Title : My Country: The New Age, My Nation, My Country
Episodes : 16
Genre : Historical, Bromance, Romance, Drama, Politics, Tragedy, Action, War, Fighting
Story : 6 out of 10
Characters : 8 out of 10
Cinematography : 7 out of 10
My Country had a nice bromance but a repeating motive.
Story
Seo Hwi and Sun Ho are worlds apart, but still they are best friends. Seo Hwi is poor and he has to take care of his ill sister, after his father was executed when they were kids. Sun Ho is the son of a rich aristocrat who treats him as a means to gain power. Both of them compete for the same position in the king’s army. However, only Sun Ho has the power and means to win it, even if they are unethical and ruin Seo Hwi’s life. So, Sun Ho is made a commander, while Seo Hwi is sent to the front line. Coming back, Seo Hwi finds out that Sun Ho’s family has stolen his sister, who has amnesia and thinks that she belongs there, while forgetting all about Seo Hwi. And while Sun Ho tries to please his father, while fighting for his idea of what his country is, Seo Hwi joins forces with the crown prince in order to save the people.
The best thing about this drama was the bromance. The two main actors had great chemistry and their stories were tragic and intense that made the ending even more emotional. The action scenes were pretty good too, well-choreographed and enough bloody. However, the boys’ story kept going in circles, repeating the same trope over and over, until it was easy to predict the twist and what was coming next. The romance was okay, in addition, but only there to make things more dramatic and to fill in the gaps between the action scenes and the political intrigues. However, the side characters’ stories were pretty entertaining, even though the main one kind of lacked something, probably the element of surprise or intensity to keep things interesting and so some scenes were boring.
Characters
Seo Hwi had a difficult life. He saw his father getting killed when he was a kid and he had to raise his ill sister. His only hope of finally finding a happy ending is to pass the military exams. However, because he is of low birth, he is being set to fail, and sent to the front line, loosing in that way his sister and the woman he loves. Yang Se Jong was pretty dramatic and he nailed his action scenes.
Sun Ho is the son of a ruthless aristocrat who only uses him and he always put him down. His only way to appease his father is to gain that spot at the military service. However, he has to come face to face with his best friend, Seo Hwi. Woo Do Hwan gave an intense performance.
Hee Jae is a strong woman who fights for her place in the kingdom. She is trying to help the people, while falling in love with Seo Hwi. I had my doubts about Seol Hyun, after watching her performance in Orange marmalade, but she was pretty good in this one, even though her character was turned from a strong female lead to a filler for the emotional intermissions.
Bang Won is the crown prince. He is a dark horse, always being mistreated by the court and the king. However, he wants to rise in power and thus he takes Seo Hwi as his right hand in order to achieve his goals. Jang Hyuk was probably the best in this drama, with a great performance and a mischievous character.
Cinematography
The drama had a slow pace, but good action scenes. However, some hairstyles for the characters were awful and looked fake.
Overall
My overall rating is 6.5 out of 10. The drama had nice performances and interesting characters, but the story had a slow pace.
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