Weekly Review: Inspiring Generation

Drama: 감격시대  Inspiring Age, Generation of Youth, Inspiring Generation: The Birth of the God of Battle, Age of Feelings

Genre: Period, Action,  Romance, Thrillers (Gangsters/fighting)

Air date: January 15,  2014

24 episodes

Where to watch: http://www.viki.com/tv/20024c-inspiring-generation-age-of-feeling

Kim Hyun Joong 2009, 2010, 2014

For all of Kim Hyun Joong’s  fangirls, the wait is over; his 4 year hiatus from drama is over. He is back on the small screen with this Action/Period piece, Inspiring Generation. More than likely I will spotlight Kim Hyun Joong as he is well known for being the calm, quiet, voice of reason, Ji Hoo in Boys Over Flowers and the mean and indifferent Baek Seung Jo from Playful Kiss, so he has had quite an influence on K-Drama not to mention K-pop as he was in the group SS501 and has had a great solo career.  For this drama he shed his Flower Boy appearance, buffed up and is showing us a new tough body image.

With just two episodes one can already see that there will be many plot twists and turns, not to mention character entanglement. 

Not a Flower Boy anymore

We first meet Shin Jung Tae (Kim Hyun Joong) as in adult in a fight that appears to be one sided. A massive fighter yells to Jung Tae, “il-eona!” (Get up!). This is when we see the fighting spirit that is in Jung Tae. We soon find out that Jung Tae actually throws the fight. He is told he must go back to Shanghai and with that the back story ensues, where we meet the young Jung Tae (Kwak Dong Yeon) and learned that even as a young man he is fearless. Working hard, earning little by little to pay for Cheng Ah’s (his sister) medicine and take care of her other medical expenses.  This is Jung Tae’s only goal at the time. We also see that Jung Tae and Cheng Ah have been abandoned by their father and their mother is dead. More on that will be revealed as the story evolves. With his friend Jjang Ddol (young) (Kim Dong Hee)  and Ok Ryeon (young) (Ji Woo)  (the girl who loves Jung Tae, but he keeps her in the friend zone) the four stay smiling while dealing with their issues. Jung Tae also meets (young) Dekuchi Gaya (Joo Da Young) a young girl who has gotten herself involved in smuggling to earn money.  She is in a very similar situation to Shin Jung Tae. It appears that Jung Tae may also like Gaya. Unfortunately due to naivety, money Jung Tae had saved was swindled in a scheme.  Fearlessly he goes to the gang (Dobinories/Smugglers) and demands his money be given back to him. Episode 1 ends with Jjang Ddol finding a bloody Jung Tae at the feet of the gangsters pleading with them telling his story about how he earned the swindled money. 

Kwak Dong Yeon

Now to be honest I wasn’t completely impressed at this point. I enjoyed the show, and I could follow along. I saw that there was something interesting going on but I was a little bored.

But...

Episode 2 sold me (without Kim Hyun Joong’s star power). In this episode we find out that the dobinori gangsters have taken Jung Tae and Jjang Ddol under their wings as it was found that there was a case of mistaken identity and someone else had taken the money. Additional characters mean additional sub-plots. There is also hard evidence that this is indeed the beginning of a love triangle between Gaya, Jung Tae, and Ok Reyeon. We also discover there is a rival gang to the Dobinori. On top of all that, there is a mysterious guy around, who saves Gaya in an epic martial arts fight scene where he says the coolest lines to a scared Gaya, who has her assailant’s blood running down her face between her eyes down her nose.

 “You probably wanted to run. You had enough time, but your feet probably didn’t move. That is fear. From now on, you will live under unimaginable fear. You have to be victorious over them all. That way you can live. Live so you can take revenge.” 

One thing that no one can deny is that the show is beautiful. The money put in for costumes, and sets were well worth it. Those who love period dramas would love this one.  So far I’ve learned about Korean Geishas in Shanghai which is a mix of three different cultures. Personally I was excited about this drama when I saw it was based on the 1930’s. I knew that meant there would be gangsters. I know that it is sort of different as I am a female who should like romantic/melodrama, but my favorite genres are gangster flicks and ninja/martial art films (with romantic sub-plots). So Inspiring Generation is right up my alley, of course I am bias as I also love Kim Hyun Joong. 

After episode 2 I am quite impressed with Kwak Dong Yeon. Of course I can’t wait for Kim Hyun Joong to return as the adult Shin Jung Tae. I am not sure if his regular fangirls will be able to handle him in this role but, many have already put out the word all over the dramasphere. This drama is perfect for men. If you have a boyfriend, husband, brother, father, grandfather, or that guy you friend zoned, grab them to go with you on the journey. I am sure they will enjoy this drama. It could possibly be just what they need to them started with K-Dramas. 

Stay tuned for updates about this drama next week. You can watch this one on: http://www.viki.com/tv/20024c-inspiring-generation-age-of-feeling In the meantime, tell me what you think of this drama? Are you a girl who loves gangsters or martial arts? What do you think of Kim Hyun Joong’s transformation?