Needs brain cells
If you wish to give your brain a rest when watching dramas, this is definitely NOT for you. You'll just find yourself obsessing over product placements.If you do wish to keep your brain cells active even in front of a TV, if you relish unraveling challenging plot-lines, you're in for a magical, wonderful experience.
This is the best kdrama I've ever watched. Romance, fantasy and an awesome soundtrack have been blended together in a beautifully crafted unique story of a king and a detective from parallel worlds who meet, bicker, fall in love and risk their lives to save their worlds from impending doom.
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For a long time I have not enjoyed watching a show like this one and it will always hold a special place in my heart, thanks to a beautifully written love story between the main leads.
The main story is very interesting, with the theme of parallel worlds, devious villains, but what I loved the most is romance.
It has been a long time I have watched a romance K-Drama like this one, where the main theme is this epic, fantasy love story and what is the most important, the writing was not shy because of it, in contrary, I had a feeling I was basking in that glorious feeling of an epic love tale. The main characters were not fazed how they felt about each other, they were lucky, they met and fell in love and it felt like a touch of destiny and they were grateful for that. There were no love triangles, no crazy in laws, no annoying unbaised misunderstandings, just their unconditional love and it was so beautiful, that truthful simplicity of their feelings and their unflinching will to fight for their love.
The main actors Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun had an amazing chemistry and they portrayed their characters perfectly, their scenes were heart swooning and so lovely. I laughed and cried with them, which is always a good sign, that a show touched my heart. After this show I became a devoted Min Lee Ho fan. :)
The other characters with their stories, enchanting scenography and captivating OST were perfectly included in the main story, which resulted in one fulfilling K-drama viewing experience. :)
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I have never been a HUGE huge fan of either main casts but I do love them. So when news about this drama airing first came out, I wasn't as hype as my other friends were.
People complimented the first episode endlessly and I decided to wait for the drama to be completed to watch it (because I have no patience and I usually watch everything in one go). But after some time, people began leaving negative feedback on the drama.
Here is my opinion:
- the plot is kind of amazing? it's probably not original, but it has the perfect amount of cliche-ness that a drama would need to have. There are several parts that made me think "oh, so she's this. wait. no. wait. yes. oh, she isn't. wait, she is." in the span of 5 minutes. There may be some parts that can come out as confusing, but this gets resolved as they explain it in the next episodes.
- the cast is kind of VERY much amazing. Everyone did an outstanding job, but Woo Do Hwan (with his two characters) won me over the moment I watched the episode.
- the cinematography?? beautiful.
- the HUMOR is 10/10.
- I have never been satisfied with drama endings, but this was okay. I originally thought that I wouldn't like the ending that they had chosen, but they tied up the loose ends pretty well. I ended up liking the ending lol.
- one of the only downside of this drama is the chemistry between the main leads. After watching the behind-the-scenes, I was kind of disappointed that their off screen chemistry wasn't transferred on screen :/ I felt that the relationship between the characters progressed too quickly as well.
Overall, I would suggest anyone to give this drama a try. I absolutely love this drama, and still can't move on from it even though it has been a couple of weeks since I completed it.
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Great fantasy romance drama and amazing chemistry
I really love this drama. This is a true fantasy drama. I understand the scenes do skip and go back in forth but it is still tell a good story. Yes, if you are not into this kind of fantasy series, you are not going to enjoy it and in fact find it more annoying and boring.The chemistry between Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun are undeniable sizzling and they are making me hope for season 2. What’s I really like about this series is the main female lead, she is bold, confidence, sassy and strong character. One thing I dislike about her when she tells Lee Gon, let’s live for today. She knows what she want and she goes after it. She is the first one to tell the male lead she loves him. She initials a lot of things that Lee Gon seem to fail to do. I think that the reason why in the end, she was rewarded.
I really hope for second seasons because I want to see more story of Koo Seo Gyeong and Kang Hyeon-min, I know she is a detective in the Kingdom of Corea just like him. Also how they are going to work out so Lee Gon and Tae Eul will have the heir. Since Lady Noh even said the ancestral shrine is almost complete.
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After the first 4 episodes I had a blank mind, couldn't say if I liked or disliked the drama. I didn't feel bored, nor excited.
It's the same after I completed it, just that my head is now full of thoughts about all the questions that were left unanswered. I won't go into detail but if you like your drama end to tie all loose ends, look elsewhere because the writer left us with lots of empty room for interpretation.
