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This review may contain spoilers
Easily One of the Worst Romantic Series I've Ever Seen!
100 Days My Prince? Even 10 days is far too long to have to deal with two of the most pathetically unromantic people I’ve seen in recent memory. Screenwriter Noh Ji Sul must have had a brain aneurysm when she put this farce of a story together. It’s about as “romantic” as watching an automobile accident. And that’s what this entire story feels like: a bad accident.
I have to wonder about Korean history as it seems that nearly every single K-Drama I’ve watched involves a king who is an absolute incompetent moron. He has no guards. He has no support, nor does he even know how to utilize the resources that are so obviously at his disposal. Conversely, there is also always some “First Minister/First Premier” who craves power and seeks to undermine the king. Is this truly the only scenario that Korean writers see and use for such stories? Repetition quickly becomes tiresome. And Noh Ji Sul’s feeble attempts are beyond tiresome!
Here, we have a somewhat ridiculous premise: Prince Yi Yul is summoned to a rain ritual (yeah, don’t even get me started on that one!), and, of course, he’s ambushed. He conveniently strikes his head on a rock and his found by Yun, a local villager who nurses him back to health in order to fulfill a silly edict, issued by the Prince himself: all bachelors and spinsters are required to get married or get flogged 100 times. Now under the guise of Won Deuk, as he doesn’t remember who he is, the Prince is forced to marry Yun’s daughter, Hong Sim, who is a noble woman also living under another identity after her father was murdered years ago by the current First Premier, Kim Chae-Eon, who is the mastermind behind all of the manipulations that are going on.
Won Deuk and Hong Sim live a precarious life together as a forced married couple. Never mind that they don’t sleep together (after all, the integrity of both must be kept intact until the final reveal), and they scarcely act like a married couple at all. Nobody in the entire village catches onto Won Deuk’s obvious noble upbringing in his speech and mannerisms. The only one who knows is Yun because the Prince was in his bodyguard’s attire when he was found. Meanwhile, Hong Sim is searching for her brother, whom she hasn’t seen in years, and the Crown Princess happens to be pregnant with another man’s baby. Of course, Kim Chae-Eon is trying to keep all of these “balls” in the air while trying to remedy the mess. The last thing he wants is for the Prince to come back, and when he does, after finding out about his lost memories, hopes to use and manipulate him.
It isn’t difficult at all to piece this shabby puzzle together, as we already know that Hong Sim’s brother is the father of the Crown Princess’s baby. The whole thing plays off like a bad episode of “The Young and the Restless,” leaving the viewer to wonder what else can be thrown in with the kitchen sink.
Perhaps the silliest gimmick used was during the final episode when the reveal comes out. Finally free of Kim Chae-Eon, the Prince finally has Hong Sim, right? Of course, not! Why would things be wrapped up too soon? Instead, she begs him to forget the past, as she feels responsible for all of the pain and turmoil he’s suffered. However, she conveniently chooses to NOT let go of the past herself. Such is the sound advice of a truly pathetic hypocrite and a coward. Don’t worry, it gets worse. The Prince, after a year, returns to the village to try and convince Hong Sim to marry him again, and again, she refuses. He asks her to find some books that he conveniently dropped and to return them to him. Of course, these are his diaries, and, of course, she sits down to read them. So, I guess what’s written down is far more important than a man’s spoken word? I was already tired of this silly escapade when this drivel came around! And, of course, she finally accepts him in the most pathetically ridiculous manner I’ve seen in a long time. I guess Noh Ji Sul really had no clue what she was doing.
We also get another ridiculous premise. One of the Prince’s closest allies, Jung Jae Yun conveniently suffers from “Face Blindness,” and yet, he’s always able to recognize the Prince under his guise of Won Deuk, even when Won Deuk doesn’t speak?! The stupid gimmicks for this series just kept coming, which is always indicative of a poor writer. The series is literally riddled with such poor plot devices.
When Hong Sim’s brother is finally killed by assassins, Hong Sim goes to look for him, and yet, she somehow (without being told) knows where to look for him?!
It’s bad enough that the story and plot are carried out so poorly, but then you have two of the worst acting performances to make sure it’s even worse!
Doh Kyung Soo is obviously trying to give the Prince a very haughty and high-mannered personality. However, what we get is a man who speaks robotically without any personality whatsoever! The trick is to make an arrogant character likable, and he fails miserably! Take TV icons like Sheldon from “Big Bang Theory” or Alex Keaton from “Family Ties.” Both were extremely arrogant, but the actors knew how to make those characters likable. Doh Kyung Soo succeeds in giving us a vain, rude, and overbearing Prince with virtually no redeeming qualities at all. The man needs acting lessons!
Nam Ji Hyun is almost as bad with Hong Sim. She’s got to be one of the most undesirable women ever put to screen. She acts like a little girl half of the time. Even Nam Ji Hyun’s voice sounds like a 12-year-old girl speaking! It’s unnervingly irritating! She rarely smiles, and she’s never grateful for anything at all. It’s bad enough that her father whines and cries like an old woman in just about every scene he’s in. It’s also a fact that Nam Ji Hyun and Doh Kyung Soo have absolutely zero chemistry together. They’ve also got to be the worst kissing couple I’ve ever seen. If you don’t like doing kissing scenes, then pick projects that don’t have them! Hong Sim is also a cowardly hypocrite, which makes her about as appealing as a piece of used tissue paper.
Han So Hee is a vastly superior actress, and she should have been given the role of Hong Sim. And conversely, Kim Seon Ho is also a much better actor than Doh Kyung Soo, and he should have also been given the lead role of the Prince. These two would have been an infinitely superior job, given that they both outshone the lead actors (not that that was hard to do!) of this series. The only actor who stood out was Cho Seong Ha (Kim Chae-Eon), whose masterful performance was wasted.
