Love Song for Illusion (2024)

Unique plot for a historical drama about getting the throne

Acting:
I LOVED this drama, Park Ji Hoon's acting was amazing, I thought I wouldn't like Hong Ye Ji's acting because I've only heard bad stuff about it, but her acting was good. Her character is an assassin, it makes sense why she wouldn't really be very expressive. The ML is either possessed or has another personality (I am not sure, but I think historically they'd say a person is possessed if they had another personality), he went through a rollercoaster of emotions throughout the drama and expressed them amazingly well, I especially loved his portrayal of Ak Hee.

Plot:
The plot was really unique for a historical drama focusing on 2 'brothers' trying to get the throne. A lot of historical dramas about Kings/Prince's have this type of plot, but this one was unique mostly because it had a very soft ML.

Sajo Hyun did not like violence at all and hated how horrible of a King his father was, and I don't think he ever changed, he just stopped being meek. He also did not want the throne, neither of his personalities did, one wanted to make clothes and the other just hated politics (though he was very good at it). Honestly, there wouldn't have even been a fight for the throne had the Grand Prince (the brother) just been a decent person.

I loved Ak Hee, I had SLS for Ak Hee, but Sajo Hyun grew on me later on in the drama when he started to develop a lot of the attributes I like about Ak Hee. Ak Hee was such a hilarious (and adorable) character. I loved his sarcasm and his attitude, he was a mood. He truly did not care about anyone but Kyera/ Yeon Wol, I hated that she never saw his feelings as sincere. Ak Hee is treated as though he is the human embodiment of greed, and nothing else despite the fact that he is able to feel love and pain. He was only treated like a human at the begining of the drama, but later on he is treated as though he is just an evil spirit, and not part of Sajo Hyun.

There were a lot of plot twists in this drama, you don't really know whether Ak Hee is good or bad , if anything he was just greedy, which made him anxious, which made him do stupid things.

I also did not hate the Princess Consort, I didn't like her at all at the start, but then you get to see that even though she is selfish, she is not a bad person and she is also not really the MLs love interest. She had a lot of character development despite not having much on screen time.

I think the only thing I did not like about this drama was how Sajo Hyun and Ak Hee did not even try to understand Yeon Wol's hate of Sajo Hyun's father. Her hate and revenge were completely justified, though the vengeance itself was not very satisfying.

SPOILER - Ending:
I loved the ending of this drama. I never expected a satisfying happy ending for this type of drama, but this one had one.
Though Ak Hee is sort of killed of (I interpreted it as Sajo Hyun becoming mentally strong enough to no longer need Ak Hee), by the end of the drama Sajo Hyun becomes a lot like Ak Hee, and the pathological lying and greed aside, Ak Hee also becomes somewhat like Sajo Hyun.

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drag drag dragg

Sajo Hyun (Park Jihoon) suffers from his father's tyranny and due to this upbringing, he develops another personality, who goes by the name Ak Hee. Yeon Wol (Hong Ye Ji) comes from a supportive family and she’s trained to be a fighter since young. Sajo and Yeon Wol shortly-met when Sajo's father did something evil to Yeon Wol's family, which led Yeon Wol to run for her life. 10 years later, Yeon Wol returns and ready to take a revenge.

The leads were introduced well, their childhood backstories set up the tension and stake. But once they grow up, I don't feel connection to them anymore and didn't feel any chemistry between Sajo Hyun and Yeon Wol, so sad :(. The palace intrigue are boring and I didn't get the comedy although I can see them trying. I was bored out of my mind seeing the king being drunk. When his arc was eventually resolved, plot moves along with another villain, whose storyline was annoying and dragggss.. dang!

The whole thing with Sajo and Ak Hee fighting in another dimension is weird and felt detached to the historical setting world. What kept me watching was solely to support Park Ji Hoon. Him as the fierce Ak Hee was exciting to watch and his actions kept me rooting for both him and Sajo Hyun's redemption. His duality acting was great, and he did the best he can despite my disappointment with the script and story execution. With one more episode to watch, I hope we get a satisfying finale and good ending for him.

-Feb 2024, Yovita
Find me on Instagram: @kdramajudge

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Absolute shitshow of the year.

