O Rei: Monarca Eterno (2020)

Masterpiece

This drama is definitely a masterpiece..( I don't understand the excessive negativity surrounding this drama) . The story was amazing. It kept me on the edge throughout . The drama had a lot of suspense elements and heartwarming moments which the writer has portrayed beautifully.. The production and direction of this drama was perfect. The actors did such an amazing job. The duality of certain characters were beautifully portrayed by the actors.. You couldn't have asked for a better cast.. The effortless passionate chemistry between them was unbelievable.. Lee minho as the king was so on point. The poise and the grace with which he carried the role was such a treat to watch. Kim go eun was so natural .. She blended into her character so well (no wonder she is one of the best actresses)
Woo Do hwan is such an underrated actor. His acting range never ceases to surprise me. Kim Kyung-nam is another such gem. His expressive eyes alone spoke volumes.. Jung Eun-chae and Lee Jung-jin were also great. Their mere presence in a scene itself would change the atmosphere. They definitely had the right vibe for this drama. Together the entire cast created a beautiful synergy.
The ost were so beautiful and emotive(Hwasa's voice was so powerful and perfect for this drama)

Leia Mais

Messy but enjoyable

It took me a while to get back to this series after watching the first episode. It failed to grab my attention so I moved on to other shows. I finally came back to it once I ran out of things to watch.

I did enjoy the show for the most part and the parallel universe concept, albeit clumsily done, was kinda cute. I thought most of the characters were done/acted fairly well except the king and the traitor. Both of them were wooden and emotionless throughout the show. I chalked it up as a character trait from being a part of the loyal family. I really loved the side characters, especially, the head court lady and the unbreakable sword/his other self. I loved their acting and roles they were given. Fantastic. I didn’t like the prime minister character. The acting didn’t seem genuine and she went from being ambitious to being evil big time fast. It’s one thing to play political games but conspiring with a traitor and letting her friends get killed…. Hmmm…. As for Tae Eul, her character development went from a strong female cop to a cry baby girlfriend. Hmmm….

I read a lot of complaints about the king being a super human, kingdom of corea being a super power and the lack of solid foundation for time travel/parallel universe concept. I do agree with most of what I read but it didn’t bother me much since this is a K-drama and they tend to dial things way up to the unrealistic realm. But once they introduce the time travel element, things started to get real messy fast. The show was already confusing because of the chaotic nature of the way they edited scenes from different universe. It was hard to follow along with how the king was able to travel in time and impart different memories to people without changing anything? If I learned anything from all those Marvel movies is that you can’t change the past because it’ll birth another timeline. 😂😂😂 And the Kingdom of Corea smacking Japanese navy around. 😆😆😆 It’s a wet dream for Koreans. I’m Korean and I found it stupid.

And the ending!!! The way everything and everyone was changed except the king, unbreakable sword and Tae Eul… pretty unbelievable but I guess I saw it coming. But how the writer chose to make sure everything turned out well except for the traitor and the prime minister… I feel like it was a cop-out which led to the absolute worst case scenario for the main characters. A long distance parallel universe relationship? What? This just doesn’t make sense in so many ways but that’s what happens when the writer doesn’t have a clear vision. I think she should’ve been more bold and given herself permission to not give every single person the “best ending”. Sigh…

I think the writer got drunk on her own past successes and figured that she could write anything and people will watch it. The word “Indulgence” comes to mind. After all, this series seemed to have a huge production budget and a stellar cast. I do remember Mr. Sunshine, one of her other works, getting real messy toward the end so I’m thinking the writer knows how to start good story threads but doesn’t know how to wrap them up. I see this in a lot of other K-dramas, too.

I’m hoping Netflix will start carrying Goblin. We shall see.

Leia Mais

Lee Min Ho is King Worthy, except the Drama Itself

This was a pretty good drama being that it had Lee Min Ho, and surprisingly Woo Do Hwan (Yeong/Eun-Sup). I think the chemistry between him and the King (Minho) were the best and I looked forward to their scenes, or just Do Hwan because he was so charming.

