Park Eun Bin and Choi Myung Bin saved the ship!
During the Joseon dynasty, the crown princess consort secretly gives birth to a girl and boy twins. While the boy will eventually inherit the throne, Confucianism values really condemn twins especially if it was a boy and a girl because they just don't think a man who shared a womb with a woman will have legitimacy. Therefore to protect the prince's future legitimacy, the King orders that the girl and everyone involved with the childbearing be put to death so no one knows about this situation. To protect the girl, her mother fakes her death and cast her way to live out her life in the countryside. Many years later, this girl the female twin ended up taking her brother's identity as the young prince because an incident killed the prince. The only people who now know her secret are her chief servant and her personal eunuch.I have quite a lot of pros and the first is the portrayal of every character, especially our female lead. Her charisma and deep voice make it very believable, she is just like a very pretty boy in her prince costume. Although her figure is very slim and her small arm is very obvious she gives a lot of confidence with only just a cold stare. The only thing that I think could have made it better is if they did something to hide how short she is she really is because the height difference between her and her male lead co-stars is really noticeable.
Next, the pacing because overall I think it's very good, I'm completely absorbed by every episode up until probably episode 8. The child actors and actresses are doing a great job to make me emotionally invested right from the first episode. The child actress who played the twins, Choi Myung Bin, really shines in her roles! She pulled out the duality between the different twins' characters very naturally. Another pro is the OSTs are hauntingly beautiful, my favorite is "The One and Only", and "Shadow of You".
My con is mostly on the romance plot dominates the middle part of the story. I am not as engaged and I think that's because of the romance. Even though the romance is beautiful and I ship the couple, it is very heavy-handed and slow-paced. I'm watching the show because I really like our female lead and I want to see her navigate situations and crises, like her dealing with the envoy from China, fighting her grandfather's dictatorship, and keeping her secret. I think they are the strength of this series not so much the romance. Lastly, the action scenes are done incredibly well, but they're so sparse so I wish they are less melodramatic and had more action scenes.
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A drama with an identity crisis
OVERALLMmm...Skip, unless you're bored.
THE STORY
This drama is weirrrdddd. It's like someone wanted to produce a BL but was asked to produce a straight love story, so they decided to do something in between...and failed. The drama never really addresses the fact that Female lead basically lives like a guy, but at the same time, never addresses the fact that she's actually a girl. It's just SO weirrrrrddd. You can't make a gender-bending drama without addressing gender! What's the point? haha
On the good side, if you can not care too much about the romance, the political intrigue is interesting, enough to keep you watching until the end (even if not really hooked). On the negative side, the melodramatic, messy romance is basically 70% of the drama so it's a bit hard to ignore haha
THE ACTING
Good, I guess. Not much chemistry between the leads, from what I could tell, but it's not bad enough.
THE MUSIC
No comment.
REWATCH VALUE
Very low.
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A Pleasant One-Time Watch
I mostly picked this drama because I had just watched Park Eun Bin in Extraordinary Attorney Woo and was really impressed by her acting skills. She is just as outstanding in this drama. It’s amazing that the same person is playing the title character both shows.The plot is quite intriguing. The twin sister replaces the crown prince and faces constant exposure and challenges, such as having to get married at some point. And produce an heir, good luck with that… Many gender-switching shows are very taxing on the viewer because the character is so very obviously NOT a boy or a girl. (Love in the Moonlight, I’m looking at you! Let’s pick the prettiest girl and everyone will believe she’s a boy… seriously…) Here, while we know the crown prince is played by a woman, it is not entirely unrealistic that people around her would believe her to be a young man.
The first few episodes are really good, there’s some fight scenes and the romance between our two protagonists develops nicely from when they were children. But then further into the show nothing really happens. It became extremely draggy. I kept watching because surely, at some point, it would pick up speed… and the last few episodes were definitely better, with lots of action and plot twists. But instead of 20 episodes, 12 episodes would have been sufficient to tell the story.
As others have mentioned, the cinematography in this drama is stunning. The setting for some of the romantic scenes at the home outside the palace was just gorgeous. Another high point was the acting. Though some of the characters were written a bit one-dimensional – like the bodyguard, very pleasing on the eyes for sure, but that seemed to be the main characteristic, and even our male hero lacked a bit of spark – the actors all did a fine job. A special mention goes to Bae Soo Bin, who was excellent as the ambiguous father of the male protagonist. The two supporting female characters were also quite well portrayed, which was a nice contrast to many other historical dramas where the female supporting cast is often forgettable.
