Criminally Underrated

A drama that takes an interesting route towards bullying. The topic may not be rarely seen, but "The King of Pigs" provides a unique take on the atrocity, and beyond question it did not limit how disturbing the content can go. Some scenes can be triggering so watch at your own risk (tw // graphic violence, suicide, murder, bullying, brutality, school violence, sexual harassment).

"The King of Pigs" keeps you thrilled from start to finish as there is more to it than what actually seems to be. It gradually depicts each and every section of the past in align with the phenomena at the present. It perfectly portrayed how school violence can affect someone, and even turning a victim into a perpetuator. The drama explores how trauma from such situations could induce actions that would take you aback.

The directing was absolutely brilliant in presenting the flashbacks and escalating the emotions felt by the characters- the switches and transitions between the past and the present were very smooth and easy to understand as they would always correlate to each other. The timing was always perfect and keeps the suspense strong. Every revelation was climactic and never disappoints.

The only significant flaw was some parts of the investigation, mainly those related to Kang Jin A. There were some stupid parts that would displease you. But almost everything else exceeded my expectations so I couldn't be more satisfied with the drama as a whole. Certainly, there were dramatized scenes. The drama isn't the most realistic one you'll see, but it surely added to how intense the story is.

The leads' acting was insane. Kim Dong Wook's subtle yet spine-chilling facial expressions impressed me terrifically. I have watched a few of his works yet never have I been frightened of his stare alone until now (I'm specifically talking about when he met Jongbin and was observing him). Kim Sung Kyu perfectly portrayed his mentally deranged character. The child actors, including the bullies who effectively enraged me immensely, were amazing as well. I wasn't amazed by Chae Jung An's acting, but it's possibly because of her badly written character.

Overall, it's a great dark drama with minimal flaws on a particular side. It would make you feel mentally and emotionally exhausted, but it's definitely worth the watch. The story is like no other, I have never seen a drama like this which explains why the recommendations aren't exactly similar with this one (they're only similar in a way that they're both dark and there are murders). It could however, twist your moral sense so please bear in mind that this is a fictional drama. Do not let it distort your perspective on murderers and topics related to the story. Keep everything within the drama only.

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EXTREMELY OVERHYPED

i don't even know where to start. this drama is so overrated and people praise it too much that i felt the need to voice out my opinions about it.

BAD
1. the story
i am completely disappointed about how it turned out. when i first watched the trailer, i was like oh it's a mafia concept, this is gonna be interesting and new. i was expecting it to focus on vincenzo being a mafia, how the mafia works, or some storylines related to italy. i was expecting it to be unique and worth the watch because it's a new concept of kdramas. but instead, it turned out to be the usual good vs bad plot. it's SO CLICHÉ it had so much potential to have one of the best kdrama plots of the year yet it provided nothing new. those usual corrupt characters, lawyers against lawyers, gang fights, kidnapping, murdering bc they gonna ruin the plan, revenge etc. my mom and i literally predicted the whole main plot right on the first episodes (what happened to the dad, **** teaming up with vincenzo, **** switching sides etc) and even who's the real villain. the whole story is repetitive, bad does something bad > good tries to defeat the bad > bad loses > bad revenges to good > good loses then revenges and so on. it's just a series of tom and jerry episodes :/ people praised the plot too much saying it's smart, amazing, thrilling when it's not. could've added some emotional elements as well.

2. the whole essence of vincenzo being a mafia is USELESS
please, he's just the common male protagonist except that he has a gun and he's from italy. i don't get why they made him a mafia character when he's not really different from other male protagonists. the kdrama made him look smart and the viewers think he is overly smart, but no he's not. it's just that the other characters are stupid. there's nothing special about his character and it made me frustrated because i really looked forward to how they will portray a mafia character. i expected this already, but being a mafia is so romanticized in the story. well it's a fictional story after all.

3. a lot of useless fillers
i can handle lengthy dramas. i have even watched dramas with around 60 episodes. but i have not watched a lengthy drama that has so many useless fillers as this one. many episodes did not contribute to the story or the ending, many episodes did not have a permanent after effect. they never should've brought those episodes in, it won't even make the story different. when something happens, usually there's an aftermath that would give a shift or upgrade to the story. but in this one, after that particular part happens, they just move on as if nothing happened. there's no cause and effect, it's basically just in there to make the story longer. oh and please they should've added essence or purpose whenever there is a failed attempt by the good guys, like sure it's necessary that the protagonists don't succeed at first try. but atleast give a reason why that had to happen, give that part a purpose (e.g they met a new character, they discovered something etc). atp it's just a whole trial and error story. don't get me even started about how much they emphasized some things at the start but at the end was almost forgotten or wasn't really a big part of the plot.

