Dear Hongrang

Great visuals with a side of great potential

Beautiful visuals and a promising storyline, that’s what I expected would carry the series, had it been placed front and center. They brought in Kim Jae-wook as the villain, but somehow the story seemed to forget he existed—except for a brief appearance every three episodes. And in an 11-episode drama, that’s not much.

The acting was phenomenal. So far, I haven’t seen a drama where Lee Jae-wook disappoints, and this was no exception.

Unfortunately, the strong story they set up early on was pushed aside to make room for a romance that felt out of place. Because of that, what could have been a solid 9.8 dropped down to maybe a 7.5 for me.

I’m also not a fan of dramas where two characters introduced as “siblings” end up with a romantic storyline just because they’re not biologically related. It always feels unsettling and unnecessary.

Still, it’s a good watch. I recommend it for the storyline that ended up taking a backseat: the mystery of the lost children, the child-trafficking villain, and the one child who managed to break free. That part of the drama had real power—and I wish it had stayed in focus.

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"Your love has made me human"

Dear Hongrang was a dark, twisty, tropey drama featuring two of my favorite Jae Wooks. Instead of the familiar fight for the throne and court politics, this fight played out within a wealthy merchant family that’s made a deal with the devil. When a long-lost son returns it sets a powder keg of greed and avarice on fire.

Jae I has spent the last twelve years searching for her lost younger brother Hongrang after the family mostly gave up on him. Her stepmother wants her dead. Her father only sees her worth in the columns of assets and liabilities. Her older adopted brother Mu Jin is being groomed to take over the family business and has a not so secret crush on her. One day a stranger with no memory of his childhood is brought in who turns out to be her brother Hongrang. Or is he? And what murderous mysteries are hidden behind the expensive walls and hanboks of the wealthy and nobility?

Dear Hongrang takes a strong stomach to watch. Children were kidnapped and tortured in painful and vile ways. Wives who no longer fell into the asset column were taken out to be murdered. Slaves and those without power or prestige were considered less than human and expendable while those with power often walked a fine line between sanity and insanity with overtly sadistic tendencies. Into this bloody mess Jae I and Hongrang went from being adversaries to allies, and “siblings” with complicated feelings for each other.

The cinematography, lighting, and music were overtly gloomy and melancholic. One particular scene went ATLA Tui funeral with red lighting. Deceptive sunshine only gave the viewer a breath to brace for upcoming pain. The sole spoilery comment I’ll make is that you need to prepare yourself for a high body count, many of which you’ll hope will be boiled in bronze. I didn’t find the drama particularly suspenseful as most of the turning points were well foreshadowed. I did, however, find it entertaining largely due to Lee Jae Wook and Kim Jae Wook’s performances. Kim has definitely found a niche for himself playing handsome, criminally maniacal characters. While this short nightmarish drama will not be for all tastes, it managed to tell its gruesome tale without overstaying its welcome.

18 May 2025
Trigger warnings: Dismemberments, more gruesome deaths than an average Kdrama, torture scenes, and child torture scenes

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****SPOILERS ABOUND****DO NOT CONTINUE TO READ****IF YOU DO NOT LKE SPOILERS****

I liked this series a lot. I thought the political intrigue and tension building were all well done. So many people with secrets, greed and desires. Greed leads to death and destruction of everyone.

Yeol Guk lived his entire life trying to get out from under the thumb of a wife he never loved but who still held all the power of his station in life. Min Yeon Ui married a man she didn't love b/c her father knew he would at least keep the family in a goods position but he was smart enough to make sure his daughter never worried about control of the assets. She despised her husband b/c of his multiple mistresses and treats his daughter mercilessly. Blaming her for her missing son Hongrang. Mu Jin, the adopted son who has everything except the one thing he really wants. Just a pawn in Yeol Guk's game to crush his wife. Truly sympathetic character. As was Jae I. Her father never cared for her one iota. His crazy wife brutalized her and he did nothing. She just wanted her brother Hongrang to come home. Kkot Nim planned a masterful revenge for 10 years after her lover Yeol Guk tried to kill her and killed their unborn child all those year ago. She used the disappearance of her hated rivals son to exact her ultimate revenge and bring them all down. Tragedies all around.

The acting/cast was phenomenal and I was glad that we got the true story about Hongrang . I was also glad that Yeol Guk and the Prince got what they deserved in the end.

I also, LMAO at one scene with the Prince and Hongrang that should not have been as comical as it was. If you watch you will understand.

6/1/25

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"Dear Hongrang": A Gorgeous Mess of Myths, Murder, and Missed Opportunities

*Dear Hongrang* is a visually elegant historical K-drama that ambitiously blends elements of romance, mystery, psychological tension, and political intrigue. At its best, it creates a haunting atmosphere with stylized visuals, strong performances, and an intriguing setup. However, despite its rich themes and dramatic potential, the series ultimately falters under weak execution and a reluctance to embrace the darkness it flirts with.

