The King : Eternal Monarch (2020)

What was that? So dissapointing.

The advertising on netflix was good, it was kinda anticipated and i was looking forward to it.
When the story begin, i was like okay what is wrong with the bad acting, and no chemistry with movie production this level, and the famous duo ml and fl.....maybe it will build up by time. But the story itself was confusing. Maybe because it was just started....
Then the more i watch episodes the more i dread it.
It became more and more confusing, even the main leads seemed to be disconnected.
I don't want want to pick here there, but it was really waste of time, even just 10 episodes i forced myself to watch. I don't think my intelligence is to blame when i saw the very low rating it has...
Well, surely won't watch it again. But i think on another screenwriting and maybe different pairing, the main leads could do much better job.

Lire davantage

Is not a Romance, is Sci-Fi. Can't be watched while looking at your phone.

TL:DR
If sci fi, parallel universes, time traveling shenanigans, a touch of magic, a nerd mathematician/prince hero with a white horse and a hot bodyguard/BFF are your jam, dive in.

Frankly I didn't understand the criticism this drama got, then it clicked: people have wrong assumption about it,thinking is a fantasy romance, while is pure Science Fiction with a romantic storyline.

It starts slowly because it needs to build two separate worlds, introducing all the characters, etc. Must be said i found the Kingdom of Corea (KoC) scenes, characters and plotlines better executed, the Republic of Korea (RoK) parts in the first 3/4 episodes are boring.

There are obvious editing mistakes in the first half, that contribute to the initial confusion. The crime investigation seem pointless, because the show didn't made immediately clear the connection between the first dead body in RoK and the doppelganger in KoC. Same must be said about the crime unit characters, with Kang Shin Jae being a complete waste of screentime, especially all his solo scenes, disconnected from the main plot.

It was also very hard for me to like Jung Tae Eul character, not Kim Go Eun fault, who did well in the dual role. Is just I hate when "strong female character" means acting like a man. She was excessively rude, a borderline jerk. That's not being strong, that's being an a**hole, is hard to empathize with her.

I liked Lee Gon a lot more. A well adjusted orphan. A just, loved ruler. A dork, a genius mathematician. A earnest man. Even when he said cheesy things like "this face is my present for you". I wasn't his fan before, so Lee Min Ho surprised me. One example: the king pain over the uncle death and the consequent rage scenes were amazing, he did an outstanding and intense performance there.

Kudos to Woo Do Hawn, he was a real scene stealer throughout all the 16 episodes. It was a bit underused in the middle, but got his shiny moment in the finale., I'm also his fan now.

Episodes 11-12 are still my favorite. The 2 hours worked almost like a solo movie.
The rescue scene with the cavalry charge and the king slaying his enemies? Perfect. From the way it was shot, edited, the score, all so well done, I didn't expected such quality in KDrama.

Cinematography, scene composition and framing: top notch. 18 hours visual fest. Sadly the editing from episode 1 to 10 is not on the same level. So many missed opportunity to leave visual clues to the audience. There is an obvious shift in quality in the second half.

The songs are great. The score is so good, I'm going to listen the various themes on repeat. Gravity, the King and The War is Over are my favorite.

All in all, recommended with a caveat: I don't agree to those who say you need to be extra intelligent to understand this drama, but you do need to pay attention to details all the time.

Lire davantage

I find the drama good. It just takes alot of patience to understand the plot. The acting of the cast were amazing! they acted their 2 roles well especially Woo Do Hwan. The drama doesnt follow the overused romance trope. It was made for people who were willing to think and came up with theories. This drama may not be everyone's cup of tea but for me i really loved it. They'd probably like it if the drama just kept giving info to make it easier to understand but it isn't like that that's why they don't like it... But seriously this is a really great drama 9/10 recommend watching it

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Needs brain cells

If you wish to give your brain a rest when watching dramas, this is definitely NOT for you. You'll just find yourself obsessing over product placements.

If you do wish to keep your brain cells active even in front of a TV, if you relish unraveling challenging plot-lines, you're in for a magical, wonderful experience.

This is the best kdrama I've ever watched. Romance, fantasy and an awesome soundtrack have been blended together in a beautifully crafted unique story of a king and a detective from parallel worlds who meet, bicker, fall in love and risk their lives to save their worlds from impending doom.

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ONE OF A KIND! ♡

This is definitely a Masterpiece!
There are a lot of reasons why this is undeniably One of the Best kdrama in history.
The Duality of the roles portrayed by the character leads alone showed how amazing the story is. It takes a lot of talent and acting skills for one to be able to fit and perfectly portray dual roles. I can proudly say that all of the casts did an incredible job. Only those who feel how hard it is to transition from one emotion to another can appreciate those part of the story.

This is just one of so0 many reasons why The King Eternal Monarch is One of a Kind. ♡

Lire davantage

Pls don’t waste time on this

You should watch DKDKTV’s review on this.
https://youtu.be/FUV_xWDDMvo

This show really sucks. Mainly bcs it is so tone-deaf. It appears as really sophisticated and smart but when you watch it.... it’s really not that deep lol. It’s pretentious and shallow.

Irks the heck out of me when dramas try so hard to be something they are not.

The saving grace is Woo Do Hwan, like for real. Don’t bother watching scenes he isn’t in. The whole parallel world thing might also keep you intrigued for the first few episodes? After that they keep overusing it in an attempt to make it fancier that you wont be amused to it anymore haha.

