Big Cat Unnie

Actually, as much as people hate social class difference in daily lives, they love it as a drama trope. ( Cindrella story )

As a favored drama trope, korean sageuks will include Kings and Crown Princes.
Chinese historical ones will too.(+ one occupation of military general because chinese empire is huge ).
Chinese wuxia tend to include Sec leaders or tribe leaders.

People rarely got interested in the affair of normal folks, while they are interested in the affairs of celebrities or millionaires' gossip.
People are just like that.

Also another reason is unless ML or FL is in certain position , the risks wont be high and no dramatic tension can be created for the story's sake.

What I mean is you may not be interested in these tropes, but most audience are and avoiding these tropes will be hard.

Sado ( The Throne ) is like an unofficial prologue to the Red Sleeve.
Watching Red Sleeve without proper understanding of Yeongjo Struggles to the Throne, his relationship with his son Crown Prince Sado and his grandson ,Yi San , the drama watching experience won't be complete.
( Love and hate interwined relationship of the Royal Family will be a rival to many Classic Novels about Family Feud )

For the proper understanding of Jeongjo life as a king and his achievements , and why koreans regard him as one of the best kings of Joseon, I suggest watching 'YiSan ;Wind of the Palace ( 2007 )
.

For Jeongjo's romantic life, i prefer Red Sleeve version more.
Deok Im as a court lady and adopted as her ladyship Hyegyeong steward's daughter ; these facts are more accurate in Red Sleeve.

Ok , people need to know their genre before watching the dramas , to have the viewing experience as a pleasant one.

For me, I am not into horror genre, so watching 'Happiness' wont make me happy though it is high on voting list.

Watching a drama thats not your genre will leave a bad taste in your mouth and only bad rating for that drama from unpleasant fans.

*****
But a drama , its genre is up to your usual alley, fails to meet your expectations, that drama itself might not be good enough for you ,objectively.

Hmm
So comment sections are only for people who like it.
I have been constantly on the page of a drama I like
and people that hate it ,comes too.
I just cooly explain about what I like about that drama and some accept it ,while others won't .
Because it's personal preference.

I just said why I couldn't get into this drama and my reasons for it.
( Because its in my 'On Hold 'List and someone might elevate the experience or say it does get better in later episodes )

Liking Maiden Holmes is my personal preference.
(I even said I might have watched it in my right mood ).
May be because it is my first drama with this genre and has less annoying characters .

Because I personally hate it , making other characters look stupid or bad without purpose ,to present the main leads as the intelligent ones.
*******
Also I commented as I do care about this drama and I have already invested my time in one third of this drama.
For other dramas I dont like, I just give a bad rating and drop them.

I can't get into this drama.
I'm bored.
It is like another version of Maiden Holmes with less convincing acting or I might have watched Maiden Holmes while I was in my right mood.
( I like Maiden Holmes more )

Female lead has no chemistry with both of male leads.
I dont care about supporting characters at all.There are many ,but they are characters with no depth , just added to annoy the female lead in her story.

I have watched up to ep9.

Try Lost ,Human disqualification

I think everyone will be depressed for watching that show.

I would say Court Lady Seo

As much as I hate pain , I want Junho and Seyoung united in a melodrama like Innocent Man.
They are good at expressions.

But I hope this melo has some kind of healing ending.

My taste is strange, isn't it ?

Sadly, though as much as she wants to get of the palace mess, and even if he allows her to do so, she can't go back to the peaceful life she had before .

The Label of 'the King's favored court lady' puts a target on her back that every political rival of the King wanna use her.

So she accepts the position of concubine.

But her love for him is still the main reason for her becoming his concubine.

As the words said by her in her death bed, 'she would have run away if she didn't love him '.

That's why we draw the conclusion 'The court
lady loves the King ' to the question of the drama because we see the price she has to pay for being with him (her freedom) & the high price is not enough for having him alone as hers.
She knows this for a fact.

I found this amazing channel
https://youtu.be/EQ-JCzHgJDY

Rather than sad , I would say the ending is bittersweet.

Life isn't always what we wanted and the journey is worth it to see the heart touching interaction between this couple.

They are the real historical figures and their love story is said to be one of the most romantic one of Joseon dynasty, though the drama is not exactly accurate presentation and some imaginative parts are added.

The drama first 6 episodes should be rated best in my opinion.
So you can watch it up to ep 3 or 4 when you have time, you will know whether you like it or not.
If you are not still entertained by adult casts in these episodes, the drama is not for you..

It's a bit like moon lover esp in final episodes.
If you want to read a lengthy explanation, you can read some reviews .

The politics are well made because it is based on real history and describes conflicts between Yeongjo , Sado and Jeongjo. ( You can watch movie 'The Throne ' as a prologue if you wanna understand these three dynamics better )

For the romance, it did start cute and funny like fushion sageuks , Love in Moonlight or 100 days.
But don't be fooled by it , it's a mournful court romance .

To fully invest in this couple, you do need to watch from both characters' POVs and need to accept it was 18th century they lived in.
( Some viewers have problems with ML's alpha male behaviour in later episodes whereas some are frustrated with FL 's rejections to his proposal).

Worth watching because of Perfect acting, directing , cinematography and music ( Background music are the best ) .

Yeah, many fans are shipping them because both of their official relationship status are single , but who knows they may have RS in secret .

The drama completed its run only one month ago and it's a tragic one.
Both the actors and fans still have left over feelings from drama.

Some fans may want to remove the lingering sadness from drama by having happy ending in real life,that's their dating.

Personally , I like it more if they remain close friends .
They are now at the peak of their careers and both are career focus type. If they don't sort out their inner feelings well and date immediately, I think they may even hurt each other.
Junho is also an idol , so he will do collaborations as a singer as well as an actor.
MBC Gayo is the example they need to clarify their relationship ,so crazy fans won't force the ship on them anymore and start fan war with their other costars.

If their relationship change from friends to lovers years later, it will be their real feelings and we will wish them well.

I am watching The Crowned Clown now cause I can't get enough of our two main actors.
Lee Seyoung 's character is a queen in that drama and even a queen, a woman of the Internal Court ,can't leave the Palace as she pleases. Also involved in conspriracy of the Court.

Yeah, Deok Im here is a low rank concubine who was a former court maid. Thus the freedom is much lower than the Queen.
How much is she suffocated ?

Happy birthday, our King San

Tomorrow is our King San's birthday.
It has been Jan 25 in Korea though.

Political plotline do seem disjointed.
I ,also, as an I viewer myself, understand that aspect well because I watched Yisan ( 2007 ) and The Throne (2015 ) before and also read some history after these.

It is reimagination of heart breaking love story between Joseon Famous King and his beloved concubine only, the actual target audience being the Koreans who know their history well.

As much as the drama is popular in South Korea and still a darling to most of us who watched it, the drama audience seem to be less than other popular dramas.

Any reason why ?

Is it because of sageuk genre ?
Is it bec of ending ?

Sorry , clicked wrong button and deleted my post.

I saw a video incidentally while searching Junho and Yoona Senorita Practice Video.

Someone really made the fanmade 'Remarried empress ' with Junho as Sovieshu in it.
The video has Yoona and Lee Jong Suk ( Big mouse couple )as Empress and Heinry though.

Does Junho have that strong alpha male vibe ?

But after being elevated to Solid Male Lead , I doubt general audience want him as Sovieshu ( Someone 's second lead ).