The King: Eternal Monarch

Underwhelming relative to all the hype

7.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2020 fantasy romance drama with 16, 70 minute episodes.

Lee Gon/Lee Ji-hun (Lee min-ho) is the King in a country called Corea that exists in a universe. parallel to the Republic of Korea. As an eight year old he witnessed the assassination of his father by his half uncle who also intended to kill Lee Gon. Jeong Tae-eul / Luna (Kim Go-eun) or her parallel counterpart saved Lee Gon from death and then disappeared. Since that time Emperror Lee Gon has been looking for his mysterious savior with the help of his friend and Captain of the Royal guard, Jo Yeong / Jo Eun-sup (Woo Do-hwa). Lee Gon’s uncle, Lee Lim / Lee Seong-jae (Lee Jung-Jin) killed the former king to obtain a flute that has magical powers including the ability to render the person who possesses it eternal. In fighting his Uncle, young Lee-Gon broke the flute in half with a sword and now has the other copy. Lee Lim opened the portal between the two universes and is reeking havoc along the way. Emperor Lee-Gon plans to put an end to his Uncle’s evil and close the portal between the two universes.

Spoiler***There was so much hype around this one in drama circles that I expected this to be one of the great ones. And, reading reviews, a lot of people really liked this but this is not my favorite role for Lee Min-Ho. I also did not see much chemistry between the two leads - they seemed more like two people that would be great friends. It was hard to see the transition from her more or less being annoyed with him to liking him then loving him. It may have been easier to see that transition if there was chemistry there but with the friend like aura I just wasn't getting it. Netflix also puts a particular spin on dramas that I am not as much a fan of - they Americanize things a bit and I actually started watching Asian dramas because I did not like a lot of what was going on in American dramas. What I mean by Americanize is there is this theme of over the top "strong, independent woman" who is just fine alone. I get that, I do, but I also think many people are overall happier when they are together with the right person.
Most single people I know and have observed are lonely on some level. I also could not get why he seemed so taken with her so quickly I know he thought she had some role in saving him when he was young but that wasn't enough to understand why he would be romantically interested in her. She was not very nice to him in the beginning so for someone with all the options he had to fall for her in particular, it was a hard leap to make. This was a parallel universe/time travel drama and I rarely find that premise compelling so it could be that I am a bit biased and have high expectations. I was often unsure which character from which parallel universe was speaking. That may have been partially my fault as I watched it very slowly as I was having a hard time staying interested. It moved back and forth and between a lot and was confusing at times. The ending where they travel every weekend together to different places and times and that is how they were together has to be one of my least favorite endings but is not uncommon with time travel. Not necessarily traveling together but it is common that they meet infrequently. I think, if anything, traveling every weekend to see the person you love would become tiresome. And you wonder about simple things like - what would they do if they had children. Would they become part of the every weekend travel?
There wasn't much to the plot either just his Uncle was a traitor who wanted to take over the throne and gain control of the magical flute for immortality. I would not re-watch this readily and would only recommend it to someone who is serious fans of either lead or who particularly like the time travel and/or parallel universe them.

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Tried to be the next Goblin, but didn’t quite get there

I didn’t love this drama, but I didn’t hate it either. It’s 💯 worth the watch for LHM and KEG alone. Their chemistry was absolutely something special. LMH was charming as usual, and KEG is such a breath of fresh air. The characters were fresh and simple, which I enjoyed, especially a female lead that is fierce and can rescue herself (honestly the rescue scene stopped my heart). The music was beautiful (but too much like the Goblin OST to really be unique imo) but Gravity really did stick out. The Cinematography is gorgeous, and the costumes are really something Spectacular too, especially his. But the wonders really stop there. The plot line is kind of all over the place, which is mostly due to the parallel universe aspect of the show. Lots of storylines don’t really go anywhere, or feature useless characters that you end up forgetting. There is a large cast, but that’s mostly due to the fact that everyone is playing a dual role because of the parallel universe aspect. It gets confusing and that you sometimes don’t remember which universe or world they are supposed to be in right now, especially when it comes to switching around the worlds. The show tried a little too hard to be ingenious, and relied a little too much on the fantasy aspect, meanwhile all I wanted them to do was go back to the main love story. Which getting onto that was kind of rushed, on the female side anyway, but I mean it’s LMH so I get it. Lastly the product placement in this drama took me out of it a lot. I definitely felt at times but the actors were going to turn and wink to the camera they were selling some thing so hard.

