The Red Sleeve

If they would go with a happy ending anyways, they should've made it happier

I feel very neutral about this drama.
Not my first historical drama and probably I haven't watched many of these but this definitely didn't make it as a favorite one, not even close to @Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo that's my absolute favorite.

As I said, if the directors would go with a happy ending anyways, they should've made it happier.
In my opinion, it was very nice how their love and affection started. I'm not referring to the times when they were children and didn't know they were helping one another, those were such beautiful moments. I'm talking years after when they met and she didn't know he was the Crown Prince and spoke casually (the drama includes fictional parts although based on a true story) and that caught his interest and he was slowly starting to feel more than just interested in her.

NOW THIS IS WHAT, IN MY OPINION, THEY SHOULD'VE WORKED WITH.
Why? Cause the description of this drama is all about the strong female lead, how she is educated and well mannered and righteous and has a talent for words and judgement. This is what initiated the sparkles of the love story and what they give us is a hot and cold female lead which I understand cause she wanted to be more free than a concubine could ever be. And it makes sense... she kept pushing the prince away for this exact reason and she ended up getting fired as a court lady so she went to live and serve elsewhere and kept transcribing books and making money out of it. That made her happy, she was free to make her own decisions.

Yet again, she went back to the palace out of her love for him. Cause I doubt she went there to serve his concubine. It was actually a dumb turn on the story line. So she chose to go closer to her lover, yet kept rejecting him, not showing him her real feelings. She would just stay in her house (which was very picturesque btw ) waiting for him to come visit. I really disliked this. Where was the fun, careless, energetic young court maid the prince fell in love with? They were in love ffs, we could've seen so many happy scenes from during the pregnancy, I imagine her being his right hand, helping him ease the weight in his shoulders. I imagine her being his safe and happy place more than they could ever depict in the drama. It was just too much focusing on the serious parts of this drama. I get it, they played a significant role but were they really THAT NECESSARY?

Anyways, something else that really made me feel rushed. THE DOUBLE STANDARDS
So just because we're talking about the Royal Secretary and he is the King's childhood friend, anything can be forgiven. No matter how many plots he created, how many people he bribed, how many people he hurt and killed. Yet, if a court maid were to fall in love and give herself to a man, death was the punishment and there were no exceptions. Excuse me now?

All in all it was good, the ending of each episode made me want to hurry up and check out the next one.
It kept me interested but I could feel something was missing. The actors did an amazing job. I literally checked this drama out because of Lee Jun Ho as I am currently enjoying him in King the land. The FL seemed talented as well but I couldn't always help it with her scenes.
Lee Deok Hwa who played the King; I actually thought a few times that he was probably the most likeable King in all the dramas I've watched so far. He is truly something else. As per the OST, I will have to check them once again. I don't remember anything in particular and as per rewatch value for me, I wouldn't go back it.

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Just a rant basically

This will be a long review/rant since I have quite a lot to say (so sorry). For anyone who doesn’t like reading, yes you should give this show a shot despite its shortcomings but I beg of you watch it with your braincells on (cuz some of y'all in the reviews cleary didn't). It was a slow watch for me but hey I didn’t drop it so that’s positive.

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I’ll start with the cast which I thought was amazing. Junho was amazing and we got to see one of his best performances to date. Seyeong was just as terrific, and I don’t understand the criticism I’ve read in some of the reviews before I started the drama. I think oftentimes she gets roles that are poorly written and then instead of the writers she gets all the slack, which is why I expected this to happen here as well. However, I felt that she executed her role well. The rest of the cast was brilliant as well, unsurprisingly for the older cast since many of them are renowned actors.

Onto the story. The pacing was quite slow. Many things happen in the first eight to nine episodes but nothing really major. A bunch of quickly solved small disputes, of which some didn’t really contribute a whole lot to the main story. But perhaps that’s a subjective opinion of someone who likes things to move along a bit faster. Despite this, I still feel the first part of the show made more sense and was more cohesive. Things take a wild turn when San becomes king, and they prop a lot of things into like 4 episodes. I really don’t understand the need to suddenly transform the show into a historical realism drama when it didn’t seem to be one in the beginning. I know a lot of it was factual but just like many period kdramas they either romanticize the story or tell it as it is and keep it very historical. This drama wanted the best of both worlds but had no time to do that. That last episode was… a lot.

