Gu Am Heo Joon Review

Title: Gu Am Heo Joon

AKA: Hur Jun, the original story

Genre: Period, Historical, Romance

Episodes: 135

Broadcast period: 2013-Mar to 2013-Sept

Cast: Kim Joo Hyuk, Park Jin Hee, Park Eun Bin, Namgung Min and Baek Yoon Sik.

Raised by a loving father, Heo Joon (Kim Joo Hyuk) does not see himself different than other children around, but is soon come to realize that being the son of a concubine is not as being like his half-brother. His father, a magistrate, is famous for catching barbarians at the border, but one day the barbarians decide to retaliate, they kidnap Heo Joon, the magistrate is left with a horrible choice to make – wait till there is an agreement with other people. This sparks a hate in Heo Joon, who believes he has been abandoned by his father.

Years later, Heo Joon now a grown up, has become a thug, infamous for his illegal trading. When he one day is arrested, his father the magistrate, is left with no choice but to have him and Heo Joons mom flee the city. Ridden with guilt, Heo Joon decides to keep his head down and find a job where he can earn money, so him and his mother can buy a house. And as fate has it, he meets Yoo Ui Tae (Baek Yoon Sik) a local and rather renowed doctor, who sees a potential in Heo Joon, and soon Heo Joon learns the art of medicine…

I started watching this after I finished Horse Doctor, since I heard it was the same director and script writer. Also it had Kim Joo Hyuk in it, acting the same character his father did, so I had to watch it. This drama is one of those morning period dramas I think, since each episode is approx. 35 minutes and you can almost not watch 10 episodes and you would sort of still know what’s going on. Though I did not feel it was draggy, I was a bit annoyed at the ability to cure the patients. I don’t completely remember the year which is acted in this drama, but it’s at least 200-300 years before our time, and for some reason they are able to almost cure everything – which historically seems incorrect. Besides that, there were very few ‘bad’ scenes – meaning badly acted – but honestly I really didn’t mind. I liked the storyline, the love story and the screenplay, also the interacting between everyone is quite well made. Then again it could have been made better – I mean it’s from 2013…

Anyways, enjoyable and a good watch.

☆☆☆½ / 3½ out of 5 stars

♥♥♥½ / 3½ out of 5 hearts