I didn't think there would be day where I'll write a review for a drama.

If you're looking for a masterclass in shit dramas, look no further than the absolute disaster that was Love Song For Illusion. This so-called "drama of the year" is nothing short of a cataclysmic failure in every sense of the word. From start to finish, it's a parade of poor decisions, cringe-worthy moments, and sheer incompetence that leaves audiences wondering how such a shitshow could even exist.

First and foremost, let's address the cast of characters. Instead of compelling personalities or engaging protagonists, we're presented with a motley crew of self-absorbed, drama-hungry individuals whose sole purpose seems to be to outdo each other in acts of sheer stupidity. From the narcissistic diva to the attention-seeking wannabe, every participant in this debacle is more insufferable than the last.

But it's not just the characters that fall flat; the plot itself is a tangled mess of half-baked ideas and contrived conflicts. What could have been a potentially intriguing storyline quickly devolves into a series of predictable clichés and eye-roll-inducing twists. Any semblance of coherence is lost amidst the constant barrage of nonsensical plot points and arbitrary melodrama.

In the end, Absolute Shitshow Drama of the Year is nothing more than a cautionary tale of what happens when hubris meets incompetence. It's a spectacle of ineptitude that serves as a stark reminder of just how low the bar can sink in the world of entertainment. Save yourself the agony and steer clear of this dumpster drama. Trust me, your brain cells will thank you.

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How good is the Korean Drama ‘Love Song for Illusion’ 2024, with Park Ji Hoon?

I am so excited about this Korean Drama I can’t wait for the next episode to drop. Crown Prince has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), brought on by childhood trauma. The premise is unusual, like ‘Kill Me, Heal Me’ Joseon style. The passion of the Crown Prince is dress designing. The Crown Prince is hated by a father who is an illegitimate King who stole the throne. Love Song for Illusion is based off of a Naver Webtoon by the same name by Vanziun.

The Crown Prince is his own evil twin. The drama music is smoking. The Crown Prince has great bravado when he is the “Evil Twin” and is the nicest wimp as the “Good Twin” in this Romance Action Thriller, with Court intrigue. There is great choreographed dancing in this drama. Frankly, Love Song for Illusions has one of the more inventive storylines in a while, as more Korean writers are starting to think outside of the box when writing Korean dramas. A King with DID, a revenging Assassin who has lost her memory and finds herself a Concubine to the Crown Prince and she likes the Wimp better, a Crown Prince who is competing with his other personality as the Second Lead, a rebellious second half-brother scheming for the Throne. It is all working for me. Love Song for Illusion for me is making me just as excited as the Korean Drama Perfect Marriage and Revenge. I am viewing this real-time. Head Talk Galore.


Actors Corner

Hong Ye-ji is a star. She can act. She can dance. She looks good doing Martial Arts skills. I am totally impressed with the female lead. And Hong Ye-ji and Park Ji Hoon have great chemistry. Look for Hong Ye-ji in the upcoming 2024 drama The Crown Prince Has Disappeared, with Suho from EXO.

Park Ji Hoon is a K-pop star and actor who began his acting career as a child. Park Ji Hoon always gives great unusual performances. He is called upon for a double role in Love Song for Illusions. Park Ji Hoon brings great bravado and simpleness to the roles as he plays opposite personalities.

Hwang Hee—I have always loved this underrated actor, who has appeared in Dali and the Cocky Prince and Arthdal Chronicles among many Korean dramas.


Chinese drama equivalent is Fall In Love, also about Dissociative Disorder (DID) and both personalities are the First and Second Leads.

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Dropping it and for good reason

After watching the first three episodes, I have some thoughts on this drama that give me pause.

Right off the bat, I don't like how the storyline is basically based on leading man drugging leading lady to make her lose her memory and taking advantage of it in order to make her believe she is "his woman". MAJOR ICK.

When it comes to the plot of the drama, I can already tell how it's going to develop and kinda guessed the ending.

Performance wise, I am dumbfounded. Hwang Hee is the strongest link. Everyone else is overcompensating for a bad storyline. I have seen members of this cast in different roles before and I know exactly how good they can be. My guess it's that they are being told to lean on the original webtoon material, which it's fine, but not so heavy.

