ACTION: There are few plot holes but regardless, the drama is pretty decent. The action scenes are not that powerful like any other sageuk drama but still good. I love the turning kick, flying kick, the punches. The fact that Kim Myungsoo trained for weeks to do the stunts alone without having a double, I’m giving him that credit. Good job.
ROMANCE: There was no Romance tag before the promotion of this drama. To those who keep asking if there will be romance or not, the first episode will give you hints (so better watch it).
CHEMISTRY: Some says that ML and FL has no chemistry, and that Kwon Nara looks older for him. Let me give you a fact. They were both born on March 13 but Kwon Nara was born in 1991 and Kim Myungsoo is a ’92 liner. So Yes, Kwon Nara is 1 year older. And maybe, you still can’t move on with Danyeon Couple – know what I mean (I’m one of them). I’m telling you, Yi-gyeom and Da-in chemistry (ship) is smoothly sailing. The way they give concerns to each other, then later on bickers, will give you butterflies. Also, Yi-Gyeom and Chunsam’s chemistry is so funny.
PRODUCTION: If you think that the drama is a low budget because their wardrobe is not as fancy as other saguek drama, well for me, it’s a No. The story is not about the Royal Family. The ML is not a KING or a PRINCE. He’s just an ordinary man working at the palace with a pretty good position so don’t expect him to wear that fancy thing. Their attire fits perfectly for each character and for every situation they are in. Though sometimes Da-in’s lipstick is kinda flashy when she’s wearing man’s clothes. The cinematography is not dull as what others think. Check your phone and laptop or tv. They have different vibrance, lol. :-D
ACTING: Though I still have hang-over with Kim Myungsoo’s character as KIM DAN, I’m loving his character now as Sung Yi-gyeom. He delivers the character well. His facial expression is like emojis. Kwon Nara on the other side is also doing a good job portraying as Hong Dain. Though I say, in the last scene of episode 4, it’s kinda awkward. Lee Yi-Kyung, as always… he makes me laugh in every scene that he has.
OST: So far, we only have 1 OST for the 5 episodes. They haven’t released the full version yet but N.Flying’s OST I’ll Find You is such a bop. KBS please released it soon.
So, for those who are having doubts whether to watch or not, give it a try. It’s a pretty good drama. See for yourself. We do have our own taste buds you know.
I’ll update my review soon
NOTE: Comparing this to MR. QUEEN is lame because they are of different genre and plot. Also, if you think the drama is underrated, well it’s not. The fact that the ratings for each episode is in 5% range despite having a strong contender (I know you know it) even before the drama airs, I must say it’s not underrated. So far, I'm enjoying this drama.
UPDATE: I won't say much. But I just want to tell you all that the story of this drama keeps getting better and exciting. Every episode is a must watch -- The blossoming romance between FL and ML, the complicated relationship between ML and his half brother. The problems that they have to deal with - corruption, murder and more.
UPDATE: I'm only giving this a 9.5 rating as I badly want season 2 for this drama. This drama ended with 14% for the last episode (such an achievement for KBS because it has been long (2018) since they achieved a double digit rating in Mon-tues drama timeslot. Too bad many viewers are sleeping on this masterpiece. It deserves recognition and hype too.
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It's worth your time
IT'S THE BEST HISTORICAL DRAMA I'VE SEEN (apart from Mr. QUEEN). It basically have everything, action, comedy, mystery, romance, etc. Also usually most of the kdrama's are about romance and romance only, but a plus point in this drama is that it's focuses really less on romance (not gonna say that their are really little romantic scenes specially after what happened in ep 13 ;)) and if you are really into detective stories then THIS is the story you definitely HAVE to watch. I don't know why the international audience has given this a really low rating, specially when it's doing great in Korea. Trust me when you start watching it, you won't be able to wait without watching the next episodes. Since i'm watching it while onging, yes I'm honestly SUFFERING here while waiting for the mext few episodes. IT'S DEFINITELY WORTH YOUR TIME AND YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTEDWas this review helpful to you?
