Queen of Tears

Close to perfection

A drama that will make your heart race for sure. A thrilling rollercoaster that it's about a second chance romance of the highest degree, interwoven with a twisted villainous plot. The villains in this show are simply put, deranged. The script is very good and the acting even better. I enjoyed the comedy in it as much as the complexity of the script. The story is predictable and yet it catches you off guard at times. Good chemistry between the couple. Overall a drama very close to perfection and YET, it feels like I am not completely satisfied as a viewer. Worth the hype nevertheless.

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Heartwarming Romance of 2024? This is The One!

Let me be honest, this series is not my cup of tea. I don't really like the story especially at the last third of the season. However, It is quite reasonable that a lot of people recommend this series, thanks to the main leads duo. Kim Ji-Won and Kim Soo-Hyun have an outstanding performance, and that is the reason why a lot of people ship them in real life. Hong Hae-In character is a good example to never give up on your life, and to never let you waste your life even though you only have a little left on it. The one she does in the press conference, I think it is because she knows that she will die either by the disease or in Eun-Seong's hand. She does it to protect her family. It resemble the phrase from Grace that "the one that has nothing to lose is the most terrifying". We also see how hard Soo-Cheol is trying to grow up, trying hard to fix everything and improve the quality of his family life. But on top of those, it is Hyun-Woo's love that against all odds, holds Hae-In and the throne of Queens.

Additionally, we get a really good soundtracks. They placed precisely it in the scenes.

The storyline is, although not flawless, has a great point. The pace was extremely slow in the first half of the series, and additionally each episodes are very long. Many audience may not be able to endure it. But trust me, if you follow, it will slowly suck you into the "hell" of the pitiful Queen's family— pitiful since the only members that have clear mind are a deserted aunt and an ex-spouse of the heir. The pace will catch up on the second half. More heartwarming scenes are coming after then, but there will be a few pointless filler episodes. However, I hate that Beom-Jun and Seok-Hwa don't do anything regarding the return of Da-Hye. During hard situation like that, logically any family will draw a line and make her choose clearly whom she will take side.

As I have stated on the beginning, I don't like the last third of this show. The story goes downfall after their return to the house. It is somewhat weird that Hong's family somehow stops looking for the secret money after then. Honestly, I totally despise the idea of Hae-In surgery's memory loss effect because it is boring and overused. Combined with Eun-Seong coming to Germany to become the first person Hae-In sees after the surgery, it becomes the worst plot because we all know what will come next. I will be honest that I would rather have Hae-In died of the cancer rather than this plot. The quality of this conflict is somewhat lower that other previous conflicts, and it puts aside the "main conflict" of the Queens Group. The pace also slows down after this premise, making the whole pace looks inconsistent and seems like the writer is forcing this conflict only to fulfill the requirement of 16 episodes. Fortunately thanks to this plot, we get the saddest part of the story— when she reads her diary. Final crash and the stand-off moments are also the things that I don't like. I get it that they are trying to make Hyun-Woo the hero of this story, but they should come up with something better and original. The pace speed up again in the last episode causing the ending to be a bit rushed. They should show the heartwarming moments of Hae-In trying to recover memory, probably a whole episode of it. I would also like to see how the tenseful family of Hong's turned into something more warm. They have brought out the story about the tenses during office meetings, when in family room, on the dining table, during the ceremonies and many more, but they never tell us how it turns after all of this moments.

I don't really like most of the Yongduri's residents. They are often cringe and overreacting at everything. Also visual effects of this series is not the best. You can see it clearly during the boar accident. And when are they going to remove the pop up stores??? I want to see the new concept so bad!!!!

Overall, I recommend this series for you all. If this type of genre is not your favorite, you may get bored at the beginning though. That is because you need to take your time to enjoy this series, as it has once again, long episodes. But when it comes to heartwarming romance, I still think this is the best for whole 2024, and it may take quite a while for me to get over from this.

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What is the sense to show the year 2074?

Only for the dialogue that stated ,if anyone of the two leave then other one wil reach to them .
There were several scenes that touched the audience deeply. For instance, when the husband, after deciding to divorce his wife, discovers she is dying, he chooses not to divorce her out of pity. He realizes the depth of his annoyance with her but decides to stay by her side during her final moments, which secretly brings him happiness.

