Enjoyable Watch
The King: Eternal Monarch follows Lee Gon, the King of the Kingdom of Corea, who opens a gate to a parallel universe. There, he meets Jeong Tae-eul, a police officer from the Republic of Korea, whom he believes is the savior he has been searching for.
The drama actually has a very interesting premise. The directing is solid, the cinematography and production design are excellent, and while the CGI is noticeably weak in the early episodes, it improves in the later ones.
As for the script, I understand what writer Kim Eun-seok wanted to convey. The drama clearly has a story to tell and features decent world-building. However, it introduces too many characters from the start, palace staff in Corea, Tae-eul’s friends, the police squad, and various swapped individual which makes the story feel crowded. The police investigation subplot is also rather boring. Pacing is another issue, as the story sometimes drags or feels uneven.
The romance, in particular, feels underdeveloped. Because the drama spends so much time on the sci-fi elements, parallel worlds, and palace conflicts, the love story becomes secondary. While it would have been fine if the romance had been well-developed, that wasn’t the case here. I couldn’t really feel how Lee Gon and Tae-eul progressed from strangers to lovers who deeply long for each other. Lee Min-ho and Kim Go-eun gave strong performances and I believe they shared good chemistry, but the emotional connection still felt lacking.
What I love the most was Woo Do-hwan’s acting as the two doppelgangers. He made each character distinctly different through his speech patterns, body language, and small details. Some of the drama’s best comedic moments come from the interactions between Yeong and Eun-seop. I also really enjoyed the bromance between Yeong and Lee Gon.
Overall, I started with low expectation and end up enjoying it.
The drama actually has a very interesting premise. The directing is solid, the cinematography and production design are excellent, and while the CGI is noticeably weak in the early episodes, it improves in the later ones.
As for the script, I understand what writer Kim Eun-seok wanted to convey. The drama clearly has a story to tell and features decent world-building. However, it introduces too many characters from the start, palace staff in Corea, Tae-eul’s friends, the police squad, and various swapped individual which makes the story feel crowded. The police investigation subplot is also rather boring. Pacing is another issue, as the story sometimes drags or feels uneven.
The romance, in particular, feels underdeveloped. Because the drama spends so much time on the sci-fi elements, parallel worlds, and palace conflicts, the love story becomes secondary. While it would have been fine if the romance had been well-developed, that wasn’t the case here. I couldn’t really feel how Lee Gon and Tae-eul progressed from strangers to lovers who deeply long for each other. Lee Min-ho and Kim Go-eun gave strong performances and I believe they shared good chemistry, but the emotional connection still felt lacking.
What I love the most was Woo Do-hwan’s acting as the two doppelgangers. He made each character distinctly different through his speech patterns, body language, and small details. Some of the drama’s best comedic moments come from the interactions between Yeong and Eun-seop. I also really enjoyed the bromance between Yeong and Lee Gon.
Overall, I started with low expectation and end up enjoying it.
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