The acting were great, we can quite feel the emotions of the actors. I always am amazed of Park bo gum's mercurial facial expression abilities, but for me personally his romance acting in this drama is worse than in reply 1988. I feel his chemistry is better with hyeri.. Compared with kim soo hyun in moon embraces the sun, i feel kim soo hyun is a better portrait of a joseon royalty... Sorry, Park Bo Gum.. But anyhow, i'm stil a fan and enjoyed the drama immensely. The best act for me in this drama came from kwak dong yeon, lee joon hyuk and park chul min.
The music blends nicely with the scenes, but i don't really catch any singular tune that ring a bell in my head after watching the whole episodes.
This is one of the movies that i might want to re watch someday in the future.
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A promising plot spoiled by cast and direction
Favourite characters:Byung yeon (The guard):
The mysterious aura and his facial expressions said it all in this drama. One of the strongest character and I rewatched the scenes he was in.( thank god they dint let him die)
The queen:
One of the best character with story arc else every other character is one one sided while queens character had multiple layers to it and she did a good job .
Yoon sung (the second lead):
His character was a saviour of all. Though there wasn’t much ups and down to the character he did a good job playing the character. I even felt sympathy towards the end unlike the other characters where I couldn’t feel a thing.
Story: Though the visuals are good and so is the story. There is not an ounce of reality to it. The chemistry between leads is zero as the story doesn’t allow them to develop feelings slowly and over time. Certain situations are so unreal like hiding behind umbrella ( you gotta be kidding me)
Casting: The drama had potential to be great if they casted better actors. I couldn’t relate to the leads romance nor to the enmity between rivals nor friendship and hatred between characters. If the leads were better same goes with the kings character. As every person in drama makes or breaks it. I simply cudnt watch the romance between leads. I simply waited for the plotting and politics scenes. ( ohh also waited for our beloved guard to take the screen space)
Over all: good story but presentation and casting could have worked wonders. ( for example in goblin and scarlet heart where even smallest role is played by good actors which made them re watchable )
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Park Bo Gum !!!!!!!!
This was a beautiful, emotional ,wonderful peach of a drama to watch. Park Bo Gum Was just flawless, his smile, his tears, his laughs were just a joy to watch, he really is an outstanding talented actor (check out Hello Monster).All of the actors were just so skilled, and for the most part so good looking I binge watched the complete drama over a weekend and it was such an easy watch, not a fast forward in sight.
Special mention for the music also, it was blissful and so wonderfully attuned to what was going on in the scenes.
Don’t watch a great deal of historical dramas as tbh I think they can drag a bit but not this one, its really a quick watch
Enjoy!!
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Lovely Drama
This drama was interesting because i'm typically not a fan of dramas where there is identity misunderstandings/cross dressing (unless its genuinely a part of the characters identity to be gender fluid or trans, it feels dishonest to me). I think I saw this drama on some kind of recommended watch list and gave it a go and fell in love with it.First and foremost this was filmed while the main female actress was still I think quite young (so there isn't many intimate scenes or even a solid kissing scene). BUT what is so refreshing about this drama is the endearing and beautiful friendship that develops between the main leads, the comedy that is woven into the story, the sad back story of the female lead and why she's had to lead a life as a boy and of course the love story between the two leads. To me their love felt young but very fresh like light spring rain and very believable. They had good chemistry and the plot itself was also interesting and not overbearingly inundated with drama and conspiracies. Also the production of this drama was beautiful and had lovely costumes etc.
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CLANDESTINE BETWEEN AN EUNUCH AND CROWN PRINCE
The love story develops from being together everyday as a Crown Prince and a Eunuch, attraction from mutual wittiness and youthful cleverness to face challenges and goal together, although the rumor spread in the palace as Crown Prince liked men (gay). Lee Yeong (Park Bo Gum) is a Crown Prince, he lived at Poo Pavilion and famous as reputable as a temperamental single unpredictable young handsome Prince to his underlings. He meet Hong Sam-Nom (Kim Yoo-Jung) a female disguise as a man about a romantic letter sent out to Prince's sister, thru funny encounter they fell in to a deep hole together, Sam-Nom got out leave the Crown Prince behind - pissed! They met again as Sam-Nom enter Palace as eunuch, for the intention to take revenge (of being abandoned in hole) Crown Prince choose him as a new hired Eunuch to serve him. Although Sam-Nom tries to 'fail' 3 tests to determine her abilities and prove of castration, by no effort she passed and got into service, serve Crown Prince at a private study room attendance. At first she doesn't know Lee Yeong was a Crown Prince, she treated him more like a 'friend'.I think ep 9 the Crown Prince found out Sam-Nom was a girl, ep 11 he told that he loves her and wanted her to stay beside him forever. He knows how to charm a girl. All this clandestine interaction between them were too sweet, as Kim Yoo-Jung acted more terrified than in love to Crown Prince, as we all know it...when we're young and in love...we're more giggly and nervous regardless the situation between them than afraid to the guy who said 'I love you' but NO! Every time BoGum came closer to her, she shrunk herself in and wild eyes, give a vibe this girl didn't know how to act appropriately to return someone's heartfelt declaration. I am not buying Kim Yoo-Jung's acting...BoGum wasn't even touch or hug or kiss her....
