C U T E and heartfelt, with a logical fantasy romance!
This show was cute, the female lead was ADORABLE and she reminded me so much of Kim Hye Yoon (the lead from Extraordinary You) because of her adorable bubbly nature and infectious spirit.She was sweet, hilariously innocent and very S M O L especially in front of 'sir' Jang Ki Young. She was cute enough to make anyone want to just eat her up, and I guess that's exactly what JKY did too LOL
Overall a really heartfelt and innocent yet mature and logical romance all around. Many of the misunderstandings that came up in the show were cliched but all of them were cleared up soon after they were introduced in a very logical, straightforward matter, and our female lead specially never left any loose ends in expressing her feelings.
She kinda reminded me of Cameron Diaz's character from the American movie 'My Best Friend's Wedding', earnest, brave, and genuine.
Also the actress who played this character was frankly too damn SWEET for me to not fall for her! She has an adorable smile, and an adorable voice, and an adorable personality, it just draws you in, and makes you want to eat her up for real (I know I'm repeating myself but it's too damn true).
Special mention to Sun Woo, he played a really convincing role of someone who falls into bad habits because of their privilege and society, but realises it and grows out of it to become a better person.
He clearly explained that his 'playboy' status was practically handed down to him (born rich, good looking, and smart, and SO many girls will play down their own self-respect to be seen with him no matter how he behaves with them etc. etc.), and he wasn't necessarily a jerk, just arrogant and ignorant, both of which he overcame. Not excusing his behaviour, but he became better in a very realistic manner, which I liked.
An easy 9/10. for me.
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WHAT A GREAT SHOW! Loved the ending too, it was perfect!
Our Queen Shin Hae Sun was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING AND INCREDIBLE. Her mannerisms, her acting, her reactions, her voice, her humour, her aura, everything was perfect! She made the role iconic in every way possible. Her iconic dancing scene alone was worth watching the whole drama, to be very honest.Our King, Kim Jung Hyun, I've already seen him in two shows (CLOY, and School 2017) and he was brilliant as always. He was the perfect balance of dumb yet mysterious. I didn't like the arc where he was kinda involved with two women at once, and tbh I got the romantic angle but it did make me very uncomfortable that our straight male lead had to be physically and romantically involved with the King butttt but the actual leads looked so cute together! (I wish I could've enjoyed it as a gay/bromance type thing but I just couldn't).
Also I LOVED Kim Byung In AND Hong Byul Gam SO MUCH.
Kim Byung In was SO SEXY in his relentless love for the Queen, and he was steadfast and determined and didn't change his feelings till the very end! Hong Byul Gam was SO DAMN HOT whenever he had any action scenes, and he had a confidence in the show which was damn SEXY. Also he really reminds me of Oh Jung Se.
Also the Court Lady Choi, she was hilarious. Her arc with the Royal Chef was funny as hell.
The villain arc in the show could have been better, but I LOVED watching Kim Jwa Geun as the 'real power behind the Kim clan'. The other villains were forgettable lol.
However the story would've been great in a 16 episode format. The episodes were perfect till about 14, afterwards it dragged till 20.
Overall the show was fresh, thoughtful, all the characters had GREAT comedic timing, and the show was overall a delight to watch.
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Me to Choi Mu Jin: Daddy? sorry, Daddy?...sorry, Daddy?
Choi Mu Jin is literally SO unbelievably sexy and dangerously hot, he made me forget what I was watching the whole time.My man was really out there trying to give girls a major problem ever liking someone their own age, huh.
Well, he succeed, and THEN some.
I swooned every time he came on screen, every time he walked or smoked or damn existed. I was jealous of TaeJu for being so close to him, for our female protagonist that she got to hold his special attention.
I wished to be conquered by him. He definitely made me FEEL a lot of things and that made the show so damn enjoyable to me.
EASY thirst trap recommend 10/10
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MUST WATCH HILARIOUS HEARTFELT SWEET WITTY CHARMING CUTE MEMORABLE ADORABLE LOVABLE
This show is simply one of the BEST shows I have EVER seen, period.NOT just the best comedy show, but one of the best shows EVER.
10/10 on every aspect.
It was so unexpectedly hilarious yet witty, crack-filled yet charming, sweet yet salty, and simply ADORABLE.
The perfect blend of comedy mixed with interesting story arcs that all shape the show to go in the right direction every single time and leave you wanting the show to go on FOREVER so that you can see this trio and the respective added partners continue to live and grow in their lives while being unexpectedly hilarious and cute.
They did such a great job with genuine characters in a crack comedic genre. The story and the character development creeps up on you, to the extent that you start to care deeply about each character's growth while also experiencing the hilarity that comes from each and every single character's unique personality traits till the very end.
UNEXPECTED is my other favourite word about this show, after hilarious. Just when you think you know what's gonna happen, it doesn't, and even if it does, it happens in the most (you guessed it) HILARIOUS way possible. Eventually you start to predict the actions of a character because you come to recognise their personality BUT THEY SURPRISEYOU IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE.
