Emperor Wang Gun (2000)

It is a lengthy drama of 200 episodes but it is due to the complexity of the story telling. The story is pretty much straight forward with not a lot of plot twist even if it is, it is predictable which I will explain why as we dive deeper into this review. The story is based on actual history, faithfully adapted with fictional drama throw in, also the heavy religious theme of Buddhism are in this drama which may turn off some, as a Christian I'm not really bothered by it because it is part of the actual history. Even though the story is complicated, considering the scale of the storytelling which involves the three kingdoms and each kingdom have their politics and stories that is part of the the main story. However, the drama is surprising easy to follow as it takes its time to develop its characters and with the help of narrator to explain everything (by laying out the historical facts and inform you which part is fiction for the purpose of drama). Most of the characters are written very well especially the antagonists, they are given backstory and you know their personalities and their motivation except the main character which I will get to my issue with the show.

Now the issue I have, the plot twists are predictable due to the narrator will spoil or tell you in advance example what will happen to the character in the future after the introduction to the character. Next the main character of the show, Wang Gun I wished this character was written as well as the antagonists, I don't know what is the character's motivation, he is a passenger in his own story, while the side/supporting characters are the driver.

The acting of the show is quite good all around. The characters are being portrayed on screen rather than actors acting.

The sound mixing, music/soundtrack and cinematography doesn't really hold up that well considering it was almost 20 years ago (it was year 2020 at the time I write this review), the aspect ratio is those old TV square shaped and sound effect used are quite bad in today's standard to a point that it is hilarious but what makes it watchable is the story telling, the acting and the production, the war sequences and they even have ship that is from that period that sail.
Because of the lengthy episodes, in my opinion the interesting episodes are from episode 1 to 120 and the last quarter of the show which is episode 150 onward to end while in between episodes 121 to 149 are where I find is where the drama drag.

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Disconnected and scattered

Just another historical drama confirming, yet again, how much I don't like seeing 'Choi Soo Jong' in a historical setting. You would be dreaming if you thought the drama will utilize the 200-episodes runtime wisely. Expect a lot of useless scenes/chapters/arcs/stories/characters. I really wish they didn't waste too much time with the childhood period, the first +20 episodes were too much for an introduction. A quick introduction of max 2-3 episodes would have been way more than enough to establish what needed to be established.

When zooming out, the drama is split into 3 major parts. The first 1/3 consisted of the back story and the personal relationships. The second 1/3 consisted of forming the religion then turning it into a cult and watching madness ensues. The last 1/3 is was just generic wars and battles. The last 1/3 had a major tone shift and turned the drama into something different. It was a bit too disconnected to associate it with the first 2/3 after what had been already established. It should have been its own thing and the drama should have ended after the second 1/3. I feel for those who had to watch it serializing for 2 years, the shifts were too unpleasant as if they were jumping different shows.

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