Meru

Great Joseon-era drama filled with hot men

First of all, this was my first, full Joseon-era drama I have ever watched so I was really impressed with the production quality, costumes, and the beautiful sets that were chosen.
The storyline was so well-thought of, from beginning to end with so much drama and intrigue, as well as romance, comic relief and sadness!
The cast was star-studded and there were so many hot male characters I didn’t know where to look at! 😂😂😂

The characters/actors:
I love Park Eun-bin and she naturally did not disappoint in this role either. The way she played the King was remarkable! She proved once again that she can take any role. When I first saw the adult version of the King played by Eun-bin I was like “Oh wow she is sooo handsome!!” 🤯
As the character of the King, she initially displayed her cold, heartless side but slowly softened up throughout the drama. Sometimes it was so sad to watch her long for her femininity whenever they went to the market places 🥺

Then there was Ro Woon!!! I now understand the hype around him! This was my first drama of his I watched and omg I have definitely been missing out!!! He is so handsome like how!!???? as if an artist drew him! I am seriously obsessed with the way his face looks like 😍😍😍 also he looks a bit like Taehyung from BTS.
As for his character, Jung Ji-un he was such a cuutie!!!!! From his first appearance on he was interesting! His love for the king and his friendship with Jaeun and the other scribes and teachers was very funny to watch. I loved to see how he was behaving when he realized he had feelings for the king without knowing that he was a woman 😂 I just loved the fact that he was the male lead.

Next, Lord Jaeun aka Hyun was my favorite character of the series 😍 He was so kind and smart and respectful to everyone, quite literally my dream man. It was a bit strange tbh that he was in love with his cousin 😅 But he realized that his feelings were wrong and acted accordingly which was again very remarkable. Also, I did not expect him to become the next King at the end of the drama. Actually, I thought he was gonna die while protecting the King or sth but I am really happy that he survived ☺️ I just wish he had a girl fall in love with him because he is HELLA FINE!!!! 😍😍😍

And of course, two of the most important characters, Court Lady Kim and Eunuch Bok-Dong were the pillars of this drama and the female lead. They might seem like mascot characters at the beginning but they actually had very crucial roles. Court Lady Kim was like her mother she never really had and the Eunuch was a replacement of her dead twin brother 🥺 They both gave her the warmth and support of a family she never experienced since her own family was just cold and distant all the time.

I really grew to like Kim Ga-on as well. At the beginning he was very misleading and we all thought he was a bad guy. But I love how he turned out to be the most loyal and skilled warrior to the King. And his little love story with Ju-Un’s friend was soooo cuteeee omg!!!! 🥹🥹🥹

One of the villains with a redemption arc was Commander Jung aka Ji-Un’s ruthless father. He was the roundest character of this drama! His character development and decisions were very unexpected. He reminded me of Snape in a way. Up until the moment Commander Yoon died partly because of him he was this evil commander doing all the dirty work for Lord Sangheon. But after his old friend’s death he started to change. His last scene with Ji-Un were sooo heartbreaking, I cried so much 😭😭😭 I an glad he got a redemption arc because he was a very skilled warrior that benefited the King greatly in the end (although they lost the battle).

And last but not least, Seo-un and Ha-Gyeong were quite interesting too. I loved how Seo-Un realized that Ji-Un had feelings for anothet and just how she could not marry the King for these reasons, she understood exactly how Ji-Un must be feeling. It was still very sad to see her suffer and hurt at the end and she cane to become one of my favorite characters as well.
Ha-Gyeong was so cute when she first fell in love with the King not knowing that she just fell in love with a woman 😂She was a little bit naive and clumsy at times but I really loved her character. I kind a wish she had more screentime or actually I was hoping she would fall in love with Jaeun but that did not happen sadly.

These were my favorite characters. Of course Lord Sangheon and the rest of the royal family were important too but I didnt really care about them. Sangheon was just an evil, manipulative old man who should have died earlier! I wish Ga-on had assassinated him earlier!
And then the Late King aka the father of the female lead was a character I don’t have much to say about. Him and the Queen Dowager were quite insignificant for me tbh. And then the most annoying characters were Lord Changun aka the uncle and Lord Wonsan aka Jaeun’s evil brother. I HATED them!!! especially the uncle!!!! They were probably even worse than Lord Sangheon.

As you noticed the characters in this drama were amazing! No character was abundant or useless. Everyone had a purpose even the very small minor characters. Loved how they were utilized to strengthen and keep the storyline moving.

Some pros and cons:

Pros:
1. Characters
2. Storyline
3. Soundtrack
4. A lot of handsome men
5. Sword fight choreos were on point
6. The ending was beautiful

Cons:
1. The episodes with the Ming guy were a bit strange and I still don’t know how that fit into the general plot.
2. Some things were left uncleared in the end for example what happened to Lord Wonsan, or whether Jaeun found out that the King was the twin and how they ended up switching their lives.

Not that many cons at all and very small minor ones.

