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I'm on Episode 11 and I hate this piece of trash Jung so much.

Coming from Six Flying Dragons, my Yoo In Ah streak continues......with some amazing chemistry seen again between him and Shin Sae Kyeong (I really like seeing them acting together)

Unlike other reviews, this will mostly just be a rant. I did enjoy this up until a little more than halfway in, which is when it became unbearable. I still recommend this for the acting performances and chemistry between the four main characters alone (SSK was not as great), but know that this is a melodrama that is very poorly written, and drags the plot out by having Jae Hyuk repeatedly obsess, and try to steal Ga Young from the man she's so openly admitted she loves multiple times. On top of that, with ONE OF THE WORST ENDINGS I HAVE EVER SEEN. Yeong Gul and Ga Young could have just found happiness if this Jae Hyuk HUMAN GARBAGE would have left them alone. The first half was strong, but then the second half is poorly planned-out, nonsensical, and frustratingly derailed by Jae Hyuk's obsessions. I have no idea what the hell were the writers thinking...

Check out my reply for my spoiler rant and main thoughts:

Everything was almost perfect. The cinematography is unlike anything I've seen in a historical series. It's framed to perfection with all the tilts and parallels. The instrumental OST is also brilliantly used to elevate certain scenes, and I can of course, not forget about how perfect the major casting is (even the minor roles are cast perfectly). Yeo Jin Goo is one of my favourite actors for a reason. It's incredible how he's able to portray Haseon and Yi Heon so differently, and also the lingering shade of Haseon when he acts like Yi Heon. You can always tell exactly who it is from his eyes alone, even when it's purposefully meant to be ambiguous. Other than him, Lee Se Young and Kim Sang Kyung are huge standouts too. There's many incredibly well-written morally grey characters in the center of this drama, and it's a shame only Lee Se Young got an award for her acting, as all three of them very much deserved one, but the baeksang competition was very tough that year for actors especially. I also found the screenplay very tightly written with a clear goal in mind at the end of the series, despite some rushed writing near the end. There's a lot of carefully planned plot twists and callbacks that I really loved, and I feel this needed more episodes for how more perfect the story could have been. Overall it's a fantastic drama that is heavily worth watching.

No problem. I highly recommend checking out the "Real events & facts about Joseon and Goryeo" discussion if you are interested in even more information. There's a lot of information in other parts of the web too.

In reality, King Taejong (formerly Lee Bang-won) was never in love with the Queen. It was just a political marriage and she was mainly his political partner from the moment they were married as teenagers and they just shared a sense of camaraderie and companionship. He even attended to her deathbed, doing prayers, making medicine for her, and caring for her till her last breath. Maybe there was some love there, but nothing has been mentioned in the historical records. This is completely fictional about some real historical events, with a lot of bias towards King Taejong. Despite all the killing he is famous for, he was a good king who did so much for the people, and all the killing he did to prevent any opposition to Sejong as his heir paved the way for Sejong to become the greatest Joseon king. Unlike other princes, Sejong never had to fight for the crown, since Taejong did all that for him. Sejong spent all his time as King in improving society and the people around him.

Heard this is as good as Six Flying Dragons, so I really hope it doesn't disappoint me

I'm a little speechless. I tend to write long reviews on dramas I really like, but right now, I don't know what to do. I didn't even want to watch this, since it's 50 episodes long, but I decided to give it a shot a random day. Turns out this drama is like a dream come true for someone like me who's loved watching epic heroic historical tales on tv as a kid, but of course, this is a lot more dirty, complex, and made with a lot more passion. Nobody here is morally straight when it comes to the politics, and many will stick with their ideologies and resolve themselves till the end. The characters you follow learn new things, mature, and change for the worse or better (depending on how you view them). Nobody's ideals are perfect here, and it makes everyone, including all the main and side characters just so damn interesting to watch. Get ready to really love, hate, hype up, and cry for characters all at the same time.

Best screenplay, best cinematography, best costumes, insanely unique sword fight choreography, with an earth-shattering best OST... everything about it was outstanding! This also has some of the coolest and most well-written historical female characters of all time for me, if I haven't mentioned it already. Every episode just gets more exciting as you go along. Plots can run on for a couple episodes, but it never feels like it's dragging it out, and I felt like I had to listen to every single piece of dialogue being said. There is a lot of reading between the lines that does help in understanding the time period much better, but it's not completely necessary. This also has a lot of fictional characters, but it's really hard to even believe they are fictional since they're written and acted so well, that they completely fill the gap in the real historical events mentioned online.

