**This is a review of the SBS edition**
Once again with more gusto! (This is a rereview of sorts. I had a very emotional reaction to this back in the day. I have since changed my mind and changed how I rate shows so I'm going to give this review another shot.)

It’s hard to talk about this show without mentioning its relation to the Chinese adaptation or the novel it was based on. I know people don’t like comparisons between shows but everything makes so much more sense once you see the extended Scarlet Heart Ryeo universe in one picture. Luckily, I am not done watching the cdrama so I can’t really compare the two here. (I’m coming for you in the scarlet heart review though!)
If you don’t know, this show is the Korean adaptation (adaptation being the operative term here) of a Chinese novel set in one of the most historically intriguing moments of Qing dynasty history; the fight over the succession of emperor Kangxi. The gory, soap-opera-like historical events are so irresistible that they have inspired many retellings. Scarlet heart being a particularly famous one. I have read books that don’t even directly say they are about this period but then *that* thing happens and you just know.
The brilliance of this show is that the writers were daring enough to take this very Chinese historical tale and adapt it to a Korean historical moment of equivalent dramatic potential. And they succeed?! It’s unbelievable but it worked. The number of things they didn’t change is almost more upsetting than what they did change. My theory is that the dude who decides what happens to humans got bored and copy-pasted a part of history twice and just changed some details so it wouldn’t be too obvious.
Anyway, you should watch this show if you like:
1. Star-crossed lovers
2. First love is not the be-all
3. Tragic ending (Be ready. It will end badly)
4. A bunch of pretty incompetent boys running around failing at acting
5. Political backstabbing
6. Succession wars
7. Historical romance (of the bodice ripper variety)
8. "Dirt-poor production doesn't mean bad"
9. Charmingly messy writing
10. Boys taking too many baths…it was a weird detail. They made the bathhouse one of the main sets…
11. A Byronic hero, flaws and all
12. If you are just content with Lee Joon Gi doing a damn good job while everything falls apart around him like a house on fire.
13. If fratricide and incest do not bother you (I'm just throwing it out there. It's not detailed ...well...)

Summary: Girl goes back in time. Girl meets boy. Girl meets boy. Girl meets boy. Girl meets b-… you get it. And just when you think it’s all fun and games, history hits you like the bus at the end of mean girls.

Story: This show has the most uneven writing I have ever seen in an East Asian show. It’s like they wrote about ten episodes then got tired so they just decided to wing the details and the beginning and the end. And it works out. Somehow. Here’s where the comparison comes to matter. Where this show fails in its first five episodes to establish the world of the story in a level-headed and engaging manner, the cdrama is especially competent. The first five episodes are truly the Achilles heel of this show. The show starts with a heavy reliance on the pretty boys and the almost ironically nonsensical romantic tropes of high school dramas of the early 2010s but then whirls into serious political tragedy and grey area writing two episodes later! It’s such a weird beat to start on and I think this is the reason why a lot of Korean fans had a negative response to it back in the day. But then suddenly, everything clicks into place and for ten episodes, the show actually successfully emotionally grabs you and while it still has flaws, the intrigue becomes more mature and the characters settle down in their positions and it becomes really enjoyable. Then again the ending becomes very rushed.
I think the main issue of the show is pacing. They needed maybe 5 more episodes so they could flesh out the falling out of the end. The way it happens now, the show is one tragic event after another for 15 episodes in a row. It becomes a bit emotionally taxing when you are giving away so much to the drama and get no payoff for all that emotional labor is provided.
I love the romance in this show. It’s dirty, grimy, messy, destructive. Although they love hard and passionately, the characters never really lose themselves to each other in a way for them to be strong together. And that’s the tragedy of it but also, its beauty. There is not much of a miscommunication here (except those last 3 episodes but f*ck ‘em. We don’t acknowledge those episodes!) it is just how the characters are not willing to believe in their love. They always hold back while at the same time, they’re stretching themselves thin to save the other. It’s so tragic to watch them fail because it feels like one of those mythical romantic tales. You watch them and you know exactly how they're going to fail each other but there’s no stopping the train anyway. So you just sit there and watch Orpheus turn around...
Now those last three episodes suck. I got so upset watching them that I didn’t even cry when sad things happened because I was angry. But since I was invested, I watched it all the way and I don't regret anything.

Acting: Lee Joon Gi acted in this show. That’s it. Everyone else was there too. No, I'm kidding (sort of)! I think IU did a good job too. People say she acted weird at the beginning and they are not wrong but further research has informed me that that’s just how the character works in the early stages of this story so just go with it. She settles better into the character once the absolutely silly high school girl shenanigans end. Everyone else was varying degrees of good to bad. I’m sorry but some of those boys survive the show but just barely! That's not to say it was all bad. Everyone did their best. A for effort.

The music: Yeah, this is the OG show with the bad music. It was hit or miss. I sort of hate the ones with singing in them but then there was this one song from the soundtrack called "Gestures of Resistance", I think, and it's so beautiful. Halfway into it, there's a part that electric music starts, and then it's interrupted by a cello and a violin, and WOW! It was so epic and melancholic at once. I love that one piece so much.

Production value: It’s a cheap show and you can tell but if you get invested in the characters, then it would not matter too much because you’ll be too busy following the schemes and the love triangles and the heart-stopping grief that the production value will not bother you as much as the knife in your heart does.

Rewatch value: When I first watched this, I told myself I would never touch it with a stick because it hurt too much. And yet…and yet I keep finding myself missing the feelings. I have to fight myself to not go back to it. So for me, it’s a show that I might rewatch if I ever have the time. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time.

Negative:???? It's sad. It's not evenly written. It's cheap-looking. The editing is messy, the music is irritating... There's so much wrong with this and I just don't care! Lee Joon Gi smiles at IU and I'm a puddle and none of the bad things matter!

Overall: I think it’s a bit hard to pitch this show to a new watcher or try to analyze it with any clarity because it’s one of those shows that either touches you emotionally and then you’re willing to ignore the messy script, the bad acting and the terrible production or it doesn’t and suddenly everything wrong with it becomes relevant.
I just think the show is worth a watch because if it does connect with you, then chances are it’s going to be a show you won’t forget. Like ever. I honestly feel haunted by the story of Scarlet Heart Ryeo. Like I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about how it could be analyzed through this theory or that, or just what the point was? Why? Why did it happen like this?!
It might seem like it’s just a cheap reverse harem story (and it is) but there’s something very heartfelt and authentic about it that those who love this show have felt.
It’s an acquired taste but if you are in doubt and you’re not sure if you should watch it or if the first five episodes turned you off, then I’m here to tell you it’s worth giving a chance to. Just lower your expectations and let yourself get carried away by the emotion.