Best drama of the year :3
So, I saw that everyone was criticising this drama for a lot of stupid things. I finally watched the last episode and I wanted to write a review for this one. ꧁ The story : yeah I agree it was a really complicated story, but with a little more patience and with some more reading about it, maybe, it was became a really good one. It was a really complex, unique story unlike other hit dramas of 2020.꧂ ꧁ The cast : all of the cast were really good actors and the characters were as complex as the story. 10/10 for the cast .꧂ ꧁ The OST : one of the best ones of the dramas in 2020. Hands down to everyone who composed and sang it, they have my respect.꧂ ꧁The ending was really good and cleared all the confusing things that may have happened in the show. I'm really glad that this show had a happy ending. ꧂ °Now about the thing that I disliked ( I won't say something like " oh the product placement it's just too much " cause they're dumb). What I actually didn't like about it was maybe the complexity of the story at certain points. I admit that sometimes I was kinda confused about what was going on, but again this confusion was ended in the next episodes and the end. So, to wrap this up, I highly recommend watching it. ( ˘ ³˘)♥︎Esta resenha foi útil para você?
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So first off, this is not a drama for the faint hearted. This is a all in commitment. Initially I was hesitant on the first 3 episodes.. then it started to draw me in and as story unfolded I loved it. It so rare that you get a drama that sucks you in and you are waiting impatiently for the next one finding yourself day dreaming about what’s going to happen next, putting the puzzle pieces together :) it’s an all in fun ride. You really have to pay attention(especially the uncles evil schemes in the beginning) he is ssoooo evil and did it sooo good) and there’s other side stories.. (which do not take away from the main story but add to it.. ) it should have been 17 or 18 episodes but they wrapped it up nicely in 16. Certain people are fundamental to the story and when you get the flow you start to see how deep/good it really is.
I didn’t get the romance at first.. but then I realized; the King saw the FL as his champion at a very vulnerable sad time in his life and as “she” had saved him from death and killed some of the traitors. She was larger than life to him and I’m sure that looking at her picture everyday... after a while he probably felt like he “knew “ her.
So. when he sees her ; It’s like a long lost friend/savior who means so much to him. Also FL is kind of tough. She’s not a damsel in distress (which I love:) , So until she knows him and can trust that he is for real about his story and his feelings toward her. She’s not gonna give him an inch. Obviously she is somewhat interested in him because she spends time with him and listens to his story (at first she thinks he’s nuts and then she starts to research different things that make her question her reality) I loved that she did that and then you see the wheels in her mind turning and things making her REALLY question that lead her to answers .. soon they are thinking out loud together .. so one more thing about this relationship he’s a really smart wise compassionate capable strong good looking man who is not about power..but about justice.. what’s not to love in him:):):D Omo.. also loved loved his horse :) he was beautiful
Let’s face it, there’s a lot to consider and the writers tried to give you an authentic point of view from the characters personalities Sometimes when we watch dramas we take it for granted that everyone accepts the impossible slightly implausible crazy story that two worlds that are similar parallel and exist.
I liked that FL really did her due diligence and she has a smart mind so the gathers her info. When she accepts that he is authentic and honest with her and she realizes that he is what she has been looking for, she commits to the relationship. I liked the romance, it wasn’t a “needy” relationship it was a “i really like you wanna get to know you but I still have a job a family and a life.(aka I’m a King..hehe) .how do we manage that?” Kind of romance.
Then throw in a REALLY evil homicidal uncle who replaces people from each world ( people swapping killer,) close friends/protectors workers/palace people/ and you got a fun ...all out ....what’s gonna happen next story. Also humor was thrown in so it had some really funny moments :)
The FL as a co- and all her people were excellent and the King in his world with all his people were excellent.. to have friends and people like these in your life really made the story about them all:)
Like I said not for the faint of heart. But the story really comes together and you realize the main couple are in love and they’ve never been in love, /so they are finding out not only about each other but they and others are also threatened and have to save/protect/ figure out the next step in the tine line and solve the chaos in the past somehow.
