Unprecedented team back with Six Flying Dragons

57 March 29, 2015August 24, 2015

by javabeans

I posted about the drama Chaebol’s Daughter possibly getting the post-Heard It Through the Grapevine timeslot on SBS, but looks like they’ll have to wait a little longer to air, because a different drama has secured that slot. Instead of a present-day drama about a rich woman wanting to find someone to love her for herself, SBS will air Six Flying Dragons, a sageuk series that reunites the writing team of hit dramas Tree With Deep Roots and Queen Seon-deok, Kim Young-hyun and Park Sang-yeon. They’ll reteam with PD Shin Kyung-soo, who worked with them on Tree.

Six Flying Dragons is set in the early years of the Joseon dynasty and is centered around Yi Bang-won, its third king (posthumously known as King Taejong) and a son of Joseon’s founder Yi Seong-gye (King Taejo). The drama’s description merely states that it will explore the “stories of ambition and success among six personages,” but it’s safe to suppose that it refers to Taejo’s six sons, among whom there was much jockeying for power and bloodshed. (Particularly as dragons are classic king symbology.) The drama won’t be an official prequel to Tree, but I’ve seen that term bandied about loosely, as it comes from the same writers and is set one king prior to Tree’s Sejong (Taejong was his father). There will also reportedly be character overlap with Tree (though the characters will be much younger in Dragons, of course).

This writing duo had actually planned a different drama that explored roughly the same era; Unprecedented had been previously announced and dealt with the establishment of the Joseon dynasty, focusing on its first king and his trusted advisor Jung Do-jeon. But as MBC was obsessed with Dae Jang Geum 2, to be written by one of this team’s two writers, it basically stalled Unprecedented — and while that was on hold, KBS swooped in and enjoyed much success with its series Jung Do-jeon. So perhaps it makes sense that the writing team regrouped and came up with an idea that was different-but-similar, new-but-familiar.

Six Flying Dragons will be a “faction” drama — which literally means “fact + fiction,” which actually means that it’ll be set in a historical era but will have little fact and much fiction. But practically all sageuk these days is faction anyway, rather than the carefully researched and historically faithful series that used to make up the bulk of the genre.

(The drama’s name elicited momentary confusion since it’s an unusual title and the “flying” part is phonetically pronounced na-reu-sha, or Narsha — but no, the idol singer won’t be part of the show. That’s just a coincidence.)

Six Flying Dragons will take up the Monday-Tuesday SBS slot after Heard It Through the Grapevine wraps in May.

Via Ten Asia

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1 daktari34

March 29, 2015 at 3:44 AM

Oooh! This will be one to watch as long as someone subs it!

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2 sancheezy

March 29, 2015 at 4:42 AM

ooh no, too many drama attract me this year but my real life also booked me more than enough

is it because last year drama was not so good? and now all good drama seems to back in 2015?

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rjyuggy

March 29, 2015 at 9:49 AM

That seems to be the case. 2014 had too many lackluster shows. It was so kind of 2015 to make up for the terrible last year.

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sunnyl

March 29, 2015 at 3:07 PM

I feel same way. So many good dramas this year. BTW this is same period as 'Maids' which just ended (or period between Jung Dojun and Maids. I loved Yi SungGye best in both shows)? Hope it is as good as 'Maids' (even though it was totally different story).

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3 mskololia1

March 29, 2015 at 5:27 AM

Well, Tears of the Dragon about King Taejo to King Sejong was marvelous! Thanks for the news on Six Flying Dragons. I'll have to keep an eye out for this one.

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4 kanz

March 29, 2015 at 6:03 AM

I have long comment ahead...

1. Even Dae Jang Geum, Queen Seon Deok and Empress Ki are faction sageuk, so do new sageuks nowadays. Dramatic plot development over historical details. I'm all for history actually, so it saddens me a little bit if they went far (too far) from the actual history.

2. I also remember Hwajung will air on Mon-Tue, so that means we have 2 sageuks on MBC and SBS!! While KBS will have School 2015. Let's see which one will win the ratings battle! Poor me, the three drama look promising on its own, how I could possibly watch the 3 of them simultaneously!

