The King : Eternal Monarch (2020)

"the" drama of 2020? don't think so...

I still remember when this drama was announced and later a picture of Lee Min-ho in a horse was all over twitter driving everyone insane with theories. This drama caught my attention from that moment. The hype around it was really high. It had a famous screenwriter Kim Eun-sook, really known and loved actors ( Lee Min-ho, Kim Go-eun, and Woo-Do Hwan) and a story that was really interesting. I really enjoy dramas/movies with modern monarchies so I was set to like this drama. However, I think the expectations I had for this drama were way too high. So my take-out of this drama was:

It had everything to be an amazing drama and had the potential to be the drama of the year but it wasn't half of what I expected. I have to say that I was and still am disappointed at the outcome of this drama.

The first episode started well but, as it advanced, we were introduced to too many characters really fast to the point that I didn't know who was who. To make things worse, we are presented to "same face/different people" type of characters and with no help to distinguish which universe we were watching (sometimes yes, you could see that it was the monarchy one or the other, but most of the time it was mostly me and my mom wondering where the characters were in certain scenes). This lack of a clear distinction between universes complicated the story so much to the point that it made it so hard to watch because you couldn't understand what was going on which was really sad because the story itself had so much potential. As the drama moved forward, you could start to distinguish the main characters and their respective universes but the doppelgangers (if you could call them that?!) of extra characters (like the restaurant guy, and the veterinarian in the palace) randomly presented in the drama began to annoy me.

A thing that most people talk about is the amount of publicity that was shown throughout the drama. I'll be honest, that was the least aspect that bothered me. If you watch other dramas, you'll see advertising of a lot of things. Sure, with this drama they went all out with publicity but that didn't bother me, not even a little bit. Instead what annoyed me was the lack of connection between the main characters. At the start, it was funny to see the interaction between tae-eul and yi gon. But there was no build-up of interaction that made me get attached to their romance. It was so plain and fast-paced that made it so boring. I acknowledge, there were certain scenes that definitely were worth it. But overall, two words that fit the romance between the characters are plain and non-memorable.

Alright, so I just vented out everything that I thought was bad in this drama. But this drama was not a complete and total disaster. And the one thing that made it worth watching this drama was Woo Do-hwan's acting and bromance with Lee Min-ho. Despite all the confusing scenes and boring romance, his scenes were hilarious, the interaction between his character and Lee Min-ho's character was really cute and his acting amazed me. playing two characters that were the complete opposite but that managed to interact so well. With this drama, he really showed what he could do and in my personal opinion, he was the highlight of this entire drama. I could spend the rest of the time just talking about him but I'll leave that for another time. I just have to say: Personally, if you ask me for one reason to watch this drama, it's Woo Do-hwan.

Overall, I think this drama had everything it needed to be a great one and from the moment that it was announced, everyone had its eyes in it. From a screenwriter that had given us worldwide loved dramas, actors that are widely known and a story concept that was different, new, and interesting.
However, its shortcomings made it hard to watch and made just another drama that didn't reach its full potential.
Don't take me the wrong way, it was not the worst drama and many people actually quite enjoyed it, myself included in some parts.

But what could actually have been a contender for drama of the year, just passed as "another drama of 2020".

Lire davantage

I'm not a fan of cheesy romances so I didn't really care much for the relationship between Lee Gon and Tae Eul. In fact, I wanted to fast forward their romance scenes because I found them too dragging. That said, if you're into that kind of thing, you might consider watching for that reason. I have friends who did enjoy the drama for this purpose.

Despite my disinterest in the main couple, I try not to give up on dramas right away. I found the side characters to be my redeeming factor. Many people have probably mentioned Woo Do Hwan's impressive acting as both Eun Sup and Yeong. But I also enjoyed the Sin Jae, JangMi and Nari's appearances in the story. In fact, Sin Jae's story was one of the reasons I kept with the show when they started dropping hints about it.

The main plot of the story was my main disappointment. As the story progressed, they kept dropping all these hints that felt like they would be important. But then they didn't quite connect and didn't actually lead to any grand conclusion. I guess it helped when Lee Gon explained the math behind some of the events but I felt most of these were not relevant in the end. The whole time traveling concept also left a lot of unanswered questions.

It didn't help that the last episode seemed rushed just so we could see more scenes of the happy couple in the end. I wasn't very satisfied with the ending for the other characters either.