Before I get to the main rant of this review, I have to say that the best thing for me in this drama was the friendship between the four maids. It was so beautiful and honest. I cried more for them than anything else on the show.

Now for my specific complaints. The message to me for the better part of the show (because it’s changed somewhere in between) is how important the maids are and how they are not always properly valued. We see this frustration come up in the FL as well. However, this, otherwise really important message got lost in translation due to the poorly written plot of the maid organization.
What is in essence a union for maids gets at first downplayed as this villainous, authoritarian-led organization that wants to, prevent San from getting on the throne. Don’t get me wrong I understand that Head Court Lady Jo was greedy, and her main focus was not the maids at all but it is exactly this that which downplays the whole point of the organization and waters down the main message of the story. AND THEN instead of emphasizing this established greed when portraying the organization as the enemy, the show leads the viewers to believe it is the importance of the maids above the king that makes the organization bad. When Court Lady Seo tells the FL about it and she says that the organization would even overthrow the king for the good of the maids and how they think they can choose the king they serve, I truly thought “Now you’ve lost me”. In a sense, it is almost as if Korea’s propaganda against anything that smells of socialism started seeping through (“see what happens if we let people unionize” type of beat). And so, the show’s message about the importance of the maids gets lost by the show’s own insinuation that even though the maids are important, the king is still the king and the maids should be faithful to him no matter what. Whatever whiff of a progressive storyline I got, in the beginning, is completely lost by episode 9.

The second part of the story (San becoming king) was all over the place. So much was happening. The teen concubine was unnecessary, her death even more so. It was also really sudden for no reason. That being her brother’s villain origin story is I guess understandable but not really. Also, again, happened way too fast and so was poorly developed to me. He was weird throughout the whole show and his character could’ve been handled so much better. Him just out of nowhere becoming the leader of the maid organization?????? But again, as I said i think this all stems from the dramas wish to be a historical realism type of drama all of a sudden. Had they done so from the beginning they would’ve developed the story much more organically.

I also have to comment on the FLs refusal to be San’s concubine. I feel like many people in the reviews despise this part of the story but in full honesty, I do not understand why. Okay yes, the reasoning is at first a bit confusing but in the end checks out to me. To start at the beginning, I first thought the reasoning was that the FL didn’t want to be Head Court Lady Jo’s spy, so to speak. That was a good enough reason for me. But then obviously she goes on to explain that she doesn’t want to be confined by that role etc...
Many of the reviews disagree with this reasoning, arguing that nobody in their right mind would give such an opportunity up for a lifetime of servitude and friends. However, that’s an insane opinion to me. Deok Im likes what she does even though she acknowledges that it comes with its errors. And she likes the ounce of freedom that comes with her job as well as the fact that she gets to spend her days with her best friends. Someone here even commented how they don’t get why she would throw away an opportunity to have a romance and experience motherhood for “friendship”. As much as I don’t see this show as a feminist one, I think it’s audience at times is even less progressive. Her choosing herself and her friends made perfect sense to me and it also adds to the tragedy of their love. Their roles in life are essentially what keeps them apart, even metaphorically later on. Could it have been written better? Yes. However, the point was still made. And tbh after his persistence and his hurt ego because she kept saying no, I was sick of him and kinda wanted her to never say yes. So many red flags in the guy (that kiss??? the camera showing her pushing him away and him pushing her closer??? ew). This has turned into a rant but how can you claim to love a woman and then want to punish her because she supposedly doesn’t return your feelings. GROW UP. Until the very end he wanted to own her practically despite her wishes for her own freedom. And yes, obviously the system is to blame for the better part of her frustrations. However, even on her death bed he denied her what she wanted, to see her friends. Even in her death he couldn’t let her go, asking Kyeonghee why she would be waiting for her friends when she was his. I’m sorry but there was nothing romantic about that, and it upset me so much that he kept ignoring her will even after her passing.
It is also crazy to me how he does not realize the limitations of their roles and FL’s hesitation due to that. He was born into it, he knows the sacrifices he needs to make in the name of duty and he knows how awful they sometimes are. So why does he not understand that Doek Im doesn’t want to make those sacrifices? And at first I understood this as him being an ignorant man who is also king and so he has a lot of privileges. But once they lost their child? It is then, after yelling at her for being sad, that he should’ve realized what he did to her. 


