This review may contain spoilers
Great cast, loved the acting but shitty writing though. Huge fan of Kim Go Eun but damn girl talk about overacting or could be the poor script writing. Not a big fan of Lee min Ho but i warmed up to him in this one. He seemed more mature and the hairstyle was better.
The plot was just too confused. I mean why were they riding horses when they had cars? !Who brings a sword to a sword fight when guns exist?! What exactly was the villains motive? Eternal life or multiverse domination? Eitherway his motives were unclear.
Too many plot holes and too much advertising.
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- the love story "the main theme of the drama"
- the time slip cuts
- parallel dimensions should have to be mentioned a lot before "not just in the last 3 eps" it simply confused viewers
- it does had to have at least 20 eps to finish it without any hole to fill
- really rushed
To be honest I lost my interest in ep 8 but I kept watching it only for Lee Min Ho he was such pleasure for eyes so I thought to finish it just to see him and it was a great decisione. Well I can't say I hated the drama, it was passeble but they could do a better job
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Surprised I finished it too...
..but I guess I'd watch anything that has Kim Go-eun (and Woo Do-hwan) in it?? This show failed to establish its rules well and expected the audience to just figure it out on their own, which is its biggest mistake and downfall. I wanted to like you, Drama, I really did, but I was just confused all the time with how things worked. I've watched many time travel/parallel world dramas already and have seen one of the bests (Nine) out there, so this show really didn't stand a chance, unfortunately.Was this review helpful to you?
✒ ⛩️ Prince of Analytics VS Prince of the Body Snatchers °8.3° °Excellent°
What's between 1 & 0? 🌌Infinity?Is our world all there is? Is this timeline the only one? TKEM explores the possibility of parallel universes. It opens dark and ominous. Ep1 is jammed packed, and arguably confusing. Stick with it, they pull it together well.
“LT Jung “Tae” Eul! I finally meet you!” Gon is elated. Who's this lunatic? Tae is irritated. This weirdo has no permit for his horse and then she learns that he has no 🆔! He doesn't have money (those strange bills with his face on them do NOT count).
“This is recorded in memorabilia of the three kingdoms. In the spring of the year 682, King Sinmum received a bamboo flute from the Dragon King of the East Sea. When the flute is played, enemies would retreat, diseases would be cured, rain would fall during droughts, the rainy season would end, the wind would stop, and strong waves would subside. Seeing its powers, King Sinmum named the flute Manpasikjeok.”
So says the blood speckled suspect (Lee Jung Jin of The Liar and His Lover & The K2 is uncle / Prince Geum). He is being questioned by police. The criminal is 70 but looks 20 years younger. He claims it's because he took over ownership of the flute. Time goes slower for the owner. His half brother, the king, didn't believe in the flute or its powers. Geum did. Brother didn't know the flute could bring the world to him. To be exact, different WORLDS. This detainee freely admits he killed his brother. There's no remorse showing. There's no emotion at all on his countenance, other than, perhaps, self-satisfaction. He's just reciting facts. Cold, bitter, terrifying facts. ‘I did expect that, one day, my nephew would face that legend too.’ To him it's no different than reporting that the sky is blue.
TKEM is a 2020 release that is rated 91 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 16 70-minute episodes. I watched this show early in my Asian programming addiction - before I was doing reviews and taking notes. Many things went over my head because I was a noob, but it left me with a good impression. Lately I've been revisiting my gateway Kdramas,to see how they flow, now that I'm an intermediate level watcher. One reason that this show is NOT a good selection for a Kdrama newbie is that it's intricate and nearly confusing. There's different worlds and the timeline gets warped as well. That's a lot to follow for one who is familiar with the setting, and it could be too much for one who is not. Many of these characters exist in both worlds. Some of the primary characters’ doubles were killed off leaving only one of them, but there's still quite a few doubles, and many actors have two roles to play. Compounding the confusion is that Kim Kyung Nam, as officer Kang Shin Jae, and Woo Do Hwan, as both Jo Eun Seop & Jo Yeong, look similar. (Many people looked the same to me when I first watched Kdramas, while now, very few do. My eyes, as well as my inner-sight, needed time to adjust. That's just the way the human brain works). Mr. Woo's characters are polar opposites and don't seem like the same actor is playing them at all. Between those 3 characters, Shin Jae and Jo Yeong act more alike than the two roles played by Mr. Woo. (As an aside, his Jo Eun Seop almost steals the show. He is 80% of the feature’s smiles). There's double sets of parents in the mix, too. So, this is for intermediate Kdrama fans.