All in all, if you're a fan of Lee Min Ho (which I'm not) or Kim Go Eun (she's okay) and cheesy romances, but don't mind sci-fi mumbo jumbo, you can give this show a try. Otherwise, I suggest you skip this show.

Lire davantage

'The King: Eternal Monarch' had potential but wasn't properly developed. I' m giving this show a 6 stars rate because overall I enjoyed it, though; 2 episodes a week weren't hard to watch and they were entertaining enough. The cast was really nice and I really like Kim Go Eun's acting, but I have to say this isn't her best. That's probably because her character is so poorly written (just like every other one) it's just impossible to save it. At first I found myself rooting for her, she seemed really badass and able to look after herself. Didn't take long for her to switch into our typical demsel in distress, though. I don't know how many times we see her cry during the whole drama, but I'm sure it's a lot and I just couldn't stand it. Lee Min Ho's character is just the same as in every drama, or at least that's how it seemed to me. Always playing the saviour and being this perfect, humble, flawless king.
Kim Kyung Nam was great in his role, too. I hadn't seen much of him before and it was nice to do it here, but again, his character was just plain.
The only saveable characters are Woo Do Hwan's. Jo Yeong and Eun Seop lightened up this show, the acting was killing and the writers still tried to take that away from us giving him so little screen time. I'd have liked to see his background story alone and not only his story with the king, but obviously, there really isn't any space to delve into the characters and they just rushed everything, again.
The rest of the characters, like the villian, aren't worth mentioning. So poorly written, no background story, just there to make the ML look heroic and to the FL look dumb.

The real mess comes with the plot, tho. We can endure some badly written characters if the plot is good, right? But this wasn't the case. It had so much potential but it was just wasted. While I was finishing the drama I started feeling like the writer just didn't know how to finish this and tried to fool us with a lot of emotions (most of them didn't work). A lot of things stopped making sense, things that were shown to us in previous episodes that were intriguing just weren't brought up anymore in the whole drama and we were left staring at the screen like fools- wondering where they went.
This happens with a lot of things like the doppelgangers (Luna, especially), the travelling consequences and some characters I won't name to avoid spoilers.

The romance on this drama is just superior and not in a good way. Tae-eul seems to hate Lee Gon, but after he proves her his world exists she's deeply in love with him. The same goes for him, wanting to make her his queen the second they meet. Boy, you didn't even know if she actually existed a few minutes ago, calm down. The kisses are good and I somehow managed to see some chemistry between them, but it wasn't enough. It felt really rushed.

In conclusion, I was entertained with this drama because I only had to watch 2 episodes a week and they ended the episodes in a cliffhanger of questions that were never answered, so I feel pretty fooled. Still, I laughed a lot with Eun Seop and even shed some tears in the ending episodes. Didn't really get to feel empathy towards most characters, though, apart from Woo Do Hwan's and maybe a little for Lady Noh, ignoring the leads.

Give it a try, you may like it, but don't get your hopes really high because then you'll end up really disappointed.

Lire davantage

Surprisingly very enjoyable

I was very hesitant to watch this show because I saw that the writer also wrote Goblin and Descendants of the sun. Both of which are commonly very highly rated. I attempted to watch both of them previously but I couldn't bring myself to finish them. I did not really like Goblin and I thought DOTS was only okay. For me, they both seemed quite slow and drawn out at times. I got through about half of both and then just read summaries of the rest.
Anyways, I saw this on Netflix many times and skipped over it because I wanted to save myself from disappointment because I figured that I probably wouldn't like it. But alas quarantining was getting the best of me and I just decided to go for it and wow am I glad I decided to try it!
TKEM has a very complex story that is unique and full of twists. I do acknowledge that the complexity isn't for everyone. Honestly, I didn’t really know what was happening for like half the first episode haha. But after that, it definitely started to pick up for me. Even though there are a few parts that I will probably never understand I still really enjoyed the show very much!! I found the story very compelling and was so invested that I finished it all in 4 days. The show was very interesting and felt refreshing since it wasn’t filled to the brim with typical romance. This show is certainly not perfect but let's be honest no show is, so just keep to minimal and realistic expectations and you'll be in for quite a treat. All in all, TKEM is a success for me because at the end of the day it is simply just an entertaining tv show so I say it is definitely worth a try at least. I don’t regret watching it all!!

