gaksital

So Gaksital is awesome, i just dont really like the love stories. I dont buy that shunji and kang to would not share stories about their first loves, that kang to would not recall the face of mok dan, that kang to would love mok dan more than he loves shunji and would betray the latter. I would buy the revenge and patriotism motiff, but for kang to to take away the woman that shunji loves, that would be impossible.

*Also noticed that Kang To has very poor facial recognition ability because he also forgot rie's face, although that could be forgivable since he is not really into her.

Anyway, here is how I would have done the love stories.

- older brother really is the first love of mok dan

- mok dan and kang to's interaction at the start would be the same, only that kang to would have no memory of mok dan at all because it was really his hyung who was with mok dan when they were younger

- kang to would recognize the knife being a family heir loom. He would learn later the story of mok dan's love story with the owner of the knife. He would recognize hyung's first love story which hyung once told in passing.

- mok dan would find the knife the same way in the river when kang to almost drowned and conclude that gaksital is her first love, without knowing that hyung is already dead

- hyung and kang to look alike so much, that should trigger some of mok dan's memory upon realizing that kang to is gaksital and convince her to further fall in love with kang to. Kang to would not be aware of mok dan's love, he thinks that mok dan knew that hyung is gaksital (since they should be teenage lovers and gaksital kept on saving her at the start of the series). It would be latter in the story that kang to becomes aware that mok dan thinks he is the love of her life.

- the scene where kang to got jealous when he realized that shunji is with mok dan in the hospital, replace that with kang to worrying for shunji because shunji is fraternizing with a korean rebel, or i dont know, kang to getting jealous for his hyung?

- kang to would be taking care of mok dan because she is hyung's first love,  because she is important to the revolution and also because shunji loves her.

- mok dan would find out that gaksital and kang to are one person and would immediately fall in love with kang to

- kang to would also be hanging around mok dan but only because he thinks she can link him to the rebellion leader

- rie and kang to had earlier interactions in the club. I would put rie's entrance in the story two eps earlier. So they would have playful useless interactions before the kiss. It was kang to's desperate look that evening that made rie decide she was going to pursue him seriously. Thus, i would replace kang to's pining after mok dan with scenes of rie pursuing kang to.

- rie was convinced she could take kang to into the organization and make daddy like him

- all goes down the drain when rie discovers that kang to is gaksital, but she is far too crazy in love already

- shunji would also be very jealous of kang to especially when he confirms he is gaksital. Shunji would also have killed mok dan, but it would be in a celebration for a rebellion victory, not a wedding. In the end scene, before shunji kills himself, kang to would reveal that mok dan is really in love with dead hyung.

- redemption would have come too late for rie, and she could not be with kang to, so she also decides to go her own way. Besides, just like shinju, kang to could not probably fall in love with her because of the evils she had done

- kang to does not really fall in love with anyone. He loves korea and shunji, but shunji cannot be saved anymore, and so he lets the latter die the same way in the series

Damn, I was watching rie and shunji shit, and they are so cute. But no, cannot ship them. But how to retain their kind of relationship with the set up i had laid out? Well, kang to would only be flirting with rie. Rie would be competing against the korean people for kang to's heart. Shunji would be competing against mok dan's idea of her first love. That is the similarity of shunji and rie, they both are competing against ideas/ideals.

It is so sad that the only person who last thanked shinju is a stranger in rie. Stranger because they dont care about each other, in fact they can hardly tolerate each other, he does not even know why he was saving her. His family is dead. He became a monster because he loved mok dan, but in the end, he was the one who killed her. Kang to, who i believe he loved while also hated the most, cannot forgive him. Rie' gratitude is not enough to save him, but his kindness to Rie was enough for her to survive. I remember the earlt ep shinju. He was kindhearted upfront, but you can feel that there was probably something boiling up inside of him. His father does not think highly of him, he was probably feeling guilt for the oppression that his countrymen, the japanese, are doing to the people that he loved, the koreans. He probably felt huge guilt when he thought that he had forsaken his family (brother) for his obliviousness to his family's cause. He felt great shame that he could not let go of his love of the woman connected to his brother's murderer. He was fighting with kang to who is all he had (aside from nanny). When the one person you fancy do not care about you, and when you cannot trust the one person you thought you could always rely on. Hay. I dont know. Shunji's transformation is pretty abrupt, I'll just conclude he just had a mental breakdown that nobody noticed.

As for Rie, I dont understand why she was going to leave bodyguard but she extended an invitation to Shinju in the end. Well, maybe because she thinks that bodyguard is smart and would not do anything stupid. But for shinju, because of her gratitude, she is willing to carry him as a baggage in her new life. That got me wishing that they did not show shunji's gunned down head in the end. Maybe then I could imagine that he ran away and found Rie in the end. They would not be in love still, but they would atone for their sins together. I dont think kang to would ever choose to be with rie, and rie knew that, that is why she had let him go early on. Rie is someone who cares very deeply about her savior. The first time, with Kang To, she was young and naive. She was powerless and all she can think of to repay him was to love him. When they met again, she was powerful but all her powers could not bring him what he wants, liberation. Thus, she meant nothing to him, and her love is useless. She had learned a lot since then. When shinju saved her, she wanted to save him in return. But she was powerless once again. Shinju needed the love of the people he loves, not the gratitude of a stranger. Bodyguard saved her. Now she means everything to this man, but once again, she has nothing to give him, she could not love him back, and from experience, she knows that the best thing to do is push him away. She could no longer take advantage of the comfort he gives her, and the best thing is to set him free. That means she has to suffer alone in starting her new life but it also means bodyguard can start over anew as well. Again, bodyguard is smart, so no need to worry about him. Maybe someday, when Rie is totally gone and cha hoon joo had recovered who is already, maybe or maybe not.