Goong (2006)

An oldie but a goodie!

Watched this because of Yoon Eun Hye, whom I first saw and really liked earlier in Coffee Prince. It's her usual dorky character, she's simply superb at both comic and emotive scenes, though the clumsiness and stupidity character, you'd feel like bashing her, but it's redeemed by her feistiness and good heart. It's my first time to see Yoo Ji Hoon whom I later found out is the lead in Hyena (he's hot here- and started to follow him), at first hated his aloof and seemingly don't-care-for-the-world attitude, but deep inside, little by little, feeling empathy and eventually falling in love with the female lead. Good ensemble of support cast, too, while enlightening to see a bit of Korean history and culture in this series, as it shows the typical school and family life as well.

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Okay, so I have been thinking about writing a review for 'Goong' since a long time but for some or the other reason, I always tend to forget about it, and it is only after shutting down my laptop that I remember that I was supposed to write it :\ Ah, well, let's move on now that I am actually writing one!

'Goong' happens to be the first K-Drama I watched :D I started watching it because I had read the manhwa and was curious as to what the drama is like. And I feel, the drama is better than the manhwa. That's just my opinion. Yoon Eun Hye (Chae Gyung) and Joo Ji Hoon(Shin)'s acting impressed me. Overall all the actors, whether they are in the lead roles or in the supporting roles, have done a great job. But I especially salute JJH considering he was formerly a model and was not much recognized in the field of acting but his role in this drama as the Crown Prince- Lee Shin gained him many fans (including me). Among the supporting characters, I liked Chae Gyung's mom and dad the most.

Speaking of the story, it is unique and interesting. I mean, I could never have thought of using the setting of modern day Korea where monarchy still exists for producing a drama series if I had to. Since the drama is based on the manhwa, the credit goes to the author of the manhwa. There are parts which I did feel like skipping. Maybe that's because of my disinterest in politics, but other than those, I enjoyed watching each and everything this drama gave. I liked the romance between the two main leads. Not to forget, the comical situations which made me giggle. I learned some stuffs about the Korean culture. Speaking of the Korean culture, this drama portrays it quite well even if it is not a period drama. The characters are such with whom you can laugh along when they are happy and feel sympathy when they are disappointed.

The OST is good as well. The traditional sound tracks are just perfect and I often listen to them on my iPod. My fav sound tracks are 'Perhaps Love' and 'Ice Pond'. The latter one is heard in the last few episodes. Every time I listen to it, there is a tear in my eye because it is just too heartbreaking.



I feel if you love K-Dramas, this should be in your list because it is a good watch. It may not be your favorite by the time you finish watching it, but you won't be disappointed either.

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I wanted to like this drama, and I did. I binge watched this all this past weekend. Literally didn't get up except to take personal breaks. I've been on this kick recently, where I've been getting into "older" dramas. I think they have a special and specific quirk to them, and this drama was no different. The background and scene set up was so beautiful, and I also loved the cheesy palace backdrops as it reminded me of an old telenovela. Fake, but you pretend it is real anyways because you are enjoying the storyline.

This drama would have to be my first dealing mainly on royalty and palace life.

I somewhat enjoyed most characters, but all the feels were there whenever anything happened to any of the characters. Maybe it is because I have been super emotional lately, but I lightweight did not ship the two mains together. Mainly because I felt like even though Shin Chae Kyun was super bubbly and brought life into the palace, she was too forgiving and let everyone walk all over her. Also, the Crowned Prince, Chin, was just plain an asshole. He would go around doing whatever he wanted, acting like he is doing absolutely nothing wrong, but when Chae Kyung, Crowned Princess, did one thing wrong, she was punished to the max. And that was basically what this drama was about. Chae Kyung is a commoner who finds out that her grandfather and the late king made an arrangement when they were back in the military that she would marry the crowned prince and unite both families. She agrees to the marriage to help her family, as they are living in poverty, despite knowing and disliking Shin. She struggles in the beginning, being married to someone who she knows is in love with someone else, Min Hyo Rin, and who also loves to put her in situations that make her uncomfortable and struggle more. The only person who acts as her sanctuary through all of this is Lee Yool, her new classmate and later we find out was actually the Crowned Prince until the death of his father, which lead to him and his mother's "banishment." Lee Yool is sensitive, understanding, and overall an amazing confidant, but creates havoc in the palace. Yool has been trained by his mother to one day take back his crown.