Lire davantage

WDH's Appealing Facial Expressions

No Spoilers

Inside this parallel universe screenwriter, Kim Eun Sook penned a hidden gem that I cannot find my way back. It had an excellent premise that fell into limbo. At times, I felt like I was viewing an AD commercial in some scenes, and other times it was deft scriptwriting and acting buried underneath all the mess.

The writer's incoherent complexity strained the audience's patience. It exploits the same paradox elements in Nine: Nine Times Times Travel (2013). Maybe if you turn your brain off and try not to think everything will make sense to you. The Director who brought us Secret (2013) and Descendants of the Sun (2016) I was expecting a tightly knit plot, but instead got stunning visuals; nothing else.


Woo Do Hwan was the beaming light of TKEM. His dual role as Jo Young and Jo Eun Sub was visually sublime. Woo Do Hwan's perspicuous rapport with Kim Yong Ji, had me on the edge of my seat, hinting at the fervidness. I got to shout out to the roles of the Jo Eun Sub's twins siblings, for they were a time-out in so much occurring.

Kim Go Eun is an amazing actress except for her character in TKEM was dull and one dimensional. You may have a different opinion that would not be so cryptic to me. One Korean actor that is loved and hated Lee Min Ho. His potential appears to have a set limit because the characters he portrays in dramas fall short on many fronts; It is my opinion.

I am not going to explain it in detail. Yi Gon is an engaging character that suited Lee Min Ho, but the inconsistencies in the plot threw the chemistry of the leads off for me. The intenseness of the romance scenes between the LMH and KGE was muddy from the staggering plotholes.


The supposed villain of this drama wasted potential. The character development was weak on all fronts, causing me problems. It is a simple story dragged out a few episodes too long. The music was not bad, helping me through this show even though it was not original.


Watch this if you have nothing else to watch, and you might like it or might hate it. Even though I was not too fond of it, it does not mean you might not like it. If you have the willpower to propel through sixteen plus hours, You have the final say. Will the King solve his Mathematical problem/equation?


Final Rating: 5.28/10
Story: 5.26/10
Acting: 5.69/10

Rewatch Value: I would rewatch it, but a long way down the road when I have nothing to view, maybe on a rainy day or snowy day. Perhaps an episode here or there I would see, WDH scenes.

Lire davantage

The good parts about this was when it felt like I was watching Inuyasha or some other early 00's anime like that. At other times it felt confused, contrived, and also extremely focused on product merchandising and on Lee Min Ho's face.

I mean - there was this single episode even my parents couldn't stop counting how many product placements happened. I think it was around episode 10/11. Almost every scene featured the king drinking some royal coffee or eating some royal instant kimchi. This suits my taste!

Oh God.

PS: Giving the acting a high grade for Kim Go Eun and Jung Eun Chae, they didn't deserve this mess

Lire davantage

Worth watching

Well, i don't think its bad or complicated story, please haters don't give negative reviews, this drama is full package of everything and every role played really well,
I really admire the writers actors.
I am addicted to this drama.. Its worth watching.






































Enjoy























Enjoy


















Enjoy
















Enjoy












Enjoy

Lire davantage

Did this make no sense or am I just dumb??

I wasn't planning on writing a review for this drama (specially because I've never written a review before) but I just finished watching the whole thing and I'm honestly so upset! I want my 16 hours back!!

"The King: Eternal Monarch" presented us the concept of parallel worlds and later time travel. THAT'S PRETTY COOL! except it wasn't because it was very poorly executed. And I'm not talking about the actors (they were all pretty good specially Woo Do Hwan). I'm talking about the writing, which was clearly focused on the romance while the whole ~parallel worlds and treason~ storyline stayed in the background.

I really wanted to like this drama but the numerous plot holes just made it very difficult to accompany and focus. AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE PRODUCT PLACEMENT!! I mean I get it they are being sponsored and supported by these brands but that was absolutely shameless and ruined the immersion.

And now my thoughts on the ending: It made no sense. As simple as that. The King Lee Gon restored everything he wanted and that needed to be restored but that had a price: Jeong Tae-Eul and everyone from the Republic of Korea would forget Lee Gon and his world. And that's what happened... EXCEPT FOR TAE-EUL WHO DIDN'T FORGET ANYTHING!!!! AND WHY? FOR THE SAKE OF ~ROMANCE~ (a romance which, in my opinion, had no chemistry and seemed forced).

