In the first two episodes alone there was cute singing, face slapping, sexy times, and a hit and run that turned into a murder. The crazy doesn’t end there though…it just keeps going and going. At one point a character does a work out montage and emerges as…a whole different actor. No wonder no one recognizes him. People die…but then turn out to have faked their death or have been put in a mental institution. It is just a bucket full of delightful craziness.
The very best part of this drama though, is the Emperor. Shin Sung Rok is a remarkable actor. I came to this drama for Jang Na Ra and Choi Jin Hyuk together again. I loved them in Fated to Love You and was so excited to see them both as leads in the same drama. But to be honest, I can understand why some people are not loving them in this drama. Choi Jin Hyuk’s character is as dry as burnt toast. But I really don’t think the actor is to blame for that. However, the Emperor could have easily been a horrible character if it had been played by anyone else. If you were just blindly reading the script, you would hate his character. But because of Shin Sung Rok’s skills and his facial expressions, you come to care for this admittedly horrible murderer. Like he has murdered multiple people and doesn’t even think he was wrong in doing it, and still you find yourself saying…he isn’t THAT bad… To be fair at least two of the people he murdered weren’t entirely his fault, nor was he the only murderer in those cases. And there I go defending the guy! You see what a good job Shin Sung Rok has done to convince me of this?!
In conclusion, I say you should definitely give this drama a try. If you aren’t mildly addicted by episode 2, then this probably isn’t the drama for you. Personally, I watched the first 17 episodes in one sitting before I realized I had spent the whole day watching kdramas. Not that I have any regrets about that. I have loved every second of this crazy crack drama. If you are looking for a serious, revenge drama…this is NOT the drama for you. Go watch City Hunter or maybe The Lookout. This drama is silly even when it is being serious. So come here if you are looking for your next dose of crazy!
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[I'm writing this while keeping in view that this was a Makjang.]One thing this drama does well is the pacing - you are not left hanging there for long. You want the answers? You'll get them in time. Moreover, every episode leaves you desiring more. The plot also ties up together very well; there are hardly any loose ends. The aim was consistent throughout: expose the Imperial Family. The characters involved had almost always something to do with the plot (thankfully).
Given the fact that it's a makjang, unbelievable things happen, especially in the beginning. As it progresses, the strengths overpower the flaws, in my opinion. Those makjang-y things aside, there's another reason I'm withholding points for the plot, and that's weak writing at certain areas - and poor decisions by the production team. Weaknesses emerged when the writers added fillers to an episode that could have been swapped for a more meaningful scene. Also, one of the main characters is pushed to the side because the production team overlooked his defining role in the drama.
I must say that the actors carried the drama - without them, it would not have survived. Shin Sung Rok was splendid as always (you'll love his expressions); Jang Na Ra proved she is more than just a rom-com queen - she knows how to play a ferocious, clever, and upright character; CJH was a master at portraying subtle emotions. The characters were not two-dimensional, and the actors had to make us believe that: Sunny developed from being naive to clever; Na Wang Shik had to chain his anger, and almost lost himself to it along the way, with some questionable actions to achieve his goal while still maintaining his position in the "right side"; Lee Hyuk literally jumped from different extremes as an insecure, traumatized - and rather insane - Emperor. (I would mention others too, but their performances stood out the most.) Overall, you will find yourself cheering for one character and cursing another. And be prepared to switch sides often!
The music was great. Loved each OST. Gaho's Not Over, in particular, set the right tone of suspense at most cliffhangers. What Would it Be was beautiful too. Oh, and the instrumental was good too; the mellow yet intense instrumental that they chose for heavy scenes (**spoiler** like when Sunny abolished the Empire **spoiler ended**) was a favourite.
There are certain scenes you want to re-watch, like O Sunny being righteously angry, or a few heartwarming moments here and there.
Watching this drama was a ride. Don't miss it! Despite its flaws, it has much to offer.
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I started this drama out of shear curiosity and really got hooked on the super drama it ended up turning into. I loved the plot and the character dynamics and could not wait for the romance between the Empress and the Chief body guard/Na Wang Shik. But......The ending completely fell apart. It was exceptionally disappointing. I hated the way the writers wrapped things up. Min Yoo Ra being raped was just too much for me. It didn't make sense - it was like they were trying to justify and redeem her being a horrible person (throughout more than 75% of the drama) by saying that she went through something horrible (rape *is* horrible, but there was no reason to add that to her story because her story already made justifiable sense). Her horrible actions and mentally was already explained through her thinking she was abandoned when pregnant. They didn't need to add such a cruel thing on top of it. It was unnecessary and honestly, for me personally, distasteful.