And it is interesting that I've been explaining everything from Chae Kyung's POV even though, yes, she is the main character in this drama, but I do feel like Shin was the one this story revolved around. He had the most internal struggle, yet didn't want to do anything until the second half of the series. I hated his excuses being that he was raised a certain way, so he doesn't know when he is wrong or not, and if he knows he is wrong, he doesn't know how to fix it because it goes against everything he grew up believing. Which ultimately broke Chae Kyung slowly and painfully. I felt extremely bad for her. Whenever her heart started to break, my heart would. After spending some time with the Crowned Prince, she started to fall in love with him and he almost seemed like he started to as well, but when he would start hanging out with his ex again and contradict everything. I did start to like Shin once Chae Kyung started to, but the moment that whole Thailand thing happened, I HATED him. Not only did he make her feel unwanted, but it also made her feel like she was the bad guy, keeping him away from his true love. And this doesn't happen once. It happens on multiple occasions, and then he comes back acting all lovey dovey. Fake News. This is why I loved Yool aka the Royal Prince. Regardless how I disliked the way he went about certain things, he was always honest and never sugarcoated anything. Chae Kyung always went to him because he was always there and comforted her. Yes, I did feel like he said some harsh things, sometimes about how the Crowned Prince will always love his ex more than he will ever love her, and that is not ok, but I do feel like there were good intentions there. He never acted fake around Chae Kyung. Yes, there were times where he would do things purposely in front of Shin to show him that he was a better man than him, but everything he did came as first instinct to him. Like, when they were all driving to Yool's party and Shin knew that Chae Kyung was a terrible driver, what did the two men do? Shin, at this point was Chae Kyung's boyfriend, offered to drive her and her friends, but once she says no, he leaves. Yool, the homie he is, who doesn't know that she is a bad driver, decides to drive behind her to make sure that they all get there safe. To me, that is like walking down the street with your man, and him instinctually walking on the side closest to the street. Yes, old fashioned and corny, but it is a little way of showing that he wants to keep you safe.

I did feel terrible for Yool though. He was the son of a king who died, and of a mother who wanted revenge, but not for what she has told Yool all his life. He loves his mother, but ultimately becomes a pawn in her selfish revenge plot. She lies and manipulates all her late husband's friends and supporters as well as her son to get what she thinks she deserves, yet well knowing that her revenge was never justified. I felt terrible for Yool because he was the product and pawn of bad fate created by his mother. A fate that would never let him get what he wanted - the crown in which was his birth right and the woman he loves. In the end, he (spoiler) ultimately decides that he will be take all the blame of what his mother did, instead of provided all proof it was his mother. Another reason why I felt bad for Yool was that any mother would protect her son at all costs, but instead, he let's her son take the blame for what she did, and then tries to kill herself. And after all of this, Yool still takes care of his mother and tries to let go of the woman he loves.

I enjoyed the first half of this drama, but after the whole Thailand thing, it was a battle of tug of war between Chae Kyung and Shin, with Shin always cheating. Like I said in the beginning, whenever Shin was clearly flat out cheating and causing a scandal, he thought he did nothing wrong and got his PR team to cover it up. But the one time there is a scandal with Chae Kyung that the only thing that is her fault was staying friends with Yool after rejecting him so many times, Shin blows up on her and the elders debate about banishing her. Like, ok, she doesn't have royal blood so it's more acceptable, but damn. Shin knew she never cheated, but decided at that point to tell her that he was falling in love with her, but now he thinks he hates her. He was the Prince of hurting his wife over and over again while she had plenty of opportunities to be like, "now you know how I felt whenever you were with your ex. the only difference is that you actually cheated." But she would never say that because she is actually a decent person. That is where the story got annoying - after her scandal, it was a back and forth game of I hate you because you wronged me, but I was wrong, so I love you again, but now I wronged you, and you hate me. Very back and forth and annoying.

