O Rei: Monarca Eterno (2020)

Refreshing!

Before this series even aired it had received lot of criticism plus the bad reviews kind of steered me away From this drama but I was just curious! This drama is not everyone cup of tea It was slow paced at first but I found it picked up after a few episodes I quite enjoyed it cause it made me think of all the possible theories! It was refreshing to see a mature straightforward relationship between the two leads people are complaining that their love story moved to fast but It will all make sense later in the drama I found it beautiful! There was a lot of PPL in this drama but it didn’t really bother me I thought some were funny! LMH is just mediocre his acting I think has improved a little it’s more of a matured role for him compared to heirs which I couldn’t finish. KGE has always impressed me she so expressive in her eyes! I think WDH outshined the ML in my opinion! cinematography was beautiful and ost was so good!! I’m glad I didn’t skipped this one!

Leia Mais

Drama of the year? Are you kidding me?

I spent at least 2 days to finish just the first ep. The drama is boring in every sense of the word.
This drama had all the potencial to be good. Before it come out i was very excited about it, the trailer was good, the cast is perfect, the story is interesting, but the drama? Well i don't think so.
Everything happened so, so fast and it destroyed the drama.
The lead couple just do not match, they have 0 chemistry.
Everything is so confusing. There are people who didn't understand the story of this drama until today.
Do you know what is it good in the drama? Just the visual fx.
To finish, this drama is so close to be similar to Goblin. Even a song of the ost is similar. I know that this two dramas have the same screenwriter, but, are you kidding me?? Do you wanna have success again copying a old drama from you that is famous???

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Very disappointing, I had really high hopes for this show.
The production was great and all when it came to the setting, animation, director, and acting cast, but sadly this all couldn't carry the overall show when it didn't even have a half decent delivery. The product placements were BEYOND disturbing and cringe inducing, and I didn't even complete the show to see the rest of what I'm sure was going to be even more of a cringe-fest . The chemistry between the male and female lead was simply bad; the sole reason he was even interested in her was because of some admiration due to him thinking she "saved him" and his vague knowledge that she was female, THAT'S IT. It honestly felt like it was targeted at 12 year olds on freaking wattpad! She was constantly treating him like sh*t (literally, she called him dog sh*t basically) and he would just take it, she was supposedly the female lead who was immune(?) to his charms I guess? And she was never grateful to him or even nice when rejecting him, it was truly infuriating and painful to watch someone in such an obviously toxic relationship from the get-go and obviously it was glossed over because it's a girl, the music playing would either be romantic or playful, and that he was supposedly "letting her do it" or "happy with whatever". He was obviously starstruck and blinded by the illusion he made of her in his head along the years, and couldn't see her toxic behavior, it honestly reminded me of 'Boys Over Flowers' how Junpyo would just let Jandi do hurtful things to him. Let me guess what happens next, he has to leave her for her own good, says a bunch of hurtful sh*t and pushes her away, then she realizes her feelings for him because apparently girls need to be hurt to feel and realize love or something. I'm not gonna lie, the side characters were the best thing about the show (at least up to where I watched the show), and I couldn't wait for the main couple's scenes to be over as quick as humanly possible. I really wanted at least some of the feels the main couple delivered in some of his other really great dramas that I loved him in like Legend of The Blue Sea, The Heirs, and Personal taste. At the very least I want to see a healthy, or trying to be healthy couple who genuinely care for each other's happiness, is asking for a healthy relationship with compatible personalities that hard to deliver?
The acting of the other characters was the best thing about the show, especially the evil uncle, he really knew how to set the mood for the scenes he was in.
At the end of the day, after this show I wouldn't blindly expect too much of a show just because it a huge production, good casting, and a famous director.

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El final me mató, soy super feliz

Comenzare por explica esta relación amor odio que he tenido con la serie.
Generalmente solo veo series que ya se completó la temporada, pero una amiga me insistió que la viera sin saber que todavía no había terminado. La comencé a ver al principio sin tomarle mucha atención, y poco a poco quede pegada.

