irmar

It's always according to the directions from the producer/director, thus a conscious decision, thought out beforehand, and not because of less or more chemistry with the co-actor. There must be a reason. Maybe because it was the first one and they wanted it more simple and chaste, to prove that he's not pursuing her because of lust? And maybe we'll get better ones later on? Who knows. Let's wait and see.
But generally in period dramas kisses are not realistic (there are exceptions, of course)

Yes, that actor is really overdoing it to the point of caricature.

Definitely hope it's not gangrene, because if it is, he won't be fine for long.

There are some 2FL who are good and kind, but they are the shining exception.

Because he was hired as a second lead and he knew it. He's secretly saying to himself: if I am good here, maybe in the next drama I'll get the girl.

Definitely watch! (Of course people have different tastes, so, no matter what we tell you, you still might not like it. It's not 100% sure).

Oh, you see that a lot in Korean dramas. Especially in older actresses. It's done on purpose, they think it's very beautiful, LOL! We find it disgusting but they call it the "dewy look". Different countries, different tastes.

The problem here is that neither of the two friends confessed to his friend that he likes the girl. The king didn't know it, he thought he was still pining for the queen, he has just started to realize it, but the other guy was much more aware, and also had discovered she was his ex fiancée, but still chose to keep quiet about it. If he had told the king since the first moment he discovered it, maybe, who knows, the king wouldn't have allowed himself to fall for her. Maybe. Or maybe not, we don't know.

Yes, it was remarkable. In past years, we used to laugh at Google translate. Now it has evolved and when it's not Korean or Chinese, it can be pretty decent.

You are completely wrong in assuming I have a bias towards the SML. Nothing is further from the truth. He's nice and fairly good-looking but a bit boring. I want her to end up with the king, because he's much more interesting as a man, and most importantly he's the one she wants.
And I never said the SML had a rough life generally. Of course he hasn't: he is a nobleman with money and a nice job. What I said is that he has been dealt a rough hand in the whole finding a mate situation. Nobody's fault really (except for the evil stepmother's), but both times he met the girl it was very bad timing. So he might be excused for being frustrated and saying "I lost her once, and now I've finally found her, I'm losing her AGAIN?"
Back then, he was not ready to marry the stepsister, as soon as he saw her face and recognized who she was, he called the fraud and he wasn't ready to ahead with the marriage. Probably it would have caused a huge scandal, yes, but he had seen what an unpleasant b*** this girl was.
And the king didn't save him because he wanted to save his friend or because he knew anything about the situation, it was just a coincidence, so I don't see why he should take "credit" for it, LOL (now who is "biased"?)

This was hilarious!

I mostly agree with you. But it must be said that the SML has been dealt a rough hand. He was to marry a girl who was pretty, sweet, kind and looked forward to a sweet and affectionate marriage. And then his whole plans were thwarted cruelly. He's been searching for her (the added attraction of "where on earth did she vanish to?") for years. And now he's found her, he's about to lose her to his best friend. It's human that he's bitter and disappointed, and that there's a small flicker of hope in him yet. He thinks they were "destined" - apparently this is a thing in Asia, they put great value to it - and that's why he doesn't take no for an answer. We know he's foolish, of course, and that she's never felt that way about him.
All the characters are very human, with flaws (the FL paying people to give wrong info wasn't exactly honest), but all in all they're decent people.
And ... the robe... He did all he could to avoid fighting, the king insisted, remember? He tried to only avoid, and just defend himself from his rage, and by mistake he cut a small piece of the robe. Could have been much much worse.
All this would have been clarified if he just told the king that this was his erstwhile fiancée from day one, from the first moment he suspected it. Maybe the king wouldn't have let himself develop feelings for her.

Tomorrow, tomorrow,
I love you tomorrow,
you're only a day away!

Waaaay better than any Chinese drama. For starters, the heroine is not bubbly/idiotic/impulsive/"cute/adorable"(UGH!) and doesn't have a baby voice. This alone would make anyone take a sigh of relief.
There are two minor characters, two bachelor guys who dream of getting married, who are slapstick and NOT funny at all, but they have very few scenes, so one can easily fast forward them.

The choices in most categories are of only 4 dramas and I haven't even watched most of them.

Google translate is getting better and better, I must say. If you didn't re-touch it, it was pretty good and made perfect sense.

At the time of the marriage, what you say was indeed her motivation. But since she did the first step (killing the other girl, or so she thought, and substituting her daughter for her at the marriage ceremony), she started having big dreams for her own daughter: she thought "uhm, she wasn't able to marry a nobleman, why don't we substitute her for good so that she can become queen?"
Because, as NilYeol rightly said, as a concubine's daughter, she wouldn't been able to apply.

Yes, and one cannot say she hasn't been crystal-clear about it! No ifs and buts.

I wasn't talking of making out or anything. We could see him lean over for a kiss and then the camera could zoom out so that we would see that from afar. That would give the idea without having to show every minute detail. Something like that.

You'd have to, because there's many people who just found it from meh to bad. Not just here. Dramabeans gave it 5.1/10 and many Viki comments were lukewarm too.
But actually no, don't bother to explain. First of all what one likes and dislikes cannot change because of someone else's opinion, and secondly I'm sure we all have something better to do, i.e. embark on another k-drama for this new year! :)