The chemistry between the MLs were really lacking. I didn't believe they were in love, unfortunately. It seemed really forced acting. Everything else in the series was decent, you really have to follow along the many parallel universes to understand the story.

A little gory in some of the bloody scenes (there's plenty of them in this series), but nothing that will haunt your dreams or anything. But there is violence.

Worth to watch for the beautiful traditional Korean garments the Royal Family wears though. Oh, and I really could care less about that Prime Minister character, straight up annoying. That character could've been removed in my opinion.

Leia Mais

Had great potential that wasn't met

When I first started watching The King: Eternal Monach I was very excited. There was an interesting plot revolving around 2 parallel universes; one pretty much like modern Korea and the other one based in modern Korea if they had kept their kingdom. The cinematography was top notch and there was also the very handsome Lee Minho and his handsome white horse. I thought it was going to be a ripper of a drama but a convoluted storyline really ruined The King: Eternal Monach.

Things i didn't like was that the once awsome kick ass cop FL ended up being a damsel in distress, the product placement was too much (in fact that's what this movie is best known for) and the series went longer than it should have. My Dad who never watched Kdramas started watching the King Eternal Monach because he really liked the sound of the storyline and the parallel universes but he gave up after 4 episodes.

I remember I liked the soundtrack.

Leia Mais

A dish best served... twice?

I first watched this drama last year as it aired, and even though some elements were a bit hard to follow at times, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I watched it with my sisters and we looked forward to it every day.

Now, I'm currently watching it over again with my mom, and let me tell you... it's almost a completely different experience.
In a good way. When you know what's going to happen already, you can concentrate on the smaller details you didn't catch the first time that'll make you go "OHHH NOW I UNDERSTAND".
It makes you realize just how much hard work and attention to detail was no doubt put into this drama. Ad it'll be just as, if not more entertaining then the first time you watched it.
So trust me, if you've only seen this drama once, watch it again. This rewatch is a pleasant surprise.

Leia Mais

I'll be honest here, the reviews this drama got put me off of it for a long time. It's my belief that The King: Eternal Monarch came out around the same time as The World of the Married and while The World of the Married was getting great ratings and reviews, The King: Eternal Monarch wasn't so I watched The World of the Married instead. Now, I know its all a matter of opinion but I found TWOTM to be absolutely atrocious and when I watched TKEM I found myself wondering why it got such bad reviews. I mean, sure, the effects are a bit substandard and the acting can be slightly stiff at times but I generally thought it had a good plot, satisfactory acting and compared to TWOTM was way better in terms of ending and sticking to one storyline. I understand that not everyone is going to like it but I do think people were bandwagonning and were just being unnecessarily harsh on the drama. At least its not the Cats movie.

Leia Mais

I enjoyed the unique storyline.

I’m usually not a huge fan of fictional things or like time traveling because those things are impossible and unrealistic.

But this one was was crafted in a very odd but genius way that it kind of caught me off guard.

If any fictional script out there can be crafted in such a creative + genius way, you might have my attention here.

I honestly was watching it with very low expectations but it kinda actually blew me away.

I noticed the low ratings and that it wasn’t really a featured drama on Netflix but my lover wanted to see it and we both ended up enjoying it.

Originally not a fan of Lee Min Ho but he was definitely charming. I am not a fan at all on this lead actress, but she was pretty manageable in this drama.

I’m really selfish with my time, so I wouldn’t allow myself to rewatch the many dramas I come across in this lifetime unless it is too good…

Anyway, I’d recommend this to people who enjoy mysteries, time traveling and theories.

