King2Hearts (2012)

K2H was such fun. I really enjoyed it, mostly the cast and characters. The story has some issues, though. It mostly mixes the military genre with, loosely named, political melodrama, and mixes in romantic elements. This sometimes throws the tempo off in a few instances and the shift of attention can be a challenge. I personally took a couple of days off the drama whenever there was a significant genre shift happening, just to freshen up.

That being said, I felt that the military passages were done very well. The first couple of episodes, that many deem as a bit slow, were on of the highlight of the drama for me. It builds a strong backbone out of the characters and you quickly see that Hang Ah is the one you are going to root for the hardest. Jea Ha is kind of a different story, but has those shining moments pretty much since the beginning. They are a quick otp, mostly thanks to the great chemistry between Ha Ji Won and Lee Seung Gi. They were very well matched. And damn, Ha Ji Won can do anything, she's amazing.

The political melodrama had some interesting moments, but a lot of it was overshadowed by the antagonist who was quite over the top and sometimes did not balance it and crossed into the silly. I get what they were trying to say with his character and point of mixing business with the aims of private companies, but it just rubbed me the wrong way. The romance line was sweet, but used some of the motives repeatedly, which also hindered the show a bit.

Other than that, I loved it. The cast is great, even the secondary characters are amazing. There are also some twists that I did not see coming at all. K2H is innovative and in more than couple of things ahead of its time. I will definitely come back to my favourite parts.

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A very respectable drama but...

I like to call King 2 Hearts a dramas drama just like how there is a singers singer . For example , Susan Boyle. A lot of artists look up to Susan Boyle for her vocal control , richness and intonation . She is literally perfect but us listeners are not exactly rushing to hear her latest offering or filling up stadiums in a frenzy . She is a tasteful option much like King 2 Hearts that really excelled in a tight plot ,near perfect character progression, politics, history , depiction and set up. I would implore a bunch of script writers to glean from King 2 Hearts to see that it is very possible to have all types of elements and still have a tight piece of work that does not bust at the seams.

However - like Susan Boyle , X factor and pathos are thoroughly lacking in TK2H. I really failed to overall emotionally resonate with all aspects of the story . I found it hard to pick up most of the time but when I did watch - I would watch in long bursts but I really did not find it wholly engaging .Emotional resonance is lacking and it’s the main couple itself . I mostly fast forwarded their scenes together and struggled to like the look of them together. They are individually competent actors their screen aptitude together was particularly dismal for me. I also found the dramatic tension puerile in execution. A bit over played . Everything was necessary but it really was not breaking new ground and I put up with the hysterics for the sake of the plot. Insert unnecessary death scene but anyways ( shrug)

On a positive note -I commend the drama for having each character have a central conflict . It added dynamism and made for an enduring watch.Character evolution was also top notch and great ladies too. The ladies were not ones to shy away from their feelings and they owned their narrative! I liked that depiction.Moreover - the supporting cast were the best moments. The Princess and The Captain's story line brought much needed pathos and musicality ( they sang a song , swoooooon) and the global presence of the villain was very intriguing.

The royal aspect was fun and the insertion of the Korean separation made for depth. I realised that ,perhaps, the worst part about the Korean War was that the people were just thrown into it. It wasn't just about the Koreans picking an ideology and fighting against each other.The commentary on that made for pleasant ponder.

The music was pretty decent too . The ballads and instrumentals complemented the atmosphere and epic scale of the drama. I am glad to know that "Missing You" - the main leads song, won awards and also Jo Jong Suk scooped best new actor . Those who love him should give TK2H a watch too!

OVERALL-It is pretty epic though . The deaths, kidnapping and love declarations and the torment of the war and separation make this drama a must watch and very unique but I found the King 2 Hearts to be just okay in the end hence I cannot give it anything above 8.

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What a great drama this was! It was surely one of the best thrillers I've ever seen!

The acting in this drama was just superb and everyone deserves an award, even the crazy guy. This whole drama deserves an award. All those other actors who rejected the lead, should be regretting it right now because this drama was amazing and Lee Seung Gi did an amazing job. Cha Seung Won, I gotta tell ya, you missed a great drama. Lee Seung Gi's acting was the best of all. He can really act and Ha Ji Won, great as always. The two's chemistry was very real and they delivered it very beautifully.

The story is very different from the typical drama. It really had such great moments where they were very emotional. It has been a very long time since I have cried and sobbed at the same time while watching kdramas and King2Hearts made it happen. The story is very well written and it wasn't boring at all. After every episode, it left me at the edge of my seat. It was very entertaining.

