Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this is a “loved”.

What I liked: Thank you to the writers, directors, etc. for opening this with a disclaimer that was the equivalent of “in a galaxy long, long ago and far, far away…”. Setting this up as alternate reality gave everyone more freedom to enjoy this drama since it, in many ways, had nothing to do with historical reality. So if you’re one of those complaining about the lack of historical accuracy, I respectfully refer you back to the first five minutes of the first episode. Kim Young Dae is just as adorable in period costume as in modern attire. He did a great job of portraying a range of human emotions without ever overdoing it or making his character seem inconsistent. The character of Ye So Rang was great. She was funny and smart—and best of all, stayed that way throughout the entire drama instead of suddenly becoming dumb to make the ML look good. Lee Shin Won was adorable from start to finish and I love that, at the end, they hinted he would get to be in a relationship with an amazing woman, too. I loved the head lady and head eunuch—they were fun to watch, as well as the shaman. In fact, I pretty much loved all the supporting characters, except of course, for the evil ones (is it just me or did the main evil guy always looked stoned!?). There were some great scenes, too, that I had to rewind and watch at least once more: the scenes of the boys reading erotica for the first time (and the one of YSR jumping up and down to get all of the books out from under her skirts…lol!), when the King went to rescue YSR from jail, any scene where the King was being awkward or unsure, when LSW rescued YSR first and they’re both all “aren’t we missing someone?...” and more.

What I did not like: There was not really much. I was not interested in the side romance between the writer and the waitress at the tea shop—though his side kicks were hilarious—but that’s a just personal “meh”. Any objections I would normally have with a lack of historical accuracy were solved by the opening disclaimer and since I prefer fantasy over reality in dramaland, I was relieved not to have to worry about it. I did wonder how such an independent woman like YSR would take to being queen (like I did the FL in 100 Days My Prince), but they even addressed that on her wedding day so I was satisfied. Other than that, nothing horribly obvious comes to mind.

Would I recommend this? If you’re like me and prefer period costume dramas over historical drams, then yes. If you like a happy ending, then yes. If you cried during the Red Sleeve and need to make it up, watch this. If your cup of tea is gritty, dark reality, then no, this will just make you mad. :D