The King: Eternal Monarch

Is not a Romance, is Sci-Fi. Can't be watched while looking at your phone.

TL:DR
If sci fi, parallel universes, time traveling shenanigans, a touch of magic, a nerd mathematician/prince hero with a white horse and a hot bodyguard/BFF are your jam, dive in.

Frankly I didn't understand the criticism this drama got, then it clicked: people have wrong assumption about it,thinking is a fantasy romance, while is pure Science Fiction with a romantic storyline.

It starts slowly because it needs to build two separate worlds, introducing all the characters, etc. Must be said i found the Kingdom of Corea (KoC) scenes, characters and plotlines better executed, the Republic of Korea (RoK) parts in the first 3/4 episodes are boring.

There are obvious editing mistakes in the first half, that contribute to the initial confusion. The crime investigation seem pointless, because the show didn't made immediately clear the connection between the first dead body in RoK and the doppelganger in KoC. Same must be said about the crime unit characters, with Kang Shin Jae being a complete waste of screentime, especially all his solo scenes, disconnected from the main plot.

It was also very hard for me to like Jung Tae Eul character, not Kim Go Eun fault, who did well in the dual role. Is just I hate when "strong female character" means acting like a man. She was excessively rude, a borderline jerk. That's not being strong, that's being an a**hole, is hard to empathize with her.

I liked Lee Gon a lot more. A well adjusted orphan. A just, loved ruler. A dork, a genius mathematician. A earnest man. Even when he said cheesy things like "this face is my present for you". I wasn't his fan before, so Lee Min Ho surprised me. One example: the king pain over the uncle death and the consequent rage scenes were amazing, he did an outstanding and intense performance there.

Kudos to Woo Do Hawn, he was a real scene stealer throughout all the 16 episodes. It was a bit underused in the middle, but got his shiny moment in the finale., I'm also his fan now.

Episodes 11-12 are still my favorite. The 2 hours worked almost like a solo movie.
The rescue scene with the cavalry charge and the king slaying his enemies? Perfect. From the way it was shot, edited, the score, all so well done, I didn't expected such quality in KDrama.

Cinematography, scene composition and framing: top notch. 18 hours visual fest. Sadly the editing from episode 1 to 10 is not on the same level. So many missed opportunity to leave visual clues to the audience. There is an obvious shift in quality in the second half.

The songs are great. The score is so good, I'm going to listen the various themes on repeat. Gravity, the King and The War is Over are my favorite.

All in all, recommended with a caveat: I don't agree to those who say you need to be extra intelligent to understand this drama, but you do need to pay attention to details all the time.

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While many others do not fully understand the TKEM series, it does not matter as long as the series has given their best to improve their series, it has never knocked others, but almost every foreigner has this is the main storyline because of the unique story in the series, not just the story of the series but also the unique look of the artists.
And as one of the avid viewers of The King Eternal Monarch, I am very grateful to all who supported this series, for which our brains are fully engrossed, we have shown our ability to adapt to a show that does not you immediately understand it and with full understanding it will pay attention to how wonderful it is.

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dont believe the reviews this drama is really good and very much worth watching

The negative comments made me want to put off watching this drama but i decided to take a bold step and wowwwwwwww!!!!!! did we all watch the same drama! this drama is great (not perfect of course). it has a different refreshing story and i was glued to the screen especially from somewhere in the middle. the cinematography is great and everything is just so beautiful. ps don't come looking for a full blown romance i guess thats why people might be disappointed because the romance feels disconnected sometimes. The mystery about the time travel, doppelganger, the suspense, crime, the plot twists..... are the main selling points of this drama for me. sometimes i was confused like what is going on lol but in the end it all makes sense. so bottom line.... try it out for yourself, dont have your expectations too high, hang in through the confusion from the beginning till about episode 7 and episode 14 lol and you will really enjoy this.
my questions though
1) was i the only one curious about na ri like how was she rich with all those cool cars lol?
2) they really should have helped us understand how the kings great grandfather did his travel movement in order to get the head court grandma to corea?
3) did they conclude that the yoyo boy was a god or was he just stuck in the time lines?
4)what was the whole situation with the prime minister koo... her arc was weird and useless to be honest. when her momma couldnt remember what she ate what happened to her next?
5)they really should have scrapped some romance scenes and given the time travel arc more screen tie
6)eun sop and na ri deserved better in terms of their romance development

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Time & Titilation

I was worried about watching a drama that was more contemporary than historical because I might find it not to my liking but boy was I wrong. I was on the edge of my seat throughout every episode. I totally expected more of a crazy showdown at the end but the climax made sense anyways. All of the characters were well written and had satisfying through-lines even if it was a little bit different from what I expected. I normally don't make a note of music direction in dramas but the flute song when the Manpasikjeok is whole was a beautiful detail. The amount of time screwery was a little bit tough to get used to (my only qualm with the whole series) but overall perfect for somebody who likes a lot of romance and treachery.

