The King: Eternal Monarch

Woah. That's too much biased hate. I think people rode the hate train and followed the footsteps of others rather than watching the drama themselves.

Okay, so I am no fan of any actor of this drama except Woo Do Hwan. And I just finished this drama. I am telling this because I want to let you know that my review is not going to be biased because of Love or hate towards a specific cast.

The drama wasn't the best. I admit it. But it wasn't the worst either. It was a pretty good drama with a good cast and definitely a unique story. The story had me so confused throughout the drama. But guess what... It all made sense in the end. Everything was answered. And I think the writer did a wonderful job handling such a difficult story. Also the last episode was one of my most favorite last episode of a Kdrama ever. And even most high rated dramas have disappointed me with their last episodes like World of Married.

Anyways,

The middle part was a bit boring. Other than that drama is definitely worth giving a shot.

The drama is definitely unpredictable and have some really jaw dropping moments. So that's a plus point.

Read More

Very good but...

I watched this drama shortly after it came out, but recently I went back and watched it again because frankly, it can get confusing, and that's it's biggest flaw. With the scenes jumping back and forth between worlds, I really wish the director or whoever would have put something on the screen saying 'Republic of Korea' or 'Kingdom of Corea'. Also, it was hard to discern at times what the chief villain was doing by replacing people in the different worlds and what their purpose was - too many people were being replaced. Even the second time around, I didn't catch all the subtleties. Long story short - it was confusing at times, and I'm glad the King was smart enough to figure it out because I sure couldn't!

What I liked: the music was excellent. The romance was lovely, when it was there, and the actors/actresses did an great job with their roles. I think this is my favorite Lee Min-ho drama; I think he looked his best, and as always, he delivered plenty of emotion while still being an 'man of science'. Woo Do-hwan was handsome with those sexy lips and showed versatility with his two personalities.

My favorite scene: when the King is riding to FL's rescue on his white horse with his minions following.

What I didn't like: the inconsistency in FL's character (I'll get to that later) and the ending, which is too open for my liking. The King has asked FL to be his Queen, but she never answered him, and at some point, he just drops the subject altogether, and I guess they just date for the rest of their lives since we're shown old hands but who knows if they ever married. I guess the Kingdom must have become a Republic since the King apparently died without children. Who knows.

My favorite characters in order:

1) Jo Eun-sup - He was so cute with his longer hairstyle and he was really the only character that brought humor and light-heartedness to the drama. I loved him! His little sister was cute too when she made the 'I'm watching you' gesture to Jo Yeong. I honestly don't know how these people could so easily replace their counterparts since your closest friends and family ought to be able to tell a difference as demonstrated with the little sister, Na-ri & the King. They may lookalike, but their personalities and habits were completely different.

2) The King - he was just the kind of ruler you'd want. Smart and benevolent yet capable of strength and decisiveness. He had the Prime Minister's ticket right from the beginning and made sure not to fall into any of her traps. I loved when he said a decisive 'no' when she asked if she could marry him. I also loved his devotion to FL and his patience with her (she was getting on my last nerve in the beginning with her attitude). He was indeed the heroic King one hopes for.

3) Jo Yeong - of course, he has to be 3rd favorite even if he was suspicious and a wet blanket. He was the exact opposite of Eun-sup.

4) Court Lady Noh - how can you not like whatever role this actress plays? She's a staple of Korean drama.

4) FL gets into this category because the King loved her and the actress did a good job with the role. I wasn't crazy about her character though because 1) her initial attitude toward the King (she was snarky and rude); and 2) her inconsistencies. Although she displays strong emotion towards the King whenever he's gone, missing him like crazy, crying, etc., she refuses to leave her world and become his Queen. This is what really bugs me about her. I understand wanting your family and career, but he's the KING! He has to have an heir, especially since he doesn't have a brother or sister or nieces or nephews. I see the King sacrificing for FL and his country over and over again; it would be nice to see FL make a sacrifice for him - especially after he searches endlessly for her, visiting multiple universes. It would go a long way in convincing me that she loves him as much as he loves her. This inconsistency shows itself once again at the end where we don't see them marrying, etc. They just 'vacation' or 'date' in between worlds. It was cute, but are you really satisfied with this kind of life? Isn't the King feeling pressure to marry? None of these questions are answered, and you're left to answer them yourself.

