100 Days My Prince

Bland

The drama was exciting for the first few episodes and in the last few episodes. Everything in between was boring.

I did not like any of the characters. Both ML and FL had no personality and chemistry. The crown prince had a resting bitch face 90% of the time. And FL had one surprised/confused look with pouty lips. When he confessed his feelings for her he had the same expression when complaining about being uncomfortable.

There was no growth or character development either. The writers could've done so much with Yul's character when he lived in the village with amnesia. He hardly did anything but still complained a lot.

When I read the synopsis, I was excited about the plot. The story ended up being completely uninteresting.

Read More

Hop Away ⚔ The Good Carrots Are Elsewhere °AVG° °5.5°

Have you seen the adorable movie Overboard, with Goldie Hawn & Kurt Russell? At first it seems 💯DMP is winking at that film. Unfortunately, this Overboard gets shipwrecked in old Joseon.

💯DMP starts strong with beautiful opening shots, a great concept and fantastic acting (Really! At times the king seems Shakespearean, until the awful dialogue & plot catch up to him). It's a fun set-up and there's hope for something meaningful to surface. The sets, filming, & costumes are VG or better. The many truly delightful aspects of the show don't manage to tip the scales into the positive zone, however; at least for this viewer. There's certainly much to 💘 about 💯DMP, there's just too much to dislike about it, too.

Watchers see this show start with a literal drought and then the ⛈⛈ comes. Tragically, in the end we learn that the show which began by figuratively raining fantastic elements on its audience later subjects viewers to a drought of artistry that extends until the credits have dissipated. The first tip-off is those cute but ill-placed 🐰 graphics at the end of every episode. Seriously? well, hmm… I suppose it's a comedy. But~ Wait… it really seems like a drama that has some scattered amusing moments. On the other hand, if it's serious, why the easter cartoons? I started getting thrown off by bunnies hopping in my head. Dang it all, I want to chill, not learn about susceptibilities I never knew I had!

The next marker on the path of irritation's forward creep is the dialogue. Transcribers~}> 💘 em. So thankful for what they do for us lesser 'mono-linguals'. One teensy request: Keep the casual, current-day slang out of the historical dramas. No viewer of Downton Abbey or a Joseon era 📽 wants to read how ‘he was hitting on her’ or ‘I've got the munchies’. What a mood-killer.

The show feels of struggling writers who exhausted viable plot points before ep10 so they whipped out old soap opera scripts. The various trails our protags ramble down are lined with "filler weeds". There's more than a whiff of: "We don't have enough "good stuff" to fill 16 episodes, so let's toss in a bunch of rotten carp & weeds. They'll likely digest it in silence, the lowborns." I've since read that many writers might be overworked past the exhaustion point. What they did to this show provides circumstantial evidence in support of that assertion. Kdrama fans know there's quite a few shows that are excellent and (with varying ratios) awful at the same time. I actually hope the situation is: 1st draft, now Tequila!🎉, and not that the writers are practically enslaved.

I was riding along with it, though. In the first couple episodes I thought: This is good - probably an 8. Then, “Ewww, don't understand that…” I was holding at 7 for a long while. Around episode 12 the freefall began; it was descending fast to a 6. Soon, it was: Uckitky, Yikes! Episodes 14-16 brought me to my final answer. The final twist of the sword is the way our duo finally pairs up. It's anti-climatic and, well, terribly boring.

💯DMP is a sham prince. He looks, acts & talks perfectly. In turning, he reveals his backside. It's naked. Nothing there. My Sassy Girl-8.5 (I know, odd title) is on Netflix. It does what this show failed to do. MSG is an engaging, campy Joseon era love story that is lighthearted at times, but at others is serious. It's ⚡exciting⚡, too, with a great storyline and court intrigues. Excellent directing and 🎭 make the trip back in time, as well. Joo Won is the male lead - He's✨fantastic. MSG was very popular in 🇰🇷; 2 years later, 💯DMP seems to be building off of MSG's success. Perhaps even better, Mr. Queen-9 is a Joseon romp. It's thoroughly outstanding and hilarious. My Only Love Song-8.7 is a silly comedy that I love to bits. Live Up To Your Name-7.6 features lighthearted time travel between modern day and Joeon. The King's Affection-8.3 is heavy and tense; it's a borderline masterpiece. ✔out the truly great Kdramas first. There are so many that you won't need to circle back to 💯DMP. Not for a million days.

