Taepoong looks like a H.O.T member (Lol) before he is roped into being a CEO of his father company . It was the era of H.O.T & 'Star in My Heart '. I wonder whether there will be any famous Pop Cultural reference in the drama.
Personally , I love 'The Red Sleeve' more. 'The Red Sleeve' focuses on Royal Life & Duties Vs Responsibilities theme meanwhile 'My Dearest' focuses on struggles of ordinary families & peasants during difficult times.
'The Red Sleeve' is based on the novel 'The Red Sleeve Cuff' by author KMG and it is about King Jeongjo & Consort Uibin Seong stories (& their love story) Since it is based on Real Life events, some events are not explained in details in the series because all Koreans know their history well (because King Jeongjo was a great King) but it can cause confusion in non Korean fans while watching.
I had already watched 'Six Flying Dragons' 'Dong Yi' 'The Throne' 'Yi San :Wind of the Palace' before 'The Red Sleeve' (so I knew the foundation of Joseon, Yi San Great grandma ,his father Sado story, King Jeongjo's greatness as a King) so I greatly enjoyed the series.
'The Red Sleeve' received 7 Baeksang nominations and male lead Lee Junho won 'Best Actor' for his portrayal . The series got 'Best Picture' & 'Best Director' award at APAN.
So to answer your questions , based on what you love in Chinese & K dramas, one will be better than the other. I do love to watch Royals & their struggles in the Palace. So, I ended up enjoying 'The Red Sleeve' more. Both are great Sageuks in their own ways.
I haven't watched it yet. But from the comments,I think people hoped to see LJW vibe in 'A shop for Killers' & they were disappointed because they didn't get this.
I know Junho will rock this style since he has been an idol for 17 years. But I am kinda curious how drama fans who met him though neat & dapper styles of Yi San (The Red Sleeve) & Gu Won (King The Land) will react though. (In Junho's instagram, the style was labelled as 1st half of Typhoon , the bad boy style may stay for the 1st half only).
Taepung's character: a rebellious child at the start ,later a dutiful son who tries to keep his dad's company sounds like a crossover between his JBL character Kang Doo & his TRS character Yi San ,both are my most fav ones out of his dramas which makes me kinda excited.
I am sure to take a photo on the King's Path if I ever have a chance to visit the Palace. I hadn't known about this path until it was mentioned in The Red Sleeve.
Director Jung Ji In (who is also amazing director of JN Star is born) did propose shooting 20 episodes to MBC . But MBC didn't accept the idea cause they didn't expect The Red Sleeve would be their first massive rating hit in 3 yrs ( like it did that time ) and would be a moderate international sensation( It was quite popular in Taiwan) . So MBC denied 20 episodes to cut costs.
(For the popularity,the good) There is a source novel . At the time of airing, one of Junho's generous fans translated the original novel to english,so Live Audience of mydramalist kinda understood the story more by reading the translated novel.
In Korea, the source novel is popular as well as it is the King's Jeongjo 's love story after all. He was the second most beloved king of Joseon, Yes , it was rare for a King to love a Consort that much . ( Waiting for Her, Loving Her only until she passed away ,built a memorial garden ) He might not be the best husband. But He tried to be in his own way.
From Deok Im's side, it is a feminist story like Geumyeong's story (When Life gives You Tangerines) in Joseon era.
If not for scriptwriter & MBC , The Red Sleeve might end up being the masterpiece as it should be. I blamed the scriptwriter for jarring the story. She should have cut down the episodes of senseless Court Lady's cult scheming story & added more of San's & Deok Im's married life after DI had become a consort. (The source novel did have many scenes)
In the novel, there were a lot of scenes with their young Crown Prince. He was First Born & Deok Im's son, but CP couldn't call her 'Mom' because it was Joseon's tradition for the King's son to be adopted by King's Official Queen ,so the San's Queen was his official mom. San (Jeongjo ) loved Deok Im, but he couldn't change tradition. But in their private moment, he allowed his son to call Deok Im mom.
They had one daughter after the little CP. DI was very happy cause unlike her first born son, her daughter didn't need to be given away to Queen ,but unfortunately the princess passed away after a few weeks which was tragic for Deok Im.
Also about Yeoung Hui in the novel, (you know 4 court ladies were tight close friends. When she saw how DI was happy with a family (with young CP) , she developed a desire to feel loved too. So ,when a man showed affection to her , she started her own romance. But the problem was all court ladies were considered to be 'The King's ladies' in the palace . Her friend Deok Im's husband was the King ,but in her case , her romance became an affair that deserved the death sentence for her which was the reality of court ladies that time. The young CP's death due to measles was also unfortunate. I would say Jeongjo losing his son, daughter & his beloved wife in her third pregnancy was the most unfortunate thing happened to him. But sometimes Life gave you too much lemon at the same time. If all these scenes appeared in the drama, the drama would better be explained in a sense.