The drama begins with a compelling premise involving a long-missing family member, layered court secrets, and a growing sense of danger tied to royal corruption. Alongside this is a slowly developing romantic thread between the two main leads, whose emotional bond is evident but arrives late and feels rushed. The chemistry is there, and in moments it works beautifully, but the love story often feels like it's competing with — rather than complementing — the show's more sinister core.

Narratively, *Dear Hongrang* struggles with tonal consistency. It introduces disturbing and powerful themes — including systemic abuse and loss of identity — but repeatedly pulls back just as it reaches the edge of real emotional or thematic impact. This hesitation leaves the story feeling sanitized, especially in scenes that clearly gesture toward deeper psychological or physical trauma but avoid confronting it directly. The result is a show that promises more than it delivers.

In terms of character development, the drama shines most with its antagonist and supporting roles. One of the most compelling character arcs belongs to the second male lead, who gradually shifts from a loyal protector to something far more complicated. His transformation feels earned and is one of the few emotionally satisfying elements of the series. Meanwhile, the central female lead starts off with purpose and strength but is eventually reduced to a more passive, reactionary role. Despite her emotional depth, she rarely influences the plot in meaningful ways.

The family dynamics, particularly within the Sim and Min households, are introduced with intensity but left underexplored. Motivations for key conflicts remain vague, and several major character resolutions — while fitting — feel unearned due to lack of buildup. Subplots like secret organizations, cave-dwelling allies, and personal vendettas are briefly touched on and then discarded without proper closure.

That said, the technical achievements of *Dear Hongrang* are undeniable. The cinematography is striking, especially in low-light sequences. Lighting and staging are used effectively to create a moody, immersive world. The action scenes, while sometimes theatrical, are choreographed with flair and confidence. Sound design is another highlight, with atmospheric music and tension-building silence used to full effect. The only letdown in production design is the costume work, which often feels too safe and underwhelming for a historical series of this scale.

In the end, *Dear Hongrang* is a show full of potential — one that sets the stage for something powerful and dark, only to back away from its own narrative risks. It’s haunting to look at and momentarily engaging, but ultimately leaves you wishing it had gone further, deeper, and bolder.

Thanks for reading ✨️

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Dear Hongrang is a total feast for the sageuk fans.. Top tier acting, well paced story and aesthetically pleasing cinematography, absolutely sublime.. But what really stands out is the OST.. Goosebumps kind of good.. Lee Jae Wook is back in his element.. He served.. He had one of the best entrance scene, simple but perfect.. The powerful soundtrack, the family tension, that chilling look in his eyes.. It was the kind of scene that makes you sit up and pay attention..

At first glance the narrative might feel familiar for this genre.. But once The Snow Man is introduced, it becomes clear there is something sinister and haunting underneath all the family secrets, forbidden romance and political schemes..

Lee Jae Wook deserves all the appreciation in the world for his performance here.. He has always delivered outstanding performances.. But in Dear Hongrang, thanks to a well written script and a character that fits him perfectly, he truly shines.. And Jo Bo Ah smoulders and brings Sim Jae I to life.. Her performance was heartbreaking, tender, emotional and quietly powerful..

Every time I see Kim Jae Wook in a drama, he just blows my mind all over again.. He is extraordinarily talented.. Which makes me wonder why isn't he getting Main Lead roles?? Why are we not seeing him in more dramas?? He is such a great actor.. Its a shame his screen time was limited here too..

For me, two aspects stood out as the most intense and impressive parts of this drama.. Both in terms of its execution and the acting.. Absolute perfection..
First, The action scenes.. The action here is really fantastic and the camera work makes the swordplay totally engaging and awesome.. Grounded enough to not feel over the top but just enough to wow you.. Lee Jae Wook, unsurprisingly, was amazing.. He has truly outdone himself in those intense action moments.. Ep 10 was just pure brilliance..
Second, the romance development between the leads.. Their relationship isn’t a fairytale.. It’s messy, raw and painful.. And I guess that’s what made it feel real.. It was a gorgeously melancholic portrait of yearning and emotional fragility..

I didn't like the SML from the beginning.. His character was questionable.. One scene after the SML finds proof that the ML is not Hongrang, he says
" Once you know that he is an imposter, you will return to your usual self.. It may break your heart to know you have been deceived.. But do not worry.. As always I shall be there for you.. "

For me this is SML's character defining moment where he shows his true face.. His obsession with the FL..
Her usual self?? The one who risked her life just to earn money to search for her brother?? The one who woke up crying from nightmares, haunted by guilt and grief?? He wasn’t trying to protect her.. He was thrilled at the idea of breaking her spirit just so he could " be there for her ".. Even if she was suffering and in pain, for him it doesn't matter.. He just wanted her all for himself.. And when she confided in him about her feelings for the ML, he still didn’t tell her the truth.. He could have saved her from that agonizing shame.. From thinking her love was something forbidden.. But he chose silence because if she knew, he might lose her.. So he just let her suffer.. That wasn’t love, it was selfishness and he was a pathetic person..