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Watch it for the Royal Swag and Woo Do-Hwan....

Ok first of all this is one of those dramas that most people would love totally or hate completely and I'll tell you why.
The reason most of the people disliked this drama is because of the production team or writers mistakes. I'm pretty sure it was not intended so but they screwed up starting from the trailer itself. The final trailers for this series mentioned the writers name with the literal caption "writer of the Guardian: the lonely and great god". Add to it the fact that both of these dramas are of the fantasy romance genre and have Kim Go-Eun as the female lead, there was no way of stopping the comparisons between the two. Now to those of you who don't know about it, Guardian/Goblin is one of the most acclaimed K-dramas globally. It is near perfect with it's amazing cast, great storyline, explosive chemistry between the characters and addicting soundtrack. It also has a well balanced mix of action, suspense, sci-fi, romance and comedy. Being pitted against a drama like Goblin, the King was bound to lose the battle. The expectations were very high which this drama failed to achieve hence some of the bad reviews.
If watched without any prejudice, The King is a good drama. Although it's base story of parallel worlds is not a brand new concept, it's not a cliched genre either. There is also the element of Korea being one country with a modern day constitutional monarchy type system which has also previously been adopted in dramas (like King 2 Hearts, The last empress, etc.) but better since instead of simply putting a monarchy in the present day Korea like others, the writers here literally constructed a whole new "Kingdom of Corea". (Hence the extra amount of Royal Swag)
The back story of Lee Gon was quite good and it felt like a mini action thriller film inside the drama. The main characters were interesting (Lee Min-ho looks like he was destined to play royalty) but they unfortunately had no chemistry. Lee Gon's feelings were less like love and more like how fans adore their idols (because he connected Jung Tae-eul with the person who saved his life hence the idol worship). Jung Tae-eul's feelings seemed like fascination and grudging acceptance (because of Lee Gon's clingy and cheesy behavior). Kang Shin-jae's character was almost as irrelevant to the story as his therapist. Since only the ML's backstory was partly tragic (I know his father was murdered but he still had a happy upbringing) I believe that Shin-jae's character was there to add tragedy to the plot (he was poor and his mother tried to kill them both, then he got sent to another world, his new family soon went bankrupt, he became poor again, got bullied in school, etc. etc.)
Prime Minister Koo was one of the characters I had initially looked forward to since she was mentioned as the 1st female and youngest PM of Kingdom of Corea but she was not exactly the strong and stable head that I had expected. Her character was a mature version of the typical leader of the b*tch squad shown in most dramas, you know the pretty, popular, powerful, arrogant, mercenary and ruthless type. While the character was portrayed quite well by Jung Eun-chae, she didn't really seem that relevant to the story (since she neither did something overtly good nor really bad). Even though the writers tried making a love triangle situation with the main CP and her, it just wasn't convincing (same with Kang Shin-jae).
Lee Lim was definitely a good Villain. His plan was good but flawed and failed due to his own arrogance and stupidity. I didn't really understand why he tried to steal the flute and make people believe that parallel worlds exist. He should have either stolen the flute while the King was absent (that way there was less chance of failure since the security would be lax and he wouldn't be hunted for regicide) or usurped the throne if he had already staged a Coup (then he would be King and free to explore the powers of the flute like Lee Gon did).
But the best character across all of the parallel worlds in the drama was that of Jo Yeong/Jo Eun-sup. Woo Do-hwan was sensational in his portrayal of the two very different roles. He stole the show every time he was onscreen. The characters added to the drama what the main CP couldn't- chemistry, action and loads of comedy (You know an actor is great when he gets shipped with himself).
In conclusion, The King is a nice but forgettable drama. It was fun to watch and I will definitely re-watch all Woo Do-hwan cuts on youtube but I probably won't re-watch the whole drama again.