The palace intrigue was like every others, the Prime Minister using tactic to scare the king while he also discouraged Crown Prince to come into power as a Regent. While Crown Prince busy juggling politic, he also busy charms Sam-Nom which her girly name was Hong Ra-On. The Kings wanted him to marry a noble girl for politic alliance while Prime Minister grandson has loved Hong Ra-On/Sam-Nom. It's a great sweet drama.....Chinese drama adapted it in 'Oops! The King is in Love'...pretty much same story line. But speaking of Park Bo-Gum, we can't have any better man than him...his smile makes me smile back.
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Good start, the rest of the episodes were dull
Plot: A girl has to hide her identity for unknown reason and grew up being a romantic story-teller/cupid to others. She was sold to become a eunuch in the palace and accidentally fell in love with the crown prince. Although there was nothing special to the plot, the first few episodes were actually endearing and fun to watch. Episodes 7 onwards, it became boring and repetitive. The princess and her letter lover were the ones who made me smile, without them on the screen, I was straight-faced or raising my left-eyebrow.Acting: Park Bo Gum did a good job in acting, while Kim Yoo Jung was initially adorable in the first few episodes, her emotional scenes weren't very good or convincing for me. The rest of the cast were amazing, especially the villains, who kept me annoyed whenever I see their faces. Their acting were more exceptional compared to the main leads.
Music: I don't remember anything extraordinary or catchy music. Sound effects weren't memorable as well.
Rewatch Value: I don't think I'll be rewatching the main lead's scenes. Maybe the love story of Princess Myun Geun and Mr. Jeong Deok Ho, although their first meeting story was still unclear for me. The bromance of Crown Prince and his guard/childhood friend was touching and worth watching.
Overall: 6 stars because I was a bit disappointed after watching this series. I didn't expect much when I started this, but after binge-watching 6 episodes of the series, I got my hopes up, despite the cliché plot, they made the scenes interesting, however, they weren't able to keep the momentum.
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Gender bender romance worthy of a Disney fairytale
First off, I want to admit that the sole reason I decided to watch this 10-year-old drama (after failing to bring myself to watch the first episode once and then trying again a couple of months later) was Park Bo Gum. I simply wanted to enjoy his acting skills and charisma. And the reason I managed to finish it without dropping it midway was exactly the same. There, I said it.My first gripe with this drama is the casting, namely their choice of the female lead actress. Other than the fact that she was too young both for the character and for a romantic role in general, my biggest problem with her is that, simply put, physically speaking she could never in a million years pass off as a male. Only if every single person who came across her suffered from a brain concussion or sudden blindness could it be considered convincing that they would buy her as a man. The only believable reaction to meeting our cross-dressing FL was the SML's, whose sole reason for falling in love with her was that he was apparently something of an expert in female anatomy and was able to tell right away that she was a woman in disguise.
Don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting that a gender-bender drama has to cast a particularly masculine-looking FL. I am simply saying that, at the very least, do not cast an extremely cute-faced sixteen-year-old with obvious feminine features and a high-pitched voice and expect us to accept that people genuinely believe she is a man.
When it comes to the story, as a gender-bender set during the Joseon era, the plot certainly had its fair share of clichés, but somehow its predictability was sweet and funny at first. You found yourself watching in anticipation of certain events, waiting to see how the characters would react. A lot may have been predictable in both the romantic and political storylines, but predictability itself was never my issue. Rather, my issue lay in the specific details of the plot, the character development, and the overall pacing of the show.
