My Dearest

My dearest; my favorite drama of all time so far.

What I love most is the absolute devotion of the male lead to the woman he loves and I mean DEVOTION.

There is something almost old-fashioned about it: the longing, the restraint, the things left unsaid. The exchanged looks, the smallest touches of their hands, the way a seemingly insignificant gesture carries enormous meaning. It reminded me so much of the yearning in Pride and Prejudice: a romance where a look across a room can somehow say more than an entire confession.

And the yearning in this drama is painful!

At the beginning, he is trying so hard to win her while she is determined to resist him, and I loved that she doesn’t simply forget the man she loved before. Her first love continues to occupy a piece of her heart, which makes her feelings and eventual growth feel much more human. Neither character remains the person we meet in the first episodes. War, separation, loss, sacrifice, and love transform them both.

But Jang-hyun’s devotion is what completely won me over. If you want a drama where the male lead is absolutely, hopelessly devoted to his woman, this is the one. His world can be filled with other beautiful women (even women who remind him of her) and somehow that only makes his loyalty to Gil-chae more obvious. For him, there simply isn’t another woman. It is her.

I also loved that the romance exists within a much larger story. The historical setting isn’t merely decoration. We see the suffering of ordinary Joseon people, their attachment to their homeland, and questions of loyalty, duty, survival, and sacrifice. In a beautiful way, that larger theme is reflected in Jang-hyun himself: while others wrestle with loyalty to king and country, his deepest and most unwavering loyalty is ultimately to the woman he loves.

It is romantic without making love easy. It understands that devotion is not just saying “I love you”; sometimes it is waiting, protecting, sacrificing, returning, and choosing the same person again and again.

The looks. The hands. The longing. The loyalty.

PS: And that boat scene…when she suggests the rumors about him being a eunuch might be true, and he just laughs. The confidence in that laugh, followed by his response… so charming.

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Gone with the wind but better

I just finished this drama for the third time. I loved it the first time, but every time I allow myself to watch it again it gets even better. Pride, prejudice, loyalty, selfishness, idealism - the drama tackles these themes without being able to answer them clearly. All the characters have their own strengths and weaknesses, comprehensible motives that do not remain black and white in their contrasts, but reflect the shades of gray of real people and situations.
The characters undergo a comprehensible and logical development. I find the lovers' struggle for a love in which they do not give up on themselves, but remain true to themselves, to be topical and contemporary.

Beautifully staged, opulently equipped, the musical accompaniment is also worth mentioning, especially the title song.
The acting performances are remarkable. The lead actor Namkoong Min in particular is able to reveal the inner emotional worlds of his character in his face so convincingly that the fact that it is a play is forgotten.

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an unmatched, enthralling masterpiece

i don’t even know where to begin to describe how excellent this drama is. i knew i was going to enjoy it after watching an edit of it on social media, but i didn’t know just how much of a treasure it was going to be!

as a history lover, i absolutely relished this excellent period work of art.

not once did i fast forward or feel bored during any episode. i felt sad as i was nearing the last episodes. and so, i enjoyed everything a little extra, not wanting to let go.

the longing and yearning is absolutely tear jerking and the romance worthy of swoons! as someone who leans more towards romance, the politics within Joseon and across nations were so interesting and captivating that i was curious to see how it all ended.

i love the feminism and patriciachial society themes.the FL & ML are both feminists in a way that’s fitting for their time and their viewpoints really touched me.

trigger warning: sexual assault

a line that will stay with me from the ML is when a woman he knows tells him how she has “dirtied” herself for “sleeping” with the barbarians (the foreign ruler actually raped her). she blames herself as if the violent act was her fault, despite being the victim. but the ML says, “if a dog bites you, did you dirty yourself? if a barbarian beats you, did you dirty yourself?” you can see the glint of realisation in her eyes after hearing his words. they took away her shame and guilt because it wasn’t hers to carry in the first place.

it’s the first drama i’ve ever watched that depicts how gruesome and barbaric war really is.

i also really love the touch of realism in the drama. for example, the blood stained clothes the FL wears for days while fleeing from the war stays on her for a couple of scenes, which makes sense because they don’t have time to wash their clothes or properly take care of themselves during a time of war while fleeing for their lives.

the stylists and make up artists did a great job at portraying the characters as sick because they really looked like they were going through it!

the battle scenes are the most frightening i’ve seen so far from any drama. there were scenes where my body was tense with anticipation or worry from both the politics and the life or death scenes. i physically squirmed when a sword was pierced through someone’s body as if it’s happening to me. at times it felt like a horror movie!

none of the characters are one-dimensioned and the actors delivered astounding performances. phenomenal. i feel so proud as if i know the cast personally.

the story telling is so evocative and thought provoking.

the ML’s voice is everything. my phone literally vibrates when he speaks. so raspy. so deep. so calm. so confident. his appearance is a delightful treat for the eyes.

approaching the final episodes, i was worried if the end was going to turn this drama into a ktrauma for me. i can’t fully express how glad i am it didn’t because i enjoyed every minute of it!

this drama is definitely first-class. i’m fondly going to remember this one.

