Cinderella and the Four Knights (2016)

A light-hearted romcom

Well, where should I start?

Definitely surprised by the low rating this series currently has on MDL, but then again almost all 'typical' rom-com series all have similar 7.5-8.5 rating on MDL.

Firstly, the series is what it says on the synopsis and the tags, its a very positive, light hearted, romance comedy series. It has a few plot holes but over all it portrays what it set out to do.

For me personally, I love watching Thrillers, but after watching a dark complicated thriller I always prefer to watch something light and very straight forward, which would occasionally give me a good laugh.

That is exactly what this series is, I loved the story the main FL's character, the funny bromance/rivalry between the 4 ML's and how their relations progress through the series.

I finished this whole series in 2 days, so this was not draggy and not at all boring, and certainly entertaining.

Overall definitely worth watching at least once, if you are looking for a simple romantic comedy and enjoyed series such as The Heirs (Inheriters) then you should not miss out on this.

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Painfully unrealistic and dramatic but has very likeable leads and sweet romance.

Well, overall this was a pretty enjoyable and fun drama. Also it got the 2000s Kdrama vibe to it, even though it was aired in 2016 which I really liked. I actually liked all the four "knights". I Expected them to be overly toxic and misogynic (Like most of male characters in older Kdramas) or something, but they weren't really that bad, more on the funny and cute side thankfully. The Sky house is beautiful, I love these houses and interior designs that gives a bit of a sci fi/futuristic style. The OSTs were beautiful.

I really liked the FL, the actress is adorable and has a very loveable aura. All the guys were hot, and the 2nd FL is really beautiful but I fucking hated her character, she was always so depressing and gloomy, agonizing over the playboy and acting all pitiful and obsessed. Crying every darn episode multiple times (Which reminded me of the FL of Hwarang who also cried all the freaking time! I get sometimes we need to cry obviously, all humans do, but that is just too much!), and her acting was weak. Since her role is overly emotional, she must be good at acting for it. They liked each other as literal kids, didn't even start dating properly after growing up a bit and yet they acted as if they were a couple for years, playing Romeo and Juliet, as if the FL and Ji Woon weren't having melodramatic enough.

Her whole personality trait was her love for him and nothing else, I thought her being a fashion designer might be used to show her passion and desire to make a name for herself and have more of a personality, but it wasn't, it was just added for no reason, they barley showed her do anything related to fashion designing, just mentioned it and that's all, and to make her even more tragic they added the whole unnecessary drama about her father to make a reason for playboy to get closer with her again...

she seriously pissed me off so much that I wish Ji Woon just let her get hit by that truck in the first few episodes lol I know she isn't really evil or tries to harm Eun Ha Won greatly, but she gives the vibe of an attention seeker princess who likes to have all men spoil her while constantly acting like a victim, she liked Hyun Min, yet also want Ji Woon to be there for her all the time and don't wanna share him with anyone else even after realizing that Eun Ha Won is into him and that he is into her too.

Why the hell was Ji Woon acting all protective of her?! I thought he loved her, but he was clearly more interested in FL that way, and to make it worse Hye Ji or whatever her name was decides to latch to Ji Woon all of a sudden after she made it clear she is so into playboy and just wants to date Ji Woon to get over him, not out of genuine feelings, and she confessed in a way that makes it hard for him to reject her instantly in front of Hyun Min or he would feel like a jerk when she is the one who is wrong, cause apparently she will die if she doesn't stick to some guy all the time (Which is proven by her also hanging out with that Joon Soo dude).

I despise her cause I hate women like her a lot, the ones who are willing to discard their brain and dignity just to be with a man, and would act as if they aren't worthy of living nor respect without a lover by their side). The whole love triangle made me uncomfortable. I was proud that Ji Woon faced her, told her about his feelings for Eun Ha Won and told her he knew she stuck to him just cause she needed someone to get over Hyun Min.

Of course main leads had to be tied by fate, with the whole thing about their shared tragic past of their mothers and them meeting as kids lol

Love how the grandpa said he felt sorry for Ji Woon, yet he still wanted to repeat the same bullshit with him and Eun Ha Won, that was the reason of Ji woon and his parents ending in that miserable way. "He is your family, you're related by blood, so you should always give them a chance and don't abandon them no matter what" that's one hell of a toxic mentality.