For example, we knew the ML would start developing feelings for the cross-dressing FL while still believing her to be a man (I guess he was blind, deaf, and dumb, but anyhow). We knew he would struggle with his feelings, only to eventually come to terms with them before learning her true identity, although I have to say that moment felt incredibly anticlimactic. We knew she would constantly be in danger of being exposed and that people who knew her secret would repeatedly come to her rescue, though the number of times this scenario occurred may have exceeded expectations, but more on that later.
As for the political plotline, let's be honest: political intrigue and court struggles in Joseon-era sageuk dramas almost always follow the same formula and rely on the same unmistakable tropes — a puppet or weak king, corrupt officials, an evil Queen Dowager, powerful ministers plotting poisonings, assassinations, and political marriages to secure power for their families, and so on. There is nothing inherently wrong with clichés, but if you choose to use them, then the details need to be believable and engaging. Smart characters should make smart moves, and the story should not constantly create problems only to solve them through luck, chance encounters, or the miraculous skills of an unbelievably talented portrait artist.
As for the romance between the main leads, while it is easy to understand how she fell for the handsome, kind, and fun prince, his attraction to her, especially early on and up until the point where he began accepting his "faux BL" feelings, never felt convincing enough in my opinion. For a Crown Prince and heir to the throne to come to terms with the possibility that he might be attracted to a eunuch of all people, we needed more than casual banter and sudden, unexplained bouts of jealousy.
Other dramas such as Coffee Prince or the Japanese Hana Kimi, while far from perfect, at least worked hard to provide enough buildup to sell viewers on the emotional attraction and inner conflict experienced by the male lead while struggling with feelings for someone he believed to be male. In this drama, however, it mostly happened because she was cute and pretty, with a bubbly personality and a tendency to talk back to him before learning of his identity as Crown Prince.
The progression of their romance during the first quarter of the drama was not necessarily too fast in terms of the overall timeline, but it lacked the emotional groundwork needed to make it convincing. And when it came to the long-awaited reveal of her true gender, I felt it happened rather quickly and somewhat anticlimactically.
I know I am not alone in thinking that one of the most frustrating aspects of the romance in this drama was how ridiculously implausible their rendezvous and romantic moments felt. And I am not just saying this as a longtime viewer of sageuk dramas, but as a viewer of this very drama. In a world where all it takes is shouting "여봐라!" for servants waiting outside the chambers to immediately come running in, and where characters constantly bump into one another by chance within palace walls, are we really expected to believe that the palace suddenly becomes a haven of privacy whenever the romance requires it?
Apparently, the Joseon palace — a place full of paper walls and servants wandering every corner — somehow had countless secret spots where the Crown Prince could whisper words of love to his eunuch, hold hands, give piggyback rides, and exchange back hugs in complete privacy.
There was one scene in particular that had me screaming at the screen: the Crown Prince was literally sitting on the grass next to her, having a romantic conversation while she leaned on his shoulder, with only a parasol hiding them from servants standing mere feet away. Are we supposed to believe the other side of the parasol was magically devoid of onlookers, and that everyone nearby had suddenly developed hearing problems?
Scenes like this repeated so often that they genuinely started to get on my nerves. I kept expecting rumors about the Crown Prince's sexuality to spiral out of control and become a major scandal, but somehow they mostly never did.
Ironically, whenever the writers needed to solve a problem they themselves had created, they always relied on either our hopelessly smitten SML or the Crown Prince's friend and bodyguard to save the day. And it almost always happened in exactly the same way: they would conveniently happen to overhear a conversation through closed doors or stumble across someone just moments before disaster struck.
The sheer number of convenient coincidences in this drama could fill entire volumes. The writers seemed to decide, depending on the needs of the plot, that walls either didn't exist at all or that wide open spaces provided perfect privacy.
And don't even get me started on the political intrigue, which became the main focus during the final third of the drama, because that provided some truly eye-rolling moments.
For starters, almost all of the criminal masterminds and palace officials were anything but smart or conniving. They openly discussed conspiracies, met their spies in public, and generally behaved like complete idiots incapable of successfully carrying out any scheme.
Even the evil Queen's backup baby plan made little sense. If she needed an alternative prince in case she gave birth to a princess, why keep the pregnant court lady inside her own chambers rather than hiding her somewhere discreet until the child was born?
And once again, the same issue resurfaced: the absurd number of conveniently placed witnesses to vital moments stretched even my willingly suspended disbelief beyond its limits.
