When sci-fi leads to a mess
TKEM is a title that has undergone the exact same fate as Hotel del Luna. The drama has been hyped and declared a possible masterpiece even before airing, due to the combination of cast-screenwriter plus romance-fantasy. But as HDL, the plot didn't live up to the hype.The author wanted to propose an ambitious sci-fi fantasy that tells us the story of two parallel worlds, where each member of the cast has a double role and is involved in a "save-conquer two world plot-line". The main concept may be brilliant, but the script is not well written and definitely it is badly executed (editing and direction).
The author was unable to manage the amount of information she wanted to offer, failing on multiple fronts. Between plot holes, errors on space-time theories, which casually favor the hero while disadvantaging the villain, bad characterization of characters and useless characters who steal precious screen time, penalizing both the main plot and the main couple, who also lack chemistry due to a hasty and forced romance.
The director wanted to tell the story in a non-linear way, jumping between sub-plot, often using flashbacks. All this has unnecessarily complicated a plot that was already complex of his own due to the number of characters and plot-line, plus the space-time theory, and two different worlds that looked almost the same.
Add the bad CGI, an OST that lack of impact, the controversy over product placement and japan style building and what positive aspects are left? The great cast, some acting, the scenography & costume. Definitely not enough to save a drama. Overall TKEM is an ambitious project with great potential, which unfortunately has turned into a giant mess because both the author and the director wanted to overdo it.
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BEST KDRAMA OF 2020, ITS NO WONDER ITS TOP 10 WORLDWIDE
i have watched quite a handful of Korean dramas and only few seem to have my attention like this and The king is definitely one of them . The story is totally unpredictable,very different from Goblin and it has the right amount of comedy, the king actually flirts in science which is totally new and cool to me because it tells me he is going to use his brain as a mathematical and science genius to solve the problem in the kingdom . i also love the way the leads acts with their eyes, that where the chemistry between started becoming visible to me and i can see its building up although the king seems to have fallen harder. UPDATE- the chemistry is currently on fire as at episode 12, they almost burnt my screen, thankfully its SBS and not TVN because its definitely rated 16/18.
Th evil uncle is also working behind the scenes like he is building an evil army and i really cant wait to see where that leads, how will they eventually close the door of the parallel world, can they survive in each other's world and eventually be able to stay together while solving the problems created by evil uncle Lee rim.
its been a while that i watched an asian drama that challenged my brain like this and gotten me all excited. the dramas these days have predictable plot with the usual cliche scenes which is okay but shouldn't be grossly overused to avoid cringiness or the dramas has so much toxicity that drains me even as a viewer.
But this drama 'The King Eternal Monarch' just gives me hope and refreshing feeling and i hope it lives up to my expectation.
Episode 1-15- i am short of words, the story is amazing, the chemistry is ridiculously NATURAL,almost too real to be acting, this drama is a must watch, its just too explosive to explain, but not without its faults which i will definitely overlook because this story entertains me.
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So I finished episode 16 full of hope that it would some how change my mind about this drama and make me like it. Unfortunately it did nothing of the kind. It was one hot mess. I watched it three times just to make sure I was not missing anything. Wow what a let down!
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A story of tangled loose ends
The glaring ads didn't bother me. The cringey prince-charming-saving-Cinderella-in-a white horse-holding-a-sword-while-the-enemies-are holding-guns made me cringe too, but did not daunt me. I gave this series a chance after another, but the unrealistically happy ending was the final straw. I think a sad and tragic ending would have made more sense.After all the mess that the broken flute had caused, I thought LG would come to realize that the previous kings had good reasons for not playing God. Gon could have tried to do what’s right and seal the road to parallel worlds forever by leaving the flute in the baloon dimension, making sure no one can abuse its power down the line again. He could have decided to do that after finding Tae-Eul and fulfilling his last promise. Sure, he would be left heartbroken, but he would be making a decision bigger than himself or his royal family woes, and that would have been an amazing character redemption, no? Because in the end, if he doesn't choose what's best for eternity's sake, then his focus on killing his uncle and getting the flute would be nothing but a personal vendetta which would have made him somewhat of a narrow character with nada development.
