The story starts out with two brothers, Prince Jin Yang and Prince Eun Sung. One very much wants to sit on the throne, while the other one would rather dedicate his life to the fine arts. Prince Eun Sung is a sensitive artist trapped in the snake nest that is the royal court, forced to fight in a war and act in a way that belies his gentle nature. Prince Jin Yang is the power hungry snake who wants to the throne to make up for the trauma of having to grow up outside the palace without the love of his mother. He takes revenge upon his family like a vicious child, hating his own brother and destroying everyone in his path.
Sung Ja Hyun is a noble man's daughter who wants ~more~ than an arranged marriage and kids, dabbling in painting, which is how she meets Eun Sung. They bond over their love of the fine arts and plan to marry, when their dreams are shattered by court politics.
After Prince Eun Sung is whisked away to a war, Prince Jin Yang, like a child tries to take Ja Hyun as his concubine to take revenge upon his brother. Setting forth some kind of love triangle, but what was refreshing was that it was always clear that he never loved her. It's not played off as some tragic love story, but always portrayed as what it is: him wanting what his brother had. Just like as a child, when his brother had that love of his mother. I think one of the most compelling parts of the drama was the psychology of Prince Jin Yang. Even if you didn't agree, you understood why he did what he did. It made him human, even if there is a lack of humanity in the things he does.
It doesn't quite have the magic and the complexity of the Princess' Man and it sure doesn't have supporting characters quite as strong. It doesn't have that grandness and the feel of epicness either. Many scenes are very similar and seem a bit copy cat in a distracting way, it's not surprising that they were made by the same director. It's been compared a lot to the Seven Day Queen because of the power struggle, but I think that Grand Prince is actually better plotted and executed.
When it comes to the comparisons with those two dramas I would say that they're cousins, similar but also distinct with their owns unique merits. If you have already seen Princess' Man I would skip the drama, as the similarities are a bit too much.
They were only minor characters, but I enjoyed what Ja Hyun's parents brought to the story, supporting their daughter in everything. I also liked Roo Shi Gae, who could have just been a comic relief character, but managed to worm herself into my heart with her charm and steadfast support of her Eun Sung, knowing and accepting that he only loves Ja Hyun.
I didn't feel like acting in this was especially good, neither of the leading trio have been known as great actors, but I think they all did a serviable albeit a bit bland job. Jin Se Yeon improved quite a bit from her previous roles and doesn't stick out like a sore thumb or anything. She isn't exactly great, but not too shabby either. Yoon Shi Yoon was perfectly cast with his boyish charm and twinkle in his eye at the start, he managed to portray the hardening of his character well. Joo Sang Wook while competent was a bit too wooden and he could have added some more flourish to his character, I didn't feel like he portrayed his character to his full potential. One of the weak points of the drama was Na-Gyeom, Prince Jin Yang wife. It was never believable that her and Ja Hyun were ever friends and the evilness of her seemed to be more to move the plot forward, she just wasn't a well developed character.
The drama suffered a bit from a retread of the plot in the middle, but it picked up again when it came to the third act, where it all payed off and came to a satisfying conclusion. The episodes really got better and better towards the end, the tension reaching a boiling point and it all paid off in the very end.
Recommended for saeguk fans who like their saeguks to lean heavily onto the romantic side. It doesn't reinvent the wheel and some parts are a bit too familiar, but it's certainly a 20 hour well spent and entertained.
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I loved the main couple. They had chemistry and their love story was nice and interesting, even though it started very quickly and it didn't have time to built up. The second lead was an interesting character as well, the opposite of the main lead, dark and violent. I liked how he was the perfect opposition to the love triangle and how tragic his persona was.
The drama did, however, get a bit tiring, with the many many action scenes and twists. But, it was entertaining nevertheless. So, 8 out of 10.
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I did like Yoon Shi Yoon as Prince Whi, who I would consider to be the star of this drama. He's very likable, and I think he did a good job, but the reluctant ruler being tormented by his jealous older brother plot got old quickly. If he was even a little less likable I would have dropped this drama very early on, but he had enough charisma to keep me watching.
He is matched with Jin Se Yeon as Sung Ja Hyun who was equal parts stubborn, and annoying. I don't know whether it was how she was written or how she was portrayed, but there was something that stopped me from really connecting with her character. Or maybe I've just seen the rebellious noble girl role played too many times to be impressed. There are some cute moments between them, but there's also the hidden identity trope that gets overdone so often, and a desperation to their love that sometimes seemed inauthentic. They are meant to represent a love that is determined to withstand all the odds against them, but it was as if there was a necessary intensity in their chemistry that was missing.
The ill-fated love triangle is completed by Joo Sang Wook as Prince Kang. Even though his actions scream ruthless irrational sociopath, his portrayal was pretty one note. I love a good villain, but I think he fell short by playing him so low key. Maybe that was meant to make him more sympathetic, but it just made his already cliché character kind of boring. His relationship with is uncle made him a little more interesting, but even that dynamic started to get old. I guess I have high villain expectations.
I liked this exact same triangle much better in Queen for 7 days, which is extremely similar! In fact it's so similar that there were moments where this drama damn near felt like a remake. Being such a fan of Queen for 7 days made it impossible not to hold this drama to the same standard, and in my opinion it just didn't live up to it. That might seem unfair, but I think that's the price of being such a paint by numbers drama.
There are however some characters that I think deserve to be given some praise for making the best out of a cliché situation. Lee Kang's wife was by far my favorite, and one of the most interesting, of the supporting characters . I found her character even more interesting than her husband. I also really liked Ryu Shi Gae, and how unapologetically honest she was about her feelings. She was definitely another favorite. I loved Prince Whi's bromance with the eunuch, maybe even better than the main romance. Then there's Choo Soo Hyun and Kim Mi Kyung, who I think were both totally typecast in roles they play well, but they both delivered as expected. There were other good performances too, but honestly, even with the cast doing their best to bring this story to life, they couldn't do enough to keep the story interesting from start to finish.