The pursuit of both the rebels and our FL was equally laughable. The drama wanted us to believe she was constantly in danger of being recognized and captured outside the palace, only for her to successfully re-enter the palace once disguised as a magistrate and once as a medical assistant.
The second time, during the final episode, she was literally wandering around the palace without a care in the world while wearing nothing more than a simple face mask. The fact that her enemies somehow knew she was inside the palace and still failed to catch her was honestly hilarious.
Another issue was the pacing. The way major conflicts were developed and then resolved during the final stretch of the finale highlighted the drama's weaknesses in this regard. The biggest obstacles facing the prince — the Premier, the Queen, the mystery surrounding the late Queen Mother's death, and the rebel faction — were all wrapped up within minutes, mostly through the same repetitive tactics of characters catching others in the act or conveniently recovering forgotten memories.
It felt rushed, as though the writers suddenly remembered all the loose ends they had left hanging and scrambled to tie them up before the credits rolled.
The characters themselves were, for the most part, well written on paper, especially in the beginning. We were introduced to both leads along with their tragic backstories and childhood traumas.
The prince remained true to his character throughout and underwent decent character development, maturing into a worthy man, loyal friend, and just ruler, despite occasional moments of childishness brought on by lovesickness.
The FL, on the other hand, started out as a somewhat vague but independent character and ended up as a helpless damsel in distress. Initially, she is portrayed as a relationship advisor and matchmaker who understands human emotions well. Like the ML, she carries emotional scars, having been separated from her mother and forced to disguise herself as a boy for reasons she never understood.
This upbringing shaped her into a feisty and independent person who was not afraid of the world around her.
However, the more the story progressed and the more romantic the relationship became, the more her personality seemed to disappear. Very little remained of the strong and self-reliant character we initially met, and she gradually transformed into a weak, emotional, and often helpless damsel in distress.
The side characters fared somewhat better. The prince's best friend and bodyguard, torn between loyalty to his friend and loyalty to his cause, gave me the only scene in the entire drama that genuinely moved me to tears, which says quite a lot. Of course, Park Bo Gum's marvelous acting skills certainly helped.
As I mentioned earlier, the SML fell in love with the FL even faster than the ML did, and eventually his character became little more than a convenient tool to rescue the leads whenever necessary.
The drama dragged quite a bit at times. I found the prince's sister's storyline completely unnecessary, and honestly, if the endless slow-motion shots of characters staring into the distance or gazing at one another had been reduced — many of which I shamelessly fast-forwarded through — this drama could easily have fit into sixteen episodes, perhaps even twelve, and likely would have benefited greatly from the tighter pacing.
Would I watch it again? Probably not.
Do I regret watching it? Also no, because I got to enjoy Park Bo Gum's acting and bask in his charisma.
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Young Blood
The drama had all the makings of a captivating drama—a stunning setting, charming characters, and a dash of romance. At first glance, the vibrant cinematography and the chemistry between the leads were apparent. But as the story unfolded, it didn't quite live up to its appeal, dare I say, it flopped. It would have been fine if it had retained only the slice of life fluff but it resulted to cheap melodrama antics to build tension and climax which always have had its toll on the viewing experience. The other 2 male leads Yoon Sung & Byung Yeon were treated poorly by the writers, half-arsed development and even a worse conclusion. The ending also faced something similar with it being unclean, unrefined and loose.Was this review helpful to you?
Plus, Bo Gum & Yoo Jung have explosive chemistry which explain why the writer always make them have scenes together even during the conflicts parts in the later half of the drama. I think this is a first time that I feel like the leads spent almost all of their scenes together lol. I’m not complaining though since they are seriously very cute together. Bo Gum has a really awesome chemistry with anyone he worked with no matter whether it’s male/female or old/young. I didn’t realize it before but this drama really prove his range as an actor even more.
Both Bo Gum & Yoo Jung did a very excellent job at portraying all of the emotions required from them excellently. I thought they carried the drama with their acting abilities alone. Crown Prince’s various expressions still remains one of my fave things in this drama and not to mention all of Ra On’s emotional scenes. And surprisingly, Jin Young did very well as Yoon Sung. I thought he is very expressive for an idol actor. Kwak Dong Yeon also did well as Byeong Yeon and I love all his scenes with the Crown Prince especially the part where he is dying on his arms. Unfortunately, Chae Soo Bin as Ha Yeon is very underused here. Since the story heavily focused on the Crown Prince & Ra On alone, she has very little time to really show anything special though I like her bold personality in the drama.
