I really debated what to rate this drama after finishing it. For all accounts, the acting is amazing (SUPERB cast with fantastic leads), the music is moving, and it is absolutely beautiful to look at but the plot felt a little loose to me. It was fairly typical as far as sageuks go: the struggle for the throne with scheming higher-ups and revenge seeking rebels. But what makes The Princess' Man veer from the norm is its focus on the romance between the two leads. Not that sageuks don't have romance (because they do) but it is rare for the main focus of the drama to be the romantic relationship and not the politics (at least, at the time of this drama's airing).

And this drama does a wonderful job telling us the story of Korea's Romeo and Juliet by giving us lots of great moments...but overall I felt there were times the drama slipped into a lull. It got boring around half way through and took a bit to pick things back up. Plus I thought there was a lot of "back and forth" with some "rinse and repeat" going on with the plot, if you know what I mean.

HOWEVER! Since I loved this couple so much and because--overall--I really enjoyed this drama, I went ahead and gave it a 9 rating. I think there are better quality sageuks out there but this is still one of the best.