Gaksital

Other title: Bridal Mask
Korean title: 각시탈

Aired on KBS2
2012 May 30 to Sept 06
28 episodes

Main cast:

• Joo Won: Lee Kang To
• Jin Se Yun: Oh Mok Dan
• Park Ki Woong: Kimura Shunji
• Han Chae Ah: Ueno Rie
• Chun Ho Jin: Kimura Taro
• Kim Eung Soo: Konno Goji
• Jun Noh Min: Dam Sa Ri
• Ahn Hyung Joon: Jun Katsuyama
• Song Min Hyung: Governor Wada Ryo
• Son Byung Ho: Jo Dong Joo

Note: Apparently it's based on a famous manhwa.

Review: + (from memory)

Title: Appropriate since it's about a hero who fights injustice and protects the Korean people during the Japanese occupation, wearing a traditional mask representing the bride. I don't remember why he chose this mask.

Boy: Ha! You're handsome, smart and passionate. You also have lots of resentment in you and it makes you cruel on occasions. In real life, you would be way too intense but you are interesting. Unfortunately you become a little bland in scenes when you act sweet.

Other boy: I don't know how to treat him. The fact that it's really hard for me to describe his personality here is, I think, a problem. I can just say that he's loyal, obstinate and passionate too.

Girl: so. So. SO brave. And kind. If I were to be cynical, I would say that she is too perfect. Anyway, I just have to admire her.

Other girl: She acts like a psychopath. She disgusted me at some points. But other times, I felt for her because she sold her soul and she's paying the price for that.

Plot: It was good, the stakes were high and you didn't know what was going to happen. But maybe fewer episodes would have been better because it was dark and heavy and I need some "light" from times to times in my series. But the bigger problem was...

the Relationships. Fortunately, the plot didn't need the characters to be dumb but it sometimes relied on the relationships in a way that isn't very credible. My other issue is that most romantic relationships started in the past which makes them pretty static. I can understand that developing the romantic relationships is not the most important in a drama in which life-threatening situations happen at every turn but these relationships are accomodated to serve the plot so they are not as powerful as they should be. They feel like plot devices which undermines the characters.

Other characters: There are mAAAny characters. The big bads are really interesting and chilling which makes up for one or two annoying cartoonish villains. I'll also say that while it's pretty much good against bad, there are more nuanced characterizations.

Funny factor: Nope.

Music: I don't remember it.

Other points: Period! Action! Elaborate fights!

Bottom line: It's a plus because: Good plots. Interesting characters. Heroism. Extreme backdrop. It's not a Fab because of other boy and the love relationships (both issues are linked).

A discussion of what happens after the jump so stop here if you haven't watched it yet.

Well, I don't know if it's really a spoiler since all the promo and synopsis give it away.

Anyway, it was a surprise for me so I don't know how it feels to watch the drama knowing that Lee Kang To will become Gaksital. This episode is like a reset. Many characters die and it reshuffles the roles.

Before it was quite ambiguous and I liked it. But after, (how awful was it to have Kang To kill his own brother?) it was Shunji (+ his father + the secret organization) versus Kang To (Gaksital + the Resistance movement).

Shunji and Kang To go back to what they're supposed to do, per their family and origins. It was the point... but I spent the series mourning the death of normal Shunji, replaced by crazy evil Shunji.

I didn't like it but I think that this drama is primarily about Shunji and Kang To. How Shunji's life was destroyed the moment he felt like it was his duty to take action, to replace his brother and to side with his family and Japan. How Lee Kang To found his true calling by taking the place of his brother, becoming Gaksital and protecting Korea.

But while I appreciated the tragicness of it all (you also have to add the fact that they were best friends and more ugh! the fact that they love the same woman because they met her in the past), I don't totally buy it, especially in Shunji's case. I wish we had seen some warning signs of his psychopatic traits when he was still a meek outsider. Subtle signs so we don't think too much of it at first but which would become illuminating later.

I wish I'd had the time to write the review just after watching it so I would remember it more clearly but I would have had way too many thoughts on it so maybe it's for the best.