Perfect Crown

K-drama is back with this one!

Perfect Crown is not based on any novel but since its been a while since a K-drama has worked in the romance department, especially an old-fashioned rom-com, the kind that K-drama was so good at at one point, I thought I’d talk a bit about it. I've also posted a video review about it on my youtube channel.

FL / HEEJOO:

Centering around a constitutional monarchy system that exists within a democracy with an elected prime minister, cabinet etc. this has the right mix of everything. IU is sensational as SONG HEE-JOO, she heads a K-beauty brand and is one of the richest people in the country. She’s the ultimate no-nonsense hustler who knows how to generate buzz and sell products. The company is successful because of her but her father never liked her and favors his incompetent son because he was born from his legal wife, while Heejoo is the illegitimate daughter from a mistress who was forced on her father at 10. She has had to work really hard to get everything in life, was a brilliant student and is used to people ridiculing her or talking badly about her because of her background. She feels that she needs to marry up or someone from a noble background to fatten her chances of becoming heir to her father’s business empire, she lacks social status, and that’s how she proposes the prince, current regent of the royal family.

ML/PRINCE YI-AHN:

Prince YiAhn is regent because the current majesty, his nephew, is 8 years old. Prince’s job in this drama is to look dreamy eye-candy and if you go past the fillers on his face, he does a commendable job of looking dreamy eye-candy. And he is carrying himself with enough aloofness to look like unattainable royalty. He has a far more complicated backstory than heejoo. He suffers from his own daddy issues - I don’t know why his father was so disapproving of hi other than the fact that he was not crown prince and was no.2 and his job was to support his father and brother and that’s it. He has status but has no money of his own - being taxpayer funded and all, and has to follow rigid royal rules with no personal freedom - but he does act out every now and then. There’s a huge responsibility on his shoulders. All of the members of his immediate family have died under strange circumstances. His mom, then-queen, died in a car accident. His father, a middle-aged man died of a heart attack. His brother crown prince didn’t want to marry the woman who became his wife but felt compelled or duty-bound to do so. His wife is a real piece of work, born in a family that has produced 4 generations of queens, she believes in blue-bloodedness, pedigree, and lineage, what her manner and dialogues reveal is racism, not elitism. She believes in hereditary rights of ascent, hard work makes no difference to her, a person’s accident of birth is more important. The drama has set up an eventual showdown between her and heejoo by this comical dialogue by prince’s aide who wonders out loud ‘who will win between the two’?

BASIC MYSTERY:

The brother died in a mysterious fire (he also wanted to abdicate and was stopped by his wife/Queen). His wife is now Queen Mother and her son 8 year old cutie is His Majesty but male lead prince is the one tasked to represent monarchy and government for e.g. charity or diplomatic functions, meeting dignitaries etc. and the poor king is happier around him than around his own mother.

Queen Mother is always afraid that Prince YiAhn is going to overshadow or overtake her son. I think her father is behind all the killings in the royal family, but maybe it could be someone who wants to abolish the monarchy? At the end of Ep. 4 there was even an attempt on heejoo’s life (someone had tinkered with her car’s brakes) - there’s even a princess diana reference who of course died in a car crash- so maybe someone does not want Prince Yi-Ahn’s side of the family to have any power, other than Queen Mother?

But Queen mother’s father is extremely suspicious. And Queen mother does herself no favors by being a mean overbearing byotch. As a young widow, she is planning an arranged marriage for Prince Yi-Ahn, and I was like, why isn’t someone thinking of getting her married again? There’s also a bit of a hint of maybe she’s over-obsessed with who he ends up with, as if she at one point liked him or rejected him.

As for the royal rules, they are not that bad considering that there is a threat to monarchy, especially after that car scene where brakes failed, in which the poor 8-year old king was not supposed to be in an unsanctioned car.
Btw, this is the prime minister, who is best friends with both heejoo and Prince yi-ahn. So light-hearted fare.

ROMANCE:

As for the romance, they don’t need to 'speed it up' - a reference you’ll understand if you are watching the show [4 episodes have been aired so far]. The drama has found the nice balance of modern monarchy which still has rigid internal rules and mystic.