In conclusion, finally, this story to me is not a love story at all and I frankly don’t understand why anyone would see it as one. It’s a tragedy but not because of their sad romance, more because Deok Im’s wishes for her own found freedom are relentlessly ignored by a selfish king. A king who when she refused him, wanted to punish her and once she accepted, treated her as some sort of possession. Maybe this was the message the writers wanted to get across, the sufferings of the women in the palace from the maids to queen consort. And I honestly think if the juxtaposition between FL’s love for the king and her need for her own freedom had been developed better, the before-stated message would’ve come across smoothly, making the story come to a cohesive end.

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It gets better, don't drop it

I am very glad that I trusted 8.8 score and continued to watch instead of dropping the drama. I highly praise Junho acting but couldn't get used to fl. For the first 10-12 episodes drama I kept thinking that casting this actress for the role of fl was a bad decision. Same with grandfather/first king. I loved him in Business Proposal but in The Red sleeve his acting wasn't good or the way he was filmed wasn't right. BUT after king dies drama becomes masterpiece, even fl was impressive. Last 5 episodes were so good that it was worth to suffer while watching first 2/3 of the drama.
I find it pretty interesting because I usually like first 2/3 of dramas and find endings not the best.

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I wish I had watched only the last 5 episodes or so

I read a review under another drama stating that often the issue with kdramas is that they tend to be complicated just for the sake of being complicated, and that's exactly the case. I wish I had watched only the last 5 episodes. Boring and slow at the beginning, just the acting of Lee Jun Ho and Lee Se Young kept me from dropping. I started to enjoy the show as soon as they stopped adding more and more characters and intrigues.
In the end I felt like nothing was resolved (but actually it was, it's just me that couldn't thoroughly follow all the scheming and plot twisting) but the story left us with a bittersweet ending which wasn't completely sad in my opinion.

