This series will trick your emotions.

I finished watching this series a few hours ago. It was a strange show. From the very first episode, I knew with all my heart that I loved it and wanted to keep watching, but I couldn't quite grasp why. Even after it ended, I was unsure of the feelings I was experiencing. At first, I thought it might have been better if Hae-jo's death had been portrayed differently, or at least if the series had continued for a few more minutes after his passing. I didn’t have any strong feelings about the ending, but once it was over, the thought of it lingered in my mind.

The series was filled with various emotions. However, its unparalleled humor constantly made me laugh. I didn’t shed a single tear for this series, nor did I choke up; I just laughed. Yet beneath my laughter, something squeezed my heart and made it hard to breathe. It felt as if the entire series mirrored Miju's laughter—like the scene where, after joking about the label on the mushroom packaging, she hid her immense sadness behind her chuckles. Now, I am no longer hesitant about this series because I know exactly what I witnessed. This series was liberation itself. It was growth itself. It began with the pain and bitter fate of all the characters—pains that remained and were never miraculously resolved. Yet, despite all that pain and bitterness, it concluded with the sweet fate of the characters.

It seemed that everyone had something within them that they were desperately trying to hide. One person concealed their eyes behind dark glasses, another buried their cigarette in the ground. One hid their courage, another their fear, and yet another their love.

Jang-na hid his pain behind his dark glasses, believing they kept his suffering hidden from others, unaware that those glasses not only concealed his from the world but also limited his own vision. In the darkness, those shades brought his down even more and prevented her from seeing others clearly.

Oh-young buried the cigarette that reminded her of her pain in the ground, thinking she no longer needed it, unaware that nothing had changed for her. The only thing that had changed was what she held in her hand to ease her suffering. She had replaced the cigarette with her son and instead of burning tobacco, she held him in her hands and set her on fire.

Oh-young hid his courage because he thought he had to behave like an obedient dog to stay safe, oblivious to the fact that he was a roaring tiger merely playing the role of a dog.

Jae-mi concealed her fears and shortcomings. She feared being alone, not being accepted, not being loved, and being abandoned. She longed to be deeply loved by someone but didn't think she was enough for that love. She believed that marrying into a prominent family would hide her loneliness and lack of family; becoming a mother would erase her own motherlessness; and if anyone knew she couldn't become a mother or that she sought marriage solely for family reasons, she would be rejected and left alone without family once again. Unbeknownst to her, others loved her despite all her limitations and shortcomings, simply for who she was.

And Hae-jo hid his love and desires from others because he feared that by loving them and keeping those he cared for close, he would hurt them. With all his heart, he wanted to return to Jae-mi and his father. He carried their beautiful memories with him but didn’t dare run towards them. Perhaps he thought that his desires might pull them away from their own wishes or make life bitter for them.

And then, when all the hidden truths were revealed, everything became more beautiful and easier. It became possible to breathe, to understand and be understood; to give others the chance to come forward and embrace them while saying this wasn’t what they wanted; to run towards what they desired; to be liberated; and to love themselves and others even more.
It seemed that all the characters were plankton—small yet valuable. Each one made another's life beautiful and meaningful. Now I think this ending was the best conclusion this series could have had; it didn’t need anything else to be complete. This series was, in every sense of the word, life itself, which concluded with a beautiful death—a death that perhaps, as Hae-jo said, wasn’t beautiful on its own; it was life that made death beautiful.
Beyond the beautiful themes of the series, what truly captivated me was the believable and stunning performance of the actors, especially Woo Do-hwan, who truly shone. The first role I saw him in was as Sun-ho in "My Country: The New Age." In that series, it felt like Woo Do-hwan didn’t just play a role; he created a real character named Sun-ho. You couldn’t trace Sun-ho in Woo Do-hwan or any of his other roles. He was solely Sun-ho, a young man who lived beautifully at a certain point in history and ultimately concluded that character with his death in the same series. After that, I saw Woo Do-hwan in other roles, and yes, his acting prowess was exceptional, but it seemed that his performances in no other series satisfied me in the same way that the name Sun-ho did. He no longer created characters; he merely portrayed them. The essence of Woo Do-hwan and the character did not fully overlap; at times, I would see only Woo Do-hwan, at other moments just the character he was playing, and then there were instances of a new persona that merged both. Thus, the intended character was created and dissolved in an unstable manner. But in the series Mr. Plankton, Do Hwan once again acted incomparably and this time he created another wonderful character named Hae Joo. This time, like the role of Seon Ho, there was nothing more or less than Hae Joo. Neither the character of Woo Do Hwan rode the role he was playing nor the role rode Woo Do Hwan. Neither surpassed the other. They were completely intertwined and one, and this time, Hae Joo's character ended with his death in this series. It was as if Hae Joo was really a young man who lived somewhere in the real world and with his death, his life's diary ended and only his lessons and happy memories remained. Hae Joo who perhaps reminded me of many (like Nam Seon Ho in the series My Country, Shin Joon Young in the series Reckless Love, Gu Dong Ma in the series Mr. Sunshine, etc.) but was not an imitation of any of them. He was just Hae Joo and that was it.