There are SPOILERS after this wrap-up.

〰🖍 IMHO

🎬5 🎭7 〰🖋6 🎨7 😅7 🤔5 ⚡8 💓5 🦋5 🔚3

Age 14+

👁📺again? Never


⛔SP☢ILERS BEL☢W⛔

Here are examples of treasonous acts that started to aggravate me; eventually I became alittle angry.

⛈They have the VP (Vice Premier) who is past middle age, surrounded by ninjas in the woods, yet he somehow kills them and survives?

⛈After the long search is over, the VP returning the CP (crown prince) to the capital, is silly and dangerous. The CP might recover his memories, so why take a chance? It makes more sense to allow Prince Seowan to become the CP and kill /him/ off before he produces an heir.

⛈Yi-Seo going off on her own to rescue her brother w/o consulting anyone else is ridiculous. She does it again when she sneaks into the VP's house.

⛈How could the CP allow the princess and Mu-yeon run off w/o giving them a better chance? No supplies, horses, protection, no kind of transportation at all for the pregnant women. Did he want them killed?

⛈Then the VP renders the CP impotent with the war?

⛈If CP knew Yi-Seo wasn't actually abducted, why did he let the VP go?

⛈Then, these two brilliant thinkers have a showdown: ‘Come to the fortress. Alone.’ ‘Hallooo, I'm here! Wait! Fool me twice…. You and your assassins won't kill me! This time, I brought archers!’

⛈Wait. Forget that.

⛈Let's just sword fight it out!

⛈Then I'll turn my back to you so they have to shoot you full of arrows. I no longer care about keeping you alive to face years of loss and shame. (This is the most clever thing they can come up with?)

⛈Then we are supposed to believe that the queen, who is the VP's pawn, is actually in a love match with the king?

⛈Yi-Seo refusing to marry the CP is the most awful thing of all. Did she just turn him down for *MSS?

*MSS. The most dreaded Mandatory Separation Syndrome. MSS is a weary, overused Kdrama device in which couples, once they get together, must immediately separate: 'I love you! Finally, we're together! Now I'll catch you later❕💨

⛈...🐇...Huh?

Rarely augmenting the feature, it's a good thing a generous 15% of the 🕛. It's disastrous here, contributing to the ↘unbroken⤵downward〰〽HO❕ Summary: 🐇 Hop On By ~ Better 📺 Awaits.

〰️🖌 October 2021

Read More

100 Days of Patience

The drama was mostly a slice of life drama with minimum story. The concept is fairly simple and was done before, "Save the Last Dance for Me (2004)" comes to mind immediately. The leads had a good characterization and received an equally fulfilling performance by their cast. Which also why the leads had a good dynamic going on. However, its biggest problem is its lack in variety. Since it's a slice of life, the cast felt limited in size while jumping between the same few members of cast. They also lacked a unique variety in their archetypes to help keep the drama lively and vibrant. The same thing can be said about its lacking length of 75min x 16 episodes. There were too many slow and uninteresting sequences that dragged each episode too far. A slice of life doesn't equal boring when they're done right. If this drama were to be cut down to 6-7 episodes it would have been much better.