I highly recommend the drama and I assure you, you will not be bored. Very good drama.

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I was going to give this Drama a Fair enough rating like an 8, but the last episodes were so intense that i had was to reevaluate my score. 18 19 AND MORE OVER 20! WAS AWESOME. the show starts Luke warm i admit that, at times i even fell asleep but for some reason the actors kept pulling me back. There is a great sense of national pride coming from this show. It has helped me to better understand the N & S. Korea people even more. The line border that separate you guys is nothing but just a line dividing a people that belongs together. NOT The PRIDE OF North OR South, BUT THE ENTIRE JOSEON PEOPLE is reflected in this show. Thanks to all who put this show together for it will be be instrumental in the unification process.

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This drama was just great. It has almost everything. I remember, when I watched the first episode, it felt strange and complicated as the first view episodes were more focused on military and I'd never watched that kind of drama before. Until then I had mostly watched romance-comedy dramas. I also remember having thoughts about dropping it or putting in on-hold.
But then it got more interesting and thrilling. And I'm glad I continued watching. It became one of my favorite dramas.

I totally loved how the characters slowly grows. It was so natural, realistic and understandable. Not like in some other dramas where some characters suddenly changed without a strong reason.

To help others in deciding whether to watch "King2Hearts" or not, I made a list of the topics of this drama and my rates for some of the topics.

40% - Work/Bussiness: being the king, Military, Political (9,5/10)
I've watched "Goong" ang "My Princess". There it was hard for me to understand the role of the royal family in the politics.
But in this drama I could feel how imortant they were for the country and how their relationship with other coutries are.
I'm really not into politics and military, but I could understand the political and military situations in this drama. It was really made understandable.

25% - Romance (8,5/10)
There aren't many romantic scenes in this drama. There's also no usual rivalry in the romances.
But through out the story and their work, the love between the characters was conveyed very well and you can totally tell how deep their love is.
And it's not only the romance between the two main leads that catches the attention of most viewers.

15% - Thriller (7,5/10)
The antagonist was great. His character made me to also hate him and sometimes to feel a little bit scared of his power.

10% - Action (7/10)
Action shouldn't be something to attract the viewers to watch this drama as it was not the focus of "King2Hearts".
Even so, the action scenes were well done and didn't look cheap.

4% - Family
6% - Others
There was very little comedy in this drama, mostly at the begining. As the story gets more serious, ofcourse the comedy became lesser.

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Personally, I loved this drama!

Why I loved it and would recommend/think it's worth watching:

1. the male leads character does have an actual development ~.^
And while he's still jerk-ish around ep 5 and 6 you can start to see his doom, that is, development coming XD After that you'll come to love him more and more.
So for those who dislike him at the beginning, totally understandable, but you might be willing to give it another try until later episodes, because it is so worth it.

2. Strong female lead character - that is such a rare jewel in dramas. I can actually count the strong female leads on my fingers, which is sad. But King2Hearts does have it, so yay

3. No love triangles. For me this is a super big bonus because I hate triangles and not only did the drama not have it, the supporting cast couple was also truly great.
I want more dramas with main couples like this one - no wavering, they trust and stay true to each other. What more could a girl want, right?

4. The story was original and kept going nicely, wasn't dragging anywhere and neither was the ending rushed which is also a rarity, another yay
The plot did go a little (ok, maybe a lot?), well, a tad overboard with all the war stuff and who'd attack whom based on what. I truly doubt it'd be that easy in our time considering that the governments do realise the consequences it'd have for us all (...at least I sincerely hope they do)

5. The cast really did portray their characters very well. Liked the ones I'm supposed to like, hated the ones I'm supposed to hate. Brought tear in my eye when needed, made me happy and smiling when called for it. No one left me feeling like this character was lacking or this one was too much.
Except, the only bad thing I can say about casting are the foreigner characters. They (the characters), the acting and their English was awful. Asian dramas really need to start hiring better actors for their foreign characters. Nuff said.

6. Music. Nothing special, but was good. Beautiful even. I will look up two main themes that were played most of the time because they really were great.
Actually, except for some dramatic moments, when it called for those two themes (or is it one?), I didn't really notice it and neither was it needed. The plot and acting kept me captivated, so music really was more just of a background in this one except the few scenes where it added the emotional high, so it was very well done.

Overall I'd say that this drama was great and portrayed very nicely how not to give up and just talk. Communication is important and could solve so many problems.
King2Hearts had plenty of action, politics, drama and romance.

