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Entertaining, but not for people wanting more substance.
The King: Eternal Monarch is difficult to review because, at face value, it is an entertaining drama: interesting premise, excellent cinematography, addictive soundtrack, strong female lead, suspenseful, and romantic. The problem with The King: Eternal Monarch, however, is that it fails to meet expectations, leaving many viewers feeling as though they watched an early, conceptualized version of a drama released as it was being written by an author with a vague concept of where the plot was going and no knowledge of how many episodes were left until the ending. We know what could have been, so our disappointment leads us to be overly critical of what we have been given.**Story: 7.0**
While the plot devices of interdimensional travel and a modern day Korean monarchy are nothing new, the combination of the two are unique enough to excite any fantasy lover. Throw in a dashing king, a tough female cop, and a villain traveling between dimensions, killing people and replacing them with their doppelgangers, and you have the building blocks for something special.
Sadly, someone somewhere thought more would be better, and all the elements that could have made this drama great were poisoned by the the addition of a time travel plot device, a surplus of ridiculously blatant examples of product placement, a female villain who served no real purpose other than to be an unlikable annoyance when convenient for the plot, a multitude of supporting characters and their doppelgangers who were difficult to keep track of, and a sometimes non-linear story-telling style that made the whereabouts and actions of the villain difficult to follow, with very little mystery or payoff because of it.
The addition of so many minor characters was, perhaps, the biggest downfall to this series because it detracted from the time that could have been better spent developing the main characters, in particular the relationship between the male and female leads. For a show that is built around a love story that spans multiple dimensions, it sure didn’t spend a lot of time developing the romance, and instead it relied heavily on the concepts of fate and destiny to carry the relationship while the leads spent a large amount of time apart in their respective worlds.
The main antagonist and biggest external conflict for the leading couple, villain Lee Rim, also suffered due to shared screen time with his many, many doppelganger minions. His villainy would have been much more impactful if his motivations for world domination had been expanded upon and all the corrupt doppelgangers were introduced as they were exposed, the extent of Lee Rim's reach being unveiled one doppelganger at a time. It was a missed opportunity that would have created suspense and kept viewers guessing as to who was good and bad along with the leading characters.
As the show went into its final four episodes, the plot began to feel rushed, as though the writer anticipated the series being 20 episodes long but was told half-way through production it was only going to be 16 episodes instead. Moments previously depicted in the first episode (Lee Rim being interrogated at the police station) turned out to be insignificant and irrelevant, and the downfall of the villain was less impactful and grandeur because it happened three different times, all rather abruptly and without much fanfare.
I suspect that a lot of fans were satisfied with the “happy” ending, but I found it to be a cop-out. While all our secondary characters found endings in the reset timeline deserving of their good--or bad--deeds in the original timeline, it was clear that the writer didn’t know how to resolve the love story that spanned two worlds and various timelines. While a together-but-separate ending worked in Crash Landing on You, it’s hard to imagine such a situation working out in the long-term for this couple, despite the clear implication that they do somehow manage to grow old together, when one of them is the king of a country that still expects its monarch to produce heirs.
I personally would have liked an ending where everyone, including Jung Tae Eul and Lee Gon, lost their memories of the other world after the reset--which would have been more in line with traditional time travel logic--allowing us to see Jung Tae Eul meet Lee Ji Hun and Luna meet Lee Gon and fall in love in their respective worlds, suggesting that the two souls are destined to be together no matter the universe. Of course, such an ending would have had to exclude the cute moment between Luna and Kang Shin Jae, but it’s a sacrifice I would have made, especially since he seemed to have chemistry with the therapist/doctor, who could have turned to be his love interest in the reset.
**Acting/Cast/Characterization: 7.5**
Woo Do Hwan stole the show with his dual roles as Jo Young and Jo Eun Sub, and I would watch this drama again solely for his performance. While the two characters were foils for each other, there were moments when you could see flashes of Jo Eun Sub’s personality in Jo Young, showing that the four-year-old Jo Young introduced in the first episode could have also grown up boisterous and carefree, had his parents not divorced and he not become the King’s Sword. Woo Do Hwan did an excellent job of portraying them as two sides of the same coin.
Lee MIn Ho fit the role of dashing, attractive king, but much like Prince Charming in Disney’s Cinderella, he had very little personality outside of being perfect. To be honest, I’m not sure if this is a symptom of Lee Min Ho’s acting abilities or a combination of the director and writer pushing for the idea of a fairy tale romance, complete with a royal leading man who excels at literally everything. If that’s what they wanted, then they succeeded. Unfortunately, as a viewer, I found that level of perfection unbelievable, and I feel like opportunities for Lee Min Ho to express deeper, less flattering emotions were skipped over in favor of having him look pretty for the camera. While I don’t mind seeing Lee Min Ho being paraded around in a bunch of dashing uniforms while riding in slow motion on the back of a gallant steed, the reality is that if he’s placed on such a high pedestal, both socioeconomically and personality-wise, it’s hard to imagine a police detective who values comfort over appearances forming a meaningful bond with him, definitely not in the time allotted to them as a couple in this series.