This is easily one of the worst romantic series I’ve seen in a very long time. Trust me, you don’t want to spend even 1 day with this farce of a series!
I have to wonder about Korean history as it seems that nearly every single K-Drama I’ve watched involves a king who is an absolute incompetent moron. He has no guards. He has no support, nor does he even know how to utilize the resources that are so obviously at his disposal. Conversely, there is also always some “First Minister/First Premier” who craves power and seeks to undermine the king. Is this truly the only scenario that Korean writers see and use for such stories? Repetition quickly becomes tiresome. And Noh Ji Sul’s feeble attempts are beyond tiresome!
Here, we have a somewhat ridiculous premise: Prince Yi Yul is summoned to a rain ritual (yeah, don’t even get me started on that one!), and, of course, he’s ambushed. He conveniently strikes his head on a rock and his found by Yun, a local villager who nurses him back to health in order to fulfill a silly edict, issued by the Prince himself: all bachelors and spinsters are required to get married or get flogged 100 times. Now under the guise of Won Deuk, as he doesn’t remember who he is, the Prince is forced to marry Yun’s daughter, Hong Sim, who is a noble woman also living under another identity after her father was murdered years ago by the current First Premier, Kim Chae-Eon, who is the mastermind behind all of the manipulations that are going on.
Won Deuk and Hong Sim live a precarious life together as a forced married couple. Never mind that they don’t sleep together (after all, the integrity of both must be kept intact until the final reveal), and they scarcely act like a married couple at all. Nobody in the entire village catches onto Won Deuk’s obvious noble upbringing in his speech and mannerisms. The only one who knows is Yun because the Prince was in his bodyguard’s attire when he was found. Meanwhile, Hong Sim is searching for her brother, whom she hasn’t seen in years, and the Crown Princess happens to be pregnant with another man’s baby. Of course, Kim Chae-Eon is trying to keep all of these “balls” in the air while trying to remedy the mess. The last thing he wants is for the Prince to come back, and when he does, after finding out about his lost memories, hopes to use and manipulate him.
It isn’t difficult at all to piece this shabby puzzle together, as we already know that Hong Sim’s brother is the father of the Crown Princess’s baby. The whole thing plays off like a bad episode of “The Young and the Restless,” leaving the viewer to wonder what else can be thrown in with the kitchen sink.
Perhaps the silliest gimmick used was during the final episode when the reveal comes out. Finally free of Kim Chae-Eon, the Prince finally has Hong Sim, right? Of course, not! Why would things be wrapped up too soon? Instead, she begs him to forget the past, as she feels responsible for all of the pain and turmoil he’s suffered. However, she conveniently chooses to NOT let go of the past herself. Such is the sound advice of a truly pathetic hypocrite and a coward. Don’t worry, it gets worse. The Prince, after a year, returns to the village to try and convince Hong Sim to marry him again, and again, she refuses. He asks her to find some books that he conveniently dropped and to return them to him. Of course, these are his diaries, and, of course, she sits down to read them. So, I guess what’s written down is far more important than a man’s spoken word? I was already tired of this silly escapade when this drivel came around! And, of course, she finally accepts him in the most pathetically ridiculous manner I’ve seen in a long time. I guess Noh Ji Sul really had no clue what she was doing.
We also get another ridiculous premise. One of the Prince’s closest allies, Jung Jae Yun conveniently suffers from “Face Blindness,” and yet, he’s always able to recognize the Prince under his guise of Won Deuk, even when Won Deuk doesn’t speak?! The stupid gimmicks for this series just kept coming, which is always indicative of a poor writer. The series is literally riddled with such poor plot devices.
When Hong Sim’s brother is finally killed by assassins, Hong Sim goes to look for him, and yet, she somehow (without being told) knows where to look for him?!
It’s bad enough that the story and plot are carried out so poorly, but then you have two of the worst acting performances to make sure it’s even worse!
Doh Kyung Soo is obviously trying to give the Prince a very haughty and high-mannered personality. However, what we get is a man who speaks robotically without any personality whatsoever! The trick is to make an arrogant character likable, and he fails miserably! Take TV icons like Sheldon from “Big Bang Theory” or Alex Keaton from “Family Ties.” Both were extremely arrogant, but the actors knew how to make those characters likable. Doh Kyung Soo succeeds in giving us a vain, rude, and overbearing Prince with virtually no redeeming qualities at all. The man needs acting lessons!
Nam Ji Hyun is almost as bad with Hong Sim. She’s got to be one of the most undesirable women ever put to screen. She acts like a little girl half of the time. Even Nam Ji Hyun’s voice sounds like a 12-year-old girl speaking! It’s unnervingly irritating! She rarely smiles, and she’s never grateful for anything at all. It’s bad enough that her father whines and cries like an old woman in just about every scene he’s in. It’s also a fact that Nam Ji Hyun and Doh Kyung Soo have absolutely zero chemistry together. They’ve also got to be the worst kissing couple I’ve ever seen. If you don’t like doing kissing scenes, then pick projects that don’t have them! Hong Sim is also a cowardly hypocrite, which makes her about as appealing as a piece of used tissue paper.
Han So Hee is a vastly superior actress, and she should have been given the role of Hong Sim. And conversely, Kim Seon Ho is also a much better actor than Doh Kyung Soo, and he should have also been given the lead role of the Prince. These two would have been an infinitely superior job, given that they both outshone the lead actors (not that that was hard to do!) of this series. The only actor who stood out was Cho Seong Ha (Kim Chae-Eon), whose masterful performance was wasted.
This is easily one of the worst romantic series I’ve seen in a very long time. Trust me, you don’t want to spend even 1 day with this farce of a series!
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