WHAT KIND OF ENDING WOULD BE PERFECT FOR BOTH FL & ML:

And apart from the mystery of the fire and other deaths, the drama has to come up with the right kind of ending - heejoo will never leave her company / girl boss position to be just a royal - the only reason she wanted to marry a royal is to get control of the company and prince yi-ahn needs to figure out whether he wants to remain a royal or what kind of modern royal he can be within the dyanstic system. The first 4 episodes reminded me of good old-fashioned kdramas which used to have the right mix of the main leads relationship, over-the-top family drama, a bit of comedy, a bit of tragedy, a bit of fashion and a bit of high-stakes life and death mystery and decision. Visually everything is pretty and fluff but it does have repeat value. Basically who doesN’t want to see heejoo win?

Since this has 12 episodes, it will be over before you know it. Should’ve been 16 episode drama like the good old days or broken down to 2 seasons considering all the production budget? Because it's a good fun drama. Do check out my review on youtube too.

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Light but tugs at your heart… I love a bit of cliches reawaken kdrama era

The headline sums it all up but here are the key points…
- The story is refreshing from all the countryside kdramas, dark themes, action and other genres that are released in subscription platforms (eg. netflix). It’s been a while since I’ve watched this type of story and I’m eating it all up and currently impatiently waiting for all the episodes to be released. In my take, kdrama moved away from all the cliche tropes and it lost its spark midway. I cannot pinpoint exactly where they went wrong but this drama saved it. In fact, I’ve been watching cdramas nowadays but this one broke my streak…. What a refreshing one!!!
- actors? Need I say much? Both are phenomenal in their own ways. And deym that long legs of Bws.. nothing can top that for me 🤣
- Music is fine.. we’ll see if there will be an ost that will pique my interest.
- Rewatch value… hmmm I’m not into rewatching dramas even tho I really loved it except for the really old ones the og ones so for me it’s just in the middle.
- Overall, this is a MUST watch drama. Saved the kdrama industry. Disney+ is onto something on their line up this time ✅💯

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Worth the subscription

I’m quite content so far. The energetic opening music signals the thrilling episode that lies ahead. The cast demonstrate the required composure and transparency befitting for their rank in society. I have rewatched each episode so far and enjoy watching the story unfold despite my eagerness to learn the truth behind each character. IU’s brash FL must blaze her own trail among peers who have every advantage in life and still want the deck stacked in their favor. In contrast, BWS must deliver a closely guarded performance as the second prince conditioned to suppress his ambitions and feelings in support of the crown above all.

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Somewhat Original Concept ruined by the Lack of Chemistry

The look of the show, the beautiful leads and the fashion were great. It almost put me in the mind of The King Eternal Monarch, especially the look of the royals’ palaces etc., almost. The idea of a modern-day monarch with no power but a requirement to still follow ancient protocols sounded intriguing especially when a wealthy commoner would step into the picture to upset the status quo.

The story was set up nicely with a dramatic party and intriguing mystery from the past. The first meeting between the leads was perfectly executed with sparks flying between the two. So great start! Unfortunately, the story slowed to a crawl and the leads subsequent encounters did not exhibit the same fire. They had some great scenes that should’ve fueled the original spark that flashed between them but there was just nothing there. The chemistry died between them and I’m not sure why. With each interaction I found their “romance” less and less believable and actually begin to see an organic connection between her and the SML – the Prime Minister.

The acting was passable in this, but not great. IU is good at playing self-important, but when it came to exhibiting real emotions she just couldn’t pull it off. Additionally, with the storyline kind of dropping off and not being that engaging and the lack of chemistry between the leads, the episodes began to drag, and their 90-minute run times did not help. The more I watched the more I found I just could not and did not care about these characters and their romance. It’s a shame because the look of the show is fantastic and all of the actors and wardrobe are beautiful. But I just didn’t care enough to continue. So I ended up dropping this.

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I started Perfect Crown because I was honestly curious about all the hate I’ve been seeing… and I don’t get it at all. The drama is actually so good. I’ve been in a K-drama slump for years, like I can’t even finish one episode without getting distracted. But this? I ended up watching two episodes in one sitting, which says a lot considering my attention span 😭
Both leads delivered. IU is, as expected, so good. She brings so much nuance and emotion to her character without overdoing it, she's fierce and so beautiful, that I have to take screenshots some of the scene 😌 And Byeon Wooseok really understood Lee Ahn his performance is controlled and layered, fitting a composed, repressed, and tragic prince perfectly.
The story is also fast-paced, which I love. It doesn’t drag, and it keeps you engaged the whole time.
Honestly, I feel like some of the criticism is coming from people who either haven’t watched it properly or don’t understand the characters. Because once you actually watch it in context, everything makes sense.
I’m seated for this drama

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was invested at first but then...lost interest?