This show is simply a must watch, no other way to put it.
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This show must be seen by every adult at least once in their life.
This drama is absolutely wonderful. It's a personification of a warm cup of tea when it's beautifully cold and windy and thundery and raining outside, the feeling you get on Saturday night realising that tomorrow is a Sunday and that you get one more day to have fun, the feeling of finding a hidden 100 dollar bill randomly in your wardrobe, the uncontrollable bouts of laughter while sitting with a group of genuine friends, the feeling that you've just encountered the best sunset of your life till date.The charm of this show is also the unconventional style, with a story about a group of girlfriends that every girl wants to have. This trio truly cares about each other, and they show it in the most subtle yet overwhelming ways possible.
A simple sentence uttered by a character can open your eyes to the kind of person that character is, or tell you all about their story and make you understand them in an instance.
All the clever yet random yet in-your-face product placements were funny as hell, the songs were weird and funny and somehow fit the story well whenever they were used, the idiocy was cute instead of being annoying, the heartfelt moments between the group living together were cute, it was all SO AMAZING!
I fell in love with Jeon Yeo Been all over again. She had amazing chemistry with all her costars, and special mention to the director Son Seok Koo because he was DOWNRIGHT HILARIOUS and left a mark even in the short time he was in the show.
There are several more moments I can clearly recall in the show, that made me laugh out loud abruptly and made me interested in the show more and more.
EASY 10/10. I will MOST DEFINITELY be watching this show again in my life.
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This was a surprisingly heart warming show.
I started it because of Ji Sung and at first I was really disheartened to see him in a role which I rally disliked because he was acting in a really selfish manner. BUT as the story progressed it becomes clear that Ji Sung has come to terms with his previous life and that he also contributed in making his own life hell by simply not paying enough attention to his family, even though he didn't do it intentionally.He also realises that he was simply in need of a break, rather than wanting a different person for a wife, he actually wanted a slightly different life but with the same person, and that realisation was slow but meaningful.
ALSO I can't believe this, but the first and only time in forever, I actually liked the second lead better than Ji Sung, only briefly but still. Jang Seung Jo absolutely STOLE MY HEART WITH HIS CUTENESS.
I also really enjoyed all the side characters at the bank, and the girl's mother as well, and the trio of friends were cute and fun!
Overall a great watch. Loved it.
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This review may contain spoilers
LOVED this show so much.
LOVED JJH as the calm and collected handsome lawyer making everyone dance to his tunes like puppets on a string, which he doesn't even need to control directly! The plot he set in motion was merely kindling for the fire already going on in the lives of those he set out to take revenge from. He is sinister in the initial episodes, transforming into someone who isn't sure of himself anymore, and somehow turns helpless to stop the plan he himself set in motion. The good guy being the bad guy, realising that the world isn't black and white at all. He has several people around him trying to make him see light at the end of his pain, but he realises it isn't easy, and that maybe he can't do it now even if he wanted to.The second lead, UTW as the hard-working detective who has been suffering all his life after a truly unfortunate incident which destroyed so many lives, to his overbearing father who set it in motion by underestimating the power of someone vowing revenge. He pushes everyone away from him, wants support but doesn't seek it, watches his whole life crumble before his eyes, realises that nothing he believed in was real, and is powerless to stop his family and friends from breaking apart due to their own actions.
Our lovely female lead, SMA as the innocent and optimistic librarian who can't help but fall for one of our leads (don't blame her for her choice of love interest btw) , and tries to offer them both the support they both desperately need because it's obvious that she cares about them both. Her psychometric abilities prove to be useful but ultimately useless as she is able to predict events a little too late every time, and has to see the people she has come to care deeply about fall into the never ending path of suffering.
TLDR: The cast was perfect, the main leads were brilliant at conveying their feelings and emotions, and story did everyone justice. The soundtrack was perfect, and the story moved at a slow pace but fit the overall theme of the show. One of the best Korean drama I've seen and I highly recommend it! The end was perfect, and no other ending could've given it justice.
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School Fantasy Romance done RIGHT
It was such a fresh and cute story, mixed with OUTSTANDING acting by the female lead, and also by all of the background characters. The FL was just SO brilliant. Love this show.The show drew me in from the very fist episode. It was a series of repetitions at first, to make the audience understand the jarring feeling of being in the same place in your life again and again and experiencing the boredom of everyday life helplessly, as told by a manga writer who has to go through countless drafts to get the final right story-line.
The girl realises her predicament when she breaks out of her 'character' and realises that she has practically no control over her own story, she ends up at different places at random points while she's in the middle of doing something else (like looking for her mystery man), but because she has become 'sentient' so to speak, she breaks out of that pattern to create her own reality, away from the toxic male lead that was 'meant' for her, and also makes the 'true female lead' realise that she has a choice in choosing her love life too.