Unfortunately, that's exactly what he has become. In the end, he chose to use the flute for his own selfish reasons, even if that reason is love, ignoring the fact that him and Tae-Eul couldn’t live like teens on a road trip forever, what with him being a king with the responsibility of sustaining the royal lineage by finding a queen in his world who could provide him with an heir.
Holding on to that note, here’s another flaw: if the children have the same parents in RoK and KoC, it goes to say that the worlds have ‘mirror’ couples too. Therefore, the hint that Luna and Hyeon-min could end up together while LG and Tae-eul are gallivanting through dimensions is breaking the series’ own set of rules.
In an alternate ending, I’m imagining Tae-Eul wandering the streets where she met LG for the first time, still teary-eyed and wistful, when a grown Ji-hun walks by. Only this time, she dropped her ID that she was holding as she was intently staring at his face, and Ji-Hun stopped to pick it up, looking at it first and then her face, before saying her name out loud and returning it to her with a smile…. While in Corea, Gon’s life is again in trouble due to some terrorists or another coup. Yeong was busy protecting him from the front, when a bullet was shot from behind. Luckily, a police officer shielded him from this bullet, who turns out to be Luna. If you think about it, Gon's obsession with Tae-Eul started with the thought that she had something to do with saving his child self. In a fixed timeline, Luna was actually the one meant to save him, and Ji-hun was the one meant to pick up Tae-Eul's ID.
All along, Tae-Eul is apparently fated to meet Ji-hun in her world, and Lee Gon to Luna. LG and Tae-Eul’s meeting was a result of the the strings getting tangled and mixed up, so when the flute got fixed, so does their fate and timeline. Finally tying the loose ends. Not a happy ending, but way more realistic and would make the title "Eternal monarch" more befitting.
Needless to say, I am sorely disappointed in the loose ends and lack of character development that I have created in my mind a more sensible ending while watching. They set a lot of rules, yet in the end, they fail to abide by the rules. And that, for me, is the most annoying of all.
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A wise person once said, "Understand the plot then skip to Woo Dohwan's scenes."
That person was me.Anyway, I'll be speaking about 4 main points.
1. The Pacing
2. The Villain
3. The Romance
4. The Plot Convenience
There are minor spoilers in here. If you watched 2 episodes then you are spoiler free from this review.
[ The Pacing ]
You can't feel emotionally attached to any of the characters. The author had created TOO MANY plotlines to focus on. The parallel universe, the romance, the investigation, the doppelganger, the villain, the side characters, the side character's side story, add all that and you get a messy execution. The pacing is all over the place.
Since this whole drama is written to center around romance, they could have simplified it by giving us less characters and unnecessary scenes. Characters like the Prime Minister (second female lead) held no importance to the plot. She is neither a good enemy nor a good ally by the end which makes her pointless. All that screentime, for what exactly? I love women in power but she didn't impact the story in any shape or form. She doesn't change anything. I don't understand why I had to watch all that set up just to come up with NOTHING!
This happened again (but much BETTER) with the second male lead. He had a good build up but he ended up being flat too. They should have connected his storytelling without the long gaps (to keep it heartwrenching) and gave him a more satisfying ending. He is one of the characters that you expect something from but it never gets delivered. The author just wasted all his potential by playing the self pity card.
Which brings me to another point. The investigation scenes are meaningless too. It was like running in circles. This author have learned the "show not tell" technique wrong. The male lead finds out all what the detectives found beforehand which makes me wonder why am I even watching them solve this case? Nobody cares about the flip phones, okay?
Anyway, I just wanna add this personal opinion but it would have been nice if the two worlds were more different.
[ The villain ]
Probably the most frustrating character in the whole drama because he's NOT supposed to be like this. He is evil for the sake of being evil. One of the worst villains we have seen in dramaland. He is an ABSOLUTE IDIOT! How did he succeed in creating a coup and gain followers is beyond me. His wickness is almost cartoonish. It's like I'm watching PowerPuff Girls. The amount of dumb decisions he made caused me to facepalm. The author didn't even try with him. He is smart when convenient and an idiot when convenient. His character exist to create tension and make our hero seem heroic. His plans were pretty smart and if he played his cards right, he would actually been a great threat but the author wanted a justifiable reason for the romance to happen. If the antagonist (involved in politics) have an IQ less than your average viewer then don't write him.