Overall, though, I did love the story. When they were in a good place, everything was honestly perfect. There weren't many times where they were open about their feelings and lovey dovey, so when they did happen, they were that much more great. But when they were in a bad place, it was really bad. I loved the drama, and loved to hate Yool's mom, but damn, she was ready to tear down the whole monarchy for her revenge. She gave zero f***s. And honestly, none of this would have happened, if someone spoke up sooner. Shame on Yool for not stepping up sooner, but he did grow up believing that they kicked him out for an invalid reason. Also, shame on Shin's father, who magically learned his lesson at the end of the series even though nothing really happened for him to come to any conclusion. Maybe he realized that he was being petty towards his son for not valid reason. Also attacking Yool and Chae Kyung for fake drama even though he should have been more considerate, given his past. Finally, shame on Shin for just being a butthole. He's over here mopeing about not knowing what to do to make Chae Kyung happy, even though she was told him over and over again what he should be doing. Like, you are getting mad at your wife for opening up to a close friend, even though she has never seeked Yool out, when you have never tried to open up to her or comfort her. She has always tried to comfort you, even when you say you want to be alone, and all she wants is for you to do the same. I can truthfully say that even though I enjoyed this drama, I wasn't a fan of any character. The only person who I enjoyed in this drama was Yool, and he def got the short end of the stick. Yes, he was wildin' out and saying wild stuff, but damn, compared to what Shin was doing, I don't think he was bad at all. The only fault he had in my opinion was thinking that if he was able to get her divorced and banished, she would want to run away with him. Like...homie...no. That also goes for Shin's ex - she was wildin' out even more. This is why I didn't mention her. She wasn't as bad as Yool's mother, but shoot, she rejected his proposal and when he got married, she realized she wants him again, but not as the Crowned Prince or King, but as a commoner, so she does everything in her power to try to get him removed. People in this drama were wildin' out more than they needed to be. Entertaining, but painful.

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This is my second time watching this drama. I anticipate every drama or movie that Joo Ji Hoon is the main lead in, well... he was never a supporting character but always the main lead. Anyways, all his dramas and movies turn out to be really good. This drama was really cute, I liked how the crown prince was so mature, and his maturity was hot. Also, viewers of this drama should stop hating on the side characters of this drama childishly and actually put yourself in their should to see from their perspective.

This drama is recommended to watch and to re-watch again and again and again...

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Best Kdrama Evaaaahhh!!!

I watched this dramas 13 years ago. Woaaah time flies so fast.. but i keep rewatch it. The dramas is binge-watching. I swear almost 25x times maybe. Back to 13 years ago, this dramas boomed in its era. Yoon Eun Hye played the character as a Shin Chae Kyung very well, Chae Kyung was kinda my spirit animal back then, when i was in my high-school era, LOL. She was silly yet adorable. Her cutness that made me into her so much (i even dressed up like Chae Kyung), i think there's no flaw in the dramas. The chemistry was so damn real. The storyline, man... so good. I'm laughing for the entire episodes. And crying in some episodes. Both actor Joo Ji Hoon and Yoon Eun Hye can send the emotions to the viewers. And their kissing scene in this dramas! Woaaah i think it's iconic, they have lots of viewers in youtube, it becomes legendary kiss! LOL

P.S: I like all the soundtrack of this dramas. Their instrumental music are often used on many TV Show. I liked it!

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After I've watched Boys over flowers and completely hated it, I was thinking of not even picking up Princess' Hours. Especially since it was twenty four episodes long! But, this drama proved me wrong. It is one of the few times that I couldn't stop watching a drama. The story is catchy and the couple has extremely chemistry, which aids the drama tremendously. Now, there were some trops of that period that the drama followed, like the annoying parents (who were better than others though), the mean mother in law, the love triangle with the second lead being an angel and so making it difficult to not root for him. Plus, some twists were idiotic. But the execution was good and the pace really well managed. So, eight out of ten.

