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complicated plot
Complicated to bad plot with a happy ending!!Let's start with the fact that I have seen dozens of fantasy dramas, most of them had both logic and some kind of message. I don't understand how the drama's ratings are so high when the reviews and plot are so bad.
The plot has every possible flaw, and only the casting of the main leads is what kept me going until the end of the episodes.
I started watching the drama several times and couldn't get past the first episode, in the end I decided to try again because of the ratings and the casting. ..what a disappointment, what a complicated and confusing plot (even for fantasy), so many characters, so many names (at a certain point you no longer remember who belongs to whom and in which universe).
I just want to say that even in fantasy dramas there is a certain logic, and in this drama I found nothing, so disappointing..
The music is okay to average.
It probably looks like a sophisticated drama, but - it really isn't
Plus, it's hard to ignore the amount of commercials in this drama.
Recommended viewing only for those who are really bored and still want to see favorite actors.
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Deabak Lee oppa & Kim Go Eun Unni
It's an amazing drama. There acting is so realistic. After watching Goblin I'm fan of Kim Go Eun. Her acting is very skillful. & her talking style,every expression is very realistic. LEE MIN HO is always deabak.There's nothing to say about him. He is always Skilled in his every works. Here he presents himself once again with his skillful acting. "THE KING:THE ETERNAL MONARCH" here Lee MinHo plays role as Yi Gon & he is the third Korean emperor of his generation. When he was 8 years old, his father was murdered before his eyes.Once he escapes, he sees himself propelled into a parallel world where he meets Jung Tae Eul (Kim Go Eun plays role as Jung Tae Eul). Overall it's very interesting story. I'm very excited. Almost I'm drowning in excitement.Was this review helpful to you?
It's still good for me...
It's not the best one. Either it's not too good. That doesn't mean it's bad. It's still good. I don't like the story that much. But although the story is not good, the whole drama is beautiful. Songs, casts, effects..... all are beautiful.b b b b. Bb b. B. B. B. B. B b.
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This review may contain spoilers
I enjoyed the unique storyline.
I’m usually not a huge fan of fictional things or like time traveling because those things are impossible and unrealistic.But this one was was crafted in a very odd but genius way that it kind of caught me off guard.
If any fictional script out there can be crafted in such a creative + genius way, you might have my attention here.
I honestly was watching it with very low expectations but it kinda actually blew me away.
I noticed the low ratings and that it wasn’t really a featured drama on Netflix but my lover wanted to see it and we both ended up enjoying it.
Originally not a fan of Lee Min Ho but he was definitely charming. I am not a fan at all on this lead actress, but she was pretty manageable in this drama.
I’m really selfish with my time, so I wouldn’t allow myself to rewatch the many dramas I come across in this lifetime unless it is too good…
Anyway, I’d recommend this to people who enjoy mysteries, time traveling and theories.
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This drama needs to be rewritten again Ep 01,13,14,15 were real mess
The events were disarranged
I got confused many times
Lots and lots of names in side stories
Which made me forgot who is who
The director didn't give the watcher any hints when he jumps from universe to another and from time to time which exhausted me a lot
And that shouldn't happen in a drama I should enjoy
Time traveling was a chaos
Many flaws and illogical events
And the last episode they focused more on the main leads traveling across the parallel universes forgetting all the side stories
They didn't give the side stories a proper space in the last episode
Although both main leads were brilliant in their acting but I didn't feel chemistry at all between them
They just didn't fit together
Although the plot was ok and the story was solid away from time traveling mess and the romance was good but I didn't feel it at all
Something was missing which avoids me enjoying this drama
But I really enjoyed the ost and the background music so much
Which is rare when I feel the music fits the drama well
I laughed a lot when shin jae told Tae eul
That every time gangsters thought hang Michael one of them and when they try to escape they took him with them LOOOOOOL
The only character I disliked a lot was the prime minister
In my opinion
I really enjoyed romance and friendships in this drama
But at the same time didn't recommend it
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Worth a Try!
I was initially scared to try this drama. I remember when it came out and everyone complained about it being terrible, so I just decided to ignore it and check out different shows instead. That was until I decided to give it a shot, and I was pleasantly surprised!One of the biggest complaints that I saw for this drama was that it's confusing. To be honest, it can be a bit convoluted at times because of the parallel universes and eventual time travel. As long as you follow the plot in the first episode and try to remember all the characters, the plot really comes together and makes complete sense.