I thought each actor was really good. I love the Main leads and have seen all their dramas. I must say they have matured and I loved them and totally got their relationship, because it’s not easy to date Fall in love, keep in touch and save two worlds. Once she committed she totally committed ..(it was sweet)
The other leads (FL best friend who is in love with her.. Kings right hand man , nice Uncle , Grandmother ) (I totally LOVE the grandmother.she is the icon for all grandmas in k dramas) I thought all were really good.
SPOILER ** The ending was perfect. It showed you how well the leads understood each other/worked well and independently and did what needed to be done ; how things changed and ended up...(a few of them I LOL’d how they changed)
Once the FL got the gist of how things were panning out she was way ahead of the game and started to work out how she needed to proceed (a woman with a tactical mind herself) and the ML respected her ..her job , independence and her intelligence. You just knew they were gonna enjoy life together:)
Soooo.. what I’m saying is the drama is done you can binge watch it and have fun.. if in the first 4-6 episodes you don’t connect... no harm done but I am so happy I watched it and will rewatch some of the episodes again
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You might have to watch a few episodes more than once to understand what the writers are trying to show us.
The main idea is pretty good and well thought even if sometimes the execution fails to make us understand what is going on.
However I enjoyed every minutes of it and was excited each week to discover a new episode.
The first 3 episodes have some boring moments but after that it’s hard not to get into this drama. despites a few plot holes (but which drama doesn’t have some???) this was very unpredictable and entertaining.
The music and the actors are pretty good. It was my second time seeing a drama with Woo Do Han after Mad Dog and I’m not disappointed.
I’m just sad to say goodbye and I can’t wait to watch another drama with these actors. I’m gonna miss this drama
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The story has a certain charisma of bringing sci-fi to a lighter romance novel-ish type of feels. Sure first few episodes will make your mind think like "WTF am I watching??" but as the episodes progress you get the satiafaction of finding out the reason behind everything that happend in the previous episode.
The director was so clever in putting lots of small hints and details that you will definitely see once you rewatch the episodes because they will make you rewatch to have that "oh did i miss that? let me see that again" moment.
You definitely need to level up your perspective in this series. It feels like Inception, Oldboy, and Fringe put into one pot, sprinkled with Korean Royalty and boiled in one sweet and spicy revenge water.
Overall, it was a good watch. Probably best not to binge watch at first then rewatch after you finished to check back on the cool details you might have missed.
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This show had so much potential, but the organization was terrible. The general story is amazing! However, the explanation was poorly done and everything was mixed up. That being said, this show still passes as one of my favourites. Please read this all before deciding if you should watch it :)Plot:
Like I mentioned above, the story was amazing, unpredictable, and requires a lot of thinking. I loved the story and everything about it was so well thought out. For that reason, the writer did a great job. However, the directors mixed it up way too much and that made it very confusing and difficult to understand. There were many unnecessary details to the show that I feel would've been better off eliminated. They tried to squeeze so much into a short plot and didn't give the reader the chance to understand a topic before moving on to the next. This sounds really confusing, so I'll give you a real life example. Let's say a really old person is asking you how to call someone on their phone. You write a list for them with the steps 1. turn on the phone, 2. Click on the phone app, ect. After you hand them the notes, the first thing they ask you is, "how do I turn it on?". To you this is common sense, but they don't know since they weren't exposed to it beforehand. This is kinda how this plot was. We were given a sequence of events, but with many of them, they almost assumed that we already knew of figured out the basics of when we really didn't. That being said, the most important parts of the story were understood and explained by the end, so even with the confusing parts, you still are able to understand the plot and story on a more general level and love it.
Characters:
Honestly, in my opinion, this is the part that kept me watching. I fell in love with the characters and their personalities. They chose the perfect actors for each character and the acting was on point. Even the cast for the villains was absolutely amazing and did an outstanding job performing their roles. Each character had something special about them and ughhh I just love and miss them all.
Camera/editing/visuals:
This was also very well done. The camera angles, the colours, costumes, setting, props, aesthetics, and editing were stunning! Visuals in general were just wow. It's difficult to find a drama that has such amazing visuals and this gets a 10/10 for that. This was also a major reason for me to not drop this drama.
