K-Drama 
Disappointing
Interesting plot which may have worked better as a movie. However, for me, the main plot was lost with the distracting nudity and sex thrown in with the secondary characters which was unnecessary. The lead characters then would have then had time to establish more connection and desire before their intimate scene. Without it, it comes off as cheap and trashy. 🤷🏼♀️Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A capable woman doesn’t require a diminished man.
Strong opening, then disappointing. The Shen family women’s death scene and the identity swap were great. After that, it’s downhill.It uses a historical lens when it benefits her stakes (treason means wiping out the whole clan) and swaps to a modern lens when it needs her to win (she slaps the hell out of him in front of his family at the wedding, withholds sex, acts as a lawyer, and so on). Without the lens change, the slap, the withholding, and the defense of the abused wife would have earned her, at the very minimum, a beating. He didn’t have to be softened to make her strong. A capable woman doesn’t require a diminished man.
The Lins broke the engagement because standing with a family condemned for treason would have gotten them killed too. What were they supposed to do? The show treats it as Jinqi’s fault and a moral failure of the Lin family, and as her reason, other than the arranged marriage (another jump to a modern lens), for her actions.
It’s also very unevenly paced. Painfully slow at points, then it jumps ahead years. I thought I had skipped an episode when she finally relented on consummation. After 30-something episodes of making a point of her withholding, don’t we deserve to see her decision to change her mind? (I don’t mean the act itself).
Finally, it’s billed as a romance. That’s intellectually dishonest. The couple is mostly there to make a point. I’ll give it credit for showing just how bad things were by modern standards, but that isn’t what I started watching for.
I like the actor and actress. They did a good job. My criticism is of the structure of the drama itself.
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A sageuk masterpiece worthy of respect.
The Red Sleeve is a sageuk that understands the difference between a love story and a fairy tale.Watch it if you want historical romance with actual gravity and great performances. Be prepared for an ending that won’t flatter you. Some stories are beautiful because they are complete. This one is beautiful because it is true enough to hurt.
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