Frustrating watch, leaves you hanging. Only reason I watched the whole thing bcs I kept trying to figure out why is it so bad and I kept hoping something will turn round to make it better

Lire davantage

Story: Great...Romance: Average...Advertisment: Bad.

This drama has received a lot of criticism for various reasons and in many ways rightly so. The product advertisement is the worst I've ever seen in any drama by a mile. Yes, it's that bad. And the build up to the romance felt rushed and unnatural. However if you focus on the story alone by itself and the acting, I think it held up well and it's been a very good watch.

If you aren't familiar with time travel and parallel world theories that are used in most movies of similar concepts and the fictional science behind them, this will confuse you a lot. Those who criticize the story I feel do so because it's difficult to understand and you will most likely not understand why and how certain things panned out the way they did on your first watch. It is so full of twists and turns and mysteries and everything that it becomes hard to follow sometimes. I get why some people won't like it but I relish that kind of challenge the writer puts before us the viewers.

The richness of the story for me meant that this should probably have been a 20-episode drama than a 16-episode drama. It would have allowed the characters a little bit more development, the romance would have orogressedynore naturally and more explanations could have been given to why certain events were happening. But due to the brevity of the number of episodes, certain major explanations of what was happening was sometimes made in a passing statement by the characters.

For the acting, I was okay with it. I agree with almost everyone else. Yeong/Eun Sop was the highlight of the drama in terms of the performance. LMH did okay. Another person may have done better but it was okay. I'm a fan of Kim Go-Eun so I'm very biased when it comes to assessing her so I won't. Watch and decide for yourself.

If you're looking for a good story and yet easy to understand like Goblin was, then isn't your drama. But if you relish the challenge of concentrating on a story and trying to figure out why certain events happened they way they did like I do, then try it out. I loved watching it. Tune out the product placement and overlook the romance progression and you'll be fine especially since in my opinion, as big a role as the romance played in the drama, it's not a romantic drama primarily. It's a time travel, mystery and power struggle drama first and since it nailed all that on the head, I won't judge it too harshly for a badly written romance.

Lire davantage

I only love Wo Dohwan's character :) hmm they say it needs intellectual evaluation while watching it because it has contrasting worlds and so on. But right now, it's not my strongest show and I couldn't afford to re-watch it. Although kudos to the impressive visual effects and high end production this is worth not dropping. There were many controversies on the show, it such a pity though. But everyone has their opinions and we respect the fans who were very supportive because, Im a fanatic myself of a particular actor/actress.

Let's give it a shot until it ends though, they are making ways to make it worthwhile for the viewers.

Lire davantage

Legendary

Pls don't watch a drama forced,or with hatred. Don't allow others reviews and comments to influence u. Everybody doesn't have the same style or have interst in the same genre. Ppl simply watch it for the visuals. Well u can. But respect the cinematography, the work that's being put..and respect the story...it's a freaking drama and watch as it is...if u don't like it you don't have to watch it...but if you caught the plot new and nice...well give it a try...upto where i have finished (10...) It's being fast paced...if ya'll don't understand chemistry...pls don't watch it...for me it was amazing...just think according to the story..and don't think so realistic...he's a freaking king and she's a tough woman...and their auras r different...so understand the story..and watch it..not just for the mere visuals. Well u can. But then don't complain about story and chemistry nd stuff...everything's not everyone's cup of tea.
Don't like it Don't watch it.

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once upon a time there was a king...

first of all people...i had such a high expectation for this one...like i went to search for the most high quality version of this drama...such a disappointing drama.

story: the horrible plot of this story contains useless messy storylines. a king whose family was killed by the hand of his own uncle for the sake of getting the throne. a girl out of nowhere comes and saves him with his team and drops her id card. The Ridiculous part is that he falls in love with her just because she saved his life, he doesn't know her or doesn't have any clue about how she is or who she is, the first time he sees her he is like:"i love you" WHY? WHY DUDE? so many plot holes everywhere. the villain is ruthless for no reason..he does a bunch of evil things for absolutely no reason...if i wanna point out all of them i should write an essay.

acting/cast: lee min ho is a good enough actor, he fills what he lacks with his handsome face(i like him regardless) but go eun is not a good match for him imo. visually and chemistry speaking, i didn't like them as a couple one bit. she had better chemistry with the second male lead here imo. the only outstanding actor here was woo do hwan...he pulled off his character in a VERY EXCELLENT way. i liked the second leads as well.

music: amazing music and OSTs.

rewatch value: if you like lee min ho and woo do hwan then go for a rewatch whenever.

overall:unfortunately this drama had zero interesting plot line and i only kept watching for woo do hwan and lee min ho. gave it 3/10 for those two ^^

Lire davantage

I dropped this drama in episode 7 and honestly i should've dropped way before.
The first episode was very very hard to watch, they really just threw all the plot in an hour and it felt heavy but either i was kinda interested to see what would happen. But the ep that showed me that it wasn't worth it was ep 3, I'll try to explain it but usually when you see a drama of course you know an actor is saying a script but it doesn't show but it seems natural. But watching that ep was, wow, you could SEE the script, it was just so obvious that they were just SAYING those things like they just memorized it. It wasn't pleasant to watch. The remaining four episodes I watched were mainly just watching Lee Min Ho and Woo Do Hwan's faces.

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