Actuación
Yo no conocía a Lee Min Ho antes de ver esta serie, entonces, comience a buscar información y veo que es super famoso y muy querido. Ahí comenzaron mis mil dudas, como puede ser tan famoso si no es tan buen actor? Decidí ver todas las series que ha hecho, mientras esperaba mas capítulos de esta. Fue frustrante dame cuenta que todos los papeles que he visto son los mismo, chico con plata que se enamora de una chica de otra clase o inalcanzable. Reconozco que ha mejorado con el tiempo, aunque no mucho. Hice toda mi resistencia para no seguirlo, igual caí rendida ante su encanto. Así que ahora asumo que tiene su encanto, y una razón por la cual crean estos roles para él. Este rey le queda perfecto.
Así como la actuación de MinHo decayó ante mi mirada, la de Woo Do Hyan, fue subiendo y emocionándome cada vez más. Me dí cuenta que este chico es un camaleón, al enterarme que es el protagonista de The Country. Fan total de este chico, destaca totalmente.
El otro actor que le comencé a creer todo sus sufrimiento es Kim Kyung Nam, me parece un chico muy tierno a pesar de su papel tan duro.
Kim Go Eun, No la conocía. De verdad le creo su papel, entiendo perfectamente alguien que puede ser muy dura y que después que asume sus sentimientos, puede ser super emocional e intensa en lo que siente, me sentí muy identificada, sufrí con ella.
Hay muchos personajes geniales, hay varios que me encantaron, otros que me confundieron, igual, los disfruto todos.

Historia
Reconozco que me encanta la historia, soy super fan, soñaba con ver el final, y no me decepcionó, sigo soñando con un príncipe como él que quiera pasar el resto de la vida de aventura en aventura.
Que importante para mí es que el final me guste, me deja buen sabor de boca. Es como comer rico y no te guste el postre, hecha a perder toda la comida. Ya me ha pasado esto con otras series. Así que aqui estoy feliz de haber visto esta serie, y haciendo un total caso omiso a todos los que no les gusto. Criticando este cuento de hadas para adulto que me mantuvo feliz y emocionada mientras lo ví. Claro que tiene errores, pero son mínimos para mi, comparados con la historia total. La actitud con la cual uno ve las cosas, hace que uno lo disfrute o no. Demasiados dramas en la vida, para no disfrutar una serie, por detalles, jajaja.

La producción:
Es espectacular, la disfrute mucho, incluida la música.

Conclusión:
Si sabes disfrutar una historia de fantasía, con principe, princesa, villano y viajes en el tiempo, les aseguro que podrán disfrutar esta historia, Sobre todo porque cuando una historia termina de este modo, me siento feliz y emocionada, y con unas ganas de soñar, volar, viajar, y cuando eso pasa, me hace tener ánimos y muchas ganas de cumplir mis sueños. Por eso la recomiendo, en especial en estos tiempos.

Leia Mais

not perfect, but good

at first, i was intrigued by this drama because of it's similarities to Goblin as well as eventually being pulled in because of it's strong casting. although i have to admit that the drama isn't perfect, it's still a good watch and i would strongly recommend it - the plot combines fantasy, romance, comedy, whilst not focusing too much on the political side of it which may bore some viewers.

story;
the plot of the drama isn't original, but it's a genre that keeps giving and giving and directors manage to put their own unique twists into them. in this instance, it's a parallel world comparing a modernised korea with a cultural monarchic korea being run by heart-throb Lee Min Ho ;) on the one hand, the plot is quite refreshing as it combines so many different elements of a typical kdrama and combines them into one: detective, historical, romance, fantasy etc... however something that puts me off is the initial weak chemistry between the two leads. it's presented as a one-sided love but quickly rushes into a romantic relationship with not much development other than a kiss pretty much.

acting/cast;
as said before, i was pulled in because of it's strong cast. this drama has stirred up a storm because of it's casting of legends like Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun. they both play pretty badass characters however they show their cheesy cute sides whenever it comes to developing their relationship with one another.
Lee Min Ho plays the role of a young attractive king very well, seeing as that's pretty much what he already is in real life anyway.
meanwhile Kim Go Eun plays a badass lieutenant in the police force who beats and chases down criminals. i'm somewhat in love with her character seeing as she's not generic in the way that she is vulnerable and allows her male counterpart to do all the work. she's sarcastic, funny, and charming in all the right places and i would definitely rewatch this show if it's just for her.