Characters I didn't care about: Sin-Jae, Na-Ri. They were just there as supporting characters.

Characters I hated: The chief villain, of course, Prime Minster Koo (really hated this greedy, ambitious woman) and all the traitor's minions. I also couldn't stand Luna and her dazed look, ugly hair and crappy attitude. Don't know how dad and Na-ri couldn't tell something was up with this girl.

That's my take on this drama. I would have liked to see more closure at the end instead of this 'dating' between worlds nonsense and I would have liked it to be less confusing.

Read More

Me watching this series in one line: Go girl, give us nothing!

I had such high expectations of this series, as I'm a big fan of the time traveling genre, but everything went downhill from the very beginning. I did my best to like this, but unfortunately nothing in this drama was able to make me feel anything, at all

The only things I liked about this series is every interaction between the two Do Hwans, the confrontations involving Lee Rim and what he did to alter people's fates by interchanging their lives in Korea and Corea. I also liked Luna, and it's unfortunate they didn't let her play a more complex role in the story. Another key player who could've been more powerful in the story is the Prime Minister. She was supposed to be an empowering character, but KES didn't make her character grow at all, but instead made her boiled down to just a jealous woman. The story was also very fast-paced, with characters making unreasonable decisions all the time. The product placement was absolutely ridiculous as well.

All in all, I'd describe this drama similar to the way I found licorice: it looked sweet but it's actually pretty bland.

Read More

TKEM -Investigating the break down of a Super Car that should not have broken down.

In the automotive world, performance cars are segregated into 3 main categories: sports cars, super cars, and hyper cars.

The King Eternal Monarch advertised itself as a super car, capable of high performance, drama and prestige that reach beyond the bounds of regular dramas with its story , cast and budget. The potential was there and looked high level. Like a Lamborghini Huracan with a top speed of 185 mph in the form of writer-nim Kim Eun Sook and a price of $255 000 in the form of Lee Min Ho and stellar cast .

Watching TKEM ; its obvious that one is unfortunately watching a complete breakdown of a super car that has broken down but should not have. What happened?Was it a script that never should have been purchased? A concept that no one could have made work? Or did the problems start in pre-production, perhaps with the wrong cast or tech team being hired? Maybe the whole thing went to hell during production with a director who couldn’t manage tone or actors who were not feeling the script? Or maybe it was in post-production and the editing team messed it up?

Perhaps all the above happened because this Lamborghini was smoking in the back.

Or maybe it was a hyper car in a super car ? You know - like an Iphone 6 with IPhone XR software and the phone just crashes? Because ultimately hyper cars bring with them a level of performance that requires a professional with loads of experience to process and manage the mechanics of the machine . This script and direction really had no deftness and the mechanics of time or whatever themes explored fell all over the place. And much like a Hypercar , the script felt frantic and like it could barely contain its own potential.

Characters were one dimensional and barely fleshed out . It’s really important for a drama to have characters that have their own central conflicts and then the resolve of each of these conflicts adds to depth and dimensions to the overall piece as a whole.Not here.

The chronology stylistic choices were too advanced and superficial for its vehicle. So many scenes ,though objectively good, actually lost their poignancy because of insertion. Case in point -death scenes fell flat and romance was misguided and took away from dramatic effect when really romance , like speed in a car , usually makes our characters have dimensions and layers . Not here.

However , the paint job was pretty good. Cinematography was high impact and the actors were gorgeous. The soundtrack was pretty impressive but was inserted dismally. Music director should never be hired . However - in the end , it came across as a 'just because' drama. Just because I am a super car / Kim Eun Sook , I CAN as she is quoted as saying herself that"I don’t believe I should try to do art with other people’s money." OR "it is about the viewers and their feelings and opinions rather than depth or critical praise."

