O Rei: Monarca Eterno (2020)

once upon a time there was a king...

first of all people...i had such a high expectation for this one...like i went to search for the most high quality version of this drama...such a disappointing drama.

story: the horrible plot of this story contains useless messy storylines. a king whose family was killed by the hand of his own uncle for the sake of getting the throne. a girl out of nowhere comes and saves him with his team and drops her id card. The Ridiculous part is that he falls in love with her just because she saved his life, he doesn't know her or doesn't have any clue about how she is or who she is, the first time he sees her he is like:"i love you" WHY? WHY DUDE? so many plot holes everywhere. the villain is ruthless for no reason..he does a bunch of evil things for absolutely no reason...if i wanna point out all of them i should write an essay.

acting/cast: lee min ho is a good enough actor, he fills what he lacks with his handsome face(i like him regardless) but go eun is not a good match for him imo. visually and chemistry speaking, i didn't like them as a couple one bit. she had better chemistry with the second male lead here imo. the only outstanding actor here was woo do hwan...he pulled off his character in a VERY EXCELLENT way. i liked the second leads as well.

music: amazing music and OSTs.

rewatch value: if you like lee min ho and woo do hwan then go for a rewatch whenever.

overall:unfortunately this drama had zero interesting plot line and i only kept watching for woo do hwan and lee min ho. gave it 3/10 for those two ^^

Leia Mais

I just finished episode 4 and I’m so excited. Gahhh I can’t wait for next Friday. I don’t understand why people are complaining and comparing it to CLOY and goblin. I found both shows slow in a lot of places but you don’t see me comparing them. I love the build up on this show and I understand that the writers had to make this as believable as possible for a show about parallel universes. I also find Jung Ta-eul’s reaction very good for someone who doesn’t believe in science and has a man claiming to be king is an imaginary country. I would definitely not expect her to go jumping into his arms. I love LMH’s majesty. He is very believable as a king. So regal. I am very intrigued by all the politics and diabolical plots going on on the side. I really can’t wait to see how it all unfolds. All in all everything about this show intrigued me.

Leia Mais

The show lives up to its expectation and hype which it was surrounded from beginning . Every single dialogue and cinematography is amazing, the colour coordination of every single scene is magical. Honestly speaking, I love the pair of Kim Go-eun and Lee Min-ho. They have a lot of chemistry, the way Min-ho looks at her every time she is around, they way he doesn’t want to let her go. From the start of the show, the simple hug had so much emotions attached to it.
Kim Go-eun’s reaction in the series is very realistic, you cannot expect her not to be taken aback when someone talks about being a king and a parallel universe. It is very normal reaction, she would doubt him. She is simply amazing! Minho is superb in every scene, obviously he is the absolute treat to the eyes, but also he amplifies the whole scene with his royalty and cute cheekiness. This character of his reminds me a lot of his character in Boys Over Flowers, both the characters are lovable in their own way. Woo Dohwan is just simply ADORABLE! his simple smile can say so much, or just his one tilt of his head can talk about how irritated he is with the king. There are many stories of each character woven under one umbrella but you need it, because each character has so much depth to them. They all are connected to one another, the story is building it’s momentum and I think it’s going to FANTASTIC! Already 6 episodes down and I have no complain, it superb! Once again, I believe they have lived to it’s expectations, and the show is regal and is the definition of elegance.

Leia Mais

Too much to tell

While watching this drama I felt that the love story isn't that important and that the drama strifes to tell a lot which isn't possible in the given amount of episodes. Like a proper love story for example or more background about some of the characters. Regarding the antagonist's goals I wondered why he invested so much time into useless stuff. First it felt like he wanted to become the king, which was impossible anyway - but why all the chaos just to get a flute? I guess that could've been solved sooner.

Further the storytelling tended to be confusing from time to time regarding all the time jumps. Not actual time jumps, but what happened in a previous episodes sometimes only continues at the end of the next episode, so I tended to wonder "what time is it now?". Time was a huge factor in the whole drama and I think it's one of the reasons why the love story seems to be "rushed". I guess the time that actually passed was different from what we watched, so certainly I tended to ask myself as well "Why do you love him now?" or "Why the heck are you crying if you'll just meet again?". Similar in regard of Mrs. Koo who for some unknown reason killed her doppelganger. Seriously. What for? Lots of decisions seems to be just ruthless without putting much thought into them.
Still I liked the structure, I liked the efforts to put some science into it, I liked the music (which isn't always the case, I dislike most korean drama "songs" since they all tend to sound the same) and some of the twists.

On the other hand they showed the darker side as well in my opinion. Just like when the fl is kidnapped and goes on some sort of killing spree or when Lee Gon just slaughters everyone and turns his continuous joke about beheading someone into reality. There were funny moments though and after Mad Dog it was nice to see Woo Do-Hwan again.