Additionally, I found the chemistry between the second leads more captivating than that of the main leads. Especially, Hong Soo Cheol's performance was exceptional; he was truly outstanding.

Another memorable moment was when their love story finally began to unfold.

The subplot involving the female lead, who was the owner of a shopping mall, and her struggles to save it, added depth to the story.

Despite many engaging scenes, something felt lacking in the overall storytelling.

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mostly disappointing but the ending DESTROYED me

i think the story could’ve been amazing if the writers actually took time to think about it. they never explained the magic side of it, how haein had visions and appeared in weird places (having a brain tumor made zero sense for that matter), then she was so sick and had 3 months to live bc her case was so rare but suddenly there was a cure. one time they were in germany and she was an old man in a grave that hyunwoo didn’t see and it was predictable that it was hyunwoo in the future but how could she see him?!?!? overall the plot felt rushed and like not much thought was given into it HOWEVER even tho it was so predictable that that old man was hyunwoo the ending still destroyed me and i cried so much bc their love was so beautiful ❤️‍🩹

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Queen of Tears Is Yet Another K-Drama That Doesn’t Stick the Landi

✅It's A Below Average Drama With Amazing Performances and Decent To Good Cinematography With A Generic RichA$$ Makjang K-Drama Plot.. But Bruhh I Wasn't Expecting This Sh!t At All.. See It Was A Most Anticipated Drama From Makers Of CRASH LANDING ON, VINCENZO and MY LOVE FROM THE STAR.. + It Was Comeback Drama Of One Of My Favourite Actor Kim Soo Hyun.. So Obviously I Had Very High Expectations.. But It Turned Out Hell Boring Drama With A Bland, Lazy, Draggy Yet A Predictable Screenplay and Direction.. With Dead And Cliched Chemistry Of Main Leads.. + There Is Hardly Even 10 Mins Of Plot In Every 1h30mins Episodes.. I Can Point Out Much More But Let's Not Go There.. It's My Opinion And You Guys Might Have Different Opinion, I Totally Respect That.. But For Me It Was Biggest Let Down.. I'M DISAPPOINTED, DISHEARTENED, DISPLEASED and Uh.. That's It, Goodbye Queen Of Trash

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All the nagetive review forced me to put a review to do justice for the drama.

This story is not everyone's cup of tea. The thought and message that convey the storyline is bigger then anything. I'm really thankful to the writer and all the cast and crews for making 'Queen of Tears'. It's a story of our daily life the problem we face in our family in our relationship and more. The story will mske you rethink about you family, relationship, friendships and make you inspired to make your relationship stronger. And the cast line is amaizing. Maybe my words will be less for their acting skills. Their acting is superb that will make you the problems and solutions more realistic. The music is awesome. All the songs are refreshing and nostalgic. I don't know why people are putting nagetive review for this drama, there again people afraid to accept reality and love to live in fantasy. But It's a must watch drama for all.

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Round of Applause!!! BRILLIANT!

Everyone knows how the main leads are going to end up together and kdramas always start out with that sort of introduction - however, I LOVE how this drama started out!
Caught me off guard - and how they were able to integrate the plot and piece each of the flashbacks/storyline together.

I cannot be more impressed by EACH and EVERY single cast member chosen for THEIR roles!! Everyone did an AMAZING job; really played out their character to the CORE.

Loved every moment of emotion and feels this drama has put me through... literally cried or got teary every episode.

I loved all the meanings and unique epilogues at the end of each episode (DON'T MISS THEM!). These added great additional information, insight, and plot to the story/characters.

I think the ONLY thing was; as much as unrealistic kdramas are (SNIFF, UNFORTUNATELY T-T) - some violent portions - seemed really unreal but it did play into the plot well...

Some side items - absolutely amazing OSTS/soundtracks; visuals were OFF the charts (outfits, scenery, backgrounds, make up etc etc).

Overall, AMAZING. DEFINITELY worth the watch; no drama is perfect so I give it a 9.9999 out of 10 !

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OVERHYPED.