Ladies and gentlemen - I repeat ! The Lambo is STILL smoking in the back.

Read More

I find the drama good. It just takes alot of patience to understand the plot. The acting of the cast were amazing! they acted their 2 roles well especially Woo Do Hwan. The drama doesnt follow the overused romance trope. It was made for people who were willing to think and came up with theories. This drama may not be everyone's cup of tea but for me i really loved it. They'd probably like it if the drama just kept giving info to make it easier to understand but it isn't like that that's why they don't like it... But seriously this is a really great drama 9/10 recommend watching it

Read More

Story: Great...Romance: Average...Advertisment: Bad.

This drama has received a lot of criticism for various reasons and in many ways rightly so. The product advertisement is the worst I've ever seen in any drama by a mile. Yes, it's that bad. And the build up to the romance felt rushed and unnatural. However if you focus on the story alone by itself and the acting, I think it held up well and it's been a very good watch.

If you aren't familiar with time travel and parallel world theories that are used in most movies of similar concepts and the fictional science behind them, this will confuse you a lot. Those who criticize the story I feel do so because it's difficult to understand and you will most likely not understand why and how certain things panned out the way they did on your first watch. It is so full of twists and turns and mysteries and everything that it becomes hard to follow sometimes. I get why some people won't like it but I relish that kind of challenge the writer puts before us the viewers.

The richness of the story for me meant that this should probably have been a 20-episode drama than a 16-episode drama. It would have allowed the characters a little bit more development, the romance would have orogressedynore naturally and more explanations could have been given to why certain events were happening. But due to the brevity of the number of episodes, certain major explanations of what was happening was sometimes made in a passing statement by the characters.

For the acting, I was okay with it. I agree with almost everyone else. Yeong/Eun Sop was the highlight of the drama in terms of the performance. LMH did okay. Another person may have done better but it was okay. I'm a fan of Kim Go-Eun so I'm very biased when it comes to assessing her so I won't. Watch and decide for yourself.

If you're looking for a good story and yet easy to understand like Goblin was, then isn't your drama. But if you relish the challenge of concentrating on a story and trying to figure out why certain events happened they way they did like I do, then try it out. I loved watching it. Tune out the product placement and overlook the romance progression and you'll be fine especially since in my opinion, as big a role as the romance played in the drama, it's not a romantic drama primarily. It's a time travel, mystery and power struggle drama first and since it nailed all that on the head, I won't judge it too harshly for a badly written romance.

Read More

This review wont be as detailed as a normal review would be, I just want to get some words off my chest about The King: Eternal Monarch. I came into this drama with very high expectations in which was my mistake because when you have high expectations, you are setting yourself to be dissapointed.

I did enjoy the drama to an extent but I may of been too exited to watch this. I first found this drama on Netflix when it was coming out and found out that Kim Go Eun is the main FL so I was intrigued. I really loved her role in Goblin so I was exited to see on the screen again.

The saving grace of this show in my opinion was the acting of some of the characters and the OST which is too stacked in terms of great singers to be on a drama like this.

I want to talk about the characters first. Kim Go Eun played the role of Tae Eul and Luna very well and she did not dissapoint. The main ML also did very well seen as it was my first time seeign Lee Min Ho. The actor for Eun Sub/Jeong was amazing and I loved how he played the two roles perfectly and was the only character in the show to make me laugh. I actually quite like the antagonist in this show in which was Lee Rim.

I first had my doubts about this show in episode 5 where Lee Gon kissed Tae Eul and i thought that their romance was way too rushed and it went from A-Z skipping every other letter but Tae Eul does say lets skip every other part so I that could be an excuse lol.

The whole parrallel universe troupe is a hard thing to pull off since the romance was between two people from different worlds and to have a good ending with that they'd have to do something stupid and thats what they did. They basically had Tae Eul remember everything that happened and it allowed them to stay in contact by meeting every weeking going to different eras to meet eachother.

