Should've picked a better main actress.Like switch it around, Kim So Eun was so much better -.-* Lee Yu Bi did…
I agree .... Kim So Eun was a better actress and a much more interesting character.
The lead actress was not a wallflower...she was much worse .... made an already bad character worse... Stupid, clumsy and stubborn... endangered others w/ her idiocy.
This had a lot of potential, but very badly executed... I did not like it at all...
plot does not make sense, very contrived and still not logical.... bad director.... worse writing ...
Really bad female lead, both character and actress..... she is the Most Annoying Character ... stupid, stubborn and clumsy.... endangered others w/ her idiocy...
made the show a lot worse, b/c completely unbelievable as being in any way appealing to attract these men....Zero chemistry.
Best Thing is Gui and his muse, Hye Ryung .... She was the best and most interesting character, very smart, perceptive.... she was a victim, yet felt no self-pity ....she was brave and able to manipulate the mighty Gui... a truly admirable and wonderful character.... Her relationship w/ Gui was the most ineteresting!
Mao is my favorite character, he's not all bad, is no-nonsense and makes no excuses, yet still has a heart, and loves his daughter.
followed by: Kang Min Ki, his transformation, his honesty, and more.... very interesting!
The Good:
This was a very good watch.... interesting story ... the 2nd half has a fast pace, and a thrilling cliffhanger at the end of every episode.... Nice bromance.... A great villain, love-to-hate him.. The title and its meaning as the theme of the show is poetic!... Excellent cast and acting!
The Bad:
Some important plot holes, but I could ignore them .... Not enough of the wonderful bromance .... Problems w/ the ending.... They should have explored Mao's character more, he's very interesting!
The Ugly:
Seo Ji Woo became annoyingly stupid at the end, putting others in danger w/ her idiotic stubbornness, but it was nothing major, quickly passed ..... Plot holes w/ the ending.
EEEhh wtf did happen in ep 6/7 ?! It was so good until now and now i'm just watching the same soap I already watched…
"Lolita" is a term used to describe a sexually precocious very young girl .... Comes from the famous novel Lolita by by Vladimir Nabokov, about a young girl that gets involved w/ her middle-aged step-father.
It usually applies to young girls who seduce middlle-aged men....
In this case, IU promotes her image as a sexually appealing young girl, but in reality she is already an adult in her 20's ..... Yet, she is trying to say how uncomfortable it is to be viewed as that girl and pointing out how disgusting these Ahjussis are ....
but she does it in a very indirect way... That's why I said she is smart and courageous, because most of the executives in the industry are middle-aged men.
This is one of those dramas that is even better the second time watching! I am re-watching b/c I want to stay…
Thank you...I am so glad u enjoy it.... Like you said, every character is unique .... What makes this so special is her different relationship w/ each prince.
Simply wonderful writing.
Too bad the k-version didn't have good writing. I like that it is different focusing more on 4th, but there is no depth, just "cute' moments that are meaningless :(
EEEhh wtf did happen in ep 6/7 ?! It was so good until now and now i'm just watching the same soap I already watched…
IU's scandal is that she is being accused of promoting her Lolita image, and in the song Zeze even goes as far as implying the little child (the tree in her song) is asking for sexual attention ....
Zeze is a well known story in SK about a little lonely boy who names a tree and they become friends.
But in reality, IU is showing what it is like to be that child .... hinting at how K-pop girls' groups have a large fan following among ahjussis (older men).
She is showing what it's like.... and how uncomfortable it feels.
So in reality, she uses her lolita image to gain fame, but also uses her songs, to point out the hypocricy of these older men and the industry as a whole.
It is a subversive message .... and she's very courageous to attack the hypocrisy.
@Nat explains it simply:
"...she's reflecting the gaze that falls on her.
she's very subversive."
--->>> In Ep 7, they are making fun of her critics, also in a subversive way ... It may seem they are making fun of her, but in reality they are supporting her.
EEEhh wtf did happen in ep 6/7 ?! It was so good until now and now i'm just watching the same soap I already watched…
IU has a huge anti-fan base in SK .... But that does NOT mean they are right ....
