| Native Name: | 일지매 |
| Genre: | Historical Action Romance |
| Alt Name: | Iljimae: The Phantom Thief |
| Director: | Lee Yong-suk |
| Starring: | Lee Joon-gi Park Si-hoo Han Hyo-joo Lee Young-ah |
| Theme Music Composer: | Ryo Yoshimata (요시마타 료) |
| Country: | South Korea |
| Language: | Korean |
| Num Episodes: | 20 |
| Executive Producer: | Lee Hyun-jik |
| Location: | Korea |
| Runtime: | 60 minutes |
| Company: | Chorokbaem Media |
| Channel: | SBS TV |
| Related: | The Return of Iljimae The Vigilantes in Masks |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul: | 일지매 |
| Rr: | Il Ji-mae |
| Mr: | Il Chi-mae |
Iljimae (; literally "One blossom branch") is a 2008 South Korean period-action television series, starring Lee Joon-gi in the title role of Iljimae.[1] It is an original story based on the Korean folk hero and gentleman thief "Iljimae" from the Joseon era.[2]
It was directed by Lee Yong-suk,[3] and produced by Chorokbaem Media.[4] It aired on SBS TV from May 21 to July 24, 2008 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 (KST) for 20 episodes.[5]
The story takes place in 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-i". Thirteen years later, Yong-i 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 the members of the secret organization, Cheonwoohoe. 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-i falls in love with Eun-chae (Han Hyo-joo), daughter of nobleman Byeon Shik and Si-hoo's stepsister, who can't forget her first love Lee Gyeom.
A no-good, lazy gangster by day, and a mysterious thief who protects the citizens in the dark.
Once a poor boy, he was told at the age of nine that his real father was magistrate Byeon Shik and was sent to live with him, becoming a royal guard. However, his real father is actually Lee Won-ho. His dream is to catch Iljimae so that he can finally become a nobleman.
A lovely and kind girl of noble birth who seems to be fated both for and against Gyeom.
A funny, silly swindler who was orphaned as a girl and is connected to Gyeom's past.
Originating as a fictional character from various Ming Dynasty novels depicting a gentleman thief who leaves a plum blossom at the scene of every theft, the character of "Iljimae" became popular in Korea via the importation of Chinese novels during the Joseon Dynasty and became known as a folk hero. The character has since inspired many variants in pop culture, generally depicting Iljimae as a noble outlaw who helps the oppressed. The character was further popularized by a 1975 comic strip by Koo Woo-young featuring him as the title character, but due to the adaptation rights for the comic being owned by MBC, SBS opted to create an original story for the character instead.[6]
Lee is the second actor to play the hero in Korean live-action media following Jang Dong-gun in 1993.[7]
| Original broadcast date | Average audience share | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nielsen Korea[8] | TNmS[9] | |||||
| Nationwide | Seoul | Nationwide | Seoul | |||
| 1 | May 21, 2008 | |||||
| 2 | May 22, 2008 | 17.7% | 18.4% | 17.6% | 17.8% | |
| 3 | May 28, 2008 | 17.1% | 18.0% | 19.0% | 19.1% | |
| 4 | May 29, 2008 | 19.9% | 20.3% | 18.9% | 18.9% | |
| 5 | June 4, 2008 | 18.6% | 17.9% | 19.3% | 20.5% | |
| 6 | June 5, 2008 | 19.6% | 18.6% | 18.6% | 18.4% | |
| 7 | June 11, 2008 | 20.0% | 19.5% | 20.5% | 20.7% | |
| 8 | June 12, 2008 | 20.9% | 21.0% | 23.0% | 23.3% | |
| 9 | June 18, 2008 | 22.4% | 22.8% | 24.6% | 25.0% | |
| 10 | June 19, 2008 | 21.7% | 21.6% | 23.1% | 22.4% | |
| 11 | June 25, 2008 | 20.7% | 20.3% | 22.6% | 22.6% | |
| 12 | June 26, 2008 | 24.1% | 23.9% | 24.6% | 24.0% | |
| 13 | July 2, 2008 | 22.0% | 21.5% | 25.3% | 25.0% | |
| 14 | July 3, 2008 | 22.2% | 21.4% | 25.4% | 24.6% | |
| 15 | July 9, 2008 | 23.0% | 23.4% | 26.0% | 26.1% | |
| 16 | July 10, 2008 | 24.4% | 24.3% | 27.6% | 28.2% | |
| 17 | July 16, 2008 | 24.0% | 23.6% | 28.0% | 29.3% | |
| 18 | July 17, 2008 | 24.2% | 24.0% | 27.8% | 28.1% | |
| 19 | July 23, 2008 | 25.0% | 25.1% | 27.1% | 26.8% | |
| 20 | July 24, 2008 | |||||
| Average | ||||||
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Top Excellence Award, Actor | ||||
| Excellence Award, Actress in a Drama Special | |||||
| Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Special | |||||
| Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Special | |||||
| New Star Award | |||||
| Best Young Actor | |||||
| Top 10 Stars | |||||
| Netizen Popularity Award | |||||
| Friendship Award | Do Ki-seok | ||||
| 2009 | Best Actor (TV) |