After a brief intro we are taken to The Kingdom of Korea, 1994. This Korea is ruled by a king.
The show takes us back to the fateful night that Prince Geum murders his brother. He was in the process of murdering his nephew when an intruder (in sneakers, jeans, and a hoodie, no less) breaks it up. Prince Geum flees. The Flute was cut in half in the ruckus, and each Prince has a half. Young Prince Gon was also left holding Tae's work 🆔. It was issued in 2019. What's it doing in 1994? As Prince Geum flees through the woods he discovers that the flute opens gates to other worlds. He stumbles into the Republic of Korea.
Geum's aware of what the flute can potentially do, and he's no dummy. He quickly pieces together that he's stepped into an alternate reality. He runs into his family's doubles in SK🇰🇷. They're living a poor existence in this timeline. His other self is a wheelchair bound mute. This other self has the same DNA, which is perfect for Geum to fake his own death in /his/ Korea, the Kingdom. Geum murders his 🇰🇷counterpart. He offs the entire family, including his nephew'sdouble. He saved his nephew's mother for later; he has uses for her. That's just the kind of guy he is. Back home, they now believe he's dead because a body washed up with his features and DNA, though there were anomalies, such as a deformed spine. As a dead man, he can now work from the shadows without looking over his shoulder.
20 yrs later, King Lee Gon is participating in competitive rowing when he sees something familiar: A person in a black hoodie, black jeans, and sneakers. That's a sight he hasn't seen since he was 8. He gives chase, but the stranger escapes. How could that be the same person who rescued him years ago? How could they be wearing the same clothes?
He pulls out a souvenir from the night that defined his life - a police badge for detective Jung Tae Eul, born 1990. Nothing adds up here. Not yet. Spotting and following that hooded “white rabbit” a second time leads Gon to a gorgeous bamboo forest and the gate to the Republic of Korea. And to Jung Tae Eul, LT of the Seoul Metro PD.
The flute is a conduit that opens a portal to other worlds. It takes a person first to what is effectively a transfer station (TS). It's a non-world of pathways and pools, where there is no air or atmosphere, and time passes differently. We will later learn that since the flute is cut in half, most of its abilities are not functional. It allows the transfer of the two Royals between the kingdom of Korea and the Republic of Korea on a lateral, or real-time timeline, but they aren't able to go to any other worlds or any other times.
When either he or uncle Geum enter this TS area, everything in both worlds stops. Only Gon & his uncle are aware of what's going on. They can grab raindrops suspended in the air. Uncle has been hanging out in that TS, literally killing time, which moves exponentially faster there then in the real world. 4 months in TS realm, for instance, is 20 years on earth. It explains why Prince Geum doesn't look like he's aged.
The worst thing, though, is how Uncle has been switching people between the two worlds. He's been allowing his cronies who took part in the failed coup to escape justice and set up a nice life in 🇰🇷 by killing their Republic counterparts. He's also been recruiting people from the Republic🇰🇷 to work for him. He offers them a better life in the Kingdom. He's replacing the people around the king with his own agents! Gon pieces together that Uncle's been hanging out in the Republic, so he comes over often to investigate. He would come over anyway. He's in love with Tae. He's been enthralled with her since he was 8 and looked at her as his savior.