In the drama, the female lead fell for male lead's leadership to his country & male lead fell for her loyalty. When he thought he would die, she was the person he wanted to see while she ran breathless just to save him. They were in love . She came to love him for his loyalty to his country and it was the very same reason she refused him because his dedication to his country was the reason he could not be a proper husband (the simple husband who could be hers only & all their children could call her 'Mom' freely ) .She was a free bird in mind & not belong to the King's Harem just to be a sitting duck. It was quite tragic that she wouldn't refuse him anymore after Queen Dowager's threat. (It was either to become the King's concubine for protection or sent far away from the palace(country) which meant she would never hear or see San again in her life).Both options were quite hard for her
But she chose him over her freedom in the end because she loved him that much. But he would never the extent of her love because he was a King. Their love was bittersweet because one felt caged to be close to the one she loved while the King would never understood that sacrifice due to their social differences. To be fair, she never confessed ,so he was never sure hers was Love or her loyalty.
Viewers came out mad either at San or Deok Im in some reviews, but this does point out sometimes love can't be perfect when there are social restraints.
If the scriptwriter could explore more on this aspect, the drama would be perfect which she failed to do so. Maybe this was why she wasn't Baeksang nominated. The drama decided to focus more on San (Jeongjo's story) more than in the novel , there was already a tonal shift in the drama from the source novel , but in the later part of the drama, I always felt she couldn't decide which parts she should take from the novel which caused jarring of the drama in the last few episodes.
Acting is personal taste , so fully respect your opinion. In my opinion, Director Jung Ji In & the Acting saved the drama Junho & Seyoung have that cute chemistry as the less responsible young Crown Prince & carefree young maid when they were younger.
When he became Jeongjo, the mood became heavy,and they have necessary angst push & pull kind of chemistry. Both leads played well in young & mature phase of their characters.
2 
which is the reason why I want to share it here. (2021 Magazine shoot actually ,but the original hair color was photoshopped into highlighted hair .)
https://x.com/letmedo_it/status/1948670339019669965?t=vm9tIUs-fWDEAVwPMBcJyA&s=19
Taepoong looks like a H.O.T member (Lol) before he is roped into being a CEO of his father company . It was the era of H.O.T & 'Star in My Heart '. I wonder whether there will be any famous Pop Cultural reference in the drama.
'The Red Sleeve' focuses on Royal Life & Duties Vs Responsibilities theme meanwhile 'My Dearest' focuses on struggles of ordinary families & peasants during difficult times.
'The Red Sleeve' is based on the novel 'The Red Sleeve Cuff' by author KMG and it is about King Jeongjo & Consort Uibin Seong stories (& their love story)
Since it is based on Real Life events, some events are not explained in details in the series because all Koreans know their history well (because King Jeongjo was a great King) but it can cause confusion in non Korean fans while watching.
I had already watched 'Six Flying Dragons' 'Dong Yi' 'The Throne' 'Yi San :Wind of the Palace' before 'The Red Sleeve' (so I knew the foundation of Joseon, Yi San Great grandma ,his father Sado story, King Jeongjo's greatness as a King) so I greatly enjoyed the series.
'The Red Sleeve' received 7 Baeksang nominations and male lead Lee Junho won 'Best Actor' for his portrayal . The series got 'Best Picture' & 'Best Director' award at APAN.
So to answer your questions , based on what you love in Chinese & K dramas, one will be better than the other.
I do love to watch Royals & their struggles in the Palace. So, I ended up enjoying 'The Red Sleeve' more.
Both are great Sageuks in their own ways.
So filming in Thailand took 10 Days
30 billion won invested by Netflix
https://m.blog.naver.com/a18382/223923963706
It is on ggonigone list of Netflix simultaneous broadcast. The source is mostly accurate.
But, yeah it needs official confirmation.
Source https://www.harpersbazaar.co.kr/article/1884367
https://x.com/ggonigone/status/1938477016631951746?s=19
https://x.com/ilovedlwnsghek/status/1938496182692810851?s=19
https://x.com/No_it_SWASWA/status/1929209214737481852?t=EOnFqQz7nYUkS-q9B10D8A&s=19
https://x.com/jlml718/status/1928479108331078053?t=GkcMjfWUP1l3sb__ADjN_g&s=19
In September & rumored to air simultaneously on Netflix
https://x.com/daisy_talks/status/1928329880204132608?s=19
https://x.com/daisy_talks/status/1916002879342604531?s=19
According to Junho's instagram post
https://www.instagram.com/p/DINYyoOvAiH/?igsh=MXN2dTF4emRsYWhmaw==
& poster, I have been thinking his style may be similar to Ahn Jae Wook's styling in 'Star in My Heart' 1997 which was an IMF era.
https://youtu.be/zB6g57JFblo?si=MabcmCkzmPQzCiRF
I know Junho will rock this style since he has been an idol for 17 years. But I am kinda curious how drama fans who met him though neat & dapper styles of Yi San (The Red Sleeve) & Gu Won (King The Land) will react though.