Just cause people are related by blood or whatever, it doesn't mean that you gotta forgive them, handle their abuse and wrong doings, and force yourself to interact with them. Family aren't necessarily people related by blood, who gives a fuck about blood, family are the people who make you feel loved and supported, who care for you, not try to control and torture you till death. That's why many adoptive parents can be way more parent like than biological ones who might not deserve to be called parents in first place due to their neglect for their kids. The fact that Ji Woon knew he could die after the surgery, yet still done it anyways for a geezer who made him and his parents miserable, and didn't bother showing up in his life until he became an adult just to annoy and control him was quite illogical.

The humor was nice, everyone got very nice fashion style (Mostly the guys like usual in every drama I watch, it might be because I'm more into male clothes), loved the drunk scene in ep 8, it was my first time liking a drunk female scene in a drama (Since they always make the girls act in a very over the top ways and get themselves into serious trouble which make the guys forced to take care of them as if they are toddlers or the girls look pathetic and do tons of embarrassing and dangerous stuff like end up having sex with some random guy by mistake. I mean I get maybe kissing, but going all the way to have sex...anyway the kiss scenes were adorable), but the plot writing could be better and of course there were some cringe moments here and there.

Last episodes were overly dramatic, with shit going downhill left and right, even in the freaking last episode, and the main leads having endless hurdles in their path, but since the ending is happy (A bit too happy even) I guess it's all cool (Though why did all the guys end up with a girl?!). The thing about Ha Won's father was weird, like in that case, the first thing someone should ask for is a DNA test, then she decides what to do afterwards, obviously not just anyone who appears out of the blue and says they are related to you are honest, but even if he is her father, I personally wouldn't want to have anything to do with him after all these years.
I know she had a past with him and that he treated her well back when she was a kid, but doesn't mean she should just easily believe him. Like why would he appear at that exact moment other than for taking advantage of her, it's painfully clear. The four guys had some of the most typical character tropes you expect to see in many romance Kdramas and shoujo animes:

1- The arrogant, prince charming, wannabe playboy who decided to become a playboy cause he had some sort of bad love experience with his first love or whatever. Why the hell did he even act that way with Hye Ji if he liked her?! Cause her brother supposedly died because of him? Seriously?! That's dumb!

2- The "bad" boy who acts rude, cold (At first but turns all romantic and nice later after interacting with FL for long time or when she manages to "cure" his mental issues somehow), rebellious, and is great at fighting (I was surprised he didn't have a big black motorcycle or something to complete his bad boy persona lmao I guess they decided to give him more of a car racer style than the usual gangster/delinquent one).

3- The cute, sweet, and cheerful guy (Who happens to be a singer, but for some reason him being a singer felt pointless in the story). Why did he hide his feelings about Eun Ha Won though? Cause he is a celebrity? Who cares, and he can hide it from fans since they already live together and all so they can be lovey dovey in the house (Of course if the contract thing didn't exist in that case) . Yeah, other cousins might also be into her, but he could confess and let her decide if she wants him or not. He had many moments to confess to her before her and Ji Woon became a thing.

4- The manly, serious, and classy dude who barley had attention when it came to the whole romance surrounding FL. Instead he had his own subplot with his annoying mother (I get she done all that as a response to the abuse and misery they went through by her past husband, but taking advantage of another man and plotting against his grandchildren isn't the best solution). The chairman treated him well from what I have seen, yet he tries to betray him...and for his stupd mother who didn't treat him well, then she says it's all for him. If that's the case then wh she wasn't honest since the start and tell him about her plan from the start.

I'm not against any of these tropes or anything, not like it's easy to write many non one dimensional and unique characters in one story and I did like them all.

Also the step mother and sister were overly cartoonish and lame, I knew since the plot is inspired by Cinderella's fairy tale obviously they will be evil and hate on FL, but still they acted like retards and felt like filler/pointless/badly written comic relief characters, they barley had existence. The step mother's hairstyle pissed me off like crazy, it's so freaking ugly! She also overly spoiled her daughter, like I have never seen a woman who does nail polish on toes of her grown ass daughter like that, maybe if she was a child yes, but not a girl that should be about 18-20 years old, and overall she acted more like her slave/servant than mother.