4. it did not excel in any genre it could fit in
it could've been atleast outstanding on one genre, but it isn't. action? no. law? no. thriller? no, wasn't thrilled at all because it's predictable and nothing remarkable happens (could be because i've watched around 100 kdramas already but idk). black comedy? no. it fairly did well on black comedy, but half of the time cringey and there's no scene that really sticked on my head for a long time. i also had a problem with one specific episode that had the purpose of contributing to the black comedy, i will explain that later. on.

AVERAGE
1. acting
i am satisfied with the acting. every actor portrayed their role well and the actor that stood out the most was kwak dong yeon. here's an unpopular opinion, i feel like song joong ki wasnt the best choice for the role vincenzo. don't get me wrong, i love sjk and i know he did his best to portray his character and i am satisfied with his performance. but i personally think because the character is a mafia, the actor should've been manlier and more intimidating. and sjk is the total opposite of that, he has feminine (positive way) and soft visuals. he's not intimidating at all tbh, but since he did a great job, i don't want to complain too much about it. imo however, the role would've suited better for other particular actors. it's not the "this role was made for him" as everyone thinks it is.

GOOD
1. the ost
nothing more to explain about this. the osts were great and added impact to scenes that wouldn't have been impactful at all.

2. attracts kdrama newbies
probably because the genre is black comedy? kdrama newbies won't focus much on the quality of the story, if it has comedy and some good vs bad plot with some fairly good scenes, they'll automatically love and enjoy it. another thing is that it's song joong ki, he is a very famous actor internationally.

now about the specific episode i mentioned that had the purpose of black comedy, that episode really disturbed me. it was homophobic and as someone who is part of the lgbtq+ community, i loathed the way the portrayed those scenes. those type of characters rarely get portrayed in a kdrama, but they chose to portray a gay character as a disgusting criminal. (i will use they/them when pertaining to the gay character) and the way vincenzo was disgusted by their actions? it was utterly disturbing. oh and don't even make excuses that he's disgusted because they're a criminal, if that's the case, he would've been disgusted in the first place and not particularly when they do gay actions. besides, vincenzo is a mafia. he surely encountered way worse people and he's used to criminals.

to summarize it all, vincenzo is not a special drama and the story is cliche. it isn't worth to watch, there are a lot of better ones. if you think this is the best (or one of the best) kdrama of all time, then you're seriously missing out a lot. i can name more than 70 kdramas better than this. the fiery priest is a lot better (they're from the same writer and has similar genre), it has amazing action, amazing comedy, amazing characters especially protagonist, and the whole kdrama is really enjoyable. vincenzo and the fiery priest both has those cliche corrupt characters, but the fiery priest has better personal story of the protagonist and the protagonist itself is more charming and unique (i mean where tf can u see a handsome priest that **********). vincenzo is a 4/10, tfp is a 9/10. even tho tfp has one side of the kdrama where it's cliche, the rest is outstanding.

anyways, if you're just a starter, then vincenzo could be a good introduction to kdramas.

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The king loved the court lady, but did the court lady love the king?

This is gonna be a lengthy review because it will also summarize what other viewers disliked and liked, and i'll express my opinion about those. Don't worry because ill put a ( SPOILER ) and ( END OF SPOILER ) notice at every part that contains one.

The Red Sleeve is a sageuk that will remain in your heart for an eternity, truly an unforgettable one. The fact that it's based on a true romance in history makes it a lot more impactful. If you're a sucker for true to life stories, then this is the one for you.

This is not the typical and most ideal romance, especially considering their differences in character such as their social class, beliefs and priorities. No matter how much we want everything to go smoothly, that will never happen especially in that era. This is not the lovey dovey story you might have in prospect for- and it was never supposed to be. From the start- the director and cast emphasized it as a "mournful court romance", and it stayed true to its elucidation.

The story and characters are a immeasurably more complex than it seems. It was challenging to analyze the scenarios because it does not portray and give details in a straightforward way. You need a vast effort to consider the context of the story and put yourself in their shoes to fully understand the character, in which a lot of people seemed to have conflicted in.

Now I'm gonna talk about the elements I saw some people didn't like to state my counterarguments because a lot watched this impetously without rumination over what kind of narrative it intended to be. But I'm also gonna address those I didn't like as well.

