KTH at her cutest and SSH at his romcom best. Together, they make one endearing pair.
First, the bad. The script feels uneven and wanders a bit in the middle part. The music sometimes doesn’t fit the scene. The director missed a bunch of things here and there (probably due to the live shoot system).But the good makes up overwhelmingly for the show’s flaws. Our main couple is adorable. They are extremely comfortable with each other and start off as co-conspirators and semi-friends. They’re sweet without being cheesy. They playfully argue without actual bickering. Their characters grow without losing their essence.
I've watched Kim Tae Hee's other romantic pairings before and her role here as a modern princess plus her pairing with Song Seung Hon is the best of all (for reference: she was good with Joo Won in Yong Pal but her character there wasn't; her pairings in Jang Ok Jung and IRIS were tragic). Also, I've seen SSH in his older melodramas and in 2017's Black and couldn't see the charm—until here.
If you like either of them, then I suggest giving this a try. This is one of those few older shows that I can absolutely rewatch and recommend (albeit with some fast-forwarding).
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The chemistry between the characters were great, I shipped them from the first moment, The museum scene was quite funny, she acted like she is dating with our chaebol to make the museum president jealous, she was there to check on her as she is the girl her prof loves...
Lee Seol is a college girl who has a crush on her archeology prof portrayed by Ryu Soo Young, I can't blame her every girl wants an intellectual guy, but her prof is in love with the Dea Han Museum President since he was a college student, who is going to be engaged with our Chaebol..
Yoon Jo is set to be engaged with our chaebol, her ex is the prof, but whenever she is not ok, she runs into arms of prof, he is another idiot its been many years since you break up and you have not changed your pin to enter to your flat.. for what reason??
The Church scene on ep4, when Lee Seol's mother puts her letter written to her instead of her prayer letter into the box and when the father / priest started to read it on Sunday Prayers, that scene was quite funny, it is the start of many misunderstanding, this let people to think she is pregnant, and even the priest got shocked but then he said it is normal these day, what would he say at that moment :))
The scenes with prof and our chaebol is fantastic, they both like / love her without knowing their feelings at the time, during the scenes I was humming let the two tigers fight haahh ( this is way before the love developed in between the characters)
Lee Seol is loud, a bit naive but she is beautiful with a good heart, she is quite lively, I loved the outfit and tiara she was wearing when she was looking after her mother's hostel... Her transformation is amazing..
When Hae Young chucked out from his flat by his granddad he goes to department store for clothes shopping, but he accidentally goes to women's lingerie part and starts to look around at the same moment Princess is also at the department store and happens to pass from the same section, he's been caught while hiding behind the mannequin with sexy lingerie on eh while he is holding the mannequin everybody gives him a look :)) ofcourse he has not only been chucked out of his flat grandad put hold on all his credit cards.. :))
later on he's been assigned to teach her some etiquette. that's the time when they find a chance to get more close...
We can see our chaebol is jealous of the prof.. How many times they came face to face and the anger in between them, oh gosh.. they could have easily have choked each other. One is certain of his feelings but not openly telling her, the other one is hiding and denying it as long as he can...
The fiance Yoon Joo thinks she can jump from one men to another one whenever she wishes, she's so arrogant and selfish, mean, she does not know what she wants, maybe a little bit jealous because she knows the guy she wants as a fiance and her ex are all falling for Lee Seoul... She even selfishly can say whether you leave the palace on your own or we get you out of the palace time to disappear of.. that's being mean, jealous and selfish. It is public who is going to decide not you, it is not OK to say there's no one on your side in the palace.
There is no reason to hide her past, as the public would love her more if they learn she was one of them, working hard to earn money...
There are also plots twists in the drama, such as Lee Seol's & Hae Young's first meeting... Well if you are watching the drama now and if you are on the first episodes you obviously think yeah yes when she was acting as the princess when she was on part time job.. wait and see.. it was a bit surprising for me not expecting this...
Princess & Chaebol has got opposite characters, while one is warm, open hearted ,the other one is like an iceberg, calculated..
We do have to wait a little bit for their first kiss but it was unexpected for both parties.... first kiss is shared on a snowy winter day while it is snowing..