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Where the line between good and evil disappears

What made this series different for me was not its story, but rather what was happening beneath the surface of the narrative and within the characters. Joon Mo, as a good man and also as a good police officer, had seemingly correct beliefs that formed the foundation of his existence and life, and these beliefs drove Joon Mo towards striving to preserve and strengthen goodness and defeat and destroy evil. Now Joon Mo has been called to fight the "worst of evil." It is a fight that aligns with his ideals and validates and reinforces them. So he enters the Ki Chul gang. At first, everything he sees is nothing but ugliness and corruption, something that serves as confirmation of his hatred for Ki Chul and his people and the necessity of their destruction. At this moment, Ki Chul is exactly the devil to Joon Mo؛ Thus, his beliefs are reaffirmed and become stronger. Until his love get a foothold in this story, and this event is a prelude to a new chapter full of turmoil and confusion within Joon Mo's inner world. Initially, Ki Chul's connection with Joon Mo's wife frightens and angers Joon Mo, increasing his hatred towards Ki Chul. But on the other hand,Ki Chul's sincere and pure love for Joon Mo's wife reveals something about Ki Chul to Joon Mo. "Ki Chul also has heart." Gradually, this aspect of Ki Chul becomes more vivid and apparent to Joon Mo. He loves all his gang members like his own brothers, he is loyal to them and he does everything in his power for their happiness. He has photos of his gang members in his office, photos that resemble more family or friendly pictures depicting relationships filled with love and affection rather than a group photo of gang members. Ki Chul is trustworthy, and that's why he easily trusts others. He loves Joon Mo like a brother from the bottom of his heart, and Ki Chul doesn't just keep Joon Mo by his side for his own protection; Joon Mo's life is valuable to Ki Chul, and Ki Chul tries to keep Joon Mo away from danger even if keeping Joon Mo away from danger is dangerous for Ki Chul himself. Like Joon Mo, he too had a difficult childhood, but unlike Joon Mo, he didn't have a helping hand to pull him out of that quagmire. Ki Chul was like someone who had fallen into a dark, terrifying, and seemingly unsolvable maze for years and had been waiting for the smallest ray of light to show him the path to freedom.Joon Mo and his wife were that ray of light for Ki Chul, which gave Ki Chul the good news of liberation and gave new life to his hope. The hope that he, too, could be good, be loved, and experience a normal life filled with love, security, and peace of mind. Perhaps Ki Chul knew that this light wasn't real, but with all his being, he wanted to believe in this beautiful lie, so he denied anything that questioned its truth and correctness.
During his mission, the closer Joon Mo got to Ki Chul, the clearer he saw the beauty within him. Hae Ryeon was also like Ki Chul, hiding a pure soul beneath a tainted exterior. The truth within Ki Chul and Hae Ryeon was what shook the rooted beliefs and ideals of Joon Mo. Should he act according to his own beliefs and destroy this group of demons, or should he accept the truth he has encountered and join forces with Ki Chul and Hae Ryeon? The truth that told him, the demons that you wished to destroy, have a more beautiful inside than the demonic angels around you. Joon Mo's inner self is filled with turmoil and conflict. He finds himself at a crossroad where every direction he looks, there is nothing but pain waiting for him. If he remains faithful to his beliefs, he must bury the truth he has discovered within himself and accept a lie that would result in the destruction of the angels who have been dressed as demons by the cruelties of life. But if he chooses to embrace the truth, nothing of Joon Mo will remain. This ideal within his being requires him to rebuild his existence from scratch and accept that everything he has believed and acted upon so far has been meaningless, purposeless, and wrong. Furthermore, he unknowingly initiated a game where victory and defeat come at the cost of life, and now that he has fallen to its depths, he cannot abandon it halfway or return to before its inception. Therefore, the only thing he can do is try to play the game in the most beautiful way possible. And that's exactly what he did.
He presented the most beautiful game of his life. He fulfilled his mission correctly, but at the same time, he removed Ki Chul and Hae Ryeon from the game and gave them an opportunity for a normal and better life (the very thing Ki Chul had wished for). However, Ki Chul made his last wrong decision.
Perhaps, as Joon Mo said, all the decisions Ki Chul had made until that moment were also wrong.
Kie Chul's comeback scene is Joon Mo's greatest moment of desperation. He understands that nothing can be set right anymore, and there is no correct decision. He must only seek the best decision. Ki Chul has turned back, and now the only things that await him are either death or a life where death is a wish. It is an eternal life in prison, where dying is the sentence of freedom. Ki Chul and Eui Jung are both devout Christians, and suicide, have a force of curse for them. Ki Chul wants to burn Eui Jung in the fire of his eternal curse by ending his life. A curse that not only consumes Eui Jung's world but also burns Ki Chul's afterlife. Joon Mo decides to shoulder the burden of guilt for Ki Chul and Eui Jung alone and free them from this eternal torment. In that moment, he chooses to protect them at the cost of losing his spouse and comrade. Now Eui Jung can blame Joon Mo instead of blaming herself for Ki Chul's death and she can hate Joon Mo instead of hating herself. What ultimately remains are deep and precious friendships. The friendship between Ki Chul and Eui Jung, symbolized by the bouquet of flowers accompanying the cross necklace on his grave, and the friendship between Ki Chul and Joon Mo, symbolized by a cigarette that was divided between Joon Mo and Ki Chul. Joon Mo's ring ultimately came off his finger, but his watch never came off his wrist.

