The Red Sleeve (2021)

This is after all, my own take after watching the drama.

Basically the first part of this drama is excellent.
The actor are amazing and the action is well mixed with other moments so you never get bored.

Now the second part, I dislike how they throw away in 5 minutes at least 2 plot points that were really interesting.

But Ok, maybe they needed more episodes to solve the final plot point which is, after refusing to become the royal concubine for ages, why did Duk Im say yes?

The second part is not as good, as it turns grimmer and grimmer. But it presents a very modern idea that I did not expect to find in a historical drama: power imbalance will never lead to love.
Duk Im has to let go of who she is, and what she believes, and therefore she becomes unhappy. So for almost all of the last part, Duk Im as a character is a melancholic, except for a few happy moments, queen.

The drama takes a really brave moment deciding not to give them a happy ever after, but a "I loved you, but I should have loved myself more". The writers didn't let Duk Im relent, she, until the end, was clear. She may have loved San, but she wasn't happy.

And then we arrive to one thing I really didn't like, what I want to call "The producers ending". The ending for me kind of contradicts the whole tone the drama took.
I would have loved it more if at the end we are transported to the first time they both meet in the palace grounds or somewhere else, but when San is about to call her, he remembers her last words, and she lets her walk away. I think this would have shown a better character evolution of San that the ending of this drama.

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if i wanted this much emotional hurt, i would call up my mother

I wanted to like this show.

I really really did. And part of me does, the part that is trying to separate my own personal feelings from the objective opinion i hold towards this show.

I'm going to just dive right in here to my objective opinion regarding the show.

OBJECTIVE OPINION:
It's a good show, nay a GREAT show even. I love sageuks and it takes a lot for me to not like a sageuk. This show did have me under the impression that it would be a rom-com-dram, but the comedy was dropped pretty quickly after the first 2-3 episodes. Not a problem, just an observation. i would much rather they drop the comedy than to try and keep it up when the tone of the show has completely changed.

The show does not hold back on its characters and it really hammers in the idea: a good king does not make a good man. Yi San is proud, he is arrogant and he is stubborn. Born to privilege and with it coming certain obligations, Yi San is not under any impressions that he wouldn't make a good king. He has good intentions, and you know his actions stem from a good place within his heart, but time goes on and you think: how can a man be a good leader if he's not a good man? Perhaps the two are not so interconnected as one would think, but you see YS as a man who wants to help the people, but he is selfish, he is greedy and wanting and perhaps it is as a result of his upbringing - denied a father, abandoned by a grandmother, all but ignored by a mother and abused by a grandfather, there is little love in his life and he would be starved for it if he knew what it tasted like.

Enter stage left: Deok-im.

I loved the plotline of her not knowing he is actually the crown prince and was very disappointed when they abandoned that very early into the show because it would have been a way to establish a foundation for friendship the way Love in the Moonlight had. But she has this information pretty early so whatever was placed down as a foundation for friendship is too weak to withstand the weight of knowing so it cracks and crumbles to nothing. Where Deok-im used to call him out and stand up to Yi San, now she is meek and obedient like all other palace maids. She does not talk back, she does not stand up to him or call him out on his behaviour. She exists only to serve and she does so because there's nothing else in her life she can control.

And this is what drives Deok-im: she will control whatever she can, what no one else can, be it her heart or her thoughts or the way she reads and writes, they will not take these from her. She will obey in every other single aspect of her life, but she will control what little she can because if she can't, then she may as well not even be alive. But as time goes on, that list of what she can control grows smaller and smaller until there is nothing else left except her heart because YS wants every single part of her, parts of her Deok-im cannot bear to part with.