I honestly didn't care about her or the scandal, until I read that "tree naming" scene in Ep7 is about her scandal... a snide to her critics!!
Now that I know the truth, I admire IU for her courage and intelligence!
EEEhh wtf did happen in ep 6/7 ?! It was so good until now and now i'm just watching the same soap I already watched…
IU is supposed to be the center of attention !!! ...Hae Soo is the Only Lead in the story !!! ... the story is told from the heroin's point of view..
the other princes, including 4th and 8th are supporting characters ...
However, in this version, they chose to pay more attention to 4th and put in a big-name like LJK ....
The story is about Hae Soo and her relationship w/ each prince individually!! ...
4th, 8th, 14th and Emperor (I guess in this version crown prince) all have equal time w/ her... also 13th and 10th .... Her feelings towards each of them is different.
They could have changed and made it all about 4th, but they didn't...they are still following the book's general plot, while also giving 4th more prominence.
The romance is not the point of the story ... the point is how the romance and her love for the princes affect her decisions and ultimate path she takes.
Honestly, reading all the comments about OTP and giving more time for 4th ...just shows the bad decision the producers made in turning this very intriguing story into a youth-oriented Romantic comedy .... the writing is not the only thing that is bad, the problems are the production... the actors are just fine... LJK and KHN are excellent... but they can't fix the problems.
This drama is incredible! I love everything in it. Although I do not shed a tear yet (23th episode), drama is…
I too thought 13th is the best character .... Progressive, free-spirited, artistic, not selfish, not materialistic, sensitive and kind.
But after watching 2nd time, I now love 14th as well.... He is more complex than I initially thought ...and he's great as the mediator, balancing all the factions and still stood firm for what he believed! ... He is loyal, brave, smart, forthright, tactful and still managed to be liked by everyone!
13th is her soul mate b/c they think alike ... which annoyed 14th to no end b/c he could never figure out what she is thinking ...lol... he's too pragmatic ... yet very lovable!
So was the whole tree-talking scene (I mean, minus wolves, obviously) an allusion to IU's Zeze? Cool.
Yeah! very cool! ... There is an article posted in @Hessa's "Recent Discussions" thread about it ... makes it even cooler that she's striking back in this scene!
Gosh the music is so distracting!!! The ost is way too modern for a sageuk. Especially in Soo-So scenes in episode…
I don't like K-pop, but I don't think it is a problem... Ryeo is promoted as a "youth" drama, that's why they took a serious suspenseful drama and turned it into a rom-com full of fan-service and "cute" moments ... even the language they use is contemporary Korean....
The concept has been successfully done before (nothing comes to mind atm), but the producers of Ryeo didn't do a good job here.
Gosh the music is so distracting!!! The ost is way too modern for a sageuk. Especially in Soo-So scenes in episode…
The problem is not that the music is modern, the problem is the music is not fitting the scenes sometimes.
If you watch Sageuks like The Princess' Man and Chuno, both have modern music and it not only fits the scenes but is hauntingly beautiful, moving and memorable.
TPM has a few songs in Italian ... Chuno even has rap music...
Duang Jai Akkanee is Nadech an Yaya's first lakorn together, amazing natural chemistry from the start , and kept getting better and better w/ every lakorn they made, no wonder, that since this one, they already made 5 other lakorns together (more if u count series)....
I've only seen 1&2, Akkanee is my fave, probably due to Yadech... XD
1 
The lead actress was not a wallflower...she was much worse .... made an already bad character worse... Stupid, clumsy and stubborn... endangered others w/ her idiocy.
plot does not make sense, very contrived and still not logical.... bad director.... worse writing ...
Really bad female lead, both character and actress..... she is the Most Annoying Character ... stupid, stubborn and clumsy.... endangered others w/ her idiocy...
made the show a lot worse, b/c completely unbelievable as being in any way appealing to attract these men....Zero chemistry.
