The Return of Iljimae
Seen it?2009 | 1 seasons | 70 min | Drama
Monday Morning Maybeearly ratingWhy it’s a Monday Morning Maybe
With a small audience and a quick end and almost no lasting buzz, this one could be a tough watch. Keep your phone handy.
Based on critics, audiences, awards, box office and buzz. Details below.Is it for you?
- Who'll love it
- Made for anyone who loves a strong character drama. If you loved Watchmen, start here.
- The mood
- Thoughtful and character-driven.
- The pace
- 1 season: a few weeks of evenings, hour-long episodes, about 28 hours in all.
- What might put you off
- It's in Korean, so expect subtitles (or a dub).
The Return of Iljimae is a 2009 South Korean historical action television series, starring Jung Il-woo in the title role of Iljimae, Yoon Jin-seo, Kim Min-jong and Jung Hye-young. It aired on MBC from January 21 to April 9, 2009 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 for 24 episodes. The series is based on comic strip Iljimae, published between 1975 and 1977, by Ko Woo-yung which was based on a Chinese folklore from the Ming dynasty about a masked Robin Hood-esque character during the Joseon era. MBC bought the rights to the comic strip for their adaptation, which was to star Lee Seung-gi in the title role of Iljimae. However he pulled out and was replaced by Jung, which makes him the third Korean actor to play the hero following Jang Dong-gun and Lee Joon-gi for Iljimae.
How it earned its rating
- CriticsNot counted
Not enough reviews on record yet
- AudiencesNot counted
Not measured yet: not enough ratings
- AwardsNot counted
No major awards or nominations
- Reach & staying powerWeak
Ran for 1 season and reached a small audience so far; still draws a steady audience long after release
- Buzz & cultural impactWeak
About 18K people sought it out in the past year
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Cast & crew
- Jung Il-wooIljimae
- Yoon Jin-seoDal-yi / Wol-hee
- Kim Min-jongKoo Ja-myung
- Jeong Hye-youngBaek-mae
- Cheon Ho-jinHong Taiji
- Lee Hyun-wooCha Dol-yi
- Oh Young-sooYeol-gong
- Kim Dong-seok
- Lee Yoon-jeong[Han family's daughter]