*This is my opinion and you can have your own opinion too :)*

i honestly don't know how i feel about this drama. i'm going to agree with a lot of the top reviews when they say this drama should've been 10-12 episodes. 16 was a stretch which made it just soooo slow. i had to fast forward quite a bit BUT i still knew what was happening. this drama still has a great plot though. the story is great and isn't unrealistic. watching this, my heart broke and healed. i cried along with the main leads when they cried, and i smiled when they smiled.

the first half or so, episodes 1-8, were really good. i didn't fastforward at all and they met my expectations. i was like, "now i see what everyone's talking about. this is great!" but the following 9-16 episodes were a bit of a letdown. i felt less engaged and thats when i started to fastforward and wtach in 1.25x speed. That's why i think its slightly overhyped because it dragged on in the second half.

i really enjoyed the acting though from every actor/actress in this drama. kim soohyun (the ML) cried in pretty much every episode. he poured down tears and it looks so believeable. his acting is great when hes crying LOL. kim ji won (the FL), she depicted being cold and distant really well and then when it was time to be in love, she flawlessed that as well. every emotion portrayed by her, was very well done. park sung hoon, (antagonist/SML) played his character really well as well. yk an actor did a good job when you hate their character but also feel sympathy for them. kwak dong yeon played hong soo cheol, (FL's younger brother/ idk if hes SML or what). his acting was pretty good too. and finally, lee joo bin who played cheon da hye. Her acting was incredible. She depicts da hye as a woman who goes into a fake relationship with a rich guy to make it big for herself. she's an orphan as her parents abandoned her. after years of being in this fake relationship, she genuinely falls in love with her pretty dumb (LOL) husband and turns to the good side.

i thought it was really interesting how everyone just seemed to be connected as children. yoon eun seong (SML/antagonist) did save hong hae in from a dog when they were children which is when his love for her sparked. additionally, hyun woo saved hae in from drowning when they were kids. which is why its fate and they're meant to be. and da hye bullied soo cheol wehn they were kids.

i really liked seeing hae in's mother slowly warm up to hyun woo's mother and start to accept her and the country lifestyle.

i cried during the ending of episode 7, when hae in forgets about the divorce and reverts back to the version of herself that loves hyun-woo. i cried when hyun-woo cried. it was genuinely heartbreaking that he witnessed an episode of hers. also lol it was so scary when hae in hallucinated eun-seong as hyun-woo and he practically manipulated her.
and it was so sad when hae in lost her memory and eun-seong manipulated her into isolating herself from hyun-woo and her whole family. thankfully she broke out of that and i cried when she went to go see hyun-woo in tears only for him to get hit by a car. AND then take a bullet for her.

after the first few episodes, i was like "why is this called the queen of tears? hae in never cries, the only one crying is hyun-woo" i still dont really get the name tbh. but i did witness hae in crying a lot.

it was definitely hard for her when she had to make the decision to either die, or forget the love of her life and all her other memories. but im thankful she did it and ended up remembering some things and falling back in love with her.

i will add that before when i was talking about the acting and that how yoon eun-seong's actor managed to play his character where i felt hatred for him and sympathy. i only felt sympathetic that he truly was never loved and never experienced love but that does not excuse him for any of the things he did and attempted to do.

DISLIKES:

i do think the ending was unnecessary, seeing hyun-woo turn old and visit hae in's grave and all their favourite spots. yes, its a happy ending knowing they lived long lives together and had a daughter but still why make them turn old :(. the show could've just ended with the two of them young with their daughter. no need for adding death and making me finish it with an empty feeling. i wanted more sweet moments between the main leads where they didn't have to worry about anything.

i hated it when at the start, hyunwoo was such a jerk. it was his fault that the marriage was failing too. he never properly communicated with her. it's hae in's fault too but ALSO hyunwoo's. hyun-woo was literally wishing death for hae in which is HORRIFIC. even to the point of only thinking about her will? like wtf?

OVERALL:

this drama was pretty good but still overhyped. i don't think i'd rewatch this because the storyline is something i don't think ill forget just because the twists and turns is all so obvious and we didn't get too many happy moments between the main leads and im kind of a wimp for romance so. the acting is incredible and the music suited the scenes. i don't really ever have opinions on the music used in shows so i'll leave it at that. i do think the main leads have chemistry and i'd love to see them star together in a romcom k-drama.

anyway, to finish off i want to remind anyone that reads this that this is purely just MY opinion and you could watch this and give it a 10 or a 1. that's completely up to you! i hope you enjoy watching. :)

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It was almost perfect

My thoughts about this drama: “what a valiant roar, what a bland goodbye”

I loved the first episodes, how complex their dynamic was and how well Soohyun and Jiwon brought them to life with their micro expressions. The way the pacing felt realistic, since a lot of things have passed between them and they're relearning each other. For me the drama took a bad turn when they lost focus of the main characters and expanded so much on the Queen’s drama. Especially the villains, they had so much screen time and were not really nuanced. Or the aunt, like yes, she was a nice character, but ???? why would they think I wanted so much screen time with her and that bland guy? At first it was cute, but when they gave them so much screen time the last episodes it turned out really annoying for me.