Every time he leaves the castle, Court lady Noh has a fit. The entire royal residence is in a state of royal flux! They really hate their routine being messed with. The king is slowly building up trust in the Republic, which is no easy task. When he arrived, he declared himself a monarch, and he was laughed at as a lunatic. People are starting to accept him. Tae couldn't fully accept it until she visited the Kingdom herself. In order to get that far, she had to trust Gon enough to go to that gate and then walk through it. Gon is persuasive! At one point he must switch out Eun Seop for his own bodyguard. Woo Do Hwan is marvelous at completely opposite personalities and also doing a blend: During the switch, one has to try and act like the other, but they don't fully pull it off. I'm actually in awe of his performance. Tae & her crew sink deep into this mess as well because Uncle is in the Republic committing murder & other crimes.
Lee Min Ho (Boys over Flowers-8.3, Pachinko) is the King, Lee “Gon”. Mathematical minds are a relatively rare thing. A mathematician with the soul of a romantic is even more rare, and that's who our King is. Kim Go Eun (Little Women, Cheese in the Trap-7.7) portrays Jung Tae Eul & Luna. (They just had to give Luna, a criminal, darker skin than her Republic counterpart with the same DNA, sigh. I shake my head at your ridiculous notions about skin tone, East Asia). Jeon Moo Song is Prince Yi Jong In, next in line👑. His first credited work is from back in 1981 and he didn't start in acting until he was 40, Kang Hong Suk (Chicago Typewriter) is the new detective on the force, Jang Michael. Played for a bit of comic relief, they start questioning him, at first believing he's a gangster when he arrives for his first day of work. He dresses alittle flamboyantly, but he has the heart of a teddy bear - And a poet. Kim Young Ok (Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha-8.2, Dear My Friends) plays the King's primary caretaker, Lady Noh. This actress is so cute. Her earliest credited work is from 1957. Maybe she has a Manpasikjeok: She's almost 90 and she looks like she's in her 70s. She was around 82 when this show was being filmed. Screenwriter Kim Eun Sook is no rookie, with hits like The Glory, Descendants of the Sun-8.3, Mr. Sunshine-9, & The Heirs-7.3. Directors: Baek Sang Hoon, brought us DOTS, Jung Ji Hyun directed Twenty-Five Twenty-One, & the GREAT Yoo Je Won gifted us with Oh My Ghost-10.
The plot is pretty good! It's inventive, exciting, & intelligent. It works up to ep14, which is very exciting. Ep15 provides a bit of a breather. The opening credits are gorgeous. Of course, he'll rescue her on the White Horse. To neglect that would be malpractice.
This show is elegant. Prince Geum walks around like the grim reaper the entire time. He appears mythical - mythically evil. It's a nice touch. According to KKday the two meet at “An unmissable spot in Seoul, Gwanghwamun Square is a national landmark across Gyeongbokgung where the statue of King Sejong the Great - the fourth and most respected king of the Joseon Dynasty who invented Hangeul, Korea’s writing system - stands right at its center.” The iconic forest, Ahopsan Forest in Busan, is privately-owned. It “has been featured in famous period K-Dramas including Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, 100 Days My Prince, and Ruler: Master of the Mask. It is also open to tourists looking for an escape to nature.”
The action is great! There's a couple excellent fight scenes. Most impressive is a rescue scene in ep11. In ep12 we get to look at it from a different perspective. The optics are beautiful and it is crazy romantic. With only half a flute, Gon gets trapped in 1994. He has to hang out in TS for 4 mos to go forward 20 years. He makes a couple tourist stops on the way and meets Tae at age 5. He visits her at a couple points in her life. He asks her to be nicer to him when they meet again in Busan. It's freakin wonderful.
Ep16 does what too many Kdramas fail to do: Give us a satisfying wrap up. The very end isn't really an end. I have mixed feelings about it, but it's just a state of stasis. Let's just say that they have the best dating life ever. Ever ever ever.
QUOTES🗣
Where there's fate, there are no coincidences.
Open all the doors of the universe to return to me.
