After watching this, I came here to see what others think. And after reading some reviews I felt the need to write something. And yes, I know this drama is old and Im late to the party. And yet....
From the start: this drama is sh*t. The writing is really horrible, full of plot holes, with things happening the way they do because it was needed to push the "story". There is nothing resembling logic. Next, the acting. Omg! It gives you headaches. The directing, lousy. The cinematography, really bad. From the bad mixing (there is one scene where someone is turning and leaving, they change the angle and he's still sitting face to face, only to turn and leave in the next second) and the bad soundtrack trying to "tell" you how to feel ("look, its a funny scene, you need to laugh. Now its a sad scene, you need to feel for the character"), to the bad way it looks visually. And I mean it really looks like a soap opera. The lighting, the angles, the low quality of the filming... It looks and feels like something from the '80s, maybe '90s.
And now lets start digging. I don't know why I wanted to watch this... this "drama". Might have read somewhere, on some other drama, that its amazing, that the chemistry of that main couple was on par with the ones from here. And I dont know how, but I managed to find this and I've remembered that comment. So lets start full power, shall we? The film synopsis at the top is wrong. The thing with "the grandson is put in charge with educating" starts from ep 6 (or is it 7) and lasts until ep 10 I think. From a total of 16 episodes.... I've paused in the 1st 15 min, i guess, and I thought "Wtf is this?!?! Am I being trolled?" And to fast-forward this review a bit, I've paused and paused all 16 episodes. It took me 6 days to finish it. I've watched 2 episodes first day and the next day another 2, and then I kinda wished to just get over with it and forced myself to keep watching. But I still paused and sighted pretty often.
i dont know who the screenwriter is but she shouldnt be allowed to write ever again. And Im assuming its a "she" because the whole story is about a princess. A dumb and stupid princess who has moments of clarity and wittiness (is that a real word). And that you wont see in real life and it is clearly a projection of the writer's frustrations. I'll continue. The FL cant act. And thats not the worst of it. I dont know how or why ppl think shes a beauty. To me she looks like a frog. The shape of the mouth, always with the corners down, the neck, the eyes... Always yelling, looking sideways, the mouth semi opened... Thats no beauty. And the acting is one emotion. The kid playing her younger version is a better actress. Im sorry, I should phrase it better: its not fair to compare these two, because the kid is a really good actress. Lets make it even more obvious why the FL is bad. You want beauty and acting skills? Then I'll say watch "Crash Landing On You". Saying both are actresses is like you're making fun of that one (I dont know her name, sorry).
Next, the ML. A bit better. Not much, just a bit. And the chemistry is not there. Or not the chemistry that ppl think about when using that word. And if we're here, a good actor, looks and charisma: the professor. Ofc I cant say if he's a really good actor or his skills were displayed more obviously by being next to his colleagues on set. And along the way the "story" makes him a loser, cause things need to happen. But for the few first episodes (at least), it was a joy when he was in the scene. The other female actress, the Museum Director, another lousy one. She has only one face in all the scenes: constipated, mouth tight shut, teary eyes and a lil bit looking cross. She looks like a chimp. Even if the acting wasnt that much better, at least the support actresses were better looking.
So, in short, terrible story, bad acting (apart from the professor and the young princess, where again I must say "wow"), no chemistry, bad directing (oh yes, I'll get back to that), bad soundtrack (the theme might've been good but I dont remember it , so that good huh), terrible story ( yes, I had to say it twice). Then why do some ppl say its a good drama? Who tf knows. Im assuming those persons have no idea what makes or breaks a good film. And if you still need more proof....
A dumb and always yelling stupid girl is told that she's a princess. You'd expect her to be a little clumsy, to make some mistakes, to have some hidden talents, some sparks with the ML and in the end, happy happy joy joy. A pretty simple, straightforward story. Right? He he heh, you little innocent one... Ofc not! The "writer" went for the snooze fest story. Things happening because it needed to happen that way. The MF (the frog face one) taking all the wrong decisions because she's a simple common girl and a orphan (im not joking they use that motive. a lot). Both ML trying to help her, while both of them letting the other FL, Museum Director, (the chimp face one, come on, keep up) doing all sorts of bad sht until the end. Thats the main road, if you will. I wont delve on questions like "why the fk would the Chairman (grandpa) keep a wimp and incompetent such as the Museum Director's father as his right hand?". And ofc the story is full of things from Korean culture: reporters, badmouthing, sheep-like mentality etc. I mean if you are watching k-drama you know that and you will not be bothered by it. What can I say? I just hope this writer wont work again.
And now, before I forget again, the director. Even if the script isnt stellar (yeah, im trying to be funny), a decent director should at least be decent at directing. Hence the name. Actors who cant act for sht? Make them do something that at least lessens the blows. Change the angles. Try a different look. Use the lighting, the decors... Something. Anything. Or while mixing, try doing a decent job. And Im talking about the flow. Putting in the same scene, shots from two different cameras without some kind of flawless transition (and by that I mean not repeating itself) should be basic stuff. How hard can it be? You put two cuts together, you hit play and you see that second cut starts with the last 2 seconds of the previous cut. You hit pause and you crop more from one segment, the end of 1st or the beginning of the second one. That simple. I mean it feels like basic stuff. But then again, we also have scenes ending with headshots of all the chars, no one talks, the camera changes every second from one to the next, three times. 15 seconds of nothing. No one talks, all looking "intense", 2-3 times on a loop. Thats the director trying to tell you that something important is happening. I guess I should also mention the flashbacks. Especially the one where something happens in a scene with the princess, the next scene is with someone else and it goes for one minute maybe, then the next scene is with the princess who is having a flashback of what happened 1 minute ago. I kid you not!
So: bad directing and mixing, bad story, 98% bad acting. Forgettable soundtrack. And yet some ppl gave this drama a 10..... I guess my recommendation would be to watch the 1st episode (if you really want to try it). You will get an idea about how bad it is really quick. Just dont get hooked in by the professor. And forget about "maybe later it will...". Nope. It wont get better. But hey, if you like it, what can I say? Im so sorry for you. The life is long. Im sure one day you will learn what good cinema is. Eventually. Maybe. And even if you do like it, pls dont compare it with some other works. Even if you cant judge it correctly, by saying it reminds you of x and y, you're just making fun of an supposedly good drama. Its like saying Hitler and Mother Teresa are both good ppl. Do you get it now? Thats the simplest way I can put it for you. So, pls dont.
Re-watching value? Oh please... Only if the definition of that is fast-forwarding through the scenes and finishing all the drama in one hour. And not even then.
Thank you for reading this.