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not sure why the rating is so high...

the drama is not all bad, it has good comedy scenes (especially with woo dohwan)
captivating story and beautiful set design & CG
you can tell they had a big budget
there is great chemistry between leads in the beginning, but it seemed ambiguous on taeuls side (not sure if her feelings), and romance seemed a little sudden
also it was annoying how taeul spent most of the show just crying

i also found certain things confusing such as the laws and family structure of the prince - it was hard to understand why lee gon reacted the way he did

joyeong and myeong nari were the best imo wish we more scenes of them

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I should have been more wary of this, considering that the screenwriter is Kim Eun Sook. She has done other projects such as Goblin, Mr. Sunshine, Descendants of the Sun, The Heirs and Secret Garden. I actively dislike three of those, haven't finished Mr. Sunshine but have no real opinion on it, and enjoy the ridiculousness of Descendents of the Sun, even if I think it's objectively bad. The link between them all is that there is a dramatic and intense central love story that usually has significance to the wider world and is somehow cosmically important. The scope is usually very grandiose. The actual characters are usually not very good, the plot is jumbled and inefficient, and the romance often feels contrived. I know it's not something that is determined by a screenwriter necessarily, but I rarely find the chemistry between the leads compelling. Some of that is the characterization.

The biggest issue for me is Lee Min Ho. I am not a big fan of his, I find his acting to be wooden, dull, and lacking in chemistry with his co-stars across the board. In fact, I don't know a single one of his projects that I enjoy. His comedy never works for me and when he is being an imperious king he is just so unlikeable. Not to mention that he doesn't pair well with Kim Go Eun, who (although not consistent) is a good actress. Him being the male lead and also the King, having him be unlikeable just sank the whole thing for me.

I don't remember a great deal about the plot, which I think is telling of the weakness of the whole thing. I know there's some crossing of worlds, and backstabbing plotting, and doppelgängers, but the whole thing just didn't really stick. I often feel this way with these dramas (Goblin was terrible for this) -- there is no good antagonist. Everything is BIG and WORLD-ENDING but the stakes just aren't there.

And god, how did this drama make swords not cool? All of his kingly stuff just pissed me off. The horse was completely ridiculous and the fact that they were actually fighting with swords was so stupid looking. I don't understand why they went with that western style of sword either, instead of just a modernization of a traditional Korean style? I may be way off in that criticism but I just thought it was weird. In gangster movies where the yakuza fights with swords it looks so cool, and here it really reminded me of those hallmark Christmas prince movies. Sad.

My two pieces of praise are for Kim Go Eun, who had some truly excellent scenes. She is one of the great Korean drama criers. Absolutely fantastic performance when she finally sees Lee Min Ho after being on the run, and she's covered in blood and hysterical. I love to see her full breakdown performances. She was also good in other aspects, overall I think she did her best with what she was given. Woo Do Hwan was also excellent. Great in the serious and comedic roles, and very hot. He should have been King.

Overall? A mess. But everyone will watch the next one like it that comes out, because we all keep hoping they'll live up to their promise.

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SIGH....This is laughable

This drama started out so strong to me. I'm like: Geez, how is the villain so savage? Then enters the main leads and everything started to go downhill.

I've read a bunch of reviews and I agree with most of them. I absolutely love rom-coms and I love them, even more, when there is a fantasy element. But how can you NOT nail any of these? I've watched a bunch of time-travel romances before and none of them has been this bad? Do they even have any chemistry?

Why don't they give us proper timelines? Sigh...I also don't think that would've helped to show how these two fell in love. Sigh...where is it? It's going to take me so long to finish cause I press the pause button as soon as the 'love' starts. Why is the FL crying so much? I'm so lost!!!!!! I don't get it!!! Can someone help me?

Maybe I'm just salty..but the story is just bad. The acting is too much from the leads. The music is good though!

EDIT
Okay, so I dropped the drama for a while and just started it again because I need to finish it no matter how bad it is. Man this is still a struggle for me to finish. What a huge ad campaign! Advertising really starting to grate on me now.

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Keep you at the edge of your seat until the very end !!

When I am saying this will keep you at the edge of your seat till the very end, I literally mean it.

This show is a complete package show.
From Acting,
Cinematography,
Casting,
Storytelling,
Story writing,
OSTs,
Direction everything is in sync and perfect.