IMHO〰🖍
📣8.3 📝8.4 🎭8.5 💓7 🦋5 🎨8.5 🎵/🔊7.8 🔚5.5 🤗6.5 ▪ 🌞5.5 ⚡6 😅3 😭5 😱3.5 😯3 🤢4 🤔5.5 💤0
Shazams: Please Don′t Cry by DAVICHI
Age + Language: PG-13 at a minimum Rated TV-15: Parents Strongly Cautioned.
Re-📺? I've already looped around
In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:
Romance with Royalty, or something like it
Crazy Love-7.8,
My Roommate Is a Gumiho-7.9,
The Legend of the Blue Sea-7.2 (But for eps 20 &21 it's an 8+)
99 days with the Superstar-7,
Boys Over Flowers-8 ~ melodrama to the max,
The Bride of Habaek-7,
A Korean Odyssey-7.2,
Oh My Ghost 10,
Rookie Historian-7.6,
Cheese in the Trap-7.7, ♡Saimdang-8.5,
That Winter, The Wind Blows-7,
The King's Affection-8.3,
My Mister 9.5,
🎎 -
My Only Love Song 8.7 ~ excellent comedy,
Mr. Queen 8.5,
My Sassy Girl 8.5,
Saimdang 8.5,
The King's Affection 8.3,
Mr. Sunshine 9
⚡/🚀 -
Flex X Cop-8.5,
Tomorrow with you-7,
Sisyphus 8 (give it 2 episodes, ep1 is confusing),
Tunnel 8.5,
Awaken-8.7,
The Man from Nowhere 8.9,
Black 9,
Romance junkies only -
My Secret Romance-7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks),
Heirs-7.3,
C🇨🇳: Well-Intended Love-7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine,
When I Fly Towards You-7.8,
Wait, My Youth-8.4,
A Little Thing Called First Love-8.5,
Find Yourself-8.9,
Hidden Love-7.8
Consider a Chinese 🎎/🔮 romcom: The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8, Love Between Fairy and Devil 8.9, Love and Redemption 10 or Japanese romcoms: Maid Sama 10, Mischievous Kiss Love in Tokyo 7.8, Love, Chunibyo And Other Delusions 8.4, or Toradora 8.5
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Updating on every eps!! Must Watch FR!!
Now there's 6 episodes of this drama that had being aired and we have to wait for another 10 episodes to actually understand the whole story. As that being stated, this is my review for these 6 episodes so far.**The storyline**
I just want to say, the storyline so far is SUPERB yet is still complicated! Viewers had to develop a lot of braincells to understand the story so far but i'll just say, the storyline is amazing eventhough they're trying to put a lot of stories all together. As episode 6 have been aired, we can clearly see that this story is PROGRESSING REAL QUICK!!! Ep 6 is literally an episode that is showing us the ship of our main leads is sailing beautifully!!! Also this episode shows how great is King Lee Gon as the way he managed to take care of Corea from a war with Japan. Also this story tells about time travel as being showed at 1994, Lee Gon being saved by a mystery person and the person left Tae-ul's police ID that was issued in the year of 2019. the person's figure somehow seems like a guy so it can't be Tae-ul who's time travelled.
Other plots leave it to you guys to figure it out.
Also, as of right now, they're showing that each character has their own important storyline and somehow it'll be connected to both worlds (Tae-ul's guy friend seems to be connected to Corea)
And the same person in both world will also have some kind of connection i guess (?) Just like the scenes where Eun-seop touching the iced drink, he feels hot (because Captain Jo touched a hot coffee)
**Cinematography**
The cinematography is SPECTACULAR!!!!! I mean, everything is beautiful. In episode one, you'll be shocked just by watching the scenaries, bamboo forest, building etc.
And if you ever imagined how South Korea would be if they're under monarchy, this is the drama. The modern monarchy in Kingdom of Corea seems so real and amazing!!!
There may be some criticism towards the structure of Corea's palace as they said it resembles Japanese buildings. Also the editing of the "time zone between 0 and 1, the place between the 2 universe".... seems lack of editing but it looks just fine.
