The Enemies to Lovers trope would have done this wonders.

Mediocre. What a mediocre series. I have so much to say but I'll start with my headline.

What a wasted potential. I'm not saying she should have ENDED up with the villain because the way this was written, it would NEVER WORK. In order for it to be a good "Enemies to Lovers", it needed the villain to be the male lead so HE is the focus of the story. Some people will say they didn't like him and that is completely valid because he was written to be UNREDEEMABLE. If he was written to be LIKED, people would have changed their mind about him. All the writer needed to do was make him smarter, make the female lead smarter too in the way she spies on him, slow burn it a little and then build it up from there into his redemption or a anti-hero ending. Then you will have the greatest progression for a love story that is refreshing and not boring. And for people who hate villainous characters, I promise you, one story that doesn't conform to the standard isn't going to make all the usual romance in kdrama fade into oblivion. There is always wholesome drama that airs EVERY season. We are not running out of stock from those to watch. So there is no need to be agitated that people liked a bad guy as if there isn't thousand of dramas with cute good guys characters. There is something for everyone. For this one in specific, the enemies to lovers would have done it WONDERS.

Despite what I said, I have to say, this drama, even without the romance, was TOO MESSY. It started out good. The first 4 episode were pretty enjoyable but the writers decided to half bake everything else. Too many side plotlines that go NOWHERE. The story was BARELY moving forward. So many unlikeable characters taking the spotlight for no reason. I wish the male characters were more well put together. None of the male characters had more to their story than being useless (except the dad) and don't get me mentioned on the brother constant target for fatshaming. It made me roll my eyes. I thought his story would conclude well as a life lesson that if you fatshame your child, you can endanger their life which is a message I don't mind seeing depicted but then they kept showing scenes of him eating or just talking about food as if that's his only trait... it feels like even the writer didn't learn a lesson from their own storytelling.

Also the FL doesn't feel like a FL here. Her mom and grandma took most of the spotlight away from her. It would have been more enjoyable to see both mom and daughter work and plan together but still have the daughter as the MAIN focus. Instead, she got sidelined in her OWN story. She have all these super powers and abilities yet all of it disappeared in the other half of the story. As for the grandma, if she was the character who ALWAYS save the day when her daughter and granddaughter in trouble, she would have be a badass character.

As for the romance, it was BAD. What is the point of watching a romance drama where the male leads already in love by episode 4? Let's say, okay, we like the early romance because some dramas actually do them too... but... there is no build up? No confession leading up to being together? One day, they are together. They just throw a scene with both of them and hope they convince you into liking it. The kiss scenes are all randomly placed and the grandma have MORE of a romance storyline than the FL. People only like the romance because it's the male lead and female lead. Not because it's actually well written.

I gotta give it to Byeon Woo Seok's. His back must hurt from trying to carry this drama. The villain was the only interesting character in the show. I loved the FL at the start but like I said, she got SIDELINED SO HARD, there is nothing to say about her. I've made a character analysis of Ryushio if anyone's interested. https://mydramalist.com/729535-strong-woman-kang-nam-soon#comment-15450791

The villain got all the package. Good backstory, goals, ambition and was even soft to watch him when he wasn't being a menace to society. He progressed the story when nothing else was. They made him dumb in not figuring out the FL identity so they can extend this to 16 episodes but that can be forgiven because without it... OOOOOF. Would there be a story??? The villain is the best thing about this show. He brought a good amount of the international watchers. I was never going to watch this show if I didn't come across his edit. My sister also WASN'T going to watch either if it wasn't for these edits. There is too many good dramas airing to be wasting it on a mediocre one like this one.

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There is one word that sums up this whole drama; contrivance

What people like or dislike, might not be what you like or dislike so I do suggest to ignore any type of feedbacks and give this drama a try. When you start having mixed feelings about it, my review is here to help.

I think this series have an appeal. It got a innovative concept, an endearing FL, ML, side characters, and a mystery to unravel. I got to this far because I thought this show had potential to be even greater. But instead, it only went downfall when "minor" flaws kept stacking up one on top of the other to the point it fell flat. The writers message was to tell you that true events happen the same way but HOW (keyword) they decided to show it disconnected some viewers from the plot. It suffers from poor execution. I like the message but I dislike the way this drama handled it.

One of the two plotlines this series rely on is the mystery. It carries the show so the writers made the characters superficial. If you watch carefully, you will realize these two writer aren't writing "characters" anymore. They are writing plot points to push their story forward otherwise they won't have a story to tell (with the exception of ML. The FL as well except she loses her way here and there).