3. One of my long-time wishes is seeing Kim Woo Bin as a Joseon king. So if we have to pick a male lead, I'll choose Kim Woo Bin!! Ji Chang Wook also can be in contention, I also hope seeing him in a Joseon sageuk as a king. They both charismatic and have great acting chops.

4. Actually rather than Taejong/Sejong/Gwanghaegun/Sukjong/Jeongjo I wish kdrama writers would write some less known kings, like Hyeonjong (Sukjong's father), Sunjo (Jeongjo's son), Injo, etc. Or less known dynasty like Shilla or Baekje.

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mskololia1

March 29, 2015 at 6:16 AM

OMG...I really enjoyed the Shilla period dramas like Emperor of the Sea or Ballad of Seo Dong and would love to see a King Onjo of the Baekje kingdom era drama. <3<3<3 Jumong forever!

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kanz

March 29, 2015 at 6:21 AM

OMG yes! I wish I could see more of them.. I love Queen Seon Deok and been wanting to watch Ballad of Seo Dong, if only I can find the download link..

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mskololia1

March 29, 2015 at 6:41 AM

Perhaps the TV execs should just revert back and follow JUMONG and his sons...lol when airing period/historical dramas.

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laraffinee

March 29, 2015 at 7:11 PM

Yes!

Arhazivory

March 29, 2015 at 8:28 PM

Yes! My love for Jumong borders on obsessive and crazy.

ellenelle

March 29, 2015 at 3:49 PM

Agree+++!!!

I'm all good with the hanboks and the likes, but I just love the pre-Joseon era! There's to explore there, it makes me kind of sad they would rather recycle the same stories than go further back in history :(

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ag

March 29, 2015 at 9:39 PM

I loved 'Emperor of the Sea' with Song Il Gook. Of course,nothing will top 'Jumong' though with him in that one! Yes, Jumong forever!

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parny

March 29, 2015 at 3:42 PM

Ji Chang Wook was a king in Empress Ki. I don't watch 60 episode drama but he was definitely a king in that.

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parny

March 29, 2015 at 3:43 PM

My bad....50 episode. (Fat fingers typing. Lol :p)

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kanz

March 30, 2015 at 7:08 AM

JCW is a king in Empress Ki. But he never be a king in Joseon dynasty. What I meant is he should be a king in Joseon :)

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bd5

March 29, 2015 at 6:39 PM

Totally agree on 4.

Wish they would do more Goguryeo and Baekje based saeguks or even on the Gaya confederacy (I'm not to keen on Silla, considering the history); what would be interesting is seeing the fall of Baekje and what happened to the members of the royal family (some going to Goguryeo and some across to Japan).

And despite being 1st dynasty of a unified Korea, also don't see enough on the Goryeo dynasty in comparison.

Way too much on Joseon; sure, there is the most written history on Joseon, but since Joseon sageuks tend to be factions anyways, shouldn't really matter.

Aside from TWDR, the most enjoyable saegeuks I've watched have been from earlier periods - Jumong, Emperor of the Sea/Sea God, The Kingdom of the Winds (kinda funny how Song il-Gook is in all of them), since they were more adventure driven (not so much relegated to palace machinations/intrigue - which I like when well done, but not enough sageuks do it well enough) and we get to see more of the indigenous animist and shaman religions (in EotS- the adventure portion in China was the best part).

Hope they cast talented actors for the battling princes (wouldn't mind seeing Song Joong-ki be cast as one of the princes).

Han Suk-kyu's performance in TWDR was simply awesome, but thought that Jang Hyuk was a bit one note and over-acted from time to time (a bad habit he picked up from "Chuno").

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5 eny

March 29, 2015 at 6:36 AM

i want joo won in sageuk

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kathy

March 29, 2015 at 9:15 PM

i say yeah!!

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Berry

March 29, 2015 at 10:05 PM

Same here!