Glad the grandfather's wife got her fired and the stupid father of FL finally realized his mistakes. If he wanted to make sure if Eun Ha Won was his daughter or not, he could just do a DNA test behind her back instead of saying all that crap and hating on her and his ex wife for years. The wife of chairman was more evil than the step mother of FL ironically (How exactly did she hide that the secretary is her son and that she was married before, even saying she is a virgin from the chairman?!) and her lips shape bothered me for some reason, that lipstick which she always used was awful on her. The FL handled the whole thing with her and Ji Woon in the most dense way you could ever think of. Acting all guilty and letting the wife treat her that way, also not talking to Ji Woon properly.

I also hate the "We are dating now, but lets hide our relationship from everyone" thing. Especially when it's for very pointless reasons like the fear of getting teased by others like in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha (I would personally be mad if my lover asked me to hide our love for each other, that's not something to act ashamed and secretive about), and they both acted very obvious that the grandfather and everyone saw them acting lovey dovey from the start, yet they thought they hid it well...also even after that geezer gave them their blessing the FL insists to stay away so that both of her and Ji Woon stay miserable, why?! Then the other guys have to play cupid role to make her stop acting stupid.

I get here they done it over the contract thing (Which is highly illogical, like the grandfather put a young cute girl in a house with his three equally young grandsons and he expects nothing to happen?! Even if she sticks to her words and doesn't try to chase any of the guys, it doesn't mean they wouldn't view her that way. Besides if that's the case then they are adults, both of her and Ji Woon could say fuck you to the grandfather and leave Sky House, not like he owns his grandsons, they aren't his slaves.

I really expected all guys would fall for FL, and then she will have to pick one since they made it seem this drama is supposed to be a pure reversed harem concept, but it wasn't really that way in the end and that damn 2nd FL got too much attention for my liking...even more than the actual FL herself. Ha Won's friend wasn't painfully annoying, glad she wasn't too creepy (Considering she is the singer's fan, I kinda thought she would try to harass him/try to make him fall for her by force like the step sister, or something since she got many chances to meet him thanks to FL, but she was mostly chill. Her telling him to not like anyone cause of his fans was irksome tho, I really hate this logic that celebrities are owned by their fans romantically).

Although Ji Woon was my favorite both visual and personality-wise, I still would be okay with the FL ending with any of the guys honestly if they all were into her to begin with. I wanted to really give this drama a high rating of 9-9.5/10 cause I really liked all the main characters (Except 2nd FL), but the last badly written episodes were exhausting to watch. The FL was painfully tragic, also very dense and naïve sometimes, and tragic love stories tire and suffocate me pretty quick. I kinda forced myself to finish the drama at some point.

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Honestly, this show is not a bad one. It's cringe because it's such a cliche story but the main girl plays such an adorable actress and she's good at what she does that it's kind of nice. Plus my favorite character of them all is 100% the security guard for the chairman because he's good at what he does; he's friendly and nice. I like all the cousins except for Ahn Jae Hyun. Like I've seen him in plenty of things and people adore him but he has no emotion, he has no reaction and he looks like a vampire; so when he played in blood, it was just plain fitting because he literally is the Robert Pattison of Korea. If they made a korean twilight; he should be the first one in it because he literally looks like he does not sleep or move his face so his acting just really gets me because I'm like WOW ARE YOU HAPPY OR SAD? Other than that, it's a good show. Your average cinderella by the adorable Park So Dam, Lee Jung Chin from CN Blue was just a sweet and awesome cousin and I liked the chemistry between So Dam and Jung II Woo, honestly. It was a good OST; the quality of the show is also nice; like 2016 was just a great year for kdrama's honestly.

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DO READ THIS IF THINKING ABOUT WATCHING IT

this show was in my plan to watch list for over a year , i recently saw a reel if this show and decided to give it a shot ignoring all the bad comments and i have to say its not nearly as bad as they make it out to be .
The first 10 episodes were literally so good i watched all of them in a single day but the later episodes were a little bit draggy especially ep 14 . I didn’t like ep 14 one bit and even thought of dropping it but i’m glad i didn’t and watched it till the end.
Just like every other kdrama this one also had a few minus points but overall it was good and u should watch it if u have free time.
But i must say that i think it would have even better if hyun min was the ML and the hye ji story wasn’t there . Although i like jung il woo but ha won had really great chemistry with hyun min . Also the who is the real father part was unnecessary according to me .
SO IF YOU WANT TO WATCH SOMETHING FLUFFY DO WATCH THIS DRAMA also i would have given it a higher rating but it doesn’t have much rewatch value for me

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Never really liked korean drama but kinda glad watched this. Although i still don't like it. But in the end this drama is kinda OK.

