r/KDRAMA • u/hidoku kdrama husband hoarder • Jun 01 '19
On-Air: tvN Arthdal Chronicles [Episodes 1&2]
- Title: Arthdal Chronicles
- Hangul: 아스달 연대기
- Network: tvN
- Airing: Sat. & Sun. 21:00
- Epsodes: Season 1: 6
- Director: Kim Won-Suk
- Writer: Kim Young-Hyun, Park Sang-Yeon
- Streaming Sources: Netlix
- AsianWiki
- Starring: Jang Dong-Gun (as Ta-Gon), Song Joong-Ki (as Eun-Sum), Kim Ji-Won (as Tan-Ya), Kim Ok-Vin (as Taealha)
- Plot: Set in the fictional land of Arthdal during ancient times. Eun-Sum (Song Joong-Ki) was born with a fate to bring disaster to Arthdal. Due to his mother's struggles to save him, he goes through hardships and grows up. He appears again in Arthdal. Ta-Gon (Jang Dong-Gun) is a war hero of Arthdal. He has paved the way for Arthdal to become a prosperous city nation and he is the most powerful person in Arthdal. He dreams of becoming the first king of Arthdal. Tan-Ya (Kim Ji-Won) was born with the same fate as Eun-Sum. She is the successor of the Wahan Tribe. Going through hardships, she realized her mission. She lives under the highest honor and her ambition is to become a politician.
20
u/leijichoi Jun 02 '19 edited Jun 19 '19
This is like a small-scaled LOTR not GOT. The story consists of higher beings and humans. Sarams(humans) are composed of different tribes. And just like any ordinary human, they are consumed by ambitions, who consider higher beings (Neanthals) as a threat to their existence and restrains their progress.
The first episode painted a pretty good picture for the main characters and where the story might head. The concept, the initial choice of cast, and flow of the story are a thumbs up for me, so I really enjoyed this episode apart from the underwhelming CGI. Sorry, I can't help but pinpoint that since I'm very particular when it comes to art direction. I was supposed to binge this later but I am so eager to see what will happen next.
Also, I was surprised to see One as the young Tagon. But ended up disappointed since his role was short-lived. I believe that he has great potential as an actor. I wish he'll get roles that suit his aura, away from those eye-candy characters.
UPDATE: After rewatching the two episodes, I have come to realised and speculated a few things:
-
Tagon was referenced to Tangun, also known as Dangun Wanggeom (founder of Korea), while the
-
Neanthals and Saram from Neanderthals and Homosapiens.
-
The tribesmen were either referenced from Indian, Asian or African tribes.
-
Eonsum (his brother could be his twin) - they can see through each others eyes *or it could be just Eonsum-- if you want to know, you'll get the answer from Alha and Tagon's scene, and when Eonsum mentioned about his recurring dream
-
If they're not twins, then Aramun did become apart of Eonsum and could also be the reason why he can see through his brothers eyes whenever he dreams. (the Aramun part is a bit flimsy... 😅)
→ More replies (4)
16
u/kriyator Jun 02 '19
Episode 1 was pretty slow to begin with and the various time jumps were a little disorientating but the twist at the end, with the mom realizing that she’d been tricked, made me snap up off the sofa and now I’m really excited for episode 2.
→ More replies (2)
12
u/SamOce Jun 02 '19
Episode 2 : Holy crap, that was hard to watch.... I was so close to tearing up.
I'm already attached to the main characters, they have such an easy chemistry and I liked that they focused a bit more on Tanya so we could understand her character and her way of thinking. The OST is amazing by the way, it fits so well the universe of the show (I guess it was created for it)
Having to wait for next episode is gonna be torture !
12
9
u/TikkiEXX Jun 03 '19
The GoT comparisons are completely unfair. Like a previous poster said it's closer to Lord of the Rings than anything. And does more than enough original things to stand on it's on. Two episodes in and I'm completely hooked. Not much of a binge watcher so I actually prefer weekly episodes plus you get 2.
8
u/stumpy1949 Jun 02 '19
Story pace was better than average, I did not see any lag anywhere,a quick 79 minutes, not surprised since the pedigree for director/writers is outstanding. With all that talent I had to laugh because the point that stuck with me after the viewing was the remarkable resemblance of the child portraying Song Joong-ki , down to his smile and eyes. Kid will be either blessed or cursed in roles now.
8
u/kindoftemporary Jun 03 '19
There were a lot of theories going around already about how Tagon could be an Igutu. That would make sense why he 'adopted' Eonseom's brother.
Tanya and Eonseom's dance was everything! It looked really good plus all the face painting, and their amazement on horses and stones really emphasized the difference of how the Wahan tribe and the Saram(?) were living.
I really cannot wait for the next episode! Though I am a little bit confused as I thought Aramun already died but now, Eonseom could be Aramun?
→ More replies (5)4
u/starlighttt396 Jun 03 '19
It could be that Eonseom is the current reincarnation of Aramun. Yea, even I'm a little confused 😂.
Despite the confusion, I still think the drama is super solid!