After researching the real history behind Joseon's founding, I was just mind blown at how much the writers cared to research and plan everything out. Everything feels so real in this drama.....that I was stunned. Safe to say, I won't be getting this drama out of my mind anytime soon, and I feel so empty knowing no historical drama will ever give me the same thrills that watching each episode of this did.

I highly recommend checking out the below site for very detailed historical background information episode to episode for higher understanding. After researching, I noticed there are some minor changes in how the drama shows the founding of Joseon compared to how it really happened. It also really upset me that Taejong's achievements, sacrifice, and accomplishments aren't as highlighted in the finale, and it gives a wrong impression of his character in the end. Since the research I've done is spoiler territory for this drama, I'll attach it in a spoiler reply if you want to check it out. It explains a lot more about what his and the Queen's relationship, why he did what he did to her brothers, and how he paved the way for Sejong's prosperous reign as his heir.
(https://bodashiri.tumblr.com/post/137740642551/the-list-of-sfd-historical-info)

The Yoo Ah In streak continues...
Not sure I'll check out TWDR, since a saeguk without Yoo Ah In feels hard for me to now imagine.

Regardless of the reason, the way he dropped the divorce abruptly on SHK is a pretty valid way to identify his shady behaviour.

Excellent movie! This is a really heartfelt and touching portrayal of how Sado came to be scarred by his father's strict and horrible behaviour, although, the atrocities Sado committed as he lost his mind are played down. I ended up researching after watching this, and the tales of Yeongjo and Sado are really interesting to say the least. I feel Yoo Ah In is perfect as always, with how he conveys Sado's transformation so naturally, from his vulnerability and childlike innocence to the moment he starts gradually losing his mind, and eventually breaks altogether. No wonder he won the Daesang award for this. The raw emotions on display are ridiculously well played, and we get such a great glimpse of where, when, why and how it all went wrong . I heard there was a scene where he injured himself for real and the camera kept rolling because he was so engrossed in it, but I'm not sure which scene it is. Nothing seems out of place, but I am really curious. 10/10

The Yoo Ah In streak continues..

Watch "The Throne" award-winning kmovie if you are interested in a more realistic portrayal of what happened in Sado's last days as the King and Sado reflect on their relationship while he's in the rice box. The child actors in the brief flashbacks of the movie are incredible and Sado's vulnerability and raw emotions of madness and innocence are played by one of the best actors of this generation who even won the DaeSang (Grand) award for it. Incredible OST, and it's cinematic and very touching. Had me in tears for Sado by the end.

Watch "The Throne" kmovie, it's very good too! Very accurate, with one of the best actors of this generation and it's incredibly cinematic and touching

Sado did a lot more evil deeds than this movie shows, but this isn't really about the atrocities he committed. It's about how he came to lose his mind after being scarred by his father. Sado's father (the king) is recorded in history to be a major cause of his mental illness, and all the prohibiting freedom, demeaning in public, getting dissatisfied at all his decisions, did happen. Other things also did such as his phobia of clothing, which likely started because of his anxiety towards the King's behaviour towards him as the movie shows. While the results of his mental illness are less shown in the movie, the causes are shown really well.

Plus, the first thing Sado's son did after taking the crown was say "I am the son of Prince Sado" which was prohibited during Sado's father's reign. Obviously, the son loved and respected his father very much, so Sado wasn't born a horrible person until after the King's horrible parenting and the anxiety that ruined him.

This is super entertaining. KHY hard carries this at first with how she easily jumps from silly to serious in the beginning moments, and really makes you invested in her story. I especially loved how hilarious her meta commentary is as she points out how cliche and terrible some romantic scenes are as she's forced to go through them. I fell in love with JGJ, LJW, and RW's characters too. These four are the absolute standouts especially Kyung in the latter half who I found way more interesting than Haru with his acting and writing. To be honest, Kyung/LJW was the main reason I even continued till the end.

The first half of this was a 10/10 for me, however, it gets really repetitive in the second half with repeated amnesia plots, boring hand grabs, and it becomes less about the fantasy and about the love triangles. Kyung was my absolute favourite character by the end, even though Haru is meant to be more likeable. I had to fast forward a lot in the second half because some plots became too unnecessarily serious and draggy, and I think there should have been more focus on answering questions about the fantasy. There were a lot of unanswered questions about who the writer is, the portals that were appearing, Ju Da's role in this, etc. Very unsatisfying, happy ending. A lot of wasted potential but still worth watching!

Says all episodes are unavailable now, sadly

Anyone know if english subs for this are available anywhere? Saw some youtube clips and it seems really interesting. I wonder why the english subs playlist was removed..