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Like many others I am reeling from the emotional turmoil of the last episodes. This is definitely one of the best kdramas of 2021 and a really high quality sageuk.
I actually have a few mixed thoughts and feelings about how good it was, so I thought it’d be helpful to list out the good and bad things about this show.
The good:
-the romance is top tier, seriously. AND it’s a great historical romance, because these two people act like they would (or probably, anyway) back in the 1700s. The crown prince knows Deok Im is beneath him, and there is this constant power imbalance. He even says and does some not-great things to her. Deok Im has some pretty good reasons to not be with him, and that power imbalance is central to that. It’s just such an interesting dynamic to watch. (To be honest, I think this show should be labeled as a tragedy; do you really think this is going to end well?)
-there is this emphasis on the powerlessness of the maids, and other power dynamics are explored in interesting ways. The crown prince’s relationship with his grandfather is tragic and terrible, but you can’t tear your eyes away. They have some amazing scenes together.
-acting is super good, particularly by our two main leads. Both of them are incredibly good at conveying emotions and thoughts with their eyes, and it adds so much to their scenes together. The rest of the cast is solid too. Speaking of which…
-the “second male lead” (idk he doesn’t fit into the traditional role so it feels weird to call him that) is a bad person and doesn’t like our main female lead. He sees her as a rival for the crown prince’s attention and affection. He’s also interesting because you aren’t quite sure what his agenda is.
-the writing. I am also going to complain about the writing later, but I want to give strong kudos to the writing in general. There are many amazing scenes, the dialogue is well-written, and things that get set up early on do come back around again later. You get the cliche “they met as kids” thing and it still makes me roll my eyes a bit, but it is less cliche than usual. It also doesn’t act as a catalyst for the romance so I think that made it less cringey.
The not-so-great stuff:
-this show kind of recycled one particular plot: Deok Im gets in trouble, the crown prince gets involved, the queen gets involved, Deok Im gets saved. By the second time it happened I was like, really? You’ve thought of nothing else? It happens three times. Honestly I thought the second male lead would do something to Deok Im and that would’ve been more interesting, but that kind of didn’t go anywhere. Their relationship didn’t develop much which I thought was a shame.
-the palace maid secret society subplot. Hoo boy. Okay, it’s not the worst thing in the world, but it is just so over the top. Maybe it was to make the palace maids more relevant to the central plot but… it’s not great. They could’ve been influencing politics by, I don’t know, being spies for different nobles or something.
-a bunch of people don’t want the crown prince to become king but there is literally no on-screen alternative, so the whole thing felt a little weird. Like, who do these people want to be king? Seemingly nobody, they just don’t want it to be the crown prince.
-the time skip that happens 2/3rds of the way through is three years, which is a big chunk of time, but not much seems to have changed in the king (former crown prince) and Deok Im’s relationship. Like, did they even see each other that much during that time? I don’t know, it felt weird that not much seemed to have changed between them. They almost seemed more distant which wasn’t great for the romance plot. It also made it unclear what Deok Im was thinking and feeling. It was awkward and threw me off.
-the last few episodes are a little draggy. This is due partially to Deok Im (and some filler scenes). We just don’t get much insight into her thoughts. I think this makes her indecision feel unnecessary and dragged out. It would’ve helped if she had talked to somebody or even had an inner monologue about what she was thinking and feeling. The actress is great, but there’s only so much you can convey when there aren’t any words to back them up. When she does talk about her reasons for not wanting to be a concubine it’s vague, like “freedom” or w/e, but she’s not free as a palace maid either. There is definitely a difference, but this is because it literally happens so we do get to understand it, but it was unclear before what made her less free.
I understand why people are giving this a 9 or 10 because the good parts are really good, but to me I can’t say that 90-100% of this show is good. 80% seems more accurate.

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A saeguk that didn't shy away from romance

Best thing:
The drama managed to focus on romance whilst recognizing that romance is just one part of the character's lives. It's such a simple thing that they did so right. It's seriously such a rare quality as in many romance saeguk: they either show too much beside romance just to show off the character's virtues; or make the characters seems like crazy people who only live to love (UGH the countless lovestruck emperors and runaway princesses wagering their country for love).

Another great thing is how the female lead helped the male lead A LOT. I like this situation much better than the protagonist being the debtor, which is more often the case.

Nope:
If it weren't for the icky court lady cult plot(???) this would have scored higher. Yet that part was so nonsensical and forgettable and long that if it weren't for how good the OTP is, this would have scored so much lower. They could have gone a thousand other ways with the court lady thing, yet they chose such a nonsensical way. It's not weird because it's a cult, I'm saying that this particular cult is so damn ?????

The rewatch value is especially high with this one, there's the feel good aspect and the skip button. Another note, this drama reminded me so much of Moon Embracing The Sun. I'd have to say Red Sleeve is the better one between the two still.