**Cast/Acting**
Let me tell you this; judging from the list of actors, their acting will sure amazed us. The fact that they accept the offers by playing two characters already shown how confident they are in this drama. Also, the main lead, Lee Min Ho.. the king of kdramas alongside with Kim Go-eun, praised for her incredible acting!
Not to forget, Woo Do Hwan... we're looking forward to see more of his charms through this drama and of course the bromance between him and our Minho. In republic of Korea, he seems to use that specific dialect, maybe Busan Satoori i don't know but I LOVE THE DIALECT!! As for now, the duality of his characters is FABULOUS!
**OST**
So far, the OSTs are Awesome!!! Right now there's Zion.T and Hwasa, their voices is sooo beautiful. Also Kim Jong Wan and Yongzoo, both have beautiful voices!!!!..
Later on we'll have Davichi and Ha Sungwon for OSTs,, i cant waitttttt....
For the OSTs too, i'm very looking forward to hear more and it would be fantastic if Punch or Yoon Mirae also can sing for this drama...
**Rewatch Value**
I didn't think about this yet. I'll wait until the the last episode to finally give an answer.
Okay, thats all my review for this drama!! I'm sorry if you find this review is not helping at all T.T
If you haven't watch it yet, watch it NOW!!!!
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The cinematography in this drama - AHFIAHUGF its sooo good. The scenes are very well artistically shot and the aesthetics and the composition in each scene is very interesting.
I really enjoyed the pace of the first episode - it was fast, kept me on the edge of my seat and left me wanting more. I like that they slowed down the pace for the second episode and spent more time in exposition and fleshing out characters. They're giving friendships, relationships and romance some time to grow - something that I think is important to fantasy thrillers because so much focus is put on the fantasy exposition or the thrilling chase that the romance feels almost forced. So I am glad that they are taking the time to show the little things that matter -like the lingering gaze between the leads which make it more convincing that KGE's character, who normally is too sassy to care about him, has the build up to turn and help LMH.
Speaking of, I love the characters a lot. Kim Go Run does spunky chic so well - that is my #goalz. Lee Min Ho is the king of classic regal romance so I couldn't have thought of better actors for the characters. And thank god Kim Go Eun is not a 19yo (sorry Goblin that was truly one of my biggest qualms)
KES has always shined with her bromances and the start of this drama has me convinced that this one won't be any less. The supporting characters have some traits of their own which in my opinion is important to showing the difference between the two worlds so I love that they have been thought about lol. I do like the prime minister a lot (as of now at least please dont be heartless woman please please). But stay tuned to find out if I feel the same later.
THE OST IS MAGICAL. HWA SA's ORBIT HAS BEEN A CONSTANT ON MY PLAYLIST EVERY DAY. And the song choices are phenomenal.
I do however have 2 things I wish they did differently. In the first episode it was hard to keep track of the jumps from one world to another. While this was bound to happen, I think Signal did it a lot better imo. Once they picked a time they stayed there for a couple of scenes. In The King, I was getting whiplash from skipping from one world to another every scene. That might not be a problem anymore (the second episode was better) so maybe I won't have that problem lol. Also Signal had the older timeline is sepia and newer in white light setting which made it easy to tell which time we were in. If The King did something like that it might help? Unclear. The second thing I wished was if they made the first episode slower paced - did the exposition there and then hit us with fast paced suspense filled episode that leaves me wanting more for the following week.