He also says.. " I am not trying to protect her.. I intend to claim her.. "

For people talking about second lead syndrome for this guy, you people are sick.. He was as evil as every other villains in the drama.. Sim Jae I nailed it when she said,
" It is but an obsession for what you cannot have.. That is your truth.. "

The last three episodes were intense, story heavy, emotion filled and action packed.. All the revelations, the prince’s monstrous crimes.. The horrifying complicity of the father and the painful backstory that tied it all together.. It was painful and tragic.. The ML finally got his revenge and it was satisfying to watch.. But there was no happy ending for the main leads.. Terribly predictable, that was not a surprise for me..

Overall, Dear Hongrang was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.. There is a deep sadness imbued in all the scenes of this drama.. The ending was sad and emotional but honestly it was never going to be a happy one for them.. I just wish Jae I had a child.. Because now her life feels as lonely as it was before.. I wanted her to have something more to live for.. Something that’s truly hers..

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What a drama!!!

From mystery to anticipation to angst — DAMN, this was INSANE.

The acting?
Jo Bo Ah — I didn’t really vibe with her in past dramas, but wow, she absolutely slayed here. Her performance was next level.
And Lee Jae Wook? As always, serving looks. Honestly, I feel like he shines the most in historical action dramas.

Story-wise?
Surprisingly solid. The whole family's journey to find the long-lost brother had me hooked — and then boom, a wild plot twist connected to the king??? Chef’s kiss.

OST & cinematography:
GORGEOUS. Just look at it. The visuals and soundtrack? Pretty damn good! The action scenes were breathtaking. No words. Just wow.

Noteworthy episodes:
Ep 9: THAT ENDING??? When Hongrang's shirt got cut and the drawing was on his back — the same one the king’s been obsessively searching for?! MIND. BLOWN.
Ep 10: The forehead touch and the “I love you” moment… MY HEART.
Ep 11: The OST kicked in at the end and it HURT. So good it was painful

Best OST pick:
🎵 Kwon Jin Ah – Yoamjae

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Shocking scenes

This girl is looking for 12 years her little brother who has been missing. After meeting many crooks over the years who wanted to pass themselves off as him, when the one who turns out to be the real one shows up, she refuses to accept him. This man who claims not to remember his childhood has a dramatic past of immense suffering behind him, leading him to become a ruthless swordsman.
The brother was not the only missing child and will be discovered the background to an insane painter who commits atrocious actions that make your skin crawl.
Creepy and horrifying plot with a sad ending.
Fantastic and emotional OST and a good and charismatic Lee Jae Wook on the role of one of a victims.

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Had potential but sadly writing is a mess

If I could I guess I would put it more in a 5.75 rating for me.

Things I liked about this drama:

- Acting
- Action scenes
- Cinematography (some truly beautiful landscapes/locations)
- Music
- Ambience
- Premise of the story on paper

Sadly all this kind of goes partially down the drain when the plot and its execution are like in here. Not sure what they were going for. I feel they had enough time to make it way more cohesive and developed. Sometimes I need to remind myself that many films manage to portray a cohesive plot and quite developed characters in way less time than many kdramas, what puts things into perspective every once in a while like in this case.
This is true in this drama considering it was slow at times, especially the first couple of episodes. When I say slow I mean meaningless nothingness or silence ambience scene that adds nothing to the plot, characters or ambience.

This drama was full of ups and downs for me, the first couple of episodes I found them a bit boring and dragged, then it became more interesting from episode 3 to 5 more or less when the Snow Man and the whole mystery of the disappearance of children is introduced, but then it's kind of left to the side for some back and forth plot in the middle and picked up again towards episode 8-10 to then have a quite messy and anti-climactic end in episode 11.
There are too many plotholes. At points I was like "dear Hongrang, who are you?" because at the end of the day it didn't matter, and I feel like I had to endure too much of that kid without any kind of reward in the end, especially for how obsessed FL was about it. I'll be harsh, but I think given the circumstances, we were parting from the baseline idea that given the amount of time it had been that he had disappeared he was dead, but I still expected some surprise that made it more interesting in at least the how he died. It's repeated multiple times of his potential link to the Snow man and the whole mystery but it meant nothing. This was anti-climactic. At one point towards the end I thought he would be one of the talisman guys with back tattoos, and to be honest that would have been quite interesting. Maybe I'm misremembering but ML's adoptive mother seemed to have details and knowledge about the kid that no one else had, so I thought this would pretty much mean he was still alive. At some point during one of the "ups" of the show I thought maybe they could even introduce him as the mastermind behind the plot against the Min household as well considering that detail. I feel now like they had multiple ideas and they just scrapped them all in the end to have a rushed and unsatisfactory end to the kid's story.
Who is the Snow Man? who knows. Who is running the household at the end of the show? Everyone is dead and the mother has gone back to her delusions. We're assuming is FL? Who knows. Why were there so many people on the side of what the painter was doing? he didn't even come across as especially powerful or skilled in combat himself, so why the following and devotion to his concept and orders? it wasn't too realistic to me, even given his power position.