That's not how you write a coherent script! A better altrenative would be having Tae-Eul forget Lee Gon and falling in love with him again because she felt in her heart that that was her destiny! But nope! EVERYONE FORGOT COREA EXCEPT THE FEMALE LEAD BECAUSE OF THEIR ROMANCE AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER TRAVELING ACROSS TIME!! HOORAY!!
Can you tell I'm bitter and upset?? :))))))

To be completely honest the only reason I started watching this drama was because of Woo Do Hwan and (as expected) he delivered!! His character was what kept me going through this absolute mess of a drama. And I applaud him for his performance as Jo Yeong and as Jo Eun-Sop!

So, to summarize: If you're looking for a romance with some ~crazy~ background story, go for it! But if you're looking for a drama with a well developed plot and a romance that isn't completely forced, please run! Run as fast as you can and never look back!

Lire davantage

Unfortunately this plot could have been really good if not by the lack of consistency and overall coherence. I do think the main ideia could become a good drama but the decision making behind this show is beyond clueless.
We had thousands of misplaced propaganda, hundreds of plot choices that made no sense, cliches and ideas that were randomly placed in the storyline with no justifiable reason, soundtrack was bad, multiple genres not well integrated and I could go on for many lines.
I also struggled with the chemistry between the main couple, well... There was none. And although Lee Min Ho came a long way in his acting skills, to me his best drama acting wise so far, the project was yet too demanding for his capabilities in my opinion. I’m sorry, he’s still handsome though.
I wish I could point out everything wrong plot wise and direction wise in this drama, but I’ll leave it at that as a warning for future viewers. It’s somewhat watchable still if you have the patience to endure and pretend thinks that make no sense can be overlooked.

Lire davantage

It’s a story about a guy saving his own life.

Problems with this drama are too many to count but I’ll try..

1- The romance is super cringy
There are hugs, kisses and I love yous coming out of nowhere...it’s ‘scripted‘ literally and so the scenes have to be done not because the characters feel it naturally to do so...

2- The characters keep changing by the will of the writer.

A few examples given below

The female lead who is a police officer, strong, persistent and unapologetic about what people think of her, becomes a fast paced lovey dovey cry baby and falls for a king just like that. The king who should be trying to look for his murderer day and night is more interested in getting married and developing feelings without any backstory except he found an ID card of a woman when he was a kid.

A really ordinary man saves the king’s life (Not his king) without any training of knowing when and how to jump in front of a shooting bullet!

In the first episode there is a woman shown to be a prime minister and in a parallel universe she’s shown to be a singer/idol because she has huge billboard dedicated to her and female lead also confirms that one would need a ticket to see her... 12 episodes later the idol is just an ordinary person sitting in the bleachers of a ball game with nerdy glasses on and later found in a morgue cause ordinary people are easy to kill. When did the writer decide to change the character image from idol to an ordinary and common person?

Lire davantage

It was a very confusing experience

Expectations were high, it was THE Lee Min Ho comeback, Kim Go Eun working again with Goblin's writer Kim Eun Sook, who created some of the best dramas in the last decade, and lastly, it was on netflix for the global audience delight. But expectations were not met. I'll go through the good stuff first: Wo Do Hwan portrayed two of the most endearable and funny characters I've seen in a long time, and with such fluidity, it was so easy to tell them apart and he had a great chemistry with... Himself (?); music, editing and production design, were fine, even with the difficulties about japanese symbols and all that. Also, the chemistry was good between the leads. NOW THE CONS: I have to reckon it was very confusing for me and I did kind of finished out of a feel of commitment, also hoping everything would be explained in the end, it was not. 1: I didn't understand how and when they fell in love, one second she was so prickly with him, and the next they were kissing, like, what? 2: sometimes it could be hard to tell the two worlds apart, because they looked basically the same 3: Conditions on portal usage and travelling between worlds were all over the place 4: Everything went down when they add timetravelling, like, still haven't figured out the rules of it and how it works with timelines and stuff 5: some subplots didn't go anywhere 6: most of the time it is VERY hard to know what's going on and characters reasoning, i guess they failed at creating suspense, leaving everybody confused instead. Beside that, there are some cheeeeesy lines, but thats a given with LMH characters so i didnt actually mind. Also, i guess a big turnoff for some is the abuse of product placement, there was a lot of it, and not very well done. Although if you ask me, the food delivery service ppl is a gem. Still, DO KOREANS ONLY EAT BBQ FRIED CHICKEN?. And, last objection: The ending is sooooooo unsatisfying.

Lire davantage