Editorials 
It was perfect..
It was perfect. I have never written a very small amount of reviews. And this drama just forced me to write..The ending was very clever. An open ending but satisfying..The casting was perfect..
The script writing was very clever, even it has 17 episodes you will not feel something like why is it so long.. I mean to say the story doesn't feel stressed.. It's just what it's need to be.
If anyone wondering they should watch it or not - I just wanna say go for, you will not regret it.
This drama will make you feel good
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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!Was this review helpful to you?
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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This review may contain spoilers
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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Stressful but you’ll keep wanting more
In my spare time, I lowkey write reviews in some secret websites just to express as-of-the-moment hyped emotions. As I always tell my students, its best to capture it raw. Lol.So My thoughts are all over the place and I don’t really have much time to write a decent review si I’m just going to leave here my fascination of The Red Sleeve. This may be a mess as I don’t have all the time in the world anymore to organize my thoughts 😂
First off, iIm borrowing 500 days of Summer’s tagline— this is not a love story. This is a story about love. This is a historical fiction based on the novel of the same name. I might read the novel if time permits since I usually love comparing text and media. Anyway, I won’t spoil those who havent it watched it yet. So I’m merely sharing my thoughts on this masterpiece but wont be going over the details. Again, it’s certainly not a romcom and I don’t know why in the world Netflix tagged it under kilig. Some bits yes, but as a whole, nah. I grieved. What absorbed me the most is the thought provoking message of the themes presented kn the story. There’s actually a lot to talk about. The fl to begin with is such a revolutionary role. And again, she’s a real person. She really existed and was rightfully glorified by the script. There’s also a lot of action in it, politics, rebellion, friendship, culture, ideals, and many more. But what drives the whole story is the steong depiction of The push and pull of love and duty. If fairytales taught us that love conquers all, TRS showed the bittersweet reality of choosing love and the consequences that come with it. Most dramas with boss-servant couple easily taught us that to be swayed by the former is the ultimate goal, as if it’s where all the good stuff will start happening. but here it’s quite the contrary, It acknowledges the ugly truth of being chosen by the prince charming is not that charming after all. The story also questions man’s capacity to exhaust all means to get a hold of love despite knowing well that that there’s an eternity of doubt and sacrifices that follow. There are so many questions to ask after the last episode. Was it all a dream or a memory? Did the main characters gain or lose? And going back to “love”, which face of love is the strongest of all? Is it the love for oneself? Filial love? Patriotism? Loyalty to the system? Did love change them or they manipulated love as they wish? it ended ambiguously. It wasn’t happy nor sad, but borderline depressing. lol.
I’ve watched a lot since my pregnancy to either keep me awake or lull me to sleep, from anime to movies, c, K, and JDramas, jumping from one genre to another. I’ve seen a lot and I would say this is my number 1 drama this year. They specifically call this type of kdrama saeguk. I’ve seen classics of my time like Jewel in the Palace, Jumonh and Hwang Jininbut didnt really like the platform back then since I’m too young for some serious stuff. I like watching hollywood period dramas though just not Korean in particular so I would say this is a first taste for me. I’m more familiar with the Japanese, planning to watch at least one Chinese if I feel like going after their standard 30+ eps, but I like to have them three compared soon.
So I dnt know if Saeguks are really riveting as as this one since they hold the magic of true historical events. But I hate how the show haunts me more now that I’ve finished it. The plot, the characters’ portrayal, their character development and the conversations they carried out, they all linger. The exchange of lines also got me so hooked and I was always waiting for the caption, thinking about how would each character uniquely deliver their words. I recall one review from MDL, the last few episodes are more on tell than show and I find it truly captivating as if I’m reading from a novel. I have read many reviews on Tumblr too and I like how there are so many angles it could be viewed from. I’m four years late to react so I’m also afraid that my thoughts might appear copied elsewhere. I could have joined reddit discussion too if time’s being gracious. Anyway, what I just want to finally do is to bring this in the classroom to end my TRS fever. I wonder how many of the students I’m about to meet in my class are already or would be interested to discuss the elements of this drama. I hope they would be reminded that love is not all about chocolates, roses, butterflies and kilig— it’s more like rose water abs and will DearDiary you. Char. Got those from a Tumblr review haha. So many hilarious remarks over there than MDL but what’s funnier is that I’m crying bc this is just so messy 😭 typed all these while breastfeeding my little one haha
don’t know why in the world Netflix tagged it under kilig.
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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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This review may contain spoilers
K trauma alert ‼️⚠️ but worth it
Mild spoilers included, no specifics on the ending...I love Junho and historical dramas so this has been on my to watch list for a long time. I had seen short clips of this series on YouTube and read comments that made me interested and didn't completely spoil the plot but revealed enough for me to know there was probably not a happy ending and there would be a significant amount of crying involved. I watch these dramas to escape and while I don't mind watching tear jerking films, I find it hard to watch a whole series and invest hours of my time into a series that will only hurt me and I don't even get a happy ending!