Would I recommend this drama? Well, I did enjoy it overall due to the interesting storyline, the acting and the beautiful cinematography. But it’s not something I would watch again, unlike for example Mr Queen or Bossam, which I enjoyed much more.
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This review may contain spoilers
Traditional costume romance w/ really dark undertone.
I love the backstory, although it was the typical formula: ML and FL met while they were young, lost contact, met again as different person's. From adversary's, to friends, to lovers.Even though this was supposedly a traditional costume romance, it has a really dark undertone. The story got a little draggy at some parts that I had skipped. Still, I managed to push through.. Glad the writers gave FL a happy ending that she deserves.
Good chemistry between the actors, even the young ones did good. This is not the first show who did the cross dressing as a major aspect of the show, but they did good. Not as awkward as other show I've seen.
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THE historical drama.
It is my favourite historic drama. It has a very strong/historical story and background, the plot is very intertwinted (very positive note). Nothing has been left behind or untold. I loved the 20 episodes lenght it gives you all of the explanations.The costumes and colors of the drama are magnificient, beautiful and very accurate.
The dialogues are very deep and touching.
The OST is one of my favourite and is perfect for the script.
The actors are ALL 10 stars, touching perfection.
I love every minute of this romantica-historic drama and gives you a very full spectrum of real life emotions; it touches every kind of relationship: family, lovers, secret lovers, friendship, loyalty, traditions, cultures.
P.S. I’ve rewatched 3 times already.
Loved it.
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This review may contain spoilers
This was awesome, the perfect drama for Xmas time: funny, sweet, romantic, intriguing, the whole package. I admit, my main interest in this was Rowoon as Jung Ji Woon but I was also glad to discover Choi Byung Chan and through him Victon! Nice!My favorite thing was that for a big part of this drama, many of the characters actually really thought that Lee Hwi was a man. Jung Ji Woon when he fell in love with her among them. After some initial bi panic, he just went with it. Or Shin So Eun, when she realized that Ji Woon was in love with the king - there was no horror or disgust, she was just sad that he loved another. The overall reaction was mostly "you love someone else, not me" and not "you love a man" which honestly hit the right spot with me.
Also, poor Ji Woon's father, a killer that he was, mind you. The crisis that he went through, just imagine it. First, he finds out that his son is the king's beloved - a shock in itself - followed by the fact that his son is the king's beloved! What must've gone through his head... "Either my son is into men... or I made a serious blunder 10 years ago!" Ha!
Wonderful drama. It really, truly hit the right spot. Lovely...
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King of Crossdressing Dramas
Finally, a crossdressing drama where the actress playing a man is actually believable as a man. I've seen quite the amount of crossdressing dramas and 99% of the time it's just a female in male style, but Park Eunbin is that 1%. From the stance, voice, expressions, down to the mannerisms, she perfectly embodies the role.At the same time, the drama doesn't pretend like she's a perfect male. They acknowledge that the prince is feminine. They showed the fl naturally developed manly gestures but she can't help but be feminine. It fits to the narrative that no matter how hard she tries, she can't hide her feminine qualities that would eventually lead to suspicions. And Park Eunbin understood the assignment. She effortlessly shifts between two different identities while depicting the fear, pain and grief that both characters hold. She did great portraying the prince and princess both physically and emotionally. I have nothing but praise for her.
As a historical drama, fl is strong, smart and the hero that drives the plot. Most fl's are not as privileged as they are usually just the love interest that every male character likes or a damsel in distress that everyone has to save. Here the fl has the higher status and is in a position to be involved in political matters as a crown prince turned king. And this is also one of the rare sageuk where the king's children aren't scheming, fighting or killing each other for the crown.
As a romance drama, Park Eunbin and Rowoon as the leads have good chemistry and the reverse cliché was very entertaining. The ml being good with books, medicine and gardening, while the fl being great at hunting, fighting and swimming. The leads work so well both in romantic scenes and comedic ones. So the romantic and comedic scenes are actually sweet and funny, not cringey. The fl being the hero and the ml as the love interest was refreshing.
Lastly, I love the things they kept from the webtoon and the things they changed for the drama. The death of the real crown prince, someone everyone wanted to protect being the one who ended up dead, was ironic. The highlight of the drama, the reveal of the secret was tastefully done. And the ending, it was proper and clearer than the webtoon. It wrapped up well.