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once upon a time there was a king...
first of all people...i had such a high expectation for this one...like i went to search for the most high quality version of this drama...such a disappointing drama.story: the horrible plot of this story contains useless messy storylines. a king whose family was killed by the hand of his own uncle for the sake of getting the throne. a girl out of nowhere comes and saves him with his team and drops her id card. The Ridiculous part is that he falls in love with her just because she saved his life, he doesn't know her or doesn't have any clue about how she is or who she is, the first time he sees her he is like:"i love you" WHY? WHY DUDE? so many plot holes everywhere. the villain is ruthless for no reason..he does a bunch of evil things for absolutely no reason...if i wanna point out all of them i should write an essay.
acting/cast: lee min ho is a good enough actor, he fills what he lacks with his handsome face(i like him regardless) but go eun is not a good match for him imo. visually and chemistry speaking, i didn't like them as a couple one bit. she had better chemistry with the second male lead here imo. the only outstanding actor here was woo do hwan...he pulled off his character in a VERY EXCELLENT way. i liked the second leads as well.
music: amazing music and OSTs.
rewatch value: if you like lee min ho and woo do hwan then go for a rewatch whenever.
overall:unfortunately this drama had zero interesting plot line and i only kept watching for woo do hwan and lee min ho. gave it 3/10 for those two ^^
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Kim Go-eun’s reaction in the series is very realistic, you cannot expect her not to be taken aback when someone talks about being a king and a parallel universe. It is very normal reaction, she would doubt him. She is simply amazing! Minho is superb in every scene, obviously he is the absolute treat to the eyes, but also he amplifies the whole scene with his royalty and cute cheekiness. This character of his reminds me a lot of his character in Boys Over Flowers, both the characters are lovable in their own way. Woo Dohwan is just simply ADORABLE! his simple smile can say so much, or just his one tilt of his head can talk about how irritated he is with the king. There are many stories of each character woven under one umbrella but you need it, because each character has so much depth to them. They all are connected to one another, the story is building it’s momentum and I think it’s going to FANTASTIC! Already 6 episodes down and I have no complain, it superb! Once again, I believe they have lived to it’s expectations, and the show is regal and is the definition of elegance.
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Too much to tell
While watching this drama I felt that the love story isn't that important and that the drama strifes to tell a lot which isn't possible in the given amount of episodes. Like a proper love story for example or more background about some of the characters. Regarding the antagonist's goals I wondered why he invested so much time into useless stuff. First it felt like he wanted to become the king, which was impossible anyway - but why all the chaos just to get a flute? I guess that could've been solved sooner.Further the storytelling tended to be confusing from time to time regarding all the time jumps. Not actual time jumps, but what happened in a previous episodes sometimes only continues at the end of the next episode, so I tended to wonder "what time is it now?". Time was a huge factor in the whole drama and I think it's one of the reasons why the love story seems to be "rushed". I guess the time that actually passed was different from what we watched, so certainly I tended to ask myself as well "Why do you love him now?" or "Why the heck are you crying if you'll just meet again?". Similar in regard of Mrs. Koo who for some unknown reason killed her doppelganger. Seriously. What for? Lots of decisions seems to be just ruthless without putting much thought into them.
Still I liked the structure, I liked the efforts to put some science into it, I liked the music (which isn't always the case, I dislike most korean drama "songs" since they all tend to sound the same) and some of the twists.
On the other hand they showed the darker side as well in my opinion. Just like when the fl is kidnapped and goes on some sort of killing spree or when Lee Gon just slaughters everyone and turns his continuous joke about beheading someone into reality. There were funny moments though and after Mad Dog it was nice to see Woo Do-Hwan again.
I certainly don't regret watching this, but I just felt there could've been more to tell, more reasons to develop (the antagonist kinda reminds me of the guy from "My Love from the stars" - he seemed to have no good reason for anything either, I prefer something more reasonable). I feel like I watched some fairytale now - an entertaining fairytale certainly.
Some mentioned the product placement and I noticed it as well. I mean, I'm used to all Koreans eating at Subway by now, driving Kia and all Chinese using Apple phones. It's just like that. Here it felt indeed a bit ridiculous to hear real advertisement phrases from the characters. So I agree, they overdid it.
