Iljimae

일지매

Promotional poster for Iljimae
Also known as Iljimae: The Phantom Thief
Genre Historical, action, romance
Based on Iljimae
by Ko Woo-young
Written by Choi Ran
Directed by Lee Yong-suk
Starring Lee Joon-gi
Han Hyo-joo
Lee Young-ah
Park Si-hoo
Country of origin South Korea
Original language(s) Korean
No. of episodes 20
Production
Producer(s) Lee Yong-suk
Location(s) Korea
Running time Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 (KST)
Production company(s) Chorokbaem Media
Release
Original network Seoul Broadcasting System
Picture format 1080i (HDTV)
Original release 21 May (2008-05-21) – 24 July 2008 (2008-07-24)
Chronology
Preceded by On Air
Followed by Working Mom
Related shows The Return of Iljimae
The Vigilantes in Masks
External links
Website
Korean name
Hangul 일지매
Hanja 一枝梅
Revised Romanization Il Ji-mae
McCune–Reischauer Il Chi-mae

Iljimae (Hangul: 일지매; Hanja: 一枝梅; RR: Iljimae; literally "One blossom branch") is a 2008 South Korean period-action television series, starring Lee Joon-gi in the title role of Iljimae, Han Hyo-joo, Lee Young-ah and Park Si-hoo.[1] It is loosely based on the comic strip Iljimae, published between 1975 and 1977, written by Ko Woo-young based on Chinese folklore from the Ming dynasty about a masked Robin Hood-esque character during the Joseon era.[2]

It was directed by Lee Yong-suk,[3] and produced by Chorokbaem Media.[4] It aired on SBS from 21 May to 24 July 2008 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 for 20 episodes.

Background

There have been several versions of this story, which first appeared in two Ming dynasty novels, including a 1994 Hong Kong film, a 2005 TVB series and a 2011 Chinese television series, called The Vigilantes in Masks.

MBC bought the rights to the comic strip for their adaptation, hence the SBS version features an original storyline. Lee is the second Korean actor to play the hero following Jang Dong-gun in 1993 and followed by Jung Il-woo for MBC's The Return of Iljimae in 2009.[5]

Synopsis

Joseon, around 1633. Lee Gyeom (Lee Joon-gi) is the son of the virtuous nobleman Lee Won-ho, who is the king's trustworthy supporter and brother, and a central member of the secret organization Cheonwoohoe, composed of other five important nobles with the king as their leader. When a blind fortune teller, looking at Lee Won-ho's home, refers to the king that he sees a person as bright as the sun who would be adored by the people, the king killed Lee Won-ho as he believed that 'two suns cannot exist on the same sky'. Gyeom, from the inside of a safe, manages to survive and witnesses the murder; later, when he is forced to throw a rock at his mother's head to prove that he isn't her son, he loses his memory for the shock and is adopted by a retired thief, Soe-dol, who renames him "Yong". Thirteen years later, Yong regains his memories and begins to search for his older sister Yeon, only to see her being sentenced and hanged.

The murder of his older sister leaves Gyeom seeking revenge and, with the emblem on the killer's sword he remembers from thirteen years ago as his only clue, he swears to avenge his family. To find the sword and its owner, he disguises himself as the mysterious, black-swathed thief Iljimae, who breaks into the nobles' estates, focusing on, when he discovers his father's membership to the Cheonwoohoe, the members of the secret organization; meanwhile, he also helps the people with injustices, becoming a hero. At the scene of each robbery, he leaves a handkerchief portraying a branch of red plum blossoms, symbol of the house where he lived and of his childhood memories: the very name of Iljimae reflects this, as "il" means "one", "ji" means "branch" and "mae" means "plum tree". The king and the nobility try to catch Iljimae and find his identity, especially the guard Byeon Si-hoo, who sees this as an opportunity to redeem himself from his life of misery and become a noble. In the meantime, Yong falls in love with Eun-chae, daughter of nobleman Byeon Shik and Si-hoo's stepsister, who can't forget her first love Lee Gyeom.

