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New Gisaeng Story premieres this weekend

With Secret Garden bowing out of the weekend drama race, it’s time to turn to the drama taking its place: New Gisaeng Story.

The drama takes an interesting premise: New Gisaeng Story is set at the sole traditional gisaeng establishment in the country, Buyonggak, whose gisaengs serve only the creme de la creme of modern Korean society. The drama tells of the “sorrowful love stories” and “unfortunate lives” of the people living there.

It’s not a sageuk or even a fusion reworking of one, but deals with gisaengs in the modern day. Historically, the gisaeng was a female entertainer well-versed in the arts and poetry, whose function has been somewhat replaced in contemporary times by the modern bar hostess (beautiful, desirable, but of a socially inferior class) and was a familiar fixture in bygone times, figuring prominently in Joseon-era sageuks.

Watch the preview:

Rather than hingeing on star actors, this drama is putting its faith in star scriptwriter Im Sung-han of such melodramas as Heaven’s Fate and Love in Heaven, and also last year’s lighter family comedy Assorted Gems. Its cast is full of new faces: Im Soo-hyang (Paradise Ranch), Jung Hoon, and Baek Ok-dam (Madam of Ahyundong). In fact, when the drama cancelled its planned press conference, a source from SBS stated that with a main cast of rookies, they’d wondered if a press conference would be effective. It was to have taken place on January 19, and there are no plans to reschedule.

Other cast members include Kim Bo-yeon (Goldfish) and Kim Hye-sun (Dong Yi), who play the madam and the head cook at Buyonggak, respectively.

New Gisaeng Story is planned for 50 episodes, which makes me sigh a little since I’m always torn when my interest is piqued by a drama that long. That won’t stop me from watching, of course, and I’m intrigued by the premise, particularly since I’ve always been fascinated by the seemingly contradictory high-class/low-class dichotomy of gisaeng life, being a status symbol affiliated with the elite class, yet having very little personal agency.

Originally set to premiere this Saturday, the drama is giving up its Saturday slot to the Secret Garden special, and is scheduled to air its first two episodes on Sunday, the 23rd.

Via Yonhap News

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so excited for this show! i love that it'll show both modern korea and its older prototype!!

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I'm right there with you, javabeans. It sounds intriguing, but I don't know if I could hang in there for 50 episodes. Especially not when I supposed to be cutting down on the number of dramas I'm watching because I promised my parents that I'd be a good girl and have a social life at this college. ~sigh~

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I agree with you both. I have watched longer drama's but even then it was a struggle.

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same here.
50 episodes! 50! 50, 50...

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Aww, JB it does look good.....50 episodes-wish I could wish I could, but I can't.

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I feel your pain, school + social life + work, there really isn't time to watch a 50 episode drama thats why i stopped watching Gloria. And surely after the semester gets in full swing I wont be able to see more than 1 or to dramas, hell If it get tougher there will be no dramas at all..... and I really need to work on a social life too............

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Same here! le sigh indeed...^^

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Lol!! I know how you feel...my parents are constantly calling me at uni asking 'Are you out with your friends or watching dramas all day in you room?'

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I feel you guys... I am working... and anything more than 16 eps, kills me a bit inside... but this looks great! Promising! Wae 50 eps?? Ok, now I am whiny...

Aww and the ladies are beautiful!!!!

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aiyo toooo long! Too long!

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downloas them and watch them as a reward for going out

for every 15 minutes u socialize you get 15 minutes

i am trying that

and so far i have earned 2 hours of daemul

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sme hre..it seems realli intersting..but i realli realli gotta study..but its hard to when there are streams of dramas one after another

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Start a k-drama club and have that social side while feeding the addiction.

It's fun getting folks hooked by dramas. One second they "don't watch much tv" and next thing you know they are crackalicious for My Lovely Samsoon.

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I'm interested in this show, but i'm not sure if i can take 50 episodes of “sorrowful love stories” and “unfortunate lives”....

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ditto. i was really interested until i read that part... then i was all.... meh.

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I'm torn about this drama. Historically, during the Joseon dynasty when women were barred from education, gisaengs served a unique function. However, now that beautiful, witty, and intelligent women need not be gisaengs in order to be educated and cultured, what sets apart these gisaengs from such women? That their beauty, wit, intelligence, and erudition can be bought as a service at men's leisure? Curious to know how this drama will position modernity, gender, and class.

Both this and My Princess give me pause, making me wonder if some nostalgic drive for Joseon social dynamics is gaining traction in Korean society. And just to be clear, not at all slagging on either shows, just finding the thematic foundations of both shows puzzling.

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Ah, you've summed up my interests completely! I hope they have a fresh positioning in this compared to previous dramas. However, 50 episodes is really way too long. Sigh.

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But it tights very well with the sense of Korean Pride that most dramas tend to portray. It is none the less rather interesting to see how they are going to try and argument the validity of such practices in todays society.

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I welcome stories about gisaengs from the Joseon era, primarily because gisaengs in general were the women with greatest access to erudition and a life of the mind. And to celebrating their accomplishments, huzzah.