I certainly don't regret watching this, but I just felt there could've been more to tell, more reasons to develop (the antagonist kinda reminds me of the guy from "My Love from the stars" - he seemed to have no good reason for anything either, I prefer something more reasonable). I feel like I watched some fairytale now - an entertaining fairytale certainly.

Some mentioned the product placement and I noticed it as well. I mean, I'm used to all Koreans eating at Subway by now, driving Kia and all Chinese using Apple phones. It's just like that. Here it felt indeed a bit ridiculous to hear real advertisement phrases from the characters. So I agree, they overdid it.

Leia Mais

Too many Loopholes and questions, confusing

First, I'm referring to Manpasikjeok as Flute for easier typing.

This had the potential to be great but too many loopholes, questions. Episodes 1 to 12 were good even with the unnecessary Jumps from one scene to another. Episodes were understandable even with Sudden switches from Corea to Korea. but from episodes 13 onwards it started to get really confusing especially if you watched 10 episodes in one sitting. It gave me headache to process everything. Too many JUMPS from one scene to another. Maybe bad editing/sequecing. Any websites which can help me understand? Like after the first time LG travelled back to 1994, how was he able to travel from that 1994 to different timelines and get back to the present day with only half of the flute in hand? Plus wearing the same clothes during the whole time. What was the disappearing plant meant when Jung Tae Eul woke up from a nap on her desk? In what time line was it when JTE was interrogating Luna was it before LEe Gon cameback or after? And what's the point of that? Filler? Also I thought they can only travel through different timelines if they have both parts of the flute? LG was only holding half of the flute when he travelled back to 1994 for the second time, he was with Young, since the other half was with Yee Rim. YEE RIM used it to enterthe gate with JTE. Sooo confusing.

What happened to the present lee gon? Like how was he able to travel back to his PRESENT timeline? Did he "steal" the whole/unbroken flute from the 1994 timeline in which he killed the 1994 Yee Rim? If he stole it and brought it to his present timeline, does that mean the "new" 1994 timeline in which he saved didn't have its own flute? The Flute that Lee Gon brought from his own timeline already vanished.

Also when he travelled different present timelines/universes to look for the JTE version that he loved, was he using the Flute from the 1994 timeline? Did he travel through 14,000,605 timelines? Difference between 2020 and 2021 aren't that long, I don't think that's long enough for his search for the correct timeline/universe to Find the right JTE.

Timelines/parallel worlds are complicated.. LEE GON saved his and her timelines but it doesn't mean all other timelines are fixed or according to the fate that they think is right. towards the end they make it appear that "fixing" one timeline fixes all the the timelines/universes. They make it appear so from all the time travels they've been to at the end. Fixed means no BAD GUY Yee Rim.

Since I'm not blinded by my admiration of the Main Leads Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun, i think I can honestly say this was not the best. Good but not great IMO. Great acting but really messed up execution in some parts. Don't get me wrong, I really liked episodes 1 to 12 and the last 36mins of episode 16, they really just messed it up at some parts towards the end. I LOVED every moment/scenes that Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun were together. They were cute. The last 36mins made all better since it's a happy ending for both. They can make you forget all the confusion from episode 13 to 15 and first 44 mins of episode 16

Leia Mais

Consider me confused like a big question mark, and I'm not going to even act as if I understand what is happening esp. in the last 4 episodes where Kim Eun Sook inserted time travel. It's just sad when your last episode is full of OTP moments and you just want to ffwd through it. The King has the basic DNA of Goblin, so where did it deviate from that winning formula?

First, the source material parallel worlds is a fascinating topic, but needs good execution to make it not confusing. The production group should have made the differentiation of the two worlds more obvious.

Second, casting is definitely crucial in all projects, that's why stars are getting paid big bucks to bring the audience in. Sadly, Lee Min Ho looks more suited to action genres like City Hunter, which I enjoyed him in, than as the King, he has the regal presence but failed to bring more oomph to the role.

He's better on the 2nd half of the show, but he doesn't have romantic chemistry with Kim Go Eun at all, and kfans can be very forgiving for plot holes as long as the OTP is sizzling on screen.

Woo Do Hwan & Lee Min Ho pairing has potential, but there was a lack of back story for Yeong aside from being the Unbreakable Sword. But omg Woo Do Hwan. I stan! I probably need to watch all his dramas now. Him playing dual roles, Eun Sup trying to be stoic like Yeong and Yeong trying to be fun Eun Sup is comedy GOLD. He is wasted on all these serious roles. Can someone cast him in a romcom soon, with Kim Yong Ji pretty pls. Why isn't she in more projects?

The support cast is strong from Lee Lim to the Prime Minister, Kim Kyung Nam, esp. is a pleasant discovery from this show. Why did we get so little screen time with Lee Min Ho, Woo Do Hwan, and Kim Kyung Nam on screen, oh the lost potential.

