Lots of wasted time
I'm not normally a fan of historicals. I feel like there is one script that they use for every historical, just changing the names and the actors - someone in the family trying to kill the monarch, evil people in power (especially high-ranking officials), scraggly beards and moustaches, beautiful costumes, ridiculous hats, sword fighting, kidnapping, bloodshed, mistaken identity, ginormous cast with multiple storylines. This drama kept popping up in my face, so I figured I'd give it a try. If you are die-hard fan of historicals, you'll probably like this. There is no doubt that it was well done, but there was so much filler that the fast forward button and I became very close.There were many positive things about this drama for me:
The cast, especially -
Rowoon as Jung Ji Woon - do I even need to explain why? I find him to be very charismatic and his acting is understated. I can feel his emotions, and he tends to have very good chemistry with his leading ladies.
Park Eun Bin as Yeon Seon/Lee Hwi/Dam Yi - for me, she was the standout of this drama. I do not like the gender bender genre, because every single one that I have seen has a woman that is so beautiful that there is no way that anyone that can see at all would confuse her with a man. Her features are always soft, and they have her perfectly made up. Park Eun Bin was terrific in this role! First, her stature and her face are such that you could conceivably believe that she was a man. Don't get me wrong, she is absolutely gorgeous, but she was made up so that her face was all hard angles, strong jawline, no puffy cheeks. Add to that, she did a great job of keeping her voice deep, and she had that cold, aloof demeanor down pat. Her movements were very masculine when she was playing the man, as well.
Nam Yoon Su as Lee Hyun - I loved his characterization of unswerving loyalty in the face of having to deny his feelings.
Go Gyu Pil as Hong Bok Dong - He brought a little comedy/lightness to an otherwise heavy show. When I saw the child actor playing this part, I just knew Go Gyu Pil would be playing the adult!
Excellent chemistry between the lead actors. Honestly, if I were to re-watch this, it would be to fast forward through all the intrigues just to watch their love story.
Bottom line - I think that if historical dramas are what you gravitate to, you will probably really like this one.
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easy to binge and not take so seriously
I think if you stop wishing for this to be something it's not (an 80 episode political sageuk epic or a fully comedic fusion where bad things don't happen to any character and no one dies... it's neither) and just accept it for what it is which is a somewhat lighthearted somewhat serious sageuk with a romantic focus, interesting character interactions, a constant looming danger of discovery, and some bloody consequences... it's a lot more fun... and if the actors had been less talented it wouldn't be nearly as enjoyable as it is (Park Eun Bin in particular is great)this drama also taught me to never raise my sword to slash at someone because someone will stop me with an arrow or by coming out of thin air 95% of the time lol
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Not enough story for 20 episodes
At the beginning, this drama actually made me look forward to Mondays so much. On my watchlist, I had this drama at a perfect 10/10 star rating for about ten episodes until it started getting ridiculously repetitive and the plot felt very dragged out. Overall, the story was great with amazing characters, cinematography (those color palettes!), and romance. Unlike Lovers of the Red Sky, their love story felt very organic and well-paced. As the drama progressed, the focus naturally shifted away from romance and became more about court politics and family drama (in typical sageuk fashion) and while this was not as interesting to me (as someone who lives and breathes rom com), I saw it coming and expected something like that from a historical, anyway. It was fine. Until the love line also got needlessly angsty. These two literally spent the better two thirds of the drama trying to figure out if they should or shouldn’t be together. The same problems kept arising over and over again but were dressed up as slightly different issues. The political story also got quite stale and followed the format “let’s go investigate something, have lots of fruitless dialogue about that thing, and kill a bunch of people.” This is the main reason why I dislike anything action, but I digress. In the last couple episodes, I also became an avid hater of Dami, something I never thought would happen. Her hero complex and suicidal tendencies disguised as selflessness got incredibly out of control, and it was hard to root for a character who was so hopelessly throwing herself at danger and calling it self-sacrifice that I just wanted her to die at the end and have the drama be a tragedy. The lie she told Jun Ji Un (that I won’t spoil) before doing something unforgivable (at least in my opinion) was something that I wished he would hold against her. It was such a majorly fucked up thing to do that I completely stopped rooting for her at the end. Despite my hundreds of complaints, this drama did bring many good things to the table, and I absolutely adored the male lead from beginning to the end. I’d still recommend the drama to anyone that has some spare time, but just be prepared to use that speed-up button if you’re impatient like me.Was this review helpful to you?
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Only nice things to say!
The only reason I haven't rated this drama 10 is that it can be a bit heavy for a rewatch. The dramas that have more rewatch potential for me are the ones that are light and happy. As much as I love these two together, I don't want to go through the entire plot again, just a fan made video of all their moments would make my day. So i'll go look for that, if i ever want to rewatch this.Was this review helpful to you?