Besides the amazing acting of the casts, the directing is pretty much flawless. The cinematography is among my very fave aspects of the drama as well. The lantern festival, sunset, garden, reflection, daisy field and everything are very beautiful. And the hanbok are very pretty. I’m bitter that Yoo Jung didnt have many scenes where she is dressed in hanbok but the Crown Prince’s colorful hanbok are a treat to the eyes. And the OSTs are very amazing as well. My fave remains Ben’s Misty Road but the other songs are equally good as well. I cant stop listening to 8 of 11 of the OSTs. And Bogum did surprisingly well in his first OST – I’m very impressed. I’m so happy Sung Si Kyung also did one for this drama, God knows how I yearn for another song from him and his soothing voice.
I love everytime they show the late Queen. Seeing her views on life and the things she taught the Crown Prince, its no wonder the Crown Prince grew up to be such a fine young man. I love the bits where she asked the Crown Prince not to be deaf and he shouldn’t only hear the person that’s shouting in front of him. He has to treat each of his citizen like they are his one and only citizen. No wonder his view on his people is the same as Yi San or Se Jong. Lee Seo Jin as Yi San remains my favorite King but Park Bo Gum as Lee Young is definitely my fave Crown Prince. I love how the Crown Prince is very fierce in giving sharp and harsh comments to his enemies. And he is very straight and didn’t beat around the bush when he wanted to understand why the White Cloud Society needs to topple the dynasty when he also has the same view as them. It is very refreshing to see that.
I love the ending. They wrapped up nicely and it was a happy one at that. But surprisingly, the writer didn’t follow the history at all. It seemed that she only based the Crown Prince character on Crown Prince Lee Young and that fact alone. I’m sad since the drama is heavily focused on the love aspect of the Crown Prince that not many of his achievements are shown in the drama. According to history, despite his short reign as a regent (around 3 years), Crown Prince Lee Young accomplished many things to improve Joseon Court at that time. He also only have one Crown Princess (no concubine) and that is Ha Yeon and they had a son together which later become the King. In history, Lee Young never become a King since he died at 20 years of age but they shown him ascending his father as the King in the last episode (when he is wearing the red golden robe). They also show Ha Yeon leave her position as the Crown Princess. I guess since this drama is a hilarious, fluffy and light, they decided to end it with a happy note. Not gonna lie that I’m very thankful for that. :D
I watched surprisingly many Kdramas this year, this drama is my second favorite after Marriage Contract for year 2016. TBH, I give this drama 7/10 since I’m not really satisfied with the light plots but since the casts did very well on their respective roles, I give this drama 8/10 instead.
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Good story but something is missing
i really love the cast individually but i don’t feel like they clicked on screen . Especially the main couple. loved the supporting roles more here. The two did had great moments i liked the romance but i don’t know i feel like its not the greatest show out there . The story is different and kinda new back then , the acting felt a little too much sometimes but overall they did good ……………………………………………………….,…,,,,………….::.:.;.;.;.;.;.;..;..4.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;.;;;.;.;.;.;.Was this review helpful to you?
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ML-character development was about as rigid as his jawline. There was no consistency in his arch story and top it he came out as a pussy crazy crown prince who was continuously bolsterous about his power but was just the same as the king who was tied down by the nobels.
FL-don't understand how such a character would've survived in a real world scenario. She would've been the first to be killed. She spent the better part of the series crying, flattering and complementing the crown prince. Yet provided no real substance to the over all story with her character alone. Although I won't blame the lack of her knowledge to her past which was a strong card to hold.
Villainous Troop: Prime Minister, Queen, Minister of Interior (Nobles)- These side characters were of the most interesting throughout the series. They provided the best plot and twist in the story which the 2 main leads fail to achieve. I was cheering for the villainous queen the most because she was consistent in her character.
Supporting Characters: side characters like Body Guard Kim and the ex best friend Kim were the most developed in characterization and also hold the most intersting story archs in the whole series. They alone along with that of the queen were of the most consistent.
Rewatch Value: Absolutely NO...I wouldn't recommend it even if my life depended on it. But this is my personal preference. If you want to dive in go ahead...just don't go in expecting much.
OST: best part of this whole damn series are the ost..some were heart wrenching and others were very lively....
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