Definitely a 10/10 watch for me!!! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

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Amazing start, Best games, disappointing ending

So basically, Squid Game 3 started off with a bang! The first two games were probably the best games in the Squid Games so far!!! especially the Hide and Seek Game has destroyed me!!! Not only because of the set up of the game which required the red players to kill the blue players, actively!!! basically, in order to survive, they had to commit murder!!! which was quite sick!!! And then the fact that so many crucial characters died in this game (we all know who we are the saddest about… 😭😭😭), and then the baby coming was just like “what?? seriously??” Tbh I still have mixed feelings about the baby but I will share my theory later.
One scene that was horrific as well was when the old mother had to kill her son!!! I guess most people will not understand the reason behind this but for my part I could totally understand her… first of all, no mother would want their children to become the murderer of a new mother. She probably thought that “instead of him killing someone else, I will free my son from this burden by killing him.” This aspect of the drama has shocked and intrigued me a lot!!! this point of view was insane and something I have never seen in any other movie or drama before. One of the most crucial scenes in this drama I think…
One tiny little thing I didn’t like about the Hide and Seek game was the fact that Gi-hun killed Dae-ho!!! He was mad at him and hunted him down bcs he thought his friend died bcs of Dae-ho. I felt really sad because in the end he just got scared which is a very humane reaction. I wish Gi-hun had killed the old greedy entrepreneur instead…

The jump rope game was crazy too!!!! not to mention the song omgggg!!!! Squid Game songs are always such bangers!!! And they kept getting better and better too!!!
Mingle in S2 was already great and ngl it would have been way mess fun without Thanos dancing to it 😂😂😂 But the jump rope song was next level!!! Kudos to the music producers of this season!

And, well the games and music are about it when it comes to the things I liked in this season!!!
After the junp rope game everything went downhill!!!

From the finalist to the end of the last game, everything was disappointing and left us feeling like “that was it?”

First of all, I hated the final players!!!! Idk why nobody could kill that old greedy fart!!! And apart from Minsu and player 333 who tf were the other guys???? They weren’t even that important!!! Why were they in the final???? I just don’t get it!!! I wish Thanos had not died but made it to the final game omg how fun that would have been!!!

Second, the fact that the police officer Junho doesn’t get any answers to his questions frustrated me soooo muchhhh!!!! Like, I understand that Gi-hun had to die and I do feel like his death in order to save the baby was symbolic. But I wished there was more of a conversation and exchange between the brothers aka Junho and the Frontman! And also I am still curious in what relationship the former Frontman, Il-nam stood to the new Frontman In-ho.

Then, what was that ending in America with Cate Blanchett as the new recruiter??? It definitely hinted on an American version of Squid Game coming up!!! and idk if i like it or not!!! And tbh, I genuinely feel like Squid Game might have had a different ending initially, before the success was so overwhelming and before netflix asked the director to split season 2 to two parts. I honestly think that the director was asked by Netflix to change the ending in a way that it still leaves room to play in case they want to film another version. And I guess thats why the story between the brothers was unresolved!

One thing at the end that I did like was No-Eul’s arc and how she rescued the father of the girl and then it even showed how she met them outside at the theme park again. That was a slightly happier moment from the otherwise depressing end.

I am also curious about what will happen to Junho and the baby and Gi-hun’s daughter.
If they make an American version, I assume that the frontman and Junho will be the only Korean characters from the original series, continuing their dispute in the American version… that’s my prediction…

My theory as to why the baby brought in to the games and why it survived is probably because of the following reasons: It could have a biblical / religious / spiritual meaning, highlighting the importance of new life and how it is worth risking so many people’s lives for a new life. Also, it showed the evilness of some or most of the remaining players and how the majority of them was ready to kill off an innocent baby instead of dying showed how the majority of the world, especially roch, old greedy men do not care about newborns, or children whatsoever and the reason why society is crumbling and why we do not have enough children on this earth anymore… Another point that was proven right by the frontman: greed as the driving motivator for the majority of humans when it should be the appreciation of new life. And I assume thats also why Gi-hun’s death was so symbolic! He who has also been driven by greed before he joined the games has realized that unlike himself, most people will never stop to be greedy for money. Although he did change, he realized that that’s not the case for the majority of humans…

In general it’s a good watch but the ending is very messy and disappointing…

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Great story with a few plotholes

After 2 years I have finally managed to watch this drama! It’s been hyped a lot and I understand it. The story is very captivating, their romance is bittersweet and swoony. The soundtrack is among the best I have seen in a K-Drama so far. And obviously, the cast is stellar! Especially Byeon Woo-Seok is out of this world!!!! His yearning gaze full of love, longing and sadness got me in my feels while watching this drama too.

The cinematography and color editing of this drama was so beautiful! Especially when it was set in the past! It reminded me a lot of 25 21, especially at the beginning of the drama.

There were quite a lot of funny, laugh-out-loud moments as well! Melon Musk absolutely KILLED me 😂😂😂 Can never get over this phrase 😂😂😂

Now to some things that bothered me and kept me from rating this drama a 10/10:

1. What was with the serial killer thing??? It made no sense whatsoever! Also his background was not explained at all. Why was he after Sol? Just a coincidence?? It all felt so random to me that I couldn’t quite get excited about the kidnapping scenes…

2. When Sungjae is being stabbed by the killer and falls off the cliff and dies, the drama spins to the future / current time and somehow it seemed like she said that “it has been years since Sun-Jae had died but I was still trying ti live a normal life” or sth like that. It seemed to me that Sunjae had died but in reality she went back in time one last time and changed the past in a way that they had never met so he wouldn’t die for her… I found that a bit confusing and I think they could have done a better job explaining it…

3. The second couple aka her brother and bestie was sooooo annoying and useless! Did we really need all those annoying scenes?? 😖😖😖 I cringef everytime I had to watch them. Or just any scene her brother was in! He was SO annoying!!!! I wished Hyeon-ju had gotten together with Bae In-hyeok instead 😅😅😅

In general I liked the drama but I think it could have been shorter without the serial killer plotline and the secondary couple scenes…

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