Already have.

Very fun and entertaining, but it felt like a drag when it got into more serious parts. It's a lot more enjoyable when it keeps it's comedy and continues to play it whimsical. I also think the bromance between these 4 was the highlight, and the romance was terribly done. This drama could have cut the romance altogether, and it would have been perfect. I'm a huge fan of the main cast's acting performances, except Sun Joo's (PYC). I'm not a SJK fan, but I have to agree that he adds so much life to the drama with his cheeky interactions with the others of the main cast.

The 2nd ML syndrome is very BIG with this one. I don't mind serious characters, but I really thought the acting for Sun Joo was bland, and the relationship between him and the FL was really forced. I also grew to really dislike his character when he started getting violent and taking his frustration out on the FL after he got jealous seeing the FL and the 2nd ML together. This was when the 2nd ML was just helping the FL out with something, and Sun Joo already had a fiancee. I just don't see any reason for the FL to pursue him like she does over the 2nd ML (wonderfully played by Yoo Ah In), who she has a much more comfortable relationship with, and who supports her so much from the shadows and openly. Their relationship seems really shallow, and I think it's really unfair that she never even finds out about the 2nd ML's feelings or that he's been supporting her from behind, because he backs out after seeing she has feelings for Sun Joo. I really love relationships to develop naturally, but here, there was none of that and the romance was just unnecessary anyways. Just an excuse to add drama and drag out the episodes.

I've always suspected SJK to be pretty shady, considering he seems like he used SHK for his PR and promotions, and then he just suddenly dropped a divorce on her while she was away. He even mentioned wanting to end it quick without people blame-calling, which is a pretty clear sign that he was at fault, and it wasn't just "differences in personality." I used to be a fan, but he shows really pathetic behaviour. He also almost instantly introduced and announced his current wife's pregnancy too quickly (most likely cheated on SHK), who he again began to love-bomb in every sentence on the air for the same PR and promotions. Plus a lot of good people in the industry who used to be his long-time friends have abandoned him. Stuff definitely happened behind the scenes.

The Yoo Ah In streak continues.....

This is so underrated for me. I loved this! Both the ML and FLs are fantastic actors with incredible chemistry. This is my first time watching Kim Tae Hee, and I think she nailed her role perfectly. She starts off as an innocent girl who makes clothes with the hope of bringing happiness to others, but she falls in love, and continues to faces more misfortunes one after another because of her social standing. She gets cornered an endless amount of times before she realizes she can't be with her love without more power, and she is forced to become colder and more calculating as she fights against everyone's social prejudice to be with the King and protect her mother. I found Kim Tae Hee portrays her character, with really great emotional expressions that make you feel sympathy for her, but also give you chills when her seemingly innocent smile hides something darker. She's terrifying, but so pitiful at the same time, which also makes the chemistry between her and YAI (King) so strong, The king starts off as more innocent, and a love-struck ruler, but as the story unfolds, we see the ambition and cunning he hides beneath the surface. He's created preparations for the sake of his grand ambitions for the people from when he was young, and despite his sometimes cruel and sly nature, his heart is in the right place, and he's always looking out for the people. He's terrifying, but pitiful in his own way. The powerful moments of these two are really conveyed through the wonderful OST, as well as the acting, and the way the frames are shot. Absolute power couple!

Now while the drama begins with a focus on fashion, it does quickly dive into the political struggles and faction battles that disrupt the king's plans over many years. This can get dragged out, and a little tiring, and repetitive for those not interested enough in the politics, but I was so invested in the morally grey side characters and seeing the character development and plot through that I didn't mind. It's usually about JOJ dealing with the other consorts or the factions in order to seize more control in the palace, and about the king using his smarts to navigate these challenges as well as his own dealing with the factions that oppose his major decisions. In this interpretation of Jung Ok Jung, she stands by his side as his political partner and lover, determined to gain enough power to support him as an equal. However, she does have her fall from grace, with a little bit of redemption by the end. I hadn’t looked up any historical context before watching, so I was shocked to learn that many of the cliche story events were actually based on real history, so I won't really criticize those. Of course, some parts were altered, as with most historical dramas, so Jung Ok Jung’s ending is written much more bittersweet with a little redemption here compared to what history records.

Portrayed very well! However, remember it is a different interpretation of history. By the end, JOJ does have a little redemption, so the ending doesn't make her out to be as evil as she supposedly was mentioned. She starts off very kind and humble before she falls in love and gets cornered for her low social class in trying to be with the King.