1. Palace politics
A lot claimed the palace politics to be boring and unnecessary. I beg to differ. It wouldn't be plausible if Yi San had it easy taking the throne because he's the son of one of the most controversial crown princes. The palace politics also effectuated us to go in depth to Yisan and King Yeongjo's character and relationship. More importantly, it showed how Deokim was solely the one who cared for yi san without pretense during those times (maybe alongside taeho), thus contributing immensely to how she earned a special place in his heart.

( SPOILER ) What I found unnecessary though was that it had to be a cult of court ladies. the details of any scene related to it that would happen later on could be replaced with ease. The court ladies being the assassins was essential, but having a whole hideout underneath Court Lady Cho's room was just ridiculous. ( END OF SPOILER )

The politics could've been better, but it wasn't necessarily something I disliked.

2. Pacing
Not that it's something i hated, but I do agree that the pacing was undoubtedly the one that is responsible for most of the drama's shortcomings, fortunately everything else managed to compensate for it. The mid part should've been a bit faster, while the last 6 episodes should've been slower. It's as if they were taking their time then they suddenly realize there are only a few episodes left. The drama should've had no less than 20 episodes. They should've wisely pondered how many and which subplots of the novel would fit in those 16 episodes. It would've been hard to immerse in the scenes if the acting wasn't out of this world. If it had a few more episodes, the latter part would've been perfect. This also would've gave way to more scenes that would complete the drama and make it more impactful.

( SPOILER ) I particularly wanted a happy scene of Yisan, Deokim and Crown Prince Munhyo. Yisan has always wanted to create a family with Deokim, but only their son's death was shown. This would've also made his death more griefful. Second is I also wanted Deokim's funeral to be shown, that way it will contrast how Deokim, like Yeongbin in the first episode and unlike Court Lady Cho, died in the palace in an honored way. I also wish that when King Jeongjo was grieving for Deokim, the very famous epitaph he wrote about her was narrated. ( END OF SPOILER ) Due to the limited number of episodes, these scenes couldn't fit in the story but I feel like they were really necessary. An extension to 20 episodes would've done the trick and MBC really should've extended it, considering it's their most successful drama after years.

4. Yisan and Deokim's character
I have a lot to say about this because it appears to me that some people didn't fully go tactfully understand their temperament.
Yisan - was disliked due to a few of his actions towards deokim. On the drama's defense, Yisan in the novel was portrayed as an arrogant asshole. Drama Yisan was actually a very polished form of novel yisan. I don't blame them for disfavoring him, he did a few actions that would turn you off especially if you're envisioning him to fit the 21st century standards, but his character was never supposed to be ideal. I also think that those actions were able to emphasize the power disparity between the two and Yisan's burning desire for Deokim. Even Junho himself highlighted Yisan's "dangerous love". I still appreciate Yisan for never coercing deokim to be his concubine even if it wouldn't be a problem for him to do so, and that the grounds of his anger was never because of her rejection. In fact, it's a very rare case for a court lady to be able to reject a crown prince or a king (and multiple times at that) because it would mean death for them. This just proves he isn't really the red flag some label him to be, particularly in the era they were in. Because i thoroughly understood the circumstances, he didn't trouble me much (I don't blame those who were though). I guess Yisan's romantic side overpowered his flaws for me, and he's such a simp for deokim lmao. Nonetheless, this does not mean he is worship worthy (assuredly the drama did not portray him as such).

Deokim - was disliked for her constant rejections. They could've reduced the rejections a bit, but it didn't matter to me much because her reasoning was understandable. If you ask me, her constant rejection is the core of the story. It gave weightage to her character being firm to her beliefs and priorities. It is true that the real life Deokim rejected Yisan multiple times and yisan actually had to wait for 15 years for her (which was already condensed in the drama). At any rate, there is no doubt that those who hated on Deokim for this reason straightway regretted it after finishing the drama. The last 2 episodes were definitely a slap to their face.


Now onto the things that we all liked <3
// Acting
Every single one of the actors should be considered top tier, even those whose names you've never heard of. Despite the drama's flaws, the acting managed to make up for it. It's been a while since I've seen a sageuk with such praiseworthy actors- even the supporting cast will astonish you. The drama really made a lot of actors' acting skills shine in the dark. Lee Junho utterly embodied Yisan, his character was complex and difficult to portray without looking awkward, but he did it perfectly. While of course our Lee Seyoung, deserves to be applaud for her subtle yet deep facial expressions converying the fathomless emotions of Sung Deokim.