Another thing that was handled poorly and was a complete let down for me was how Na Wang Shik was not in the final episodes - it felt really REALLY wrong. He needed to be there some how. Flashbacks would have been a great addition to kind of bridge the gap of the actor's absence! It was like they were trying to get us to forget he ever existed in the drama....but he was present in EVERY SINGLE EPISODE so trying to brush off his character in the last 4 episodes was just stupid and not well compensated for.
A logical issue in the plot that I could not fathom was the culprit behind the death of the Grandmother/Grand Empress Dowager....or apparently a suicide. Even if her suicide was planned by the writers, it made NO LOGICAL SENSE. NONE. How would her suicide help ANYONE (her reasoning behind killing herself rather than being murdered by her own family members)? UGH that was soooo frustrating and stupid too.
In regards to the island the Empress Dowager wanted so badly..... I was thinking that the island was gonna have something extremely taboo, cruel and crazy - the poppies with the cocaine production just really didn't cut it for me. Yes, the human experimenting was awful, but I didn't understand the point to it. Why do experimenting on humans with poppy extract? What's the goal/purpose??? That was left unexplained, which made it feel like they never really knew what was on the island until it was time to reveal it and then they didn't come up with anything worthy of all the desire to KILL over.
The ending with the Empress Dowager killing her own son was goosebumps evoking. It just didn't make sense to me how they made it seem like in his dying breaths the Dowager didn't mean it.....she tried to blow him up like 2 days ago.....
It was also sad that the sister to the emperor was simply too dumb to get involved with all the crazy stuff and therefore never trusted to handle anything. It protected her in the end, but man she felt so betrayed and surprised/appalled at their actions. Poor thing.
I also didn't get why the Empress (Sunny) was made to look like she's going to miss the Emperor after his death/murder but not once does she seem to mourn or remember Na Wang Shik. How does that even make sense to them?! They were in frickin love! Everyone knew it, but thanks to the actor's inability to be present in the last 4 episodes they decided to pretend that they weren't leading to that the whole time?! Where was Sunny crying herself to sleep because she loved him and he died protecting her from the bomb explosion (which they didn't really explain well either, just kind of glazed over to get him out of the picture). That makes me so mad.
There was some dramatic irony of people walking around looking at "antique " stuff from in the palace. That had me cracking up.
What I can say about the ending that was good was at least Sunny always loved Ari and wanted to protect her, which she managed to do till the end. That's a plus.
You see and this is a prime reason why I never watched currently airing dramas in the first place! The ending to this drama was so awful that it ruined the whole drama for me, even though I absolutely loved mostly everything up until the way they started to wrap up the ending.
Sunny didn't get to be with Chun Woo Bin/Na Wang Shik (which I wasn't originally rooting for, but after all the implications, I found myself wanting them to end up happy together) and that kinda bugged me because they were definitely alluding to their romance. And then they took it away!
Also, what was UP with Sunny's hair cut in the end?! That style did NOT suit her. And I don't think a haircut automatically equals a progression/lapse in time so that was definitely unnecessary too (though, I'm totally nit-picking, so I'll stop there).
Overall, I want to say I enjoyed this drama more than I did, but the ending makes it something I do NOT want to rewatch. Even the epilogue scene was a let-down. It implied that the Emperor and Sunny were supposed to be together if they had met in another life in different circumstances, but the whole drama spent time showing us that they would never be together and Na Wang Shik was her *fit*.
While the drama was highly addictive and paced well, the way the writers chose to handle the drama extension and not having the actor for Na Wang Shik included in the final 4 episodes ruined everything. I think the writers really need to reflect on how they handled this drama (in plot), their characters (in development), and their actors.
I would only consider recommending this drama/rewatching this drama if there was an alternate ending including Na Wang Shik's character and their happily ever after (rather than the bittersweet ending we got).
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First thing I want to say is, I know that everyone has different tastes but I don't understand why this drama is getting so much hate. The story and themes talked about in this drama aren't the most original but it does not mean that it is a bad drama. The Last Empress is a Korean drama that takes place in an alternate universe in which Korea still has a ruling imperial family. The drama is a story about the power struggles in the palace, the rollercoaster ride of a romance of the Emperor and his new Empress Oh Sunny who was a commoner, and the events leading up to the downfall of the imperial family. The cast in this drama played their characters very well especially Shin Sung Rok (who played the detestable Emperor), Lee Elliya (who played Min Yu Ra the manipulative mistress and secretary of the Emperor) and Oh Ah Rin (the amazing child actress that played the adorable sassy Princess Ah Ri). Also the music used fit the drama well. I would recommend this drama. Was this review helpful to you?