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Are we really the victims of the compulsion of the bitter and sweet fate that happens to us?

This drama was certainly not the most well-made and perfect drama that I have seen so far, but it was certainly one of the most meaningful and influential. This drama has several layers that get deeper from one layer to another and brings with it deeper and more beautiful concepts. Its first layer is the narration of a certain period of history. The second layer is a story of friendships, loves and sacrifices, and the last layer is the deep psychological growth of the characters, especially Sonho's character, which is the biggest lesson and message of this drama.
This drama very well accompanies the audience step by step in the development of the characters and ultimately leads the audience to growth and prosperity. It is as if the main character of the drama is the audience itself, but the character who is outside the camera frame and every part of his personality is institutionalized in the heart of one of the characters of the drama. But in the meantime, Sonho's character is that part of our personality that plays the biggest role in our feeling of happiness or pain.
From the beginning of the drama, we witnessed bitter and terrible events that plagued Hui, but in the end, it always seemed to be Senho who felt a deeper and more deadly pain inside him, but why? This drama has highlighted the role of 3 factors for us:
1. Support: From the very beginning, we could see the existence of supporters who supported Hui with pure love and affection. Hee-jae, Moon Book, Chido, Jung Beom, and Bang Won, all of these people were by Hui's side and shared in his pain under any circumstances, trying to heal it. At the forefront of all these people was Sonho, who we witnessed his grief for Hui since childhood when Hui's father was buried, and this continued until the end of the drama. But it seems Sonho was always alone in his sorrows. Without any support or backing. Alone, alone. At the peak of his loneliness, Yeon became his only companion But the duration of this companionship was short-lived like Yeon's life. And after that, Sonho was so broken that he could no longer stand upright. Remember Sonho's dialogue after Yeon's death: "I lost someone. The only person who loved me and trusted me." In fact, Yeon gave Sonho something that Sonho had been screaming and pleading for his whole life. But where did this bitterness and lack of support come from? Perhaps the next two factors can be involved in shaping this factor.
2. Sonho's personality: Sonho had a unique personality. But until you are an introvert, no one will know about your inner beauty. Sonho swallowed the fire of his pain and his loved ones and burned from the inside, but he did not complain. He knew the meaning of pain better than anyone else; Because he had spent every moment of his life with it. He did not want those he loves to experience pain, so he made all those pains his own. He smiled despite the pain and played the role of the oppressor despite being a victim. No one grieves for a sad tyrant. Remember Yeon's dialogue (your facial expression never changes, you smile when you're tired, you smile when you're sad about something, sometimes you just smile. You can cry on my shoulders, you have nowhere else to cry) and This was the understanding that distinguished Yeon from others for Sonho. Sunho's introversion was clearly seen in the dialogues exchanged between Chi Do and Sunho at the end of the drama (Chi Do: Your wound is too deep. Sun Ho: I got used to being wounded. Chi Do: You can never be wounded Get used to it, every time you get hurt the pain comes back and every time you get hurt, all you can do is scream. It's okay to scream sometimes when you're in pain).