Look, Park Ji-Hoon was amazing in Weak Hero Class 1 but I'm frankly deeply upset he accepted this incredibly ill thought out project. Even he can't carry the crap dialogue, weirdly disjointed jumps, and underlying creepy premise for his connection to the female lead. It's just bad.

Lee Jung-sub, the director of this drama has worked in some very fun projects and scriptwriter Yoon Kyung-ah was responsible for stories like At Eighteen, so... Iike I said I am dumbfounded.

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Has potential in the beginning, unfortunately was a let down (webtoon spoilers)

The show started off with potential, especially with the amazing webtoon material but the plot derailed for the worst TT. As someone who read the webtoon I find the plot of the show even more disappointing. The webtoon already has great premise enough for 16 episodes so I really don't know why the script writers fumbled this hard. My favorite part about the webtoon was the fact that it touched on mental disorders and how Sajo Hyeon and Akhee are ultimately the same person, just different aspects of his personalities. The show 'kind of' tapped onto this, but also ruined it in the same breath with Akhee being very much his own entity (the "spirit" entering Hyeon's body when he was a child right after his father committing the Yeon massacre) and many unnecessary fantasy elements with Cheongta and Akhee as well.
I also dislike the changing of Sajo Yoong's fate from the webtoon, where he was Gyera's twin and a Yeon descendent. Him ending up inheriting the throne and fulfilling the prophecy makes for a satisfying irony to Jin Mudal's and the late king's evil plans. The show took away the Shakespearean in it by making Sajo Yoong your stereotypical boring illegitimate heir, evil and villain hungry for a position he does not deserve. The beauty of the webtoon is how even though the main villain was Jin Mudal, ultimately it was Hyeon’s own trauma, aka what Akhee represents, that destroyed him from inside.
Also, their romance was so much more poetic with the enemies to lovers plot in the webtoon, where they both resent but still love each other. The show took away this tension and dynamic by making their ‘enemies’ arc end too quickly, with Hyeon not much involved in the Yeon massacre and having his father take all the blame instead. With little to do for their romance arc, the show started adding so many random plots, like why did we have so many attacks and deaths for NO REASON!! This kind of side plots would work better in a longer drama like 20-30 eps, with more time to get to know the side characters, but with only 16 eps, there was no need to cram as many side plots as this show did! The many cliché plots and the DOUBLE amnesia tropes were just terrible writing choices. Made no sense and served no storyline purpose other than to prolong the plot to fit 16 eps!!

Furthermore, why did Sajo Yoong live for as long as he did while we can all very well end him with his many crimes and him being illegitimate as well??? Poor logic there, writers! Finally, with Cheongta’s tricks and Gyera entering Hyeon’s mind realm, the many rituals, and the shaman association, like these uncoordinated fantasy plots are poorly written and leave viewers more confused than answered! They should’ve just kept to the webtoon’s plot if they wanted to add fantasy, aka MINIMAL!! Production was also a letdown. The saving grace was Park Jihoon and Hong Yeji's acting which I can appreciate, but the main villain was very meh for me.
In the end, I rated this show 3.75/5. Since I read the webtoon already, my feelings towards the show is even poorer, but the show itself was a recipe for a plot disaster, even if you haven’t read the original webtoon!

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All over the place and sloppy