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Captivating

The acting was great. I enjoyed the plot. They covered a lot of different stories over a long time without making it feel like it was dragging on or gimicky. Scenes were complex and characters had time to fully blossom. I really enjoyed the main lead's acting. He played stern, silly and vulnerable masterfully. I really liked Deok Im's personality and the life she created for herself. The crux of the show revolved around why she didn't want to be the king's concubine. When she eventually agreed I felt it needed some context. Her original reasons for saying no didn't disappear and were seemingly confounded upon by a lot of inexcusable things he said and did over the years that he never apologized for. I couldn't understand how or why her character wanted to be with him after all that. Her acquiescence was also abruptly followed by a significant change in her personality. She became a clipped version of herself. She had all these thoughts and feelings she kept to herself and never shared with the king. I understood it to mean her decision to take this role was essentially her giving up on her life. It was heart-breaking to watch that what she always feared if she said yes, had indeed come to pass. She gave up her life to be with him... for as her character seemed to see it as- nothing. I have to say I was happy she died early so she could be released from this horrible prison sentence. I couldn't stand anymore of it.
The king loved her, as deeply and truly as may be possible, but he had no idea *how* to love her. He let her suffer again and again in the name of the kingdom. When he could have and should have put her first he took her for granted. I'm talking about the pregnancy announcement and Yeoung Hui sitch. He knew she had no more choices after he slept with her. I wished she could run away or end things on her own terms. In the end, years after she died he still didn't understand her or what their relationship meant for her. He didn't acknowledge that he'd sequestered her from so many people who loved her or how he never thought to look after the ones she loved or even how he never tried to make her happy if it wasn't at his convenience. She was happy to spend time with him but he only spent time with her because it made *him* happy. She had all these talents and intellect and he never tried to open up an avenue for her to use them. Despite what Geung Hui said, I think when Deok Im asked the king to ignore her in their next life she meant it. He destroyed her life for his own desire and never acknowledged it. It's hard to believe he was such a good king to essentially strangers when he had terrible relationships with all those close to him. I think the saddest part of this whole story wasn't any of the deaths, rather the king's belief that he could love or did love differently from his grandfather.

Anyway, long story short, the drama clearly captivated me. If you like longer historical dramas this might be for you. If you're looking for romance or happy endings I'd swipe left.

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Refreshing sageuk drama with intriguing plot, good acting, top-notch visuals + humor

Lee Se Young and Lee Jun Ho, need I say more? :)

I have been so excited for this drama to come out and let's just say, the first episode has exceeded my expectations! I know it might be too early to write a review but I had to share my initial thoughts. So far, the drama is like literature in motion, which makes sense, since it's based on a historical novel. The first episode has all the elements of a good sageuk drama--an engaging storyline, emotional dialogue, endearing characters, and a healthy balance between light-hearted and intense scenes. The child actors (especially little Yi San) have done such a wonderful job to set up the story between the older leads. Junho and Se Young look marvelous and make such a beautiful, refreshing pair! With such a great line-up of actors, intriguing storyline, and beautiful background music and visual aesthetics, I have no complaints.

Beyond the typical romantic premise and classic tropes that K-dramas are known for, there is also something unique about the storytelling here. I sense that this drama is trying to capture the underlying tensions between the themes of gender, class, womanhood, patriarchy, and monarchical rule within this historical time period. I love that every detail of every scene ties together nicely and seems to carry symbolic and thematic meaning beyond aesthetics (the last few minutes of the first episode were so well done!). I can't wait to see how the story unfolds...but I also predict this may have a tragic, sad ending for our leads, given the foreshadowing tone of the first episode (praying that I'm wrong!! T_T).

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This is why I prefer the fantasy genre over anything based in reality... :(

'Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," and "nah", I rate this a "liked" but I will not rewatch it, or if I do, it will just be the FL and ML getting to know each other at the very beginning.

As per my title, I prefer fantasy over reality simply because the actual historical events and reality were so tragic and, at times, awful. I deliberately did not watch the last episode, preferring to end everything when she found out she was pregnant and they were happy to be having their first child. I do know how it ends both in the show and historically, I just did not want to have to see it. I thought both leads did brilliantly, their chemistry was amazing, and I agree with the top positive reviews about this show.

Things I felt were lacking: after the resolution of the issue with the "evil" court lady, I felt it went kind of downhill in terms of excitement and action--especially once he became king. I know there was (in theory) a Queen, but the fact that they wrote her out of the script leaves a major plot hole, in my opinion, as she apparently played a larger role in the book. And while I totally get that this was completely normal during that time, the fact that the ML did and would continue to sleep with women other than the FL (even after they finally got together) because that was what was expected of him as king, makes my skin crawl. I can't help it, but that is my modern, Western sensibility interfering with my ability to truly enjoy their relationship (though I think that is what kept her from giving in for so long, too?--she wanted him all to herself and knew that was not possible?).