Modern royal monarchy plots was something that has not been done for sooo many years. I think the last drama I saw was King 2 hearts and Princess Hours years ago, so I was really excited for this show! Overall the show is still good but only issue is that it doesnt leave any emotional connection.

So with the initial setup of SHJ's character I thought that wow once she moves in shes gonna bring havoc to the palace. I was looking forward to this portion cause its usually the comedic relief part. But they took so long going in circles and circles regarding their marriage thing that in the end they only got married towards the end of the drama...

The scene where she was playing with the king, making a change to the palace atmosphere is what I hoped to see more so we could connect with the characters....

Personally wasnt a fan of some of the styling items for BWS cause it didnt really give him the Prince aura. They went with the concept of yes he is in a very high position but actually he has no authority vibes. But then towards the end suddenly everyone is listening to him...

I enjoyed the start of the drama, IU's acting felt very confident and I liked how she was extremely proud of her achievements and you could tell she is really very good at what she does.

Visuals and OSTs were good as well~ yeah so in the end it was just lack of attachment (maybe due to shorter number of eps?)

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Shiny outside....messy inside!

Let me tell you the truth...I was extremely excited when they announced Perfect Crown,specially with IU and Byun Wooseok. I can trust IU after her fantastic script choices like My Mister and When Life Gives You Tangerines. And BWS has been an absolute sweetheart,and the way his career graph rose after Lovely Runner, been so happy to be a witness of that. So Perfect Crown was a fantastic opportunity to bring two of my favs together.

But...my oh my the way all my excitements went to drain after the episodes started to air. They had IU,BWS,catchy cinematography, shiny sets,eye catching entry of the leads,some good supporting casts and all the love from the fans.
But they lacked the most important things for a drama,some good chemistry between the leads,good development of the story,world building,character depths and overall a good ending of all the plotholes.

One thing I realised,IU shines the most in slice of life dramas. Romcom isn’t still her forte,most of the time her eye roles and unpleasant facial expressions were annoying. And her character was somehow shallow too....idk,a rich cinderella shouting on everyone cause of her issues with her father....and then going for a fake marriage with the prince who is ofcourse,already in love with her for YEARS but never made a move until she did...yeah,understandable ig. BWS has always been a pretty faced handsome actor and they used it well by introducing him as bare bodied,showering. But when these two met..there was very little spark. Idk whose fault was that,but there was very little chemistry in the whole show. Even their secretaries had better natural chemistry than these two.

And when you are working on such sensitive plot like the coexistence of monarchy and constituency, it becomes complex. 12 episodes can never do justice to this. The characters lacked depth and their motives were barely touched. I mean.... The PM of the country,such a high reputable status,kept burning the palace cause he can't accept his childhood crush, to whom he never confessed,marrying the Prince.... Isn’t it funny??? Give the characters some time to breathe, let them develop a proper motive,let their actions have some real issue of conflicts.

Also silly plotlines like that car accident... Only for giving the prince a HERO moment before his lover...instead of working on many plotholes like why the late king hated his son,what was the conflict between the prince and his late brother,how did their fake marriage contract got exposed,who sabotaged huijoos car,why there wasn’t any fire extinguisher in the palace when the same place got burned three times..... I lost count actually. They could make such a great drama with proper backstories,characters properly talking, without abrupt cuts if they made it at least 16 episodes.What a waste of potential. And that rushed ending just sealed the deal for me.Didn’t understand where did the PM go,why he just got vanished after his final confrontation with the prince. Also the whole thing about the abolishment of monarchy seemed like something they made up the last moment without any proper buildup or preparations only to give the drama an ending.

One character that shined the most even with intense complexity with her role was Queen Dowager. Gong Seung Yeon nailed it. Her guilt about the late king,her complex relation with the prince,her fear,her protectiveness towards her son....everything was portrayed perfectly.

If you want a romcom without any sort of depth of plot,just eye catching visuals and pretty faces,you will enjoy it. Unfortunately for me,it was'nt anything great from IU or BWS.

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