What's positive about the story is the setting and the idea itself. I found it interesting and still think it could make a good drama. Sadly, as the drama kept going it only got more confusing. There were some moments when I wasn't sure if I missed something or the scriptwriter herself got more and more confused with all this traveling between worlds.
It might have been better to keep it more simple but that's not how it is. And yes I have to admit there are some filler scenes that we could do without and plot holes throughout the drama. But just as much plot holes there are product placements which personally I find just as distracting and annoying.
Bottles with coffee, chicken, food delivery service, beauty products, bakeries, car brands and more. The most annoying for me was the coffee and beauty stuff. More than once it looked like I had accidentally turned the teleshopping channel on. No joke. We even get praising lines with this products telling us how good it tastes or an explanation how to use the beauty product. This might be allowed but it's definitely not what I want to see in a drama. Sponsoring is okay and important, I get it, but please don't shove those products in our faces like that and mess up the flow and logic of the story with them. There were nice scenes that lost its meaning when another product popped up and stole the attention. There are way more subtle ways to do this...
The whole cast did a great job and the acting was really good. If anything I would blame the scriptwriter that made the female lead cry so often and not the actress for having to follow the script. It was my first drama with Kim Go Eun and Lee Min Ho and I liked them both a lot. Woo Do Hwan was the only one I knew from the cast/who was already among my favorites before this drama and he once again showed how good he can portray different personality types. I enjoyed every scene with him the most. I would wish for more scenes with him and Kim Yong Ji who also left a good impression. ^^ I liked the acting of Jung Eun Chae and Lee Jung Jin. Sadly their characters kept staying pretty much in the dark.
The OST is good, probably not going to be a favorite of mine but it's fitting the scenes of the drama and also nice to listen to on it's own.
As for the rewatch value. Chances I'm gonna rewatch this drama are pretty slim. Maybe a few scenes, mostly from the first couple of episodes when the traveling still caused funny scenes and didn't turn into a who's who.
I recommend everyone to go and see for themselves if this drama is to their liking or not. As I said, it received a lot of hate and I think not all of it was fair and appropriate so go and decide for yourself. Maybe this is your next favorite?
For me it was decent despite flaws in the writing and how the story progressed. I don't regret watching it.
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The characters at the beginning shown they have potential character development to them, but as show went on, each character became dull , the main hero and heroine are only cliche romantics, while the other characters are just minions to promote their love story.
The main story and plot of the drama just became something to promote love story only.
Worst product placements, feels like whole drama is one big advertisement.
And Lee Min ho acting I personally felt poor, his ultra handsome face is the only saviour.
Woo do hwan is good with his acting, but his role became pointless. His screentime doesn't even last decent 5 minutes in an entire episode, even the other side characters have more individual screen time than him though he is one of the main characters. His character became like a background cameo. Woo do hwan has chosen a bad role this time.
You watch it if you are a lee min ho fan, and like him a lot or if you are kim go eun fan, but if you want to watch a good drama with good story, good character development, good acting, than this isn't for you.
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To be honest, there was potential at first ...... and then nothing happened.
To sum up my opinion in a few points:
- Flat characters
- Relationships happening out of nowhere, because why should we spend time on building real links between characters?
- No real suspense, as viewers we often understand things way before the characters do, and really, that takes them an awful lot of time.
I love most of these actors but unfortunatly their characters are so bland that they can't do any magic here.
As for the aesthetic, it is really enjoyable and pleasing to the eyes... but that's all this drama is about: nice visuals.
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This review may contain spoilers
Woo Do Hwan loving & caring about Woo Do Hwan is #Life!
I struggled with the thought of 7.5 or 8.0, and stuck with 7.5 because 2 out of 16 episodes boring me doesn't deserve higher, if I'm honest. But the acting in this drama is really good. I loved the entire cast, good and bad. The story was somewhat problematic at times, but still a well-written script with understandable concepts. However, the choice of how to play out the concepts to the end was *somewhat* dissatisfying, but not completely.Pros:
1) It’s extremely disappointing to me that NetFlix & SBS don’t provide the cinematographer’s name from the production studios. I love everything about the costume styling, design crafting, the set coloring, and the feel of the location shots. It brings back the vibes I got watching Mr. Sunshine. Plus, I think these kinds of productions just suit Lee Min Ho’s acting style.
