Janggeum’s Dream: Episode 42 Commentary

Calm Young Mister

That had to be quite a bump, as Suro’s whole personality is different. He’s been a loud character since the very first episode he appeared in. Back then, I was afraid I’d get him and Jeong-ho mixed up. Hey, there were a lot of characters to be taking in, after all. One defining difference was Suro’s loudness and Jeong-ho’s quiet nature. Quiet Suro seems contemplative, which is a word hardly suitable for Suro.

Having seen Suro in civilian clothes and with his hair tied in a braided ponytail, I wish I could see Jeong-ho the same way. And I’d still like to see all the girls with their hair not in braided ponytails, to see how different they look. Were I skilled in art, I would definitely put that talent into sketching and CGing such images. Everyone loves good artwork, but after 15 years of drawing and not ever “getting it”, not improving, it seems artwork is not my calling. There are some wonderful CG artists out there, to be sure, but I have yet to find any decent quality Janggeum’s Dream fanart.

I don’t even want to imagine what happened to Dong-I and the girls which resulted in screams and left them unconscious. The two could be unrelated, though, as Dong-I and the girls could have been drugged, for example, to put them to sleep after they were captured. Either way, the quieter, gentler Suro is content to ignore their cries, instead keeping the dagger girl safe in his arms. For shame, Quiet, Gentle Suro, for shame! It’s not like he’s a warrior or anything, of course. What can he do? When the dagger girl found him, he didn’t have his sword. If she hid his uniform from him, he wouldn’t even know he was a soldier. As far as Quiet, Gentle Suro might know, he’s a common villager who fell down the falls, and was nursed back to health for all those days the others were out looking for him.

Every time Jungjong appears this series, he’s always so serious, perhaps even angry. The conversation revolved around a Jungjong demanding to know where Jeong-ho is, because he can’t play Chinese Checkers alone. Right? Or was he trying to decide what topping to go with when ordering a pizza, and he needed Jeong-ho’s input? Here’s hoping for that DVD release with English subtitles to supplement the first series’s subtitle’d release.

The wooden structure looks to be a greenhouse. Why was it built? Is it to mimic the items growing inside the cave? Why is this a bad thing? Aside from all the trees being cut down, I mean. And what happened to it by the end of the episode? It looks to have been burned down, but that would have been a quick burn-down, especially considering all the wood inside.

With everyone tied inside, would it be that hard for everyone to pair up back to back and untie one anothers ropes? After Mongmong frees Dong-I, it might be easier to untie the hands of someone else, then both of them to untie more, and so on, but would it have been impossible to untie while ones own hands are still tied? Far be it from me to suggest Mongmong has no place; he saved the girls in the previous episode. He’s all right by me.

Outside, Dong-I continues to show the soldier within, as he carries the old man. I’m sure Suro would be proud to see the pupil he took on has come so far. Dong-I’s entire life changed, certainly for the better, back when he stowed away on that ship to Jeju.

Even though the whole amnesia scenario lasted only for a single episode, you have to feel for Suro and what he’s going through. After his first confrontation with the guy chasing Dong-I and the girls, Suro’s instincts and skill take over, but afterwards he’s left horrified to see what he’s done. What kind of person is he really? Not only that, but the dagger girl can tell there’s someone standing before her other than the calm young man she saved. Throw in some headaching memories triggered by the mention of Suro’s childhood friend, someone he’s known probably for at least seven years, someone he’s spent time with, someone he’s trained with, and you have to feel for him.

In the “green house” cave, Janggeum shows a book to the old man. I should be asking what the book is. Perhaps it’s the one she was writing in when she was at Sin-ssi’s house. Actually, what I want to know is how many things she keeps in her jeogori (shirt). There has to be a decent sized pocket in there for holding things. No wonder their chima (skirts) didn’t come with pockets; their jeogori held everything they would need to carry without the need of a back sack.

To add to the list of “what’s going on?”: Yeonsaeng knows whatever story the old man was telling, word for word. What’s that all about?

The dark figure is still watching over Janggeum’s group, but Hwan is back at the palace, probably far away, right?

Thankfully Suro’s gift for Janggeum wasn’t forgotten. In fact, it had a nice placement. After seeing everything the dagger girl did for Suro, all the care she put into healing him, helping him recover, it’s sad to see her giving him his precious item. Now that Suro’s let the dagger girl keep it, what will happen with his efforts with Janggeum? In the meantime, the preview of the next episode shows Geum-yeong trying to step things up with Jeong-ho.