all in all i'd definitely suggest that you give this drama a go! it's refreshing with such a good cast that you don't want to miss out on :D

Leia Mais

I should have been more wary of this, considering that the screenwriter is Kim Eun Sook. She has done other projects such as Goblin, Mr. Sunshine, Descendants of the Sun, The Heirs and Secret Garden. I actively dislike three of those, haven't finished Mr. Sunshine but have no real opinion on it, and enjoy the ridiculousness of Descendents of the Sun, even if I think it's objectively bad. The link between them all is that there is a dramatic and intense central love story that usually has significance to the wider world and is somehow cosmically important. The scope is usually very grandiose. The actual characters are usually not very good, the plot is jumbled and inefficient, and the romance often feels contrived. I know it's not something that is determined by a screenwriter necessarily, but I rarely find the chemistry between the leads compelling. Some of that is the characterization.

The biggest issue for me is Lee Min Ho. I am not a big fan of his, I find his acting to be wooden, dull, and lacking in chemistry with his co-stars across the board. In fact, I don't know a single one of his projects that I enjoy. His comedy never works for me and when he is being an imperious king he is just so unlikeable. Not to mention that he doesn't pair well with Kim Go Eun, who (although not consistent) is a good actress. Him being the male lead and also the King, having him be unlikeable just sank the whole thing for me.

I don't remember a great deal about the plot, which I think is telling of the weakness of the whole thing. I know there's some crossing of worlds, and backstabbing plotting, and doppelgängers, but the whole thing just didn't really stick. I often feel this way with these dramas (Goblin was terrible for this) -- there is no good antagonist. Everything is BIG and WORLD-ENDING but the stakes just aren't there.

And god, how did this drama make swords not cool? All of his kingly stuff just pissed me off. The horse was completely ridiculous and the fact that they were actually fighting with swords was so stupid looking. I don't understand why they went with that western style of sword either, instead of just a modernization of a traditional Korean style? I may be way off in that criticism but I just thought it was weird. In gangster movies where the yakuza fights with swords it looks so cool, and here it really reminded me of those hallmark Christmas prince movies. Sad.

My two pieces of praise are for Kim Go Eun, who had some truly excellent scenes. She is one of the great Korean drama criers. Absolutely fantastic performance when she finally sees Lee Min Ho after being on the run, and she's covered in blood and hysterical. I love to see her full breakdown performances. She was also good in other aspects, overall I think she did her best with what she was given. Woo Do Hwan was also excellent. Great in the serious and comedic roles, and very hot. He should have been King.

Overall? A mess. But everyone will watch the next one like it that comes out, because we all keep hoping they'll live up to their promise.

Leia Mais

Al principio te engancha pero luego te cuesta seguir

Antes de empezar quiero decir que aún me quedan cuatro capitulos para acabar el drama. Dicho esto, comencemos:

El argumento es bastante convincente, teniendo en cuenta ese punto de ciencia ficción/fantasia que tiene el drama. La producción de las escenas, a mi parecer, excelente. Aun así le pasa lo mismo que a otros dramas, que al principio te logra enganchar pero luego te cuesta seguir el drama. Además, entiendo que tengan que poner capítulos de relleno en los que no avanza la trama principal , sino los dramas durarían 5 o 10 capítulos, pero que sea tan aburrido no hace ningún bien.

El mejor personaje sin duda es Jo Eun Sup/Jo Yung (siento si el nombre completo de Jo Eun no está bien escrito, en cada página web lo encuentro de una manera distinta), sin duda. De hecho hay momentos en los que me pongo a ver un nuevo capítulo solo por verlo a él. El romance de los protagonistas, en mi opinión, es bastante forzado. Y en mi opinion también, pienso que el personaje de Lee Gon está sobreactuado.