As other people have said here too, the illness of ML makes no sense. Considering the substances he had been exposed to he would have already died time ago, but conveniently he only starts having symptoms after the romance plot. They even conveniently stop for a bit so he can carry out the last battles to then come back full force. Not a fan.

In the beginning I thought FL would be a bit more independent and strong-willed considering she had been looking for the brother and had people helping her and she showed a certain level of will and temper, but this is very quickly put to the side and she fully becomes damsel in distress and very dumb. Special mention to that moment she leaves the cave to look for him in the night after she had been injured with the poison. Sure, at least here they didn't do the cliché of having that moment as the scene where they're injured, taken back or made captives, but it's the sheer level of cliché dumbness that I'm very tired of seeing.
The motivations for the painter were ok, but very out of the blue, I feel like it would have been better to unfold the mystery over the episodes than having it all condensed. I liked the back tattoo story and I also liked the fact the show was bold enough to have the ML have the fertility tattoo. But also I have to say that for modern audiences as much as I understand the why considering the time and place, it's also no a big deal to me so it was difficult to connect to the expressions and emotions that tattoo was doing to the characters in the story, what I know it's a 'me' problem. Maybe some comment or story or explanation would have helped to bring me to their level of astonishment, but I also understand that this probably worked as intended for most Korean audiences. For me as it was, I personally thought it was a cool tattoo 😂 (maybe not one to be showing around in conservative places but you couldn't even see that much so honestly it was not that bad (maybe I've watched too many tattoo fixers)). But this also brings me to the fact that in all these years he could have covered it? I know that tattoos are seen pretty bad in many east Asian countries even nowadays and probably even more so back then, but if it was for the obscenities he could have covered it with just black ink. Better have a full black blotch in the back than the tattoo, it would have also helped him mentally and emotionally to not have the reminder of his torture so in the face (or rather in the face of others).

The SML... I mean, kudos to the actor, he did a very good job in portraying a very annoying man. I didn't like him from the start but as the show goes on I really was hoping he would die sooner than later. I don't like these type of second romantic interests that are very obsessed, he is a typical yandere and I'm not into the type. But I also despise when the FL just doesn't see anything of this ever, not even when the guy has crossed the line, because she's simply so emotional she can't think straight.
Not going to lie the dynamics of the household were confusing at times as well, at points I was a bit confused on who had done what, if it was the mother again, or the father the SML, or someone on the side of one of them or someone else.

The romance also suffers because of the plot execution and decisions. It's quite sudden and there are a couple of episodes in the middle where they don't even interact much. On the other hand, we can see him being interested in her and a bit more of him falling for her, but we see barely nothing from her side, and it's never truly tackled or shown her struggle, probably because it would be kind of problematic considering from her side she's half-half about if he's her brother. What brings me to the fact I think it would have been better, as it always is in these kind of situations, for her to have known earlier on, join him in the pursue of the painter for example, anything. That would also have allowed for them to get closer to one another in a more realistic way and it would have flowed better in my opinion. I don't think it was the worst per se, but it was not good either. I enjoyed their moments together mostly because Lee Jae Wook is beautiful to me and his character is the perfect hero type so there is not much to complain about in that respect (other than precisely that). But, I feel like he's not doing a character he hasn't done before and I prefer him in Alchemy of Souls for a fantasy period drama.

Overall I guess it's watchable for the things I said at the beginning of my review, but don't expect much from the plot. I enjoyed it mostly for the landscapes and scenery and the action scenes personally, but I wouldn't rewatch it.

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mixed thoughts

In my opinion, the story felt very rushed. There was no chemistry between the actors. He is called the "Soul Reaper" because of how many people he has killed. However, he falls hard for a woman he just met a week ago and is willing to compromise a lifelong revenge mission for her!? There was no chemistry or smooth build-up in the development of their romantic interest. It was paternal love until the FL suddenly realized she was in love... what?

I started watching this drama because Lee Jae-Wook was starring in it, but I found it disappointing. It was interesting at first, but I didn’t enjoy the plot, which is built on the fact that the female lead and male lead are 'siblings.' I liked the OST titled "Burning Petals." Is it just me who thinks the song gave Bollywood vibes?

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