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6 mary

March 29, 2015 at 6:53 AM

“fact + fiction,”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAzWT8mRoR0

Sorry, I had to. XD

*cough*
Anyway, hurrah! Possible prequel to TWDR!

I loved that show to bits and Head's recaps made it so much better! Hope this show is as good if not better than TWDR. :D

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didu

March 29, 2015 at 8:47 AM

Its random, actually when I read 'fact+fiction' part I just remember Beast's. But thanks to you Im enjoying the official mv again. Fiction is the song that turned me into beast addicted.
Well its been a long time, i feel like saeguk to watch, there's nothing a great one lately.

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Cocoboo

March 29, 2015 at 9:02 AM

Hahaha I was reminded of this song too. <3 Nice listening to it again after a while.

I really loved TWDR. Excited for this new drama by the same writers. Six Flying Dragons is already a great, interesting title.

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7 Mandy

March 29, 2015 at 6:58 AM

This sounds exciting! I absolutely loved Tree with Deep Roots so I'm totally up for something from the same writers. Ironically, Jang Hyuk plays Yi Bang-won in his recent release Empire of Lust!

I wanted Han Suk-kyu and Jang Hyuk to be cast again but if it's loosely being called a prequel, I suppose that's not possible then. Hopefully they get some established actors like they had in the past because I'm sure this drama will be great.

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parny

March 29, 2015 at 3:51 PM

Song Joong Ki maybe? :p He was briefly in TWDR. His acting received good reviews. Now he can lead it? Lol.

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bossu

March 31, 2015 at 8:02 PM

SJK sounds like a real good idea, really love the guy. But wasn't he already casted in Kim Eun Sook's drama?

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8 WintermelonT

March 29, 2015 at 7:07 AM

So the title "Six Flying Dragons" itself sounds so dope.

First thing that came to my mind was those Chinese historical dramas, with a bit of fantasy, sword fighting, flying around, roof hopping etc.

But yes. Looking forward to see what direction this drama will be taking with the whole casting, production. storyline and genre.

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jomo143

March 29, 2015 at 7:41 AM

And six sons reminds me of all the lovely princes in BBJX.

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paroles

March 29, 2015 at 12:10 PM

That's what I thought too. Six Flying Dragons i.e. Korean version of 九子夺嫡 Nine Sons Fighting for the Throne, or more literally, nine sons fighting for the title of legitimate heir. I've always liked these dramas though.

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parny

March 29, 2015 at 3:54 PM

Yes! I grew up watching chinese martial arts drama so this sounds amazing. No wonder I also ended up loving Korean saguek.

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9 tiadebella

March 29, 2015 at 7:24 AM

Ooh, I am so in for this.

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10 Mia

March 29, 2015 at 7:25 AM

This should truly be interesting. 'Shine or Go Crazy' is ending in two weeks only to be replaced by the 50 ep drama that is 'Hwajung'. "Six Flying Dragons" will be competing with 'Hwajung' when it airs. It's easy for me to have saeguk fatigue but I will be watching 'Hwajung' for the cast. But goodness, a straight saeguk that's also 50 eps?! It's like the combination of the two types of dramas I try to avoid. Meanwhile, 'Heard It Through the Grapevine' is holding it's own in the ratings against 'Shine or Crazy" but will it continue to do so when 'Hwajung' airs. If it doesn't, airing a saeguk as a follwup drama to 'Heard It Through the Grapevine' might not be such a good idea. 'Six Flying Dragons' would be competing with 'Hwajung' which would have a 9 week lead by the time it airs. If 'Hwajung' is a buzz drama, I think more viewers would flock to 'Hwajung' after 'Heard It Through the Grapvine' wraps rather than watching 'Six Flying Dragons'. But if the drama actually has flying dragons, that could give it an edge.

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kanz

March 29, 2015 at 7:27 AM

Yep, Hwajung has the lead and a bit of time advantage. But in the end, the Korean viewers would still decide the ratings.. Hope they can give Hwajung a run for their money.. Btw is Six Flying Dragons 50 eps?? I'll be dead when both dramas air!