On a drunk night when our Chaebol put our princess to bed, the alarm bells were already ringing for him.. he already fell for her no matter how he tries to deny it....
Yoo Joon using both men for own benefits, and she has still hopes to marry one of the other, she insanely thinks whatever I can get, whoever I can get is on my benefit.. Sorry Yoo Joon you are destined to be single for the rest of your life.. You should not be this much btch..
Both men are proud of Seol but one is showing this with his body language and emotions while the other one is not showing anything at all, just standing there like a statue, without showing any emotions at all.
Later on YJ assigned as a director in the palace and she has done her best to make Seol uncomfortable but at the end she could not beat her..
at the end YJ lost both men, while trying to get a better one....... at the time.. but let's see what future brings for her... Men are brainless so I am guessing prof will take her back, though she does not deserve any of these guys.
Lee Seol is not like Anne Hathaway in Princess Diaries.. She has a more mature character comparing to Anne in Princess Diaries.
When Nam Jung Woo speaks I feel like he is speaking in French, so sexy hahaha
Lee Seol & Hae Young has got that much frustration that my tv room was about to set on fire .... :))
The reaction grandad gave when he learned that the two spend the night alone in one room was worth to see / watch :D
HY & YJ are in a way forced to marry.. Not gonna say whether the wedding is set or not.... Well hell Pandora's box is open after grandad asked them to marry.. Well cards are all open and on the table now, let's wait and see..
Somebody finally understand that YJ is after the money..
She is too bitchy that she wants both men for herself. She even send a text msg to both men but luckily both men were together when they received the text msg from her...
It was quite funny when Joo Sang Wook appeared as an oppa and LS wanted to give him a warm hug and been pulled by HY haaah
Her sister is another bitch....
YJ is so evil that she even went to LS's orphanage to investigate.. but she was shocked to see LS coming to orphanage with prof.
When 2 revival females goes up for a drink, you know what's coming next, their claws are sharpened and ready for a cat fight...
LS & HY both likes to chicken out, she chickened out when HY asked him if she likes Mr P or NJW, he chickened out when she asked if he is still the enemy...
Sisters and YJ characters are more or less the same, jealousy, evilness, being over confident and selfish. She even dares to claim the sachet as hers and shows this prof with the influence of the director.
She became so pro that she even prepared her own course schedule.
ahh guess who is going to give her music & dance lessons
"RAIN OPPA"
I had too much expectations. royal wedding , honeymoon and half a dozen of babies
President asked him not to marry Seol and go to Washington bec of tax fraud image?? We see that he is not a strong character, he can’t cope with things…
If the president asked him to kill himself was he gonna kill himself?
what did we had at the end.. He did not even propose her properly..
He just left that big rock by the fountain pool. So he is at the airport waiting to go to Washington DC he looks around and can not see the Seol, so he jumps into the plane, he asked for a glass of red wine, when he was about to sip a hand stopped him, he looked it was Seol, he asked her how did she got in? She said bec you wanted bec I wanted.. He give her a kiss, she gave him a passionate kiss, end of story!! So where is the wedding? what did we have? Did she dropped being a princess??
If she wanted to give up being a princess why did not she do it when he first asked her to be his woman??This does not make sense. We need a sequel, remake, with a proper ending.. thats it…
One big slap to the moron prof, that woman played with you not only with you with HY, she tried to harm your student which you also had a crush on. She tried to damage the imperial family image, and you open your arms and say welcome back to me baby… Ahh Jeezzz I had enough of idiot brainless men in this drama…. This woman dumped you for HJ, dumped HJ for you, caused so much tantrums, problems blah blah, and you forget things and forgive this much easily!!! so let her get away with things with a blink of an eye, let the evil win…
They should have solved this princess issue by ep 8 and by episode 16, we should have seen, Mr.P's dad is now back to Korea, everything is resolved. Mr P & Seol is married with a one daughter, Seol is expecting their 2nd child, the child is running around the palace garden.. etc etc.. Seol, Mr P and dad is sitting and enjoying the bright summer's day and suddenly we see her rushing to the hospital, she gave birth to a son, the future prince. They are both happy, they took the children to the sea where they scattered the chairman's ashes.. They share a big, passionate kiss, daughter asks what dad is doing to mummy :P blah blah blah.
