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I watched how it's rating dropped
It happens all the time. Dramas start off amazing. I get really excited and have high expectations. But somewhere around the middle, something always goes wrong. I end up asking myself, “Why did I even watch this drama?”This one is the same. So cliché. It started with a rating of 8.2 or 8.3, I can’t remember,but look at it now. 7.9 and I think it will be drop more.
Episode 11: The villain manipulates the king, and the ML goes to war. Bad guy wants the FL. Then everyone says ML died. So sad uhuhuh screen time.. screen time then boom… he came back. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Comeeen guys. We watched this more than 100 times.
ML screen time was disappeared.
And really? Real Cha Seon-chaek enters the story now? If we don’t see her story in the next episode, I don’t understand her story. She doesn’t look like she is happy in this life too. She looks like very alone and still is bully . She doesn’t have a friend or family. How she adopted this life? The one who came the historical time, watched a lot of movie and read a lot of book about history. But a girl who come to real world how adapted this technologhy, life style or other this. Plus she is alone. I’ll just assume she was added to fill screen time. And the young boy. We didn’t see him last 3 episodes right?
Don’t get me wrong. I like cliches but ep 11 nothing is new. We can even guess their lines. Cliches are good but they shouldn’t be too much. Or your rating will dropped.
I can't watch episode 12. but I saw they has 12 child. OMG. This is your happy ending REALLY? More children more happy ending. Guys think about the life of women who gave 12 birth. It just suffer for women. But nooo this is happy ending. But in the end this is KBS's drama. Public broadcast., and Korea has a problem about birth rate. They triy to do everything to solve this problem. so mistery is solved.
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The Most Disappointing Watch This Year!!
This is one of those shows that even a good main lead couldn't save!I kept contemplating if writing a final review for this show was worth the effort; because it was an utter disappointment. In the end, I decided that I should finish the work that I started. The story focuses on the female lead, K gets transported into the novel that she is reading as Cha Seon Chaek, daughter of the Chief State Minister. Supposedly, a supporting character Seon Chaek suddenly becomes the main lead & gets entangled with the dreaded male lead, Prince Gyeong Seong. The novelty of this premise lies in the fact that K tries everything possible to get away from Prince Gyeong Seong and get him back to Cho Eun Ae, the true main lead in the novel. Frankly, the novelty wears off as K suddenly develops feelings for Prince Gyeong Seong and from there the story is a windfall. We are treated to the same old jargon where the protagonists face parental issues and a hundred different problems before ending up together!
Read the complete article here-
https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2025/07/22/the-first-night-with-the-duke-series-review/#more-1977
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Enjoyable.
Aug 2025.Overall an enjoyable watch, although I thought Seon-chaek's hair when in period costume, was weird at the front ~ it always looked messy. For some reason, once seen.... 😬
Some very irritating characters. OTY was his usual cool self, and his character was one I felt a lot of sympathy for. It felt a bit like he cruised this part though, as compared to some of his other roles, it wasn't exactly challenging. That isn't to say he wasn't good in this... I don't think I've ever seen him act badly, in any drama ~ even weakly written ones (he's often carried them).
Another character, that I'd rather have seen get some kind of punishment for their actions, again got off with no reprisals, which always irks me. Another mean character was at least a WYSIWYG ~ rarely bothering to conceal it!
Nice ending.
I doubt I'd watch this again, but I never considered dropping it. It made me laugh as well, which I like!
Worth a look.
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It's strange
some things could have been left out and some things are just left behind, like they forgot it even happened,the concept was there but I never read the webtoon so idk if it's like that in there,Id say the only good things that came out of it was the MC's,the story kind of felt unfinishedthe y/n girl becoming a villain and then barely having any screen time to have that ending felt so useless, but I loved this drama only cuz of Seo Hyun and Teac-yeon
just filling up space 💀
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Charming little fantasy/historic romcom.
This drama is just so fun to watch! There are a few cringy bits (very few ), & some WTF logic, but it's meant to be a fantasy about a girl falling into a WEBTOON - & thereby changing it's course! It's not meant to be serious nor historical!I loved the cast, thought Taecyeon looked fantastic (as usual), and really couldn't figure out how the plot was going to go, which kept my interest
I am not familiar with the source material, so I'm thinking a lot of the hate here has to do with the drama veering from the original. I have no idea where all the negativity is coming from other than that. Still, it did an excellent job of keeping my interest. I really feel it should be judged based on it's own merits & not on faithfulness to the source.
