jesslalune

Thank you for your reply! I don't really understand how it works but I will try to find more about it and look around on twitter like you said :)

It's really a shame that the director's cut will only be released in blu-ray. For international people like me (well european in my case) who loved this drama, I feel like it's really a loss to not be able to access "bonus" footage, commentary and behind the scenes that will be released later this year... Is it not possible to also propose this content in digital form ? If it includes english sub then I would gladly pay the right price for it.

I tend to avoid sad/bittersweet endings but I succumbed to the tentation of both actors. The story seemed also original (with so much focus on the court maids) and oh boy do I have mixed feelings now! It was certainly a roller coaster of emotions.

Even not knowing the history or novel behind the drama, I thought the "meet-cute" from the beginning of the drama was inevitably meant to falter and be replaced by the cruel reality of a doomed love between a king and a court maid. The director really didn't shy away from showing the viewers the very different personnalities of our 2 main characters. For exemple, the king's possevive behavior first shown in the library scene when he nearly chokes her was the start of a relationship based on a power imbalance that's not often represented in other historical kdramas (well at least it wasn't the case for the few i have seen).

The actors were all amazing, I think it's the first time I even cried for the more "villainous" characters (the king/San's grandfather, his aunt and her stepson, the head court lady who only wanted to protect the court ladies...). Moreover I wasn't bored at all and it's quite exceptionnal for me, I even wished the drama was longer (20 episodes).

I saw a few comments saying that Sung Deok Im didn't love the king and I dare to disagree. Her actions showed well enough that she had very strong feelings for him but she knew very well that the price of her love would cost her everything (her liberty, friends, daily activities...). Even if San didn't hesitate to show his affection toward her, she knew that his nation would always come first (he even refused to save her a few times because that would be against the rules). So can we really blame her knowing that ? It's not a fairytale story, their love can be considered beautiful but is mainly sad and cruel. Like she said in the drama: she would lose "everything" if she agreed to become his concubine and in a way she really did (it depends on how the viewer interprets the ending but even so, it's the truth that her liberty is entirely taken away from her = "gilded prison").

Saying that, it doesn't mean I didn't cried my heart out during ep 17. I was a literal mess when I finished the drama at 3 in the morning. I think the characters and their stories will haunt me for many days to come… Concerning the final minutes, I will say that all of it was a bad dream (no need to prove me wrong, I know that the final dialogue tend to prove the contrary but I will die on this hill. My mental health definitely needs it lol) The thing that « comforts » me in this regard is the fact that Deok Im doesn’t say « I love you » back to the king : if it was all in his head as a last dream before death, I think San (well his subconscious) would have « forced » her to say it because this is the thing he wanted to hear the most. So the fact that she didn’t say it makes me think that it was really her and not a mere figment of his imagination. I also found it weird that when we encountered the « first » dream scene, the director didn’t show us what made San seemed so lost and afraid. He doesn’t even explain his reaction to Deok Im. So (and excuse me for the maybe cheesy comparison) I will say that it was like the scene in the last Twilight movie when the whole final battle is in fact just a vision of a possible future. San chose to stay with Deok Im because he remembered the pain he endured in this dream. Maybe he will succeed in changing the future, or at least some events, or maybe not. But he will clearly try to « protect the woman he loves until the end », unlike his grandfather.

The only think that I regret was the quick succession of events in the last ep, I wish we could have more scenes of them « happy » or at least officially together between all the heaviness and sadness. The death of the crown prince was so cruel, even more so because the flashback of his birth was shown after the scene in which he passed away… Well I suppose that if we assume all of this was mainly a dream, then the desire to see them happy isn’t really needed, because the viewer can imagine the rest as they wish starting from San waking up from his dream/nightmare.

To conclude, I really hope our 2 actors can work again together in the future. A drama with the reincarnation trope based on Deok Im’s line « If you see me in the next like, I hope you will pass me by/pretend not to know me » would be perfect (with a clear happy ending this time pretty please).

I thought it would be available on netflix in my country but it's not, I'm so disappointed whyyyyy :((((

If you are a fan of romance and want to watch this, it would be better to turn your brain off and simply enjoy the ride because if you think about it critically it's clear that many of the main leads's behavior wouldn't be so easily accepted in reality (especially KYK's character and the young playboy, they could pass as a bully and a sexual assailant in real life) BUT I admit it was really enjoyable if you don't think about it too much like I said. The chemistry is definitely here and the acting was mostly great. The only downside for me was the FL. Her acting wasn't really convincing and she wanted so much to appear "cute" that it became a little annoying. Also I would have liked it more if we had 1 more episode to better focus on the final couple now that they were officially together but I guess the story was more about "the path" than the "finality". On the other hand, I think that the dead father's appearance throughout the whole drama was a nice touch, it was sad but also heart-warming. So overall it's a 8/10 for me.

