There are some notable moments from Haechi which means this one is still worth to watch. To be honest, Haechi’s story wasn’t that gripping at the beginning. Even the cliffhangers were lousy. But somehow it piqued my interest.
As an avid fan of historical drama, I could sit for hours to see politics around Joseon era.

The thing about Haechi is, there is this HUGE relief and true happiness when I saw the last episode because I’ve been 'following' a very tiring bumpy journey of the main character. He had been walking through the most awful road before he got to rule his kingdom. I think this is my first time watching how the main character suffered so much to get an ally and came from nothing to be one of the best kings. His scene was mostly ‘powerful’.

The bromance was kinda stealing. The jokes around them were done well. The best moment was in the last episode. I wish we got more hilarious scenes of them.

On the contrary, there are way too many things that hit me wrong.

First, it failed to make me ‘connected’ to each character except the King. I didn’t fully care or hate the other characters. When the scene was building up the situation to make the audience “sad” or “angry”, they cut the scene and change to another one. Like wtf. Was it because of the duration limit? Idk man but it happened way too many times. Comparing to the last episode, they could totally prolong some scenes so we can live into the characters’ world. But, nope. They decided to just make a series of events without putting so much heart into it. I came for the history (regardless of how accurate the story is). I came for Yi Geum. For Jung il woo! so I stayed.

Second, the romance was really difficult to watch, to the point that I wish it was removed from the storyline entirely. The female lead didn't help either. I don't dislike her but she mostly ruined the whole romantic arcs with her awkwardness. Sorry for her fans :(

Third, characters’ flashback came late. Lee Tan’s flashback (his terrible childhood story) which supposed to undermine his motives, failed to make me feel the empathy towards him cuz it felt too forced. Cz I just didn’t care much about him.

Forth, DALMOON DIDNT NEED ROMANCE! The woman didn’t have chemistry with Dal Moon or Lee Tan at all!!! I think it’s miscast. Or I just hate that romance should be an overdramatized arc there :/

But, I must admit that the drama had grown on me without me noticing it. MY heart was full when I saw The King finally being loved by many. So proud.

I love the final episode. It erased the dullness behind.

Haechi left a good note on me.

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Warning, this will be a very long essay. I wrote this years ago somewhere else. I just need to let more people know how much I loved this show, so pardon for the irrelevance (or the long-squee moments instead of reviewing lol).

This drama has three elements that catch a bucket of love. I won’t talk much about the (AMAZING) plot, I only want to stay in the realness of the character and how a glimpse of life can be so well captured in this series.

Firstly, I noticed this drama portrays how the role of husband and wife should be (at least from my view). Jae-ha carries the most responsibility of his country. He has to be tough and smart and wise and professional in hiding his personal problem. He is the face of the country. On the other hand, he is just a human.

At some points in his life, he falls apart- physically, mentally, or both. Then it is the righteous time when a woman ‘catches’ him and makes him stand. There is no talking of gender issue here, I am just pointing out the role of male and female in a relationship. Their case’s difference between common people is only the weight of responsibility that the male has to carry on his shoulder.

Hang-ah is a perfect match for Jae-ha in many ways. Regardless they are the main leads in this drama which I personally put that fact aside, their character just complete each other. They have their own unique similarities which equal with their differences. Many dramas out there is trying to only focus on the leads’ differences and try to make them fall in love, while Hang-ah and Jae-ha have the same amount of reason to hate or to love each other. *I don’t know how to describe them anyway. Lols. Because they are just my favorite brainy-brawn-bad-ass characters (yeay!)

Back to Hang-ah and her role as how any wife should be. And I just want to emphasize things happening in one episode which turns me into Jae-ha fans, Hang-ah fans, the royal family fans (the mother/queen, Jae-shin, Jae-Kang who are so welcoming Hang-ah), and Jae-ha-Hang-ah’s chemistry fans. Hang-ah is the most tough woman I’ve ever seen – in dramaland by far. She is not just advanced in martial art because she is so damn lovely and cute at the same time. Mostly, her feminism side is shown when she is being with Jae-ha. This is just realistic! errr yeah, I've seen Hang-ah girl type in real life.

So.... I’ve just explained the first element – the main subtle message for me which is about the role of man and woman in the world of how to rule a country, now, lets take a look to the second elements: politics.

I never interested to any part of political issue that any drama brings out – I still don’t care. However, The king 2 Hearts brings me to a whole new level of getting involved in political issue because I like how the main leads rule it. Its Jae-ha who wins over my heart, steals every adorable moment in my imagination to belong to his character, and he is such a witty-and-brainy person. His stepping up to become the king is precious and that is his best charm. Oh not to mention he is just the most romantic and sweetest king ever – or can I say he is just a portrait for every king in the world who adores his queen so much?. Hang-ah has the same equal role in ruling or steering the politics except she comes from north, a female, and she is not the throne. Those parts strengthen her legal to be on Jae-ha side. If she has the same power with him, I think the story would turn out differently. Maybe when Jae-ha ‘fell’, she overtook it and seemed more powerful than Jae-ha and it would hurt my fangurl side to team up with the king (lol, what? Ok just ignore my random thought). So the strength in Hang-ah makes them perfect to combine their power.