If you're a fan of incredibly well done historical saeguks, then this is definitely for you. Even if you're not (you're more like me and prefer happy endings, the not-very-historically-accurate shows, etc.), its still an excellent drama. Just beware that this is a pretty accurate portrayal of life in another time (and for many of us) under another culture--not everything is going to be tolerable or understandable.

Random question r/t historical dramas in general: Did no one ever get naked when doing the deed? Those two were almost fully dressed when they woke up after their 'wedding' night. I see this a lot in period dramas (both Chinese and Korean). Is it a cultural thing in the sense that implying nudity on screen is unacceptable? Or a cultural thing in the sense that they really did not take their clothes/sleeping garments off except just enough to get it done?

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“No Boring Parts”

I am not particularly fond of period or historical dramas but I made a rare exception for this series after watching episode 1. The first hour went by without me getting bored or losing interest. Its splendid plot, dialogues, casting, acting and production design collectively kept me captivated and wanting for more so I kept on watching all the available episodes. I clearly see why this drama is fast gaining popularity and winning against its present rivals in the ratings game. I’m now eagerly waiting for episode 7 to be released and excited to find out how the love story between a debonair Crown Prince and an affable Court Maid will wittingly unravel.

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Why "The Red Sleeve Cuff" should be your best healing drama?

I have really waited so long to write review of this masterpiece drama. Usually I do like historical dramas but they must provide good story and music service. Also I think casts are the main weapon for historical dramas. And "The Red Sleeve Cuff" undoubtedly fulfilled all of the conditions of mine. So obviously I gave this drama 10 out of 10 rating. Now I want to explain why each sections of this drama deserves 10.
1. Firstly, I will talk about the storyline. As a K-drama fan I've watched a lot of dramas. And historical dramas are one of the genres that I like the most. Korean Historical dramas are on the other level. But this historical drama is way more different than those historical dramas. Though Its a romantic drama in genre, it will 100% satisfy you. You will be excited, sad, heartbroken; also you will find comedy and peace too. I am telling you, you would give this drama a 9.5 without any doubt.
2. Secondly, about the plot of this drama I would say the writers were really creative and talented. They knew how to make this drama more eyecatching to the viewers. Specially, the ending would give you a mixed feeling and leave you with a big dilemma and shock. I, myself, couldn't understand the ending, so I watched again and again to understand. Women's are more powerful than man. And this truth is proved by book. You will see women power in this drama. Their struggles, strong mentality, feelings will amaze you. I've got the "Pride and Prejudice " feelings from this drama. Like your girl is hard to catch and you only want her by any means. But you still respect her and her choices.
3. Thirdly, I want to talk about the most important things of a successful drama, that is, casts. Undoubtedly the casts - Lee Jun Ho, Lee Se Young and other actors performed greatly. Both of the lead actors are my most favorite korean actors. So I am happy with their chemisty, hardwork, acting. I've always wanted Lee Jun Ho to be a lead actor in a historical drama. And he fulfilled my wish. Also for Se Young, I knew her as a child actress. She has never disappointed me. I am sure you won't be too. Just enjoy their innocent, amazing and realistic chemistry.
4. Fourthly, I would give my opinion on the music part of this drama. Actually,music is the soul of a successful drama. This drama is not different from this situation too. I would say the musics have helped this drama to get more into the heart of the viewers and fans. Trust me, OST 's are just fabulous in a word. After finishing the drama, I've heard every songs repeatedly for a whole week that I kind of learned the lyrics. None of the songs has disappointed me so far. Whee-In, Itzy's Lia, Junsu, NU'EST's Minhyun have done so well that I am proud of them. I personally am a fan of their songs. And the musics were able to trigger the saddest and happy parts the most. So I think I cried because Ost's made me emotional.
5. Lastly, If you ask me that I would watch this drama again or not. Well, I've already rewatched this drama three times. Yes, you can understand that this drama is worth rewatching and won't even make you bored.
Overall, I would say, you should watch this drama with a lot of expectations and you won't be disappointed. You will not regret. I am sure you will also thank me for giving you indirect evaluation and explanation of this drama(as I can't spoil the drama). You will go through some immense phases of watching a successful drama.
Happy watching and keep supporting "The Red Sleeve Cuff".

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