Still, live watching and analyzing Kim Eun Sook dramas are always worldwide kfan events, I enjoyed the parallel worlds, and the concept of having a 'clone' in another world, and figuring the heck out who is who. Hopefully not being a breakout success won't affect the big budget investment on these types of fantasy genre dramas, as they always push the boundaries of what kdramas can be.

Leia Mais

Um...what?

What started out with a great story and premise falls amazingly flat. We are immediately introduced to what seems to be a wonderful plot of fantasy, realism, intrigue, and action, but somewhere after episode 2 this series decides to turn into the average soapy romance of long stares, slow motion wide angles, and a main lead who can't seem to be convinced that his character is real. In all honesty, I was utterly disappointed with this series because it could not deliver what it promised in the description. Is this a case of bad writing, poor casting, or something else? I'm not even sure.

But. What I do know is that the side characters carry this show.

Leia Mais

I really liked this concept of this show, but the ending wasn't very satisfying. In the first half of the show, we were introduced to all the characters and given many questions that were left unsolved. This show had so many characters, so I was able to excuse the first 8 episodes for being slow as I expected the pace to start building up after we learned more about the world. I didn't mind all the questions, motives, or the other confusing things that couldn't be explained yet, but my issue was that the explanations would be pretty lackluster. The prime minister's motive was kinda lackluster for me; She climbed all the way up somehow and then wants to be a queen. That's a kinda dumb motive. Then there's Lee Lim who wants to be the king. That motive for me was ok, but then he goes back in time and kills himself? Adding on to that, how did he get all the way back to the present so quickly after he died, but Lee Gon had to take so long? Also don't get how whenever some went through the portal who didn't have the flute could move, because you could only move if you possessed it. Also don't get how time resumes whenever it's convenient later on when time was supposed to stop for long periods of time. Also don't get how some people retained memories and some didn't. I never understood how Tae Eul ended up falling for Lee Gon since that was never explained.

BTW, what did Luna even do with the key card?

pointless reveals/scenes/underutilized stories
the captain detective's meetings, going to visit the kid
lady noh's past
koo's mission/story
lee lim using lee hoon's mom to cause chaos but also wanting to be the king???
Jo yeong and jo seob and their promise
corea vs japan
pregnant woman

the ending was bittersweet for me. in the end, everyone had a happy ending but i wish they had all kept their memories. It doesn't make sense that only 3 of them got yo-yo boy's mercy but not everyone else involved.

Leia Mais

This drama definitely had its problems but I think many of the reviews are unnecessarily harsh. The show does start off slow with a lot of build up of the characters as "perfect". I think a lot of these earlier episodes would have been better used setting up the plot and developing other characters but thats off topic as that is not what happens. Instead the characters are mainly kept 1 dimensional and there are a lot of little hints and sub plots that the writer tried to embed into the story (the writer on this obviously thought they were being more clever than they really were).

There is a lot of hate online that the leads had no romance and that their acting was bad. Personally I like LMH and think he did a good job with this drama and pulling off the arrogant King. I think their were a lot of unnecessary side characters who them we really dont get to learn about because the writer waste all of our time in the first 10 episodes. On top of that the timeline is confusing (episode 12 I literally was like "WTF that doesnt make sense").

This drama is not all bad and does have a cool and interesting premise, including sci-fi, multi dimensional, time travel, and I personally love the "kingdom of corea."

It just fails to deliver on all that it promises.
I think it might be worth rewatching just to see if it make more sense the 2nd time around (I kinda doubt that it does).
I also think that if you are in the early episodes and having issues I suggest just jumping to episode 12+ as most of the story seems to really take place in episodes 12-16.

I still give it a 7 overall because I actually enjoyed the main characters and the concept of the drama even if I dont think it was executed well.

Leia Mais

This drama is watchable, but nothing special

I expected a complex storyline, and a happy ending, but I only got the later. The writing was rather lazy, and it tried to create a façade that it is a complex and twisted storyline, but it really isn't. I felt very few heightened trilling moments, or suspenseful and climactic points in the drama. The story aside, the rest was quite enjoyable. Kim Go Eun is rapidly becoming my favorite actress and her screen presence is just phenomenal. There is something simplistic yet sophisticated about her, and and it just makes me appreciate her even more. The rest of the cast was good as well, specially the 'unbreakable sword' guy. The drama does end happily and I didn't regret watching it. It had its moments, but I will not watch it again. Give it a go if you like fantasy-sci-fi dramas and like happy endings.

Leia Mais

Not Recommended For Watching

all I see from this drama are pornographic scenes, every episode must have scenes of hugging or kissing or touching. the author is crazy about touching and advertising scenes rather than clarifying the plot.

the friendly relationship between the king and his generals, which i thought would be very close, turned out to be mediocre, throughout his life the king only thought about the person who 'saved him'.

scenes of silliness and egoism continuously occur here. the author even made to forget the antagonist's powers, just to make them look like clowns. the scenario really sucks.

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