Re-watch value? I've already re-watched it and totally will later on in the future ^^
Thou I'll just skip the horrible foreign actor parts :D

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Story
Original and meaningful at the same time, this drama could be divided into 4 parts.
Part 1 - Training camp and teamwork: how to create a team with 2 groups of people who apparently don't share any similarity.
Part 2 - Marriage or not marriage?: A very great part as heartwrenching as heartwarming
Part 3 - Club M & betrayal: The drama goes dark & more political, like really. This is by far the cruelest villains I've seen.
Part 4 - Resolution?: It gets a bit draggy there with events that should have never happened. (Baby Boring Guy forever)

Acting/cast
Lee Seung Gi is incredible. He starts arrogant and snob as many of his other roles but becomes so mature and strong from ep.8. He fits the role perfectly and I can't imagine anyone else as Lee Jae Ha.
Ha Ji Won is queen. She learnt the North Korean dialect and intonation. She's cute, naive but also strong and badass.
Jo Jung Suk is soooo underrated, loved him from the minute he appeared. Eun Shi Kyung is the perfect blend of innocence and responsibility. The perfect friend: LOVED HIM.
Lee Yoon Ji is also perfect, I wished they could focus a bit more on Jae Shin & Shi Kyung relationship.

Overall, the characters seem strong and impenetrable but show so many weaknesses and fragility. It's a good insight in the life of royal personalities whose image must be strong for people to feel safe but in the end, they are only humans too.

Music
I liked it but won't be remembered.

Rewatch value
Definitely yes.

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As per usual, plotlines can be grating, acting can be overdone, but this show has some really beautiful moments in it. And I watched the action scenes more than once hehehe.

Hang Ah
“That means your military background includes training others for death by explosives.”

I'm sorry, by Ha Ji Won's acting...what the heck is she doing? Her baby voice is so argh.
No one does a rough woman like a Korean.
“It's been a long time since I assassinated using explosives.”
Hang Ah has the most perfect bad guy calm threatening tone that sends chills up your spine.
I love that she's a badass but can skip around in heels too. Talk about #useyourand. I love that she's girly.
I like that the men are rooting for Kim to take her place among them and she's the one that doesn't want to do it. She's not ambitious in the army and her comrades are wanting to push her forward.


I thought her mother in law would hate her for a long time, but she gets used to her pretty quick. The family's loyalty to her despite circumstances was awesome to see.
Hang Ah is not particularly fierce on the emotional front, but her rationale is pretty good. She's calm about her love and she has some common sense.
My favourite parts were when she was up against Jae Ha's enemy. She really knew how to handle herself.
“Don't misunderstand. I'm not alive now by luck. It's because I haven't chosen to die yet.”

Jae Ha
He's laidback and audacious, just like he is as a kid. The epitome of the younger brother king who wants to just fool around and leave the responsibility to the older brother. Oh my gosh, I usually hate brats like this guy but Lee Seung Gi is so comical he just pulls it off so hilariously.
Jae Ha is reckless but he's also terrified of Hang Ah.
I was really surprised to see how kind he was when Hang Ah was down. “Who was it? Who made our leader cry?”

“Jae Ha, a man calling himself cute at your age is pathetic.”
“But I am cute!”

Jae Ha's serious tone is brilliant. He smiles very casually but his intensity has so much personality. When he gets fierce in his calm way over Hang Ah, I really enjoyed it. His expression when he's trying to get a point across is compelling.

Romance
“You're afraid I'm going to jump you? I'm too scared to do that to a special forces agent.”
Jae Ha is really good at the little gestures. You gotta love that in a guy.
I couldn't see the pair of them working out until Jae Ha smiled at her and then I was sold that they should be together forever hahaha.
Once again, there's a great usage of showing intimacy without showing intimacy.
After the halfway mark the relationship takes on an interesting turn. It was nice to see the side of Jae Ha that wants to make it up to Hang Ah.

Eun Shi Kyung
He is the kind of character that the show will do cruel things to to show how manly and disciplined he is. Also, it is really awesome that a soldier has perfect pitch #useyourand.
It was interesting to see how hard he is when it comes to romance. Despite his obliging personality on his professional level he is really quite a hard nut to crack. Or maybe it's just his insecurities.

“I may be amusing to you now, but you'll grow tired of me.”
“I'm not that impulsive.”
“Don't toy around with me.”

Jae Shin
This actress is always so much fun. I loved seeing how brave she became.

Mother in law
She's great. Really great.

There's an Australian in this show hahahaha.