Best Thing is Gui and his muse, Hye Ryung .... She was the best and most interesting character, very smart, perceptive.... she was a victim, yet felt no self-pity ....she was brave and able to manipulate the mighty Gui... a truly admirable and wonderful character.... Her relationship w/ Gui was the most ineteresting!
followed by: Kang Min Ki, his transformation, his honesty, and more.... very interesting!
sexy body...and she can act
This was a very good watch.... interesting story ... the 2nd half has a fast pace, and a thrilling cliffhanger at the end of every episode.... Nice bromance.... A great villain, love-to-hate him.. The title and its meaning as the theme of the show is poetic!... Excellent cast and acting!
The Bad:
Some important plot holes, but I could ignore them .... Not enough of the wonderful bromance .... Problems w/ the ending.... They should have explored Mao's character more, he's very interesting!
The Ugly:
Seo Ji Woo became annoyingly stupid at the end, putting others in danger w/ her idiotic stubbornness, but it was nothing major, quickly passed ..... Plot holes w/ the ending.
It usually applies to young girls who seduce middlle-aged men....
In this case, IU promotes her image as a sexually appealing young girl, but in reality she is already an adult in her 20's ..... Yet, she is trying to say how uncomfortable it is to be viewed as that girl and pointing out how disgusting these Ahjussis are ....
but she does it in a very indirect way... That's why I said she is smart and courageous, because most of the executives in the industry are middle-aged men.
Simply wonderful writing.
Too bad the k-version didn't have good writing. I like that it is different focusing more on 4th, but there is no depth, just "cute' moments that are meaningless :(
Zeze is a well known story in SK about a little lonely boy who names a tree and they become friends.
But in reality, IU is showing what it is like to be that child .... hinting at how K-pop girls' groups have a large fan following among ahjussis (older men).
She is showing what it's like.... and how uncomfortable it feels.
So in reality, she uses her lolita image to gain fame, but also uses her songs, to point out the hypocricy of these older men and the industry as a whole.
It is a subversive message .... and she's very courageous to attack the hypocrisy.
@Nat explains it simply:
"...she's reflecting the gaze that falls on her.
she's very subversive."
--->>> In Ep 7, they are making fun of her critics, also in a subversive way ... It may seem they are making fun of her, but in reality they are supporting her.
I honestly didn't care about her or the scandal, until I read that "tree naming" scene in Ep7 is about her scandal... a snide to her critics!!
Now that I know the truth, I admire IU for her courage and intelligence!
the other princes, including 4th and 8th are supporting characters ...
However, in this version, they chose to pay more attention to 4th and put in a big-name like LJK ....
The story is about Hae Soo and her relationship w/ each prince individually!! ...
4th, 8th, 14th and Emperor (I guess in this version crown prince) all have equal time w/ her... also 13th and 10th .... Her feelings towards each of them is different.
They could have changed and made it all about 4th, but they didn't...they are still following the book's general plot, while also giving 4th more prominence.
The romance is not the point of the story ... the point is how the romance and her love for the princes affect her decisions and ultimate path she takes.
Honestly, reading all the comments about OTP and giving more time for 4th ...just shows the bad decision the producers made in turning this very intriguing story into a youth-oriented Romantic comedy .... the writing is not the only thing that is bad, the problems are the production... the actors are just fine... LJK and KHN are excellent... but they can't fix the problems.
But after watching 2nd time, I now love 14th as well.... He is more complex than I initially thought ...and he's great as the mediator, balancing all the factions and still stood firm for what he believed! ... He is loyal, brave, smart, forthright, tactful and still managed to be liked by everyone!
13th is her soul mate b/c they think alike ... which annoyed 14th to no end b/c he could never figure out what she is thinking ...lol... he's too pragmatic ... yet very lovable!
The concept has been successfully done before (nothing comes to mind atm), but the producers of Ryeo didn't do a good job here.
If you watch Sageuks like The Princess' Man and Chuno, both have modern music and it not only fits the scenes but is hauntingly beautiful, moving and memorable.
TPM has a few songs in Italian ... Chuno even has rap music...
TPM "Vola" : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPssV5dMZIk
Chuno "Bakkwoa": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvgHxON2_aU
I've only seen 1&2, Akkanee is my fave, probably due to Yadech... XD