// Cinematography
Second to Mr Sunshine, this undoubtedly has the best cinematography of all time for me. The hues and shots are beyond words. I think it's because the director is a woman, she managed to get us exactly what we wanted in the most beautiful way possible specially because the drama extensively portrays women's struggles.

// Complex characters
I absolutely adore how none of the characters are plain, their personalities are well made and very inticrate. Everyone shows a new side after some time, even the villains will prompt you to sympathize with them (that hwabitch is an exception tho). This makes it challenging to observe each of the characters and how they develop overtime. Additionally, I'm a sucker for characters whose personalities aren't typical.

// Amazing chemistry
As we all say, the drama is a heavy melodrama, whilst the behind the scenes is a whole romcom. THEIR CHEMISTRY IS DREAMY. the combinations were something we didn't expect, but it was absolutely perfect. It fascinates me they thought of putting together such a cast and especially the two leads.

It is crystal clear how the drama won 8 awards out of 13 nominations while it was still ongoing. The quality is out of this world. The writing is not perfect, but to be honest I don't remember what the flaws exactly were because the rest was too magnificent and impactful! It's hard to describe the writing, but let's just say it was imperfect, yet perfectly beautiful. It's impossible to think rationally after ending the drama, there were a lot lines that will forever be engraved in my heart, as well as lines that stabbed a knife in it perennially. Even if the writing had flaws, I couldn't be more gratified with the script.

The beauty of this drama is that everything is very complex. It allows the viewers to have varying opinions and interpretations about the characters and scenes. The drama also doesn't gloss over the obvious power gap between the two main leads, it displays the reality of a king and a "lowly" court lady's story in that era. I liked that the story didn't limit itself to what the viewers will fancy, it's really only for those who want emotional tension. The drama is distant from a tender romance, nothing will ever go as you want here. The two main leads really went through a lot, as much as it was draining, it made their sunny moments a whole lot special. This is the first time I've come across a kdrama wherein 3 still cuts of them smiling at each other made me cry a lot. The joy and relief you'll feel because they're finally happy together (at least in that scene) is out of this world. The Red Sleeve made me experience a lot of emotions I've never went through even if I've watched over a hundred kdramas, especially the angst.

If there was a quote in the drama that would summarize the whole story, it would be queen dowager's line- "The palace is such a dazzling prison". The Red Sleeve beautifully portrayed the reality of Joseon era. The harsh reality and struggles of the people who lived in the palace, particularly women. I don't think i've ever seen a kdrama portray the agony of various types of people living in joseon as exquisitely as the red sleeve does- from the lowest to the highest class, you'll see everyone's story. Of course, the narrative itself centers around our dearest Deokim. The angst of this drama is just different from all other kdramas with tragedies, mayhap it's because there are not a lot of happy elements.

If you read my whole review, you should've perceived whether or not what you're looking for is in the drama. If your conclusion is to watch it, I'm gonna relay to you this exact question that was rendered to us before the drama aired. It's your turn to find out the answer whilst you watch the drama.

"The king loved the court lady, but did the court lady love the king?"

Your answer may change multiple times just like mine did. But as you reach the end, you'll eventually find the answer. Good luck to you and have fun watching !! Oh and prepare a box of tissues because this is emotionally draining. Make sure to read about the real story of King Jeongjo and Uibin Seong after watching or maybe while watching, it hits different when you know which parts are true to life.

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if you're planning to watch this, don't

first of all if you don't want to read a long review and just want the main point- there are hundreds of dramas better than this. don't waste your time on it. i would've dropped jirisan right at the first episodes if only i wasnt watching it with my mom. but since i finished it anyways, im gonna take this chance to tell people to not even start it.

jirisan is a drama with splendid cast, poor execution of story, bland characters and boring plot. lemme talk about them in detail.

STORY
the synopsis was intriguing at first, but it ended up providing nothing special. the concept is unique- rangers and the mountain. but it failed to give anything impressive and worth complimenting, it failed to add anything meaningful to its concept. it had so much potential to be a beautiful drama but ended up being boring and draggy. literally halfway through the drama there was still no progress in the story. i could barely watch it, in fact, i didn't watch it without doing anything else. i can't focus on the drama because it's too boring.