Kim Go Eun’s acting was hit or miss for me. As Jung Tae Eul, she had some real standout moments, such as the last twenty minutes of episode 11, but for the majority of her scenes her facial expressions were kind of flat and wooden. Perhaps that was an intentional choice in order for her to appear more like a tough-as-nails cop despite her petite appearance, but instead it felt like she had no personality outside of being a detective, which further widened the emotional gap between her and Lee Gon. I found her role as Luna much more intriguing and complex, and the blank-faced delivery of her lines felt more befitting of the street hardened thief dying of cancer than of a cop with a lot of friends, a loving father, and a princely suitor.
Most of the supporting cast did well in their roles, including several standouts, but there were a few characters that I wish had been excluded from the drama (Looking at you Prime Minister.) in order to tighten the plot.
**Music/Cinematography: 10**
I was extremely happy with the cinematography and music. With Netflix funding the production, it’s no surprise that the special effects and camera work seemed more on par with a Hollywood production. Every scene in which time stops is gorgeous, especially the moment it paused as Jung Tae Eul was tying her hair and the warm hues of fall dominated the color scheme.
The soundtrack was extremely catchy and was used effectively to compliment the various scenes. I am particularly fond of “Gravity” and “Orbit.”
**Rewatch Value: 9**
Despite all of its flaws with the plot and the disappointing resolution, this drama is immensely entertaining. If you acknowledge it for what it is, a drama that capitalizes on cliches and romance tropes, and that is your bread and butter, then you will be pleased with this drama and want to rewatch it for the vicarious fairy tale thrills. However, a lot of people want more from their dramas than unrealistic entertainment; this drama isn’t for those people.
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Personally I don’t understand why people didn’t like this , I loved it. At first I thought that it would be a typical drama with a long so it wouldn’t be as interesting but then once I actually got into I loved it. I’m so sad that this has ended because I became emotionally attached to this drama. The chemistry between the main characters was so real which made the scenes between them so beautiful, especially everytime they met each other. It was also funny when it needed to be and the plot had the right amount of twists without making it too predictable or unbearable. I loved the romance and friendship between them because it felt so real. The music is on another level for me, I loved all the OSTs from this drama and it made me like the drama even more since the songs were thought out well. The only thing I was sad about is that eun sup and yeong didn’t meet again like they’d promise each other and I wanted to see know who the little boy actually was. I know the ending can seem to be a bit unrealistic as they do end up together but it’s a fantasy drama for a reason, and I would have the ending any other way. Apart from that, I know it can be kind of confusing but you will not regret watching this. It’s one of the best dramas I’ve watched and I’m going to have a hard time getting over it. Was this review helpful to you?
As the most anticipated drama of the year, this one disappoints BIG TIME!
Story: Writer probably thinks when you throw scientific BS in the story, it'd make the drama looks like highly intellectual. Parallel universe, doppelganger, time travel, mathematical computations/formulas thrown as part of a story, is a brilliant idea ONLY if you know what you are doing, if not leave it to the experts. Writer thinks she can get away with it, but she made a big mess and doesn't know how to solve it! Those people who think this is a masterpiece is either a LMH or writer's die hard fans.
Acting casts: Thank goodness to Maximus, WDH's character and SJ. The villains are just decorations, PPL appeared more than them. Writer probably lose interest and just throw some fillers and whatever she thinks will work with the fanatics. I am not even a WDH fan but he stands out in this drama, totally overshadowed the ML. The 3 stars is for WDH, KKN and Maximus.
Music: Good thing, I liked 2 of the OST's, if not I would give this 1 star!
Rewatch value: Probably just watch WDH's scenes OR maybe just go to youtube and look for clips instead. Not gonna waste my time fast forwarding a lot of awful and cringey scenes.
Overall, this drama is for the fangirls only, nothing more nothing less.
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Stunning Visually Beautiful Drama with a Great Story. A Tale of Parallel Universes.