2) I actually get the whole Alice in Wonderland concept and am pleasantly pleased by it to describe the whole parallel universe.
3) Kim Go Eun, Woo Do Hwan, Lee Jung Jin & Kim Kyung Nam acted their f'ing asses off in this drama. Well done guys! Lee Min Ho was, well, Lee Min Ho. His character was like so many roles you've seen him play...but that isn't necessarily a *bad* thing because, frankly, he does these roles superb and fits the bill nicely. So he surely doesn't have to work too hard acting his part like the others did...and that's why I praise them more.
4) Woo Do Hwan & Kim Kyung Nam together in a scene is a total #Vibe. Lee Min Ho and Woo Do Hwan together in a scene is a total #Bromance. Lee Min Ho & Kim Kyung Nam together in a scene is a #Mood. Stick them all together and sprinkle Go Eun on top in a scene and it's a total #SliceOfHeaven. LOL! I want to see these guys together again.
5) Woo Do Hwan loving and caring about Woo Do Hwan is #Life! Heck, if I was Woo Do Hwan, I'd love myself too!!! =)
6) The romance wasn't 100% overpowering the story, and Go Eun & Min Ho had outstanding chemistry. They actually looked extremely comfortable with each other, and this is the most mature and likable OTP ML Min Ho's played, that I often thought, 'dang, he looks really cool'. hahahaha.
{{I'm going to be one of these people that argues against some of the complaints about "superficial" or "forced" romance with no proper progression.
**spoilerish**
Please, people, bear in mind, this is a child that believes this person has something to do with helping him out and through the most TRAUMATIC experience of his life and who he has been OBSESSING about into his early 30s, with no significant other.
She gets her world rocked by him in an amazing way.
The times between meetings are extended periods, not days or even weeks. He pulls her into his life over this timeframe, and has her where all she has are memories until he shows up, making her think about him OBSESSIVELY, and WORRY that each time will be the LAST time...
Wasn't that clear??? It was conveyed easily enough that way to me....No, sorry to say, you're sadly mistaken about the TIME SPAN of the drama if you think she was hot for him and kissing him only a COUPLE WEEKS after they met. Not true at all. Pay closer attention next time. LOL. }}
Cons:
1) Too many supporting characters moving around with moving parts, gets a bit tedious to watch. Wished the concepts were portrayed a bit more succinctly as it went on.
2) This cast is so good and strong they're meant to be *together*. Wasting screen time with 1 or 2 at a time for long periods does such a disservice to how I'm vibing this drama. I get into the dynamics of their relationships, only for it to be cut and other stuff dragged out that wasn't as entertaining, imo.
3) I felt like Kim Kyung Nam was a bit type-casted with his character. Reminded me of what made me love him in Come and Hug Me, but I was sad a bit, because I want to seem him in more versatile roles. That being said, he still knocked acting his character out of the park, so it's only a slight compliant. =)
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama has received a lot of criticism, some rightfully so, but others not so much. Let's start with the most obvious one, the ad placements; ridiculously placed (how on earth can packaged kimchi taste as good as homemade prepared kimchi, especially recipes made for royalty??) That's one of the worst ad placements I've seen on a show. It definitely did take away from the show and dialogue, but not too much if you understand that many big production shows need sponsors in order to fund the show. The terrible ad placement is one of the reason I knocked off a whole entire star from my overall rating. Another reason why I knocked off another star is the time travel theme they had. Any time a script involves time travel, you know there's going to be a lot of plot holes. The plot armor in this drama is quite thick. Especially in the last episode where it was completely unexplained as to why the physics within the realm was changed. There were a few characters that seem to have an impact (whether major or minor) become completely irrelevant to the climax in the finale.
The last 3 episodes could've been better. Lee Lim could've definitely have been better written. Why did he come to obsess over the artifact? Why did he want immortality? Why did he think it was a good idea to expose the existence of the two different universes? If his backstory could've been explained for even 10 minutes, I think it would've completely rounded out his character. The Prime Minister, Koo Seo Ryeong, why did she ultimately desire the artifact as well? Did she really think she can easily come out to Lee Lim and expect him to go "yes, you may get the other half"? Being as clever as they writers intended her to be, they could've at least kept that trait. I was expecting a multi struggle at the end as everybody wants the artifact for their own reasons. The last episode introduced too many details that should've been better explained. How did Lee Gon manage to navigate the realm that connected to different universes? How did Yeong manage to retain his memories of the other world?