Music:
It was absolutely perfect for the plot and I fell in love with the music. Overall, the music was amazing and well chosen for each scene. Loved it!
Rewatch value:
This is probably the highest rewatch value I've ever given. I'm the type that doesn't like rewatching anything since it feels like a waste of time. However, the confusing parts and very cute scenes are the reason why I will be rewatching this drama. I want to focus on the details this time and really think about everything and understand. There were also way too many cute scenes that I want to watch again.
Overall:
This drama is one of those that you either love or hate (or both like me). It kinda reminds me of The Heirs and how some loved it and others hated it. You really have to try this for yourself to know and don't trust all the reviews. It's also a drama that is really really confusing and you have to watch a few episodes to start to understand. The first episode was the most confusing, but it does get better. The ending was also very cute and I couldn't think of a better one for this plot, however, I wish they explained a couple things with a bit more detail. I feel that apart from the confusion, this story was amazing and the characters, music, and visuals balanced it out. I'd totally recommend this drama. You might not like it, but it deserves a chance.
Thanks for reading :)
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Another good piece from Author Kim!
Reviews gotten me skeptical but it surpasses my expectation.Author Kim is very well-known in writing different kinds of genre and this drama is like a combination of Goblin + Mr Sunshine where it has a little of the fantasy element with some foreign affairs politics. However, as this is the first drama over the past few years that wasn't produced Director Lee Eung Bok, the production wasn't that fantastic, but still okay.
For those who enjoyed fantasy, this will most likely be your cup of tea. However, do note that this is slightly more complicated than the other fantasy as it involves time travel, universe travel and space-time gap but I personally think that these have made the drama even more special! As someone who enjoy fairytale, I love how they created the monarch world and also where the king was riding on his white horse! Pure imagination!
A big applaud for the cast as well for portraying more than one role in the drama and slayed it! My favourite goes to Eun-seob and Jo Yeong!!!!!! He is so charming and cute at the same time in his totally different-character roles and really deserve much love omgggg!
Overall, I love it! Giving it a 9.0/10.0 as 1 mark goes to the excessive product placement that is out of nowhere. I don't really enjoy product placement in the drama, especially when they even designed their lines to promote the product, it gives me a C-drama vibes which I don't really fancy it. And this drama has really too much of it, it sort of ruin the whole atmosphere build up for this drama. Other than that, all good! :)
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beautiful drama
everything is well done in this drama, the acting, the plot, the music !2 Korea, one kingdom, one republic, and a way to go from one to another world.
The story is very well built, when you re-watch it you see how thorough it is.
The OST is one of the best i know for a series, always a pleasure to hear.
The casting is great, the 6 main roles are absolutely perfect. The chemistry between the FL and ML is good, but also the Bromance between Lee Min-Ho and Woo Do Hwan, and the "more than friendship" relationship between Kim Kyung Nam and the FL. The prime minister is very well played as well.
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Loved it!
This is one of the best shows I have seen this year. A very good sci-fi drama with wonderful acting by the cast. I do understand some character development has not been done in a proper manner but overall you will surely enjoy it.If we watch carefully there are small hints depicted by the director which took the story ahead beautifully. I loved the closed ending and not leaving it to the public.
This is definitely not for people who do not enjoy such genre or such concepts or want more chemistry to be shown.
Personally I loved it alot. And I do understand people have different tastes and choices. So that's alright.
Have a good watch.
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A complete basketcase, this drama tried to use formulaic writing and tried and tested cliches to manipulate the viewers into liking it but failed spectacularly.To be honest, in the beginning I didn't understand all the criticism. Sure, it was a superficial romance drama with more beauty than brains but so were many others and everybody liked them just fine.
The cast was doing a good job, there was funny banter, a potential mystery, bromance and I for one, even managed to feel chemistry between the leads. I liked it and wanted to know more.
That feeling lasted for all of about 5 episodes and then the show went to shit in the most extraordinary fashion.
First of all, you know how greedy the drama makers are for money to the point that the product placement in this show is blatant, ridiculously irrelevant and just shoved in your face time and time again. After a point, it feels like you're not watching ads in a drama, you're just watching one big ad with bits and pieces of the drama in between.
