rationalbeings

I wish I had the kind of money to just throw around like people who make these terrible short series.

Not expecting much is given but man the sound effects/song choices in this were annoying

SAME! I was waiting for the big reveal, like he dies but then you find out none of that was real! But you know what, for what it was it was bold of them show - look guys this what a relationship with a toxic male lead is ACTUALLY like!

Both decent actors but the plot/dialogue was so boring resulting in zero chemistry between them. Wouldn't recommend this one.

IKR? Even your comment didn't prepare me for what ended up happening. This is more like the horrifying reality of what a toxic male lead "romance" is actually like.

Umm.... This is not what I thought it was going to be. If you are looking for fluff this isn't it. It's interesting for sure but this has zero romance.

100% This is exactly the same thoughts I had when watching this. It's not even that I was bothered with the change - to me it's that it made the drama even better and everything extra special. When I first heard of the decision I was realllly skeptical but after finishing part 2 I can completely understand why that decision was made. It makes the most sense.

He really was the most adorable child.

My thoughts for both parts (mini spoliers):

Great story telling. I know the Hong sisters always start off strong but their endings are weak but they really had this one thought through. You can tell everyone involved really wanted to make something spectacular when they started this drama. From the story to the acting to the cgi and ost, everything was stellar. And most importantly (SPOILER) they pulled off something I never ever thought they could....a complete actor change. I thought this is never going to work when I first heard of it, and 5 mins into part 2 I had completely been immersed as if it was the most natural course of action.

The leads had great chemistry, hats off to Lee Jae Wook for managing to pull that off with two different FLs. But also to both FL's - despite having vastly different personalities they still seemingly managed to effortlessly make it so you could feel you were watching the same character. This is the first time I have actually liked So Min in her role - she really was great as the haughty master who softens up over time. I have never liked her characters in her previous roles but here she shined. And Go Youn Jung was brilliant as slightly foolish but determined lead. She has great comedic timing and man she's beautiful.

Alllllll the secondary characters were so good and really made this drama. Even though there were one too many filler parts, I didn't want to skip them because they all acted so well. I love the bromance between the three besties, Lord Jin and Lady Kim's frustrating but adorable romance and even the acting by the multitude of evil characters. One of the break outs from me in this was the actress that played So-i. I have seen her in mostly comedic roles before but she was something else in this, and even though you hated her, you really felt for her too.

The direction, cinematography, ost and cgi were all great. Although I preferred the song for Yul and Mu-Deok more than what the leads had, overall the music is great.

This is one of the few dramas I insisted to watch on a big TV screen instead of a laptop where I normally watch because of the impact of the story and visuals. That alone is enough to say how much I recommend this series to anyone.

Cute, first half was good and fun to watch. Second half was a little draggy and anti climatic. Didn't care for the time wasted on the pointless love triangle and actors seem new so need a lot more work esp in emotional scenes. But the characters were more fleshed out than most short web series so not a bad watch.

This was baaad. Didn't make it past ep 3.

How do I join!?
I swear every Mango TV drama.... I know they don't have to care about their international audience considering how big china's population is....but c'mon! 99% of their drama's are unwatchable because of subbing issues. >:(

Ohhhh, I see. Thank you!

Really? I always feel like in the drama's I have watched the quirky/sunshine girl will chase the guy to some extent. But you're right there are definitely the bossy CEO type dramas where the cold boss will fall for the clumsy girl first.

When the Queen Dowager poisons herself and dies there's a voice over that says something and then there's a excerpt of historical writing shown on screen. Did anyone understand what was said. I was confused. So was she queen for a day and then was removed from the post?

Question about the last episode:

Everyone needs a Queens Umbrella!

I don't usually do palace political dramas esp ones with so little romance but this was so well done! This is the result of everyone - writer, cast & crew coming together to really make something different. It's fast paced but coherent, has some really interesting topics and always keeps you on the edge of the seat. It's one of the few dramas I had to give myself a bit of a spoiler for because I couldn't keep waiting to see how it would play out.

The Queen was so well written and brilliant and the Queen Dowager was brilliant in how evily she acted. It was really great to see two FEMALE veteran actors have such great roles. I have mostly seen Kim Hae Sook in positive roles and she always blows me away. Seeing her here, in such a negative role really made my respect for her grow.

All the princes even did such a great job. I disagree with those who thought the crown princess was too annoying, I thought she was cute but not naive. Just in love and knew what she wanted.

Although the plot is nothing new- it has all the normal palace political drama - the way it was written was refreshing. And it was interesting to see how the women in the palace both fought and comforted each other. It does slow a bit in the last few eps as everything unravels and comes out, but it was satisfying to see it all happen.

In short- watch this drama, everything was wonderful, esp the acting!

Yup that's what I read too! Super interesting how their community is set up.

On episode 6 and I feel like I need xanax with each episode. It's all so anxiety inducing (in an engaging way)!

Yeah I read a lot about them after being introduced to them here. Fascinating culture but like @bluekitchen said they have a more complicated approach to gender equality. It does seem that outside influence is slowly seeping into their culture now. Interested to see how it will play out with the new generation who are more interested in monogamy.

Also found it so interesting that their uncles are responsible in helping raise the kids instead of the fathers. So I'm assuming most father's have their own set of nieces and nephews they raise instead of their own bio kids.