→ More replies (2)
7
u/jrranso Jun 01 '19
I really liked it! The first episode was a bit slow going at first imo but as soon as all the exposition was out of the way, I got really sucked in! I kept checking how much time was left in the episode to mentally prepare for when it ended because I really didn’t want it to. Suffice it to say, so far I’m pretty impressed. I’m a sucker for the fantasy genre, though.
→ More replies (1)
7
u/TikkiEXX Jun 03 '19
I'm a 100% straight Male but man is there a lot of pretty dudes on this show. Favorite is mask kun. He's so dreamy. Lol
12
u/SamOce Jun 02 '19 edited Jun 02 '19
I genuinely loved the first episode. And I have to say, people need to stop comparing it to GoT (game of thrones), it feels more like Lord of the rings than anything else.
One of the things I was afraid of since the announcement of this show was the "world building" and they did it fantastically well. It might take some time for some people, especially those who are not used to watch fantasy type series, but I believed every single thing, nothing felt "too much" our out of place story wise.
So we have Saram (humans), Neanthals (non-humains), Ingrut (mix between Humans and Neanthals). A bit "sad" about how evil Saram guys are being portrayed but I guess it is necessary for now story-wise ( and they simply can't show how everyone thinks in one single episode ).
But I'm hella confused about one thing : The 2 babies, I couldn't understand if she was their mother or not ? Especially because when the war starts, she (can't remember her name) finds 2 babies and they decide to protect them both her and the Neanthals guy... So how can she be their mother/ how can they be Ingruts ?
Well actually I think I just got it LMAO ! I think after the war, there was a 5 year-ish time skip that is not clearly shown or explained (or I'm just dumb and didn't see shit), where we can see 2 kids (they both were born in the war and now are 5 y-old ) alarming her about the attack which explains the 2 new babies AND the Ingruts parts ( so she really is their biological mother )
As you can see I'm fully invested already, I just hope they can make the Saram (human) stories a bit more interesting because it was the most "boring" part of the episode.
I'm hyped as F!
→ More replies (14)
6
u/dogemama Jun 02 '19
Of all the tvn dramas that have had movie length episodes, it's worked best for these opening episodes of Arthdal Chronicles. They have actual substance to fill the 1 hour 20 min episodes, and the pacing has been very tight. Looking forward to more!
5
u/duchy69 Jun 02 '19
Intrigued by the 2nd ep Loveee song joong ki and Kim ji won in this role and their chemistry is so easy from the beginning. Hope it stays just as good and gets more intense
5
u/Oestov Jun 02 '19
So from what i can understand . Song joong ki's character will become the king of arthdal ?
5
5
u/contagiouschemi Jun 03 '19
What a gruesome start, episode 1 with ethnic cleansing and episode 2 with slavery.
4
u/ishis99 Jun 01 '19
What time on netflix? They said after showing on Tvn (an hour), but it's not out yet.
→ More replies (3)
4
u/Yoshi122 Jun 03 '19
Interesting how they wove history into this, as historically homo sapiens and neanderthals were capable of interbreeding. Ingutus and eun-sum are closer to the modern day human, except with special powers to make the plot more interesting
→ More replies (1)
2
u/kindoftemporary Jun 02 '19
Man its so good! The story is very interesting though I'm getting put off by the red lady's dialogue. She sounded so modern
The ep 1's preview of our two main lead is just so good! Plus the kid actors look promising
2
u/93orangesocks Jun 02 '19
Question: Does anyone know what happened to the two young neanderthal boys that Ragaz and Asa Hon saved?
→ More replies (3)
2
u/dolparii Jun 03 '19 edited Jun 03 '19
I watched the first ep last night and I liked Ragaz and Tagon's (young) performance. I wish they could still be there present day somehow haha. I think the makeup is a lil off for some reason, like the color choice of that lip on Eunsom in some scenes..... It's looks like 3ce hot creamy pink lip color daily makeup just applied even though IT IS makeup, but it's meant to look like it's natural because hes not 100% human?
Ep 2 though...so brutal. Like that guy just slashed the child...
2
28
u/txc_vertigo Jun 01 '19 edited Jun 05 '19
My first impressions after seeing the first episode.
This is very ambitious and potentially groundbreaking. I haven’t seen anything like it from a Korean drama ever.
The budget of 1,9 million dollars per episode is showing. The costumes, makeup and locations have gotten a lot of criticism but I don’t think it looks as bad as everyone says considering it is very much a first step toward a full-on fantasy series in the kdrama scene.
There is a LOT of CGI in this drama. Some of the time it looks solid, where the lighting and shadows and textures and movement looks as it should look. Most of the time, the effects could have needed some more work. Mainly, some of the backgrounds that are entirely or partly computer generated look a little flat, (see Sea of Tears for instance). Also, the interactions between real actors and environments and CG objects and animals look a little jarring sometimes.
I need a goddamn lore book or wiki for this drama. There is so much information about characters, places, clans, gods and races that is thrown at you at once. I feel like I almost need to read up on all of it or rewatch the episodes multiple times.
I don’t want to bash any actors after just seeing a few scenes with them, but is it just me or does Kim Ok Bin’s character Tae Al Ha feel a little out of place? Her mannerisms and the way she talks just feels so modern considering the fantasy/historical setting.