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Too many Loopholes and questions, confusing
First, I'm referring to Manpasikjeok as Flute for easier typing.This had the potential to be great but too many loopholes, questions. Episodes 1 to 12 were good even with the unnecessary Jumps from one scene to another. Episodes were understandable even with Sudden switches from Corea to Korea. but from episodes 13 onwards it started to get really confusing especially if you watched 10 episodes in one sitting. It gave me headache to process everything. Too many JUMPS from one scene to another. Maybe bad editing/sequecing. Any websites which can help me understand? Like after the first time LG travelled back to 1994, how was he able to travel from that 1994 to different timelines and get back to the present day with only half of the flute in hand? Plus wearing the same clothes during the whole time. What was the disappearing plant meant when Jung Tae Eul woke up from a nap on her desk? In what time line was it when JTE was interrogating Luna was it before LEe Gon cameback or after? And what's the point of that? Filler? Also I thought they can only travel through different timelines if they have both parts of the flute? LG was only holding half of the flute when he travelled back to 1994 for the second time, he was with Young, since the other half was with Yee Rim. YEE RIM used it to enterthe gate with JTE. Sooo confusing.
What happened to the present lee gon? Like how was he able to travel back to his PRESENT timeline? Did he "steal" the whole/unbroken flute from the 1994 timeline in which he killed the 1994 Yee Rim? If he stole it and brought it to his present timeline, does that mean the "new" 1994 timeline in which he saved didn't have its own flute? The Flute that Lee Gon brought from his own timeline already vanished.
Also when he travelled different present timelines/universes to look for the JTE version that he loved, was he using the Flute from the 1994 timeline? Did he travel through 14,000,605 timelines? Difference between 2020 and 2021 aren't that long, I don't think that's long enough for his search for the correct timeline/universe to Find the right JTE.
Timelines/parallel worlds are complicated.. LEE GON saved his and her timelines but it doesn't mean all other timelines are fixed or according to the fate that they think is right. towards the end they make it appear that "fixing" one timeline fixes all the the timelines/universes. They make it appear so from all the time travels they've been to at the end. Fixed means no BAD GUY Yee Rim.
Since I'm not blinded by my admiration of the Main Leads Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun, i think I can honestly say this was not the best. Good but not great IMO. Great acting but really messed up execution in some parts. Don't get me wrong, I really liked episodes 1 to 12 and the last 36mins of episode 16, they really just messed it up at some parts towards the end. I LOVED every moment/scenes that Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun were together. They were cute. The last 36mins made all better since it's a happy ending for both. They can make you forget all the confusion from episode 13 to 15 and first 44 mins of episode 16
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First, the source material parallel worlds is a fascinating topic, but needs good execution to make it not confusing. The production group should have made the differentiation of the two worlds more obvious.
Second, casting is definitely crucial in all projects, that's why stars are getting paid big bucks to bring the audience in. Sadly, Lee Min Ho looks more suited to action genres like City Hunter, which I enjoyed him in, than as the King, he has the regal presence but failed to bring more oomph to the role.
He's better on the 2nd half of the show, but he doesn't have romantic chemistry with Kim Go Eun at all, and kfans can be very forgiving for plot holes as long as the OTP is sizzling on screen.
Woo Do Hwan & Lee Min Ho pairing has potential, but there was a lack of back story for Yeong aside from being the Unbreakable Sword. But omg Woo Do Hwan. I stan! I probably need to watch all his dramas now. Him playing dual roles, Eun Sup trying to be stoic like Yeong and Yeong trying to be fun Eun Sup is comedy GOLD. He is wasted on all these serious roles. Can someone cast him in a romcom soon, with Kim Yong Ji pretty pls. Why isn't she in more projects?
The support cast is strong from Lee Lim to the Prime Minister, Kim Kyung Nam, esp. is a pleasant discovery from this show. Why did we get so little screen time with Lee Min Ho, Woo Do Hwan, and Kim Kyung Nam on screen, oh the lost potential.
Still, live watching and analyzing Kim Eun Sook dramas are always worldwide kfan events, I enjoyed the parallel worlds, and the concept of having a 'clone' in another world, and figuring the heck out who is who. Hopefully not being a breakout success won't affect the big budget investment on these types of fantasy genre dramas, as they always push the boundaries of what kdramas can be.
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