Read More

Historical Drama with Modern Plot

This is one of my favorite dramas of all time.
The drama setting is in Joseon Era, but I felt modern vibe in its plot. The problems with the crown princess felt like in a modern drama.
The casts are so perfect for their characters. As Do Kyungsoo's fan, of course I love his acting. But even though you're not a fan, you wouldn't be able to complain that his acting is bad. This kind of character is so suitable for him so much. His catchphrase of "OHO" and "Am I the only one who feels uncomfortable?" are so legendary and funny. I love his character, a talented crown prince who was smart and skillfull in martial arts, but somehow can be sweet, cute, funny and silly.
Nam Ji Hyun also did a good job. Her acting compliment her characters in the drama. The chemistry between FL and ML was great.
I usually don't like love-triangle. But, SML in this story was not annoying and I didn't hate his character. His loyalty to the crown prince outshining his love to FL. Surprisingly, the relationship between ML and SML looked better than the relationship between FL and SML.
I don't like the political conflict. And somehow I think it was cliché to historical drama. A prime minister/minister who wanted more power and used his daughter to gain more favor from the king. I don't like how the political conflict climacs was solved. I think it was rushed somehow. The reason that I didn't give 10 for re-watch value, because I didn't like the political conflict. So, everytime I re-watched this drama, I always skipped the scenes.
What surprised me the most is the crown princess' story (SFL). In this case, SFL didn't have any chance with ML. So, somehow I was hoping for a happy ending for her, even though in the beginning she was hateful.
I think this drama needs more episode. One more episode for the epilogue and the happy ending for ML and FL. I don't think that all of their problems was solved because they didn't show the story how ML brought FL to the palace and married her. In other dramas, it would be another problem because usually there would be people who opposed their relationship. I was hoping for more story about their happy ending and married life
The soundtrack was so good and really lovable. I love it.

Read More

This one's quite a cute rom com.
With the sageuk background, of course there would be a lot of unnecessary power struggles between the main character and the people in the palace
but honestly I watched this for the main couple's romance. And it was worth it.
I'm also happy that the main characters aren't stupid (like a lot of rom com tropes are)

The acting could be better; they're pretty new actors afterall. But the chemistry from youthful (inexperienced) love is there and I was rooting for them so hard!

Would recommend if you're in for some fluff. The male lead really knows how to win a girl's heart.

Read More

I never write any reviews but this time I must, simply because of the fact that this is the first kdrama in a long time that has me on the edge of my seat. The story line is kind of generic with themes such as revenge, family hate, and love overcoming that hate, but there are some very fresh events that keep this drama entertaining. For example we already had a plot twist in the second episode, one that I can guarantee none of you will see either.

As for the acting, dang DO makes a fine crown prince, and his hate and rebellion makes his character so much more interesting. I honestly think his fathers acting pales in comparison just because the crown prince has such a strong character. As for the female lead I'm very neutral, shes not bad nor good, she doesn't really stand out to me that much so I want to see how her character develops.

As for the cinematography, it's top. Good quality and beautiful scenic shots, I gave the music an ok score just because I was so interested in what was going on I didn't even pay attention to the OST, so I don't even remember what was played.

Either way I am definitely going to continue watching this, I can't wait till next week!

Read More

Um sageuk fofo

Segundo dorama que assisti com o D.O, caraa ele arrasa demais, ele no papel desse príncipe foi muito bom de se ver.

É um sageuk (histórico) que me surpreendeu, é divertido, fofo e com até poucos momentos tristes.

O Príncipe Herdeiro é lindo, com ótimas habilidades com o arco e flecha, espada e na literatura. Mas após a morte de sua mãe ele se tornou triste, deprimido e nunca sorri, além de ter começado a ser perseguido dentro do palácio.

Yeon Hong Shim ela é uma personagem divertida, inteligente e criativa. Eu gostei muito de ver sua história de vida, de como ela era guerreira, e de como ela era ao lado do pessoal da aldeia.

O Jung Je Yoon é charmoso inteligente e dono de um sorriso cativante (que eu queria poder chamar de meu 🤭🤭) que veio pra completar o triângulo amoroso e trazer mais emoção.

