Sageuk Lover

Try My Dearest.

he's based on a real life person whp has really trusted by the king but later betrayed his trust. Hong Guk Young is his real name.

Plot is based on real life and this is the drama that made Junho beloved in Korea not King the Land. You have to understand the culture and sensibilities of Korea at the time to be able to appreciate a drama like this. Plus appreciate the show from a perspective of a female who loves her king but loves the little freedoms she has more.
I hate how most kdrama fans just call female leads "annoying" without trying to see the drama from their perspectives (especially dislike if the female lead is being bashed since she's not an idol/less popular than male lead).

so stupid for people comparing King the Land to this. This drama is a masterpiece, Lee Se Young is an amazing actress. Peope don't realize that the fact that both she and Jun Ho are well beloved in Korea for their roles here is a really huge deal considering there was already a popular and beloved 2007 version (Yisan 2007 drama starring Lee Seo Jin and Han Ji Min of Our Blues , The Light in Your Eyes, and Love Scout fame; highly recommend this by the way) of the love story of King Jeongjo and his beloved concubine. I wish this was on netflix instead of King the Land.

For me it is sageuks that makes kdramas special since no other country can replicate them (obviously since other countries have different cultures). I really have a lot of love for great sageuks. I'm not normally a fan of idols in sageuk dramas since their idol status usually more popular than the show itself (and their fans calling sageuks boring), but Junho's performance here is so amazing as the King I have no right to complain about him as an idol here.

He is so young. i believe his character is in love with Namgoong Min's character in My Dearest. They have 22 years age gap. I believe people with scrutinize their character's relationships had he been a woman and had Namgoong Min's character like his character back.
Edit: I’m not scrutinizing him at all, that’s not my intention. I just mentioned some facts.I’m not against age gap at all.

Kdramas back then used to be like this. They extended Jumong and Queen Seon Deok back then (both also MBC dramas).

She's amazing in 6 Flying Dragons, very excited

Joseon drama costumes are usually the most recognizable as hanbok.

King of Tears Lee Bang Won back in 2021-2022 was a good drama.

thank you for the review, at least I no longer have to check it out. i've seen the male lead in two dramas (extraordinary you - watched for lee tae ri, king's affection - watched for park eun bin) i didn't like his acting.

is there any updates? really need Lee Tae Ri to get his big break soon

same sentiments.

So many amazing sageuk actors, why I haven't heard of this drama? I'm so excited to watch, putting this on my list. From reading the synopisis, i feel like this will be a female led sageuk which I'm excited to see, I'm a bit worried about some backlash from China once this airs, drama is set in Goguryeo (I remembered the backlash of River where the Moon Rises).

the original actors had to keep working while they were not yet sure when will the drama be filmed again so they weren't available when the show got greenlight to do season 2. season 2 was originally announced way back 2020 and everyone was set to return but covid happened and they had to postpone filming (perhaps find new filming locations too because i remembered they filmed some parts of season 1 in brunei and it was assumed they would do that for season 2 before as well).

He did a great job in the drama, congrats. Unlike many others, I like his chemistry with Shin Se Kyung and it doesn't feel any less than the female lead in Moon Lovers. Remember that romance is not the focus of this show and they even have the disadvantage of not playing the early parts of their characters, so they have less time to show chemistry.

I think Koreans didn't understand the complex storytelling. Queen Seon Deok and Tree with Deep Roots are quite complex too, but the main difference is that they are strongly based on Korean history (which Koreans are already familiar with) while Arthdal is completely fictional.

there is an option to put your review in spoilers if you don't want your readers to be spoiled

At last we already have an ending!
I'm glad the show is finished. While there are still storylines they can add to this drama if they wanted, I think the story we have right now (season 1 and 2) is already complete enough that it's okay if they leave it at that. Kudos to the whole cast and crew. Lee Joon Gi and Shin Se Kyung did well as Eunseom/Saya and Tanya, despite not playing them from the first season. Jang Dong Gun and Kim Ok Bin continued their amazing acting from season 1. I'm not gonna be surprised if any of the cast members got baeksang nominations next year given their amazing acting, but I won't be surprised either if they didn't seeing they didn't nominated the show for season 1.
Despite cancellations, cast changes , and other problems, I'm at least glad Arthdal ended as a really good show. They ended it in a way that they can add to the story if they wanted to, but the show we have right now can stand on its own as a complete story. Kudos to the casts (both seasons 1 and 2) and crew for making a good and unique drama. (I do really miss the epic music and Saya's pretty costumes from season 1 but it did not deter me from enjoying this season). I highly recommend everyone to check out the other dramas written by this writing team. They also made Queen Seon Deok, 6 Flying Dragons, and Tree with Deep Roots kdramas. Our Tanya in this season Shin Se Kyung played the female lead of the latter 2 dramas I mentioned while she's the childhood version of the female lead's twin sister in the first drama I mentioned. Season 1 Eunseom/Saya Song Joong Ki has a pivotal cameo in Tree with Deep Roots which was also his career turning point (he was known as a flowerboy actor and it was his first known serious role).
PS:
1. I missed the dancing scenes, I was hoping to see Eunseom, Saya and Tanya do it again for this season (I also wanted to see it because I wanted to see Lee Joon Gi and Shin Se Kyung dancing together) but I guess that plot point was only necessary for season 1 in order to get the bell.
2. Genuinely surprised to see Erika Karata. She was the person I least expect from the first season to appear again here but she's back. (Those who were waiting for news for season 2 after season 1 ended should know why she wasn't expected to appear in season 2, even before the main leads were recast).

we're not even finished with the drama, let's wait for the drama to finish before giving negative reviews.
this is a sageuk, sageuks usually don't have happy ending (especially if you watch kdramas in the 2000s), we should just expect a good story.

So this one was written by Rebel Thief Who Stole the People writer. It wasn't perfect but it was really good, I really recommend.