Cast

Main characters

Supporting characters

Ratings

Original broadcast date Episode # Average audience share
TNmS Ratings[6] AGB Nielsen[7]
Nationwide Seoul National Capital Area Nationwide Seoul National Capital Area
21 May 2008 1 14.8% 15.4% 15.5% 17.0%
22 May 2008 2 17.6% 17.8% 17.7% 18.4%
28 May 2008 3 19.0% 19.1% 17.1% 18.0%
29 May 2008 4 18.9% 18.9% 19.9% 20.3%
4 June 2008 5 19.3% 20.5% 18.6% 17.9%
5 June 2008 6 18.6% 18.4% 19.6% 18.6%
11 June 2008 7 20.5% 20.7% 20.0% 19.5%
12 June 2008 8 23.0% 23.3% 20.9% 21.0%
18 June 2008 9 24.6% 25.0% 22.4% 22.8%
19 June 2008 10 23.1% 22.4% 21.7% 21.6%
25 June 2008 11 22.6% 22.6% 20.7% 20.3%
26 June 2008 12 24.6% 24.0% 24.1% 23.9%
2 July 2008 13 25.3% 25.0% 22.0% 21.5%
3 July 2008 14 25.4% 24.6% 22.2% 21.4%
9 July 2008 15 26.0% 26.1% 23.0% 23.4%
10 July 2008 16 27.6% 28.2% 24.4% 24.3%
16 July 2008 17 28.0% 29.3% 24.0% 23.6%
17 July 2008 18 27.8% 28.1% 24.2% 24.0%
23 July 2008 19 27.1% 26.8% 25.0% 25.1%
24 July 2008 20 31.0% 31.4% 27.9% 28.4%
Average 23.2% 23.4%

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Recipient Result
2008
SBS Drama Awards
 Top Excellence Award, actor Lee Joon-gi Won
Excellence Award, Actress in a Drama Special Lee Young-ah Nominated
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Special Ahn Gil-kang Nominated
Lee Moon-sik Won
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Special Kim Sung-ryung Nominated
New Star Award Han Hyo-joo Won
Best Young Actor Yeo Jin-goo Won
Top 10 Stars Lee Joon-gi Won
Netizen Popularity Award Lee Joon-gi Won
Friendship Award Do Ki-seok Won
2009
45th Baeksang Arts Awards
Best Actor (TV) Lee Joon-gi Nominated

International broadcast

So-net TV began broadcasting the series in Japan on 24 November 2008.[8] Reruns aired on terrestrial channel TV Tokyo from 15 June to 24 August 2009,[9] and Mnet Japan starting 25 August 2009.[10]

It aired in Thailand on Channel 3 from 4 December 2009 to 19 February 2010.[11]

It will also air in Sri Lanka on government owned ITN channel from 2016 year end.

References

  1. ↑ "From Pretty Boy to Action Star: Lee Jun-ki Changes Shape". The Chosun Ilbo. 4 July 2008. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  2. ↑ "Young Star Jung il-woo Returns With Iljimae". The Korea Times. 13 January 2009. Retrieved 2013-11-22.
  3. ↑ Lee, In-kyung (2 February 2012). "SBS Is About to Bring Out the Aces, Jang Dong Gun and Zo in Sung". enewsWorld. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  4. ↑ Oh, Jean (19 November 2012). "Historical fantasies a passing fancy?". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  5. ↑ Garcia, Cathy Rose A. (11 July 2008). "Retrospective on Comic Artist Ko Woo-young". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2013-02-04.
  6. ↑ "TNMS Daily Ratings: this links to current day-select the date from drop down menu". TNMS Ratings (in Korean). Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  7. ↑ "AGB Daily Ratings: this links to current day-select the date from drop down menu". AGB Nielsen Media Research (in Korean). Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  8. ↑ "Iljimae to Air in Japan Starting November". KBS Global. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 2014-10-27.
  9. ↑ http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/iljimae/
  10. ↑ Min, Ines (13 July 2009). "Actor Lee Jun-ki in Japanese Spotlight". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2012-12-03.
  11. ↑ "ซีรีส์ช่อง3เก่า อิลจิแม วีรบุรุษจอมโจร". Channel 3. 5 September 2015.
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