I expected a much more better ending ahh that's left to our imagination.....
I am so angry that they have only give us a couple of kisses, they had such a great chemistry
So such a great chemisty is wasted, Now Kim is married to Rain oppa and I don't think we'll ever see her in such a cute a romance, maybe Rain oppa will get jealous hahah
We can clearly see why Rain OPPA got married with this beautiful girl :)) ( Kim Tae Her)
Oh God !!! I love Song Seung Heon and thanks to his sweetness I turned into a fan girl after watching his few dramas
If you want to see more of him jump to Saimdang, the Herstory, currently airing on dramafever.
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To be honest, I wasn't expecting much of this drama, at all. The casting however was SUPERB. I love Kim Tae-hee and hope to see her in many more movies like this. Song Seung-heon was brilliant, played his part magnificently.
The whole plot was done well, and the characters were all played to perfection. I did find it very comedic and light hearted, the scripting did a very good job in keeping the majority of it light and fun.
The two major flaws in this drama were the pacing and the music, I feel. The pacing was great at the beginning and brilliant at the end, but the middle got a little jumbled, and if I'm honest, boring. Others have commented on it so I know I'm not alone when thinking this. The scripting just seemed to run away with itself and so it really got so boring to the point I was tempted to skip episodes.
The music was all off, for some strange reason sometimes the music would overpower the dialogue, or the music seemed to be playing in the wrong part, sad parts accompanied by happy music. Being a music lover, this just sounded very wrong.
On the whole, definitely a drama I'd recommend watching if you can stick through the boring parts to get a brilliant ending. You won't be disappointed!
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For someone who has been watching dramas for a long time, you will find that while the premise is quite interesting, the storyline and villains are quite predictable.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed it. The first few episodes are the best because the SSH and KTH had good dialogue and the repeated meetings between the strangers were believable and cute. There was character development throughout the drama between the two main leads.
Watch this for cute moments and skip the predictable villains that pop up throughout.
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Normal girl becomes princess
I don't recall exactly why I started watching this. At the time of airing, it had so much hype and so many people were talking about it, that I decided to give it a shot.This was one of those dramas that took me a long time to complete. It had already finished for a month, and I was still struggling to get past the last few episodes. I do think the story started out with an interesting premise, but it was soon clear that it didn't have much more than that, a catchy premise.
Both Kim Tae Hee and Song Seung Hun did well as leads despite the subpar writing. They had good enough chemistry and their romantic scenes were cute enough, even though It felt to me like the couple didn't have enough rapport at the start that would convince me of their feelings for each other.
If you want silly and somewhat cute and fluffy drama about a normal girl becoming a princess and finding her prince, then this is for you,
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The story is funny and exciting in the beginning. Towards the last 1/3 the tone starts to change because it becomes more emotional. I started to get just a little restless but not enough to want to skip episodes or anything. The ending wasn\''\''t as defined as I would have liked but it was still happy & cute.
Ah the cast is pretty much what makes this drama so magnificent. Kim Tae Hee as the princess was so perfect. She was able to portray a naive young college student who later becomes a strong princess thanks to our too gorgeous Song Sung Hun. Seriously thier chemistry is too much to take. I kept smiling like a giddy girl everytime they shared a scene, which is practically the whole drama! LOL. I really liked the supporting characters they all added something.
The OST is so fun and pretty much all the songs are amazing. Every Single Day is the standout artist on there.
I can see myself watching this twice a year just because the cast is so freaking awesome=D
Overall, its true the story does have flaws but this is still one of the best dramas of 2011!
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Story: This is a unique story when it comes to the royal family because it deals with trying to bring back the monarchy after it had not been a part of the government for awhile. I have not seen that in any other drama, so I thought it was an interesting twist.
Cast: All of the actors and actresses in this drama do a great job portraying their characters. Kim Tae Hee and Song Seung Heon play the lead characters and are great fun to watch together. My favorite side characters were the Royal Chef (played by Lee Gi Kwang) and the main assistant to the Princess (played by Son Sung Yoon). Anytime either of those characters were on screen you just had to grin...and it was more fun if they happened to be in scenes together.