The Last Supper
why? Both aired on KBS, how come the Korean drama The Kings Affection is superior to the Korean drama Moonshine?This advantage can be seen from the rating of 12.1% in the last episode of the Korean drama The Kings Affection, while the Korean drama Moonshine only got 5.9%. Once it was 7.5% in the initial episode, but it continued to sag until it reached that number.
The awards were also dominated by the Korean drama The Kings Affection with 5 awards, while the Korean drama Moonshine only got 3 awards.
So, in my opinion, Korean drama: The Kings Affection is boring, especially when it reaches dozens of episodes. It feels so long.
Was it because of the good ratings that it was extended to 20 episodes?
As we know, Korean dramas that can reach a 2-digit rating generally consist of many episodes, such as the Korean drama My Only One (106 episodes) which managed to break through 46.6 - 52.4 percent, the Korean drama Homemade Love Story (50 episodes). with a rating of 32.9% in the last episode.
So, my temporary conclusion (because I didn't use in-depth research hehehe), Korean people like soap operas that are long and convoluted, so the Korean drama: The Kings Affection, which should have finished in 16 episodes (or even 12 episodes?) Was extended for the sake of satisfaction. Korean audience.
Admittedly, there are some advantages to Korean drama: The Kings Affection, such as the story which is continuous and flows smoothly, although it often doesn't make you curious to see the next episode.
Also, the OSTs are very superior compared to the Korean drama Moonshine, namely: Shadow of you (SUPER JUNIOR-K.R.Y), One and Only (Lyn) and If I (Baek Ji-young) …… huhuhu makes me cry
In addition, the writer-nim's decision when composing the Dam-i/ scene played by Park Eun-Bin when dealing with his grandfather Han Ki-Jae (played by Yoon Je-Moon) was really good. As a senior actor, Yoon Je-Moon is indeed a coconut elder. The older the more coconut milk.
How about Park Eun-Bin who acted perfectly in the Korean drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo (gained a rating of 19.210% in the last episode)? That's cool. He successfully disguised himself as a real king, despite his petite body. But she's a girl right?
But the character I like the most in Korean drama: The Kings Affection, is Jung Seok-Jo, played by Bae Soo-Bin. He is a cold-blooded killer, the right-hand man of Dam-i/ Lee Hwi's grandfather, also Jung Ji-Un's biological father.
In Korean dramas with non-kingdom themes, Bae Soo-Bin often gets antagonistic roles. In fact, he became a specialist actor who cheated on the main female character, such as in the Korean drama A Pledge To God and the Korean drama Secret Love. Makes the audience excited: I want to hit him! Hehehe😀😀
Lha in this drama, how come the task: sret..sret..sret. …kill people! No wonder the writer-nim's concoction for the scene of Jung Ji Un's father's conversion is very touching.
So, do you recommend this Korean drama: The Kings Affection?
Mmmmm…. whatever. The score is 11-12 with the Korean drama: The Red Sleeve which aired on MBC, and received many awards from MBC.
KBS apparently didn't want to lose, so it awarded many awards for Korean drama: The King's Affection, namely:
2021 KBS Drama Awards - December 31, 2021
Best Actress (Park Eun-Bin)
Best New Actor (Ro Woon)
Best Youth Actress (Choi Myung-Bin)
Netizen Award (Ro Woon & Park Eun-Bin)
Best Couple Award (Ro Woon & Park Eun-Bin)
The next review of the Korean drama The Kings Affection can be read here https://www.maria-g-soemitro.com/2023/01/the-kings-affection-review-drama-korea.html
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Great Casting
One thing I can say about Kdramas is that more often than not, they manage to cast actors and actresses with great onscreen chemistry. Everytime I doubt a pairing, i end up wrong. This is one example.The King's Affection was a joy to watch, in my opinion. I was watching this simultaneously with a Queen for Seven Days; and while the stories were different, QFSD was a bit dragging for me. TKA's cast did an amazing job of bringing their characters to life; even the secondary ones.
I cannot wait to see more of these actors in future projects
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Decision is yours to watch or not.....
I'm writing this article wishing this will help you to take a proper decision whether to watch or not.According to comments and other articles most of them writes that this drama is boring waste of time of watching.
In my opinion the drama has few faults in the middle episodes but the ending is wroth watching. At the beginning the drama start with dark plot where most people sacrifice there lives, so on later when the girl who becomes the crown prince with the hidden identity is very strong and cold hearted with lack of trust with people(another reason to watch the drama for the main female lead who is strong and shows her power). The other reason is Main male who is clumsy, smart and also strong which makes the story more brighter.
