Dropping this after two episodes. The cold perfect tsundere who's spent 20 years waiting for a girl he met on the playground once being mean to the FL until he realises she's the girl he's been waiting for and then suddenly becoming obsessed with her and deciding they're going to get married is such a cringy premise I just can't get past it--and coupled with the absurd height difference and the FL's exaggerated plucky cutesy personality, it's everything that is annoying about cdramas in one place.
Chu Chu is obviously a nice girl, but she’s so stupid I just can’t force myself to care about her as the lead. The romance between her and Xiao Jinyu completely lacks passion and intrigue because of how childish and oblivious she is. It’s not even believable that he would like her! Why is it so hard to find good FLs in cdramas?
…with Kang Hee being annoyed by Sun Ho at the Judo match and her taking loads of episodes to warm up to him.…
Yeah, I like Kang-hee's character. At first she seemed like a cold overachiever, but pretty quickly it became clear she's also wise and open to letting people surprise her. She recognises Sun-ho's positive qualities and is introspective and observant. I hope she and Sun-ho continue to support and learn from each other.
And you're right that a more stereotypical romantic dynamic has been transposed onto Sun-ho's mentor-mentee relationship with YDM, which is pretty funny.
Jin Seo-yeon, I've missed you, queen! Such an underrated actress.
This will be Honey Lee's second time playing a corrupt prosecutor in a comedy; I enjoyed her performance in The Fiery Priest. I'm curious about Lee Sang-yoon's performance in a comedy too.
I have a question about the synopsis, though: Will Honey Lee's character be married to Lee Sang-yoon's? The synopsis calls her a daughter-in-law, but also talks about Han Seung-wook reconnecting with his first love. I'm not sure I understand how this will all play out.
This is so fun and fresh! I love the dynamic between Doo-shim and Woo-soo, which is relatively unusual for a teen kdrama: while the ML is rich, handsome and smart as usual, the FL is not passive or academically challenged yet relentlessly positive, as is so often the case, but brooding, mysterious and badass in her own right, and the ML finds himself dragged into her orbit against his will and having to ask for her guidance instead of being obsessed with her for no reason. They’re evenly matched and it makes sense for them to become interested in each other (as they now have a very unique and important ability in common).
My only complaint is that I wish this was a full-length drama. Now I’ll have to try to ignore the weekly updates until it’s finished and marathon the rest of it like it’s a movie.
Wasn‘t vincenzo also a korean netflix production ? It was also 20 episodes
No, it was a TvN drama. Netflix got the international distribution rights, but it did not commission the production of the drama, which is why it followed the conventional TV format and complied with domestic TV regulations (such as the ban on showing people smoking, hence Vincenzo never actually getting to smoke).
This sounds cool! Alternate history is always a fun genre, and sageuks haven't revisited the seafaring theme and the sea as a setting in a while. It should be more interesting than the usual palace intrigue fest. I just hope SBS gives this project a big enough budget to make the naval battle scenes look good.
Ridiculously melodramatic premise AND grandpa Yoon Kye-sang and Go Ah-sung are going to try to act like they have buried romantic history and sexual tension? (Also can Korean directors stop casting 28-year-olds as accomplished criminal profilers/prosecutors/judges/whatever? It's so cringe, and here the fact YKS is so old should have FORCED them to cast an age-appropriate female lead, yet here we are.) Sounds like a mess on multiple levels.
Is it just me or is this the first Korean Netflix production that has 16+ episodes? All the ones I can think of that weren't collaborations with Korean TV channels were 6, 8, 10 episodes long.
I wonder if they're starting to adjust to the preferred format of Korean audiences and international drama fans or if they're thinking of co-producing this for regular TV.
This drama is much better than I expected! I really like the main characters. And I don't usually talk about chemistry between actors because most of what fans call chemistry comes down to the screenplay and directing (and whether fans like the actors' looks) in my opinion, but in this case Seo In-guk and Park Bo-young do actually have great chemistry together. The way their bodies turn toward each other and the looks they give each other feel intimate, like they're off in a world of their own.
Very curious to see what will happen next after the ending of episode 2. It seems like the pace of relationship development might be faster than in most kdramas.
What is the king up to? Is he really planning to sacrifice the princess to topple that minister?
It looks like it. He's a terrible father, but it's understandable.
Joseon kings often had multiple wives/concubines and many children, and weren't close to all of them; they usually had a favourite or two and mostly left the others alone, since they weren't expected to play a role in their children's upbringing. It's not like they were part of a nuclear family. Plus, Soo-kyung is a woman and female children were less valuable to kings and therefore less likely to develop close relationships with them.
In addition, as their conversation made clear, Yi Il-cheom can be an existential threat to the king. In matters of life or death, members of the royal family often picked their own self-interest over the lives of their relatives, and this was true for other medieval societies, like medieval Europe, and not just in Korea. It was a harsh world.
As the scheming court lady told Soo-kyung, it's better/safer for her father that she stay dead. Obviously Court Lady Kim had ulterior reasons for saying that, but she didn't actually lie. I know we all assumed she was feeding poisonous lies to Soo-kyung and the king would have a different reaction from her prediction, but then his actions (ignoring SK and eventually trying to use her as bait for YIC) showed Court Lady Kim was completely right.
Can’t believe that the ML attempted to kill the FL and then actually sold her. But at least he saved her from…
He definitely deserved to get smacked and more for trying to sell her into sexual slavery, but just to clarify, he did it to cover up her abduction and evade the authorities, not because of his feelings toward the king.
1 
And you're right that a more stereotypical romantic dynamic has been transposed onto Sun-ho's mentor-mentee relationship with YDM, which is pretty funny.
This will be Honey Lee's second time playing a corrupt prosecutor in a comedy; I enjoyed her performance in The Fiery Priest. I'm curious about Lee Sang-yoon's performance in a comedy too.
I have a question about the synopsis, though: Will Honey Lee's character be married to Lee Sang-yoon's? The synopsis calls her a daughter-in-law, but also talks about Han Seung-wook reconnecting with his first love. I'm not sure I understand how this will all play out.
My only complaint is that I wish this was a full-length drama. Now I’ll have to try to ignore the weekly updates until it’s finished and marathon the rest of it like it’s a movie.
I wonder if they're starting to adjust to the preferred format of Korean audiences and international drama fans or if they're thinking of co-producing this for regular TV.
Very curious to see what will happen next after the ending of episode 2. It seems like the pace of relationship development might be faster than in most kdramas.
Joseon kings often had multiple wives/concubines and many children, and weren't close to all of them; they usually had a favourite or two and mostly left the others alone, since they weren't expected to play a role in their children's upbringing. It's not like they were part of a nuclear family. Plus, Soo-kyung is a woman and female children were less valuable to kings and therefore less likely to develop close relationships with them.
In addition, as their conversation made clear, Yi Il-cheom can be an existential threat to the king. In matters of life or death, members of the royal family often picked their own self-interest over the lives of their relatives, and this was true for other medieval societies, like medieval Europe, and not just in Korea. It was a harsh world.
As the scheming court lady told Soo-kyung, it's better/safer for her father that she stay dead. Obviously Court Lady Kim had ulterior reasons for saying that, but she didn't actually lie. I know we all assumed she was feeding poisonous lies to Soo-kyung and the king would have a different reaction from her prediction, but then his actions (ignoring SK and eventually trying to use her as bait for YIC) showed Court Lady Kim was completely right.