Storyline :- Talking about the storyline it is very unique and extra ordinary. This drama is very convincing in a way that you may imagine that a parallel universe can actually exist.

One thing I like about this show is this one maintains balance between romance, mystery and suspense unlike other shows which mainly focuses on only romance.

Its a MUST WATCH show. Hands down.

PS :- If you are a fan of time travel you must not miss this masterpiece.

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Honestly, I only watched it for the songs. I LOVE THEM ALL. They are really beautiful and that's one of the reasons I'm writing this review. As for the plot and the cast, I think it was great and the plot was very interesting and I'm still in shock about this whole idea. How can someone come up with something so great?? Unfortunately, I started getting bored around episode 7, so I didn't even watch the drama and I'm really sorry about that, because I was really excited about it at the beginning, but towards the end it just didn't drag me that much and I was more looking forward to it being over. Otherwise, I think it's the right thing for fantasy and romance lovers, it's beautifully crafted.

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Checked for the hype but did not reach my expectations

I was quite enthusiastic about this drama. I love the main cast specially the 2nd male lead. However I didn't like the main story. I didnt get hooked by it.

The idea of 2 dimension with 2 Korea is actually a very nice aspect ! I really love that part. I didn't like the rest. I think I am getting tired or unrealistic love story or cheesy love story.
I don't recommend it but I always think people should see by themselves!
I think people see big name and just get bias...
There were at the beginning very nice and mysterious part such as the ID card in the 2nd dimension ! But you kind of get bored of the whole thing.

But I love the 2nd male lead playing two character ! I watched a bit more thank to the 2nd male lead

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UNA TRAMA SCI-FI PER UN ROMANCE DRAMA

Personalmente è un drama diverso, la trama è molto avvincente e interessante, un po' sci-fi perchè si parla di dimensioni parallele, e ogni puntata regala un colpo di scena. Per nulla prevedibile anche se va seguita senza distrarsi per non perdere neanche un pezzo necessario alla comprensione.
Per la prima volta mi ha intrigato il villain, uomo bellissimo, maturo, virile, con la voce più bella che io abbia mai sentito. Attore molto bravo e molto credibile.
Era il primo lavoro del famoso Lee Min-ho che seguivo e anche lui devo dire che mi ha conquistato, nessun attore avrebbe potuto calarsi nel ruolo meglio di lui perché ha un'eleganza e una nobiltà naturale, nel portamento e nelle movenze. Carisma fortissimo.
La protagonista femminile, che è l'attrice di Goblin, per capirci, mi è piaciuta molto, non amo le donne passive e bisognose, e qui ho trovato una donna dal forte carattere , ruvida nei modi (che pazienza ha lui), coraggiosa, intraprendente, senza manierismi e ipocrisie, provocatrice e disinibita.
Notevolissima la perfomance di Woo Doo Hwan, in questa serie molti attori sono chiamati a interpretare un doppio ruolo e lui lo ha fatto egregiamente, è riuscito a interpretare due personalità distinte e completamente differenti, facendo anche un accento e uno slang diverso, oltre a dare prova di doti atletiche e fisiche non comuni (sempre che non ci sia qualche controfigura dietro).
Purtroppo ci sono secondo me dei buchi narrativi nella storia che non svelo perché significherebbe spoilerare ma la regia è stata un po' superficiale in questo, pertanto seguite e se qualcosa nel finale non vi è chiarissimo pazienza, prendetela per quella che è : una serie con delle idee geniali che vengono portate avanti con coraggio ma non sempre con delle scelte logicamente fondate.
Il finale è all'altezza di tutto, uno dei pochi che mi siano piaciuti veramente , sebbene tutti speravamo qualcosa di diverso ma si sposa con la serie.
Fate attenzione quando seguirete la serie al bimbo che gioca davanti ad una libreria...scoprirete il perché.
Purtroppo ho letto molte critiche su questo lavoro da parte dei coreani per il messaggio che viene veicolato contro le donne e per i frequenti messaggi pubblicitari che si trovano nella serie (anche qui ho fatto poco caso perché non conosco i prodotti non vivendo in corea ma sembra ce ne siano davvero tanti). Per questo motivo non è stata una serie molto ben vista e ben accolta in corea. Peccato.

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The story about the other dimension

Alurnya memang berbeda dengan film pada umumnya. Jadi menontonnya harus dengan suasana yang santai. Menontonnya tanpa di skip2 karena film nya harus berpikir keras......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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