Then comes the lacklustre romance. Albeit slow and full of filler at first, you still hoped it would build to something beautiful but suddenly they rushed it to the point that before ever even letting you feel that they have feelings for each other, the couple already exchanges love confessions, plants a kiss or two on each other and acts like they have been in love for a century. And you're just awkwardly standing at the sidelines being like um guys, y'all just met a week ago...
I almost felt like I missed some episodes where they fell in love but apparently it wasn't me it was the writer who did that.
The character development is so bad and the roles are extremely poorly written that I am pretty sure the cast couldn't have saved them even if they tried their best.
Kim Go Eun is a charismatic actress and I like her a lot. And her character here is a badass, loud mouthed cop who needs no saving which is why it made me root for her at first. However, you can't help but see the way she changes from being extremely rude to the ML in one episode and then says I love you in the next. And ofcourse, conveniently it happens right after she sees all of his riches. I am not thinking gold digger, you are.
She also conveniently turns into a weepy damsel in distress whenever they need to hype the hero at her expense. Strong but weak enough for the hero to save her again and again.
Her doppelganger, which is a great opportunity for any actor to show versatility, is literally the same as her original character with bad hair and a bad attitude. No acting change there and they just popped a ridiculous wig on her head to convince us to believe she is a different person.
Now comes Lee Min Ho. As beautiful he is, this man with sparkling gorgeous mischevious eyes has been conning us into believing he is a good actor since many years. It's not that hard to figure out that he recycles his expressions in every drama but lets not go there. He plays his role convincingly enough to give you flutters in the stomach.
He is the perfect dashing super hero who can do no wrong here with excellent fighting skills, Jedi level intelligence and is basically Einstein with a pretty face and a horse.
That's fine we like our romance heroes to be all that but it's not fine when you also try to convince me that this flower boy can suddenly transform into this brilliant and ruthless king/ mafia boss nobody can mess with. I can't buy that because he simply lacks the intensity to be one and honestly we are shown nothing in his background or story to prove otherwise.
So everytime he tried to be a serious king, to me he just felt like a toddler wearing his daddy's oversized shoes and shaking his fist trying to assert authority. Did I find him cute? For sure. Did I take him seriously? Hell no.
Some people said that it's a very hard to understand show and that those who don't like it, actually just don't understand it. Let me pop that bubble right here. It's a very simplistic plot with confused and lazy writing trying to mask itself as complicated. This is a tactic used by the writer because naturally if you make people feel like they don't get what's going on, they're gonna think the show is smarter than them and end up being impressed.
Let me tell you, I understood everything that was going on and it ain't that deep. It's a very commercial show with one goal alone: making money. That's why without putting any thought or effort into plot and execution, they casted hype worthy actors, ripped off another OST, and produced a dumbed down version of Goblin. Unfortunately for them, no amount of Lee Min Ho's boyish smiles can fry our braincells enough for us to lose the ability to tell a good script from bad.
Yes, the cinematography and direction is beautiful but there's only so many pretty color pallets, shots and sceneries you can enjoy till you start to question the bad writing.
Despite all the flaws if you still want to check out this show and just want one reason to push you towards it, then that reason is Woo Do Hwan. Who tried to save the show with his excellent acting and scene stealer self by bringing forward two characters who despite looking the same are entirely different people.
He brought forth the bromance and laugh out loud moments that act as the show's only saving grace. Yeong/Eun Seup are the best characters in the drama and you can't help but fall in love.
But the writer, ever so stubborn on digging her own grave steals that little happiness from us by reducing his screentime as much as possible. Take that as you will.
The skinship in this show is actually pretty decent with some excellent kisses. However, the romance is so poorly paced (trying to be intense just by the FL's cringeworthy crying scenes that pop out of nowhere without any reason) that you never get the feels you otherwise would. Again, I blame the writing because the two main leads have excellent chemistry in real life behind the scenes that just doesn't translate on-screen.
The villain, like every other character is poorly developed, one dimensional and his scenes (the very few there are) are horribly yawn inducing. The second FL (Prime Minister) and the second ML (Shin Jae) were both flat characters left with unexplored potential and by the second half, for the life of me I couldn't begin to make myself care about their stories.