[ The Romance ]
The romance failed before it even started. IF it had a good setup, a lot of people wouldn't have called it forced. The problems started when our king here got the good ol' "saver complex" symptoms. Someone saved you? Instantly in love with them! I gave up on the romance from that moment. Everything about her is destiny or fate... he said "Be my Queen" in the 2nd EPISODE! MY GUY, YOU JUST MET HER IN THAT VERY EPISODE, DAFUQ YOU TALKING ABOUT? QUEEN MY ASS!
Where is the development? Moments that brings spark? Funny bickering of them trying to work side by side? Moments where they realized their feelings? Learning to understand each other? Make us wish they are together because they are cute to watch? We skipped all that. We got a girl who's uninterested, a one side bickering that isn't amusing because she is annoyed and a man, who apparently isn't interested in romance, suddenly in love with a girl over a badge photo. The chemistry doesn't build itself. It needs presentation.
[ The Plot Convenience ]
I wrote it in the comment of this review AND in the general comment section because it contains HEAVY spoilers. It hard to talk about plot convenience (and plot holes) without pointing out WHICH one were they. If you didn't watch this drama, I wouldn't recommend reading it. It won't make sense, trust me.
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First of all, the story : since the first episode that was released, I was fascinated by the amazing sci-fi story. It was a complex story, but not that complicated for my way of thinking. For this new, unique kind of story, I gave the show 10/10.
Then, the actors : since the first meeting of the main characters, I could really feel the great chemistry between the characters. Everyone did a great job while filming the drama. For everyone's acting, I decided to give the show a 10/10.
The whole series had an impressive sound track. The best one, in my opinion, was Hwasa' "Orbit", a song which matched with the story. For music I gave another 10/10.Hand down to everyone who composed and sang the ost.
I consider that this show is the best one I've seen in 2020, and that's why I gave 10/10 for everything including the staff, crew, script, actors, composers, singers.
I'm really glad that Minho had such a good drama after coming from the military enlistment. I also became a fan of Kim Go Eun, because she's really good at acting.
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I love this drama
I love this drama, I don’t know why I see lot of google news about this drama saying it not good but I love it I think that’s the best 2k20 drama I have watch so far, I highly recommend this drama. It’s different from Most Kdrama because most kdrama are about triangle love, CEO and famous stars I think Kdrama fans need to open up about those kind of story and appropriate them more because it rarely to see drama like this. I personally think most Kdrama have the same storyline but this drama help me to see new side of kdrama and fans need to support the Actors because they choose to act in a drama for a reasons and We also need to support the writers because they also working hard to satisfy the viewers and come up with new storyline. Don’t always expect love story between rich CEO and poor female lead. The king eternal monarch is a great drama, I started to watch it because of my Favorite actor Lee Min oh but I feel in love with it the drama , the acting, chemistry, storyline and everything. Again I highly recommend for someone who have not yet watch The king eternal monarch .Esta resenha foi útil para você?
THE WRITER:
I have watched two of Kim Eun Sook's dramas; Goblin and Mr. Sunshine, and I went into this drama with high expectations. As I was watching the first episode, I definitely got the feel of both of those dramas...however, the overall brilliance was not there.
THE SOUNDTRACK:
I have every song on this soundtrack on repeat. I listen to Hwasa, Yongzoo and Paul Kim almost five times a day. I know every word and its translation. I cannot find fault with this soundtrack.
THE ACTING:
They played the characters to the best of their abilities and I applaud them for their hard work. That being said...
A coin toss for Kim Go Eun, Lee Jung Jin and Lee Min Ho; I either loved them or found them awkward to watch. Never in-between. Especially their scenes with each other. They were not able to deliver the emotions they were supposed to when the moment came. However, KGE and LMH had one scene that spoke to me and gave me chills*.
