Mindeulle
Overall I loved this series. I watched it in the span of 3 days and now I can't wait for a season 2!
Story
The story was in my opinion very unique and not stretched out to the max, like a lot of kdramas are unfortunately. I could best describe this series as a mix between The Walking Dead and Train to Busan, but set in Joseon Korea. The story contains a lot of gore, just like TWD, and focuses on the struggles of the weak vs. the powerful and a crown prince who wants to fight for his people. What I mainly liked about the story is how comprehandable it was. What I usually dislike about Sageuk dramas is how overly complicted the political aspect of the story can be (at least to me). Furthermore, their wasn't any cringey romance anywhere to be seen (which is also unique for a Sageuk, at least the one's I've seen). However, Kingdom had this good balance of political struggles (legitamacy as a king, poverty and dealing with the disease which turns people in to zombies) paired with bloody action scenes and, on the other hand, light moments where beautiful nature is shown and sometimes a bit of romance.
The only thing I kind of missed in the series was more backstory and depth regarding the characters. There are some flashbacks, which make you feel a bit more attached to the main characters, but unfortunately the characters were quite flat and I hope to see this change in a season 2. (However, in the defense of the series: I think 6 episodes would have been to short to give an in depth story on every main character, so for this season I think it was a good decision to build up the story and hopefully a second season will elaborate more on the characters, and even some romance). Also, the reason I keep talking about a season 2 is because I feel like the story simply hasn't ended and it has so much more to offer, so it would be weird for there to not be a season 2 looking at how the series ended..
Acting/Cast
Overall I liked the cast and their acting. To be honest I never really pay attention to acting or notice it a lot unless it's cringingly bad. Also, except for Heo Junho (who's a great actor), I can't remember seeing any other cast members in other series/films, so I don't really feel like I can fully judge the actors yet, but as for now I think they were great.
Music
Music is also something I don't notice unless I find it very bad or unfitting, but in Kingdom that's not the case. There weren't any really memorable songs/osts because it's all instrumental as far as I remember. However, the director has made perfect use of music to build tension to keep you at the edge of your seat.
Rewatch Value
I'm not the type to rewatch series, but since this drama is so short and easily accesible through Netflix, I can actually see myself rewatching the series and that's why I scored it an 8.
Overall
I definitely recommend this drama to everyone who loves Sageuk and zombies/gore. The story is very short, but very interesting nonetheless. The acting and music was great overall and, though I didn't discuss it in depth, I loved the way it was filmed and the locations, like Changdeokgung Palace and Huwon/Biwon (the palace's so called 'secret garden' which can be seen in the trailer), were stunning. The only thing I think could have been better was the character depth, or actually the lack of it. Therefore I give this series an overall rating of 9 instead of a 10.
Story
The story was in my opinion very unique and not stretched out to the max, like a lot of kdramas are unfortunately. I could best describe this series as a mix between The Walking Dead and Train to Busan, but set in Joseon Korea. The story contains a lot of gore, just like TWD, and focuses on the struggles of the weak vs. the powerful and a crown prince who wants to fight for his people. What I mainly liked about the story is how comprehandable it was. What I usually dislike about Sageuk dramas is how overly complicted the political aspect of the story can be (at least to me). Furthermore, their wasn't any cringey romance anywhere to be seen (which is also unique for a Sageuk, at least the one's I've seen). However, Kingdom had this good balance of political struggles (legitamacy as a king, poverty and dealing with the disease which turns people in to zombies) paired with bloody action scenes and, on the other hand, light moments where beautiful nature is shown and sometimes a bit of romance.
The only thing I kind of missed in the series was more backstory and depth regarding the characters. There are some flashbacks, which make you feel a bit more attached to the main characters, but unfortunately the characters were quite flat and I hope to see this change in a season 2. (However, in the defense of the series: I think 6 episodes would have been to short to give an in depth story on every main character, so for this season I think it was a good decision to build up the story and hopefully a second season will elaborate more on the characters, and even some romance). Also, the reason I keep talking about a season 2 is because I feel like the story simply hasn't ended and it has so much more to offer, so it would be weird for there to not be a season 2 looking at how the series ended..
Acting/Cast
Overall I liked the cast and their acting. To be honest I never really pay attention to acting or notice it a lot unless it's cringingly bad. Also, except for Heo Junho (who's a great actor), I can't remember seeing any other cast members in other series/films, so I don't really feel like I can fully judge the actors yet, but as for now I think they were great.
Music
Music is also something I don't notice unless I find it very bad or unfitting, but in Kingdom that's not the case. There weren't any really memorable songs/osts because it's all instrumental as far as I remember. However, the director has made perfect use of music to build tension to keep you at the edge of your seat.
Rewatch Value
I'm not the type to rewatch series, but since this drama is so short and easily accesible through Netflix, I can actually see myself rewatching the series and that's why I scored it an 8.
Overall
I definitely recommend this drama to everyone who loves Sageuk and zombies/gore. The story is very short, but very interesting nonetheless. The acting and music was great overall and, though I didn't discuss it in depth, I loved the way it was filmed and the locations, like Changdeokgung Palace and Huwon/Biwon (the palace's so called 'secret garden' which can be seen in the trailer), were stunning. The only thing I think could have been better was the character depth, or actually the lack of it. Therefore I give this series an overall rating of 9 instead of a 10.
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