Samchongsa

I thoroughly enjoyed this series. I liked the plot as well as the characters and watched the whole thing in a matter of 2 days. I wish Kim Myung Soo would have played a stronger character, bit Lee Jin Wook didn't disappoint. Apparently there were once plans for additional seasons, but that never happened. Too bad. 9/10.

Set in the Joseon Dynasty period (during the confusion of justification and the period of espionage and transition from ming to ping), when the public desire for social reform was at a high.

The three-arc historical action-romance drama, in which warriors and spies step back and forth along borders, follows Crown Prince So Hyeon, his two bodyguards, Heo Seung Po and An Min Seo, as well as Park Dal Hyang, a yangban come warrior who has everything going for him, including personality and looks, even though he comes from a poor family. Dal Hyang is also involved in a love triangle between Yoon Seo, the Crown Princess, and Crown Prince So Hyeon. Meanwhile, Jo Mi Ryeong is Prince So Hyeon's first love, who later becomes the prince's enemy and decides to take revenge.

Was easy to spot the corresponding characters to the original story, but there were some relational differences that made things interesting. It was a fun watch, though the subtitling weren't always top Not as bad as those in 'A Chinese Ghost Story', but definitely showed they weren't a large expenditure. It was a fun version of the musketeers story, and like another reviewer said, I definitely wish there had been more seasons. Not sure what the 1 bad review was for, even after reading it. Not sure I could agree with the opinion presented as it doesn't really point out anything specific, just a general "yuck" opinion. The opening theme is interesting as it feels like a very western culture 'swashbuckler' feeling sound. Being a fan of the Dumas story, I enjoy seeing different takes on it, and haven't yet run across anything I would classify as a 'horrible' version of the adventure.

The drama made my skin crawl from this godawful screenplay. Yikes. No wonder why it received poor broadcast ratings, honestly well deserved. It was infested with problems too glaring to ignore. In addition, a general distasteful feeling was always roaming around. None of the characters and their interactions felt natural. The romance was too embarrassing to even call it a romance. The sound design was poor in general, from the OST to the mixing and dialogue. Although it was 12 episodes, the story barely moved; not much was accomplished. Although it was 12 episodes, the story barely moved; not much was accomplished.

The Three Musketeers story was written by Alexandre Dumas about the court of Louis XIII of France. This version does pay homage to that story but stands extremely well in the Korean Joseon 17C era.

Examples: Korean King = petulant Louis XIII, Crown Prince = Athos, Ah Min-seo = Aramis, both with religious backgrounds, Yang Dong-kun = Portos, carouser warrior, Park Dal-hy, new royal guard from the countryside = D'Artagnan, Pan-Shwe = Planchet, the squire, Crown Princess = Queen Anne, losing a hairpin not jewels, new royal guard Park Dal-hy adopted by "the Three Musketeers" = D'Artagnan,. Kim Ja-jeom = a secular Richelieu, Jo Mi-ryung as the deadly Milady, Choi Myung-gil, a teacher = Captain M de Treville.

Little details from the book include D'Artagnan takes a very old horse to the capital, which dies on the way, He finds his love is married ( in the book this was Constance), he is attracted to Milady but is smart to avoid her.

The differences with the book make this more valid and enjoyable in the Korean context. It was an extremely fun K-drama, which no doubt left the audience wanting more and such has the world seen similar companion pieces, but none work as well as the first book, The Three Musketeers.