The Crowned Clown (2019)

Lee Se Young is the main Female Lead in both dramas
Somewhat similar vibes but are pretty different plot-wise.

SIMILARITIES
- The main character (MC) who grew up a commoner at first is a fill in for the king, as per the king's request
- MC ends up needing to become the king when the real one *spoiler* inevitably dies to prevent political upheaval and many deaths
- There's a romance plot line
- Both dramas have good acting and cinematography

DIFFERENCES
- In TKA the king and MC are twins, in TCC they're just look a-likes
- TKA follows a female MC and in TCC it's a male MC

Love how the main actor plays two very distint characters in both series. However, they are quite different in nature. The Crowned Clown IS a very intense watch, while LSFI is an easy watch.

Both are historical with a rich, brutally gorgeous aesthetic. Both feature clowns and a king on the edge of insanity.

Both involve identity switching to protect someone of high status. Both are historical dramas with the following included genre's 'romance', 'drama', and 'political'. Both are also set in the Joseon Dynasty.

If very clever screenwriting is your weakness, look nowhere else! Both dramas share little in common in terms of the presentational contexts, but the power play twists and turns in both are really spectacular. Greed is a dominant theme in Stranger, but the villains in the The Crowned Clown mostly seek revenge. Stranger starts to pick up its pace from the end of episode 7 upwards, but The Crowned Clown has kept its suspense and momentum since the beginning. In particular, I found The Crowned Clown went a notch higher because of the magnificent portrayal of the dual characters by Yeo Jin Goo who has a very enigmatic screen presence, as well as the veteran actors who play the Enoch and his royal advisor.

Also Known As: When I Turned 9 , Life at Age Nine , Ahopsal Insaeng ,
Screenwriter: Lee Man Hee
Genres: Youth, Drama

both leads are "twins" in TCC he isn't related and is more of a doppelganger someone they find that look a lot like the king, where as in QLAW they were actual siblings.

Both shows:
> Have adorable male leads who are good at heart.
> Smart and mature female leads who are the apple of the male lead's eye.
> The male leads end up bringing hope to the female lead.
> The relationship between the leads is very balanced.
> There's a big focus on romance and romantic moments/gestures; more so in TTON.
> Both male leads pretend to be someone else at first (deceiving the female lead) but for a good reason.
> The Female Lead is caught between the affections of the male and second male leads.
> Male Leads are seen as an obstacle by the second male leads, who desire to kill them.
> Male Leads do not want to sit on the throne.
> Male Leads try to keep their families safe.
> The cinematography is beautiful!

Similarities:
- people wanting to dethrone a royalty
- evil Queen Dowager & state councilor
- strong friendship between a royalty and a subject
- less focus on romance
- engaging story line
- excellent performance of the actors

Differences:
- the story

The Crowned Prince (TCC) is that first sageuk that made me interested in watching such dramas. I usually watch sageuk dramas just to pass time but most do not hold a candle to TCC. (BTW I do not consider Alchemy of Souls as a sageuk drama because it has fantasy elements.) Now, after watching the 4 episodes from Under The Umbrella, I would say TCC has competition.

strong heroine | royal intrigues | chemistry of lead roles | strong dialogues | comedy / romance / mystery | visuality / acting / cast

Both Warriors of the Dawn and The Crowned Clown are about Gwang Hae played by the same actor, Yeo Jin Goo.

I wrote this recommendation after completing episode 12 of Confession where there's a big plot twist which I bet many didn't expect. There was also a major plot twist somewhere in episode 8 or something (I don't quite remember). This quality of screenwriting reminds me highly of The Crowned Clown, where the good and bad guys are continuously cancelling each other's chess moves and keeping the viewers hooked in. I rate The Crowned Clown a perfect 10, so you can imagine the quality of screenwriting in Confession when I compare both of them this way.

Both male leads accidentally become people of power and use this position to fight corruption and injustice

Many reasons revolve around the protagonist:
- protagonist of low(er) status takes on the role of the emperor
- falls in love with empress
- initially happy-go-lucky
- idealistic, wants uphold justice/equality for the people
- naive in his actions to achieve ideals, suffers because of it
- struggles with harsh reality of palace politics and human nature
- struggles with reality that he can't create a happy ending for everyone

The rest is pretty standard for almost any historical drama:
- fight for throne
- power struggle between different groups of nobles
- revenge
- assassination
- deception
- etc