Deok-im is the mirror image of almost every young girl in the world at this time: she is subject to the control of others. She cannot marry because she serves the royal family, her body doesn't even belong to her as court ladies all belong to the king, she cannot leave the palace whenever she wants, and she cannot even speak her mind for fear of punishment or death. But the one thing Deok-im can control is her feelings and she will always control her heart even if it means hurting herself or others. She calls it a small act of rebellion, to never tell YS she loves him in return even knowing that it hurts him, even knowing that it hurts her. Because YS has effectively taken all other aspects of freedom from her - his love is suffocating and he doesn't see it. He is unable to understand DI and why she does not want to be with him, he believes that her choosing her freedom over him means she does not love him at all, not seeing it just means she cannot give up herself to give to him.

Despite this, YS still makes her give every part of herself to him and he selfishly holds onto her even after her death. His love is shown as possessive, as controlling and greedy and smothering - he wants DI all to himself, to deny her to even be free because to be free means to not be with him.

I put off watching the last episode for a long time and it was like a bitter pill watching it. I don't even think i can say it was bitter sweet, nor can I say that it made me feel that the emotional constipation was worth all these episodes.

Which leads us into:

PERSONAL OPINION:
I didn't like it. I really didn't like it. I normally don't care about shows being, how you say, emotionally nihilistic but this show really took the cake. As I said, the show completely abandoned the comedy in favour of the more serious tone which I commented on being a good choice, but now we're left with constant plotting and scheming and emotional conflicts left, right and centre. It's exhausting and frustrating, I don't even have the energy to explain it.

The romance I felt was poorly executed because they did not take advantage of the plotline of DI not knowing YS was the crown prince. They should have held onto it a bit longer to establish a realistic friendship because what we were left with was not a friendship - it was a servant obeying the whims of a master and that master desperately trying to chase after that earlier friendship they had but knowing it was gone. I could never fathom WHY DI fell in love with YS; he wasn't funny, he wasn't kind, he wasn't exactly oozing with charisma. He certainly wasn't boring, that's not what I'm saying at all, but how he acted towards her made him just... there wasn't nothing to like about him. It's even shown that she still sees him as the man he was before she found out he was the crown prince, and perhaps she continues to hold onto that because the real YS is unlikeable at best, and detestable at worst.

At least on YS's end it's evident why he loves DI so much, even if he portrays it poorly. Because YS is a great Crown Prince and becomes a greater King. He's just not a good man to DI. He's a selfish lover and he dismisses her own agency because he wants her all to himself, he is physically incapable of understanding why she cannot love or be with him and ultimately the only reason they do end up together is because he gives her a harsh ultimatum.

Deok-im just felt like a side character in her own story most of the time. Maybe it's to reflect the fact she isn't even the main character in her own life, let alone a side character in the lives of others. But it seems that even despite wanting to live as herself and have freedom, every single thing she does is for the Crown Prince. Every major action is done to aid the Crown Prince, the only thing she really does for herself is deny saying that she loves him.

God, and let's talk about that shall we? Because as I said, I really could not buy that DI loved YS, like at all. There were times i even doubted she did until another character was like "you love him, don't you?" and she would nod and say yes but I would be sitting there like "??? You do?? Since, uh, when?" The best I can describe DI is that she is passive, she doesn't go and kick ass or cross dress or get up to shenanigans. She just doesn't really do much besides help the Crown Prince and... well that's it. It feels as if she exists only for him and it feeds into YS's feeling that he deserves her, that he almost /owns/ her.

And by all intents and purposes, he did own DI. But he never could own her completely. And I can't help but think: would he have felt that he needed to resort to force if DI had simply tried to explain to him her feelings? Because there is NO communication between these two. Perhaps it's the show trying to say "ohhh look he loves her so much he's desperate to have her in any way he can" but it just doesn't work. DI can't even articulate her feelings to the man she loves apart from one instance that I'm trying hard to recall. I believe it was her saying that she did not love him and that her life as his concubine wouldn't be happy because she would deny him his """right""" as the king and she would be sent away to live the rest of her life alone and in humiliation. But the two can't even TALK to one another about this because DI never bothers to corrects YS's assumptions about her feelings, thus leaving YS to believe he's right and he just bulldozes over DI with his assumptions.