There are lot of crying, laughing, curiosity and anger emotions I went through while watching this drama.
Each and every episode is intense to watch for me, but some few episodes were there which was story line flopped, it was because the writer took the scenes very slow and made the last two episodes in rush which made the viewers to drop the drama.
Well all the episodes are available, so the struggle to wait for Monday will not exist now. It is easy to binge watch for you guys.
The story main idea is:
- why can't a girl have power and right live?
- how to trust someone?
GIVE IT A TRY IF YOU ARE WILLING TO THE ACTORS WON'T DISSAPOINT YOU :)
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A drama with an identity crisis
OVERALLMmm...Skip, unless you're bored.
THE STORY
This drama is weirrrdddd. It's like someone wanted to produce a BL but was asked to produce a straight love story, so they decided to do something in between...and failed. The drama never really addresses the fact that Female lead basically lives like a guy, but at the same time, never addresses the fact that she's actually a girl. It's just SO weirrrrrddd. You can't make a gender-bending drama without addressing gender! What's the point? haha
On the good side, if you can not care too much about the romance, the political intrigue is interesting, enough to keep you watching until the end (even if not really hooked). On the negative side, the melodramatic, messy romance is basically 70% of the drama so it's a bit hard to ignore haha
THE ACTING
Good, I guess. Not much chemistry between the leads, from what I could tell, but it's not bad enough.
THE MUSIC
No comment.
REWATCH VALUE
Very low.
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A Pleasant One-Time Watch
I mostly picked this drama because I had just watched Park Eun Bin in Extraordinary Attorney Woo and was really impressed by her acting skills. She is just as outstanding in this drama. It’s amazing that the same person is playing the title character both shows.The plot is quite intriguing. The twin sister replaces the crown prince and faces constant exposure and challenges, such as having to get married at some point. And produce an heir, good luck with that… Many gender-switching shows are very taxing on the viewer because the character is so very obviously NOT a boy or a girl. (Love in the Moonlight, I’m looking at you! Let’s pick the prettiest girl and everyone will believe she’s a boy… seriously…) Here, while we know the crown prince is played by a woman, it is not entirely unrealistic that people around her would believe her to be a young man.
The first few episodes are really good, there’s some fight scenes and the romance between our two protagonists develops nicely from when they were children. But then further into the show nothing really happens. It became extremely draggy. I kept watching because surely, at some point, it would pick up speed… and the last few episodes were definitely better, with lots of action and plot twists. But instead of 20 episodes, 12 episodes would have been sufficient to tell the story.
As others have mentioned, the cinematography in this drama is stunning. The setting for some of the romantic scenes at the home outside the palace was just gorgeous. Another high point was the acting. Though some of the characters were written a bit one-dimensional – like the bodyguard, very pleasing on the eyes for sure, but that seemed to be the main characteristic, and even our male hero lacked a bit of spark – the actors all did a fine job. A special mention goes to Bae Soo Bin, who was excellent as the ambiguous father of the male protagonist. The two supporting female characters were also quite well portrayed, which was a nice contrast to many other historical dramas where the female supporting cast is often forgettable.
Would I recommend this drama? Well, I did enjoy it overall due to the interesting storyline, the acting and the beautiful cinematography. But it’s not something I would watch again, unlike for example Mr Queen or Bossam, which I enjoyed much more.
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Traditional costume romance w/ really dark undertone.
I love the backstory, although it was the typical formula: ML and FL met while they were young, lost contact, met again as different person's. From adversary's, to friends, to lovers.Even though this was supposedly a traditional costume romance, it has a really dark undertone. The story got a little draggy at some parts that I had skipped. Still, I managed to push through.. Glad the writers gave FL a happy ending that she deserves.
Good chemistry between the actors, even the young ones did good. This is not the first show who did the cross dressing as a major aspect of the show, but they did good. Not as awkward as other show I've seen.
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Really good historical romance
Story-wise, this was surprisingly good historical romance, with so many twists that I was never once bored. Actors were superb, and I am looking forward to watching more dramas and movies with Park Eun Bin in. But, there's always a but - it was hard to believe that petite slender frame and frail voice could ever be mistaken for a man. Also, so many people in her vicinity knew her identity that it was absurd that no one else knew and the secret was kept secret for so long.The last episode was very satisfying, although I think the director had to choose that one particularly emotional scene over the explanatory one in order to keep the episode under the required running time. I loved that scene very much, so no complaints there, but some questions were left unanswered on the screen. After being spoon-fed with explanations over 20 episodes, that was kind of weird to have to conclude on our own what has happened in the between major scenes.
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