The Red Sleeve

Dissapointed ending because reality hits you hard

Gotta be honest, really spend my whole day to watch this GEM of 2021 but not satisfied. As a historical drama the romance was never the goal of the screen writer. I was hoping for a happy ending where the crown prince will become King and commands the court lady to become his royal cocubine. But no they ruined this drama for me. Upto episode 14, I enjoyed the drama. From episode 15 the plot picks up in a differnet manner and it all became a tug of war between the new king and his court lady. As the King is not brave enough to show his greed of love he bears in his heart and other side the cout lady who is not sure wether she want to show her love for the king or she wants to live free of any bondage.

The episode 16 and 17 clearly f*cked my brain. i hate the screenwwwriter and director for this. This is my first ever K drama in which I have not cried a single drop of tears. Beacuse I hope that last episodes will make me fall in love with the ending but naaaaaaaaa........it simplyruined for me.

But we can learn important live lessons from it.
- Stand for yourself.
- If you love someone just show them.
- Always try to live the life you want to live.
- Don't hold regrets for too long otherwise they will shear your heart.
- And don't expect too much from anything or any being. Even K drama also.

"My dissapoinment is immeasurable and my day + night has been ruined"
"Brain has stopped working"
Help.exe

Anyways the ending is purely realastic will strong and more mature message but it doesn't convey that much to me.
So I despise the ending. Not gonna watch again. It's immposible for me to even think of this drama to be any good.

Cast - Top notch
Acting - Likable and firmness to the character
Story - A painful and unrelatable end
Visuals - Decent
OST - Not gonna listen to it.

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A drama that is a must

I put off watching the wonderful drama for so long (following the great drama, Empress Ki, starring Ji Chang Wook that made me cry for many days) The Red Sleeve is the kind of drama that should not be missed mainly because it is based on real historical events. (It is impossible to escape from the tragic reality of that time) A drama with perfect casting, (the wonderful Lee Joon-Ho and Se Jung who conveyed in such a realistic way a range of emotions), superb acting. It's no surprise that the drama won so many awards. Personally, I recommend reading and watching historical dramas related to Prince Yi San to understand the mindset of the Red Sleeve.

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HEAVY IS THE HEAD THAT WEARS THE CROWN

This is one of those classics that I never got around to watching when it first aired and after watching I realise it’s a classic for a reason. It’s perhaps the best romance k-drama I’ve ever seen. It has all the feels of the genre but the craftsmanship of the more serious k-drama offerings.

I’m one to avoid sad endings typically as they are rarely done enough justice and are usually used for shock value or angst. I’ve seen few dramas with a sad ending that I thought were beautifully done or that left me feeling like that was the only possible outcome. Although the ending of The Red Sleeve made me cry buckets, I do think it was a well done ending and overall the drama was near immaculate in execution.

That said; so many scenes broke my heart. I’d never felt the weight of the crown of a king in a k-drama quite like I felt it in this one. The scene with the old king’s heart breaking explaining to the prince how much he loved him was so emotional because it was tinged with the feeling of suspicion, paranoia, betrayal and guilt he had for his own son that was heightened by his confused dementia state. What a performance! So much hurt, so much pain, so much regret, wrapped up in so much disappointment. The vulnerability he showed in that scene highlights how being the King comes with a toll. It foreshadow how the crown too will change the young prince.

This series was not at all what I expected and it is so much better for it. When his grandfather died and he begged him to come back, my heart broke. The complicated feelings he had for his grandfather amidst his turmoil of sadness was too much to bear. He was like a child again and in that one scene you could see how much his grandfather meant to him. Not the king but the man who was his father figure and the man who was also responsible for taking his own father away from him. Just wow.

Still, by far the crowing grace of this series was how it portrayed the struggles and powerlessness of the women of that period. They weren't afraid to show the harsh realities and to balance the romantic fantasy of the romance genre with the very real historical story.
Yes it’s true the FL lead a tragic life to say the least. Many decisions were made for her and she struggled to maintain autonomy of her own life. In many ways her outcome was a sad one but I’d also like to think that she lead a rich life. She found love and happiness and was lucky enough to experience true friendship. The bond between the four female friends was so wonderfully illustrated, it served as the second great love story in this drama. This may be Lee Se Young’s best role. She commanded the screen and gave the character so much life.

The story is perhaps too sweet to be bitter and too bitter to be sweet. It will have you smiling in the first half and bawling in the second half. It's really a well written and well acted piece of drama.

On a final note: Episode 17 was made just to rip your heart out. Some people only watch up until episode 16 and consider that the ending. Honestly, I understand why they would do that. It’s a very sad episode. However, I’m glad I watched the entire thing because it completes the story and I found some beauty in that tragic ending. This is another drama that will stay with me for a long time.

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Lee Jun Ho was outstanding!

For me the Kings journey was key to this story and Lee Jun Ho portrayed his struggles and emotions so perfectly!
His co star Lee Se-young was perfect in her role and such a wonderful ensemble cast, especially Jang Hye Jin as Court Lady Seo.
Lee Deok Hwa was fabulous in his role as King Yeong Jo, a more serious role than some I've seen him play.

It was visually beautiful...the scenery, the costumes, all of it.

Such a memorable drama ....congratulations to everyone involved.

I recommend this to anyone wanting to be emotionally involved in a story..one that is quite unforgettable!

Yet another reason to love Korean dramas!

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A one in a lifetime experience

TRS has it all; amazing chemistry, a sensible and lovely female lead, a hot and possessive junho, an amazing soundtrack, and the angst I live for *inserts heart eye emoji*

I remember watching this drama while it was airing and absolutely losing it every week while waiting for the next episode.