Well, I finally decided to go ahead and watch. I don't regret it because it was so well done and I enjoyed so much of it. The chemistry between the leads was believable and magical. Junho's "looks of love" were so incredibly heart fluttering, the longing was palpable. He played the stoic and proud crown prince hiding a wounded heart from a tragic childhood to perfection. My heart hurt for him and when he cried it felt so real, I cried too. Even the way he held himself visibly portrayed the heavy burden of royalty and the life threatening danger of palace politics. It's easy to understand why after initial annoyance and bemusement his character would be attracted to and start falling for the lively and free spirited palace maid Deok Im played by Lee Se young. The crown prince looks visibly lighter as they spend more time together and we begin to see him smile and show a softer side. Se Young's performance was very good as well. Her face is incredibly expressive and I could understand what her character was thinking and feeling at a glance. I enjoyed their banter and the humor of their dynamic and misadventures.
Alas, Deok Im can never become his crown princess and eventual queen with her lowly status and she repeatedly resists becoming his concubine. She values her freedom and doesn't wish to be chained down by the shackles of royalty. As for the rest- I won't go into detail but I won't lie, I used a lot of tissues. I was straight up blubbering. The morning after I finished the series my eyes were so red and puffy. I had an emotional hangover lol. That's why I rated this series only 2 stars for rewatch value. I'm not big on rewatching anyways, but I don't think I could bring myself to ever watch this series through again. I can see myself going back and watching certain favorite scenes again but that's it.
The production was very good and the palace setting and costumes were beautiful as to be expected of a good historical drama. The supporting cast was just as good as the leads with several stand out performances, but especially from Lee Deok-hwa as the aging king. He is a complicated character. At times jovial, wise and extremely likeable and other times paranoid, harsh and outright abusive. Deok-hwa pulls off an impressive balancing act of character interpretation. His warm grandfatherly demeanour, genuine smile, handsome but weathered face, gravelly voice and loud belly laugh all have an incredibly charming effect. He treats those around him as individuals of worth whether it's his family, ministers or even servants. He shows interest and understanding of their affairs and concerns, even offering advice and favors. However, he starts to show another side brought out by his history of winning and maintaining his throne through political intrigue and ruthless violence. He can't trust anyone and as his elderly mind starts losing it's grip on reality his paranoia ever increases. He sincerely loves and even adores his grandson the crown prince but must suspect him as well which greatly pains him. Despite the terrible things the king has done and feels he must continue to do he somehow remains sympathetic and even likeable. Through good writing and Deok-hwa's masterful performance I was able to completely understand this character's feelings and motivations. Being King means living in constant danger and making hard choices for the nation. It's a lonely spot and my heart broke for him too. He was just as trapped in his station as the other characters.
The Red Sleeve is now on my short list of favorite dramas that really had an impact on me. It was more than just mindless entertainment, it really made me think like all true art does. Many deep themes such as freedom, responsibility, generational curses, trauma, the heavy burden of leadership, the trap of social status, family, the meaning of true unselfish love, sacrifice, self-knowledge, regret, loss, grief, betrayal, the importance of friendship, loyalty, the cost of power and others were explored. I came away from watching this drama feeling that I understood the human condition a little better.
So yes, I highly recommend watching this series. Just be prepared with plenty of tissues and mental fortitude. Watch it when you're ready for an enjoyable but heartbreakingly profound experience, not light entertainment. The K trauma is worth it. You have been duly urged and warned :)
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Worth the Watch: See it Through Until the End
I’ve had this show on my watchlist for so long. Dramas like these start slow & take their time to build up but once they do, man oh man, they’re phenomenal.The story telling is amazing, however, I would not say it’s perfect. I’d give it an overall rating of 8.6 because there are a lot of loose ends. I still have so many questions left unanswered & the drama could’ve been longer to address this. There were some scenes that felt longer than needed, which used for clarity. What a shame…
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A confused, incomplete and half done story.
Sigh*** where do I even begin? Should I ask questions?What is this? Romance? Comedy? Tragedy?
A slow paced the movie that tried portraying quite a few points but completely destroyed its essence.
There were so many scenes that wasn't needed and at the same time, there was soooo many scenes/explanations that was needed that they NEVER GAVE
What exactly is the standpoint of the FL? And why ??????
I was confused about her standpoint until her friends asked her if she loves the king and her response was "even if she loves him or not, she would never let him know because she wants to be able to have control over that" ..... Uhmmm???
And can we talk about how they bring different scenarios in different seasons just to spike action but they never sat to write a complete story!!!
I must say, the writer/producer had such a beautiful story but totally destroyed it. The red sleeve.... Could've been so much more!!!
The series tried to portray an historical story of how rigorous the life of a consort is, decided to also portray how caged up the life of royals are, tried to portray a love story between a prince and a consort and amidst all these, sadly, the story lost its essence.
But then, at some point, I could understand why the FL didn't want the life of a royal.
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