Pretty good for a sageuk
Not bad for a comical sageuk, I knew casting Lee Yikyung would mean this show would be funny, however not as funny as Mr Queen, it has light comedy and light romance. This drama started off quite shaky to be honest, like it was messy all around and I couldn't really understand what was going on until Episode 7 where they somehow gave us a summary as a commentary before the episode started which helped us sum up what pretty much happen and that cleared my doubts. (I never seen such a commentary summary before wth??) Then it started to get more interesting from there onwards. The way Igyeom (Myungsoo) shows up as the royal agent with his horse tablet is pretty funny and cool HAHA. Their love story bloomed in the later part but there was not alot of romance in this, ended off pretty good with them being the same trio setting off for another mission..Was this review helpful to you?
Just a fun filled watchable Drama
Royal secret agent was just a timepass Watchable drama without anything special. The plot was too cliche and the execution was just okay and managed to finish decently, for a beginner to kdrama you can fully satisfy with everything on it. But as a regular drama watcher it has nothing but a usual type of drama.For a historical settings so many people may not interested with the period dramas but not for me i love watching historical dramas. So from the start to end i didn't felt any boring or dragging but infact there was no speciality at all, impressive start and then move like a pretty ordinary style of story telling in the finale was also just average.
For the storyline i Don't like some illogical ill-fated love relationship. I don't know why they make so complicated like this. 2 couples are the best without one men fighting for a girl, by the way am not saying there was such kind of a storyline but there was something similar to that and it kind of annoying. Apart from that thing it quite a decent story,
And its not like a too complicated political or very serious kind of a narration. They mainly filled the story with lot of fun moments. Overall its a one time Watchable dramas thats all..
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Watch this drama now and dont hesitate‼️
At first I didnt want to watch this drama, I just realized that my IQIYI acc will expire soon and I wont be renewing it so I searched for dramas to watch, and then I found this on my list. I tried the first episode and I'm amazed and I already liked it so I just finished this drama in 1 day. I Actually finish one drama in 4 days because I dont watch dramas at night. But this drama is just so exciting to watch. Kim Myung Soo and Kwon Nara did a great job. Thier adventure is exciting, funny, and suspense. Every criminal is getting on my nerves but Im so happy when they catch them. This drama is so good so please watch it, dont hesitate like me becuase I regret not watching this earlier. Its on my TOP 10 FAV DRAMA❤️Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Throughly Enjoyable
While waiting for the last episodes of Mr. Queen to trickle in so I can binge watch, I thought I'd try this--and by the second episode I was hooked. I loved the balance of humor, action, fast pacing, and above all, the acting on the part of the three main characters--as well as the subsidiary characters, good and evil.The plot isn't perfect--one begins to wonder by episode four, when pretty much all the road signs point toward the main villain, why he hasn't been apprehended, but I was willing to look past that because I was having so much fun watching them eventually solve the mystery of the former prince's death and prove the bad guy really was Mr Evil.. Another slight irritation is that the heroine purportedly has been trained in martial arts, but we only see a mild attempt once or twice to defend herself. She has to be rescued the rest of the time, but at least she uses her head in other ways, coming up with alternate plans when the hero's plans go haywire. (We won't ask where they got all those costume changes when they were totally out of cash!)
The climax really comes in episode 14, but I didn't mind spending two more episodes with the delightful main characters.
My main worry was whether the brother would make it. The story also thumps pretty heavily on its Message about how downtrodden the peasants were, and how corrupt the nobles over them. Our heroes talk about that very often, while our hero choses to work within the system, and his brother outside of it as a kind of Robin Hood. I was afraid the story would make Ibeom, the brother, have to pay for his "crimes" by dying, but there's a neat twist at the end, leaving me extremely satisfied with everyone's fate. I know I will rewatch this one.
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Detective based drama with funny bromance and light Romance
First of all I loved the leads of this drama especially the two male leads their chemistry was amazing ,, They were a master and his servant but they treated each other as friends through out the drama and the second male lead was hilarious ,, really the reason that kept me watching every weekI liked the cases per episode to solve ,, it was thrilling and not dull
the most memorable case was when the two male lead dressed as ladies ,, they were so funny and I laughed my heart out ,, some cases weren't that strong or logical but it's fine
the Romance isn't that heavy and not the main focus at all ,, that's what I liked also about it
the female lead was a good partner and friend .....sometimes she made stupid mistakes but that was ok
The younger brother was the most annoying element to the male lead and I felt their relationship was cold and distant not close to what the male lead have with his servant Chun sam like true brothers
but they had some warm Brotherly scenes till the end of the drama
Overall
I recommend this drama to anyone who like historic detective dramas with funny bromance .. it worth your time
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A solid, worthwhile watch
What a fun little show. Don't expect anything deep or profound. It is about characters who are forced to go on missions together. They first start working together reluctantly, but eventually grow into a bickering, adorable team. Missions are straightforward and deal with taking down corrupt officials. Plot is mostly fast paced; cases aren't dragged out. There is a bit of romance, but show doesn't get bogged down by it. The meh parts involve the side characters, but not enough to make me stop watching. Overall, a solid show. Give it a try!Was this review helpful to you?