I will admit that I put this drama on hold for a while before finally deciding I would finish it. Instead of being satisfied by the ending, it felt more like a task I finally completed. The story does wrap up well, and there are some emotional moments that got to me, but too much of it was predictable, or something I've already seen and liked better in another drama.
Overall, this is a drama for an audience who just wants more of the same thing they already have seen and liked before, or for someone who's never seen a sageuk in their life. I predict that anyone else would be pretty underwhelmed by this one. I already found a lot of it forgettable, which would be my only real reason for watching this again, but I fear that I would drop it during a second viewing attempt.
As far as historical love triangles go, instead of Grand, I found this to be pretty "meh".
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All in all, I'd still consider this a good drama, and so I give it an 8.
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Acting and initial set up were fine. A prince falls in love with a noble lady and is somehow kept apart from her--and then we flashback to the beginning to find out how.
I think everybody did a great job with what they were given. The problem here was that there was zero tension. Most actions didn't seem to have big enough consequences for me to sit on the edge of my seat, or really keep my eyes glued to the screen to watch the fallout. It's hard to put into words except to say that I never really felt how HEAVY any of their choices were. They just sort of...made them and moved on. It ended up creating a lackluster drama overall.
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"Grand Prince" the historical fictionalization of King Sejo and his brother Grand Prince Anpyeong
I am so profoundly disappointed with "Grand Prince" the historical fictionalization of King Sejo (Lee Kang) and his brother Grand Prince Anpyeong (Lee Hwi). The two brothers' love interest Sung Ja Hyun's tomboyish care free lifestyle is too difficult to stomach. There are too many love scenes in "Grand Prince" and they tend to be so long/boring after a while. I am heartbroken that the strong assertive Queen Jeonghui (Yoon Na Kyeom) is depicted as a pauper at the end of the series. Was not Queen Jeonghui Dowager Empress to her son and her grandson? And was not Empress Dowager completed the famous "Code of Law" that was ordered by King Sejo that helped farmers? Miss Ryu Hyo-young is a talented actress, hoping to see her in many many more K-drama series.Was this review helpful to you?
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The “2 brothers love the same girl” storyline with a bunch of intrigues has been used countless times, yet had the writing been better it could have been an interesting and much more entertaining drama. 20 episodes were simply just too long for how slow paced the actual plot was, so that the ending turned out to be kind of anticlimactic as well. It started off as intense (especially after that cool intro which I loved) but then my excitement soon faded away after the first half of the first episode as the plot slowed down.
The characters were all very one-dimensional with one single motive and without any actual depth or significant character development. This was probably the greatest weakness of the Grand Prince – it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t that good either. The characters weren’t interesting enough to make me feel involved since I couldn’t care less about their hardships either (mostly because half of the drama was useless and forced to fill the time). The same goes for the supporting characters – none of them caught my attention enough to make me actually engaged. The acting was okay – probably because of how meek the characters were the three main actors didn’t have that much to work with. The chemistry between Yoon Shi Yoon and Jin Se Yeon was nice though and they looked cute together. The OST was the only thing that I really loved, it had some great pieces especially the instrumental versions.
Overall, the Grand Prince didn’t quite meet my expectations. It could have been really great despite its overused plot, but sadly it remained just one of those dramas that were good to watch once but wouldn’t really become memorable.
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This review may contain spoilers
Grand Prince
What can I say about this drama? It is what it is!Had all the right pieces, but sadly, it wasn't put together the right way.
One of my biggest dissatisfaction: The girl who helped the Prince for 3 yrs. They fight side-by-side. Protected each other. Saved one another, and yet, when the Prince returned home he barely acknowledged her. Their interaction is so slight — it's almost none-existence. WHY? I am not looking for romance. I was just hoping they showed the level of respect and friendship that form between them throughout their awful experience together. The way she was overlooked and treated by him is so unnatural and unfair.
Prince Kang... I pity him for the entire show. The ending made me cry a bit. It was sad because I understand why Kang did what he did. He wasn't an exceptionally bad person.
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Ticking off all the right boxes for historical drama
Romance and political. Good acting, filmography and costumes.Looking back at this now a while after watching it, I would say Joo Sang Wook as the older Prince Lee Kang left the strongest impression on me.
As a historical drama it isn’t super original, but it pretty much ticks off all the boxes, and does it quite well:
Some tense scenes, some emotional and tear-inducing scenes, and some scenes making you smile and laugh.
A few things, like close-ups of horse riding, could have been better, but it might also be due to the fact that the show is 6 years old at time of writing, so I’m expecting better per today’s standard.
As usual I don't really remember the music, so giving that an "average" score.
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Most horrible storyline ever. Sorry to Yoon Si Yoon and Joo Sang Wook, but this story is the most messed up ever. Its like the writer is blindly in love with a selfish, good-for-nothing brat of a girl, so at every turn, the story elevates the selfish girl into the best, most important, and most loved character by everyone.. except i cant comprehend how anyone can love such a selfish brat. The two male leads become idiots whenever decision making involves that disgusting girl. And in the end, all other characters are assasinated by the writer in an attempt to give the girl a 'Happy Ever After', even if it doesnt make sense.. gosh.. what an atrocious story. And the worst part.. that lead actress cant act. After this, i am completely convinced of only one thing.. she 100% have a sponsor and this drama is sponsored to feature her in a BIG way. A waste of YSY and JSW really. I dont even want to remember YSY in this drama. I wish this drama will be forgotten forever and no one ever watches this crap of a story, because trust me, it is not worth anyone's time! Was this review helpful to you?
