The Return of Iljimae (TV - 2009)

Finished watching this last night. I love both 2009 MBC version of Iljimae and the 2008 SBS version with Lee Joon-gi.

There are viewers who don't like this version (2009) because the story was narrated, but I myself don't mind. I think the narrations make the story clearer and easier to follow. They were even helpful in fighting scenes.

This was titled with the word 'return', as if it was the sequel to the 2008 Lee Joon-gi version, but this was not. The title was only to make us easily differentiate one version to another.

MBC won the comic strip rights so I suppose this version is the one closer to the book. I love the beginning of each episode, how they made it like the beginning of a new chapter. In the end of each episode, a drawing appeared - probably taken from the comic strips. The ending song in the first half of the series, the 3/4 song, was nice and had a simple melody, like a children song.

In this version, the story began with a rising politician had a son with his servant. The servant got kicked out and became a gisaeng (courtesan). The baby was put in a basket, thrown in a river, and saved by a beggar and a monk. Knowing that the baby was alive, the politician's men wanted to kill him, so the monk took the baby to China, where a rich couple adopted him and gave him the name Iljimae. Iljimae means a branch of peach blossom. In China he learned some martial arts and mastered qing gong (=levitation art).

16-17 years later, China sent a spy to Korea and the spy asked Iljimae to accompany him so he could enter Korea easily. This was after he told Iljimae that he had been adopted. So Iljimae went to Korea and looked for his father, but his father refused to acknowledge him. Iljimae was living desperately until he met a girl name Dal, whom he fell in love with. However, Dal was charged with treason and put to death. This was because her father had been slandered by corrupted officers as a traitor. After witnessing what happened to Dal, Iljimae swore that he would defend the weak and the poor.

From Dal's guard, Iljimae learned a rare sword art; and later when he was stranded in Japan, he learned ninja art.

In his journey, he became a hero for the people and befriended the deputy chief police - even though they were enemies, one a thief and one a cop. He robbed the greedy corrupted officials and gave the money to the poor. Every time he made a move, he would leave a branch of plum blossom made of gold. He met another girl who looked like Dal and was looking forward to reuniting with his mother.

I think scenes with Iljimae and his mother were the best. It was not a really happy ending but it was better than the Lee Joon-gi version. In Lee Joon-gi version, Iljimae never had a scene where he reunited with his mother.

Iljimae's main enemy was a corrupted official named Kim Ja-joem. Kim was actually a traitor who worked for China.

Next, after knowing that China (Qing Dynasty) would attack Korea after Korea's failure in making cannons; Iljimae went to China under the pretext to meet his Chinese fiancée. His task was to find Qing's war strategy. His efforts were in vain because the secret letter fell into the hands of Kim Ja-joem. Korea lost the war, while Iljimae was unconscious after suffering a grave injury. When he regained his health, he helped the Korean crown prince - who was held hostage in China - to return as many as possible war prisoners to Korea. When at last Iljimae returned to Korea, his son - whom he never had met - was 9 - 10 years old, and the Chronicles of Iljimae had became a popular book.

Jung Il-woo made a calm, sad Iljimae. He chosed to be silent and rarely smiled. Lee Joon-gi's Iljimae was passionate and would laugh to disguise his sadness.

Lee Joon-gi's Iljimae was the son of a high official who was a close friend to the king. The king was suspicious of everyone and he killed Iljimae's father, then sold his wife and daughter, and was after Iljimae's life. An ex-thief and his wife took care of Iljimae. Iljimae at nights searched high officials' houses, looking for a certain sword (and its owner) that killed his father. To disguise his true intention, he robbed the house and gave the loot to the poor. He would leave a painting of plum blossom branch. 

I prefer the idea of Iljimae leaving a painting than a gold of plum blossom branch. Wasn't it better to distribute the gold among the poor? Or am I thinking like Judas Iscariot? 

Lee Joon-gi's Iljimae was more frustrating to watch. He indirectly sent his own sister to die and most of the time he lost in fighting (except in the end), not to mention his habit of having his back facing the enemy.

China also has an Iljimae version: 2010 The Vigilantes in Masks a.k.a. Strange Hero Yi Zhi Mei, starring Wallace Huo. This is my least favourite among the three. Here Yi Zhi Mei was an ex high ranking official whose family had been executed because of a false accusation. He became a fugitive. Then a former colleague asking him to retrieve the stolen gold for disaster relief. He recruited 3 helpers for the job. The costumes here didn't make sense, in my opinion. They wore the masks on the nose. In this way, the enemy could still recognize them, right?