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One of the most painful love story I have ever seen .

If you liked Moon Lovers, don't waste your time reading this, just go watch this masterpiece!

the only thing I can say is : if I find someone that could do for me at least half of what they have done for each other in this drama, I would be happily married for the rest of my life.
Why did they suffered so much ? The man SAVED a country for her !!!!! There's no real man that could do that. And there's no way that man is from Joseon during that time, he must have been a time traveler. Just come back to present days and be with me , Jang Hyun 😭
Thank you again korea for making me have even higher standards for a relationship.

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"My Dearest" is a drama about Gil Chae, a young woman who dreams about falling in love and marrying the man of her dreams. She thinks that person is Yeon Joon and does everything to win his heart, but nothing works, since Yeon Joo likes Eun Ae. Then suddenly Jang Hyun appears and totally changed her life.

The romance between Gil Chae and Jang Hyun is something that instantly grabs you, the two have great chemistry on screen and you fall in love with them, but I think I must be one of the only people who wasn't rooting for them at the end of the season.
It was clear how much Jang Hyun cared for Gil Chae, but when she needed someone the most, he was always somewhere else and Gil Chae ended up having to save herself. She ran away when the war started, hid from the invaders and helped Bang Doo give birth. Then, to escape the island, she saved the prince's baby and managed to save everyone. The war finally ended, but not the problems. In order to survive, Gil Chae worked alongside men, sold things in gisaeng houses, not caring about anything or anyone, listening to insults from basically everyone and that, in my opinion, is harder than surviving any war, for someone as proud as her. Finally, when Gil Chae was fine and thinking about moving on, Jang Hyun comes back and messes with the girl's feelings, but I would have made the same decision as Gil Chae and stayed. After everything she did, it's not right for her to abandon her family for her own happiness, especially since they depend on her. Gil Chae has grown up so much with everything that has happened to her, she started the drama as a spoiled girl and ended it as an independent woman!

It's an incredible production, it exceeded all my expectations, but I still don't really like this format of dividing it into two seasons, because now we have to wait to find out what will happen.

Given the style of the drama, I don't know if a happy ending is possible, it seems more like it will end in tragedy and the first episode was what made me think about that. When we see that person in jail, who is telling the story about Jang Hyun, I immediately thought of Gil Chae and if that is true, besides them not ending up together, because Jang Hyun probably died, she would have been locked up and considered crazy by the others, always waiting for him. But when I finished the last episode, I thought of another possibility, I think it could be Ryang Eum, because he is clearly also in love with Jang Hyun.

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Emotional well-acted roller-coaster romance during the Qing invasion of Joseon Dynasty

This historical drama take place in the Joseon Dynasty, in the 1600s, during the Qing invasion. The invasion aspect is the one that intrigued me the most with some pretty interesting political aspects. The war is quite gutwrenching to follow as it impacts a lot characters you appreciate more and more.

This story is quite melodramatic with a romance that I think is quite nice and with a lot of emotional stakes...The romance is not my favorite part of the drama as it is truly a series of misfortunes and heartbrakes. It for sure take a lot of resilience for the heart of the viewer if you are rooting for some of the couples...

Production and acting-wise, it is very good...The soundtrack is nice with very melancholic balads perfectly fitting for the story but are not necessarily songs that I will keep on listening very often contrarily to some other shows. There are a lot of action sequences that are well executed and the crying/sentimental scenes are very well done as well.

The actors and actresses are very well casted and you found yourself very invested in their characters survivals. Ahn Eun Jin is brilliant as the brave and strong female lead with a super attaching cunning side. Namkoong Min is excellent as the flawed but super intelligent and tactical hero. I love them as individuals but I am less invested in their relationship as it is sometimes difficult for me to understand why they should/need to be together. They have a nice chemistry together but it is not the most sizlling one and I hope to be more invested in the romance in Part 2 of the series. I'm also truly wondering if I'm not protecting my heart by trying to not be too invested in the romance...

I would recommend this to people looking for a very good historical drama with good acting and set during an interesting period of time. If you do not enjoy melodramatic moments and just want a cute / fluffy romance, this is not the drama to watch as it is pretty rough for the heart.

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Riveting, Cinematically Beautiful, Marred by Weak Ending

This was supposed to be a romance drama but instead of focusing more on the couple and the people and circumstances surrounding them, so much graphic violence was depicted that it took away the essence of the drama as a romance so that I could not enjoy the beautiful love story of Jang Hyeon and Gil Chae. Yes, it was a turbulent time for the Joseon people and they suffered greatly and I get that they were subjected to horrific ordeals but repetitive scenes of violence were not necessary. The viewers get it after one or two of them.