70/100 for Kim Kyung Nam; I would give him 100 but he did not have enough screen time or a well-rounded character. He was incomplete. KKN's character in Come and Hug Me had me in tears. I cried when he cried and I felt every emotion he felt as he portrayed them on-screen. Whenever KKN would widen his eyes (in CaHM), I could not help but get sucked in. In KEM, I felt that his character was missing a lot....
100/100 for Jung Eun Chae and Woo Do Hwan; they brought the sourness and spice and the sweetness and laughter whenever they were onscreen, respectively. JEC was a fashion icon who, had she set her sights on another poor soul, would have been my favourite female character. WDH was a scene stealer and a joy to watch. Their characters were more whole than KKN, but I wish WDH would have gotten a bit more screen time as well.
THE STORY:
Goblin - 16 episodes, 1 hour 30 minutes
Mr. Sunshine - 20 episodes, 1 hour 20 minutes
The King: The Eternal Monarch - 16 episodes, 1 hour 10 minutes
Had all of these dramas been 1 hour long each; Goblin would have had 8 hours/episodes of extra content, Mr. Sunshine would have had 6.6 hours/episodes of extra content and KEM would have only had 2.6 hours/episodes of extra content. I am not say the lack of runtime in the drama is the sole reason I did not enjoy it as much as I did the other dramas.... however, I am saying that, had they lengthened the drama, it may have been better.
This is the first time I wanted any drama to be longer. It felt too short. I felt empty after having finished this drama. Even after watching the 30 second HEA in Eternal Love I had felt more whole and happy than I do now. KEM does not feel complete. There are so many unexplored elements in this drama that a longer runtime could have made better.
OVERALL:
I have seen Goblin twice and am currently rewatching it for the third time. I am about to restart Mr. Sunshine and spend another 20+ hours of my life, happily, being mesmerized by Lee Byung Hyun's acting.
I cannot say the same for KEM. I got through it once. I believe once is enough.
I did enjoy this drama, but it is not one of the best that I have seen.
THE SPOILERS:
I need to talk about this scene:
One of the best scenes in kdrama history (in my opinion).
*When Tae Eul was in the middle of the road, holding a gun with only two bullets, facing the on-coming cavalry (not knowing if she was going to live or die).*
I have never cried as much as I did. My tears came from deep within and I had to pause to calm down and catch my breath.
*Then Lee Gon comes racing in on Max screaming, "Protect Your Queen!"*
I. Broken. Down.
I will never forget this scene.
That is all.
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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?
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Starts a little slow
This series started a little slow and I did nearly give up after a couple of episodes, but I'm glad that I didn't ! . I really enjoyed it , the story was good and well told , the acting was good and the cast was amazing. I'd definately watch this again. I know alot of people didn't enjoy this for whatever reasons but I personally don't understand the hate that its received, I've seen far worse series than this .....................................................................................Esta resenha foi útil para você?
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A great drama
I don't understand the hate in the comments about this drama ! I really enjoyed it till the end. It's true that the story is very complex but I think this was on purpose. The combat, the plot twist, the travel time thing was really great, you can't be bored at all.I enjoyed every episode and I think the chemistry between Kim Go Eun and Lee Min Ho was incredible ! I loved the way that she is a badass who can only be fragile with the man she loves.
The acting of Lee Min Ho was perfect, he was perfect for the role , really charismatic, strong , a real king !!
Can we talk about Woo Do-hwan ? He was stunning ! I loved the opposite personnalities of his doppleganger , for me the cast is a 10/10.
But I am not sure that I really understood everything at the end, that's why I can't give more than 8.5 stars.
Also I think that the vilain's story was not developped at all, like why does he want to kill his brother in reality ?? It will have been interesting to know his past too.
I think that's it ! It's a great show, give it a try !
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The story about the other dimension
Alurnya memang berbeda dengan film pada umumnya. Jadi menontonnya harus dengan suasana yang santai. Menontonnya tanpa di skip2 karena film nya harus berpikir keras......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Esta resenha foi útil para você?