Overall, Park Eunbin's acting alone makes this drama worth watching. Her 25 years of experience was evident in this dual role, acknowledged by KBS Drama Awards, Baeksang Arts Awards and Korea Broadcasting Awards. It was good to have her back in a historical drama, and Yeonmo was definitely worth the wait. Long live the King!
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Love the women empowerment yet a little slow
If you're looking for a drama with historical background with a poetic touch, beautiful costumes, a fight to reform the old conservative mindset and a hint of action? This drama is perfect for you.Its a little slow but it fits all the 20 episodes perfectly. What pulled my attention was the costume design and the details put into each were just so refreshing and totally seem as if a lot of thought was put into it. The drama is visually and aurally mesmerizing but the storyline isn't that impressive. There were a lot of situations where i could predict easily.
However what pulled me towards this to watch every was the amazing performance of Park Eun bin. Her character involved a lot of emotional burden and she executed it perfectly and definitely expressed that women are capable to do anything.
Yes I watched this because of Rowoon but the romantic plot didn't really catch my attention.
Okay but I fell in love with Choi Byung Chan though (He's one of the reasons that I dont regret watching this XD)
Hence I would say if you just want to pass time, feel some action and inspiration, maybe a little bit of comedy and a cultural history of korea you can give it a watch!
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overall view of the drama
The theme of this drama is about love, so ideally it should run at 16 episodes with a saeguk genre. With two 20-ep saeguk drama this year, I don't know how KBS is going to present the year-end awards. Problem with the king’s affection, to me, is the production. If they change or add characters from the manhwa, they might as well modify the storyline. The first 2 episodes are excellent, and it started getting slow and repetitive in the middle. I’ve lost count on the number of repetitive lovey-dovey scenes(memories). If they doing a 20-ep drama, the production team could build up a plot on bringing down the evil grandfather which would be very interesting. They are lucky that they have Park Eun Bin to hold up the drama with her acting. Her chemistry with Rowoon is the main attraction that draws audience into the drama. If the viewers cry with them, then they are doing a good job in playing out their characters. I didn’t watch Rowoon’s works but I heard good reviews about him, and I am impressed as a new actor he acts very well with his eyes and his voice. Saeguk drama can be quite restrictive in expressing emotions and that can be a test for the actors/actresses. I remember years ago, kim soo hyun in embracing moon, he also acted very well with his voice. I do hope Rowoon will become a versatile actor as I see that he has a lot of potentials. At least, he doesn’t play safe and picks up the idol-style dramas! And, I am very looking forward to Park Eun Bin’s next drama playing an autistic lawyer!Back to the king’s affection, I only want a happy ending for the couple!
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The King's Affection?
I'm sure the title was something different in Korea. It's not as fitting to the show: The King's Secret, The King's Throne, The King. There are so many other titles, but I digress on the header. There are similar role-play surprises and innuendos regarding sex (male/female). The show is a plus for the gender-fluid community, for sure. It's not as funny as Mr. Queen and possibly more grey, but it's worth a shot watching.I added Mr. Queen as a recommendation, but it was removed. Go figure.
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This review may contain spoilers
WHY DID THE STORYLINE CHANGE AFTER EPISODE 4?
The drama is good, but since the drama started off so strong, and with a focus on politics in the monarch, I was expecting the storyline to move that way but it totally flipped around. WHY DID THE STORYLINE CHANGE AFTER EPISODE 4? =/Before reaching episode 5 I wondered why the reviews for this drama was so low because the first 4 episodes are worthy of a rating of a 10. However, after episode 4, the storyline turns from political to romance. However, the romance was not as well crafted as it could have been. Don't get me wrong, it's good but just not great. It is full of common tropes, and slow motion side effects when the female and male lead just so happen to mistakenly find one another in each other arms. Note: After episode 6, it recovers and is back to being great again!
Btw, the female lead actress did a wonderful job acting. The second male lead (Mr. Dimples) is super cute!
Okay, I'm back with an update after watching episodes 7 and 8 and the political part of this drama is good but the romance scenes are horrible. I don't think the writers and director did a good job at trying to convince me that the romance in this drama could work; they should have stuck to a political historical drama without romance. I have to lower my rating from a 9.0 to a 7.5.
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