Sonho was born with pain. Being born as an illegitimate child from a servant mother and a father who did not accept him as his son. The deep pain that his father inflicted on him after the death of Sunho's brother and created a nightmare for Sunho that haunted him for years and would not let him go (remember Namjoon's dialogues after his son drowned, saying: "Why? Why are you the one who survived? You should have died instead of him. You should have died instead of my son). He grew up instead of his brother and his own identity became nothing, which is what Sunho hated. The pain of death. His mother, who was his only refuge. Also, the peak of his hatred for his father because he saw him as the cause of his mother's death. He grew up and all his pain, anger and hatred grew with him, but even Hui who was Sunho's closest friend He was also never aware of his sufferings. Remember the scene of the return from Liaodong (A. Who left you here to guard? I asked who ordered you? B. The commander in chief of the right wing army, Namjoon. A. It is not possible, his son. Our companion B. ordered us to kill his son first if we catch him.) It was here that Hui was shocked when he heard this, but soon he forgot it.
Sonho gave his whole life for Hui without any remorse. He had a big dream in his mind and for years he had planned every single step on the way to achieve it. He had dedicated his life to this ideal and every time he patiently put the beads of these two minnows together one by one to reach his goal, but every time when there were only a few beads left, he suddenly fall apart the beads to save Hui and without a moment's hesitation he would rush to help Hui. He blamed himself many times and promised himself that he would not give up his life and purpose because of Hoi, but he broke his promise every time. Kim Dong-won also asked him many times to come to his senses and leave Hui, but he could not turn his back on his friend even though he mercilessly wounded him every time and ignored his help. Several times in several different scenes, we saw the same thing that beautifully depicted Sunho's inner self. We saw that when Hui is in danger, Sonho pulls himself out of his problems and reaches Hui, shields his hand in front of Hui and shouts for him to leave, and he stands in Hui's place and He struggles with problems. The arrows that were supposed to target Hui were aimed at his body, and the swords that came to wound Hui injured him. No arrow injured Sunho's body except that it had torn Sunho's heart before. It was as if Sonho was saying you stay alive, if necessary I will die instead of you
3. The role of the family: At the beginning of the series, we saw Hui jealous of Sunho's status and social position and his aristocratic father. Hui felt that due to having a father from the noble class, luck is on Sonho's side and a bright future will await him, but he himself will not have good luck due to having a father who has the stigma of theft and betrayal on his forehead. Remember the following dialogues exchanged between Sunho and Hui (Hui:Hey, Mr. Ashrafzadeh; Have mercy on me. Sonho: Leave these compliments. Those who are born from mistresses are considered only semi-nobles. In fact, if your mother is a slave, you become a quarter noble. What an incomplete and worthless patch. Hui: Exactly. But you are someone who is made of silver; While I am a worthless stone. Sonho: Wow, how much you talk nonsense every time you open your mouth. Hui: Anyway, half of your destiny is determined by the person you are born from. I am jealous of you. You have a rich father). However, Sonho had a different view:(Sunho: You said that the person who gives birth to you determines half of your destiny. It means that we can change the other half. Hui: Fate is not something that you can easily change).This was Sonho's deep belief. A belief based on which he had set his aspirations and goals well. But which of them was right?
Hui, who was complaining and dissatisfied with the stigma of his father's traitorous name, attracted many supporters because of this father's name, especially Hijeh, Chido, and Bangwon, whom we mentioned in the description of their support and their role in saving Hui. However, this was the name of Sunho's aristocratic father, which not only did not bring him honor and patronage, but also drove his supporters, friends and loved ones away from him one after another. Like Hijah, Hui and many others. Everyone judged Sonho because of his father; But how painful it is for someone who you have grown up with since childhood like a brother, you have shared his happiness and sadness with him moment by moment and you have grown up next to him, does not know you properly and judge you. Maybe Sunho could expect wrong judgment from anyone else, but not from Hui. But in spite of all this, none of these two people were condemned by the Predestination of the father's name.