But then, why did I decide that the show was worth enough for me to give it 8/10? The chemistry between Kim Go Eun and Lee Minho. Truth be told, I wasn't really a fan of Lee Minho starting out the show. His previous dramas that received a lot of praise, I didn't really like them, partly because of the character and the plot didn't really interest me. But I did feel that he was able to portray a wider range of emotions in this drama, compared to the previous ones. I didn't think about starting the drama when I watched the trailer. But, I was sold seeing how comfortable the cast was with each other during their interviews. And mostly, I liked Kim Go Eun as an actress a lot. There are little intricacies between the different characters of Luna and Jung Tae Eul, such as Luna gives off a more solemn aura due to her upbringing in comparison to Jung Tae Eul. Do Hwan's portrayal of the characters Yeong and Eun-Sop was spectacular. However, I don't think it's fair to claim that only he carried the show, whereas the other actors didn't. The characters that Do Hwan had to portray were starkly different and "simpler", whereas the other characters were a lot more complex to portray.
Overall, the drama was beautiful and the chemistry exists between the actors. However, like with many time travel themed shows these days, there are too many plot holes in the script, which is where a lot of the criticism stems from. Many audience just end up feeling like they got duped of the flow of the plot, including me. But ultimately, in the end, you have to watch the drama for yourself in order to judge whether you like it or not. As I have found myself in many situations disliking a drama that many people loved, and vice versa.
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Then sometime before we even reached halfway, all of that went 'poof!' and I was left disillusioned, having just wasted over 16 hours of my life.
Before I get into the drama's problems, I want to give it praise for what I feel it did right. The opening episodes were paced so well. They were interesting, they pulled me in, and I eagerly waited for this drama to unfold. The characters of Yeong and Eun Sup were amazing - by the end of it, I was solely watching for their scenes, especially their interactions with one another. Their roles have added Woo Do Hua to my list of actors to watch out for. And, at least to start, I did like the chemistry between the two leads. At the start. Remember that for later, because it's one of the keys to this drama's downfall. Most of the actors did a great job with what they were given and I commend them for it, because I can only imagine what kind of directions they were given when the script was such a mess, and yet they did it. They pulled it off. But I would say that they were the first sign that something was wrong - or Lee Min Ho was, specifically, when I noticed him giving no feeling to the character of Lee Gon. Having seen him act before, I knew he could do better. But I figured, maybe it was just because of the character he was playing. Maybe once the plot revved up, he would show some emotion on his face. With all the comedy towards the start of the drama, his flat tone added to the jokes, so I convinced myself that things would change when the stakes were raised, and I was content.
There is a problem when the side characters to a drama are better written and more immersive than the leads. That was the case for almost all of the characters in this drama, and that was the second bad omen.
It was obvious from episode one that time travel was going to be a factor later in the drama, so I expected it. I'm not someone who takes issue with time travel being included in dramas because so long as it's handled well, the unavoidable logical failings of it don't bother me. I understand that you can't make much sense out of it so provided that the addition of it adds to the story and they handle it carefully, I have no problem with it. Seeing as it was foreshadowed in the very first episode, I was sure that they must have thought it through well. They were confident enough to add it to the start of their drama. That's a LOT of confidence. They had to have given it careful consideration and dedicated a lot of time to mapping out their manipulation of it, surely.
I was wrong.
But the time travel was not my biggest gripe with the story. It's up there, but the worst part of the drama has to be the editing. Episodes jump around from past to future to past again, from one world to the next, and at first, they bothered to add a little note card at the bottom or in the corner to tell you where you were, but that didn't last and the jumps became so frequent that half the time I didn't know what I was looking at. It just got worse with time, not better, and made it very hard to understand the story. Usually, dramas that jump between times or worlds will at least provide some sort of visual or verbal buffer to ground you, something that lets it tell its story without confusing you. I've watched plenty of these dramas and they all do it in a different way. With time travel, they often use a filter or change the colour balance between times. Signal and Life on Mars both gave the past a sepia hue. Circle dedicated the first half of its episodes to the past, then at the halfway mark added a timecard. Between worlds, either both worlds will be different enough to know visually, or the jumps will be acknowledged by the characters so that you know where they are. TKEM decided to include both time travel and alternate realities to their story and yet could only rarely be bothered to give you any direction. I can't enjoy a drama if I can't follow it. I shouldn't have to look through every episode with a fine-toothed comb to figure out what's happening.