Everything is all over the place and sloppy from story to the acting to the editing. Started watching this cuz I find the split personality concept interesting but it was executed very poorly. I haven't read the webtoon but reading the comments here from people who have read it, seems like there was no fantasy / magic aspect to it and I wish they kept it like that here too. They make Ak hee a spirit that possessed Sajo instead of repressed part of him he was scared of and it was a wrong decision in my opinion. There is a shaman called Choong ta with the same condition as Sajo but the difference is the spirit who possessed her/him is from the opposite gender and ever time they switch their appearance changes too but the same rule doesn't apply to Sajo/Ak hee. I hated this character so goddamn much. their existence were unnecessary in my opinion. Anyone who comes to know Choong ta finds out There are 2 different Choong tas in 1 body and easily makes peace with it but Sajo is "insane" in other people eyes. Then both Sajo and Ak hee, separately seek Choong to help them get rid of each other, completely failing to see both Choong tas hypocritic asses hated each other but couldn't do anything for their own condition let alone other people.
In my opinion ( some might disagree ) Sajo situation should've been dissociative identity disorder where he over comes his trauma and both personalities get united in the end. Sure it could've gone a wrong route by misrepresenting the people who have it ( maybe they were actually avoiding this hence why they changed it to a spirit. Not sure tho ) but at least it was more cohesive and more enjoyable to watch. its a wasted potential. Realistically , a good king should've been something between Sajo and Ak hee in early episodes. They were completing each other in a sense. Insted here Sajo is real and Ak hee is an intruder that needs to be eliminated.
beside the character of Sajo/ Ak hee being badly handled there is another problem which is the world building ruining the immersion. By world building I mean Sajo's mind. The rules constantly change. Sometimes they are aware of the other persons actions and feelings, sometimes they're not. Sometimes Akhee is more powerful sometimes Sajo is. Its annoying. I could never be immersed in the story enough and the weird editing wasn't helping at all. there are some weird jumps between scenes that makes me believe whoever is in charge of editing it is a student trying to learn how to edit.
the love plot is insanely stupid and boring. Akk hee is an man child , Sajo is dense and Kyera is..... well, bland.
I hated Kyera too at times. she forgot her revenge too quickly. she fell in love with Sajo too quickly. there was no personality to her. with her background and abilities, she should've been way stronger.
The antagonist are more consistent in their characterization but that's not enough.
Park ji hoon and Hwang hee both do great playing their roles. Yeji struggles in some but for her first role is not horrid. its serviceable. hope she improves in future projects. I don't usually pay attention to OSTs so I went out of my way to listen to them separately and OMG they're beautiful.

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Good concept, sad execution

A man who developed a split personality because of guilt in seeing his father kill so many people. A woman out for revenge but fell in love with the son of the man who killed her parents. This was my kind of drama or so I thought.

I love revenge stories. I also love healing stories. I expected to love this drama but more than halfway through its run and I still can't get invested in any of the characters. Most of the actors are overacting so the characters felt fake somehow especially the ChungTa character. Also, when ChungTa changes from male to female, you can definitely see the pauses in the camera work. Some of the scene sets used also looked cheap like the dream world where Akhee and SajoHyun meet. The director also used a lot of recall scenes instead of just telling the story as it happens. An example of this was the scene of Kyera encouraging SajoHyun to return to the palace then the next scenes show what was happening in the palace, after that was the coronation, then SajoHyun recalled how Kyera was finally able to convince him to return. Maybe the director thought this was more dramatic but for me it just became disjointed storytelling.

This drama just keep feeling more like a low budget school project not a station drama.

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A Saga of Love, Dual Personalities and Revenge

When I first started with this drama, it didn’t seem more than a reproachful saga of an assassin warrior seeking revenge on an unseemly king who massacred her entire family. From the onset, the show seemed to revolve around Yeon Wol/Kyera/Consort Hyo (Hong Ye Ji). The woman had many names and titles; she was the last living descendant of the royal family of Yeon (how exactly, I don’t know; given the fact that her father was a mere General; was she related to the royal family through her mother? The connection was never made clear). So, while we joined Yeon Wol on her quest as she saved her people from the heinous King Sajo Seung, the male protagonist became the subplot. Park Ji Hoon’s Sajo Hyun suffers from dissociative personality; the trauma caused by watching his father massacre an entire household bred another personality, the evil Ak Hee. Both share the same body but have different temperaments. In the end, this show became less about Yeol Woo’s revenge and instead turned into a forbidden love triangle. I won’t say it was boring. I enjoyed watching the ever-changing dynamics between the trio; but this show wasn’t exactly phenomenal.

Read the complete article here-

https://kcdramamusings.wordpress.com/2024/02/28/love-song-for-illusion-series-review/

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Seriously? An underrated masterpiece!

(and no, I'm not a Park Jihoon fangirl and I don't usually really like historical kdramas, so keep reading and you'll know why this kdrama is so good and has become my comfy kdrama (I'll probably rewatch it.

