Iljimae

I just finished Iljimae (일지매, 一枝梅), a historical Korean drama, that I had started a couple of days before I left China. Iljimae is a name given to Korea's version of Robin Hood and stars Lee Jun Ki, Han Hyo Joo, Lee Young Ah, and Park Shi Hoo. I actually picked it up in China because I saw Lee Jun Ki's face on the cover, then from what I could understand from the Chinese summary in the back, it sounded interesting. Well, I have to say that I'm glad I got it. Here's the summary (in ENGLISH - lucky you) taken from DramaWiki:

Set during the Joseon Dynasty, Ryung acts as a useless gangster in the marketplace by day but at night he is a chivalrous robber who robs corrupt government officials to give to the poor. After each robbery he leaves behind a wooden branch from a plum tree at the site of the robbery to take responsibility for the robbery. The poor citizens only know him as Iljimae. Bong Soon is a hilarious girl with good martial art skills and lives as a swindler. She only loves Ryung and sacrifices her whole life for him. Eun Chae is a government official's daughter and is good in nature and usually helps miserable people. She meets Iljimae once by chance, and their sweet love story begins. However, her love puts Iljimae in a dangerous situation because an Imperial Guard also loves her.

First of all, there's a whole lot more to the story than the summary that's given. The main basis for the story is revenge and there's this entire background story that's not given to you in its full entirety until the end of the drama (and it's 20 episodes long). Also, everyone in the drama is interconnected in some way through the past and into the future. It's rather interesting and not a bore. The romantic aspects of it are not central to the plot, just a little something on the side (but there isn't much of it if you're into full-blown romantic stuff). In short, I totally recommend it! :) AND Lee Jun Ki is an awesome actor (actually, the entire cast makes their character come to life as well). Even so, the ending gives the audience something to think about. In fact, I'm still thinking about it. haha...

You can watch this on MySoju, but it's not up on CrunchyRoll because of copyright laws.