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A series not to be missed
I was completely captivated by every moment of the "Captivating the King" series. The story is a fascinating journey through the realm of political intrigue and the royal court, and the king himself has become one of my favorite characters.Every time the king enters the scene, you can't help but admire his calmness and intelligence. The way he approaches every challenge with wisdom and determination makes him an outstanding leader. The actor playing him adds tremendous depth and authenticity to such a complex character.
The series leads us through a maze of political alliances and power shifts, giving us a deep look into the society and politics of the time. Each episode brings with it new twists and moments of tension that kept me glued to the screen.
If you are fond of Korean historical dramas, "Captivating the King" is an experience you should not miss. It will transport you to a fascinating world full of mystery and nobility, where you will be caught in a story that will fascinate you from the first moment.
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A Captivating King…
As other viewers I felt ending was short. Waited for so much more. Although they gave us a happy ending (at least) it needed more substance. The kiss was awful! At least if it was as their first kiss it was good but that kiss? Why after all the trouble they can’t give a better ending, at least I would have been thrilled with a good kiss.Jo Jung Suk saved this drama. If it wasn’t for him probably I would have dropped it. As many others comments he CARRIED this drama. Deserves an Oscar! Don’t know if his acting diminished Shin Sae Kyeong or if she acted poorly next to him or the script. I will go with his acting was too much for her. All the emotions that he could convey in seconds were superb and those eyes said so much. Wow! I hope to see him soon in more dramas similar so I can see more of this potential. I have seen other of his dramas but here I felted he was intense.
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A Captivating Tale Between A King & His Favorite Baduk Player
Dynasty politics isn’t something new when it comes to Korean historicals. We always have a group of power hungry officials, who are either related to the Queen or the Queen Dowager, trying to force their opinions on the King. Corruption becomes the main subplot in these storylines; as such “Captivating the King” was no different. King Lee In/Grand Prince Jin Han ascends the throne when his elder brother (the former King) is poisoned. The only catch, King Lee Sun names his only son as the heir to the throne. Unbeknownst to others, Lee In masks this royal decree and ascends to the throne himself. While his power hungry mother and uncle barter for dominance, Lee In plays mind games with them to protect the young Prince (his nephew). Starring Jo Jung Suk & Shin Sae Kyeong in the lead roles, the show uses the backdrop of the baduk game as an intelligent ploy for the plot and the schemes, that the King devises to fool his corrupt opponents. Both main leads give exceptional performances, heralding the narrative in an intriguing direction. Let’s sit down to talk about their distinct portrayals!Read the complete article here-
https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2024/03/05/captivating-the-king-series-review/
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Under satisfying end to an across-the-board amazing drama
This drama had all the factors going for it, an interesting plot, a believable reason for revenge and a consistent amazing acting quality from its cast. However, the way that my interest in the storyline declined in the final episode was astonishing. A lot of plots and reunions were missed in the drama, that I felt would've made the ending more impactful and added a lot of clarity to the reasonings behind people's actions. In fact, the reunion that they did explore at the end was extremely under satisfying as a watcher who was very engaged in their relationship. However, despite my nit-picking, this drama was across the board amazing. I loved watching it, and I would probably watch it again.Was this review helpful to you?
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Not bad, but not what I hoped
I agree with what most others are saying.The ML was the best character and I found myself excited whenever he showed up on screen. It's hard to put this in words, but he is the most "king" character I have ever seen. He felt truly terrifying at times when people got on his bad side, but truly kind at heart. This dynamic made him really compelling. It's also one of the few times I've seen the power dynamic in these historical dramas to really play out. Most of the time, I felt like the FL was far too afraid of him. He gave her good reason to be, but I never felt like we really got over that well enough. At least on her part. I was fully "captivated" by him way sooner than she was, but I'm not the FL.
All in all, if you like political games, this drama has plenty of it to keep you interested, but if you want romance, there is very little of it. The king waists no time in letting the audience know how much he cares for her, and we feel it whenever he looks in her direction, or even just at the sky, but she seems really passe about the whole thing. She didn't even want to tell him that she returned from Qing and was going to leave quietly?! WOULDN'T YOU WANT TO SEE THE MAN YOU LOVE?! That was pretty disappointing.
The rest of the characters are fine. I have a soft spot for Lee Shin Young (Myungha) and Yang Kyung Won (Yoo Hyunbo), as they are my boys from Crash Landing on You, but especially Yang Kyung Won. I will watch him in anything, he's a great actor.
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I, for one, was captivated LOL
Writing-wise, this is one of the best sageuks I've ever seen (and at this point, I've watched a whole lot of them).I don't know how else to describe it beside it being smartly written. The characters were interesting and flawed, with multiple layers and complex emotions. Their actions were always motivated by solid reasons, and even the villains were clever in the way they plotted their evil deeds (which is not actually the norm in base of my observations so far). I was hooked throughout, and actually found myself being surprised by some of the twists and turns the story took.
The show was like a baduk game in and of itself, with the two opponents constantly trying to outsmart and outmaneuver each other, both when it was the King and his Gidaeryeong, and the King and those seeking to control him, which I really loved given how prominently the game was featured. There was a constant struggle for power going on, with the knowledge that any move had to be carefully considered because a wrong step could lead to catastrophic results (much as it was shown during the very first episode).
Also, there were a lot of different instances were it was mentioned how the characters were blinded because of how they were "captivated" by a certain emotion. Be it a thirst for revenge, or an overwhelming love, or anything in between. Which again, I liked the tie in to the show's name and theme.
Of course, it was visually stunning, like all sageuks usually are, and the OST matched the show well, even if it was not very memorable. The acting was top notch all across, with Cho Jung Seok shining especially bright in his range from tyrannical King to lovesick man, he really excelled in portraying a deeply complex character. Shin Se Kyung's character reminded me a lot of who she'd played in Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung (also a marvelous sageuk fyi), a smart woman, confident in her abilities but somewhat limited by her circumstances.
