This review may contain spoilers
Terrible, but also enjoyable if you skip a lot
I enjoyed this, probably because I binged the whole thing in one shot, with frequent use of the skip button until around #22. It is terrible, but it's addictively and entertainingly terrible. The costume and sets - and hair, omg the hair - reminded me more of the 1970s than the early 2000s: it is a testament to the ML's good looks that he still managed to be so attractive with that disaster on his head. I thought he pulled off the tortured tsundere role pretty well, but by gum it is a tedious trope and here it's dragged out for far too long, although we do get a very satisfying kiss scene in #23! - so you might want to skip to that. FL did a good job too: likable despite the terrible material and ten zillion crying scenes. I liked her family, her best friend who had a few little good bits and the grandma/Great Queen Mama, who most definitely deserved an award for dignity in the face of Extreme Hair Pain and having to speak in a quavery voice for the whole 24 episodes.Finale was, alas, flat as a pancake. All of that build-up (and the forced marital bedchamber scene earlier, and that really enthusiastic kiss) left me hoping for some good romantic action at the end, but I was out of luck bigtime. They don't even close the bedroom door and fade to black! - she just pukes, and oh! she's pregnant. Aaaargh the WTF expression on my face. BAD DRAMA. NO BISCUIT FOR YOU. It will be interesting to see what they do with the remake: is it salvageable? Guess we'll see.
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There's the quirky female lead who starts off strong but then ends up chasing after the cold, jerk male that simply treats her like garbage.
There's the annoying second female lead who is also basically there to interfere in the main ship — and along with that is the double standard where she's blamed for everything despite the main guy also being at fault.
And then, there's that second male lead who is always there for the main girl, the one that just steals my heart and would have been such a more intriguing main character, rather than just the poor sap who the main girl cries about her heartbreak to — despite knowing the guy already likes her.
With that being said, this drama could have had a lot going for it, if only I didn't dislike the main male lead that much and how the female ran after him. The premise is intriguing, with the intersection between historical and modernity.
I also think this drama was in dire need of more bromance and sismance. The lack of bromance is understandable, considering they're rivals and all, but the girl had a beautiful group of friends around her who never got more backstory or the opportunity to be anything but "the friends." Thes same could go for the lady teachers/servants that the FL had — they could've been more, but we only got to see a little bit of that at the very last episode.
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I downloaded all episodes to watch on Easter weekend, because I wouldn't have internet, and watched it in 2/3 days.
Since I was afraid the links weren't full, I watched a few of each episode in advance, and what I saw made me speechless, and wanting to watch more and more... In the end, it was a bit disappointing.
It is totally surprising that those lead actors were newcomers in acting. They were so good, especially Yoon Eun Hye. The other actors were also great, just that since those were newcomers.... They almost blew my mind. It was pretty good.
It's a cute, funny and romantic drama :)
About the plot... I think they had EVERYTHING to turn the drama into an amazing drama.
Every episode was the same, they kept going with slow steps until the end, not adding twists or cliffhangers.
At the beginning, I thought it was good because I don't like those dramas when in the episode four the characters are already in love. But I watched the 4, the 5, the 15, the 18.... And it remained like that. All about jealousy and some cute scenes, but not much.
I think it was too long for that, only on the 23rd episode they start to show their feelings and a strong love... They could have make the drama shorter (16 episodes more or less) if they didn't know what to put more; they could show their strong love around the 16th episode and then add somehow a twist, like his dad almost dying or the cousin stealing the throne, and make the female character to support him or something....
The drama was a bit boring, I was waiting for more.
But It's still a great drama, and it's really funny :)
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Acting was awful and they really ruined all the beauty of the original manhwa characters, especially the main girl Chae Kyung. In drama her character lost all the spunky feel and she was just annoying. No matter how well Yoon Eun Hye can act I still learned to loathe her for this role because her character was idiotic.
Joo Ji Hoon was a boring prince with one expression for all occasions, he was nothing like Lee Shin should be. I guess my expectations were too high. In fact, I liked Kim Jung Hoon performance the most.
The only good thing about this drama was music and the settings were pretty nice too. Seriously, there was no chemistry between the leads and the whole feel of the show was apathetic.
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The only criticisms I have, and I'm not sure if this is what happens in all of Eun Yun Hye's dramas or not, is that her character randomly seemed to lose interest in the guy during the last episode to the point that I couldn't tell whether they'd end up together or not. However, it wasn't as bad as in Coffee Prince where it seemed like she just used the guy and changed her personality 180 degrees. In addition, for a couple episodes, they started using the cheap trick of using misunderstandings for the basis of problems. This is just nit-picking though. Like I said, the story is a 10, if not more.