One thing that I noticed is that they had the whole Lee Gon away from Tae Eul and come back with them running to eachother saying they missed each other in which literally happened ither 5 times and got reppetative.

Overall i would not reccomend this drama to someone who is wanting a well paced romance and something that makes sense. However if you can look past that which I did, then you can enjoy that acting by Go Eun and Min Ho, and also enjoy the OST by people like; Zion.T, Hwasa, Wendy, Zico, Gummy and more.

Read More

Watch for yourself and then decide

I don't normally write reviews but I felt compelled to do so after reading all the negative feedback and criticism on this Series. I hesitated watching this drama because of all the reviews. They were so in your face, with all these screaming negative headlines, I was practically forced to read them. However, I should have kept my usual stance, which is never to judge something based on reviews. Peoples opinons are subjective and based on whether they liked something or not. In fact I don't read reviews before watching. I read them after.

Back to the drama, I totally and thoroughly enjoyed this drama. I watched in two sittings and it would have been one sitting had it not been that I still had to work the next day. Within the first episode, and probably 20 minutes into it, I had to stop and rewind. I was riveted.

I get why there was so much negativity and criticism. People simply did not understand the storyline. If you did not fully grasp and understand the two worlds within the first episode, you were never going to understand the drama. You needed to be awake from Episode 1, to realise each time we switched worlds. But because people were not, they got lost in Episode 1 and stayed lost for the entire 16 episodes. The result of that was all the negativity around this drama. You were all expecting A, but you got B instead, and you simply couldn't handle it.

Did the viewers really expect to be told each time we switched worlds? It was pretty obvious which world we were in.

So from an overseas viewer, on the African continent, reliant on english subtitles, this was a great drama. Totally enjoyable and not the usual. Being an avid Korean drama, and Chinese, and Taiwan, and Thailand drama fan, I have watched some really lucklustre drama, where I have fast forwarded through most of it just to get to the end.

Read More

I watched it with low expectations because of what other people's reviews about it, but from an unbiased point of view, I personally didn't find it that bad. I think that there are some draggy parts but the premise is quite interesting, and the plot was okay. The ost didn't stand out either. The acting wasn't amazing 100% of the time, though I think that the writing also played a big part in making the drama not as good as it could have been. I think that the best part of the drama is Woo Do Hwan and his characters Jo Yeong and Eun Sop. They're definitely my favourites and allowed Woo Do Hwan's acting skills to shine. I also liked Kim Kyung Nam's character. Another issue is that there are quite a lot of plot holes and not all the loose ends were tied up. One thing to note is that my friend watched it on a website where the location (Kingdom or Corea or Republic of Korea) and year were not shown so she was quite confused. Since I watched it on Netflix and the year and the location were written, I was not as confused and so I enjoyed it more than her.

TLDR, in general, the show was alright and if there's any reason to watch it, it would be Woo Do Hwan and his characters.

Read More

Great plot, romance, science fiction/fantasy, humor, cinematography, amazing OSTs and background score.

I have watched over 60 kdramas in the past 2 years and I can honestly say that TKEM is already one of my favorites. I'm baffled by all this hate its recieving. On IMDB and Twitter I've seen so much love and praise for this show. One of my favorite things about kdramas is how they have explored different paranormal, science fiction, fantasy themes and this one is no different. I feel a lot of the nitpickers are forgetting that this is a FANTASY drama.

It is by no means a perfect show but I genuinely enjoyed it and already miss the cast. I thought LMH and KGE had great chemistry compared to his past co stars. LMH has improved greatly from his work on BOF and The Heirs. I was not a huge fan of KGE in Goblin but I absolutely loved her in this.

It had a slow build up at the beginning but I think it was necessary for the story and I I didn't find it boring. I felt included in solving each puzzle of the show.

If you want to watch the show please check the reviews on IMDB instead of here. It is a hit on Netflix internationally.

Read More