Usually in historical kdramas, the plot is always the same, the king/father doesn't deserve the position or is manipulated blah blah blah impossible love blah blah blah and you can even tell me "oh but in the beginning of this kdrama the king is exactly this typical pattern that you're talking about" no my dear teddy bear, the king was an important part, since he started the trauma of our dear Sajo Hyun, but the kdrama is much more than that! I wanted Sajo Hyun to become a good king for his people, but more than that, I wanted him to take care of himself, for me, this kdrama deals with psychology and childhood trauma in a subtle way.

As much as it was ANNOYING, the brother became a good villain, the kind that makes your head boil with hate, the scoundrel was smart and full of schemes! So you root so hard for him to get screwed, but he always found a way to get back on his feet, and that made his downfall even more satisfying, I actually laughed out loud evilly!

And, rooting for an "evil spirit" was really an adventure, I hoped he would also find happiness people, don't blame me! (and talking about that, what an excellent performance, playing two characters and making them really different is not easy at all, I could tell by his voice, look and way of acting that Ak Hee had taken over Sajo Hyun's body and that was insane!) Seeing them fighting among themselves at first it broke my heart, because I wanted him to accept this part of himself, to stop being so afraid and putting Ak Hee on a pedestal, Sajo Hyun was already suffering too much from the people around him and still gave too much power to his trauma, becoming his own enemy.

And talking about Yeon Wol, I REALLY LOVE female leads who know how to fight and take care of themselves, her love was genuine but she was still a badass girl!! Most of her scenes was beautiful, I loved watching them, the fights, the dances and everything else, I ended up falling in love with the actress in the process.

And now, talking about the end, REAL SPOILER, and why it's a comfy kdrama to me
Dear Ak Hee, you're not real, you're just a trauma, a personality created to meet the needs that an extremely toxic father and a traumatic experience that occurred in childhood caused! Ak hee It was a version of Sajo Hyun that his father wanted so much, a strong version, who knew how to fight and was so confident! While Sajo Hyun, who loved sewing, was consumed by guilt and pressure, not to mention the loss of his mother by his own insane father. Who here doesn't want to be perfect to the point of meeting the needs that the world causes us? For me, the story was more than just evil spirits, it was about accepting yourself, understanding that you can have flaws, understanding that you can like certain things that aren't typical! Sajo Hyun was intelligent, he sought true solutions for his people and really sought to investigate corruption, but he limited himself too much, he couldn't talk to the ministers or even look them in the eye and at first he only heard them calling him an idiot, like, his own mind preached this vision to himself!

If you put aside the concept of evil spirits for a bit, you will understand how his fight is against himself, just like us in our daily lives, even though the context is different, we can identify with him a lot, I loved seeing him recover his own life and move forward, it really gave me hope of improving my mind and solving my psychological problems one step at a time.

And the ost... its just magical, im listening to that all day!

sorry if there are any mistakes, english is not my first language, but please give this drama a chance.

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Fantasies are weird anyway

> I'm currently watching this show <

So, I just watched episode 3 and after seeing so many bad reviews about this show I noticed I had to write mine too and say that this show isn't bad as the people are saying it's.
First of all, keep in mind that this one is fantasy so things are all weird and nothing is normal here. With that in mind, you should also knows that Ak Hee isn't even the second Male Lead of the story, he's just a bad personality that our ML has developed thanks to his tragic past, so ppl who are dropping this show bc of him definitely are losing a potential story. I also don't like Ak Hee but he's an important part of the story, he made us wish for Sajo Hyun to win this weird fight. And talking about "fight" I think it's very weird seeing Sajo fighting Ak Hee in another demission, like, what? But anyway, it's fantasy it isn't mean to have any sense.
One thing that I like like about this show is our FL, Kyera is really enjoyable and love her, even when she had lost her memories she was cool, I really like her. And her relationship with Sajo is really cute. I hope they'd end up together at the ending. As for Ak Hee, I hope he di*s already LMAO. Idk if he's supposed to be the kinda character enjoyable who's psycho but also funny, but the only thing I know is that I don't like him at all, I'll wish for Soja victory, he's cute and I feel bad for him :(

Anyway, if you like Fantasy as much as I do give this show a try and don't mind the bad ratings. I'm still watching and I know that my review might change in the future but for now I think it's worth watching it.

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