Yes, there are a few scenes that are designed to make people react and make your adrenalin rush but even those scenes are extremely cheesy and come in to being with the help of the most unrealistic and ridiculous plot devices, that you can't help but laugh at.
Ending words: Quite definitely, a lost cause, you should watch it only if you want to take it as a bad parody and laugh at it, instead of with it.
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I was reminded of Dr. Who when I watched this but the world created is nowhere as exquisite as in Dr. Who. The accepted lore surrounding time travel and space/time stories don't bother this story, it does its own thing. Sounds like you should not watch ---- but as much as all of this is true, I felt that this show delivered a romance that made it worth a few hours of my time.
Story:
I gave the story a 9 because of its bones. It is not fleshed out well, but there is enough for someone to pick up and let your imagination take you the rest of the way.
The high production value does enough to keep you in the world of the drama even when the story lines when off the rails sometimes.
There is a theme of love across almost impossible boundaries like that which can be found in Crash Landing On You.
I don't mind cheesy romances... I can discount the plot holes and live for the moments where the leading man is dressed in his military dress uniform and stand stately and claim his woman.
Acting/Cast:
Lets just say Woo Do Hwan 10/10 ….
I don't favour Lee Minho's acting but he suited this character and did a credible job of creating the mood of the romance. A cool, smitten, dominant male lead. It isn't a swoony romance and it is not about the female lead. Lee Minho carried the romance for me but it might be because I like a strong male lead. This role seems to be suited for his type of acting. The charisma of a King or a knight in shining armour on a white horse. There were enough times he got to say lines that cheesy romance novels stereo typically write for a King.
The rest of the cast, considering everyone had to play dual roles, I found extremely engaging. The storyline failed a couple of the characters in later episodes.
Music:
10/10 and really, all I need to say is that there is this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apNWEcuBboI
Rewatch:
I don’t think I would rewatch this without a lot of fast forwarding.
Overall:
You can break a piece of art down into the different lines and colours but until you stand back and look at it as a whole, you don’t really see any substance or merit. This show is like that to me. There is so much I can say that could have been done better. Yet, I feel I could replay some of the moments and get the “feels” all over again. Watching it left me feeling good. If that is all it provides in the world as it is today, then this drama was worth it.
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You just don't know what you know.
This larger than life, universe parallel thing does not fit well in normal brain at first. But I love Lee Min Ho, so I kept on moving.
I can say the show has been written brilliantly. Performance by everyone is out of the world. And the Ost is also brilliant. But I am still doubting if I managed to digest the overall plot or do I need to check it again!
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When I heard about the release of this drama, I immediately wrote it down on my calendar and eagerly waited for the first episode. When I watched the first episode, I ended up having a headache and more questions than answers. (In retrospect, I do know that is how it should really be to get the viewers hook on the show but the headache didn't really go away for the first few episodes). By this time, I was just actually watching because I'm intrigued. I want to know where this story will take us. To be honest, the leads I love the lead actors on this drama BUT the two of them together? I'm not really sure. I wasn't the biggest fan of their couple. It also didn't help that it wasn't clear enough why, when, and how Jeong Tae Eul fell for the ML. It was like Lee Gon went home, she missed him (or his company) and boom she was in love? That part, for me, really was a deal breaker.
I always tell my friends that if they remove the love line in this drama I think it will be 1000x more beautiful. The action/ political/ fantasy side of the drama was really off the charts. It was sooo good. Really intriguing and the concept was really good. However, I really didn't see the importance of the love line at first, it was only at the last few episodes that I somewhat saw the significance of it (but still not 100% sold to the idea).
This drama started as okay but got did get better in time. Ending was okay, I think almost everything was addressed properly except what will happen to the throne since I don't think they are planning to get married and start a family? Wished they showed more of the second leads love line. Especially our Yeong. He really deserved it.
Also, one thing I really loved in this drama since the beginning (other than the bromance of Lee Gon and Yeong) was the cinematography. Just wow. Daebak!
Anyway, congrats to the whole team of the drama for a job well done!
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