Music: Honestly, the music didn't really stand out to me at all, which means for me that it fit the show well, but wasn't overly amazing.
Slight annoyances:
#1: Kim Tae Hee's character of the Princess is great, but she has some incredibly annoying and childish characteristics that are ok at first, but by the end of the series start to weigh on you and you just want to slap the character and say, "CUT IT OUT! YOU'RE AN ADULT SO ACT LIKE IT!" She's supposed to be a college student, but her reactions in some things remind me more of middle schoolers (and I have worked with many middle schoolers in my life so that's not an exaggeration). These come out especially when she is trying to get her way about something. This is no reflection on the acting, but on the writing for the character.
#2: I don't want to give any spoilers so I will just say that there are a couple of journeys to foreign lands that a certain character takes that just don't make sense. It really doesn't add to the story...nor really take anything away. It's like they were added simply so there could be scenes put in where people could be like "I wonder when So and So is coming back." or "Have you heard from So and So yet?" Those kind of pointless plot points that seem to just make the drama longer for no reason bother me.
Overall though, this is a good drama with a fun cast to watch. So if you are looking for a show to enjoy after a stressful day, this might just fit that bill.
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I think it's a bit a mix between : Goong, Romantic princess and Shining inheritance.
At the begining , the story is very funny, it make me laugh a lot. After, this drama become more serious, but always a bit funny & co.
The actors are very important, because they act very good. There are a very good alchemy between the 2 mains actors.And they have this little something who give us even more want to watch this drama.
It's a very pleasant drama !
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Try to avoid
After watching this, I came here to see what others think. And after reading some reviews I felt the need to write something. And yes, I know this drama is old and Im late to the party. And yet....From the start: this drama is sh*t. The writing is really horrible, full of plot holes, with things happening the way they do because it was needed to push the "story". There is nothing resembling logic. Next, the acting. Omg! It gives you headaches. The directing, lousy. The cinematography, really bad. From the bad mixing (there is one scene where someone is turning and leaving, they change the angle and he's still sitting face to face, only to turn and leave in the next second) and the bad soundtrack trying to "tell" you how to feel ("look, its a funny scene, you need to laugh. Now its a sad scene, you need to feel for the character"), to the bad way it looks visually. And I mean it really looks like a soap opera. The lighting, the angles, the low quality of the filming... It looks and feels like something from the '80s, maybe '90s.
And now lets start digging. I don't know why I wanted to watch this... this "drama". Might have read somewhere, on some other drama, that its amazing, that the chemistry of that main couple was on par with the ones from here. And I dont know how, but I managed to find this and I've remembered that comment. So lets start full power, shall we? The film synopsis at the top is wrong. The thing with "the grandson is put in charge with educating" starts from ep 6 (or is it 7) and lasts until ep 10 I think. From a total of 16 episodes.... I've paused in the 1st 15 min, i guess, and I thought "Wtf is this?!?! Am I being trolled?" And to fast-forward this review a bit, I've paused and paused all 16 episodes. It took me 6 days to finish it. I've watched 2 episodes first day and the next day another 2, and then I kinda wished to just get over with it and forced myself to keep watching. But I still paused and sighted pretty often.
i dont know who the screenwriter is but she shouldnt be allowed to write ever again. And Im assuming its a "she" because the whole story is about a princess. A dumb and stupid princess who has moments of clarity and wittiness (is that a real word). And that you wont see in real life and it is clearly a projection of the writer's frustrations. I'll continue. The FL cant act. And thats not the worst of it. I dont know how or why ppl think shes a beauty. To me she looks like a frog. The shape of the mouth, always with the corners down, the neck, the eyes... Always yelling, looking sideways, the mouth semi opened... Thats no beauty. And the acting is one emotion. The kid playing her younger version is a better actress. Im sorry, I should phrase it better: its not fair to compare these two, because the kid is a really good actress. Lets make it even more obvious why the FL is bad. You want beauty and acting skills? Then I'll say watch "Crash Landing On You". Saying both are actresses is like you're making fun of that one (I dont know her name, sorry).
