Princess Hours

The OST and outfit are masterpiece in that era.

This is the Hallyu drama who make K-drama more famous to the world, this drama promotes Korean culture exceptionally well, packaged beautifully within a romantic comedy story.

Every scene is wrapped in stunning visuals, start from the actors' costumes, which blend Korean tradition with modern elements that were remarkably advanced for the era, to the choice of palace settings and cultural details, all complemented by music that perfectly suits every scene. Why were the drama OSTs from those years so good and such a perfect fit? Whenever we hear even a snippet of one of those songs, we instantly recall the specific scene associated with it.

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love in spite of ourselves

I loved the couple. I loved the premise. I loved watching them slowly fall in love. But the pacing, unnecessary characters, and dragged-out middle made this feel like a chore at times.

If you like contract marriage, forced cohabitation, modern royalty, and watching two people slowly fall in love while living together, then you will like this drama — but only if you keep your remote very close and are not afraid to skip. A lot.
This is one of those dramas where the idea is better than the execution. The premise is amazing, the couple is worth it, and when it focuses on them, it’s genuinely beautiful. Unfortunately, it also wastes an unbelievable amount of time on unnecessary characters and side plots that add nothing. I truly believe if this drama were edited down to only the main couple, it would be incredible — and about 8 episodes long.

👍 LIKES
-The premise is so good — modern Korea with a monarchy? I was hooked immediately
-I’m a sucker for contract marriage / forced cohabitation, so I was already invested
-Feels like Boys Over Flowers but better, calmer, and more intentional
-I loved how they start liking each other earlier than expected — it’s subtle but there
-The modernized palace styling and hanbok looks are still beautiful almost 20 years later
-The FL’s cheerful, resilient attitude made her easy to root for at first
-When the drama focuses on just them, watching them fall in love is genuinely satisfying
-The real first kiss(though pretty much towards the end) was amazing — great chemistry, real payoff. wished we'd seen more.
-Episodes 15–22 complete mess, so annoying.
-I enjoyed the journey of them falling in love despite everything

👎 DISLIKES
-One of the slowest paces I’ve ever experienced, and not in a good slow-burn way
-Too much time wasted on high school nonsense when they’re already married
-Immature, annoying side characters that added nothing and were painful to watch
-Episode 9 flirting while married felt like cheating, not cute
-Political plotlines kept coming and going with no clear purpose
-The FL becomes extremely frustrating toward the end — childish, whiny, and illogical
-The overseas separation trope was completely unnecessary and infuriating
-Decisions near the end made no sense, especially who took the blame and who didn’t
-The mom deserved consequences — and it barely felt addressed
-We got way too little time of them actually being together after everything they endured
The ending needed more couple time — even something small would’ve helped

I started skipping early — and by episode 15, I skipped everything that wasn’t the main couple. Honestly? That’s the only reason I finished it happily.
If someone ever edits this drama down to just the couple, I would rewatch it immediately — and probably rate it much higher.

Final rating: 7.5/10
Could’ve been a 9.
Should’ve been shorter.

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"Goong" tells the story of a normal girl who finds herself in an arranged marriage with a real-life prince. Yes, it's not a historical drama, but a story where the royal family still exists.

Chae Kyung is a strange girl who is engaged to Lee Shin, the cold prince who studies with her and also has a girlfriend named Hyo Rin. To top it off, we have Lee Yul, Lee Shin's cousin who falls in love with Chae Kyung... and then we have the recipe for a romantic comedy.

The drama didn't really grab me, especially Yoon Eun Hye's character Chae Kyung, she was too silly, like a child and I really didn't understand why two princes would fall in love with her. HAHAHA'
The romance is dragged out and the main characters only start a real romance basically at the end.

A positive point is the soundtrack, Howl & J - Maybe Love is an addictive song.

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Better on the second watch after 10 years

Rewatching this after maybe 10 years made me appreciate it more. It’s just so classic and the feels are so good. This was kdrama on crack, they really made you love hate then love then hate the characters throughout the episodes and they mad you cry, laugh, mad, sad, confused every episode. They were just doing it for the drama! I love it 😂

mind you my MDL notes in this drama is literally just “our crown prince saved this drama” i was whipped for ju jihoon lmao but gotta say our crown princess was also killing it and hyorin’s charcter development was a nice surprise even after rewatching it also the OST is banger!