Something to be wary of when starting this drama is the amount of product placement shown every single episode. Usually with dramas, the product placement is evident, but it's not something that you get hung up on. This show however felt like 50% plot 50% ads. It was almost laughable that the directors didn't even try to sneak in the product placement. Some of the ads were entirely unrelated to what was happening in the show and I couldn't help but laugh at the amount of times any of the actors would gush about a random product in the middle of a dramatic scene. Once you get used to this, the rest of the show becomes a lot more enjoyable.
A slightly controversial opinion, but Lee Min Ho is one of my least favorite actors. Despite being somewhat biased against him, I still thought the drama was adorable, and his chemistry with Kim Go Eun seemed really genuine. The rest of the cast definitely shined in this show as well, and made the series much more enjoyable. Still not the best cast I've ever seen in a drama, but having Woo Do Hwan play a main character honestly made the show 10 times better.
Overall, it wasn't one of the best shows I've ever seen, but I was still hooked from beginning to end. Without spoiling, some of the scenes were absolutely stunning and will remain with me for years to come. Definitely not a show for everyone, but I feel like those who watch a lot of kdramas would appreciate this series.
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Fun for a glamour filled time-pass during quarantine times.
I’m not a LMH fan very honestly and only waited and finished this series for Do Hwan...and he did justice to his characters. Not a second of his screen time was a dreaded moment. Loved how convincingly he portrayed both his characters. Can’t wait for more shows of him as the lead.
As the for the show, I’m not gonna be very cynnically critical and say the show was terrible...sure it had loop holes and some bad acting moments and a weak story line overall but I didn’t mind much until the last 2 episodes. It was anti-climatic, extremely weak and just ridiculous. The whole build up of 14 episodes was deflated in the last 2. You want us to believe they lived in different time lines forever? He’s the King after all. Or does the kingdom end with him? And all the other dimensions angle though obviously scientifically it’s existence is a factor in the show, the way they portrayed it was just meh at best.
Instead of dialling up the necessary story lines and emotions, they dialled up stupidity levels and gave a ridiculous ending.
But thanks to the makers and the actors, we got some much needed time pass during these quarantine times. So for that and for Woo Do Hwan❤️ I’m grateful.
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A Potentially Interesting Concept but Poorly Executed
Id like to believe that this drama and its concept/storyline had the potential to be a really interesting and fun one ifff done right...but unfortunately this just didnt hit the mark for me....there was no cohesive flow to the overall storyline. It felt very choppy to me especially with the transitions between the parallel worlds/dimensions. It kept going back and forth where sometimes i could literally spend about 10-15 seconds figuring out which world they are actually in because they are just jumping from one scene to another....The mains chemistry just seemed off to me...wasnt convinced especially since there was no real development between the two where we could see how and why they fell in love (espeically Tae Eul) she wanted nothing to do with him in the beginning...and now that hes gone for a little while she suddenly has feelings for him??? The romance scenes were honestly my least favorite part in this series although it was the main focus in this drama. It was very boring to me. And I dont know if my ability to focus longterm deteriorating or if the pacing was just reallyyyyyy slow.....I felt likeee i was watching these episodes for forever...with little movement...One of the few saving graces for me to continue on with this show was Captian Jo/ Eun Seob, Shin Jae, and the grandma (she was adorbs!!)Overall...not a terrible drama, but not that good either. I felt like there was a lot of things thrown at us with very little explanations...I mean I dont mind a little guessing game and trying to figure out and piece together but here I felt like Im just guessing orr inferring on things most of the time without knowing if Im truly understanding whats happening or not...But maybe thats just a me problem *shrugs* But at least the ending was nice & satisfying so I didnt feel like I completely wasted 16+ hours....but Im still not fully convinced that the director and screenwriter knew exactly what they were trying to convey. Seemed like they had an idea but didnt know how to present it well enough in a cohesive and concise manner where it leads me to wonder if they even had a solid understanding of what they were trying to present to its audience to begin with....or if they were just banking on the popularity of the leads along with reputation of the screenwriters previous work to help make this drama a hit...
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Surprised I finished it too...
..but I guess I'd watch anything that has Kim Go-eun (and Woo Do-hwan) in it?? This show failed to establish its rules well and expected the audience to just figure it out on their own, which is its biggest mistake and downfall. I wanted to like you, Drama, I really did, but I was just confused all the time with how things worked. I've watched many time travel/parallel world dramas already and have seen one of the bests (Nine) out there, so this show really didn't stand a chance, unfortunately.Was this review helpful to you?