Next, the ML. A bit better. Not much, just a bit. And the chemistry is not there. Or not the chemistry that ppl think about when using that word. And if we're here, a good actor, looks and charisma: the professor. Ofc I cant say if he's a really good actor or his skills were displayed more obviously by being next to his colleagues on set. And along the way the "story" makes him a loser, cause things need to happen. But for the few first episodes (at least), it was a joy when he was in the scene. The other female actress, the Museum Director, another lousy one. She has only one face in all the scenes: constipated, mouth tight shut, teary eyes and a lil bit looking cross. She looks like a chimp. Even if the acting wasnt that much better, at least the support actresses were better looking.
So, in short, terrible story, bad acting (apart from the professor and the young princess, where again I must say "wow"), no chemistry, bad directing (oh yes, I'll get back to that), bad soundtrack (the theme might've been good but I dont remember it , so that good huh), terrible story ( yes, I had to say it twice). Then why do some ppl say its a good drama? Who tf knows. Im assuming those persons have no idea what makes or breaks a good film. And if you still need more proof....
A dumb and always yelling stupid girl is told that she's a princess. You'd expect her to be a little clumsy, to make some mistakes, to have some hidden talents, some sparks with the ML and in the end, happy happy joy joy. A pretty simple, straightforward story. Right? He he heh, you little innocent one... Ofc not! The "writer" went for the snooze fest story. Things happening because it needed to happen that way. The MF (the frog face one) taking all the wrong decisions because she's a simple common girl and a orphan (im not joking they use that motive. a lot). Both ML trying to help her, while both of them letting the other FL, Museum Director, (the chimp face one, come on, keep up) doing all sorts of bad sht until the end. Thats the main road, if you will. I wont delve on questions like "why the fk would the Chairman (grandpa) keep a wimp and incompetent such as the Museum Director's father as his right hand?". And ofc the story is full of things from Korean culture: reporters, badmouthing, sheep-like mentality etc. I mean if you are watching k-drama you know that and you will not be bothered by it. What can I say? I just hope this writer wont work again.
And now, before I forget again, the director. Even if the script isnt stellar (yeah, im trying to be funny), a decent director should at least be decent at directing. Hence the name. Actors who cant act for sht? Make them do something that at least lessens the blows. Change the angles. Try a different look. Use the lighting, the decors... Something. Anything. Or while mixing, try doing a decent job. And Im talking about the flow. Putting in the same scene, shots from two different cameras without some kind of flawless transition (and by that I mean not repeating itself) should be basic stuff. How hard can it be? You put two cuts together, you hit play and you see that second cut starts with the last 2 seconds of the previous cut. You hit pause and you crop more from one segment, the end of 1st or the beginning of the second one. That simple. I mean it feels like basic stuff. But then again, we also have scenes ending with headshots of all the chars, no one talks, the camera changes every second from one to the next, three times. 15 seconds of nothing. No one talks, all looking "intense", 2-3 times on a loop. Thats the director trying to tell you that something important is happening. I guess I should also mention the flashbacks. Especially the one where something happens in a scene with the princess, the next scene is with someone else and it goes for one minute maybe, then the next scene is with the princess who is having a flashback of what happened 1 minute ago. I kid you not!
So: bad directing and mixing, bad story, 98% bad acting. Forgettable soundtrack. And yet some ppl gave this drama a 10..... I guess my recommendation would be to watch the 1st episode (if you really want to try it). You will get an idea about how bad it is really quick. Just dont get hooked in by the professor. And forget about "maybe later it will...". Nope. It wont get better. But hey, if you like it, what can I say? Im so sorry for you. The life is long. Im sure one day you will learn what good cinema is. Eventually. Maybe. And even if you do like it, pls dont compare it with some other works. Even if you cant judge it correctly, by saying it reminds you of x and y, you're just making fun of an supposedly good drama. Its like saying Hitler and Mother Teresa are both good ppl. Do you get it now? Thats the simplest way I can put it for you. So, pls dont.
Re-watching value? Oh please... Only if the definition of that is fast-forwarding through the scenes and finishing all the drama in one hour. And not even then.
Thank you for reading this.
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