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Call me biased but I've rewatched this drama for like 5 times. The story of this drama is seriously good, the OST harmonize every scene perfectly, the art team had worked in a splendid way, and all the actors act well.

RELATIONSHIP:
If you are young and or don't have lots of actual experience in romance, then you'll like this drama. Because every little thing that matter in this drama relate to the characters' innocence. You can clearly see the character development along the way and every plot does make sense. The relationships between each character built naturally in a sweet manner. You can feel the friendship, romance, and family bond.

ART:
Talking about the art of this drama... Everything designed beautifully, A perfect fusion in Korean and modern culture in the setting, wardrobe, even the makeup. Notice the detail in every character and you will see how they present everything carefully. This certainly gives a "WOW" factor of a royal family. Not just rich, but royal. Not to mention, they spend A LOT OF MONEY on this drama, especially to make the castle setting.

It's a drama that worth watching, guys. If you haven't please give it a shot. Happy watching!

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It doesn't bother me that it lasted 24 episodes of an hour because I learned a lot about the Korean monarchy. So much, that I even investigated on this matter. But since it doesn't have the same ending as the original manhwa, the adaptation that was made for television did justice to the character of Prince Yul, who in the manhwa is evil and twisted. In the drama, we saw the intrigues of the palace in its crudest cruelty (very subtle, but always cruel) because it's well known that in all monarchies there have been immoralities and lack of ethics. The television drama makes introspection in the figure of Yul and Shin. And we see how much poor Yul suffers because of his ambitious mother, and the drama even suggests that the true heir to the crown was Yul, anyway, for being the son of the previous crown prince and illegitimate son of the current king. And I will always be Team Yul. Poor boy, they all mistreated him and they were unfair. As it happens, those who prefer the manhwa do not see that the screenwriter for television humanized the evil and twisted Yul of manhwa. We are tired to the point of abhorrence, to see in the intrigues of the palace in other historical dramas, princes who dispute the crown with vengeance, and are cruel, twisted and bloodthirsty. That's why the sweet, patient and beloved Prince Yul touched my heart. You have to understand the point of view of the screenwriter who made the adaptation. This is so refreshing. That's why I prefer drama over the manhwa and this drama made me a fan of Kim Jeong Hoon, and for this drama I've been his fan to this day, for his successful and clean artistic career, contrary to the artistic career of Joo Ji Hoon. Sure, someone will tell me that Kim Jeong Hoon was arrested once for driving drunk his car (a youth mistake) , something he regretted publicly and that served as a lesson, but has never neglected his duties as a citizen, went to military service when he had to, and he hasn't been involved in morality or drugs scandals. That's why I admire him so much since I met him in Goong.

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After watching this drama, it did made me feel good. a lot had said this this is quite long and draggy. I felt the same way but the pacing of the story was superb. When I decided to watch this drama, my expectations was somewhat like this is going to be hilarious all the way through but I was wrong. The drama has more sense. A lot of people have dreams of becoming a royalty but seeing this drama has shown a different side of it. There is a price to pay. Greed, selfishness, ambition, innocence, love, family, crisis, pressure has been tacked in this drama. We are not royalty but Goong did touched base with reality.

The acting part was outstanding, I cannot say anything bad about it because they delivered well. From the innocence of Shin Chae Kyung to the coldness of Shin Goon it was all believable. The greed and ambition of Yul and his mother. The quirky and innocent Queen Mother. The King and Queen. And all supporting cast did a terrific job.

Music was superb as well. It blend well with every situation.

This drama is worth to be watch again once in a while.

Overall, I rated this drama high because of the sensibility and the realities of life it shown. Even royals have a lot of troubles. We may see how happy they are but who knows it's all a facade. I just love this drama. This goes directly to my Instant Classic List.

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