The third element is how the romance doesn’t interrupt nor is awkwardly inserted in the middle of the tense in the drama because it has its own way to win viewer's heart. It is there from the beginning, you know. Comparing to the other shows, the king and queen love story in this drama is the real winner. It does not make me all whinny when the threatening moment comes, but the story is intriguing, gripping, and entertaining. Moreover, a small caring gesture either from Jae-ha or Hang-ah just gives me a whole butterflies to my stomach. Them teaming up to confront the bad guy is the best thing.

To conclude, this is just a perfect drama for you if you're looking for a modern-setting korean royal story with badass female lead (who is so RARELY found in dramaland) and an adorable king. Also, you might enjoy the King's journey from him being a scaredy cat to be a powerful (and the sweetest) king like I did. And I know, I will love it all over again when I re-watch this for nth times :')

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First off, TWY gives everything I yearn to get from any kdrama. Romance? Check. The main leads' sizzling chemistry? Check. Small dose yet spot-on comedic relief? Check. Awesome background music? Check. Wondrous directing style? Check. Visually beautiful OTP? Check. Slice of life story? Check. Then why I didn't give a perfect score? Because it has flaw. The one and only letdown is how it handles the time travelling aspect or the action part, which holds me back to give the Show a perfect score.*deep sigh*. However, objectively speaking, I genuinely think TWY deserves higher rating than it got. Sure it has its flaws, but it has this uniqueness that by far stands out among other romance/melodrama shows out there. I'm not sure how to point it out, but the feels I got while watching it was really different from my other drama watching experiences. It is warm but chilling. The pace is slow yet something in the story makes the Show engaging.

Another highlight from me is the superb directing. It gives a movie-like vibe, and presents some mundane life to be more interesting. The PD let the actors to act freely in some scenes, which turns the acting comes out natural and convincing. Moreover, the music helps much to set the mood; all the music instruments are on point. It can allow you to feel certain emotions in such a depth that overwhelm you. It was beautifully crafted. Love it!

I also love the contemplative elements in the dialogues. It felt natural, and REAL. Case in point: Ma-rin and her mom's scenes. Further, this drama constantly shows the long-talk between the main characters where the story unfolds there. Their long conversation and also the bickering gave the glimpse of how newlywed could have (albeit, this one is too corny).

Regardless of that one tiny imperfectness I mentioned before, which sadly affects the story in a whole, I fall in love deeply with this show since its first episode, like a love at the 1st sight (LMAO WHY I'M SO CHEESY. I blame Yoo So Joon LOL). I connected to the characters immediately, and was so invested to the story right off the bat.

I loved SMA as Ma-rin before I started to warm up to So Joon. She captivated my admiration for her because she subverts other female characters. She is too sensitive sometimes, but she represents half of the females in the world when it comes to a relationship so I had no problem with that. I could relate to her frustration about her 'dense' partner lol. I also loved LJH as Yoo So-joon. His acting is convincing in most of his scenes. I found his overly aegyeo was off-putting and corny, but he's the best when it's time to deliver a rapid change of sad emotion. He has always been a good actor. When you put SMA and LJH on screen together, bam, their chemistry exploded. I could tell there were some ad-libs being made because they seemed one second away from laughing out loud. I LOVE how SJ and MR could be so silly together, yet they're still mature and considerable for each other. They're also too adorable. They delivered the sweetest yet most heartbreaking love story.

Overall, this drama leaves deep and good impression for me (I probably need more time to get over it).
If you look for a romance, this one is definitely for you. Just be prepared for a long squee and endless swoon while watching it ;)

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I love how the writer plots the story – it is well written and so much satisfying. The first episode is the most engaging part/ opening for me. I could sense this series - by the first episode - would be entertaining and kick all the good aspects in the most drama I had ever watched. Still, I am all the romantic-comedy fan out there, as a result I did crave more of the romance and I got nowhere. Sigh. The drama’s story would get an A +++ if the pressure between ‘life and death’ did not go down before the final episode. Is it only me or anyone else has the same thought about it?

On the other hand, it turns out to be better when the story puts the romance aside. I love how the writer still gave us a happy ending – cause It would crush our sympathy towards the main character who deserves to be loved a wholeheartedly IF he deads or maybe has brain damage etc etc.

The characters are excellent. They were not wasted along the development of the story. Soe In Hye takes good role in the opening. Park Jae-Kyung is brilliant. Uri Tae San-ie and Soe Su Jin-ie is the center of the drama. The bad guys just live there as they supposed to be in every dramaland, so there is no problem with that except they always make me angry ha!. The chief, detectives are all good at their part to appropriately drive the plot.

The setting is just simple. I see there is no such a thing as overbroad shoot for one single scene which sometimes, at different show, I found it unnecessary. The pressure, the action, the fast-thinker detectives, the emotion are just perfect.

There are more and more heartbreaking moments from this series discovered by Tae-san’s two weeks life changing journey. It was a very pleasant ride albeit feeling thrilled and pain while watching this show. I don't regret anything at all.

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