The creators of this drama, in the first 2 / 3 of it, were able to instill Sunho's deep pain to the audience and make it understandable to the audience. In such a way that we can feel this pain with all our being and maybe even be angry with Soo Hui for neglecting Sunho. Hui who, after seeing Sonho's ruined condition, at the moment he wants to kill himself, leaves him and leaves, and even after 2 years, he doesn't remember him. He doesn't even know if Sonho is dead or alive after that day. Until Bang Geun brings him to himself and makes him remember Sunho again and look for Sunho (Remember the sequence where these dialogues are exchanged between Bang Geun and Hui: (Bang Geun: I have always had penchant for two swords, one of you and the other of your friend Sunho. One of them is rotting While that one has disappeared and no one has seen his body yet, is it true? Hui: He is no longer my friend, so ask somewhere else. Bang Gun: Well, you joined the man who killed his father. I doubt it matters to you what happened to him).And how bitter was the scene when Hui enters Sunho's empty room and realizes how lonely Sunho was. It was from here that Sonho's every effort for Hui got a different color and he understood their true meaning. Yes, Sonho spent every moment and every hour of his life trying to protect and protect his friend and brother Hui, but all those efforts were interpreted differently by Hui. Remember the following beautiful dialogues from Hui (Thank you for supporting me and I'm sorry that I was so engrossed in my own anger that I couldn't see your pain) or this dialogue (Did you know that whenever I was in pain, you were always by my side?) And the scene where he remembers his sister's words (No matter what happens, never lose Sunho. He was the only one who held our hands when everyone else treated us like ghosts. He and the mosquitoes are the only ones who love you. ) What a good anthropologist that simple and inexperienced little girl was. But now that everything is clear to the audience, why do we hear this dialogue from Sunho? (I realized that a life like this is not so sad. I always thought that I only have two choices in my life. A bad choice and a worse choice. But I could have another choice, and I deliberately ignored it). Sonho has found the limit of happiness within himself. Sunho now realizes that each person makes his own bitter or sweet destiny and decides whether he wants to live with pain or with happiness. If we have chosen sweetness for our life, no pain in life can make life bitter to our taste. Sonho finally realized that living with pain is only the result of a choice. Choosing sadness from sadness and happiness. Sonho was full of sweet possessions that he just ignored, this is what almost all of us do with our pains. Hui's dialogue in response to Sonho's words in the previous dialogue is very interesting: (If I were in your place, I would only see the same two options. What do you think, to have an easier life from this moment on? A life in which there is a smile). The first part of Hui's speech may be the heart speech of many of us. If it was me, I would have made the same choice, and of course it's true because when we are in pain, can we see anything other than pain, even if that thing is right in front of our eyes? But what about the second part of Hui's talk? Is this just a reply to Sonho or an answer to our question? Hui tells us that you too find the limit of your choices. When you know the border, everything becomes clear for you. Now you can choose happiness and live a life full of smiles. This concept is the biggest concept that urges the audience to come to their senses. We alone are responsible for all our pain because we have made our own decisions. We are the ones who decide to make the pains the milestones of our lives and lead our lives on their path, or to choose small joys instead and leave ourselves in their hands. Remember Sunho's meaningful and touching dialogue in the last moments of his life (I was only staring at miles away and when I finally looked behind me, I saw you and Yeon. My homeland was just one step behind me. I wish this I knew earlier). This beautiful concept of choosing between pain or happiness is also beautifully drawn in the drama Just between lovers (which is another product of the director of the same drama). Especially in the scene where Kong Doo decides not to mourn his grandmother's death anymore. A pain that he never thought he would be able to overcome