I feel like the car crash was unnecessary and something the writer included because she felt like the audience had not forgiven Hyun Woo enough for the way he acted at the beginning of the drama. That we needed to see him have this big gesture and go rescue her as proof of his love, but it was unnecessary and redundant by this point. We’ve already seen how much he loves her ever since the reality of losing her was on the table and he realized it (when she gets lost on his hometown and she admits it and he hugs her and cries).

In episode 1 and 2 we see how distant and resentful they’ve grown of each other, how they’ve built walls between each other (like when she says he is acting out of character by siding with her and taking her hand) but the moment she is honest and vulnerable (probably it’s been years since that) it dawns on him that she is sick and loosing herself. And it breaks him, because it turns real, that maybe she won’t be saved, that they’ve lost years of companionship they took for granted and both of them could’ve done something to fix things (their talk outside of the supermarket). Him recognizing he forgot that love (while she didn’t) and that scene in episode 6 in Germany was top notch, and staying by her side with Queen’s take over and also recognizing his own mistakes (like how Haein tells him she never wanted to be alone, and both understand she is talking about their baby; or him saying that he wishes he would’ve asked her about her day back then instead of acting as strangers) for me was enough. Him egging her on to have a reaction out of her, bringing her family to his hometown, being vulnerable with her and recognizing his faults, listening to her and caring, were reasons enough to forgive him.

I was also not a fan of her losing her memory. I think they chose way too many conflicts and they overlapped and we didn’t have enough scenes of them being happy without the threat of her disease. I would’ve either picked the Queen’s take over or her amnesia, both was too much. Especially when the pacing by the end was so bad and they chose to keep her amnesia instead of her remembering. We didn’t have scenes of “them” but of HyunWoo and a HaeIn that didn’t feel like HaeIn at times and did not know their past. Like, yes, their past wasn’t perfect, but it was what gave their relationship depth. And then they chose to skip her falling in love with him or any life milestones between them!!! Like them finding out about her being pregnant again and this time supporting each other and facing the uncertainty together. Their child’s first birthday! We got like a few seconds of them on the steps and then were clubbed with old HyunWoo facing her death and meeting each other again as “souls”. I think it would’ve been a little less shocking if we’d had at least more scenes of them spending their life together before that scene. Especially after most of the drama they made us bawl our eyes out.

One of the worst things they chose to do was that the reason they both grew distant and started to resent the other was not addressed with the depth and care that it should’ve been. They both hurt each other. HyunWoo felt that his feelings were not taken into consideration by HaeIn and that she did not care as much as him (shown by his surprise by the date being her passcode) and that he was not given space to grief. Like he grew up in a family in which they talk things together and support each other, that’s the way he is able to bear sadness, and HaeIn closing off emotionally and being defensive made him feel isolated. Meanwhile, HaeIn has already suffered the loss of a family member and she was blamed and resented by her mother for it, so it makes sense that because of that experience and the guilt and trauma of the miscarriage she was going through she thought HyunWoo would do the same, especially after seeing that he moved his things out of their bedroom. He did it because he felt hurt by her breaking down the nursery and not giving him space to grief, but it was how she was taught to grief: walk around it, pretend it did not happen and don’t talk about it (like how her father was going to turn the page of the family album when there was a photo of her older brother). I feel like the way they started to approach it was on track: HyunWoo seeing the birthdate being her passcode, HaeIn admitting she never wanted to be alone and HyunWoo understanding she is talking about the miscarriage and realizing he misinterpreted her back then and the look of regret when he apologizes and hugs her. But I think they should’ve talked about it sooner (like when they’re in his apartment, when she sees the birthdate being his passcode as well) instead of the gloss over they did on the final episode when she still does not remember a lot of what they went through.