Leia Mais

So here is the drama i've been waiting for the most for a long time now. So far the story did not progress anywhere, we pretty much only had world-building (and some banter) in the first two episodes that I've seen. I feel that there is no hook for me, other than the writer's name. I remember, when I watched the first episode of Goblin & I was already hooked by the birthday cake scene. Very pretty people are not enough by themselves to entertain me..
I'm pretty neutral about Minho, but I don't feel that he was ever a good actor & I really hope that this drama has more substance than his face, his acting so far has not been very convincing. I like Go Eun quite a bit, but I'm not yet sure about her character in this one.

Anyhow I'm hoping that things will go up from here, a 9/10 final review is still on the table. It's not going to be another Abyss, right!?

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edit: After seeing episode 3-4 I'm really hopeful. The story is finally on track & I'm kind of hooked, I'm genuinely looking forward to episode 5. MinHo's acting seems to have improved, perhaps he got more into the character as the filming has progressed. The world building stage seems to be over and I loved the teaser & how episode 4 ended.

edit2: I enjoyed episodes 5-6. I guess the only thing that's really lacking is humor, there is not a whole lot of it, but nonetheless I'm still excited about next week.
Here is me being nitpicy >>>
The writer is not the best at writing realistic warfare scenarios as we have seen in DoTS, we had some of that in ep6, probably it was an effort to jab at Japan due to their ongoing trade dispute. It's not great when real world politics have an effect on the entertainment industry like this, but I've seen much worse in Chinese works, hopefully there will be no more of this in future episodes. The second Jung Tae Eul detective Kang Shin Jae childhood origin story was completely unnecessary, feels almost like a byproduct of live filming/live writing. The drama had to be preproduced due to all the visual effects, but it's possible that the script was only written week by week as the filming went along, I hope that I'm wrong, because weekly writing almost never leads to a coherent script and that is pretty important for a high concept series to work.
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Final edit: "next week" came a little late, I had the time to binge the last 10 episodes over the course of a week. I'm disappointed overall. The romance got serious really abruptly, but Minho's acting was probably the worst it has ever been. Kim GoEun makes all these really lively animated faces & cries a lot, but Minho has no emotional range what so ever, their most epic scenes are completely butchered by Minho. I think it's safe to say that his bad acting killed the drama for me. The story goes real slow in between e6 & e12 and that would have been fine, if we had some cool romance, but Minho sort of ruined that, what else remains from the drama doesn't amount to very much.
I guess Kim Eunsook kind of borked the script, but objectively the script wouldn't even be that bad. With a better director & without Minho we could have reached the level of W, well too bad..
I heard folks discussing that the OST was really good, very similar to Goblin. Well, I'm not saying it's bad or anything, in fact is perhaps slightly above average, but to me this comparison doesn't make any sense. I feel that the 15th best track on the Goblin OST double cd is more valuable than all the soundtrack that TKEM has. It's pointless comparing them.

I just finished watching the last episode, which was probably the best episode of the drama and because of that I decided to give a final score of 6/10, but it's probably too high..

I almost forgot, good God the ad placements were terrifyingly bad. At times it felt like the entire drama was just an advertisement. There were some product placement scenes that straight up made no sense. I mean FL drinking something & then praising it is something that could actually happen, but Nari's supercars..

Leia Mais

Set in 2 parallel worlds, one in the Kingdom of Korea and the other the Republic of Korea. Lee Gon, the present Emperor of the Kingdom of Korea sets foot on the alternative universe of the Republic of Korea. He comes across a familiar face, Detective Jung Tae-Eul, whom he recognizes years ago, during his father’s assassination. Lee Gon assumes that this woman saved him from the wrath his uncle Lee Lim, who assassinated Lee Gon’s father. Overwhelmed with curiosity, Lee Gon tries to discover the complexity of the parallel universe, by going back and forth between the two-parallel universe.

The writer, Ms. Kim Eun-sook never disappoints. Her works contains a perplexing, yet imaginative series of dramas which makes it more appealing to her viewers. Similarly, The King: Eternal Monarch (TKEM) was one of the series that keeps you guessing. In the beginning of the series, it seemed ambiguous and overwhelming, with all the plot holes and the use of flash backs. Nevertheless, episode by episode, the series was slowly unraveling. Every problem I had with the show was answered, and the ending was well-written.