There's no common ground, there's no equality. YS can take whatever he wants from DI and she is helpless to stop it. DI's love for him feels shallow and at time non-existent and for half of the show, i genuinely thought she didn't have any feelings for him at all.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
I trudged through 17 episodes and I came out feeling absolutely nothing. I didn't cry at the ending because I knew the show has based on history. I didn't laugh or cry for like the last 10 episodes at all. The show was exhausting, that's the only way to put it - it would have been better if it abandoned the romance altogether because it was the source for all of my frustration. There are times the romance felt forced or out of place, and it's no fault on the actors, they did the best they could with what they had.

It really felt like the show almost forgot about the romance for the first half of the show and then realised they had another 5 episodes with no bad guys or plotting so they needed something to keep the show moving along, in that the romance in the beginning existed as plot for the second half of the show but because they were too focused on the first half of the show, they forgot about the romance until they needed it.

All I can think of to round this up is: Scarlet Heart did the tragic romance better and if that is what you're looking for, pick that show instead of this one instead.

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A one in a lifetime experience

TRS has it all; amazing chemistry, a sensible and lovely female lead, a hot and possessive junho, an amazing soundtrack, and the angst I live for *inserts heart eye emoji*

I remember watching this drama while it was airing and absolutely losing it every week while waiting for the next episode.

From the historical background threads on twitter to the comment section in MDL I used to camp in, I had so much fun while watching it, truly a one in a lifetime experience.

It has become a Jade classic, I still listen to its soundtrack and rewatch it every now and then. Despite knowing all the lines, I never seem to get sick of it :)

I got into a 2 year kdrama slump after it ended lol

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this nearly destroyed my mental health ?

In Korea during the second half of the 1700s, Yi San is an aloof and perfection-loving young prince. His father’s killing haunts him, although it leaves him in the position to take the throne once his grandfather – the cruel and ruthless current king responsible for Yi San’s father’s death – dies. He has resolved to become a benevolent monarch who will reform the law when he eventually takes the throne, but the way his father was killed has scarred him emotionally.

At court, he meets a young woman named Sung Deok Im. Yi San falls in love with her and tries to convince her to become his official concubine. But Sung Deok Im is strong-willed and free-spirited. She is also intelligent enough to understand that becoming a royal consort to the future king is a prestigious role, but one that would restrict her freedom and likely bring her little in the way of joy. But Yi San’s love for Sung Deok Im is true, and she starts to understand that forming a union with him could ultimately benefit his troubled realm.

(Source: Viki)

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My Biggest Heartbreaking ?

Sebelum gue bisa move on, gue akan ngomongin drama ini keseluruh penjuru dunia ??? Coz i do really LOVE this drama, the acting and chemistry is amazing, and each episodes always keeps you anticipating karena dari posternya udah keliatan cuy mc nya kaga tatap-tatapan???? LIKE CMON, btw I love how they focused on the patriarchal society that existed in the time rather than focusing solely in the romance aspect. The characters are so well written ❣️this is my biggest heartbreaking kdrama setelah Moon Lover 💔 The soundtracks are beautiful to hear, salah satu favku Duk-im Bubbly Girl and im still listening to it now ☺️🤍 i hate to say it but i dont recommend to rewatch this bcause, THIS IS HURTING ME A LOT

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I'm not a fan of historical dramas and I watch this just because of Junho BUT...

Yeah... I'm a Hottest (a fan of 2PM) and I started watching this just because of Junho without expecting much. I know it's too early to write a review when just 2 episodes were aired but I want to express that those 2 episodes preceeded my expectations. Firstly, I was amazed by the cinematography in episode 1 where the two child actors walking through a stream and a road lit by a series of laterns on the way to the house of the noble court lady. Those two child actors did great jobs. I'm glad that their childhood scenes are shown at a fast pace without much complications and cruelty. The acting of Lee Junho and Lee Se Young and their chemistry is great. I definitely didn't expect comedy in this drama but the two leads are effortlessly funny and adorable. I feel episode 2 is at a little bit slow pace but still I enjoyed it. The storyline itself is interesting so I hope more interesting plots in coming episodes.