I absolutely loved this drama. An incredibly Creative Masterpiece from South Korea. Set in 2 Parallel Universes. Such a Great Storyline. The Main lead Character is every woman's fantasy come true. A Stunningly Beautiful Knight in Shining Armour. The Female lead was excellent. It is a Visually Exquisite Drama. Set In a Police Station and a Palace. The story moves across The Kingdom of Korea and the Republic of Korea. An amazing Clever Story of Treachery that Crosses 2 Universes. I have watched so many Korean Dramas and am amazed at the Creativity of the Script Writers and Production Teams, I have yet to come across any bad acting. Incredible talent that is well nurtured. There are also many stunning Chinese Dramas too but I prefer the 16 episode Korean set up above the 50-60 episode Chinese ones. This is in my Top 3 Favourites. I loved it.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
It is my sincere opinion that despite all the love/hate floating around about the drama, it really had only one true problem - this was a 20-24 episode drama shoved into a 16 episode one.Think about it - the most consistent criticism? The logic leaps, lack of explanations and editing. Well, to me, that is not having enough time to explain what's going on adequately. We had to guess.
I think given this, the writers did leave enough clues TO figure it out, despite the rushed feeling.
I enjoyed this drama - the production values, cinematography, acting and OST were excellent, and the story very interesting. Again, biggest problem I had with it was that sense of being rushed, of things left out or not fully explained.
Still, the ending did indeed wrap up EVERYTHING I wanted it too - which thrilled me :D
BTW, I thought the two leads had excellent chemistry :D
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I guess a lot of people simply give a good score based on star power alone.
The story mostly revolves around a king who is able to travel to a parallel world with the help of a flute that is passed down in the royal family and his close companions. The flute opens a portal that connects to 2 different versions of Korea in two different worlds.
Just like in most other works there is a villain and a heroine. Over the course of 16 episodes, the main character takes care of his business with the villain and the series ends with the main character and heroine hand in hand. Now, this is a tested and proven formula. This type of unfolding of a story is still enjoyed by billions of people including myself even though this same setup has been used 1000's of times. So even though the formula is good the way they put together this formula in this series is utterly mediocre and very forgettable.
The setup has a lot of potential but I think in the end they flushed it down the toilet.
The Story -- I couldn't care less even before halfway through. The series seriously failed to engage me mentally and emotionally. I only finished the entire thing because I hoped that they would turn it around but no. Towards the end, I was watching at 2x speed.
Acting -- The main character felt one dimensional and boring to be honest. the acting was bad and the character itself felt stagnant for the most part. The female lead was good at her role but it is wasted in this crappy drama ( I'm giving a 5 for acting only because of the heroine ). Then there is this other character that is the heroine's long time friend and her work colleague. His character and expressions in the role were so bad and always had that lonely and pitiful look that I wanted to punch him a few times ( No offense to the actor ).
Rewatch Value -- Gonna stay as far away as possible. Don't wanna waste my time re-watching a terrible drama.
Good Things I Can Say About This Drama -- The first few episodes were barely ok. That's about it...
My Thoughts After Watching This -- Why the heck did I complete watching this..... (LOL). On a more serious note and to those that concern, please don't make drama that revolves around the star power and fandom of the actors off-screen...... We get it, they are popular and so you want long shots of their faces, dramatic slow-motion scenes that may not be relevant when you look at the story or the events in the story (Not all the people who watch this are fanboys/fangirls of the actors)....... Instead, focus on creating a solid story and a setting, and the main characters with good character development that drive the story forward ( This is what made these actors the stars they are in the first place ). This is the thing that is going to make the majority of viewers connect with the show on a mental and emotional level and will make the show a success......
This one is a miss guys and gals... Don't waste your time on it... You can thank me later :)... Peace Out Guys I'm done talking.
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An “Eternally “ Forgettable Show
Kim Eun Sook has been an incredibly popular screenwriter over the years due to her past involvement in works such as ‘ Lovers In Paris’, ‘ Descendants Of The Sun’, ‘ The Heirs’, ‘ Goblin’ and ‘ Mr Sunshine’. Whilst admittedly the quality of her works have remained divisive amongst drama watchers and critics alike, it is almost guaranteed that Eun Sook’s dramas will generate a certain buzz and present a wide range of acting talents. Therefore when news was released that ‘ Eun Sook’s latest project would be bringing on a star-studded cast alongside an intriguing premise, it certainly seemed to suggest that ‘ Eternal Monarch’ would be a worthwhile watch. However, reality can often be disappointing and not even Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun could prevent the drama from descending into a cataclysmic spiral of mediocrity.
Undeniably, Eun Sook’s premise for the show had good potential upon paper. Parallel worlds, histories and doppelgängers can’t be claimed to be entirely brand new concepts within Korean dramas( note shows such as Duel , King of Two Hearts and W; Two Worlds for references ), however, the potential for a show in which one of Korea’s darker moments of history ( for those who don’t know , the 1910 Japan- Korea Annexation Treaty which played a part in ending the Korean monarchy , and the tragic Korean War of 1950-1953, which caused the divide of North and South Korea ) having never existed in one world with a still present Korean monarchy , did seem to suggest that King; Eternal Monarch could’ve been a generally enlightening and profound drama.