It's Agent. Royal Secret Agent.
I went through the gamut of bad male-centred western media (It's Joseon Marvel! Joseon Batman!) before realising that ROYAL SECRET AGENT (this has to be capitalised because of how often L intoned it at people, in a repeated meme that honestly never stopped being hilarious) is actually Joseon Bond.The idol and all-round bad actor, L, plays the eponymous ROYAL SECRET AGENT in a performance that plays to his strengths: that of showing up to set and just being aggressively pleasant in various outfits.
To be honest, after finishing this show I have to conclude that it is so genuinely awful I think I have to put it in 'so bad it's good' territory.
With a juvenile, shallow script that may have been written by highschool students who watched too many American movies, terrible acting, and a musical score with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, it starts out bad, veers into unwatchable and then kind of keels over sideways into gleefully terrible.
L is flat out bad, of course, but so is everyone else so he fits in at least. The script at first feels like it's been chopped out of the middle of a standard fusion Saguek and then someone has done a find and replace to add the words ROYAL SECRET AGENT to various cliched sentences. All of these are intoned as if the actor is so used to saying them they're mostly just surprised that the words ROYAL SECRET AGENT have been added to them.
"Who will stand between the people and the corruption of the powerful families?"
*checks notes* "Oh, it's 'Royal Secret Agents' this time. Okay."
"The ROYAL SECRET AGENTS."
As the show progresses it starts to feel instead like a mashed up Best Of of past Sageuks, most of which were unfortunately superior and with no self-awareness or feel of deliberation to the references. The ROYAL SECRET AGENT'S rebel brother being basically Hong Gil-dong was like Robin Hood showing up in a Bond movie. His increasingly useless Gisaeng turned cop turned Princess girlfriend was a homage to previous leads in several fusion Sageuks involving cross dressing. In this case ,they don't bother hiding she's a woman. She just puts on male clothes while being obviously female and walks around while our two male leads run through the streets bellowing AGASSI at her as though the act of wearing of gat is sufficient to hide her identity.
Instead of character development, the writer has the actors explain their background, motivations and actions in exposition while the bad guys yell their evil plans in public and say things like, "The Rule of Law does not apply to me! Let's hunt people!"
The male lead is an entitled, borderline-skeevy arse but since this is a kdrama you know that this will be a result of his Great Secret Trauma that will cause everyone to forgive him once they Understand Him. And if they use any more soft filters and lens flare on the female lead due to her vast beauty they might use up the sun.
And then there's the Boar Rule. Once there's a boar, you know it's bad. Really bad.
So bad it may even be good.
So pour yourself a drink and get watching.
You have been both enticed and warned.
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it's worth your time!!!! I can say one of the best historical drama I had
This drama will not disappoint you from start to finish, every episode will be filled with interesting stories and as the episode progress it will become more and more intense and interesting. the pacing of the story is not that fast. I loved this because the story is well-develop and well-balance the action part, comedy part, with a little romance to add colors, there's a little political backstabbing, and it's like watch a crime series but on Joseon period. try it, I recommend it you it's worth watching.Was this review helpful to you?
Good Enough
Korean Drama 'Secret Royal Inspector' had an interesting plot prompt, but ended up following the old well traveled path.The drama starts pretty strong, with the introduction of the characters, the main story, and the main mystery. The first case the Royal Inspector and his team take sets the foundation of their friendship and their dynamics as a team while presenting to the viewer what is yet to come. And yet, the story is pretty generic after that, with a bad guy who was neither intriguing nor original.
The romance was also a bit of a let down, as it had a messy pace, but, at least, it didn't overtake the story and played the role of filling the gaps. Unfortunately, the side romance and the trop of past love interest coming back to create drama was well used, probably a bit too much at times. At least the bromance was quite strong and refreshing.
The performances, finally, were pretty great for everyone, especially the leads, though the leading lady needs more screen time to improve her skills.
So, overall, 5.5 out of 10.
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