Yeah like Wednes write in her review. No thing such as 4 knight in this drama only 3. Why they must write the title as 4 knight...

I like Eun Ha Won (HW) she is a good girl with a good heart. But she also fickle girl that can't stand in her own decision. One min she decided to leave Ji Woon (JW), but other min she decided she want to be with JW. And why the past story between HW & JW don't include in the story from the beginning, only in the end... It will be better for the story to develop if they include it from the beginning.

The love rivalry between HW and Park Hye ji (HJ) also feel like half hearted. Like the writer want to make into love rivalry but also don't want to make it too complicated....

Overall this drama for me is really weird for the story to develop. The begining feel like drag, but when it come to the end feel like fast forward. I don't know maybe also because i'm used to c-drama plot. Maybe if they have longer episode the plot will be better.

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This drama was enjoyable, fun with funny moments. The storyline was not bad, and the script is not boring at all. I noticed the writer sometimes shifts focusing on plot lazily. I can predict what happens next easily. I think it is a little cheesy, but I have a good time to watch these characters develop friendships and want to have love. I wish they have better development further as it lacks developing on some characters. The soundtrack is solid, and the atmosphere of the drama is the strongest reason for this drama. It is similar to You’re Beautiful and Boys over Flowers. I honestly am a little annoyed at Hye-jin and her demeanor, but I understand how she feels. I think the director should have the character who should do better than having the same behavior all the way. The main and minor characters have a good job with their roles. I am glad it ended well and it has a nice ending.

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A lovely story about love and family values

I finished seeing this drama, and I have to say I really enjoyed it. It is the story of a young lady who lost her mother in a fire when she was a child, but this event didn't ruin her life but instead motivated her to live a good life, try to find happiness, and be optimistic. This is the reason why she is chosen as a part-time employee, working for a wealthy family. The grandfather has three grandsons who, in spite of being good people, cannot seem to find a good path to build a normal family relationship. They bully and despise each other, so much so, that they didn't even dine together. Thus, our female character has different missions to fulfill, from finding a way for the family to take dinner together, to going on a trip, to going to a memorial, to save their grandfather's life. The only forbidden interaction is, of course, love and dating, which as you can assume happens. The girl falls in love with one of the boys and they gradually become very important to one another, convincing, in the end, the grandfather to accept them, in spite of the low economic condition of the female lead.
The drama is about loss and grievance, about finding the strength to get up and try to live your life as best as possible, about family values, about friendship and love, and about things in life that really matter. Each character has its own odyssey, with adventures and feelings, and discoveries of real life. Wonderful actors, story, music. I recommend this drama, wholeheartedly.

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Trapped in a castle!

This series was made in 2016 and it is feeling its age but it is still extremely watchable. It is a parody. The script was ok but sometimes seemed hemmed in by the predetermined plot lines. The actors were very good and Lee Jung-Shin was very good as a musician (obviously)
My main criticism was the siting of the family home in a huge house in the middle of nowhere and the ridiculous flooring plan inside. Very weird but all the cast seemed to cope with it! Still very enjoyable but don't take too seriously.
For all those reasons I've tried to score it taking into account when it was made!

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Slightly Cringey but no regrets!

Despite this show having quite a few cringey scenes, it still holds a grip in my memories and sometimes I am tempted to rewatch it. I tend to like reverse-harems, especially went here is an angsty tsundere character and/or a mischievous character and this has both who are typically at each other's throats. Love the flirting between the main 3 characters too...quite funny. After all it is a comedy too...plenty of goofy scenes. I'd say it's worth a watch if this is your kind of genre just skip the whole party/drinking scene....I found it unbearable cringey...idk if it was the acting or just the scene/script itself.

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B+ for effort, would recommend- SPOILER

I loved this drama, this was the first drama I watched with the cinderella trope and I loved it.