The cover of Goong where they're holding up wine glasses doesn't justify the characters. To be honest, that's one of the reasons I didn't want to watch this show at first. Who wants to watch a love story with ugly people? It's a shallow thing to say, but it's hard to believe that the girl is head-over-heels for a guy at first sight if their personality and looks are both lacking. I watched this show because I became a fan of Eun Yoon Hye after watching her on XMan and in Coffee Prince. She's one of the actresses that doesn't seem to get on your nerves in my opinion. I do have to say though that I thought her character was cuter in Coffee Prince. I did like how her character was more honest in this show, but some of the crying seemed like unnecessary pouting at times. She's still my favorite actress, however. Qualities I look for in lead roles are likeability and believability in crying, both of which she has. I also watched for Ji-Hyo after watching her in Running Man. I love how she's not whiny and goo-goo eyed over every guy she sees like other female stars on Running Man. She's cute and comedic. In Goong, I had doubts after seeing her character to begin with - about whether I liked the character or not. In the end, I wanted a little more from her but I did come to respect her character as well. I didn't find the two main guys attractive at first. In fact, I almost wanted to stop watching because of them. They didn't have the instant charm like Gong Yoo had with his wrinkle/dimples in Coffee Prince. They have more subtle qualities like Yul's voice which becomes comforting as time passes. Shin had very nice side and 3/4 views and Yul sometimes looked like Donghae from Super Junior. They weren't bad actors, and I saw each of them cry well at least once, but the guys seemed lacking in their emotional expressions in comparison to the girls. One time, Yul was even crying without tears, and it was a full-on cry, not just a sad/depressed type of soft cry. He does have significantly good moments though, and I do see why they were cast for their roles since Shin doesn't show much emotion and Yul is the caring type. As for the side characters, they were all chosen very well. I think only the sister seemed to not fit in - she was too happy to fit in with the mood. Yul's mother was an AMAZING actress; she's not the main character, and she didn't even have a good character, but I think she was actually the best actress in this show, which is very hard for a side character. She stole the show and the show would not be the same without her, which is a lot for me to say since I hate side characters, ESPECIALLY the parents in the majority of what I watch. They usually give annoying side characters but all of these characters, even Chae-Kyung's parents (who I found too weird in Boys Over Flowers and Playful Kiss), were heartwarming and believable. The friends (including servants) were not the annoying friends that you often see. They had their funny moments too.
The drama had a good OST; I'd say a 7. One of the songs (Perhaps Love - Howl and J) was comparable to the OST from Secret Garden in how much I liked it. The placement of the music was only okay in my opinion though.
I gave this show a re-watch value of 3. I say this in all my reviews, I don't like re-watching shows unless they're funny. Don't get me wrong, I loved this show and am adding it to my favorites list, but just like how Gladiator and Titanic were great, there's not much re-watch value to them since you know what's gonna happen.
Overall, I'd rate this at only an 8 because I'm greedy and wanted a better ending in the last episode (just for reference, there are few stories that meet my expectations for good endings). Though I do like that they didn't just couple everyone off like they always do for a happy ending, but were still mindful of side-characters throughout the story. I also liked the ending of the other guy a lot, and found it touching and very fitting with his character. I didn't think this was as funny as dramas like Secret Garden (maybe because I've been watching Running Man with all the comedians), but I'd recommend this drama for anyone who wants a deep, thoroughly thought out story with no unrelated side stories, and words that will make your heart beat so hard that you have to hug a pillow while watching to keep it in.
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this is probably the most boring drama i have ever seen !
50% of it was elders talking about insignificant things and i deeply regret bearing through it because i thought they might say something important but they never did
40% of it was more insignificant draggy scenes
10% of it was the rare actually funny scenes that i enjoyed
the story was fine but i think they could have done it in 16 episodes instead of dragging it to 24 episodes
the music didnt really catch my attention except for maybe one song which they put in a few scenes
the acting was good but SO many annoying characters
and i defintely wont rewatch it
so if you're really desperate for a drama to kill some time i guess u can watch this
but if you only watch REAL drama this is absolutely NOT the drama for you
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When I was watching it, I never knew that it had been so popular in its premiering year.
Story? It was good. The royalty twist in it was new for me(Well, everything was new then!). I have always liked the "rich-prince-commoner-future-princess" or vice versa kind of stories. They are like a fantasy for young girls. Adding on to it, the story was about young love in front of tradition, family that is governs the country and politics that is too new for them. The plot was good and the direction of the whole drama tells you about the culture of Modern Korea.
Acting/Cast? Oh, Shin Chae Kyung, the marvelous!! Song Ji Hyo and Yoon Eun Hye acted SO real. Music? Well, Goong's traditional OST attracted me. The gayageum sounds and the flute mixture was amazing. It makes you experience so much about the cultural folk music of Korea.
Re-watch value? Hahaha, I have watched this drama for 8-9 times already and if I stumble upon that CD again, who knows that I must just watch it again and relive the memories!
Overall, its good. Although I do think that it could have been a little shorter, but it was enjoyable. The show and the characters in it have their moments, really sweet ones as well. It got dragged after a bit, but I think you should give it a go once! You'll love Shin Chae Kyung and the way she ventures into palace life! :)
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prince - he was a self centered, lonely sexy jerk with a straight face
princess - she was full of energy, funny and cried alot
grandma - she was my fav. she would just bust out laughing whenever
cousin - hopelessly needed love, very pitiful
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