E com relação ao casal eu amei ver todo o desenvolvimento deles, do sentimento que foi surgindo, e do príncipe se adaptando durante esses 100 dias.

Claro que como sempre tem os vilões que dá vontade de matar né, e nesse não foi diferente o Governador Kim Cha Eon era de dar nos nervos, até a própria família ele prejudicava.

E o final? Bem...o final como um todo é bom, vale a pena mas ficou meio fraco, por mais fofo que fosse todo o último episódio, não fazia jus ao que os últimos quinze episódios do drama haviam oferecido, mas isso não fez o drama ficar ruim.

Read More

[#25BANPO_ARTIGO]

Vamos lá ver uma coisa: comecei a ver este drama porquê?
1º - sageuk (drama histórico);
2º - (confesso) DO, de EXO.
À primeira, a trama parece simples: Lee Yull (interpretado por DO/ Kyungsoo) é o príncipe herdeiro de Joseon. Parece frio, perfeccionista e distante; no entanto é apenas solitário e carrega consigo um enorme sentimento de culpa. Ele não era para ser príncipe, e muito menos rei (Jo Han Chul), mas agora vê-se forçado a cumprir esse destino, devido ao golpe que o seu pai orquestrou para tomar o poder.
No entanto, o drama propriamente dito começa quando, perante uma enorme seca que o país estava a enfrentar, e depois de vários rituais cumpridos e sem qualquer resultado, o rei se vê forçado a decretar uma ordem de casamento para todos os jovens do reino (antes de atingirem os 28 anos de idade).
Entretanto, numa aldeia distante, Hong Shim (Nam Ji Hyun), uma mulher independente e super inteligente (mas a rapariga solteira mais velha da aldeia) vê-se então forçada pelos oficiais a casar-se com um desconhecido, que acabava de ter sido resgatado pelo seu pai adoptivo, Yoon (Jung Hae Kyun). E quem era esse homem desconhecido? Nada mais, nada menos que o próprio príncipe herdeiro.
Certamente agora vocês se estão a perguntar como é que o príncipe (que já era casado) foi ali parar. Pois bem, lembram-se do golpe dado pelo rei? Esse golpe foi, na verdade, orquestrado pelo ministro Kim Cha Eon (Jo Sung Ha), que na altura se aproveitou da ganância e posição do antigo príncipe, para tomar conta do trono. Assim, esse ministro não só ficou como braço direito do rei, como também é sogro do príncipe e, por via de chantagens sobre esse passado, acabou por governar através do rei. E foi durante esta seca e crise económica que o reino estava a atravessar que o ministro viu a sua oportunidade de matar o príncipe herdeiro, reforçar o seu poder na casa real e, mais tarde, colocar o seu neto (ainda por nascer) no trono.
Depois dessa tentativa de assassinato, Lee Yul sobrevive mas desenvolve amnésia temporária. É neste momento que o pai de Hong Shim o encontra, o salva e pede para ele salvar a sua filha do castigo, porque ela não tinha ninguém com quem casar e cumprir assim a ordem do rei.
O que se segue é a história de amor de Hong Shim e Lee Yul, e a sua jornada de cem dias como aldeão até à recuperação da sua memória.
Dito isto, parece tudo tão leve, mas a verdade é que pelo meio vemos um desenrolar cruel de gente que não olha a meios para alcançar o seu fim; questionamos também sobre a paternidade do neto do ministro; mudamos mil vezes de opinião sobre os supostos vilões da história; e descobrimos que afinal a aldeã Hong Shim não é um ser de passado simples, e que esconde uma história triste com a morte do seu verdadeiro pai, desaparecimento do seu irmão, e de um amor de infância perdido.
Não é daqueles dramas que vá rever tão cedo, mas entende-se bem o porquê de ser o quinto drama com mais audiência na TV por cabo: é ideal para quem procura um sageuk, romance, muito humor e um enredo cheio de voltas e reviravoltas.

Read More