I enjoyed this drama for the most part, though I think they could have done a lot better with it. The bare bones of the drama was a really interesting story/mystery, but I think they suffered from a low budget and poor writing. The main lead's wig took some getting used to - it came unnaturally far forward on his face, especially in front of and above his ears. And his look when he was "transformed" (trying to avoid spoilers, though I think you'll see it in the first episode) was downright ridiculous. They could have made him look cool like that, but instead it looked like a campy B-movie from the 1960s. The ladies' costumes looked like cheap prom dresses - some of them were pretty for sure, but they just looked cheap and not really historical (though I am willing to give some leeway to a fantasy drama when it comes to historical accuracy.) But one of the antagonists actually had a dress that had a visible zipper (a big white zipper) down the back of her dress! That's just tacky. None of the characters had many costumes - the leads had more than most, but even then I'm pretty sure for the male lead, they were reusing parts of his costume and just paring it with different overcoats. The female lead would commonly sleep in her clothes, which was weird, especially since they actually mentioned once that she had fallen asleep without changing her clothes, as if that wasn't a common occurrence. Probably my main issue though is that they dressed the dowager consort and did her makeup like a hooker. Like her makeup is really what made her look old - it looked like really heavy makeup from the 1980s or something. And they'd always put her in really cheap strapless/sleeveless dresses. She just looked ridiculous.
Story-wise, I don't think the writing was good at all. The story supposedly took place within just 2-3 months I think. But that first month, SO much happened that it just wasn't plausible that it was only a month. Someone got stabbed (deeply) in his left shoulder but was up and about with no problem within a short period of time, like it never happened. And someone died and they were all weeping and oh-so-sad but barely one scene later they were all laughing and joking and they never talked about him again. Stuff like that kept happening - I was literally shocked when an episode showed that it had only been a month - it just wasn't realistic that only a month had passed. The bare-bones of the story were great, the writers just didn't do a great job of fleshing the story out in a realistic way.
Whoever was in charge of consistency between scenes didn't do a great job. Like they'd have rushed away from town/home wearing one outfit and not carrying anything with them, but the next scene, while they're still away, they're wearing a different outfit? Or someone's hair goes from a mess to suddenly fixed nicely w/ accessories, despite being in the middle of nowhere with no one to do her hair.
Despite all that, I kept watching, mostly because the episodes were relatively short and there weren't that many of them. It was kind of a fun watch - there were some funny moments and some sweet moments. I certainly don't think it's the best drama I've ever watched, but I've also seen worse - I would have stopped watching if it was absolutely terrible. I mostly kept watching b/c I had seen a clip of a scene towards the end that made the drama look interesting, so I kept watching just to see how the mystery unfolded. It turned out to be a relatively minor part of the series, but I don't regret watching. It's fun if you have a little bit of time and enjoy fantasy stuff.
Story-wise, I don't think the writing was good at all. The story supposedly took place within just 2-3 months I think. But that first month, SO much happened that it just wasn't plausible that it was only a month. Someone got stabbed (deeply) in his left shoulder but was up and about with no problem within a short period of time, like it never happened. And someone died and they were all weeping and oh-so-sad but barely one scene later they were all laughing and joking and they never talked about him again. Stuff like that kept happening - I was literally shocked when an episode showed that it had only been a month - it just wasn't realistic that only a month had passed. The bare-bones of the story were great, the writers just didn't do a great job of fleshing the story out in a realistic way.
Whoever was in charge of consistency between scenes didn't do a great job. Like they'd have rushed away from town/home wearing one outfit and not carrying anything with them, but the next scene, while they're still away, they're wearing a different outfit? Or someone's hair goes from a mess to suddenly fixed nicely w/ accessories, despite being in the middle of nowhere with no one to do her hair.
Despite all that, I kept watching, mostly because the episodes were relatively short and there weren't that many of them. It was kind of a fun watch - there were some funny moments and some sweet moments. I certainly don't think it's the best drama I've ever watched, but I've also seen worse - I would have stopped watching if it was absolutely terrible. I mostly kept watching b/c I had seen a clip of a scene towards the end that made the drama look interesting, so I kept watching just to see how the mystery unfolded. It turned out to be a relatively minor part of the series, but I don't regret watching. It's fun if you have a little bit of time and enjoy fantasy stuff.
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