I grew fond with the series’ characters, especially with Captain Jo Young and Jo Eun-Seob’s characters. Woo Do-hwan has portrayed both the characters with the charisma and humor, I think many will also approve of this. Unquestionably, Woo Do-hwan has a remarkable acting skill. Moreover, I also liked the character of Prime Minister Goo. She presents someone who’s underprivileged. But because of hard work and ambition, she became successful. However, because of her ambitions, she became too greedy.

The problem that I have with this show is that it lacks accuracy in telling the stories of the different characters. For example, Captain Jo Young, as a child, was a bubbly and a loquacious friend to Lee Gon. He also explained as a child, that his father was close to Lee Gon’s father. I wondered if maybe there was more to this relationship, between Lee Gon’s father and Captain Young. More so, I even pondered the character development of Captain Young as a child and as an adult.

Another problem that I faced was, there was a lack of connection between the relationship of Jung Tae-eul and Lee Gon. Their relationship should have been more solidified. There should have been more of a connection, and how their feeling progressed over time.

Leia Mais

I have read somewhere that fantasy is the ultimate genre to explore all those feelings and secrets of human heart and this show with Kim Eun Sook writing proved it. It was show about friendship, devotion, but mostly of love.
For a long time I have not enjoyed watching a show like this one and it will always hold a special place in my heart, thanks to a beautifully written love story between the main leads.
The main story is very interesting, with the theme of parallel worlds, devious villains, but what I loved the most is romance.
It has been a long time I have watched a romance K-Drama like this one, where the main theme is this epic, fantasy love story and what is the most important, the writing was not shy because of it, in contrary, I had a feeling I was basking in that glorious feeling of an epic love tale. The main characters were not fazed how they felt about each other, they were lucky, they met and fell in love and it felt like a touch of destiny and they were grateful for that. There were no love triangles, no crazy in laws, no annoying unbaised misunderstandings, just their unconditional love and it was so beautiful, that truthful simplicity of their feelings and their unflinching will to fight for their love.
The main actors Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun had an amazing chemistry and they portrayed their characters perfectly, their scenes were heart swooning and so lovely. I laughed and cried with them, which is always a good sign, that a show touched my heart. After this show I became a devoted Min Lee Ho fan. :)

The other characters with their stories, enchanting scenography and captivating OST were perfectly included in the main story, which resulted in one fulfilling K-drama viewing experience. :)

Leia Mais

This is my first review in MDL (mostly because I agreed with more or less all the top reviews written by other people on the other dramas I've watched). I always check the reviews before starting a series, and was sad to see one of my favorite current dramas with low ratings on the reviews posted. Hopefully I can give you another perspective on this drama :)

I have never been a HUGE huge fan of either main casts but I do love them. So when news about this drama airing first came out, I wasn't as hype as my other friends were.

People complimented the first episode endlessly and I decided to wait for the drama to be completed to watch it (because I have no patience and I usually watch everything in one go). But after some time, people began leaving negative feedback on the drama.

Here is my opinion:
- the plot is kind of amazing? it's probably not original, but it has the perfect amount of cliche-ness that a drama would need to have. There are several parts that made me think "oh, so she's this. wait. no. wait. yes. oh, she isn't. wait, she is." in the span of 5 minutes. There may be some parts that can come out as confusing, but this gets resolved as they explain it in the next episodes.

- the cast is kind of VERY much amazing. Everyone did an outstanding job, but Woo Do Hwan (with his two characters) won me over the moment I watched the episode.

- the cinematography?? beautiful.

- the HUMOR is 10/10.

- I have never been satisfied with drama endings, but this was okay. I originally thought that I wouldn't like the ending that they had chosen, but they tied up the loose ends pretty well. I ended up liking the ending lol.

- one of the only downside of this drama is the chemistry between the main leads. After watching the behind-the-scenes, I was kind of disappointed that their off screen chemistry wasn't transferred on screen :/ I felt that the relationship between the characters progressed too quickly as well.

Overall, I would suggest anyone to give this drama a try. I absolutely love this drama, and still can't move on from it even though it has been a couple of weeks since I completed it.

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