But I find it unsettling to think a dimension of Korean pride involves romanticization of gisaengs, especially if that romanticization leads to a a whole show based on the premise that the gisaeng system along with the class system was not abolished with the 1895 Gabo reforms. (Although there are some "gisaengs" still around, they're not gisaengs of yore nor is there any such formalized system as existed during the Joseon era.)

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With you that such practices should not be romanticized, however I have found that for some unphantonable reason historic figures, and practices become sources of pride. For me it is interesting to see how they try to rationalized their modern existents. It like how the French, and the world really, is in love with the French revolution, while they never stop to think of who many perished by the swift movements of Madam Le Guilliotin

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I really want to watch it but 50 episodes is alot

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hehe... ty javabeans! i wasn't aware that this is planned for 50 episodes until after i sent that email, but i'm hoping you'll post related content from time to time with pretty pictures from this drama since i highly doubt you'll recap this. i'm exhausted just by thinking of it

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another 50 ep drama
watching giant took its toll on my cos of the story line developed over stages and was pretty consistent as well
same with watching sons of sol pharmacy and that was easily watchable since it was family related
but a ginsaeng story line
it has got me all interested in how this would all work

i just hope this series wont be as slow as gloria
cos after watching ten eps of it,
it was easily watchable but after nearly 30 eps
the plot feels like is getting there but the story for each of the characters are dragging and dragging
its going back and forth with the same theme

hopefully there will be very little makjang themes in this as flames of ambition was makjang all the way

anyway looking forward to see what this is all about

bye now

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Flames of Ambition WAS marketed as makjang and it is makjang indeed except it isn't loose or messy, it's a tight dark drama -so really...it isn't exactly makjang.

This drama is melodrama.

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I was excited for this. The story is very appealing to me and I'm sure it'll be quite entertaining as SBS does a great job with mellow stories. (as well as makjang)

Sadly my heart was broken when I noticed WITH S2 removed it from their list of upcoming projects TT______TT*

aigoooooooooo. OTL

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50 episodes? bring it on! :-)

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nice attitude! yesh!

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I feel the same way! I grew up watching 100+ episode telenovellas so 50 episodes is cake.

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/Random: the portrait of the gisaeng in the trailer is Hwang Jin Yi, and one of the actor in this drama was also in Hwang Jin Yi =D

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This drama, based on the preview and description above, could be interesting. My interest is piqued. But I agree, the scheduled 50 episodes does scare me...

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Totally unrelated to this topic... but... finally a Yoo Ah In header here at Dramabeans! Yeah!

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There have been several. It's just the in one of them he barely looks like himself.

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50 episodes? Doesn't faze me at all. Not after watching really long dramas over 100 episodes.

I'm looking forward to this one. I wonder if such a thing still exists in Korean society? In secret maybe?

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Interested? Hell yeah! 50 episodes? Hmm, hopefully I can tackle it.

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i raced along queen seon duk pretty well (hello extensions!) so i'm pretty sure i can do this. been interested in geisha and gisaeng (12 books and 7 case studies/reports about them) since i was 12 so if this will be subbed, i'm all for it!^^

thanks jb for the update!^^

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Young Jedi Knight xObiO7

Trained you well Yoda has. New female warrior you must face. Giaseng Warrior she is. Trained by Yoda's mighty foe Queen Seon Duk she is. Crossed over to the Dark Side Giaseng Warrior has.

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So good I've learned how not to lose my dinner or drink or choke on either from laughing too hard.

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Disney may be the happiest place on earth, but here, by god, is the silliest!
My face hurts from smiling!

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Young Jedi Knight xObiO7

Beware the Giasengs!

Painted faces ready for battle they have. Armed with dangerous weapons they are. Coiled black snakes on heads they have prepared. Thick red vampire lips also beware you must.

The truth Yoda must speak. Yoda my name. Bald and green I am. Alas, prettier than Giaseng I am not. Sad I am. But the truth I must speak.

May the Force be with You.

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Jedi knight xObiO7

Giaseng Empire has struck! Prepare our armies we must!
Beware the painted giaseng war faces! Beware the snakes coiled on giaseng heads! Beware giaseng thick red vampire lips!

Yoda my name. Hairless my head. Green I am. The truth I speak. Sad the truth is, but the truth Yoda must speak: Prettier than Yoda giaseng warrior is.

May the Force be with you.

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I think I'm way prettier than those giasengs.

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I believe I am more charming than you, Oska, or that strange green creature with pointy ears.

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I'm more charming than you, you dumb prof, or Oska or that annoying green creature who can't get his sentence structures right, or...or 100 giasengs mixed and mashed together! So there! In your face, you doddery dust-covered antic relic!

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Just because you wear speedos doesn't give you the right to talk to me this way!

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I'll talk to you any way I want! I wear speedos,yes, and I'm proud! Proud of it! I bet you wear dusty, moth-infested boxers. I bet you wear your grandfather's father's boxers!

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I'll have you know that I wear specially hand-knit papyrus-leaved underwear! The rarest of its kind! The one and only such underwear in the world! Not like your common and vulgar speedos! HAH!

