Sageuk and Splash Splash Love (A Review)

Being a Sageuk fan can wreak havoc with one’s moods. 

Sageuk are Korean historical period dramas, which are usually quiet lengthy, agonizing, emotional roller-coasters, not to mention confusing since they usually only relate to actual historical facts as much as American T.V series usually do… meaning not much.

Apart from loving Korean historical dramas, I actually also adore watching any Asian historical T.V series, therefore even Japanese and Chinese ones. Lately I have watched two very good, but also very long and sad Chinese dramas. These were ‘Three Lives, Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms’ (also known as Eternal Love, or To the Sky Kingdom) which consists of 58 episodes, and ‘Empresses in the Palace (also known as The Legend of Zhen Huan), consisting of 76 episodes, all of them around an hour long per episode.

Craving a break from so much history, I watched ‘The Beauty Inside’ after these (the review can be found here), which is a modern Korean drama. Unfortunately for me, although all of these dramas were VERY good, they were also quiet heavy, meaning that I ended up using rolls and rolls of tissue paper to stem my flow of tears hehe.

So, what to watch when you are still in the mood for historical drama, but want one which is light-hearted and SHORT? Enter – ‘Splash Splash Love’!

This gender-bender time-travel Joseon love story is cute, funny, and historically incorrect. Perfect for those who look forward to two hours of entertainment. It is in fact, only 2 hours long.

Without giving any spoilers, the plot of this South Korean drama follows high school studen Danbi, who is stressed because she is about to take her final examinations. Danbi falls into a rain puddle and is transported to the Joseon era, where the King and all his officials are praying for an end to a 3-year drought. Confusion ensues as Danbi disguises herself as a eunuch and realizes that in medieval Joseon, her very low level of mathematical knowledge is considered to be pure genius. She befriends the king… and well… I’d better not divulge the rest.

Of course, being a fan of Sageuk, some things did jar a bit. For example at one point both the King and the Queen simply run away from the Palace, with no guards or retinue, and spend the night outside (separately) without anyone knowing where they went. A day after, they return to the Palace, and no one even mentions it, as though nothing has happened. Anyone who watches historical Asian drama knows that Royalty NEVER went outside the Palace unsupervised and alone, especially the Queen! How could both the King and Queen just disappear for over 24 hours without anyone noticing?? Surreal lol

However I wasn’t watching this particular drama because I wanted historical accuracy was I? So, I tried to ignore all that, since it was precisely what I needed a break from. 

By the way, if you liked ‘Love in the Moonlight’, you will love this one too!

Personal rating – 3 on 5 stars

American Horror Story – Season 6 Review – NO SPOILERS

When I had watched Season 5 of American Horror Story last year,I was hardly impressed to say the least.

However, looking at Season 6 this autumn, I guess I’ll just have to eat my words.

Gone is the fake gratuitous soft porn thrown in simply to shock viewers into cheap thrills. Gone is the unneeded violence and lackadaisical plot. Instead of unexplained murders and ghouls, AHS takes us back to the mysterious plot lines, interesting characters, and dramatic acting so much admired during the first season. Entitled Murder House, Season 1 had focused on a haunted mansion and its historic violent past. Season 6, Roanoke, tackles not so much a haunted house, but an actual haunted piece of land, illustrating one of America’s oldest mysteries.

The Season in fact makes reference to the historic mystery of the Roanoke colony, also known as the Lost Colony – a group of Americans who were sent to Roanoke Island in the New World (North America) in the 16th century, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, in an attempt to colonise it and establish a base camp. The 115 members of the colony all disappeared without a trace. The only remaining clue was the word ‘Croatoan’ scratched on the bark of a tree.

This season is, in a way, totally different from the previous ones, as all the episodes are presented in the format of a documentary. The narrative focuses on a married couple, who are telling us the story in a studio, while at the same time, people we know to be re-enactors play their parts in order for the viewers to understand what actually happened. Each character is therefore seen twice and portrayed by two different people. The ‘real’ character is interviewed in the filming studio, while the ‘re-enactors’ are the ones playing out the actual events.

The main plot line follows an interracial couple, Matt and Shelby. After being attacked by a street gang, they decide to leave the city and its perils, and relocate to an abandoned colonial farmhouse in North Carolina.

To read the rest of the article, which was published on EVE magazine follow the direct link: http://www.eve.com.mt/2016/11/05/american-horror-story-season-6/