This review may contain spoilers
This drama is placed with 3 other historicals as my all time favorites. Dae Jang Geum, Dong Yi and Queen Seondeok. There are many other good historicals but these are my 11's on a 10 based scale. What is different about this drama vs those is that the main lead is actually a man instead of a woman. Dong Yi showed the life of musicians, Dae Jang Geum showed the life of a physician and a cook. Yi san shows a different profession in the joseon period which is equally as interesting. I have watched this drama several times (at LEAST 4x) and i will watch it again. A 77 hour epic. I have read that as this drama got extended and extended again due to its popularity during it's run.. the competitors to the network delayed their own new drama's premiers as to compete with Yi San would have been a ratings disaster. Lee Seo Jin is the best portray-er of a king i have ever seen. Every cast member did an outstanding job. I watch all my drama's as binge. So much i want to add to this review but it might be construed as a spoiler. Like who yi sans great great grandmother is. Why he cared about poor people, why some nobles were so opposed to his reign. Who his father was. But since they might be construed as spoilers you have to watch it yourself and see. If you liked those other drama's i mentioned, YI SAN fits right in. A true timeless classic with love, friendship, loyalty and perseverance. Just writing this review i want to watch all 4 of these again. These drama's are so good you will rejoice at having altzimers so you can watch them again and again as if it was the first time every time! One last comment, the child actors! Where does South Korea find these child actors! I have NEVER seen anything outside South Korea where child actors add to the magic instead of detracting from it. They do such a good job that they set the hook.. that snares me for the whole wild 77 hour ride into another time and place! Was this review helpful to you?
Its a beautiful story of a hard working king, whom loved his people with his very life. He is truly one of Korea`s greatest ruler. Yi san tells the story of King Jeongjo, or Yi San, the 22nd ruler of the Joseon Dynasty, revered in Korean history for his championing of democratic rights for the Korean people, and for his bureaucratic reform, Be advice the ending is very sad:'(
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Perfect. Watch it, you won’t regret it.
This drama is perfect! I watched it at least 3 times. The plot was great, it’s worth 77 episodes. The acting… WOW! Just, those emotions. I wouldn’t be shocked if they actually hired couples to act. My favorite actress, Han Ji Min, never disappoints. The soundtrack was amazing. It was always the same one, but I personally never got bored of it. It’s very satisfaying, I’m still listening to it even tho I finished watching the drama two years ago. Like I said, I watched it 3 or more times (can’t remember exactly), but I’ll rewatch it again. I’m really sad that this masterpiece is very underrated. If you haven’t, watch it! You won’t regret it, I promise! This drama deserves 100000/10. I would say so much more, but I don’t wanna spoil it! Now go watch it!Was this review helpful to you?
LONG BUT WORTH WATCHING
This drama was the longest I have every watched. Even though it came out in 2007, I am so glad we can still view it. I haveonly watched K-dramas for about a year but I love Ji Min Han's work is one of my favorites.The three young actors did an exceptional job. They were adorable.I totally fell for Lee Seo Jin's performance. The drama's story line was great and it totally tore me up when Ji Min's and Seo Jin's characters died. My emotions are a testament to the exceptional performance of the two main lead actors. I also totally loved the characters of the three main King's guards.
Even though the drama is very long, I would watch it again. Thanks for all of the hard work that went into this drama.
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Bearable
Didn't like the introduction of them while kids everything about it felt disingenuous. Pacing issues were too obvious to ignore. The plot moves extremely slow +10 episodes for every single event with little to no side plots to keep you occupied. The problems didn't end there, the drama suffered from the extreme low tension in its writing. Most of the events that were suppose to create tension were caused by health problems. Speaking of which, they pulled the health problems card way too many times on too many characters. Regardless of the historical accuracy but that was poor storytelling for how it was implemented. Which leads me to my next point, regular boring side characters would usually get a 12 course meal for their affairs while super important characters would be cut off short and not get the same treatment. The important characters were robbed off of their climax too. Anyway, the drama had technical issues, the same scene can have different color grading between different angles. The drama had some nice moments with the leads but that's were most of its appeal ends.Was this review helpful to you?
One of the best king portrayals in a Korean drama
I'm writing this review from a second viewing perspective. This show will always have place in my heart as it is my second Korean drama watched 14 years ago. Now, the national channel in my country reaired it and I watched it again. Even though I didn't remember that many things from it since I watched it a long time ago, I thought I might be bored but guess what, I enjoyed it so much maybe even more than the first time.The story is so good, the number of episodes is maybe a downer for some people but every episode is worth it! There might be some moments where the drama is a bit lacking but that happens only a little.
Lee Seo Jin was amazing, I really liked his growth as a king, absolutely terrific! Lee Soon Jae is always great, he had a spectacular performance. Han Sang Jin was great too. The friendship between the King, Song Yeon and Dae Soo was a friendship everyone would like to have. There were some very touching moments.
The OST was so beautiful, I remembered it even after 14 years.
I still have a high rewatch value, 9, even though I've just finished it. My grade will go up by 0.5 because of that.
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