bloomingtide

Well, the preview does not bode well for him, but we will see. Sadly he ain't the brightest bulb, so i have my doubts he has more plans than the current super-bad one in the final two episodes.

Yeah, the red sleeve is a serious drama with melodrama/politics while Moonshine is a fusion sageuk with focus on romance, comedy and action and a tad of politic scheming (very light tho) Both have a very different approach and feel of an historical drama, so to compare the two would not be not fair. Give it a try and see if you like it. Even if the starting episodes can seem a bit messy, it will all make sense later on.

More than Moonshine however i can highly rec Mr. Queen as THE fusion sageuk, since it blends its excellent comedy perfectly with romance, drama, a tight plot and a lot of badass/lovable characters that grow/develop a lot over the course of the drama <3

Haha, valid. I just have watched a lot of sageuks back to back lately so I'm insta-suspicious af when the camera lingers on a character in the palace while they are drinking tea or eating something, lol.

Please put that in a spoiler, tho. Thanks <3

She lost her plot armor, lol

I mean since Nam has basically found out about Chief Secretary (slowly) poisoning the king (the teacups were always shady af) so it does not bode well for dumbass crown prince now where he yelled ALL IN and joined the traitor club ass first. But yeah that multi-spin of his character makes zero sense, as it is contradicting completely what we have seen of him before that stupid *twist* Super frustrating!

Did you miss that it is literally a big part of his character how Inspector Nam detesting swords and thus he had never picked up swordsmenship, though? It has to do with what happened at the temple where he had to watch Kang Ro's father die by it as a child and the trauma resulting from this. Thus why he chose to learn archery instead, but even so not all ML need crazy fighting skills. His true weapon is his quick wit and Intuition to solve the mystery at hand anyway, suited for being an investigator. And here it is even part of the plot why he can't handle a sword so????

Yeeeep. His character frustrates me so much in episode 14 and there seems no betterment in the last two episodes according to preview, ugh. Like there is literally 58343 other ways he could find in order to protect his friends that does not include joining up his evil uncle, (who did poison/kil all around him), , fabricating evidence and framing the wrong culpritwithout as much blinking an eye. Lmao, was not a big part of his character before that he cared a lot about his brother and wanted to find out what happened to him, but now where he knows, he is suddenly ike FUCK MY LATE BROTHER, LET'S SCHEME TOGETHER UNCLE. Like??? I get he is afraid for his mother buuuuut god do i wish he would stop and fucking THINK for five seconds before acting like a utter and complete dumbass. Use your resources at the palace, involve/warn your smart friends, double-cross your uncle, literally ANYTHING but what he is doing now. UUUUUGH.

That ep 15 preview tho, sigh. Crown Prince Lee be like... in order to save my friends I care a lot about, i gotta arrest them, frame and behead them. This is totally logical, yall!!!!! I'M SMOOOORT!

Oh boy his character has taken a multi-spin for the worse, unfortunately. What a pity.

Well said. His upright and narrow ideals are part of his upbringing and colored his worldview. Kang Ro Seo challenged exactly that black and white POV, bringing in much needed gray he refused to see before meeting her. I appreciate the growth of his character over the course of the drama, and how he adapts/learns from situations and mistakes made, and how it changes his stance and view on things. Like he still has a strong set of morals at his core but now is aware that not all rules are righteous, and how he has to bend them at times in the interest of the greater good. That is good good development, imo.

I had the same reaction whenever Kim Jung Hyun went off on his corrupt ministers as King Cheoljong in Mr. Queen, so i guess i am going to enjoy that part of this drama too haha

Took her till the last episode to change that, but at least it was addressed, I guess?

I'm at episode 13 atm and I'm disproportionally bothered how she keeps calling him "Chief Hong" while already dating him, ngl. It is so silly to not use his name instead now where they are in a romantic relationship. He at least calls her by her name 40% of the time.

People here have comparing/expecting it (to be like) "The red sleeve" for some nonsensical reason, when it is much closer to the likes of Mr. Queen. Aka it ain't a serious sageuk veering into melodrama and heavy palace intrigues, but is a fun romp with action, romance, humor and light politics instead. I enjoy it for that, particularly the kickass, smart female lead and the slow burn romance between her and ML. Also it takes the focus away from the royal palace/family only and shows the lifes of other people during the alcohol prohibition time in the joseon era for a change.

I, however, could not disagree more, but yeah to eacn their own i guess *shrugs*

Better mark this as spoiler tho, as it is meant to be a surprising little twist ;) But also saaaame, there are many reasons why i love Cheoljongie, as the queen calls him heh.

Imo, that is putting it too simply, as it was a mixture of both tbh. While chef was in the driving seat for most of it, the distinction isn't as clear cut as it had been during the pre-vegative state in the early episodes. Hence his/her/their confusion to the point where Queen is mixing up his/her/their own name and stuff like that. Both souls had influenced each other over the course of the story and changed their lives for the better in the end as they parted ways again. (Aka So Yong finding her voice and bpldness and Bong Hwan becoming less of an egoistic dick and more caring about others)

Plus Mr. Queen: bamboo forest shows that there was attraction at first sight between cheoljong and so yong. which turned sour the moment he knew the woman he met and liked was the queen to be from the hated kim clan. Here the chef really helped to bridge the gap between them and finding a common ground and understanding with his bold/unruly way giving So Yong a much needed voice and justice for herself that ultimately made the "fated lovers" kdrama trope for them possible, heh. But long story short, they are/were two sides of the same coin that complemented each other, and overall the king fell for the whole package.

I found it is hard to find a drama which blends all elements as well together as Mr. Queen does and the drama hungover is real whenever i finish watching it. But in terms of wacky humor/comedy and lovable characters, I can highly recommend Eulachacha Waikiki. Kim Jung Hyun is playing a bit eccentric but lovable dork in a main role in there as an added bonus too, in case you miss the king :D And the slow burn romance he has with a FL is surprisingly wholesome as well. Modern setting ofc, I haven't found another fusion sageuk yet that keeps the consistent level of quality that Mr. Queen has.

Tho Moonshine is, imo, a great watch /underrated one in this regard. So maybe give it a try too?

"King Cheoljong, one the other hand, is very intelligent when it comes to everything but his queen."

Hahaha, after finishing my rewatch of it last night i gotta say this is the most apt way to describe him, but hey he tries his best xD

(I really enjoyed reading this review, it sums up so well why i love this drama so much, bless.)

I liked the first two episodes, the suspense built there and the cute small scenes between both leads that promised a romance in the making. After the case against FL (who acted like a ditzy idiot for the majority of it) is resolved thru ML finding a conscience and doing the right thing and after he declared their encounter as "fate, ill-fate", it went downhill fast. Because then suddenly there is a timeskip of two years, which the FL spent in stalking him more or less subtly, which is a big no no NO from the get go for their romance. This is never cute but the show portrayed it and condoned it as such, ugh.

For some reason, i guess plot, ML still feels attracted/protective of her after two years avoiding her and thus he steps in when culprit returns and they move in together (????) where the first thing she does is watching him sleep... which is cute in other kdramas maybe (the lying on the table together scene... you know the one), but not with the context of her stalking history with him. It made me so fucking uncomfortable that i stopped watching asap. Sorry not sorry but their romance is unsalvagble for me due to that at this point. Doesn't help that FL is really damn annoying and too damn stupid for her own good, which is again played for as cute. Ugh. ML is not much better in terms of likability so yeah, all good reasons why i dropped halfway thru episode 4.