A book can be written about this drama. It was as if he had something to say at every moment, but even so far, my conversation was too long. So I will try to limit myself to pointing out some of them. For example, in the dialogue in the initial flashback of the series, Hui says: swords are like Confucius and arrows are like Mencius. During the series, we saw Sonho with Lee Song Yi's sword and Hui with a bow on his shoulder. With a little knowledge of the two schools of Mencius and Confucius, it is possible to understand and understand all the actions of Sunhu and Hui in a more correct and deeper way (discussion about it can multiply the volume of this article, so I will refrain from explaining it further). Or Hijah's character, which may be considered a symbol of a calamity. But the sweet calamity that was taking little by little the joys, beauty and precious things of Sunho and Hui's life from them, but they both fell in love with this calamity at the peak of negligence.Remember the scene of Hijah's entry into Sonho and Hui's life and the beginning of the bitterness of their lives, and follow his role in each calamity (broadcasting the announcement and being pursued by Sonho and Hui, reporting the violation in the competition and sending Hui to Lyaedong, burning the path of the king and the death of the crown prince, Sambong and Namjoon etc). Or the point that there was no bad character among the characters. Each of us has our own personal perception of the world around us and those around us, and it is this perception that makes the truth of our life. Not the real truth of the outside world. Sonho's father loved his son, but Sonho's perception was different from him, and it was this perception that shaped reality for him. Sonho wanted to ensure Yeon and Hui's safety, but Hui's perception was different from Sonho's actions, and this formed Hui's reality. Bang Won wanted to build a prosperous country, but his father's perception was different from Bang Won's goal, and this reality shaped him.
with many unspoken word, I will end my speech here. I know that my text is very long. I sincerely apologize to those who read it and thank you for taking the time to read this message

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This is a conceptual drama

I had been waiting for the release of this series for a long time because I thought I could follow the Train of beautiful thoughts and beliefs of Kim Jin Won that I had found Mainstream of that in two series "my country :new age" and "just between lovers", And the result was just that.

It seems like the director is trying to convey a concept to the audience through different series in the form of various stories, and that is that none of us are victims of fate. We are choosers, not forced. It is ourselves who choose to be happy or live in sorrow for our future.

Perhaps the most beautiful and tangible dialogue in this series, in expressing this concept, was the dialogue of Nam Si Heon in episode 9, who said, "We were changing our destiny. No matter how little. By our own choices and based on our own desires."

Nevertheless, my expectations were much higher before watching this series. Everything in this series was average or maybe slightly better for me. The series had a beautiful message, the actors played their roles beautifully, the story was new and beautiful, the excitement of the series was suitable, and finally, the ending was good and acceptable. However, nothing was extraordinary.

It seemed like everything could have ended in episode 9 and I liked that ending. Nevertheless, the series continued for three more episodes, which were accompanied by a slight decline. Perhaps the writer wanted to give another chance for better choices to be made by Jung In Kyu and Kwon Min Ju as well so that they could have a more beautiful destiOverall though, the ending was satisfying for me.

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