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Gwinna

March 29, 2015 at 12:08 PM

Lol, now I am picturing an historical fantasy where the six princes each have their own dragons. That would certainly up the stakes of the power struggle! Too bad Korea almost never does epic fantasy, because it would be awesome.

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sparks121

March 29, 2015 at 1:41 PM

Hm, I think hwajung will pull in solid ratings, and definitely overtake heard it through the grapevine. I'm not sure about its lead over six flying dragons though. It might stay first in SFD's first two-ish weeks of airing, but kim young hyun is a much better writer than kim yi young is, with a stronger track record, so I think six flying dragons will eventually overtake hwajung if SFD lives up to expectations.

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Bidam

April 9, 2015 at 7:42 PM

It would be interesting, but it won't be a good sign if any one of the two dramas receive very low viewing rate. Back in 2009 when QSD was dominating in the time slot, Princess Ja Myung Go production decided to cut 11 episodes due to its low viewer ratings. Jung Kyung Ho is a decent actor and he's also one of my favorites, but he's somehow had bad luck with his two large-budgeted dramas (Princess Ja Myung Go and Endless Love) which productions decided to shorten the episodes before it actually would end. I feel bad for him.

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11 john

March 29, 2015 at 8:04 AM

Bring on the Six Flying Dragons.

I really enjoyed TWDR.

I'm still crossing my fingers that someone will show Jung Do-jeon with subs.

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mskololia1

March 29, 2015 at 8:35 AM

*smiles* I kept checking periodically to see if Jung Do-jeon was being subbed. Boo! There are so many period dramas without subtitles. I've been thinking of adding Im Kkeok Jung, which aired in the 90s to my growing historical Kdramas.

I hope this drama will be good.

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kathy

March 29, 2015 at 9:21 PM

me too.
every time i hear a comment about Jung Do-Jeon, especially after watched Punch, I check online but so far only the first episode is up :(

tree was a really good drama. i'll keep an eye on this too.

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12 Rovi

March 29, 2015 at 8:44 AM

When I first saw the title, I immediately thought of "Yongbi Eocheonga" (The Songs of the Flying Dragons), which had six dragons in it (Taejo, Taejong, & Taejo's forefathers to the fourth generation). But if the timeline is around Taejo & Taejong, then Sejong might not be around then...

Taejo had 8 sons from his 2 wives, but the eldest (Yi Bang-woo, Prince Jin'an-daegun) bowed out of the scene early on, so that leaves only one more prince to make it six...

If this series is "faction", then good luck with ousting "Jeong Do-jeon"'s popularity then; that sageuk was a hoot and a total eye-opener, a true successor of the 1997-1998 hit "Tears of the Dragon" (based on Park Jong-hwa's novel "Sejong the Great"). I'm betting this production will be another disappoint-in-the-making; a gaudy useless fashion show with no actual content...

Though I notice won't this production be, I dunno, looked over? I mean, there's already the movie "Age of Innocence" (mistranslated as "Empire of Lust"; starring Jang Hyeok (Taejong), Shin Ha-gyun (general Kim Min-jae), & Kang Ha-neul (in his most daring & shocking role ever as royal son-in-law Jin)) with the same timeline (during the "First Strife of Princes").

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paroles

March 29, 2015 at 11:03 PM

Age of Innocence flopped, so nope this wouldn't be looked over.

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13 Annie

March 29, 2015 at 8:46 AM

The article being cited is from January. Chaebol's Daughter was announced in February so I'm pretty sure the sequence will still be Grapevine --> Chaebol's Daughter --> Six Flying Dragons.

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14 earthna

March 29, 2015 at 8:53 AM

It's sad that Unprecedented is not gonna air anymore but at least they're coming out with this one. Probably without Cha Seung Won though. :(

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15 C

March 29, 2015 at 10:07 AM

Random, slightly pervy question: Does anyone know any good dramas where the lead has long hair? I absolutely died for Philip Lee in SeGa, Kim Min Joon in Damo and Ji Chang Wook in the first half (OK, and the second) of Empress Ki. I have SUCH a thing for sexy-maned guys. Bonus points if it's a sageuk and/or the guy in question is Cha Seung Won.

