Episodes: 24Yr of telecast/TV Stn: 2006/KBS
Main Cast:
Ha Ji Won ~~ Hwang Jini/Myeongwol
Kim Young Ae ~~ Baek Mu
Yoon Tae Joon ~~ Byeok Tae Soo
Wang Bit Na ~~ Buyoung
Jang Geun Suk ~~ Kim Eun Ho
Kim Jae Won ~~ Kim Jung Han
Lee In Hye ~~ Dan Shim
Summary: Hwang Jini, also known by her Gisaeng name Myeongwol ("shining moon"), was among the most famous kisaeng of the Joseon Dynasty. She was the child of an aristocratic man in Gaeseong; accounts of her mother vary, but many indicate that she was a blind woman named Hyeon Hak Geum. Jini grew up at the temple, and acknowledged her Gisaeng mum, who did not want her to follow her footsteps. Jini was talented and became Gisaeng soon after that, but she has to go through lots of training and tests. She quickly rose to fame thanks to her beauty, intellect, and preternatural talent in playing the geomungo.
"Hwang Jini" is not just a tale abt her, it also showed the Gisaeng life during that era & a few romances of Jini.
Comments: I gave up watching "Jumong" coz' it's too long & i lost interest. Epic dramas tend to be draggy la, but I am glad that I carried on watching Hwang Jini even there's no subs. That also means I didnt understand most of the conversations la, just a rough concept what happened. Nvm! It's a pretty good drama. Plot focused on Jini's life and on her romances with her first love Eun Ho & the 2nd guy in her life...Jung Han. These scenes were all touching la, especially tt one with Eun Ho in the coffin...very sad. Another focus was on Jini & her teacher Baek Mu...they were kinda like enemy lah, butta Jini finally realised her teacher's efforts la. I like Kim Young Ae & Ha Ji Won's chemistry. As for the other 2 guys, though Jang Geun Suk looked relatively younger than Ji Won, they looked compatible la. Kim Jae Won...great improvement from his previous works. He finally showed his potential liao! However, i felt that his chemistry with Ji Won was still a little lacking... Storyline was good but the pace was not very fast, but the gd thing was...u wont get bored la.
The whole cast gave a good performance, though many was kinda new to me. Another attraction were the dances and performances by the Gisaengs. How can i miss out the beautiful Hanboks wore by them? Very colourful and different from traditional Hanboks la. However, their head gear was abit "redundant" to me..haha!
Finally, wanna congrat Ji Won for winning the Daesang @ KBS Drama awards. Also, for winning the "best couple award" with Jang Geun Suk.
Ratings: 8/10 (If you know their Japanese counterparts-Geishas, you may wanna give the Gisaengs a try. They may seem to be similar in terms of job, butta there's whole lot of differences.)
