This review may contain spoilers
A Melodrama at it's finest
Let me start off by saying that I absolutely adored this drama, it really hurts my heart that I can't give it a 10/10, because the drama has a lot of pacing/directing/script issues, and I can't, in good faith give it the 10. I would also like to point out, that this drama is not for everyone, especially the ones who don't like sad dramas. This drama is for the people who enjoy melodramas, and tragic storylines. People who enjoy Game of Thrones, should feel right at home, It really feels exactly like that. But let me start with stuff I really liked. First of all, I absolutely adored the story, It was full of love, betrayal, action, tragedy, feels, even though I believe that they could've made a few changes (First one that comes to mind, is not abandoning Eun's character midway, and actually having him being an active participant until his ending, it would've made a much larger impact, even though it was already quite huge), which would've benefited the story better. I liked how we saw our female lead, go from being an innocent happy girl, to a tortured soul by the midway. I also liked how the show's tone switched and developed with the female lead, but it was pretty depressing at the same time. I was very satisfied with the story, and how it turned out, even though I would've made some personal changes, I am still happy with what we've got. I also really enjoyed the OST, I really wasn't sure about it at first, because it didn't really felt like it fit the historical time period, but I grew to like it regardless. The acting was also amazing, A big applause for all of the actors, they made their characters have very distinct personalities, with great depth, and I enjoyed watching every single prince on screen, and haesu aswell. I also liked the cinematography, the landscapes, and the locations were really iconic. Now when it comes to what I disliked, it was the pacing/production. The camera angles, felt really weird, so much so, that sometimes it took me out of the immersion. And the worst of all was the pacing. Now I thought that the story was great, however the execution, sometimes was really lacking. There were a few instances, where they seemed like they misplaced scenes, a great example of this was the emperor and Chaeryeong scene, you will know when you watch it. I also didn't like the amount of time skips the story had, the drama sometimes didn't even show that there was a time skip, so I found myself wondering quite often about, how many years it has been or if there was a time skip or not, I feel like as a viewer it should be obvious. I was satisfied, but devastated about the ending, I feel like it was a decent ending for the characters, though I really wish there was an after credit scene or something, because in a way it feels incomplete. So overall It is an amazing drama, full of twists and turns and tragedy and a good story, If you like all of these, or you would like to dip your toe into the "Ktrauma" side of kdramas, I wish you good luck, it will devastate you!
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