Sadly, in my own personal opinion (please don't go after me on this), there was no chemistry between Namkong Min and Ahn Eun Jin. AEJ is a beautiful actress and did a good job in portraying GC but she's far too young looking for this role. I get it she's 34 years old but she looked like a 15 year old teen-ager still with traces of baby fat on her cheeks. When NM embraced her, it was like he's embracing his baby sister and I cringed on the kissing scenes. They felt to me, more like well executed choreography and did not stir my emotions. It was critical that production chose the leads with explosive chemistry since this was a romance story. For example, the likes of the recent drama Tempest where the chemistry between Jun Ji Hyun and Kang Dong Won was over the top hot that made viewers swoon including me who watched the episodes repeatedly. That kind of chemistry is the most important ingredient in order for this drama to be one of the best historical dramas of all time.

There were pieces of the story that was lacking like why the King hated the Prince. Was it really the concubine who influenced and poisoned the king's mind against his son or the king was actually crazy with paranoid delusions of his son taking over the throne? The amnesia angle was acceptable at first, the the second was just ridiculous. I would have appreciated an ending of a JH and GC after she finds him, critically injured, being cared for by the old man who hid him to protect JH from being killed, their life together as husband and wife to give the viewers a really satisfying ending and also details of what happened to the people around them, their lives in the aftermath of all the turmoil that surrounded and affected them. Instead, we got the bland embrace on the beach scene that had been done over a million times in other dramas. And finally, I also wanted to see the corrupt officials, the concubine and all the evil characters involved in committing crimes against the people given their just desserts.

Namkong Min's acting was like watching a beautiful painting. He's one of those rare actors whose facial expressions convey what his character was feeling at that particular moment. I love his smirk when he is confronted by characters like the idealistic, clueless and cowardly Nam Yeon Jun . His movements were minimalist and yet they were very impactful in portraying the man as a silent hero who protects the weak without so much as a fanfare. It's no surprise that he took home the Daesang Grand Prize at the 60th Baeksang Arts Awards 2024.

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How Deep a love can be ?

How Deep Can Love Be?

Some love stories are not merely watched; they are felt. They slowly find their way into your heart and settle in a place from which there is no returning. My Dearest is one such story for me.

How deep can love truly be? How pure, how selfless, how boundless? Does love have a limit, or does it exist beyond all the boundaries the world has drawn around human lives? As I watched this story unfold, I found myself returning to the same thought again and again: perhaps the depth of love is simply impossible to measure in words.

This love feels like a beautiful poem, one in which every verse carries a sense of incompleteness, yet somehow finds a remarkable kind of wholeness within it. It is like a tiny drop of morning dew resting on a leaf, holding on for just a fleeting moment, yet carrying within itself the purity of an entire morning.

And perhaps the most extraordinary thing about this love is that it retains its purity even under the cruelest circumstances. When circumstances are merciless, when time is unkind, when life seems determined to keep two souls apart, and yet the same tenderness, devotion, and unwavering affection continue to exist in one's heart—perhaps that is what love, in its truest form, really means.

What a love. What an extraordinary, beautiful love!

A love that does not need to be loud to transform something deep within us. A love that does not constantly demand proof of its existence. A love so profound that words begin to feel inadequate, while even silence starts speaking an entire poem of its own.

Here, love is not merely the desire to be together. It is belonging to someone even in separation. It is retaining tenderness in the midst of pain. It is breaking again and again beneath the weight of time, distance, and circumstances, yet refusing to let those things completely erase what the heart continues to hold sacred.

The beauty of My Dearest lies not only in its love story but also in the feeling it leaves behind. It reminds us that love is not always synonymous with a happy ending. Sometimes, love is a struggle, a wait, a longing, a separation. Sometimes, it is the courage to keep one's heart pure and one's feelings sincere despite everything life chooses to take away.

Perhaps true love is that which manages to preserve a little morning light within itself, even in life's harshest circumstances—like a drop of dew that holds the reflection of the sky within it, untouched in spirit despite all the dust and darkness surrounding it.

Some stories come to an end, but the love within them never truly does. They remain in our hearts like a poem—quiet, beautiful, and eternal.

And for me, My Dearest is precisely that kind of poem. ❤️

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Heart-wrenching and amazing story about unwavering love

It's very good. I haven't finished part 2 yet, but everything in this show is quite enjoyable. At times, it was a bit too angsty for my taste. I think the FL should have suffered a little for what she did to her first fiancé, but overall, I enjoyed every moment in this. The shift in tone from slice of life to war and action was surprising but well executed. I also enjoyed the fight scenes and the evolution of the FL's character. She went from a spoiled but lovable brat to a dependable and capable young woman. I'm not sure about the age gap so I won't comment on it but it does have an age gap. If you want a show where the FL can take care of herself and her family and rarely makes bad decisions, where the ML is strong, capable, and knows what he wants, then this is the show for you.

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