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The truth I must speak. Green Underwear Yoda embraces. A fine colour it is. Blends with Yoda it does.

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uhhh...excuse me, can I just say that I don't wear any underwear at all? Underwear is so not me.

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I wear sparkly underwear! Ra Im buys red speedos for me, then she sews sparkly stuff all over.They glow in the dark too!

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ROFL at all the comments!XD XD XD Master Yoda my sincerest apologies! I was away from the internet for so long! the mighty floods have destroyed my connection! message you said you had! I hadn't known it was this dire! I got lost in Avonlea by the Green Gables in the world of LM Montgomery! I haven't been there since I was eight! A delightful girl named Anne had bewitched me with her glib tongue but I am better now.

The gisaengs may be prettier than you Master Yoda but you have trained me well! TEN SUMMERS i've spent in the deserts of Egypt (and I'm not even kidding)! Six times I've visited queens far greater than those army of women with coiled hair and red lips. And many times I have studied Geisha. I shall dangle alluring men and ensnare them. But that Kraken lady... I'm not so sure ... *sigh* I am deathly afraid of botox!>,<

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Haeyoung you cheap diplomat! How dare you offend my Master?! What kind of diplomatic skills do you have?! Professor Nam is more charming than you are (though I must say papyrus undies are a turn off) any day!!!!

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Come away from these deluded young men and their pervaded love of eccentric underwear Master Yoda! Cross over to the dark side you might... and then where will I be?!

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Ahhh.... Oska oppa and Joowon oppa are here but where might my Jung In be?!

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I've been gagging to see what this is about for a while, I'm SO looking forward to it.
I'm putting my faith in the writer too, I heard great things about Assorted Gems so hopefully she'll deliver in this drama, too.
They may have cast rookies but alongside them a good bunch of veteran actors too -- among them Im Hyuk, who is just magical.

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0.0 nice cast,i don't know well their acting skills,by i wrote it for their looks,they are very pretty, very pretty gisaengs n.n

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well i don't know the acting skills of most of them n.n ,only some of the one from dong yi,they are really pretty

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Nice & pretty. Wonder what the story be like.

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I say it looks interesting. Will have to check it out.

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I've been trying to get into longer shows, but I'm intrigued by this. They look so pretty!

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Not a sageuk? I'm surprised, because based on the very very short previews I bothered to watch, it seemed like one.

The premise is interesting. But 50 eps...hmm....

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Looks like I have a 50 episode drama to finally pique my interest after giving up on Assorted Gems and bulldozing through Family Honor. Twice. All thanks to different cut compliations I found :p. I'll need to keep an eye out for subs.

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not my cup of tea and 50 episode?? but i've always been interested in korean hanbok, they look so pretty and would love to wear one, those with pretty colours.

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The premise immediately makes me think of Inara in the (Joss Whedon's) Firefly. I'm hoping that at least some of the characters are not "sorrowful" and "unfortunate", but instead sassy and proud.

If it's written like Assorted Gems, I'll follow some story arcs and skip over others. The 50 episodes makes it easier for me to decide which subplots hold my interest.

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I was wondering if you were going to mention this drama, javabeans! Thanks for the info since I didn't understand what was going on in the previews, which I've seen at the end of some of the Secret Garden epsiodes.

I'm disappointed that it's 50 episodes long since it's such a huge commitment for me. I will probably watch the first few and then wait till it is finished so I can fast forward through any subplots I don't like.

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I must be the only on NOT interested in this. :\

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Im Sung Han? Loving the first 90% of Assorted Gems, loathing the last 10. Oh, how I'm torn. Maybe the answer to my dilemma is in the guy candies.

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*SIGHHH** does anyone know what the song is in the preview not the one shown above but after the last two episodes of secret garden? It has also been featured in the hyundai credit card commercial (T3 M3 P3 one). It's driving me nuts.

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No eye candy? I suppose I can feast on the pretty dresses.

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GAH! Interest so pique, time so little! WHY?!

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This looks very interesting.

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Ugh, 50. It's too much. If it was between 16-30 episodes, then maybe. The most I've watched is 30. And spring semester started last week and I'm currently watching and loving My Princess and Dream High, so I think I'll skip this one. I also promised myself that Queen Seon Duk would be the first drama I watched with over 50 episodes. I also want to watch Flames of Desire (I have never watched a makjang, and I've heard nothing but good things about FOD.) I'm so fickle...

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Flame of ambition is good

it starts really good watced10 epis then Sregret garden took over

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interestingly long!!! shucks...

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And now, for the most shallow comment of the thread:

Where are the boys?
Too many girls!

I guess with 50 episodes that feature heart break there needs to be a boy or two in the mix...

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Yeah I noticed there's no guy.....only one word to say: YAWN.

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wew...love the Han Bok color anyway....

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I am sure they will include some guys in this drama....they will be the 'johns' ! LOL !

I can't hold on to 50 episodes. I can barely hold on to 20 episodes unless there are many eye candies and shirtless bodies to gawk !

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Hi,

I'd like to watch this. Is it available for download, and can I watch it with subtitles anywhere?

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