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Lee Min Ho is backkkk

From my understanding, this show was written by the same person who wrote DOTS & Goblin, and both of those dramas are my all-time favorites, so I went in having high expectations. Boy, should I have gone in with blank slate! If you want to watch this drama you need a pen and paper in order to take notes on what is going on. If you miss one thing, it seems you can get lost very quickly. Just know that this is about a parallel universe and the characters overlap, you can seriously get confused if you do not pay attention.

Lee Min Ho as always was a vision of beauty, his acting skills has not diminished at all. I also love me some Woo Do Hwan, such a refreshing role for him - I love it when he plays the badboy. The interaction between the cast and chemistry as a whole was pretty good. There is a lot of character confusion - they just randomly spill out their feelings and there's not really a build-up to the reveal like a usual drama.

The ending truly saved this drama. My only reason for not dropping this video was because I loved the cast members from other dramas so I had faith it would get better. Also, I was too invested in trying to understand the ending, and the frustration of being confused made me question my intellect. So all in all, if you are into a drama that is confusing at first, has cute love scenes, a strong female lead, eye candy, and an ending that made everything close full circle then by all means.

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Imagination gone wild

Don’t read this review if you don’t want spoilers.
I have to give credit to the writer for finding the best possible traits in a male lead in all history. Handsome king, just and loved by all, brave, excellent fighter, loves the FL unconditionally and provides her with constant support, praises, even provides for her poor choice of fashion, cooks for her in uniform etc. the list goes on. I would suspended my belief for all of it except an additional trait. He is a math genius with a sense of humor. That my friends is the most outlandish thing I have ever heard in my life 🤣.
The supportive hero called unbreakable sword is a very talented actor depicting two polar opposite personalities in a single frame.
Visuals are great, chemistry and acting is acceptable and even praise worthy.
Story line is a mess especially at the end. But suspend all belief and enjoy the ride.

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A sci-fi fairytale with stunning visuals

This drama combines well two very good ingredients: the parallel worlds/time travel and the modern monarchy plots. It's funny (at the beginning), sweet and, at times, tearjerker. The main characters have a good chemistry and the secondary ones are very funny and well detailed. The story sometimes is a little complicated but nothing compared to other west sci-fi series with time travel or parallel worlds (take Dark as an example). I like the fact that the characters are both very rational. Also the main antagonist is well defined and convincing. The visuals are stunning. There are incredible landscapes and, besides the fact that there is some CG for the Kingdom of Korea, everything is very pleasing to see. The soundtrack is fine, maybe it could have been a little more complex. The last part of the serie is a little bit different from the first part that I enjoyed more. Nevertheless this is a must watch!

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Hold swords while enemy fights with guns

A train wreck in the best way possible, A drama where the bromance is better than the romance. This a drama with full blown craziness in all its glory.
No matter how high the production cost is, No matter how good the lead actors are, No matter how amazing the supporting cast and OST is, if the story does not click with the audience, the drama is doomed to fail.
There is no denying that The King: Eternal Monarch is a visually appealing series thanks to the high production cost and great actors but the story telling lacks depth, you can sense that as a viewer from Episode 2 itself. The amount of attention on the visual appeal should have been given to the pace and storyline.
The drama failed for me as a viewer because of the stiff acting, forced and rushed chemistry between the main leads, too many historical errors, a very confusing plot involving parallel universe and time travel with many contradicting theories and loose ends and lets not forget the in your face product placements.
The relationship rumours of Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun meant to lure the audience failed to fool the viewers either.
Rewatch value? This drama doesn't even have 'watch it once' value.
This drama would be used as an example of not taking the audience for granted, I watched it only for Woo Do Hwan

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King: Eternal Moron

I’m going to start off with the good parts of this drama aka the parts that can pass off as decent.
- The cinematography
The scenes were shot beautifully, everything was grand and extravagant as expected of well, a king and his palace. I might even go as far to call this a cinematic masterpiece if not for the dry, non-existent plot. But for now, I digress. (I will delve into that soon).
- The casting
Let’s face it, the casting was easy on the eyes and the main reason why most of us kept watching this boring ass show. Because in the end, we’re just humans who want to see pretty faces. Lee Min Ho was enough a justification for me to click this show but Kim Go Eun as well? No shit I decided to stick to the end. I have loved her since watching her appearance in Goblin and I must say I adored her character in this series because she was a badass cop with a backbone. I’m not a fan of woo do hwan but he was the only one who showed real versatility in the roles played here, him acting as a serious bodyguard and then taking a whole 360 with his other role. Kudos to his superb acting skills. The rest of the cast were perfect and their acting was on point. If there’s one thing I’m not complaining about, it’s the cast.