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A solid 8
I once again learned not to trust the reviews too much and just watch with an open heart. This drama gave the sort of watching experience it promised to deliver. Nothing too heavy but still immersive. I even teared up at the end.It wasn’t phenomenal in any way, since this synopsis been used over and over again. I have to agree with some commenters’ grievances what comes to some twists and turns, but it definitely didn’t spoil my viewing experience. Then again the drama did still manage to positively surprise me and within the short 12 episodes we had a nice plot and likeable characters.
Your regular rom-coms usually don’t rate very high, so if you want something light-hearted, short and fun to watch do give it a go!
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Taecyeon and Seohyun's sizzling chemistry elevate a mediocre script
A heroine being pulled into the webtoon world is not new in the kdrama scene. However, the First Night with the Duke gives a unique spin by turning up the heat and adding spice which is a dream come true indeed for avid fanfiction readers.Adapted from a webtoon, the story starts off with a university student who finds herself in the world of her favorite period romance web novel. As a minor character named Cha Seon Chaek, she tries to be a bystander and watch how the romance between Prince Gyeong Seong and Cho Eun Ae unfolds.
Everything went off the rails when when Seon Chaek had a passionate night with Prince Gyeong Seong. The next day the duke immediately asked for her hand in marriage and is seemingly determined to keep her by his side. Wanting to undo her actions, Seon Chaek tries to escape her fate of replacing the female lead of the story.
What I like about this show is how it keeps the storyline relatively simple and easy to follow. Initially,
the pacing of the story feels off and drawn out. Eventually, I grew accustomed to it and I have finally come to terms that this is a mediocre romance sageuk. Not that this is a bad thing but this is the perfect guilty pleasure and no-brainer watch.
Seohyun plays Cha Seon Chaek with a relatable and bubbly demeanor. Before she had an otherwordly journey in the webtoon, Seohyun is university student "K" and she is as cheerful as Seon Chaek until her friends outcasted her due to cheating allegations. She then leads a lonesome and secluded life. Seonhyun captures K's desire to start anew in the new world she now lives in. Her past mistakes initially holds her down but then she showed determination and ultimately follows her heart.
Meanwhile, Taecyeon is the dark, brooding hero of the webtoon. As the king's personal assassin, he is aloof, intimidating and constantly carries a sword with him scaring people and spreading false rumors about him. He slays people and so does his face card. Taecyeon is the epitome of young, fine, tall and handsome. With broad shoulders, strong build and jawline and high self-confidence, he undeniably suits the role of a leading man always ready to risk his life just to protect his leading lady.
The villains are so annoying and cunning. This is how you properly create a compelling villain, you set up their back story clearly to know how they ended up as evil. They have unique perspectives and strong motivations to do something bad. I'm glad Eun Ae and Prince Yi Gyung are not one dimensional villains unlike the king.
However, the fate of these antagonists doesn't sit right with me. Their resolutions are too neat for my liking. They hardly paid for their sins and got away with it easily. I understand that no one wants more blood to be shed but a proper ending for these villains would have been more satisfying.
I must say this is decent kdrama compared to other mediocre shows out there which either has poor writing or acting. Of course, it's not the most groundbreaking of shows. We have seen kdrama plots in the past where the female character is pulled into the webtoon world or travels back to Joseon period (W, Scarlet Heart and Extraordinary You), but what makes The First Night with the Duke memorable is how flirty and naughty our main leads are.
Pairing up Taecyeon with Seohyun is undeniably the best decision of this show. Seohyun's cheerful yet provocative nature complements Taecyeon's guarded and intense character. They are the ultimate sunshine-grumpy trope.
Overall, The First Night with the Duke is a guilty pleasure through and through. It's perfectly cliche and hits the right feels. I was looking for a watchable sizzling romance and I got one and sometimes that's all it takes to be entertained and glued to the screen.
