Let me start saying I didn't watch the other remake (or even the original one) or read the novel, so it was the first drama I watched with this story that was told plenty of times. And let me say this made me want to watch everything (including the chinese original, saddly I didn't find it yet).

Scalert Heart has an overused plot, or at least that's the impression I've got after reading so many chinese novels with almost the exact same description. However, instead of China, it takes place in Goryeo and, unlike many heroines I've seen in these kind of novels, the main character seems rather docile and ingenue. Althought don't be fooled! This drama is a rollercoaster and it will make you cry more than an infant.

Let's start with the acting: what can I say except superb? I know that IU was not great at all, but at least she made a half decent job in some scenes, and her forever frightened face kind of mixed well with other scenes too. But the real star I'm talking about here is none other than Lee Joon Gi and his portrayal of the dark, traumatized and passionate Wang So. Seriously, he got me crying, smiling, squirming and cheering for him even though his decisions and actions weren't always likeable. And let me say that it's very difficult for me to feel this way about a character.

Other thing I really liked on this drama was how morally ambiguous every character was. Even some characters I didn't like from the beginning, I felt some sort of empathy for them (except Wang So's mother, that bitch). And their morally ambiguity is more than justified given how living on a palace, pratically sparring for the throne, is stressing. Really, I also liked how Hae Soo's love interest changed through episodes, which gave us a really well done love triangle. One thing I always hated on kdramas was how most of the time the second lead has no space on the female lead's heart except friendship, but this one did a good job by balancing both love interests instead of doing one-sided crushes. 

The music was also addictive and made me feel warm and sad at the same time. I know it seems strange to mix such modern and upbeat music to a historical drama, but everything was mixed so well it gave me not only good additions to my playlist, but also made some scenes seem so much sweeter.

My only major complaint though, was how they dealt with Soo's time traveling and adjusting to a whole different era. It was like they began to develop it on the first few episodes, but then suddenly she was already used to everything and how everything worked. It just didn't feel realistic at all. I understand that with her more submissive, sensitive demeanor she can blend in easier, but her life suddenly changing from one thing to another was mostly handwaved.

And now to finish this review, I'll talk about the ending(spoiler free): I know many may complain about it, and I agree in some parts, but overall I think it was great. It gave me the goosebumps, made me cry a river, but still I wouldn't change a thing. That's how I feel about this drama: sure it had it's flaws, but the overall picture was so well done, it made me cry and have the feels for at least two days. Not every drama makes me like that.