Thomas Safik

The pairing was SOOO GOOD, which honestly made my disappointment harder because the script was kinda mid. YK, I’m just tired of how most Joseon dramas keep using the exact same story formula we've seen hundred times already. Why are writers so scared of making a proper characters centric drama? with less politcs ofc. I get that politics are necessary in this setting, but I really wish they focused more on emotional drama, more slice of life, and actual character development. (this was my suggestion for future saeguk kdrama tho)

The body-swap plot and the red string fate concept had so much potential, but it wasn’t explored deeply enough. There were a lot of errors in this plot (I’m too lazy to list them all 😭), but the biggest issue for me was how almost no one noticed the body swap. Their mannerisms were literally switched, yet only the aunt seemed to realized. It just ridiculous and kind of lazy, like the trope existed only to keep the story moving rather than to add anything more.

Another thing that really bothered me was how everything was shown so EXPLICITLY. The grief, the storytelling, the emotions, the dialogue, everything was shoved in my fkin face. There was no space for the audience to sit with the characters’ pain or process things emotionally. Korean drama writers seriously need to put down this obsession with over explaining and let the story speak for itself. On top of that, the pacing didn’t help either. The middle episodes dragged so hard they almost made me lose it, but visually the drama actually had a lot of beautiful shots that I loved.

The supporting characters also felt underdeveloped and wasted. And honestly, fuck the king! He was embarrassingly useless for someone with that much power. The Left State Minister having insane plot armor was frustrating too, and I know I wasn’t the only one annoyed by it. Also, I’m sorry but Hong Su Zu literally cannot act… why does she keep getting cast?

What truly carried this drama to the end for me was Kang Tae Oh and Kim Se Jeong’s chemistry. Their acting was phenomenal, especially how they mimicked each other’s mannerisms, the way they smiled and interacted felt so natural. That was the main reason I stayed till the end. I also appreciated the long epilogue! This should honestly be a standard in K-dramas because most of them rush the ending way too much, while this one actually took its time.

And maybe I’m losing my mind, but I lowkey wished they kept Dal dead 😭 I feel like it would’ve given the ending a stronger emotional weight if u learn their story. The actual ending felt very template and mid, but… I guess I was still okay with it.

Maaf agak panjang review drakor biasanya ga sebanyak ini yg aku komplain :( soalnya emang uda excited bgt pas pengumuman cast cuz they're my fave bahkan nonton ongoing juga perminggunya. Suka di episode awal tapi lama-lama aku jadi ga connect sama ceritanya.