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Silly but Slow Isekai
I only meant to watch a couple episodes, but the audacious main character and how she got herself in and out of situations kept me watching for more. The pacing unfortunately grinded down to pretty unbearably slow towards around the ep 9 when a new character was introduced.The writing and the performance of the character Yi Gyu is so bad. He could have been more interesting have actually known the person that Seon Chaek before her current incarnation. He's just so cartoonishly over the top greasy with no nuance and it doesn't help his whole plot is the boring political business. The women are all good, especially the twist villain arc of the former female lead Eun Ae, her determination to succeed turning dark. Hwa Seon the bully got pretty funny after she was stuck in a more humbling situation without being humbled at all, just huffing at the injustice that's now directed at her.
I really like that the original Seon Chaek actually gets to live on in the real world as she wants instead of her existence being over ridden. I love that so much that the original soul gets recognition in the story having seen so many where it doesn't. I like that the main couple aren't squeamish around sex, because it's so annoying to see two grown adults act stupid in kdramas when it comes to consensual intimacy. I would have liked if the main lead was shown to have improved his manners towards other people. He was completely awful to Eun Ae, a complete stranger at the beginning when he had no reason to be. It would be nice to see him have some change to people other than the woman he's in love with.
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A sweet watch, judge for yourself
I swear, reading the reviews you'd think this was one terrible drama and I almost didn't watch. One review said it's not so bad watch episode one and if you like it continue. Best advice given. I did that but kept waiting for the show to go off the rails. In my opinion it was a sweet story, not perfect, but a good watch. I enjoyed the FL not being shy and inhibited. I enjoyed the ML falling for her first and openly pursuing her. Such a nice change of pace to see couples actually fall for each other early on in the series and then have each other's backs. Nothing too serious here, just relax and enjoy.Was this review helpful to you?
Started As A funny Cute Story But Later Turned Irritating
The story started nicely. It was funny. The FL was so fun to watch, but as the episodes went by, the story turned boring and irritating for me. The ML & FL had nice chemistry, and it could have been a great drama if the writer had kept the vibe of the initial episodes. Sadly, the writer lost the opportunity by turning it into a melodramatic drama (At least for me it was melodramatic). I did not exactly like the FL's character later on. The story had good potential, but rather went into ashtrey due to poor writing and execution. Overall, I did not like the drama.Was this review helpful to you?
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Cringy and convoluted adaptation
Expectations were already high since this is my favorite manhwa. Not only did this drama drop the ball; they took a knife, stabbed it repeatedly, pushed it through a shredder, lit a fire and took a dump on it.The plot went completely sideways when they decided the drama needed the cliches of a typical historical drama; tyrant king forcing the cold duke to obey his senseless orders and turning the actual FL into the antagonist. That was most disappointing since I loved the friendship between the transmitigated FL and original FL, which is already a rare trope.
It's supposed to be a warm love story. The romance of the spunky, a little crazy Ripley who always charges head first and thinks entirely with her heart and the reserved Duke Zeronis who can't help hopelessly falling completely and utterly in love with her. Instead we got a cringy and helpless FL, face-cards only ML, and annoying side characters who add nothing to the story.
Don't even call it an adaptation of The First Night with the Duke, it does not even deserve that respect.
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It felt like two separate writers each wrote half of the drama
This one started out really fun, and I hoped that I would be in for some light comedy, which is so hard for Koreans to do, apparently. Suspending disbelief had to be suspended early on, and opportunities were missed. When the FL goes into the comic, there were SO many opportunities for laughs, except that she adapted to Joseon life without any apparent problems. It was cute though.I have to admit that I don't find Ok Taec Yeon very attractive (maybe it's the ears), but I have to give him props for being very charismatic. He's intense, but not emotionless, if that makes any sense. I enjoyed watching him.
I felt that the 2ML and the villain looked too much alike, and the 2nd and 3rd FL looked too much alike, so I spent a lot of time trying to figure out who was who.
About halfway through the show, the tone changed 180 degrees. It became dark, serious, tons of flashbacks, lots of fighting.
I felt that the ending was pretty anticlimactic.
I thought the chemistry between the leads was cute. Some good kisses. It was a nice change to have the ML be the virgin and the FL to be forward. I just wish it didn't always have to be because she was drunk.
I think if you go into this with very little expectation, you might enjoy it.
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