A Village, Flying Dragons and Sassy Cheerleaders

The Village: Achiara’s Secret
Based on all the promo material, I expected Village to be a bit more suspenseful but somehow there’s more of a resemblance to the traditional murder mysteries à la Agatha Christie. A small community, deceptively tranquil on the surface but with all sorts of things percolating underneath and just about everyone has a secret or two. Well, there is that serial killer thingy as well and some supernatural overtones. So, a mixed bag with different aspects that don’t seem to clash but neither are they quite seamlessly incorporated either. It’s early days yet and time enough to make the parts fit properly, hopefully. The characters are quite interesting and we already got some hints about what sort of persons they seem to be. I’m sure there’ll be a few surprises along the way as in this type of stories you can’t really trust first impressions. 🙂 I don’t think there’s much doubt about who the dead lady is and I was pretty sure quite early on how she connects to our heroine So Yoon. I also believe that the village head honcho, Assemblyman Seo is somehow involved in what happened to So Yoon’s family.

Not excactly a strong start but good enough to make me interested in seeing how the story continues, how all these different threads are connected. Directing could be tighter though. With mixed bags there is always the danger that they come undone at the seams, making an unholy mess.

Six Flying Dragons
Now, this is more like it! I’ve been waiting and waiting for a sageuk that wouldn’t either bore me to tears with all the tired, done to death tropes or just turn all out disappointing plotwise. I can’t even remember when there was a sageuk which I genuinely enjoyed watching from beginning to end. Guess I should have trusted the crew behind Tree With Deep Roots would deliver. Well, at least the start was very promising. The writers are obviously taking some liberties with the written history, so anyone expecting a totally authentic story that sticks with known facts will probably be disappointed. This doesn’t bother me though, as long as the story makes narrative sense and is presented believably, I’m good. I know Tree was based on a novel but I haven’t seen any mention about this being the case with Dragons. So, a story based on history? Alternate history? AU Korea? Be what it may but I did like the first couple of epis a lot and I’m looking forward to what the next weeks will bring. Can I also say how much I love that for once the adult actors are not overshadowed by their younger counterparts (as far as I can tell). It’s not once or twice I’ve lost interest in the characters once they grow up because the youngsters did their job so much better.

Six Flying Dragons is 50 episodes so TPTB will have to bring on their a-game to keep the show on track for the duration. There are very few kdramas that avoid the dreaded drag and it’s an even harder feat to achieve in a long drama. A lot hangs on the writing as per usual. I do hope Dragons has a solid frame which to build on.

Sassy, Go Go/Cheer Up!
I was quite hesitant to start this as the past few Korean school dramas I tried all ended up being disappointments in one way or other. But, I like Sassy! Yeah, I was kinda surprised too. XD The kids are all ok, though acting prowess varies, thus the amount of investment in the characters varies too. That said, I’m finding even those less blessed with acting talent quite passable because the characters are well enough constructed to make me care and none of the young cast is so good as to totally act rings around everyone else. Despite of some of the more serious themes in the show, I’m hoping Sassy will be more about overcoming obstacles, bonding and friendship than all out gloom and doom. It can be done; see -> Twenty Again.^^