Like one of our anatognist here whose whole purpose is just to come in and out to create fake suspense and tension. He does that for 5 episode straight. His whole personality revolves around FL for no reason. Remember what I said? They are not writing characters. They are writing plot points. Ironically, he is the only one who knew what happened 18 years ago and.... drum roll please!

He wants to tell them. Yes, you read this right. He WANTS to tell them.

But they don't want to hear from him. Why? Because the story will conclude at episode 9-10. When a series does that but waits until the very end to "reveal" it, it just lack creativity to tackle it any other way. You already know the writers will come up with different "coincidence" or "reasons" to prevent this guy from talking. Like I said, they aren't writing characters. They are writing plot points.

They would do these type of plot points in other areas. I can mention over 10 instances. You don't not realize at first because you think it's relevant or might be explained later on but then you finished the drama and you look back and realize, they added nothing of value. They tied most of the loose ends like some PowerPoint presentations at the last episode. They expect you to fill the blanks. They expect you to come up with your own interpretation and justif, in your head, why it happened like that. I'm not a fan of those plots because it's pretentious. If the message was so "real" the male and female lead would have both died to reinforced its message.

As for the romance, it's the only redeeming quality this series have. This is where the writers strength are. The dialogue and interaction are pretty good. It handles trauma well. The male lead development is well written. He enhanced the story to another level. The romance though have a minor flaw where the characters are suffering from a "special" version of the break up trope. They are NOT breaking up because it's not "official", they are just constantly separating and distancing themselves from each other and finding their way back to each other. And it repeats for over five times. If this doesn't bother you, you will enjoy the chemistry. The link was also inconsistent. Just used for crying and fear most of the time. Any other emotions became pointless.

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A wise person once said, "Understand the plot then skip to Woo Dohwan's scenes."

That person was me.

Anyway, I'll be speaking about 4 main points.

1. The Pacing
2. The Villain
3. The Romance
4. The Plot Convenience

There are minor spoilers in here. If you watched 2 episodes then you are spoiler free from this review.

[ The Pacing ]

You can't feel emotionally attached to any of the characters. The author had created TOO MANY plotlines to focus on. The parallel universe, the romance, the investigation, the doppelganger, the villain, the side characters, the side character's side story, add all that and you get a messy execution. The pacing is all over the place.

Since this whole drama is written to center around romance, they could have simplified it by giving us less characters and unnecessary scenes. Characters like the Prime Minister (second female lead) held no importance to the plot. She is neither a good enemy nor a good ally by the end which makes her pointless. All that screentime, for what exactly? I love women in power but she didn't impact the story in any shape or form. She doesn't change anything. I don't understand why I had to watch all that set up just to come up with NOTHING!

This happened again (but much BETTER) with the second male lead. He had a good build up but he ended up being flat too. They should have connected his storytelling without the long gaps (to keep it heartwrenching) and gave him a more satisfying ending. He is one of the characters that you expect something from but it never gets delivered. The author just wasted all his potential by playing the self pity card.

Which brings me to another point. The investigation scenes are meaningless too. It was like running in circles. This author have learned the "show not tell" technique wrong. The male lead finds out all what the detectives found beforehand which makes me wonder why am I even watching them solve this case? Nobody cares about the flip phones, okay?

Anyway, I just wanna add this personal opinion but it would have been nice if the two worlds were more different.

[ The villain ]

Probably the most frustrating character in the whole drama because he's NOT supposed to be like this. He is evil for the sake of being evil. One of the worst villains we have seen in dramaland. He is an ABSOLUTE IDIOT! How did he succeed in creating a coup and gain followers is beyond me. His wickness is almost cartoonish. It's like I'm watching PowerPuff Girls. The amount of dumb decisions he made caused me to facepalm. The author didn't even try with him. He is smart when convenient and an idiot when convenient. His character exist to create tension and make our hero seem heroic. His plans were pretty smart and if he played his cards right, he would actually been a great threat but the author wanted a justifiable reason for the romance to happen. If the antagonist (involved in politics) have an IQ less than your average viewer then don't write him.

[ The Romance ]

The romance failed before it even started. IF it had a good setup, a lot of people wouldn't have called it forced. The problems started when our king here got the good ol' "saver complex" symptoms. Someone saved you? Instantly in love with them! I gave up on the romance from that moment. Everything about her is destiny or fate... he said "Be my Queen" in the 2nd EPISODE! MY GUY, YOU JUST MET HER IN THAT VERY EPISODE, DAFUQ YOU TALKING ABOUT? QUEEN MY ASS!