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The first 9 episodes are worthy of a 10!

The first 9 episodes are worthy of a 10! However, starting with episode 10, the story becomes unrealistic and starts to drag.

What I do like, is the first 9 episodes of this drama; the female lead is not a damsel in distress, but is rather quick-witted, outgoing, and smart. I like the chemistry between the male lead and female lead characters. I also, think the supporting actors and actresses did an outstanding job acting.

I'm currently watching episode 11 (the 50 minute mark), and I'm debating whether or not, I want to continue to watch this drama. What were the writers thinking, when they wrote episode 11?

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Emotions: Anger

I was going to give this a low rating when I became angry with the writers in the last two episodes. I mean crap, you have me focused for 16 episodes with everything that was good, loving, fighting, protection of others... and you do a left turn into traffic run a red light hit pedestrians. The Pedestrians would be those who are watching this KDrama. I mean WHYYYY??? WRITERS... why did you have to go there? I'm in tears not because of the Drama... I'm crying because you left me out in the rain with no jacket on and it's freezing. The two main leads who played the palace maid and the Crown Prince... Lee Jun Ho OMG, he is fine as he wanna be... them muscles, those abs... He was so convincing in this drama, a very skilled actor. Lee Se Young who played Sung Deok Im was also convincing when she was in her role. Right now, I am mad at the writers because I was going to give this a 10 just for keeping my focus, and you kicked my focused self to the curb.

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Don’t Expect Historical Romance

Want to preface and say this was my first historical drama, so maybe it’s on me for expecting satisfying romance. I knew they have a tendency to be tragic, but I wasn’t ready.

I came into this for Lee Junho because I watched King the Land and he’s a cutie patootie.

Notes:
PREPARE FOR THE SLOWEST, MOST FRUSTRATING BURN OF YOUR LIFE, WITH NOT EVEN SATISFYING PAYOFF.

The good:
- Acting: the characters didn’t feel shallow, and the villains made me want to strangle them, so I know they did their job. As I said, the ML carried the relationship with his acting

The wack:
- The FL’s pride: she had me yelling at my screen I was so frustrated by her. JUST SAY YOU LOVE HIM & STOP PUSHING HIM AWAY. I get her inner struggle, but literally (spoiler) on her DEATH BED she STILL couldn’t say “I love you.”

- The ending: save yourself the trauma and live in blissful ignorance by ending it on episode 16. I was in physical pain watching the last episode. Their child dies, she dies, he’s miserable, etc.

I still get pissed off when I think about what this show did to me.

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Good as a political drama but subpar in terms of romance genre!

After seeing the ratings, I had high expectations for it and to a certain extent it had paid off just not in the way and in the genre it had promised to deliver. I am happy there were other reviews that had pointed out exactly what I had wanted to say. Still, I will try to express in my own words how I felt about this drama. I had dropped it in the beginning of Episode 15. And whatever plot spoilers I had gotten from the reviews here, it seems dropping it was a good decision.

I must admit I am not a huge fan of historical dramas,especially those centred on romance. I had chosen to watch this because I had been truly impressed by Lee Junho's acting and also the dramas that I had seen previously, which he had chosen to work in.

And I must say, it had a promising start and build-up. I was truly absorbed in the past world of the royal household that they had showcased. I appreciate the production value for succeeding in creating the perfect ambience for this heavy tale. I must mention here the first episode itself. It was the perfect exposition for me. And the acting by the younger versions of the leads(especially the female lead) was impressive and set the perfect tone for an epic tale of romance.