Leia Mais

Untapped KGenre

This show certainly had my curiosity from the day of its infancy. Mainly because I was excited about the power duo Kim Eun-sook and Kim Go Eun (Goblin) possibly repeating history with their charm. It wasnt a let down. MinHo did a fair job for what the role demanded im sure but it wasnt the first time him being a rich guy so that felt a tiny bit flat. Kim Go Eun was the saving grace for me in the show. I loved the concept, new and refreshing if I must say. I was getting bored of rich poor CEOs and damsel in distress scenarios that KDrama has way too often.
What I failed to understand is how was this show not a great success in Korea when they claim to love Inception movie and all science fiction action genre but this, this was hard to fathom?

Leia Mais

This drama needs to be rewritten again
Ep 01,13,14,15 were real mess

The events were disarranged
I got confused many times
Lots and lots of names in side stories
Which made me forgot who is who
The director didn't give the watcher any hints when he jumps from universe to another and from time to time which exhausted me a lot
And that shouldn't happen in a drama I should enjoy

Time traveling was a chaos
Many flaws and illogical events
And the last episode they focused more on the main leads traveling across the parallel universes forgetting all the side stories
They didn't give the side stories a proper space in the last episode


Although both main leads were brilliant in their acting but I didn't feel chemistry at all between them
They just didn't fit together
Although the plot was ok and the story was solid away from time traveling mess and the romance was good but I didn't feel it at all

Something was missing which avoids me enjoying this drama
But I really enjoyed the ost and the background music so much
Which is rare when I feel the music fits the drama well

I laughed a lot when shin jae told Tae eul
That every time gangsters thought hang Michael one of them and when they try to escape they took him with them LOOOOOOL

The only character I disliked a lot was the prime minister

In my opinion
I really enjoyed romance and friendships in this drama
But at the same time didn't recommend it

Leia Mais

Great fantasy romance drama and amazing chemistry

I really love this drama. This is a true fantasy drama. I understand the scenes do skip and go back in forth but it is still tell a good story. Yes, if you are not into this kind of fantasy series, you are not going to enjoy it and in fact find it more annoying and boring.
The chemistry between Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun are undeniable sizzling and they are making me hope for season 2. What’s I really like about this series is the main female lead, she is bold, confidence, sassy and strong character. One thing I dislike about her when she tells Lee Gon, let’s live for today. She knows what she want and she goes after it. She is the first one to tell the male lead she loves him. She initials a lot of things that Lee Gon seem to fail to do. I think that the reason why in the end, she was rewarded.
I really hope for second seasons because I want to see more story of Koo Seo Gyeong and Kang Hyeon-min, I know she is a detective in the Kingdom of Corea just like him. Also how they are going to work out so Lee Gon and Tae Eul will have the heir. Since Lady Noh even said the ancestral shrine is almost complete.

Leia Mais

Magical

I first watched this drama back in 2022, and really liked it. Though I found the plot a little confusing at first, I absolutely loved the male lead and the romance between him and Tae Eul. Personally, I love Tae Eul as a female lead and I would let her kick me if she really needed to. Maybeee her character seemed a little fiercer in the initial episodes, but she didn't turn into a complete damsel at all. I really loved the bickering and banter between her and Lee Gon, who is super funny himself. I loved Lee Min Ho's delivery of his lines in the show. Sometimes, it could be a little cheesy, but overall, I have rewatched this show twice, and loved it again and again. Both times, I only watched the romance between the leads to be honest, but it really hits😭💞 Even if the love story starts rather abruptly, especially from the female lead's side, I still love it so much. I mean, Lee Gon literally went through every universe to find Tae Eul... that's commitment!

Leia Mais

Disappointed does not begin to cover it

A major disappointment, especially because I have loved most of the writer’s other works. Story was rushed and nonsensical in parts; the chemistry between the two main leads was lackluster and their rushed love-story was off putting. Secondary characters (Jo Young/Eun Seom, Sin Jae, the PM) that were more interesting became wall decorations and their stories and characters were completely underdeveloped. The villain was entirely 1-dimensional even though he had the potential to be so much more interesting. And let me not get started on the stupidity that was the time-travel aspect. What even were the rules for that? This show was a major let down.

Leia Mais