Where is the development? Moments that brings spark? Funny bickering of them trying to work side by side? Moments where they realized their feelings? Learning to understand each other? Make us wish they are together because they are cute to watch? We skipped all that. We got a girl who's uninterested, a one side bickering that isn't amusing because she is annoyed and a man, who apparently isn't interested in romance, suddenly in love with a girl over a badge photo. The chemistry doesn't build itself. It needs presentation.

[ The Plot Convenience ]

I wrote it in the comment of this review AND in the general comment section because it contains HEAVY spoilers. It hard to talk about plot convenience (and plot holes) without pointing out WHICH one were they. If you didn't watch this drama, I wouldn't recommend reading it. It won't make sense, trust me.

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I don't usual write a review of shows I haven't finished but this was a struggle to continue

"This series was written by a woman who intended to write the romance purely to create a "forbidden love" out of historical implications behind King's/Prince's position but remembered, last minute, it was still historical so they slapped together some cheap politics to create tension." - Me at the start of the drama.

I'm proud to say I was not wrong by the end of it. I do have some positive feedback to give so this isn't 100% negative. Just 90%.

I'll start off by saying I don't understand why this ended up being 20 episodes. It could have been concluded with the typical 16 episodes. HALF of the show didn't progress for it to deserve more. This is a classical example of bad writing. If it was shorter, the flaws of the drama would be less glaring.

My biggest problem with this series is the politics. If you are not a fan of politics, this drama is for you. However, out of all the historical dramas, this had to be the weakest power struggle I've seen in forever. The worse part? It ties in with the characters development/motives of our main lead because if the politics is weak then the character development is WEAK as well. And that's where our female lead come to play.

I'll admit that one of the best part of this drama is our female lead. She is charismatic, badass, emphatic and a woman with survival instincts. However, her potential is wasted on a writer who can't think beyond the romance. What's the point of making survival as her motives but do not take ANY MEASURES in ensuring she does? You can't seriously tell me hiding her identity is the powerful, woman empowerment development everyone deluded themselves into thinking? She does NOTHING except try to work hard within her limitations which makes no sense since she needs to create a path if she wants to survive. But instead she goes where the wind blows. Since she is a woman pretending to be a MAN (CROWN PRINCE) that means she will get married... how was she planning to keep her secret as a woman? She will eventually be pressured to give a "royal baby" but again, NO PLAN. She only tries to come up with something WHEN it happens. What about when she gets sick or gets hurt, does she have a trustworthy royal infirmary to help her? Nope, NO PLAN. Nothing. She kisses in public! Forgetting she is PRETENDING TO BE A MAN... again, no measures whatsoever. You can kiss in hiding... that would have been the MOST LOGICAL kiss scene... but NOPE. There was even another point I would mention that really shows BAD writing but that would be a manhwa spoiler so it won't be mentioned. She is one of those FL that start cool, promising, badass but then barely does anything after few episodes. You remember those dramas? This one is one of them.

She is a character that could be morally grey if the writer wishes her to be. The enemy are barely scheming against her. If anything, whatever they are scheming IN HER FAVOR from BOTH FRACTIONS. As I said, weak politics. I wonder if the writer realize the potential they had when they wrote this story. This could turn very dark or fluffy based on what direction the female lead could do if she took ACTUAL measures. It could also be a revenge story or self destruction story if the author realized that the female lead is a double edge sword that can use her identity for revenge. One of those "If I go down, you go down with me." It's such a shame she was a wasted potential.

I'll end this review with a positive note that this is for people who want fluff, romance, and the temporary misunderstanding/breakup before everything ends perfectly. People who enjoy rom-coms and want light hearted historical drama. Romance is positive aspect and this is really cute. If that's what you are coming here for, there is a high chance you will love this drama. It's sweet, diabetics and the chemistry is good. It's why people love it. I'm just disappointed they sacrificed the side plots for romance when they could have had BOTH.

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Even the trash didn't know it had competition

100% hater and slander review. You've been warned.

I've seen Pyo Yejin in Taxi Driver. She was fine there, she was excellent and Kim Young Dae was good in Penthouse, but I don't know what the hell they were doing in this drama. They were acting as if they came fresh from acting school. It was BAD. I have never watched a drama and felt so off put by the bad acting.

The female actress here can't support herself. She is making this show go from bad to worse. While the actor is clearly forcing his voice to sound so deep that I bet you his throat is SORE after this to the point of hospitalizations.

I'm sorry but the actors were a wrong cast here. Actually, I'm NOT sorry. I'm saying this with my whole chest. Hell, I don't think they are even compatible. They are so dull and everything about them was OFF. NEVER CAST THEM AGAIN TOGETHER! They have the chemistry of a dead fish.