Now, it’s time to get down to business about why exactly despite the stellar cast and brilliant cinematography, I gave this drama a withering 4/10 stars.

- The plot or lack thereof
Okay, the idea of parallel worlds and doppelgänger sold the show AT THE START. It was what made me click besides LMH and KGE and it was what made me finish that first episode. Great start with the history of this magical flute that had to potential to connect both worlds. Yay, sitting on the edge of my seat. Well, until LMH started to get on his horse and trod into the other world. The first thing he said to KGE was literally something like “finally, I have seen you.” or some shit. Cue the swooning and fangirling because wow this handsome dude i’ve literally never seen my whole life is now hugging me?!?! After that, what happened from ep2 to like 11 was literally nothing but him travelling back and forth, flirting and dating and using that half broken flute to return to his kingly duties. I’m not even sure when the romance started because there was no slow-burn, no tension and NO CHEMISTRY. The next thing I knew, they were kissing and saying cheesy things. I don’t even want to talk about that over-the-top, dramatic scene where his whole troop of bodyguards went to save KGE, the crying damsel in distress. It was ultimately, a waste of bloody resources.
The ending was confusing to say at least. I spent many episodes wondering who was the one who saved LMH when he almost got killed by his uncle on the night of the treason…only to find out it was LMH himself from the future. BOOM mind-blown. Was that the expected response?

K. More like poor, convoluted plot and a pathetic attempt to salvage an already broken storyline. And if you think about it, LMH from the future gave LMH in the past an ID card with KGE’s face on it so that LMH in the future would find her? Seriously. But anyway, the most messed up part was when he literally opened all the doors to the universe to find KGE. Hey, I get it all you romantics like this kind of stuff but at this point, it’s just getting tiring… This drama was just 90% romance and 10% fantasy where the action ONLY PICKED UP AT EPISODE 16 OR SO. All the times when LMH approached his uncle the traitor, they only had dramatic eye contact before he let him slip away. And then somehow, he managed to catch him so smoothly towards the end? I would’ve liked to have seen the uncle outsmart LMH given how that’s what he’s been doing all along. Quite disappointing for a villain.

- The romance
Was there chemistry? I’m pretty sure they already got together during the first ep. I loved KGE’s badass cop character at the start but afterwards…I’m pretty sure it’s not her acting but more of the character she needed to play…she became dry and just lovesick throughout. The whole time she was waiting for him and then crying when he finally came. The dramatic scene at the end of ep11 (I think) where she waited for him, crying in the middle of the road was over exaggerated. And to be realistic, if LMH was really a king, how could he even have time to travel between both worlds and how did no one impeach him for neglecting his duties? Unless head court Lady Noh did all his work for him while he was busy playing boyfriend with KGE. There was no swoon worthy moments for me, not even that neck kiss which was overhyped. Seriously, it was just a brief peck on the neck. And the cooking scenes where he wore his navy uniform? I’m sorry, I skipped it because it was way too cringe. By the way, I think it was ep 4/5? When they confessed their love for each other despite the fact that their only interactions being limited to the chicken restaurant? Alright, people fall in love fast sometimes but i did not see that coming :)

- The place where time doesn’t exist

They just wasted time filming a balloon and an empty vacuum of space. Nothing happened there except when LMH brought KGE there to gush and show off his brainiac knowledge. Oh, and I guess the part where the traitor died there and KGE was trapped inside for a while. Other than those parts, nah.

- Who saved me? Future me😍😍
I’ll never stop. This plot twist had no twist and was just, just—Maybe because I don’t quite understand it but I say for sure that i know i won’t be the only one who didn’t grasp that concept. You know why? There was NO EXPLANATION WHATSOEVER. Then again, what sort of explanation could they possibly come up with to support this wacko theory? Physics? Alright.

I’m done here. Please, watch this show if you’re looking for a cheesy royal romance because rest assured, it’s the only one with a high budget and a stellar cast. But really, don’t even waste your time to finish this drama because I can assure you, you’re not missing out on anything but a measly neck kiss ;)

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