Baramui Nara

For people who have become sick of trying to find anything new to watch on cable TV recently or gotten board waiting 3 weeks in between episodes, it may be time to broaden your horizons with some of the amazing shows made by other countries.

I watched The kingdom of the Winds (I am sure the title sounded better in its original language) on Drama Fever recently. Drama Fever brings top TV shows from around the world but mainly ones that are translated from Korean or Spanish. There are tons of gems on there and this is one of them. Korean TV has a huge and growing fan base around the world and with good reason, it's awesome!

The Kingdom of the Winds follows the story of one of the great kings from one of the countries in what eventually became Korea. It starts from when he was abandoned as a baby (because of a dire prophecy about what he would do when he grew up), to when he had finally overcome the considerable odds to become a great king and takes over a bunch of other countries.

Many of the shows that focus on early Korean history, are about the desire of the king to unify all of Korea. Like many countries, Korea used to be made up of a bunch of smaller kingdoms, which meant they all lived with the threat of being taken over by one of the other countries. The king who eventually unifies the country, would be remembered for a thousand years and let his people live in safety. A nice idea, except they all had that idea, so they seemed to live in perpetual war.

This show is set in the early part of Korean history, fairly close to the time when the Romans were nailing a bloke called Jesus to wooden cross elsewhere in the world. This is a time when wars were waged with swords and arrows, which makes for great action sequences and fun TV.

For the first half of the series, the shows star doesn't even know he is a prince, which gives him the opportunity to join the army as a regular soldier, learn to be a ninja and pick up loads of loyal lowly friends, who go on to become his loyal subjects when the truth about his identity is discovered.

Slight rewind, yes, I said ninja. That term we use for men wearing cool suits, with martial arts skills we envy, doing secret nighttime missions in black masks. It seems that Koreans have their own version, as it is not the first Korean show I have seen which features them. In this show, they don't specifically refer to them as ninjas, but they look and act like them. Their secret group is called "the black shadows", which sounds like the name of a ninja clan too. They are trained to posses super human fighting skills and they conduct missions at night wearing all black, with face masks. This ninja-like group features heavily all the way through the series. They belong to an enemy country and the star of the show is captured by them. After they have tortured him for a while, he ends up joining them for a bit. In fact, just long enough to learn their fighting skills, before seeing the error of his ways and taking his new skills back home.

His ninja skills makes him a compelling option to become crown prince in his home country. The perfect hero of the people - a royal prince, but one who is in touch with the common man, has experienced battle from the front line and has led a hard life, which gives him a level of resolve that eludes his girlie little brother.

At first, his dad (the current king), doesn't know who he is. When his identity is discovered, he won't accept him (due to the prophecy about his future). Eventually, he wins him and everyone else over with his valiant acts and is proclaimed crown prince.

Once the star has become king, the enemy continues to send its ninja-like black shadows to try an assassinate him or kidnap his girlfriend (who happens to be an enemy princess). Having a history of being a black shadow himself, who better than our king to come up with a strategy to stop them?

Like most of the Korean dramas I have watched, this show is great because of the variety of interesting characters, their complicated love interests, friendships and betrayals etc. They really take the time to develop each roll to the point where you feel like you know them.

I have tried to be a little vague on the story as I don't want to ruin it for anyone and I don't like reviews where people try to write the book of the movie. All we really want to know from a review, is, should I watch it or not? The answer here is yes, for fans of actions movies, anything to do with martial arts or ninjas and fans of drama or history.

It is also a good one to watch with the Mrs, as it satisfies our craving for action, and gives them the drama and love story that they need to stay interested. The action sequences are cool but not too gruesome,

Now, for those of you who are afraid of subtitles and say things like "I can't be bothered to read now, I just want to relax", stop being lazy! You are missing out on loads of amazing shows. You get used to subtitles after a while and it is really no problem. Haven't you ever read a book and found it relaxing?

A marvelous mini series (if that's the correct term)which enthralls right from the start and never lets go. In it's 36 or so hours, it seldom puts a foot wrong. The performances from some of the actors including female are hard to gauge in particular the two leading men, and the leading actresses ie Oh Yoon Ah as Hye Ap, who i nominate as the sexiest female character I've seen in a long time, and we never even get to see her legs. Then there is Choi Jung Won as Princess Yeon, who is full of grace and serenity. But I have no doubt that the best performance comes from Jung Jin Young as king Yuri. Plaudits also to among others Kim Hye Ri as as Lady Mi Yoo (Yeo Jin's mother), and Han Jin Hee as King Daeso. Yes, there are faults. There is plenty of fighting, but very little blood. At one stage, i thought a character who was being executed had survived. It looked like the executioners blade had missed him. But no, he had been killed. When one of the main characters is killed in a rather inhumane way, and his friend has the opportunity to treat the instigator in like manner, he doesn't. Perhaps it's to do with Korean TV restrictions. The two leading male and female characters are not without fault. At one stage, she poisons someone, and he has a tendency at times to kill people who are no threat to him. Perhaps it was just one person, i can't remember. I see those as positive aspects of the series. When one of the lead characters dies, my heart broke. And i cried like anything. That is one of the great strengths of Korean movies and TV dramas; the emotion they can get from you, and also how they involve you in the stories. Highly recommended without reservations.