The drama started out great but I feel like the writers didn’t understand the characters enough and thought we needed big action scenes to be impressed and hooked. Instead, it would’ve been better if it stayed as more of a character study on how for love to be kept alive it needs to be nourished, it needs work and communication and respect between each other. Jiwon and Soohyun are amazing actors and have the range to bring those scenes to life, so it’s a shame that the writers chose to sideline them (like I think the villains have almost more screen time than HaeIn in the final episodes...). Tbh, Soohyun and Jiwon were the reason I kept watching, especially by the end, I can say that the last two episodes are some of the worst episodes of the drama.

I love HyunWoo and HaeIn, and it’s been a while since I’ve been so hooked with a drama and the actors had the ability to make me care so deeply about their characters. “Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new” by Ursula K. LeGuin reminds me of their relationship.

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A tropey, tear-filled soap opera with solid acting that tugs at the heart strings

If you've seen Perfect Marriage Revenge or Marry My Husband, then you have an idea of what's in store here (without the rebirth/time travel element): This is a soap opera, no question, with its requisite checklist of a wealthy family, succession conflicts and rivalry, scheming interlopers, over-the-top (yet predictable) plot developments, and of course, unexpected childhood connections. In that sense, there isn't too much that's "new" here. All three dramas are somewhat over-rated, but what sets Queen of Tears apart from the other two are the acting, production quality, heartfelt relationships, and a lovely soundtrack.

Like many Asian dramas, Queen of Tears almost feels like a story in two different acts. The first is light, filled with dark humour and family dynamics that are amusingly bananas as we meet the characters and familiarize ourselves with the setting. The pacing and execution are pretty solid and I found myself cackling out loud multiple times. The cast of characters are not especially likable, frankly, but that's okay, because we're here for the great storytelling.

The second act takes a much darker tone, as wild plots, evil schemes, angst, and endless tears take centre stage. Much of the humour is gone. Characters hit rock bottom and grow. They are tested by adversity and overcome them. The show is keenly aware of its melodramatic turn, however, as even the characters themselves discuss and compare events to K-drama plots.

Overall, the first half felt more fresh and entertaining, but I personally enjoyed the back half more for the angst and significantly warmer and more empathetic characters, even as the story dipped into Makjang territory and some plot elements (like Hyun Woo's siblings, the miscarriage, etc.) were not as flushed out as I would have liked.

Given the amount of tears shed in this drama, I was curiously not bawling alongside the characters, especially for our heroine, Hong Hae In, played by Kim Ji Won. The earlier unlikability factor comes at a cost. Hae In is so scarred by life experiences that she hides behind a cold and indifferent mask. But even when the mask finally cracks in the second half, I struggled to warm up to her. Still, as someone who is forgetful yet overly sentimental, I did find Hae In's fears and personal story powerfully poignant. With a warmer character, I would have wept an ocean of tears. Ultimately it was Kim Soo Hyun's portrayal of Baek Hyun Woo that finally made my eyes water and my heart ache near the end. While Kim Soo Hyun lacks a certain "swoon factor" for me, his immense likability and solid acting comes through in Hyun Woo.

Another particular acting highlight was Kwak Dong Yeon, who plays Hong Soo Cheol. The actor already stood out for me in a number of his previous roles, and I initially found him almost unrecognizable here as the annoying jerk brother. When we first meet Soo Cheol, he is the stereotypical baffoon - the incompetent, spoiled family embarrassment and mama's boy with no self-awareness out to beat his sister. But surprisingly, he ends up being the warmest and most passionate member of the Queens family. In the hands of another actor, Soo Cheol could simply be a supremely annoying wealthy idiot sibling. Instead I found myself feeling sorry and rooting for him.

Elsewhere, Park Sung Hoon was very effective in his incredibly unsettling portrayal of Yoon Eun Seong, especially in early episodes. Some of that chilling effect felt diluted later on, however, overshadowed by melodramatic plot developments. Even so, Eun Seong's gaslighting and truth-filled lies remained extremely disturbing and uncomfortable to watch, particularly in the way it reminded me of the misinformation and disinformation we face in the real world today.

Queen of Tears started off as a respectable 8.5 for me, but the strong emotional notes struck in the last three episodes and especially the ending, pushed it into a high 8.

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