Maybe it's just me but I began this movie with the idea that So Jin and Seung Hyo will end up together at the end (I didn't see the trailer and just glanced quickly at the synopsis beforehand) so I felt like it was a letdown when I realized it wasn't in fact the friends-in-denial-to-lovers trope at play here (but it was my fault for expecting someting different I admit it ^^').
Apart from that all the other stories were lovely (my fav was Jae Yong and his wake up call assistant, the actor was simply awesome). Overall it was a pretty good movie to watch during the holiday season ! And the OST was good too.

*spoilers warning* The other thing that I couldn't understand was the whole thing with her father and uncle. Maybe I missed something but why did her father kidnap her when she was young ?? Just to get money from his wife ? In any case it was really messed up and I was a little bit surprised that the father was so easily forgiven, like he was gone for 20 years if I remember correctly... I understand the mystery was all about his "death" but please at least make him work to win back his daughter's affection ! And if I'm not incorrect he also faked his illness or something like that? The same with her uncle, he was just a coward and didn't care about his niece at all. Well life can be cruel like that I guess but it was really surprising to have this happy ending include those people.

I was hesitant to watch this at first but I finally gave in because I like the main actors and the story seemed perfect for a slow burn ! I agree with a lot of comments here: it's true that the first few episodes are promising but it does indeed lose momentum at ep 6 or so. They revealed the main "plot twist" (if we can call it that) way too soon for me and the slow burn was in fact not very slow so I was a little disappointed. The female lead was also difficult to understand, at times she seemed very childish despite her age and sometimes very mature so it was a little hard to figure out her character (but I guess this isn't so unusual). I liked that there weren't many misunderstandings between the leads (or at least it didn't last for too long). But yeah I think they should have took a longer time to properly develop the relationship between the FL and ML. The secondary characters were interesting (mainly the workers at the restaurant they were funny) but I wish again that there were more development and character growth. Also the "mystery/thrilling" part of the story was a little underwhelming, we know very well that the characters will win without suffering much consequences... But I guess it's sometimes pleasant to watch a show without worrying for the characters' life every 2 seconds haha. Big bonus point for the OST tho I really liked it !

Does someone know when it will be available on netflix international ? :/

Ohhh it is indeed the most logical explanation ! Thank you for your answer :)

I have a question : why was there so much focus on the name tag on Luna's gown ? I think I saw the last name "Song" written on it but I'm not sure... Was it an important plot twist ? I wanted to check again but I don't remember in which episode it was...

I think him being alive or not is left to interpretation. Personally I think they were able to rescue him because if not why make Luna drag his body outside if he wasn't meant to stay alive somehow ? And there's the rocket ship that showed up 5 seconds after so they very well could have carried him and give him first aid relatively easily.

Could you maybe explain what you mean by "Luna is a simile" using the spoiler tag please ? I just finished the show and I don't really understand what you mean by that (I thought I paid attention to all the details but maybe not haha)

I will add it to my watchlist then thank you !

Thank you for the suggestion ! I admit I'm a bit intimidated by the number of episodes but it's true that the story seems very promising ! Does it have a happy ending ? :)

I also think that the actors did their best with what they were given. But even if I like the main actress in her other works here I couldn't really connect with her character, apart from her interest in painting. She was the most interesting when she was interacting with her friends and well it wasn't enough for me to continue watching this. The male lead was even worse to connect with, even if he seemed like the perfect male lead at first : charming, capable, mysterious... But it all fell really flat in the end. I think the writers put too much trust in their encounter in the past. I know it's a common trope used in many drama but it's not enough for me to believe that they are really in love after growing up. I couldn't even understand why the male lead seemed to reject her at first because of his "revenge" only for him to give it up and pursue her in the next second. And I agree with you that the characters and their actions were lukewarm, even the "villains". The only character I thought could bring something at first was the second male lead but even he became quickly annoying. I stopped at ep 11 so I can't say anything for the last episodes but I agree that the portrait thing wasn't enough for the drama to be 16 episodes long. The idea was interesting but sadly it wasn't delivered well... Maybe they shouldn't have shown us the sealing in the first ep to make it more surprising for us and begin instead with them being already grown up... I don't really know to be honest but it's sad to think that such a promising story was so clumsily treated.

Even the romance can't keep me entertained (and I'm a sucker for romance so it says a lot) I don't think it's the actors' fault, I just don't feel any real chemistry or love between them... Again it was so promising at first with the tearsers, poster etc but now I don't even feel the need to see them together at the end, it clearly lacks something I just don't know what...

I just finished ep 11 and I feel like the best thing about this drama is the trio with the female lead and her 2 friends... I was more invested in the 2 ep with the painting contest than the rest... It's sad because the story was promising but I don't feel anything now. Any main character could die at any moment and I still wouldn't shed a tear :/ And the concept of mixing together fantasy and historical setting was so interesting but it sadly failed to deliver... I don't think I will continue watching this

I'm glad my "review" could help you in making a decision ! It's true that I can't really recommend this show to anyone who expects a well-developped and fulfilling romance drama. The storyline went downhill at the second half of the show and it was just stressful to watch at the end (even knowing beforehand what awaited me). The actors were great though so it's a shame.

I just started this drama but the roommates' names are already killing me : Evian and Algérie omg xD