I don't understand why The Kingdom of the Winds is so underrated-it's unfair. In some ways, it's even better than Jumong and Emperor of the Sea. The biggest strength of this series is its sad and tragic story. It's so emotional that it can make you cry.

The soundtrack is also amazing. Tracks like Main Theme and Mohyul Theme are a mix of sadness and epic vibes, which match the show's tone perfectly. The visuals are stunning, and the epic moments in the series sometimes outshine other historical dramas. As someone who loves epic series, this is one of my favorites.

However, the series isn't perfect. Yeon's character suffers from a lack of development and clear purpose. While her storyline had great potential, it often feels inconsistent and poorly handled, as if she's just moving from one event to another without much depth. This weakens some parts of the overall story.

That said, the other characters are incredible. Bae geuk and Daeso, in particular, stand out and leave a incredible impression. I also love how the series shows the struggles of Mohyul and the weight he carries as a tragic hero. It captures the pain and sacrifice of leadership so well.

Overall, The Kingdom of the Winds is an epic and emotional drama that deserves more love. Its mix of tragedy, strong characters, and breathtaking music makes it a must-watch for fans of epic historical dramas.

Based on the false foresight that a baby was born under an unlucky star that will make him cause the death of his family and his country, The Kingdom of the Winds features a yarn of love, war and patriotism, rather fiction than historical fact, which starts more like a fairy tale under the sign of a foreteller, but becomes less so as it unfolds, and we discover that its characters are people like you and me, not endowed with fabulous powers, but who come together through unbreakable blood ties and strong friendship, changing their destiny. The values they hold and the traditions they follow are as old as times, making them perfectly credible.

Compared to Emperor of the Sea, The Kingdom of the Winds is a little lighter on the heart, more storylike, conveying a childhood feeling, mixed with a little fantasy and with moments of suspense that keep you on the edge of your seat, when fights are fought or when secrets are learned. There are moments in the film that counterbalance the many sad ones, and reward the viewer with a sort of unpredictable joy; such are the scenes in which one or the other of the princes does something really beautiful for their younger brother; such is the scene in which a princess invites a man into her chambers; such are the scenes in which the king restores, one by one, all the rights his abandoned-for-the-sake-of-protection son should have benefited from; and such is when a trusty friend takes someone somewhere to allegedly help them forget their sorrow, but he actually helps love conquer against all odds. You can't not love the funny Mahwang, or how Muhyul's guard (his best friends) look like musketeers, or how they ride in droves just like in dreams, in the wind, in their land of the winds...

The characters' occasional flashbacks remind the viewer of this or that scene they may have forgotten along the series, reinforcing the plot line; as well, these flashbacks enhance the characters' emotions offering us the necessary insight towards understanding the entire piece; they also round up the diverse happenings of the film, creating a clearer picture in the mind of the audience. Landscapes, music and costumes, together with a lot of good acting combine in this Korean drama to stir that emotion of sheer beauty which is quite difficult to find. The talent of Yun-a Oh (Hye Ap) or that of Jin-young Jung (King Yuri) can't go unnoticed; how they managed to shape up so perfect a character as Muhyul I don't know, and I must admit that choosing Il-guk Song to play the part is inspirational.

The prince says , whoever can wield the Sword of Paradise (the spiritual symbol that protects the people) might change their destiny in their favour; I say, whoever can wield the resources of filmmaking to create such a masterpiece has already made history.

KOTW is the sequel to Jumong, a Korean classic epic drama. I just finished the 36 eps and my heart is heavy again! As always, these epic stories based on historical data are bittersweet, meant to tug at the heart and tend to stretch the series by VERY slowly developing every major character. This could've been finished in 25 episodes. But...I loved it, even if the ending was so sad...but, they always leave you wanting more...always leaving with questions unanswered. Seeing Song Il Gook (Jumong) playing his grandson, Muhyul, made me a bit apprehensive at first, but it made so much sense! Why not look like his grandfather? The main cast of leading men were all believable and absolutely macho/handsome and the lead women were all beautiful/terrific. I loved the best friends of Muhyul and their love and loyalty to each other. The bad guys-led by Dojin (Park Gun Hyung), King Daeso (veteran Han Jin Hee) and Bae Geuk (Jung Sung Mo)-were evil personified. Killing to them was a sport! King Yuri (veteran actor Jung Jin Young) was Jumong's son who hardly knew his father and came out weak and sometimes, hesitant. There are too many fabulous actor to mention here. BRAVO to all!

The music was perfect, but became repetitive with many hour-long episodes. The male vocalist who sang about LOVE was quite passionate, and always made me tear up. Costumes (for that time frame) were elegant and colorful and I find the Goguryu era hairstyles preferable to the later Joseon era of man-buns and "witch's hats" or the humongous wigs of the courtesans. Thank you to the Directors, Screenwriters, producers, stunt choreographers, horse trainers and film crew for your hard work on a marvelous piece. I would recommend this to all who loved Jumong or just to historical drama fans.