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First of all, I am going to start with the story. I am totally confused, taking into account the story as a whole and cannot comprehend why did they drop to give an answer to the mistery with whom episode 1 has begun despite prolonging the drama for 2 more episodes. Also, it was obvious that the main focus was randomly changing, from episode to episode. As if they had 4 different plots and were randomly picking each one for each set of episodes.One of the things that gave this drama its charm was its actors. I would not agree that all of them were perfect in fulfilling their given role. One of the reasons would be the beforementioned fact that the story itself was sloppy, many of the questions drama had opened at the very beginning and promised to answer were not answered and roles of certain characters, who had the most impact on the story - were changing according to the story segments and figuring characters truly out was one of the most anxious things along with following the story. All of the main actors remained faithful to their own acting style and there were many scenes that made me truly laugh but then again, there were many "wtf" scenes that somehow made me question if writers were constrained with some type of pressure in terms of the finance, production, public opinion, etc. One of the reasons I felt like that, was the fact that even after revealing all the evil and illegal business the empress dowager had conducted - I still thought of her as a silly woman from 20 smth episodes before the last two episodes. Furthermore, killing off the main character because of conflict in actor's schedule contributed to the overall confusion added to the fact that some of the characters ended up being randomly added to the story based on the fact that even though they stepped in to reveal something rather big - their characters were unprepared to jump into constant segment changing and their significance was lost. They kept stepping into unnecessary melodramatic dangerous cliches that held my attention on their existence and that had given me another level of "wtf" face expressions.
When it comes to music, it was really solid and it was perhaps the only criteria in my opinion that deserves to be rated with higher than mediocre points.
Anyhow, I would recommend watching this show regardless of my overall review but be prepared for a "wtf" rollercoaster. Yet, it was a drama with great potential in my opinion.
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What makes this show awesome is the characters and continual surprises as the story progresses. I wasn't hooked on this until about the third episode, as I wasn't drawn to any of the central characters at the onset. Oh Sunny seems like a pushover at first glance, but that is part of the draw to the story: just how much her character grows. Not only is it believable, but the sets, costume design, passionate moments between the characters (the villains and antagonists are especially brilliant, and unabashedly self-serving for their own interests). I was on the edge my seat the whole time, and despite it only finishing up two months ago, I'm already tempted to start watching it again.
Come checkout my new blog for more reviews: https://dramafox.wixsite.com/dramafoxblog
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A Brilliant Pantomime!
Short: The word "pantomime" is really the best one I can think of to describe this. It's 26 episodes of absolute crazy mayhem. It's extreme in all the ways you can be extreme. It's loud. It makes no apologies. You're either going to love this one or hate it, I just can't see how you can be anywhere in between. Great cast, hammed up to the max :)Long:
I mean... where to start.
If your normal drama's are delicate shades of colour and grayscales, with softly defined lines and imagery contained within both the positive and negative spaces, then this drama is BRIGHT, PRIMARY COLOURS, BIG THICK LINES and COLOURS OUTSIDE THEM! :)
It's a bit of nonsense really, there's so many plot holes and contrivances you can drive double decker buses through but... it's consistent in its nonsense and asks for no forgiveness :) It's loud, characters shouting at each other in extreme emotions, there's so much furniture and so many vases smashed, so many desks wiped clean smashing everything in a fury - it's got all that and more besides. Everyone's backstabbing everyone. Affairs, children of unexpected parentage, murders, the lot.
After watching a couple of episodes and looking at 24 still to go - making it probably my longest drama watched at all - I wondered if I would really want to continue it. It's so different to what i've normally watched but after another couple - it became "NEXT!" fodder - the plot is silly, but it moves at a really good pace, there's nothing slow about this, and I found myself wanting to see what happens next all the time.
It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea though, so I'd suggest if you're looking for something wildly different to your normal style for a change (maybe it'll get you out of that drama rut) or you happen to like this kind of extreme style then it's worth a short - and if you're not sure, heck, watch a few episodes and see if you get hooked or repulsed.