(In Junho's instagram, the style was labelled as 1st half of Typhoon , the bad boy style may stay for the 1st half only).
Taepung's character: a rebellious child at the start ,later a dutiful son who tries to keep his dad's company sounds like a crossover between his JBL character Kang Doo & his TRS character Yi San ,both are my most fav ones out of his dramas which makes me kinda excited.
Lovely article from yours.
So MBC denied 20 episodes to cut costs.
(For the popularity,the good)
There is a source novel . At the time of airing, one of Junho's generous fans translated the original novel to english,so Live Audience of mydramalist kinda understood the story more by reading the translated novel.
In Korea, the source novel is popular as well as it is the King's Jeongjo 's love story after all. He was the second most beloved king of Joseon, Yes , it was rare for a King to love a Consort that much . ( Waiting for Her, Loving Her only until she passed away ,built a memorial garden ) He might not be the best husband. But He tried to be in his own way.
From Deok Im's side, it is a feminist story like Geumyeong's story (When Life gives You Tangerines) in Joseon era.
If not for scriptwriter & MBC , The Red Sleeve might end up being the masterpiece as it should be.
I blamed the scriptwriter for jarring the story. She should have cut down the episodes of senseless Court Lady's cult scheming story & added more of San's & Deok Im's married life after DI had become a consort. (The source novel did have many scenes)
In the novel, there were a lot of scenes with their young Crown Prince. He was First Born & Deok Im's son, but CP couldn't call her 'Mom' because it was Joseon's tradition for the King's son to be adopted by King's Official Queen ,so the San's Queen was his official mom. San (Jeongjo ) loved Deok Im, but he couldn't change tradition. But in their private moment, he allowed his son to call Deok Im mom.
They had one daughter after the little CP. DI was very happy cause unlike her first born son, her daughter didn't need to be given away to Queen ,but unfortunately the princess passed away after a few weeks which was tragic for Deok Im.
Also about Yeoung Hui in the novel, (you know 4 court ladies were tight close friends. When she saw how DI was happy with a family (with young CP) , she developed a desire to feel loved too. So ,when a man showed affection to her , she started her own romance. But the problem was all court ladies were considered to be 'The King's ladies' in the palace . Her friend Deok Im's husband was the King ,but in her case , her romance became an affair that deserved the death sentence for her which was the reality of court ladies that time.
The young CP's death due to measles was also unfortunate.
I would say Jeongjo losing his son, daughter & his beloved wife in her third pregnancy was the most unfortunate thing happened to him. But sometimes Life gave you too much lemon at the same time.
If all these scenes appeared in the drama, the drama would better be explained in a sense.
In the drama, the female lead fell for male lead's leadership to his country & male lead fell for her loyalty. When he thought he would die, she was the person he wanted to see while she ran breathless just to save him. They were in love .
She came to love him for his loyalty to his country and it was the very same reason she refused him because his dedication to his country was the reason he could not be a proper husband (the simple husband who could be hers only & all their children could call her 'Mom' freely ) .She was a free bird in mind & not belong to the King's Harem just to be a sitting duck.
It was quite tragic that she wouldn't refuse him anymore after Queen Dowager's threat.
(It was either to become the King's concubine for protection or sent far away from the palace(country) which meant she would never hear or see San again in her life).Both options were quite hard for her
But she chose him over her freedom in the end because she loved him that much. But he would never the extent of her love because he was a King.
Their love was bittersweet because one felt caged to be close to the one she loved while the King would never understood that sacrifice due to their social differences. To be fair, she never confessed ,so he was never sure hers was Love or her loyalty.
Viewers came out mad either at San or Deok Im in some reviews, but this does point out sometimes love can't be perfect when there are social restraints.
If the scriptwriter could explore more on this aspect, the drama would be perfect which she failed to do so. Maybe this was why she wasn't Baeksang nominated.
The drama decided to focus more on San (Jeongjo's story) more than in the novel , there was already a tonal shift in the drama from the source novel , but in the later part of the drama, I always felt she couldn't decide which parts she should take from the novel which caused jarring of the drama in the last few episodes.
Acting is personal taste , so fully respect your opinion.
In my opinion, Director Jung Ji In & the Acting saved the drama
Junho & Seyoung have that cute chemistry as the less responsible young Crown Prince & carefree young maid when they were younger.
When he became Jeongjo, the mood became heavy,and they have necessary angst push & pull kind of chemistry.
Both leads played well in young & mature phase of their characters.