Sadly, Eun Sook wasn’t seeking to stimulate our brains with philosophical thoughts, centralising her efforts upon lacking “ cute” couple moments instead. It’s fair to say that Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun’s names as our leads within the show, offer a certain appeal for fans through memories of other stellar performances by the actors ( particularly Boys Over Flowers and Goblin) , however, Min Ho’s portrayal as Kim Gon sadly, was easily forgettable through his generic deliverance of lines and development as a character throughout the drama. Similarly, his costar Go Eun’s performance as detective Tae Eul/ her criminal counterpart , Luna, certainly wasn’t portrayed in an unbearable performance, however, her deliverance of lines preceding her reputation as a top -notch actress, was a mediocre performance to say the least ( equally parallel to her costar Eun Chae’s wobbly deliverance of lines in the drama )
. As for their characters, cynical cop and a smart King from a parallel world, isn’t something you see everyday, yet, for a show which centralises upon romance, there was nothing notably impressive within the build up of the two characters and their relationship. There were no moments of genuinely moving emotional trials , development , paced storyline or more importantly why either lead even decided to fall for one another at all. On a partial side note, the one joy which Eternal Monarch did bring for viewers was Woo Do Hwan’s comical portrayal as an easygoing intern at Tae Eul’s station and his counterpart , the cynical and confident bodyguard of Gon in his world.
On the other hand, whilst Do Hwan was possibly one of the few decent actors in the show, Eun Sook could have done a lot more with the storyline overall. If the show had focused less upon advertising the latest designer outfit on Min Ho as he swishes along the streets of Seoul in Tae Eul’s world , or a new chicken restaurant during a moment which could’ve been prevalent to the pacing of the storyline, then perhaps Eternal Monarch would’ve also offered us a greater explanation to exactly the unexplainable central reason behind the parallel universes , the intentions to exactly how two people can exist at the same time worlds apart in different dimensions or time zones ( note the whole unexplained reasons behind the boy with the yo-yo , the footage from the future and of course changing the timeline with Gon’s alternate self), and a well-written antagonist who didn’t fall short upon being simply a nefarious moustache twirling villain as well.
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WOO DOHWAN
the star of the show is easily woo dohwan. only his character was done some level of justice, his acting and his chemistry and bromance with himself is honestly the only thing keeping me through the episodes. everything else is just below par and not enjoyable. i don't know whats happening, and at ep 14 I've given up all hope at understanding the plot/characters/etc. i had so many hopes for this, but the under-done plot and absolute zero development of the characters and overdone romance is just. ew. I was actually jo yeong whenever something romanc-y happened, and this is coming from someone who LOVES romcoms and romances. i wish i knew what went wrong with the script and the plot for it to turn out this way. the romance is too much and too bland, like one second she absolutely hates him and as soon as she finds out hes a king shes suddenly in love with him??? what??? i dont understand the magic of the worlds, or the science of them and no effort has been made to try and make m e understand. we started out solving a mystery, a case but that is lost now?the characters are so bland. they know nothing about each other and neither do we??? lee gon is justa king with a pasion for math, and a weird obsession with tae eul, and what? the two dimensionality is ridiculous. jang tae eul is just a rude, unlikeable cop and i just ont understand what makes her that great and no one has even tried making her great?? prime minister koo could have been such a powerful, strong female lead but she was only dislikable. not the good kind either.
the only saving grace is jo yeong/jo eun sub. id give my life for these two, absolute cuties.
i absolutely love all the actors, and theyre what made me watch this in the first place. but this was just not it. not worth it at ALL (except ya kno, dohwan. he won)
the good thing about this was the production. a+. beautifully shot and post produced, loved it. the rest however just isnt worth it.
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LOVE
I Don't see any drawbacks in this storyDon't skip over 20ty seconds And Episodes you can't understand the story
I don't know how much times i watched it
Today only iam realise i didn't write the review for
For Extraordinary, Ultimate Emotional love scenes contained drama
OST outstanding
The Excellent actor and Actors [ Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun ]
Final part The Beautiful End ---->No it's not an end its begin,,,,of their life in the drama thats ~The King: Eternal Monarch ~
--------------------------------------------------------------->Thanking You<------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Masterpiace <3
So...i always begin watching a series with the ending. If its good then i watch it if not then no watching.Although i don't like the ending...yes it's somehow a happy ending living their happy live its just wasn't how i expected...
In the beginning i wasn't fan of Sci-Fi and i wasn't sure about parallel world this become one of my favourite dramas and i reawached it at least 5 times until now.
The acting and the scenes and the emotions are really good played.
I really recomand waching it. <3
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