The cast are great - though my main reason for watching was of course the beautiful and incredibly talented Jang Na Ra who pulls off her lead role exceptionally well (as expected!). She brings a wide range of emotions and regardless of what she's doing she seems to deliver the emotion and personality of her characters better than most, in my opinion of course :)
One character who you grow to despise quickly, over time I gradually saw what I felt was his redemption and I liked how they explained his back story, in amongst all the other goings on which helped you really understand the machinations of the depicted imperial house, how the children were routinely emotionally and physically abused and then brought up as puppets for the adults to manipulate for their own benefits. It's quite brutal, but that goes with the whole flow of this, there's nothing subtle about this story just as their isn't with how it's told.
Don't take that to mean it's explicit or gory - it's no more so than just about any other drama really, in fact compared to dramas with swords - much less so :)
Really enjoyed it when I did not expect to after the first 2 or 3 episodes - your mileage may vary, give it a shot though :)
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The story was a mess, the acting was okay at best, and main actress had zero chemistry with both leads. I've gave this a chance due to the high ratings, and was interested for the first 20 episodes, but after that the plot became ridiculous, the writer focused way too much on pointless cameos and cutesy emperor scenes which ruined the flow and plot direction, and one of the main characters didn't even appear in the last four episodes.
I don't what happened behind the scenes, but the writing completely fell apart. The twist with the grandmother was one of the dumbest reveals in the show. And I am sick and tired of the female characters in kdramas being forced to put up "romantically" with abusive twats. All the scenes with Sunny and emperor made me want to puke. The bodyguard was a "nice guy" but the writing for the character and backstory was so one-dimensional and flat.
Personality wise, the only characters I really enjoyed was the grandmother and Sunny.
Complete waste of time, too many crazy character tropes with no proper resolution. I feel dirty after watching this.
On the bright side, the music was pretty nice.
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This drama started out really well. The opening scene has captivated thus far, but lately the last few episodes has been dragging on and on. Because of the high rating, the drama was extended to a total of 52 epodes, with two episodes in one. However, I feel like some things could've been resolved before hand, but in stead it was meant to be dragging on. There are many things I can say about each individual characters, but I will leave it up to your risk to watch the drama. One thing I must say if they are going to have two different actors portray Na Wang Shik...they should've find someone that is quite similar to the character it self. It didn't make sense to find a big actor to play the role then cast Choi Jin Hyuk to replace him and the staff thinks we don't know what they did there, but we all knew what happen like all of the sudden he was not big and he was skinny and he was good looking. How does that happen?
Most of the actors that were cast for their role I am sure they are nice person in real life or so, because they are portraying a character since it is their job after all. However, this drama has a lot of makjang elements to it. At some point I just stop pay attention to the plot because of how ridiculous this drama was. Some of the reactions from the actors was just too dramatic. The writer have written several high rating drama, but I wouldn't say this was her best work. Despite this being a Korean drama, I believe it should still make sense in a way and everything can't just be put together without seeing how the flow of the drama went.
Because of the extension, Choi Jin Hyuk, the actor that play Na Wang Shik is getting less screen time since he finished filming his part last week and therefore we won't see him in the last 4 episodes, but his body is shown which doesn't really make sure nor does it help much because we have already ship Sunny with him, but then she'll most likely not end up with him nor the emperor, I don't mind if she doesn't end up with anyone to be honest.
Overall, I didn't touch the main points, but I won't be rewatching this. However, props to the actors and their hard work and better luck choosing the next project.
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The plot was very interesting and kept me intrigued every minute. There weren't many boring time filler scenes and I watched with much anticipation. The characters developed well and were capable of making me change my point of view multiple times. There weren't many flaws in how the story progressed, however I don't like how Wang Shik's story ended, it felt rather incomplete. Other than that, I think that it's a big plus that there were a lot of funny scenes as well as the serious, intense ones. No matter how serious the situation was, it always made me laugh how the Emperor kept breaking stuff for no reason. I haven't watched many makjangs, but I definitely enjoyed this one.
The cast has done an incredible job, especially Shin Sung Rok. He was a perfect fit for his character, portraying both the serious and silly sides of it. Shin Eun Kyung's acting also impressed me a lot. She is indeed very experienced, but she really made me feel her character's emotions. In my opinion the whole cast were perfect for their roles and I will be anticipating their future works too!
Overall, I loved the drama and I would definitely recommend.
(I'm not really good at writing constructive reviews, but I tried my best.)
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