Review for both seasons
First, I have to mention that I rated the first season 8/10 and the second 6.5/10. The first season has all the classic romcom aspects: love triangle, lots of comedy and romance. It's a quick watch and so much fun. The second season on the other hand was a bit more bland compared to that. They dived a bit more into the political aspect but still only on a quite superficial matter. There was no real conflict for the leads anymore and I think that's when I realised that they actually don't have a lot of chemistry and ML acting like a log all the time gets tiring. I loved the light-heartedness and the drama not taking itself too seriously, but the ending was complete nonsense if we're being honest.The biggest negative point: the sound management. Whoever was sound director for this drama needs to get fired. It was ridiculous how much the quality changed even within one scene and don't let me get started on sound effects.
What seriously saved and improved the whole drama was FL's acting. Zhao Lu Si is just such a fun comedy actress with such a catching laugh. If it weren't for her, I think the drama would've only been half as good.
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A drama like no other
It's a drama like no other. It's unique and it's fast paced. You certainly don't get bored and the story is extremely unpredictable. That is both its greatest strength and weakness. It really keeps you on your toes but since it's constantly fast-paced, it also tires you out. I needed several breaks - not because it's bad but because there was so much happening that I needed to recharge. Also heads up, because this drama will also require some brainpower for you to understand why and what is happening, so it's not something you should watch on the side. I saw many people being confused and dropping/disliking the drama because of that. Many perceived "plot holes" actually make sense when you pay enough attention. Not to say that there are no plot holes whatsoever, but it's not nearly as bad as some people claim.I'm extremely conflicted on the romance. It happened extremely fast (and I honestly didn't understand why he fell that hard) and these romantic moments seemed quite unfitting in certain moments. The ending also left me feeling conflicted.
But overall, it's so unique and different from any other drama that it's definitely worth a watch.
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Deserves a lot more recognition!
This is a great drama that I can't believe everyone is sleeping on! I love modern Korea royalty interpretations. The story - although it does have several clichés - is very original in the way it is put together. You constantly know where the story is going and it keeps you on you toes. I love that in dramas. The second I ask myself while watching a drama "Okay, where is all this going?" it's loosing me. But not here. The character development of ML was amazing. He was so unlikeable in the beginning but became my favourite character of the drama. Also FL being badass and being able to save herself was extremely satisfying to watch while not loosing her femininity.I do have some mild criticism concerning the acting of the foreigners (still don't get why they couldn't get better actors), the villain acted like such a clown in the beginning, the "cute" acting of FL was not good and the portrayal of North Korea did seem quite unrealistic at times. But I can excuse some of these points due to the drama being from 2012 - dramas just weren't as sophisticated back then.
But please don't let these points stop you from watching the drama - it's great and deserves a lot more recognition!
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Unique, funny and beautiful!
I love the originality of the idea! For this drama, it actually made sense why the world is not traditionally historical but fantasy historical because FL made it up to begin with. It was so fun to watch ML and FL fall in love with each other and the acting - especially of FL - was amazing! I needed this lighthearted and funny drama.But I can understand why some people might not like it. FL was childish quite a few times (especially in the beginning). But I loved her character development to become smarter and more serious. What bothers me a bit is that although it was really fun to watch, it was still a bit too long. But I think this is a general cdrama issue.
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Tasteful and Captivating
A great drama with amazing chemistry between the actors - main couple as well as second couple. Their relationships were really nice to watch and how they handled the very emotional and intense plot was amazing. I could really feel the emotions and I wanted to see more and more.The only down-part is that especially towards the late middle part and ending, they've dragged the plot a lot which was not necessary. I think it also could've worked out with 14 episodes. Some small plot holes were also there but I can overlook them because of the great characters the show provided. The comedy scenes were really tasteful and felt real. Overall, a great drama!
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Great with some (strong) weak points
Usually, I'm not a fan of melodrama, but I this one I quite enjoyed. It was intriguing and I was curious where the story would take me. Furthermore, it was great that they kept it at 8 episodes. Often, these dramas run out of ideas and plot and try to drag it to 16 episodes still. The soundtrack was also great. Every time it played, I could really feel that melodrama vibe. The acting of the villain was also phenomenal, I really hated her.One thing putting me off was the wardrobe of FL. While her enemy mostly had stunning dresses, she looked like she had no fashion sense whatsoever. The whole time, I had the feeling that the person who designed her wardrobe had something serious against the actress.
Additionally, FL's revenge "plan" was really weak. I don't even want to call it a plan.
Finally, the ending was really underwhelming and a bit unrealistic. And the final scene, they could've just left out. It was so confusing, I still don't know what even happened there.
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