CHARACTERS AND ACTING
every single character was bland. sure the story focus on their work and not their characters, but they should've at least gave something to enjoy about the lead characters. i know the cast are amazing actors, especially jun ji hyun and ju ji hoon, but while watching the drama icb i even questioned their acting skills. tho im pretty sure it's because the characters were so bland they couldnt showcase their skills. i don't even know why ju ji hoon and jun ji hyun accepted such roles when they're up at the top of the pyramid. hyunjo had no role except to have those visions and put those signals, what frustrated me even more was that he was in a coma for the whole present part of drama. those "soul wandering in the mountain" hyunjo scenes did not suffice esp because he's the male lead. while seo yi gang- i can't even remember what significant thing she did in the drama. oh and as much as i love the two JJHs, they didn't have any chemistry together. dont give me some shit that it's because there's no romance (even tho they were obviously a pair), there are lot of dramas/movies with no romance but the leads' chemistry is impeccable. even in the witch subversion kim dami and choi wooshik were killing each other but their chemistry can be seen 4K. was it because of the writing? idk we'll never know. another thing is that THERE ARE TOO MANY CHARACTERS. at the end of the story when everything was coming all together and suddenly 20 names (exaggerated) are being mentioned at the same time i was like "who the fuck are they again? what did they do again? i know they were related to this incident but i don't remember what their story was".

this drama was really a disappointing one. with all the hype and top tier actors, it failed badly. i wonder what was wrong with lee eung bok bc the cinematography of jirisan is a disappointment compared to his previous works (esp mr. sunshine which is very well known for its unbeatable cinematography). while kim eun sook... ah, should've continued kingdom instead.

on the other hand, i got to learn more about the work of rangers a bit and that was something i never saw in any other drama. thanks to that ig?

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Just a pure happy pill

Everyone is aware of the fact that Business Proposal contains a lot of clichés, but it's a quite a well-written cliché. I am usually bothered if a drama has cliché plot points, especially if it has this much, yet surprisingly I really enjoyed this one. Frankly speaking, there is nothing about this drama that you can't see in any other drama. However, unlike those dramas, Business Proposal has some kind of a spell that will get you addicted to it. I don't know how they did it, but it wasn't annoying at all. Well indeed there were moments that I was unimpressed and believed they could've at least added something different or that it was a bit exaggerated, yet I still really enjoyed it overall. Mind you, there will be some cringey and cheesy lines too!

Business Proposal is a good one to watch if you're looking for a drama wherein you won't have to make theories, worry about what will happen, and become anxious while watching. Just sit back, relax, laugh and feel butterflies in your stomach. I think that my mood during the weeks this aired contributed to how much I enjoyed it, it was exactly what I need during those times I felt dull and spent my nights overthinking. But Business Proposal had me looking forward to Mondays and Tuesday because I know my nights during those days would be filled with laughter and smiles. I don't have to overthink if they'll end up together or what conflicts they'll have to go through because we all know what will happen anyways.

So if you're looking for a drama that would make you feel thrilled because of its intriguing story, or bawl your eyes out because of the angst, this is definitely not the one and you might feel annoyed watching this.

The acting could have been better, if I were to be honest. There were a few parts where the acting felt a bit awkward (for specific actor/s), but it did not bother me much since I still had fun. The acting overall is okay, but didn't stand out to me much except for Seol In Ah who was perfect in portraying her role. Nonetheless, all actors did their best and sometimes it was actually the camera angles' fault because I saw some behind videos and it was actually better than the scene that was presented.

Although I still liked the main couple more than the second couple, I cannot deny that the second couple had more chemistry. Don't get me wrong! Both couples have amazing chemistry, but the second couple felt more natural. Hatae is still my favorite because I enjoyed their scenes a lot. To sum it up, the main couple focused on cute and innocent-like (but definitely not purely innocent) scenes. You can clearly see they're first timers that's why it's so cute! Especially because they had some moments when they needed to hide their relationship. While the second couple had a more steamy and mature relationship, it's as if they're already married because their romance was so natural.

I definitely think that they should've extended it to a few more episodes, it felt too short and i wanted to see more Hatae scenes especially because they became a couple just in the last few episodes of the drama and they had to hide it until the end. I wanted to see them openly in a relationship more and even their life after marriage, but Netflix probably told the writers to cut it off at 12 episodes. They still should've found a way to speed up the development of their relationship because the ending felt rushed and incomplete. Even so, that doesn't erase the fact that this drama comforted me a lot.

Overall, it was nothing new yet still very fun to watch. A light romcom to watch if you need something simple in this kdrama era where every kdrama would make your head or eyes hurt. It still depends on your sensitivity to clichés, cheesy lines and overused plots if you'll actually enjoy the drama. Just give it a shot and see! Personally, I feel like I was not myself during the time I watched Business Proposal lol. I really don't get how I actually enjoyed it, it was so unusual of me. But yeah like I said, it could also depend on your mood and what your mental health wants lmao.

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