The next problem is the leads. I liked them in the beginning, but they quickly fell out of favour when the script stopped respecting them. Tae Eul is a police officer with martial arts experience who, at some points, becomes completely helpless and in need of rescue. There are several--yes, as it more than one, sometimes multiple in an episode--scenes of her sobbing uncontrollably whenever Lee Gon leaves her. When he's gone, either she's assisting with the mess of a plot or she's pining over him. She barely has any agency. And Lee Gon shows maybe three expressions throughout the whole story, all lukewarm. Even when he should be emoting, even when something should be happening inside of him, there's barely anything on his face. I don't know if LMH was directed to act like this, or if he just decided not to act, but his character felt less structured than wet cardboard.
While I haven't seen Mister Sunshine, a lot of the problems with the leads remind me of Goblin, the writer's previous work. Even some of the songs remind me of the Goblin OST. I remember plenty of scenes where Kim Go Eun's character in Goblin would do the same sad sobbing that she had to do here, but I don't remember hating it quite as much there, and I think that has to do with their characterizations and the editing surrounding them. I've noticed the writer just likes to fill her romances with sappy sad pining and a lot of angst that is eventually covered up at the very end. But where Golbin focused mostly on the characters, TKEM started with a promise for a big, grand story and never delivered.
The story doesn't treat its viewers with any intelligence. It gives us rules for these worlds that it freely and consistently breaks, it forgets some things that happen and shoehorns in others, and by the end of it we're left with this lukewarm mishmash of unfinished ideas that don't really mean anything. Others have already gone over how insulting it is to its viewers so I won't go too into detail here. But what upsets me the most is that I watched it all. I finished it, hoping that it would get better, that it would pick itself up in the second half and return to the drama that it was in the first two episodes. But here I am. And my review is this long. And it's all negative.
I will admit there was one scene, one TINY moment in the last episode, that made me feel something. Two characters holding hands, and what it shows while they do. But even there, I was feeling something for the concept, not the characters they belonged to. In the last episode, I didn't care about them. Today I just finished Hyde, Jekyll, Me, a notoriously poorly written trashy drama that I watched during burnouts and I felt more for the characters in that mess than I did for what should have been my favourite story of the year, TKEM. And well, that says a lot. But I can say this.
If nothing else, thank you, Kim Eun Sook, for giving us Jo Eun Sup. I will treasure him always.
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A failed masterpiece
TKEM was supposed to have the best of everything: the most successful screenwriter and director, extremely popular actors in an ensemble cast and a lot of money being into production. We were hyped for months. All of it unfortunately could not save this mess of a show that it became.Pros:
1. AMAZING CINEMATOGRAPHY: Everything is beautiful.
2. Lee Min Ho in all his glory.
3. Woo Do Whan in his double role is extremely convincing and is the best part of the show.
4. Most of the actors in this large cast have done a really good job.
5. Interesting concept of parallel worlds and time travel.
Cons:
1. Very annoying FL. I do not like her. I'm disappointed with Kim Go Eun's portrayal of Tae-Eul. The character herself isn't very likable either. The way they styled her is also drab and disappointing considering the contrast with the King who is always looking regal.
2. No chemistry between the leads. I tried to convince myself that they look good together for a very long time but I'm finally giving up. Their romance is really boring, no fun moments.
3. The plot is a mess. There are too many characters and none of them is able to make a meaningful impact because its not coherently put together.
4. Kang Shin Jae is given a lot of importance in the plot, but the actor doesn't have equivalent screen presence to pull it off.
5. SO MUCH PPL, the characters not only use the products but also TALK ABOUT THEM. I never complain about PPL but honestly in this drama its very distracting and really pulls you out of the story.
6. The world building is off, Kingdom of Corea looks almost like and Republic of Korea and its hard to tell the difference unless its the palace setting.
7. The suspense is not built up properly cause often the audience already knows what's going on while detectives on the show try to catch up.
Overally the show is a mess. You might want to invest your time into watching the beautiful cinematography, Lee Min Ho and Woo Do Whan.
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