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all the right elements but no execution
my first review! here goes...I went into this drama wanting to watch cheesy plot, tbh. so I wasn't super dissappointed by the weird moving romance that actually didn't make much sense considering it went from nothing to "I'll die without you" so fast. even web dramas have more slow-burn than the main couple.
what upsets me about this show is the best and most interesting part about it. the whole time travelling between dimensions thing is absolutely fascinating I was so ready for the actual government conspiracy plot to start moving along and then IT CRASHED AND BURNED AND LEFT ME FOR DEAD.
I cannot even begin to write the essay that is my dissapointment in the ending developments. like oh they go back in time to save themselves? and alter the timeline that was already predetermined? okay, that's cool, I get that, kinda dig it, but that made all of the character development that was there almost for nothing. like the prime minister.
and the absolute tragedy that is the use of complex doppelganger relationships I was so ready for and in the end it failed me too.
I've learned my lesson, you can't expect a complex plot in a cheesy romance. and this kinda was the cheesiest of romances I've seen. its worth a watch if you like that kind of thing, just don't set high expectations.
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Very good show (But! last 2 episodes were rushed)
If you want to enjoy this show, you cannot be a perfectionist, and you will have to keep some logic aside. If you do so, you will be guaranteed to like TKEM.Character Development:
All characters directly jumped from one feeling to another without any explanation. Basically no character development.
They had too many elements to explain. They put their feet in all directions like profound timeless romance, evil villain, mixed-up timelines, past characters, the logic behind how the magic works but none of these were completely justified because those last 2 episodes were rushed and they could not explain everything and close it with a cute ribbon. Because the show was good for 14 episodes, my rating for the show won't be dominated by those last 2 episodes.
Chemistry:
Also, there was no chemistry between the lead couple throughout. This was because there was no scene that showed any initial spark between them.
People out there are saying that Kim Go Eun should not have been cast with Lee Min Ho. You can even say the other way around that Lee Min Ho should not have been cast with Kim Go Eun (#psuedo-feminism). Kim Go Eun is really pretty and I definitely felt she looked so much better with Kim Kyung Nam.
There was also some good amount of bromance. But even that was one-sided!
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Beauty with not a lot of substance
This drama has all the star powers: screenwriter of Goblin, Lee Min Ho, Kim Go Eun, Woo Do Hwan, and most likely a huge budget. I won’t go into the the details of the plot, but there’s a lot going on: treason, parallel universe, time travel, royal intrigues, fate, crimes spanning two worlds, friendship, romance. I admit there are funny scenes (see Woo Do Hwan and his other parallel person) and truly heart fluttering romantic moments between the King and Tae Eul (neck kiss for one). The first few episodes captured my attention and I find them interesting, wanting to know more about Lee Lim’s treachery and how Lee Gon’s and Tae Eul’s relationship will progress. I think starting episode 10, I became less enthused about the drama, not bored exactly, but the episodes became too predictable. I am also having a hard time connecting emotionally with most of the characters. Even the romance between Lee Gon and Tae Eul became kind of stale (maybe the love confessions came too early). It’s hard for me to write it, but sometimes I ship the bromance between Lee Gon and Jo Yeong (royal guard) better thank Lee Gon and Tae Eul.After finishing the drama, I still have questions: why was Lee Gon able to time travel but not Lee Lim; who is the kid/young man with the yo-yo and are there more like him; where did the flute come from; why didn’t Jo Yeong’s memory get erased like the others; why was Prime Minister Koo’s parallel person killed; how did the young Sin Jae become comatose.
This is just me, as a fan of romantic happy ending, I would have liked for Tae Eul to be his queen and maybe for viewers like me to see a baby. The first few episodes were all about him needing to get married and having successors/heirs. One of the most romantic moments is when he declared Tae Eul to be his future queen ("Save her at all cost; she is your future queen."). That statement sets an expectation for me as a viewer that I am going to see Tae Eul the Queen of Kingdon of Corea. This living in the moment, going to and from different worlds and times, is to me, like eating whip cream or cotton candy: all sweet, but no substance.
I wish the whole time travel thing wasn’t thrown into the mix; just stick with the parallel universe—my average human brain can’t take two space-time continuum theories simultaneously. Also, the product placements in this drama is just too much! They become laughable because they’re so obvious.
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