The only reason I'm not giving Captivating the King the full 10/10 rating is because the romantic spark between the leads was sadly missing. I loved how mature, deep and settled their relationship felt, but the heat that comes with good chemistry was sadly missing. I bought they cared about each other, but didn't feel the attraction. When they kissed, nothing happened.
Either way, it was an amazing show and I had a great time watching it.
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Captivating the King -A drama full of sadness , romance, hatred and plot
I love this Historical drama and with the great main actor and actress and also others who casts in this drama. Though it has not ended and watch until 13 episodes, the King is not a bad man, he wanted to build a better antion and create peace in his country as the son from his brother the ex King is too young to rule. However he cared for him and his sister but bad rumours about him made many suspicious of him and the killing of the traitor and given exile to those people whom they reported as traitors and one of them his valuble baduk player ( Shin Se Kyeong ) and was in misery when he heard that she died, and became acholholic and womanizer because of that. Deep inside him he listened to his mother and that wicked uncle of his. I have the feeling it will be agood ending for this drama and I enjoyed the story lineWas this review helpful to you?
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the FL ruins it
I liked :the ML, Jo Jung Suk is great in this show, probably his best performance !
The story is fine
The supporting characters are good, the villains are bad (very good actors), I enjoyed the queen dowager (actress was so good in the crowned clown) , the first king Choi Dae Hoon, Yang Kyung Won (who was also good in Vincenzo and Crash landing on you)
I dislike :
The Female Lead ! The actress is so bad ! She was bad in rookie historian, she didn't change !
Someone can tell her that to keep your mouth open during all the series is NOT an acting skill !
She spent less than 5 minutes with a closed mouth ! She has no facial expression, she just rolls her eyes lol
Zero chemistry with the ML, always the same face.
The character is not better, at the end why did she leave ???
It s a bit long, especially the last 3 episodes.
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Very common drama with Jung Suk in a state of grace.
There are actors and then there are actors, but without a doubt, Jung Suk is at the top shelf. I believe that in the awards season, he and the leads of "A BLOOD LUCKY DAY" will be vying for the Best Actor award for drama. Returning to Jung Suk, he began the drama portraying himself as a sweet and simple prince, but upon ascending the throne, he transformed into a paranoid and suspicious king. However, as the episodes progressed, this image softened. Although I still believe that the crimes he committed three years ago have not been fully justified, I understand that if the characters affected by it have come to terms and moved on, I won't dwell on it.It's incredible how Shin Sae Kyeong's acting falls short, it's uniquely hammy. The female highlights in terms of acting, for me, are the veterans Park Ye Young (Lady Dong) and Jang Young Man (Queen Park).
My favorite character without any reservations was Kim Myung Ha, who was dismissed by the protagonist early on in the drama and moved on without trying to create a love triangle (thanks to the scriptwriters for that). Many times, he brought Hee Soo back to reality. Usually, secondary protagonists are persistent, but Myung Ha was different; he immediately stepped aside and even helped the couple get together in the end. Yes, I still find the lead couple extremely toxic, but that's a discussion for another topic.
It was an interesting drama that delved well into palace intrigues, and Jung Suk was the maestro behind it all.
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The Female Lead Is Reason to Stop Watching
I could not go on. The story may be good but Shin Sae Kyeong's acting as the female lead is bland and beyond boring. She was ok in Rookie Historian but in this drama, she was totally disappointing. She was stiff, her facial expressions were the same. If you remove the sound and subtitle and just watch her face, you won't know whether she's happy or upset with her deadpan expression.Overhyped drama but did not deliver for me, all because of the female lead. I just get irritated watching her on screen.
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Pretty Good
While starting this show i did not have high expectations since the cast was quite unfamiliar for me (i have only seen one of shin se-kyung's drama's "Run On") but i was utterly mesmerized in the first few episodes.Pros:
1) The biggest pro for me is the ml's acting skills, his eyes are so expressive and his line delivery is impressive, i found myself rewatching his dialogues because they were so powerful
2) The struggles of being the king was described really well and the king's predicament was also well written
3) Wave by Taeil which is one of the main osts of this show was soo good, its very melancholic and the tune was stuck in my head for days
4) I also really liked the fact that court lady dong was not a one dimensional villainess who always conspired to do evil but rather had feelings of her own
5) The queen's story was quite tragic and im glad that they didnt portray her as an obstacle to the main couples relationship but rather as a noble girl that got unlucky and her relationship with the grand prince was also really cute
Cons:
1) The ending didnt really feel like a proper ending, after seeing it i felt like i was seeing the second last episode rather than the last episode, i had certain hopes for what their relationship would end up as and i was sad that none of it came true
2) It got very fast paced towards the end and very draggy in certain parts as well
3) I remember being so annoyed when the fl kept having the deer in front of headlights look for every scene and the fact that she kept going back to revenge when the ml was baring his his heart out to her
4) I still dont see why myung-ha's character was necessary to the plot
5) I dont know if its the bad/biased writing but the fl's scenes were so unmemorable, on one hand you had the ml's POWERFUL line delivery and emotions and the fl consistently had the deer in headlights look and her lines were just not IMPACTFUL enough
Overall i would say that its a pretty good show, the first few episode were easily a 10/10 but the later episodes changed my mind. All in all if you like angsty romances with very less skinship but a lot of meaningful looks then this show is definitely for you. I do think that i liked this show more due to the fact that i waited every week rather than binge watching the whole thing since the wait at the end of every cliffhanger and the numerous predictions i cooked up were definitley a huge part of the experience
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