and went to look for his bad friend again. Bad friend was actually trying to be helpful and told him something enlightening, jcw dashed back to the café in tears to look for ex-gf (this is where he run in the promotional video).  Both of them met and jcw use both hands to hold on to the girls face and both of them bobo freeze frame. The screen show both sides but two of them just freeze frame like blocks. When jcw wanted to kiss the girl, the club members in the front rows screamed.

“She is admired from afar. These admirers court her in secret, in the safety of their dreams.”
― Whitney Otto, How to Make an American Quilt

Translations of OSEN Interview

Empress Ki's Ji Chang-wook: Ha Ji-won as Sunbae, Noona or Lover...

The perfect pairing of Ji Chang-wook, a man whom viewers wish to protect, and the handsome and trustworthy Ha Ji-won, lead to Empress Ki's high and widespread popularity.

Q: You had to act out a wide range of changes in your character. Was it difficult?

Ta Hwan was a child who had never been loved and experienced friendship during his exile, and from friendship, he got to know about love. He tried many ways to obtain that love, but did not know that that was a wrong kind of love.  I was very troubled over how I should portray such a dramatic transformation. 

Q: The changes in emotion were like polar opposites.

I had to shift between laughter, crying, fear and craziness in every episode. It was difficult to maintain a balance. It is not easy to gauge whether a sudden change in emotions should be full of impact, or whether a subplot is to be introduced and then built up slowly. If the script for the next episode isn’t out yet, I have to decide by myself what kind of emotions I should end the episode with, since I do not know how the plot is going to develop later.  There were instances where I had to film two versions of the last scene of an episode.    

Q: Are you satisfied with your acting?

I’m always filled with regrets. I always think I should’ve tried harder.  For example, in the scene where I had to act crazy, I think I should have really given my all. As an actor, this was a show that allowed me to try out various kinds of acting.

Q: What was the most memorable scene?

That would be the first scene five years after the war. It was the scene where I had to use a sword to kill a defeated general while in a drunken state. That scene was filmed in a long take. Because I had to film all at once, my whole body was drenched with sweat. That scene alone took eight hours to film. 

Q: What were your thoughts about the debate regarding the show’s historical distortion while filming?

As an actor, I was very troubled by the kinds of responsibility I should bear regarding the problem of history. “Empress Ki” was a story about one woman surrounded by the love of two men, which would be interesting, so I had no other words to say besides asking people to pay attention to our show. During filming, the only thought I had each time was to take responsibility for my character Ta Hwan and complete the show successfully.   

Q: After “Empress Ki”, you will probably be receiving many offers.

I’m thankful that more people are coming to look for me than before. With that, the number of offers that I have to reject has also increased, and I apologize for that. Jo Jin Woong hyung said that “when you reject a show, the pain you feel is akin to slicing a piece of your flesh”. I can really relate to those words these days.

Translated by daegorr

Source: JCW soompi

Hancinema article

Rating: 8/10

Main Cast:

Ha Ji Won as Ki Seung Nyang/Empress Ki

Joo Jin Mo as Wang Yoo

Ji Chang Wook as Ta Hwan aka Pyeha

Baek Jin Hee as Tanashiri

Jeon Guk Hwan as Yeonchul/El Temur

Jin Yi Han as Tal Tal

Kim Jung Hyun as Dangkise

The Plot:

Koryeo-born woman, Ki Seung Nyang fell in love with her king during their time together. However some bad fates made her end up in Yuan as maid in Yuan Palace. She wanted revenge to her family and country only to be loved by Yuan Emperor. The journey to be an empress, that’s what drama all about.

Review:

“A very rough and bumpy ride.”

A long sageuk drama (51 episodes) as MBC trying to revive the glory of historical sageuk like Dae Jang Geum, Queen Seondeok, and Dong Yi, this drama proves to be very popular and reigns at number 1 spot in the entire run. A star-studded cast leads by Ha Ji Won, an actress considered as Korean beauty and box office hit.  To make up the central love triangle, Joo Jin Mo and Ji Chang Wook played as Koryeo King and Yuan Emperor respectively. The production behind of this drama is rather uneven pair, PD Han Hee of atrocious Dr. Jin and pair writers Jang Young Cheol and Jung Kyung Soon of Giant and History of Salaryman. But fear not, this drama actually has another PD who’s talented and the directing is pretty good. Besides, the cinematography and the clothes are feast on the eyes. We won’t likely get bored when watching this drama.