Soundtrack
I think I might like this rock and roll soundtrack
Strings tension track ooh yeah

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Warning, this will be a very long essay. I wrote this years ago somewhere else. I just need to let more people know how much I loved this show, so pardon for the irrelevance (or the long-squee moments instead of reviewing lol).

This drama has three elements that catch a bucket of love. I won’t talk much about the (AMAZING) plot, I only want to stay in the realness of the character and how a glimpse of life can be so well captured in this series.

Firstly, I noticed this drama portrays how the role of husband and wife should be (at least from my view). Jae-ha carries the most responsibility of his country. He has to be tough and smart and wise and professional in hiding his personal problem. He is the face of the country. On the other hand, he is just a human.

At some points in his life, he falls apart- physically, mentally, or both. Then it is the righteous time when a woman ‘catches’ him and makes him stand. There is no talking of gender issue here, I am just pointing out the role of male and female in a relationship. Their case’s difference between common people is only the weight of responsibility that the male has to carry on his shoulder.

Hang-ah is a perfect match for Jae-ha in many ways. Regardless they are the main leads in this drama which I personally put that fact aside, their character just complete each other. They have their own unique similarities which equal with their differences. Many dramas out there is trying to only focus on the leads’ differences and try to make them fall in love, while Hang-ah and Jae-ha have the same amount of reason to hate or to love each other. *I don’t know how to describe them anyway. Lols. Because they are just my favorite brainy-brawn-bad-ass characters (yeay!)

Back to Hang-ah and her role as how any wife should be. And I just want to emphasize things happening in one episode which turns me into Jae-ha fans, Hang-ah fans, the royal family fans (the mother/queen, Jae-shin, Jae-Kang who are so welcoming Hang-ah), and Jae-ha-Hang-ah’s chemistry fans. Hang-ah is the most tough woman I’ve ever seen – in dramaland by far. She is not just advanced in martial art because she is so damn lovely and cute at the same time. Mostly, her feminism side is shown when she is being with Jae-ha. This is just realistic! errr yeah, I've seen Hang-ah girl type in real life.

So.... I’ve just explained the first element – the main subtle message for me which is about the role of man and woman in the world of how to rule a country, now, lets take a look to the second elements: politics.

I never interested to any part of political issue that any drama brings out – I still don’t care. However, The king 2 Hearts brings me to a whole new level of getting involved in political issue because I like how the main leads rule it. Its Jae-ha who wins over my heart, steals every adorable moment in my imagination to belong to his character, and he is such a witty-and-brainy person. His stepping up to become the king is precious and that is his best charm. Oh not to mention he is just the most romantic and sweetest king ever – or can I say he is just a portrait for every king in the world who adores his queen so much?. Hang-ah has the same equal role in ruling or steering the politics except she comes from north, a female, and she is not the throne. Those parts strengthen her legal to be on Jae-ha side. If she has the same power with him, I think the story would turn out differently. Maybe when Jae-ha ‘fell’, she overtook it and seemed more powerful than Jae-ha and it would hurt my fangurl side to team up with the king (lol, what? Ok just ignore my random thought). So the strength in Hang-ah makes them perfect to combine their power.

The third element is how the romance doesn’t interrupt nor is awkwardly inserted in the middle of the tense in the drama because it has its own way to win viewer's heart. It is there from the beginning, you know. Comparing to the other shows, the king and queen love story in this drama is the real winner. It does not make me all whinny when the threatening moment comes, but the story is intriguing, gripping, and entertaining. Moreover, a small caring gesture either from Jae-ha or Hang-ah just gives me a whole butterflies to my stomach. Them teaming up to confront the bad guy is the best thing.

To conclude, this is just a perfect drama for you if you're looking for a modern-setting korean royal story with badass female lead (who is so RARELY found in dramaland) and an adorable king. Also, you might enjoy the King's journey from him being a scaredy cat to be a powerful (and the sweetest) king like I did. And I know, I will love it all over again when I re-watch this for nth times :')

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I'm cw this drama and so far it's satisfying already... What a magnificent job! How did they come up with such a genius masterpiece! I won't regret watching the first episode of it instead, I'll watch it til the very end.(hope it's not a tragic one):( wait, think positive! hehe...... What I love about it is that, this dram has it all, name it, romance, comedy, tragedy even history. haha... Outstanding because it's my first time to watch such drama, and it didn't disappoint me. Although the OST I know is that of Tiffany's IMYLC I still like it and you know, got LSS. Even if it was the only song I know about this drama, for me it's very remarkable. Great acting skills is also shown in this drama. I commend Lee Yoon's acting. It is superb and high-class! Very versatile. So far, it's doing great. Looking forward to the next 8 episodes.

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