par 7891147, avril 28, 2020
91

Lee Min Ho has finally returned after being discharged from his military service on April 25th, 2019, and Kim Go Eun has also returned after her last role in the popular drama, Goblin in 2016. These two casted leads are a solid choice and a wonderful start to what my article will be about: their new drama together and how I am enjoying it so far.

WARNING: This article may contain spoilers from the first four episodes


Introduction

Lee Gon (Lee Min Ho from Legend of the Blue Sea) is an idealistic and charismatic king of a Korean monarchy known as The Kingdom of Corea. The moniker befalls him as a young boy after witnessing the brutal murder of his father, and escaping the clutches of death himself by being saved by a mysterious figure in black, leaving only a name badge behind. Fast Forward 25 years later, Lee Gon is still questioning who his savior could be which leads him to follow a peculiar figure into the woods, into a world like and unlike his own, known as the Republic of Korea. A parallel universe to his. There he meets a young, feisty detective Jung Tae Eul, (Kim Go Eun from Goblin) a person he's sure he shared a brief moment with in the past. Together, they will fight the injustice of both their worlds and find answers to their long-awaited questions.                 

EPISODES: 16 (1 hour 10 min)

GENRES: Historical, Mystery, Romance, Drama, Fantasy

SCREENWRITER: Kim Eun Sook

DIRECTORS: Baek Sang Hoon, Jung Ji Hyun

NETWORKS: SBS, Netflix

The Cast  

Lee Min Ho  | Emperor Yi Gon

 Kim Go Eun  | Jung Tae Eul / Luna 

Woo Do Hwan | Jo Eun Sup / Jo Young

Kim Kyung Nam | Kang Shin Jae

 Jung Eun Chae | Goo Seo Ryung

 Lee Jung Jin | Yi Rim


Why You Should Watch This Show 

It is Aesthetically Pleasing 

Once you start an episode your eyes will never stop staring at that screen. So many beautiful moments and scenes are shown in this drama that just keep you wanting to see what happens next. For example, when Yi Gon is riding his beautiful white horse Maximus, another is when he looks around the Republic of Korea.  Both scenes I'm describing are in episodes 1 & 2 mostly. There are many more scenes that will soon be revealed to show the audience its beauty and aesthetic.

 

The Pacing/Telling of the Story is Amazing

The story at times feels awfully slow but from my perspective, this is just the perfect pace because it is building up the tension for us to figure out what the heck will happen next. There are so many elements that make the plot what it is; like funny moments, interesting cases Tae Eul and her team take on, lots of interactions between the main leads, and lastly many moments that make you scream at your TV/phone because you will have no clue what it means. So much has been expressed within these first four episodes and it keeps me wondering what’s going to happen to our two main leads and their worlds!

 

The Villain is Wicked to the Core


Within the first episode, you automatically know who the villain is and what his intentions are. Yi Rim (Lee Jung Jin), Yi Gon’s uncle, is plotting to take the throne and will stop everyone that gets in his way. What was unexpected is  that he escaped to the parallel world called the Republic of Korea. There he meets his half-brother doppelganger who is alive and very surprised to see him up and about. The half-brother takes him back to his home to meet his other-self. The part that really made me truly hate him though was when he killed his parallel world self who was disabled and pretended to be him. Like wow, this just shows you how much empathy he lacks for anyone and only cares about himself, ruling the Republic of Korea, and power. Overall within the first four episodes, we have seen a lot of what he is and what he is capable of. So I look forward to seeing what his plans are as the antagonist.  

The Drama’s Balancing of Historical/Modern Moments is Perfect


I love how the plot is incorporating both the past and present. I don't know a lot about Korean history but from what they have been showing it makes me so interested in wanting to learn more about it and how beautiful the agriculture is and what it means for the telling of the story. I look forward to many more scenes and the history that contributes to the drama.

Overall Thoughts

So far, I am really loving this drama. The fact that we have two amazing directors and a screenwriter who has worked on other dramas like Descendants of the Sun, Search: WWW, Goblin, and many more ,it means that this drama has tons of potential to be a really great and enjoyable show. I know that with each episode it will become much better than the last and there will be lots of mind-boggling things that will come to light.

 For those who are watching: What are your thoughts on this drama so far? What theories do you have after watching the first four episodes?

For those who are not watching: Did I by any chance persuade you to watch this? If so, please tell me in the comments!


Thank you so much for reading my first article! 

Until next time~


If you would like to check out my profile, please click here

If you would like to check out Noel Elise who made the synopsis, please click here

If you would like to check out Minarii loves Jun Wan who made the cover & banner, please click here

Also, most of the pictures/gifs I used are not mine so thank you to those of where I have found them from.

lee min ho the king: eternal monarch kim go eun 더 킹: 영원의 군주