(changing my rating from 7 to 9)

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I think this is a classic but it's not amazing

This was the first Asian drama I've ever watched. So it does hold some sentimental value to me. However, despite that, I wouldn't consider it a great drama.
It's also not bad though; it's entertaining enough and an easy watch. The story is very cliche and predictable it tends to be a bit slow in some parts. The romance is kinda confusing and a slow burn at least on the male leads front and they're horrible at communicating until closer to the end of the drama.

That being said, the acting is really good (in my opinion, although I can understand why some people would think differently) even for Eun Hye who made her acting debut in this drama. It is a classic drama that I think everyone should at least check out.

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In my opinion there is room for improvement

From a love triangle to arson accusations. There is so much to unpack in this show. I would always tune in now and then because in my opinion it lasted way longer than it should have, but I always wanted to know what would happen in the end. Let me just tell you, if it was shorter I would definately come back and watch it every now and then. Maybe its just me and my impatience but I found myself racing through the episodes sometimes because of unecessary dialogue. I think this show had so many opportunities to make things better than extending the episodes, they could have made the storyline more compact but still conveyed their plot. The plot is amazing but it could have been interpreted in a better way without all the unecessary and enraging stuff in between.

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I started watching this because my mom got a Kocowa subcription on our Amazon Prime and it was rec to me by the algorithm and how I wish it never did. JK I really did enjoy my time with this but omg it was a DRAG once it got to ep 19-ish. The last episode felt exceptionally terrible to me and honestly left a sour taste in my mouth with how horrible paced it was comparing it to literally even the PREVIOUS episode. I don't need everything spelled out to me but everything was just left so ambiguously and really just not what I expected out of the show. Their 2nd wedding was cute though so we got that ig lol. Anyways...the slow burn was sooo good and felt deserved but the miscommunication got too annoying Jesus. Shin got on my nerves but YUL... don't bring up his name in my house I swear he was so bad to Chaekgyung arguably sometimes worse than Shin. I love the music and fashion from this show the 2000s fashion mixed with korean traditional is so glam and chic I literally can't every new outfit Chaekgyung popped out with made me so envious. If I were to rewatch it would be any episode before ep 18 becos the angst be ANGSTYYY. But Princess Hours/Goong was a fun watch.

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Watched it the 3rd time and no plans to rewatch it all over again.

Soooo, when it was aired on Philippine TV some years ago, I will definitely give this a 10. I thought the main leads and the 2nd leads were great from visuals to acting.
But... if you have grown and matured 10 years later, and after several kdramas under your belt, from my POV of 3rd time seeing this, I have come to realize that both main leads acting are so cringe and lackluster.
However, my admiration for their costumes will remain the same, especially YEH's outfit when she became the princess was so cute and fashionable.
The love triangle as usual remains cliché and nothing new.
I have also loved the OST. One of my faves actually.

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The Classic Romcom That Everyone Should Rewatch

I just did a rewatch one of my first kdrama. It made me appreciate this drama more looking at their property, stage, styling, to music, the filming team really did an impressive job with the korean modern monarch concept that ascend beyond time.

I really love how the palace maid corporate the uniform blazer with the traditional belt and keeping the hair braid with ribbon / daenggi. fl's fashion is iconic and she often wears a modern fusion hanbok. how they shot within the palace and then the traditional bgm tune in made the scene more enchanting. of course the iconic stuffed bear too that is always the chapter highlight.

somehow older drama made more thoughtful craftmanship and i miss that so i often turn back to the classic. i rated it 7.5 before only focusing on the story, but my best decision was rewatching this and noticing even the tiniest details the team had worked on. solid 9!

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TRIGGERS PTSD

19yo HS student forced to marry a 19yo crowned prince. She was isolated from her family, from society and forced to live within prison-like rules within the palace. She developed affinity towards a narcissistic crowned prince who does not accept faults and finds a way to blame everything to the FL. I find it inconsistent for the FL to fall for a mean guy. She lived in a harmonious family and she has many friends. Unlikely that this kind of personality would want to have the high drama a narcissist brings.
All throughout the show, she wants to feel accepted by the ML. She gears towards an abusive relationship with ML's detached and self-centered personality.
I know she's making a great mistake and totally understandable because she's a child. If there will be a season 2 where they are middle aged person, I know for sure FL and ML would have already separated and high hopes that the FL finally learned what's good for her.

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