I’ll admit I haven’t paid much mind to KBS’s upcoming sageuk (and manhwa adaptation) Kingdom of Wind because, well, I never cottoned on to Jumong and felt no particular thrill to see Song Il-kook back in his old-fashioned threads playing Jumong’s grandson.

But I will say I’m a little surprised at the casting of two up-and-coming new pretty boys who have hitherto been known mostly for their good looks, in their first sageuk roles: Coffee Prince’s Kim Jae-wook, pictured above, and Kim Hye-sung, who’s just started expanding his repertoire (Jenny, Juno; Unstoppable High Kick) to more daring roles, like the queer short Boy Meets Boy. (Well, everyone knows that when you want to prove your acting mettle, you either go theater or sageuk.)

Furthermore, three of Kingdom of Wind’s main cast are also making their first sageuk attempts: lead actress Choi Jung-won (Infamous Chil Princesses), supporting actress Oh Yoon-ah (Old Miss Diary, Someday), and actor Park Gun-hyung (Dancing Princess). Generally I find that an actor’s first time in a sageuk is often marked by stiff, awkward acting (because the cadence of a historical drama is so different from a modern one), but the mark of a versatile actor is one who adapts to the new milieu quickly.

Must be their strategy to try to rope in the younger viewers, I suppose? The drama’s competition will be MBC’s Beethoven Virus, with whom it shares a premiere date — this Wednesday, the 10th — and SBS’s Painter of the Wind, which premieres two weeks later on the 24th.

Via My Daily

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Early stills released for The Painter of Wind all featured a much different look from its star — different because so far we’ve mostly seen Korea’s Little Sister Moon Geun-young cross-dressing as a young man, in order for her character to pursue painting.

Now we get to see her in her female finery in these latest photos (which we can presume is her true identity before she embarks on her gender-bending undertaking).

The Painter of Wind follows Working Mom to air starting September 24.

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Ah, another final episode, another drama wrapped.

Let’s be honest: Strongest Chil Woo isn’t a great show. It’s probably not even a good one. But it has been often entertaining and despite its recent darker turns, I was holding out hope that the finale would see a return to lighter, goofier times. In that, I’m pretty satisfied. The resolution we’re given is hopeful without being too cartoony, and as far as last episodes go, it did the job.

But let’s get on with the show…

SONG OF THE DAY

Strongest Chil Woo OST - “내가 달려갈께” (I’ll run) by Lazybone [ Download ]

STRONGEST CHIL WOO Episode 20 (Final) >>

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If I had to rate the recent episodes, I’d say the previous several haven’t been very good — and that’s by Chil Woo standards, so we’re talking pretty low stuff. Not awful, just boring. But today’s picked up considerably, and even managed a shocker — which I guess is to be expected since we end tomorrow.

SONG OF THE DAY

Strongest Chil Woo OST - “언젠가” (Someday) by Hye Na [ Download ]

STRONGEST CHIL WOO Episode 19 >>

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There’s something about this image I really like. The set may look artificial and the background may be too fakely blue, but it’s a nice, homey family scene that carries added meaning as a happy moment of calm before the storm.

As for the drama’s audience, the pre-empting of Gourmet’s Episode 18 today probably accounts for the jump in Chil Woo’s ratings. The numbers have held steady in the 10%-11% range (AGB numbers; TNS is typically about 1% lower) for much of its run, and jumped suddenly today to 14.5%.

Things wrap up for Chil Woo next week, so we start to feel the story setting itself up for its grand finale.

SONG OF THE DAY

Star Love Fish - “지워진 날들” (erased days) [ Download ]

STRONGEST CHIL WOO Episode 18 >>

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