Of course, some scenes want to make me roll into a ball and pass away but altogether not bad compared to some dramas I watched. Now let me talk about things I didn't like.

1. The main couple was rushed - For almost half the drama I kept thinking she would end up with the SML, The first of the MLS she met at the bar, the guy that asked her to pretend to be his girlfriend, and the guy that overall had the best chemistry with her. so I was quite disappointed when I soon came to realize he was not the ML.

I feel like the fl and the ml had little to no chemistry, they weren't horrible together but tbh I hated the ml because he was such a fucking asshole to her. he spent half the story being such a bitch to her because the girl he has a crush on is butt hurt that someone else doesn't like her back ( the SML I was talking about )

Their relationship seemed like some sort of horrible last-minute plot twist idea. The whole love hexagon or sum was already confusing their relationship came out of nowhere.

2. THE HEXAGON WAS EVERYWHERE - It's not that it was some cringey love triangle, it was some reverse harem with only 2 logical ships.
The Kpop guy felt like her brother so not him
The secretary had little to no interaction with the fl
The ml was so fucking rude to her and he seemed to love the sfl more than he loved her. iI the sfl liked him back their relationship would be non-existent.

so that leave us with her and the sml( the only guy who i count as a good candidate and who she actually seemed to have chemistry with )

3. I hate the sfl - I just don't like her. From the moment I set my eyes on her I knew she would cause trouble, she wasn't a bitch or anything, and she didn't try to harm the fl tbh I feel like they would have had a cute friendship if explored more. but she was 99% of the arguments between the sml and the ml. ie

sfl tries to get ml to like her
sml doesn't care and says he likes fl
sfl gets emotional and runs to ml to cry even though she does not like him and probably should have caught on to the fact that he liked her.
ml gets mad at sml and fl for some reason

4. The characters -

The FL: I liked her, although her character is the stereotypical " girl who is strong but not too strong because she can't stand up for herself too much, that isn't girly " ill give her a 3.5/5 she was okay and could have been better without all the miscommunications and I liked how she sometimes minded her business.

The ML: Every time I see him I want to go on a rant but I won't because I don't care enough for him. I know it seems like I shitting on him here (i am ) but he and the fl were a good couple for the short time we got to see them together. would have liked it better if they had fully convinced us he fell out of love with the sfl. 3/5

The SML: As much as I liked him with the fl he was kind of an asshole to the sfl. and as much as I don't like her I feel like she deserved better than to have ended up with him. 3/5

The SFL: She needs to boast her self-esteem more she shouldn't have ended up with the sml. tbh the ml was better for her 3.2/5

The kpop idol guy: meh...he was there I guess I like how he wasn't involved in too much mess 3.5/5

The secretary: I loved this character I really like his back story with his mother, it probably was the most interesting part of this drama, I felt so bad for him :( 4.5/5

The story was okay, I was more interested in the secretary and his mother's story & the fl's dead mother than the other romance tbh.
I would recommend though, it's funny sometimes and heartwarming. I'm just nitpicking at the bad parts.

also, stepmom and sister got their karma

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Cute and fluffy

It is what it is. This is a fluffy, romantic comedy sprinkled with melodrama.
If the title did not make it abundantly clear, it's about a poor, mistreated, down on her luck girl and 4 good-looking, well-off men whose lives get entangled.
Be very clear about the implications of watching a fluff drama:
1. Don't expect logic.
2. Don't expect realistic portrayals.
3. Expect over-the-top stuff.
4. Expect Love triangles and love polygons.
5. Expect drama.

FYI, the FL is not a ditzy damsel in distress. Quite the contrary.

Keeping all the points mentioned above in mind, this drama is quite enjoyable. The story while predictable is engaging (I did skip through the unnecessary plot points like the step family plotting, fake dad ). The acting is good, decent. The leads are natural and have great chemistry with eachother. I loved Il Woo. Lots of cutesy scenes and pretty good kissing scenes that had me swooning. The story can get annoying ( reasons why the FL-ML break up, wrong-doers not punished, no meaningful redemption for Cinderella 's dad, etc.). But, it has a happy ending.

Good set of OST.

The romance, the fluff and all the cute stuff made it enjoyable to me despite the shortcomings in the story. If you enjoy fluffy stuff or are looking for a drama to pass time, this meets the criteria.

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