stargirl23
The characters are quite fun too. The female lead is innocent and playful but in a not annoying way. She can also occasionally be a badass too and she always stands for justice. A nice break from the usual ditzy female lead. As for the male lead, he is not your typical Chinese flower boy handsome but I think that adds to his charm. The actor does a good job of bringing to life the different layers of his character. We see his manipulative side, his charming side, and most importantly his romantic side. The two actors had wonderful chemistry for one another. I was giggling like a schoolgirl during a lot of their scenes. There is a love triangle, but I didn't find it annoying either. All the side characters also did wonderfully, no complaints there.
For the story, I ranked it a little lower because it was a little confusing for me as an international viewer. I know this is based on a novel, so I'd assume that the Chinese audience was probably familiar with it. Regardless the story was engaging with enough action and romance to keep me intrigued. Maybe a few small plot holes here and there, but nothing enough to make me mad. The effects were thankfully minimal but overall not bad at all. This show also had a wonderful budget. The costumes for the female lead were stunning, they really spared no expense. All the other important characters had good outfits and the sets were well made and nice to look at.
It does suffer the typical sad ending of many Chinese dramas but all the joyful, fun, heartwrenching moments make it worth the watch. Do yourself a favor. Sit down and start episode 1 right now.
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Unfortunately, this good plot was squandered by the writers. The hatred between the husband and wife didn't make a lot of sense, with the wife constantly pushing him away without explanation, and the husband constantly acting like a douchebag for no reason. There was always chemistry between them, but it was jarring when all of a sudden the wife decided she was in love with the husband. As for the plot outside of the relationship, it started off strong but later dissolved and didn't make any sense. There were different families involved and lots of secrets that ultimately don't make a dent in the storyline. And the ending! It was very, very disappointing and almost made me regret watching the whole thing. Honestly, if you have some time it is worth the watch, but maybe speed it up while watching and prepare yourself for the plot to crash and burn in the last episodes.
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This review may contain spoilers
I was sorely disappointed with this drama. The story was unfulfilled with weak romance and unexplored character development. The story was lacking because the political intrigue wasn't properly covered, leading to a few plot holes large enough for me to put my foot in. The enemies were your typical 2D villains who practically rubbed their hands together with glee as they once again attempt to separate the main leads for no clear reason. The actors were all attractive, but that was where the enjoyment ends for me. The king was a lovesick puppy with the typical trope of having met the female lead once when they were little and falling in love. He doggedly chases her around during the queen selection and for some reason, she falls in love with him even though he does nothing other than insist she is the dead queen for literally half of the show.
Next, there was no character development. I appreciate getting a smarter than usual female lead but that is where it ends. She grew up on the streets but she acts like a high bred noblewoman from episode one, which made no sense. First, she wanted revenge on the king, and then within the span of 1 or 2 episodes, she is in love with him. The romance was just too forced, I actually shipped her more with the evil second lead.
Carrying on about the second lead, I wasn't expecting anything too spectacular but they really dropped the ball with him. Do Sang Woo did what he could with the mediocre script and instructions he was given. He played the playful yet scheming prince perfectly, and it would have been amazing if he hadn't been so head over heels in love with the female lead just from meeting a few times. If they had built up their relationship more, his complete 180 into a psycho obsessive dude in the last episodes would have made more sense and added extra spice to the show. Instead, we got another random dude in love with the female lead for no reason.
There was a little magic added in for some razzle-dazzle but ultimately doesn't do much for the plot except conveniently help the king save our female lead time and time again.
Music was memorable, but after a while, the opera-like voices began to wear me down because it was dramatic and the show felt like a snoozefest for me. Think Game of Thrones soundtrack used for a run-of-the-mill historical show.
The end was rushed, and I don't want to spoil it but anyone with half a brain cell would understand that the ending was impossible and a plot hole. They just wanted a happy ending so bad they thought no one would remember the previous episode.
Overall, if the writers had fleshed out the relationships in this show as much as they established the sisterhood among the nice girls in the queen selection this would have been a good show. Alas, trying to shove it all into 16 episodes was a mistake. Why does Jin Se Yeon keep appearing in mediocre historical dramas?
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