1
DramaHeroine
The Pages of a Fairytale
This review may contain spoilers
Updated Review 2022:
I remember the first time I watched King2Hearts, some ten odd years ago. There's this really great scene in episode 1, possibly my favorite in the series, where the South Korean royal family watch as the Berlin wall in Germany comes down. It's a foundational moment for King2Hearts, as it sets the tone for the rest of the drama. This isn't just a romance. This is a story about a country, two countries, and what could be between them. This is ultimately why I appreciate this drama like I do. There are elements of the story that are clunky in their execution, there are things that are just downright bad, and while I enjoy the romance, it's not one of my favorites. But King2Hearts attempted to do something a lot of dramas don't. Give North Korea a voice and take a serious look at what it might be like if North and South Korea were ever to come together again. Obviously, this was done through the lens of a fictional monarchy and not much time is spent on exploring what life in North Korea really looks like, but it was an earnest attempt to reconcile these two countries, even if just in fiction.
Of course, I can't write a review for this drama without talking about the female lead, Hang Ah. At this point, you've probably seen a swath of people waxing poetic over her and for very good reason. Hang Ah has an incredibly well-crafted balance between the delicate and the fierce aspects of her personality. She dreams of finding love and enjoys dressing up and feeling girly, but she's also principled and supremely tough in the face of danger, and not once is either side compromised for the other. It may be annoying at this point for people to constantly talk about Hang Ah's consistency as a character, but this was such a rarity in Kdrama's of the time, that it stuck with most of us who watched King2Hearts.
It is fair to say that King2Hearts has it's share of very obvious flaws. First, there are the terrible with a capital T foreign actors. I wrote in my original three sentence review (which you can see below this updated review) that watching them was like being tortured and tickled at the same time, and I still agree with that. They are bad to the point of distraction, which is unfortunate as it mars a lot of what goes on in the main villain's storyline. But we will have to chalk up the terrible acting to the fact that there was likely no budget for Kdrama's of the time to hire foreign actors with some actual skill, so they used what they could find.
What can't be as easily forgiven is a villain who is sometimes successful at being terrifying but also sometimes successful at being nothing more than useless. He's very convincingly acted, although again, his character is often undermined by the terrible acting of the foreign actors around him. This could be overlooked, however, if his machinations more consistently successful or even frightening. Sadly for him, his plans are unsuccessful a few too many times, and they fail to consistently inspire fear in the audience thus making it harder for us to understand why we should be afraid of him at all. I will acquiesce that the villain improves upon a second viewing, but I still didn't walk away from the story feeling the level of fear I was clearly meant to. I mostly viewed the villain as pathetic.
Flaws aside, I think this is still an important drama. It's not polished like most Kdrama's coming out today. The drama team would have been limited by the resources that were available to them at the time. But watching with the Korean royal family as the Berlin wall fell made my heart swell with hope for North and South Korea, and I think that was the point. This wasn't going to be a hard-hitting, finely detailed approach to the issue of North/South Korean relations, but an attempt though the storytelling medium to say something of value about the two countries and to express a hope for tomorrow. A hope that one day, peace will reign. And for my part, I hope that will someday be the case.
Original Review:
The villain was pure nonsense, and watching the foreign actors was like being tortured and tickled at the same time. But the scene with the Korean royal family watching the Berlin wall come down in the first episode sold me. Couldn't put it down and was so sad when it was over.
I remember the first time I watched King2Hearts, some ten odd years ago. There's this really great scene in episode 1, possibly my favorite in the series, where the South Korean royal family watch as the Berlin wall in Germany comes down. It's a foundational moment for King2Hearts, as it sets the tone for the rest of the drama. This isn't just a romance. This is a story about a country, two countries, and what could be between them. This is ultimately why I appreciate this drama like I do. There are elements of the story that are clunky in their execution, there are things that are just downright bad, and while I enjoy the romance, it's not one of my favorites. But King2Hearts attempted to do something a lot of dramas don't. Give North Korea a voice and take a serious look at what it might be like if North and South Korea were ever to come together again. Obviously, this was done through the lens of a fictional monarchy and not much time is spent on exploring what life in North Korea really looks like, but it was an earnest attempt to reconcile these two countries, even if just in fiction.
Of course, I can't write a review for this drama without talking about the female lead, Hang Ah. At this point, you've probably seen a swath of people waxing poetic over her and for very good reason. Hang Ah has an incredibly well-crafted balance between the delicate and the fierce aspects of her personality. She dreams of finding love and enjoys dressing up and feeling girly, but she's also principled and supremely tough in the face of danger, and not once is either side compromised for the other. It may be annoying at this point for people to constantly talk about Hang Ah's consistency as a character, but this was such a rarity in Kdrama's of the time, that it stuck with most of us who watched King2Hearts.
It is fair to say that King2Hearts has it's share of very obvious flaws. First, there are the terrible with a capital T foreign actors. I wrote in my original three sentence review (which you can see below this updated review) that watching them was like being tortured and tickled at the same time, and I still agree with that. They are bad to the point of distraction, which is unfortunate as it mars a lot of what goes on in the main villain's storyline. But we will have to chalk up the terrible acting to the fact that there was likely no budget for Kdrama's of the time to hire foreign actors with some actual skill, so they used what they could find.
What can't be as easily forgiven is a villain who is sometimes successful at being terrifying but also sometimes successful at being nothing more than useless. He's very convincingly acted, although again, his character is often undermined by the terrible acting of the foreign actors around him. This could be overlooked, however, if his machinations more consistently successful or even frightening. Sadly for him, his plans are unsuccessful a few too many times, and they fail to consistently inspire fear in the audience thus making it harder for us to understand why we should be afraid of him at all. I will acquiesce that the villain improves upon a second viewing, but I still didn't walk away from the story feeling the level of fear I was clearly meant to. I mostly viewed the villain as pathetic.
Flaws aside, I think this is still an important drama. It's not polished like most Kdrama's coming out today. The drama team would have been limited by the resources that were available to them at the time. But watching with the Korean royal family as the Berlin wall fell made my heart swell with hope for North and South Korea, and I think that was the point. This wasn't going to be a hard-hitting, finely detailed approach to the issue of North/South Korean relations, but an attempt though the storytelling medium to say something of value about the two countries and to express a hope for tomorrow. A hope that one day, peace will reign. And for my part, I hope that will someday be the case.
Original Review:
The villain was pure nonsense, and watching the foreign actors was like being tortured and tickled at the same time. But the scene with the Korean royal family watching the Berlin wall come down in the first episode sold me. Couldn't put it down and was so sad when it was over.
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