But, it was the romantic genre that this drama failed in despiteit being promoted as so. What it succeeded in was in political drama. I am quite impressed by how well the writer tried to write the intrigues within the royal palace, especially the very essential role the women of the household(including court ladies/palace maids play in it) and how they had been a silent force behind crucial royal orders and kingmaking. The moment the plot around politics ended, the plot lost its track completely. Romance was almost a side plot and it should have been so till the end because it was the least compelling portion of it. And by the end, it seemed to almost hinder the story ultimately crushing it with its weight. I certainly wouldn't have rated it this low had not the romance plot involving the same two people become the focus in the last few episodes. Now, don't get me wrong. For the first few episodes, both aspects of the drama had worked wonderfully in tandem with each other. But then the love story started to drag out which made it stale like an over-chewed chewing gum. And it became the most dull element to watch in the episodes.

Another aspect that the plot and the writing succeeded in after three episodes or so was building the character and story of the male lead. It was his journey to ascension of the throne that kept us captivated as the story moved on keeping in with his relationship with his grandfather. Till then, the female lead's choices made sense as well because she had reasoned out that there was a lot to be done in order to help him ascend the throne to care for other sentimentalities. In fact, the male lead's strengths and vulnerabilities were wonderfully fleshed out. And obviously Junho's acting fully delivered it with a very humane touch. His scenes with his grandfather and the scenes with Deok Im in the first few episodes were touching. He acted well till the last episode I watched. Its just that the writing fell off. The writings after he became the king was very weak and very convoluted and confusing. Its as if the writers had many plots in their head but they were not given the desired number of episodes to work with so they decided to break up the plots into pieces and made a mush out of it. That's the problem with KDramas. But that's not for here and now to discuss.

Its the same thing with the characters, moreso with the female lead. They started off pretty impressive. As somebody else had pointed out, the female lead's background was hardly explored. But that can be justified given this story dealt with the royal palace. And her life in it was pretty well explored I believe. But a truly wasted potential for who could have been a really strong female lead as it grew annoying towards the end. Like her actions were at times ridiculous. Emotions and motives behind them elusive to me at least. The male lead took some time to bloom as a character. Not too long. Just first few episodes. But again, towards the end, I felt he became a little too desperate to the neglect of other duties he had. He's sometimes contradictory but given the situation and his own position, it might make sense. To be honest, I had wanted better for him. Like by the middle of it, I just wanted a different female lead who would have similar virtues to Deok Im but would perhaps be committed in love for him. Like an all-consuming love. Unconditional one. That's the kind of love he deserved after everything he went through. The chemistry fell off unfortunately. I couldn't see any spark between them or even any comfort or warmth between them. I think at one point he might have had more chemistry Hong Deok Reo(another wasted potential character) and even the Captain of the guards.

Why I dropped it? I could see the direction it was going for. And its one which is unnecessarily angsty and just not my type of plot.
Its a shame. Because this could have been a good political drama with many emotional layers to it. If you want me rate it as a political drama till the episode of the old King's death, I would give it a 9 or 9.5 probably. To me, it was very impressive. Obviously, as I had said my experience with historical dramas is limited to 100 Days My Prince. So it might not be the most reliable rating. But as a romance drama alone, I might rate it lower than I am currently rating it. I didn't want to give a low rating for a Lee Junho drama. But given the somewhat misleading rating this drama had gotten compelled me to write this in a way!

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TASTELESS

Everything that I will write here is only based on my personal and unpopular Opinion. I have no time to argue with you on comment section as I will not change my opinion about this Tedious Drama.

The Red Sleeve is your typical Historical K-drama about FL who doesn't know that ML is the Crown Prince. Damn I'm just so done with this. Writer, Can you give me something new?!

It's not that because of the Story I can honestly watch those stuff but God! It was so boring. I can't watch it in Normal Speed and I can't watch it without skipping.

Overall This Drama is tasteless The Poster, The Environment, The Editing and Everything. 3 Episodes is enough to drop this as I found it so boring. And also I think I'm just wasting my precious time and it's not worth it. Drop it like it's hot

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Very nice historical series. Both actors are talented and natural. More series on historical of the same team.. ☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️😄☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️, ☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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