The parallels they showed between the ' true leads' story and that of most old kdramas was hilarious to watch.
Overall, a great watch.
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WOW I was SO pleasantly surprised by this quirky, emotional, heartfelt, and CUTE show!
After admiring the ultimate puppy-dog-of-the-Korean-Industry Yeo Jin Goo in Beyond Evil, I IMMEDIATELY started watching Hotel Del Luna because I was SO DAMN EXCITED to see him in a cute romantic show.
I just wanted to see him be cute and in love and act cutely with a girl and act like he was in love and smile and giggle and be sexy and hot and funny and HE WAS ALL THAT AND MUCH MORE IN THIS SHOW!
He was absolutely adorable and the PERFECT companion to the cute little firecracker that IU was throughout, they compliment each other SO perfectly, and one thing I kept noticing was the difference in their hand sizes! Yeo Jin Goo has giant hands, specially when compared to IU's tiny ones, and I absolutely ADORED every scene which showed them hugging/holding hands etc. etc.
The ghost stories of all the guests at their hotel kept me engaged and interested and emotional. The staff all had compelling back-stories, enough to fuel me to cheer for their happy ending as well.
And another special thing about this show is that I usually end up skipping elaborate backstories of any character, specially if it relates to the Joseon Era, but for this show I saw every second of their pasts, and not just IU's, but also the staff had an unique stories and were extremely interesting to watch!
The only two people I didn't care much for were the receptionist and his girlfriend, although the little sister of the receptionist was ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE.
The fantasy element in the show was beautiful and stunning, with an extremely memorable soundtrack to boot, beautiful songs and OST. Also all the cameos were such a pleasant surprise.
In short, this show was like a hidden treasure for me, and I extremely enjoyed every element of it.
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It felt like I entered a Pensieve, LOVED IT
I am genuinely in awe of this wonderful show.From the very first scene you are thrust in this semi-dystopian modernist society, and the rules and norms are established in minutes without any elaborate narration or world-building.
It felt like I entered a Pensieve from episode 1, and the immersive feeling never went away until the very end of the show.
ALL the actors, and I do mean ALL, stole the show here. Ju Ji Hoon was BRILLIANT in his role of a bodyguard and his intelligence and caring nature shined through. Han Hyo Joo was BRILLIANT as the controversial innovator who simply wanted to make a slightly better(different) world to live in.
I loved Seon U Jae and Oh San as well. I was able to understand every single character and their actions and follow their story with all my interest. Never skipped a single scene. It was incredibly subtle in its portrayal of sexism, and innovation in modern medicine vs its cost to humanity.
And the beautiful music was a cherry on top of this decadent black-forest cake.
tldr: I WANT SEASON 2 SO BADLY OH MY GOD THIS SHOW AND ENDING WAS TERRIFIC
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This review may contain spoilers
WOW I have to say, this show is an absolute MASTERPIECE.
After the explosive introduction in episodes 1 through to 4, the show was almost impossible to leave even when my daily routine wanted to interfere, and with some difficulty I have managed not to binge-watch the show overnight so far (even though I REALLY want to).So when things seemed to go right, they suddenly spiral wildly out of control again after the 6th and 7th episodes, and in the best (worst) way possible.
Just a few minutes earlier, the Mad King seemed hopefully on at least a path to some sort of recovery or at least acceptance of his treatment to prevent his self-harm, the Clown King and the Chief Royal Secretary seemed to trust each other and take decisions based on a mutual understanding and vision. the Clown King had properly fallen for the Queen, who in turn seemed to have noticed a change of heart in the 'King' and fallen for him once again,
BUT even after I DESPISED the Clown King's sister when she made the foolish mistake of acting on her own and freed the Mad King from his confinement, as I reach episode 8 I have started thinking that maybe she unknowingly did the Palace heroes/conspirators a favour, because FINALLY now I think I can hope that the Clown King and the Royal Secretary can work together again into weeding out the real villains in the Palace.
This show has made me feel so damn empathetic towards each of our main characters, making me feel aggressive and drunk on power as the Mad King, helpless and frustrated as the Royal Secretary, and trapped and strong and willful and just as the Clown King.
I am so happy to see such a beautiful RANGE of characters from Yeo Jin Goo, absolutely SPLENDID as the sexy Mad King, and the cute yet strong Clown King.
Also REALLY enjoying Eunuch Jo and Chief Royal Secretary's performances, loving their building relationship and understanding with each other.
HOWEVER I am not a fan at all of the Queen's character/actress yet, which worries me as I am yet to see the much awaited 'Red Sleeve', and being a huge Lee Jun Ho fan I want to thoroughly enjoy it. But I hope I won't have to ignore the actress in it because I want to enjoy the romance T-T. This actress is NOT my cup of tea, in terms of acting skills and beauty both.
Anyway, I loved The Crowned Clown.
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