The story? Booooring. There is BARELY a plot. How do you make an interesting concept but then write it the worst way possible? The modern day plot so directionless. APPARENTLY, a guy wanting to kill the main leads should be enough to get you through 10 HOURS of watchtime. This ain't the best thing since sliced bread. In fact, there isn't even butter on the bread, no cheese on this pizza, no sauce in this pasta, it's just crusty and dry. Eating no plot. The romance could have sustained it but they were like magnetic polarity, repelling in the name of Jesus Christ from each other. A North and South Pole.

The only decent part is the historical aspect of the story. That's the only one that seemed to have some sort of purpose but when the modern part is lacking severely, the history is as well because I don't give a damn. This is not the only drama with past lives integrated nor will it be the last. How am I supposed to like this lukewarm storyline when I have seen better?

The female lead? Annoying. Throw her whole character away. The only trait she have is her savior complex. How about she buys herself a personality??? How about instead of saving lives, she saves that personality that she doesn't have? Because she let it die tragically.

The male Lead? A walking contradiction. Acting like he doesn't know why he was killed and being vengeful about it. Shut up, you know why she killed your ass. I do have media literacy and I'm aware that it is because he thinks the love between them is genuine which makes her betrayal hard for him to stomach. But like CHECK YOURSELF. Check your history. Even if she wasn't being genuine, he should have accepted that as a punishment for what he have done.

Despite what I said, I don't mind him lmao I understand his pov. I just want to hate on the show more because it's written so bad, it's making the enjoyment of the complex themes fall off.

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Did I like it? Yes. Would I criticize it? Also yes cuz why not?

This review will point out some positives and negatives.

I'll be speaking about 4 main points.

1. The Pacing
2. The Villain
3. The Romance
4. The Characters

[The Villain]

I'll start off with the biggest shortcome of this series, the villains. They were fundamentally weak antagonists. When you watch them, you DO NOT think,
"Wow, they are a step ahead."
"Omg, they are always winning!"
Because they never were. They were always behind. Even their so called small "victories" were never real victories. They were hollow. Whenever they try to gain an upper hand, they follow the exact same tactic throughout the entirety of the series. There were probably only few instances that they do something different aka bribe. You always knew, when watching, that Vincenzo would outsmart them. Which makes them boring and flat. They were not as smart as they initial were portrayed. The fact they even lasted that long is beyond me. I don't feel frustrated neither do I feel excited. They are that dull.

I had high hopes for our female villain but she truly just sucked. Had she been a good, smart opponent, it would have made everything more impactful and sweet when she gets what she deserves. One of the things that struck me as odd is how we don't get a background story on why she does the things she does and why she joined hands with Han Seok. Where does her trust in him stem from?

I would say Han Seo was the one that actually made me curious. He was a puppet but he was behaving in ways that were conflicting which made him interesting. His character development easily made him the most enjoyable one to watch.

[Characters/Pacing/Romance]

The series didn't use their time duration wisely. A lot of it was mundane. I would say they could have easily fixed it if they gave a bit of a background story about each of the tenants to deepen the connection with the viewer. Don't get me wrong, the tenants do grow on you and become an enjoyable aspect of this show. However, a short montage would have done the trick. It would have made this excellent if we knew more about them then just the surface.

With that being said, I would say the one character that disappointed me from start to end was the female lead. Her personality was fine and I gotta give her props for not enforcing her values on the male lead. However, she does BARE MINIMUM throughout the entire 28 hours of this series. Her role diminishes as the series goes. You know the writer messes up when the side characters does MORE than the main character. Even a bloody bird did something LOL. She is just there to represent Vincenzo plans during court because Vincenzo is Italian, therefore he can't be an attending lawyer in another country. I like it more when female characters have some worth to the story and she had the potential to go through a cool transition so it bummed me that it never happened.

But the good news is, she's a love interest. That covers up her shortcomings very well because you can enjoy the romance and the side characters can fill the gaps she is missing so you don't lose much viewing experience over her doing nothing. Romance is important because a lot of people can't watch a drama without romance. Plus the romance is actually mature, subtle and realistic. It doesn't use communication but actions to portray love. Whether you think they have chemistry or not is up to you to decide because it's subjective. If you you don't think they have chemistry then... YIKES.

Another thing I would say this series does well is being consistent with who Vincenzo originally were and they have done a lot of bold, daring, refreshing revenges that other dramas have never done before. It can't be replicated. When you watch them, they do leave an impact in you and it's very likely you won't forgot them.

I would like to end my review by saying the plot had a couple loose ends but you can move on from them. I do, however, want to address the Deus Ex Machina that is called the Guillotine File that somehow ended up in the same place as our protagonist...the whole existence of that file is ???? it doesn't bother me but I do want to point out how it's a very obvious plot convenience.

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