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Gwinna

March 29, 2015 at 12:30 PM

You should check out Chinese period dramas. There are lots of those where the guys have long flowing hair.

For sageuks, I would recommend The Princess' Man (second half), and maybe Eight Days, although that's more of an ensemble cast. I've been watching Maids (just ended yesterday), where the hero has long hair, but it isn't that great of a drama.

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C

March 30, 2015 at 12:02 PM

That's a great suggestion actually because I'm Chinese, haha. I've only ever watched 金玉良缘 (which got quite annoying), time to broaden my horizons I guess! And I'll definitely check out the rest of your suggestions too.

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kanz

March 29, 2015 at 3:00 PM

Hmm, Yonghwa in Three Musketeers? YAI in SKKS, dramas Iljimae and Return of Iljimae I think also have leads with long hair.
Actually Kim Bum did look good in Goddess Of Fire, but the drama is dud.

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C

March 30, 2015 at 12:05 PM

Holy shit, off to watch Kim Bum... For science.

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SilentSquee

March 29, 2015 at 6:55 PM

Warrior Baek Dong Soo!

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C

March 30, 2015 at 12:03 PM

Hot damn. Must. Watch.

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bd5

March 29, 2015 at 7:11 PM

Song Il-gook was at one time, "Mr. Sageuk.

2nd lead in "Emperor of the Sea/Sea God"

Bonus has - the excellent Kim Gap-soo, Lee Jae-yong and Lee Won-jung in supporting roles.

Also has Bae Soo-bin in a minor role; speaking of which, he and SIG are both in Jumong; and while BSB plays an "interesting" character, he is one of those actors who looks better w/ sageuk hair and also "Kingdom of the Winds" starring SIG.

Joo Jin-mo is another actor who looks great with sageuk hair. Should check out "Musa: the Warrior" (also starring Jung Woo-sung) or the TV series "Bichunmoo."

Thought that "Chuno" was a bit weak in a no. of areas, but Oh Ji-ho and Han Jung-soo (General Choi) rock the flowing mane, as does Jang Hyuk.

Best sageuk (beautifully written and acted) is the fusion sci-fi saguek "Joseon X-Files" and again, Kim Ji-hoon looks better w/ long hair (also has the excellent aforementioned Kim Gap-soo).

For very good sageuk films - "War of the Arrows" and "The Admiral: Roaring Currents."

"Blades of Blood" was OK, but it stars Cha Seung-won.

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C

March 30, 2015 at 12:03 PM

Thank you! :D I will check all those out.

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C

March 30, 2015 at 12:00 PM

Oh and Tal Tal in Empress Ki, how could I forget! So unattractive without the ponytail, with it I melt spontaneously.

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16 Gwinna

March 29, 2015 at 12:13 PM

This definitely sounds interesting, but I still kind of wish to see Unprecedented.

Also still holding out hope that someone will sub Jung Do Jeon. And Tears of the Dragon.

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17 LinLin

March 29, 2015 at 2:10 PM

Ahh! What am I supposed to do?? There have hardly been any dramas that have caught my attention in the past year, and now it seems like all the interesting shows are going to start airing at once!! This brings my count up to 8 upcoming shows that I want to watch!!

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18 Michiki

March 29, 2015 at 10:21 PM

Does it mean they need 6 young hot actors as the 6 sons of King Taejo? Let me see...I want to nominate Ji Chang Wook, Joo Won, Lee Min Ho, Choi Si Won, Jung Il Woo, and Choi Jin Huk. It would be a tough battle. *dreaming*

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19 alpha

March 29, 2015 at 11:42 PM

For the six sons I hope to see not-so-popular casts so then it gives the rawness. Only one main actor should be a popular one. For that I nominate Joo Won.

I have always wanted to see him sageuk and he was so close to being casted in TMETS (the role which Jung Il Woo later endes up playing).

Please Joo Won ssi!! I want to see him in a more credible drama which will bring out all of his raw talent after the nightmare of Cantabille Naeil.

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