The drama started off strongly. The first scene was coronation scene of Empress Ki which been shot in Forbidden City, China. Then, the story flashed back to the days when Seung Nyang was in Koryeo. In the first few episodes Ha Ji Won cross-dressed as a man and can play the part convincingly. The plot was interesting and moved fast. Then after episode 7, the majority story moves to Yuan Palace. For the majority of episodes the main villain is El Temur, played by Jeon Guk Hwan. After that, the villain is not clearly established because everyone can be enemy to everyone. That made identity crisis to the plot after the death of El Temur. The story is still interesting, but the writers appear to avoid making bold decisions.

Afterall the real villains actually are the writers. For 51 episodes the writers made everyone suffer and give them a very little happiness. The characters had numerous fights against each other and killed each other. The love triangle is being dragged until the final week, even after Seung Nyang becomes an empress. Despite the story that sometimes frustrating, this drama benefits from great acting from everyone from main cast to supporting characters. Some become scene-stealer like Jin Yi Han, some are underutilized like Joo Jin Mo. The stars of the show are Ji Chang Wook and Ha Ji Won. Their journey and their multidimensional characters are a joy to watch. Their romantic scenes are truly romantic and melted the heart of viewers. Their confrontation scenes are great but painful to watch. Their relationship is facing many obstacles but their love to each other can’t be denied. Their height of the relationship ultimately results in a son, Ayushiridara, the crown prince. Their skinship scenes actually the most ever happen in any sageuk drama that usually restrained skinship.

Ta Hwan, Yuan Emperor, once said in a episode, “I believed there was more than power and gold in life”. Yeah, if the characters don’t care about power and gold, they won’t kill each other and this drama won’t exist.

Plus:

-A great cast and great acting by everyone

-Good cinematography and has very beautiful clothes, especially Empress Ki’s clothes

 -Very addictive

-The most romantic and having most skinships sageuk ever.

Minus:

-long drama, 51 episodes

-Solid writing in the beginning, then suffered from writers’ indecisiveness and many illogical plots

-A bit difficult to find a good english sub and download this drama (but you can DL via torrent)

-Has many political plots

Life lessons:

1. If you love someone, make sure you tell him/her ASAP

2. Revenge is bad for everyone

3. Sometimes the one who will hurt you is the one closest to you

4. You can learn history (although distorted), geopolitics, diplomacy, culture, etc.    

               

               

Aktor Ji Chang Wook mengalami peningkatan popularitas baik di dalam maupun luar Korea Selatan karena drama “Empress Ki“. Drama yang berlatar belakang sejarah (sageuk) sepanjang 51 episode ini baru saja berakhir minggu ini. Sejak awal penayangannya hingga episode terakhir, “Empress Ki“ selalu menduduki peringkat pertama rating di Korea Selatan. Rating tertinggi diraih saat Episode 37, yakni mencapai 29,2% (AGB Nielsen).

Setelah episode terakhir “Empress Ki“, Ji Chang Wook menduduki peringkat pertama di Naver, salah satu situs pencarian di Korea selama beberapa jam. Hal itu tentu tidak mudah bagi seorang aktor untuk meraih popularitas instan. Selain itu, Ji Chang Wook juga menerima banyak tawaran model iklan (CF), pemotretan majalah, dan film. Setelah “Empress Ki“, Ji Chang Wook akan bermain di film “Two Constables” bersama aktor veteran Sol Kyung Gu.

                Kini, setelah drama “Empress Ki“ berakhir, Ji Chang Wook dikabarkan akan menjalani aktivitas promosi ke sejumlah negara di Asia. Drama “Empress Ki“ telah dibeli hak siarnya di Jepang, Taiwan, Indonesia, dan lain-lain. Sebelumnya, Ji Chang Wook hanya dikenal secara luas di Korea Selatan dan Jepang. Namun, kini Ji Chang Wook mulai dikenal masyarakat internasional dan dibanding-bandingkan dengan bintang Hallyu seperti Lee Min Ho dan Kim Soo Hyun. Pada tanggal 17 Mei nanti Ji Chang Wook akan mengawali promosi dengan mengadakan jumpa fans di Tokyo dan tanggal 6 Juni di Osaka, Jepang. Setelah itu, ia dikabarkan akan menjalani promosi ke 10 negara di Asia di paruh kedua tahun 2014.

Sumber: Liputan 6, Korean Herald