From the historical background threads on twitter to the comment section in MDL I used to camp in, I had so much fun while watching it, truly a one in a lifetime experience.

It has become a Jade classic, I still listen to its soundtrack and rewatch it every now and then. Despite knowing all the lines, I never seem to get sick of it :)

I got into a 2 year kdrama slump after it ended lol

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TRULY enthralling

no matter how hard i resist, every couple of months i always find myself returning back to this drama. i cannot express in words how much i adore it. not only was i sitting on the edge of my seat every episode as their romance blossomed, but i also took away about an invaluable lesson about prioritizing love vs. oneself. the progression of the storyline was FANTASTIC and so well executed. from the characterization to soundtrack to acting to plot, each and every individual who contributed to this drama absolutely killed it. the red sleeve is truly the greatest sageuk and one of the most well-written kdramas of all time!

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Diamond among all Gemstones

Red Sleeve really shook me with this great story, where love doesn't conquer all. I am so surprised by the open to interpretation ending, some people find it as happy other as heartbreaking.
Usually when we see kids showing leads past is very brief and cringe moment, just to highlight they had somehow of childhood connection. In Red Sleeve even this consumed a whole episode where every scene was meaningful and had major consequences. The side characters were also well developed, I've never found myself fast forwarding a single moment.
Great story, directing and the amazing work of these Korean actors made this Drama one of my favorite. I didn't want it to end, as the emperor in his final dream.

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Bittersweet

It took me several days to be able to write this review. I kept starting and stopping, writing and rewriting, and even thinking I was finished and then deleting it all. This story is an incredible combination of beauty and tragedy, and is a love story that really makes you think about the high price that can come with power and how it affects evrything, even how you love. At one point Deok Im asks King Jeongjo if he had ever thought about what it would have been like had he been a commoner and she not a palace maid - and the thought was so alien to him that he could scarcely reply - for him this tragically lonely life was the norm. He was betrayed and lied to by his best friend, the woman he loved (and who loved him back) tried her best to not be with him to avoid losing her freedom, and he had to be wary even of family members. Not an easy or happy life, despite the power and comforts a king had. As their love story unfolded and finally came to it's eventual consummation I was ripped in half - the sweetness of their love is marred by how much she doesn't want all that comes with it - being tied to the palace and unable to leave for the rest of her life is the worst thing that could happen to such a free spirit. As she said goodbye to her younger self I bawled.
I really appreciated how much of the lives of court ladies this drama portrayed. Seeing them having fun together, working together, being friends, and even the gossiping, scheming, and organizing into a cult gave them a lot more depth than is usually shown to the people who work in the palace.
The fact that this story is a fictionalized version of actual people and an actual love story makes it even more beautiful and heartbreaking to me.
This is definitely a drama worth watching, and a story that will linger in my mind.

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The last scene of the last episode confused me

All the episodes were good except the last one . I was waiting for their love story to start and from wher it started bit was the second last episodes . If this is real based story then I will complained to God ,why he punished him this way ,since childhood he did good , whatever he had done he did for humans then why his end was painful. If it is a fiction . Then not happy with the story because end is sad .
Now I was confused to see the end , was she dead or it was his dream or in second episode it had shown that he had was sleeping on her lap and suddenly wake up and had shown he had seen a bad dream but he didn't tell about the dream but at the end same scene they had shown that he suddenly woke up and he had a bad dream in which she died so what is this it was a dream ,or his dream had come true and she died . This confused me alot.

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A bittersweet series

So many emotions were flowing after watching this series. Loved the wardrobe, scenery, the cast, the acting and the pacing. You get the typical drama in terms of palace rules and etc but what makes this one different is that the FL unlike most we’ve seen in historical dramas didn’t want any part of the palace haram. While other would pa she preferred freedom. What I liked most about this series was the ML acting the acting. It was amazing. ML definitely has some skills. Although the chemistry wasn’t magnified I believed that his acting made what chemistry existed wake up a bit.

What I disliked about the series has nothing to o with quality and everything to do with my genre preferences. I didn’t like that it was a bit sad. I also disliked the FL persistence to resist her own feelings so much. After a while I got annoying. This went on for 90% of the drama. We only got a few happy episodes near the en and then not so much.

I would say that is was a bittersweet series. It’s worth the watch but if you’re into a smiles and happy ever after proceed with caution.

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A Masterpiece but Heartwrenching

A masterpiece of acting and writing. No doubt about it. From beginning till end, this is cinematic gold. No wonder it’s ratings have been through the roof.

If you love historical dramas, you can’t miss this one. It fills its episodes with so much history and the unique culture of Joseon. It’s captivating really. I feel like I didn’t just watch something, but I learned too. Not only that, but this captures the intrigue of the court better than most dramas. The plots and betrayals kept you watching each episode in anticipation and fear haha.

The chemistry between the leads is literally unbelievable. There were many moments I had to rewatch scenes. I only wish that she would have truly opened her heart to him.

But, in the spirit of an honest review—and this is simply personal—the final episode left my heart shattered. Doing some research, I found they stayed true to the lives of the two main characters, but I wasn’t emotionally prepared for such a heart-wrenching finale. To be honest, I had to skip through some scenes to keep from bawling. The ending itself was also odd to me, but I will admit that it brings the series to a satisfying end.

My heart couldn’t quite handle the reality of the story. To see her fight his love so long and then to suffer greatly when she finally gives in? That was a sucker punch to the gut.

But, objectively speaking—because I want to write an honest review—even the pain made for an excellent and realistic melodrama. It accurately depicts the struggles of life in the palace, not sugar-coating for the sake of a happy story.

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