O Rei: Monarca Eterno (2020)

This drama definitely had its problems but I think many of the reviews are unnecessarily harsh. The show does start off slow with a lot of build up of the characters as "perfect". I think a lot of these earlier episodes would have been better used setting up the plot and developing other characters but thats off topic as that is not what happens. Instead the characters are mainly kept 1 dimensional and there are a lot of little hints and sub plots that the writer tried to embed into the story (the writer on this obviously thought they were being more clever than they really were).

There is a lot of hate online that the leads had no romance and that their acting was bad. Personally I like LMH and think he did a good job with this drama and pulling off the arrogant King. I think their were a lot of unnecessary side characters who them we really dont get to learn about because the writer waste all of our time in the first 10 episodes. On top of that the timeline is confusing (episode 12 I literally was like "WTF that doesnt make sense").

This drama is not all bad and does have a cool and interesting premise, including sci-fi, multi dimensional, time travel, and I personally love the "kingdom of corea."

It just fails to deliver on all that it promises.
I think it might be worth rewatching just to see if it make more sense the 2nd time around (I kinda doubt that it does).
I also think that if you are in the early episodes and having issues I suggest just jumping to episode 12+ as most of the story seems to really take place in episodes 12-16.

I still give it a 7 overall because I actually enjoyed the main characters and the concept of the drama even if I dont think it was executed well.

Leia Mais

Masterpiece!

Everything is great...Ignore what you heard about this drama...just give a chance until ep 5 and I am sure you will enjoy...
If you want to make your brain work, HERE YOU GO....
And romance:
Great chemistry between this two....they are adult and you should expect adult behaviors...and it was not rush because Lee Gon was looking for her for 25 years and about tae eul, falling in love with him took almost for months...
Writing, acting, editing and cinematography are awesome!!!!
After all, if you want watch a different kdrama and use you brain, WATCH AND ENJOY!!!!

Leia Mais

Outstanding female characters...

This drama is a must watch.
The first few episodes may come of as confusing, but once you're past that this drama will take you in for a ride. And it's an amazing ride.
The casting is perfect, the female characters are complex, smart and strong (every single one of them). The second male lead is another perfect character with so much to tell. Overall all the actors have done their characters perfectly.
The villain is great too.

Personally this is a perfect drama with time travel, adventure, thriller, a crazy villain, best female and male characters, romance, heart wrenching drama, having perfect dialogues and ending.

Leia Mais

Short: I wanted love this one. I tried. It feels like you're getting abbreviated Cliff Notes of a 20-24 episode story. Production quality is outstanding, but it's really hard to keep up with who is who between the two worlds. This should have been much better, it had everything it needed except time and a more developed story.

Detail:
ARGH! This one frustrates me so much, I like the actors involved, it has parallel worlds in different dimensions, it plays around with alternate realities and presents a world where Joseon style royalty remains to a modern "Kingdom of Corea", it has time travel - I mean, this SHOULD have been perfect. So why wasn't it?

Couple of key areas... but fundamentally it really just boils down to there seeming to be far too much skipped out. I found it extremely hard to track where each scene was - one minute you're in the Corea world and the next cut of the camera you're seeing the same person in the Korea world, and thinking... hang on, but that person isn't in both, or is he? few minutes late rit dawns - no, they've actually travelled between worlds, I mean could they not just spell that out?

This is both a complex and a simple story combined. The principals are pretty simple but it sets out a stage that has two different parallel worlds with slightly different versions of the same characters, so Kim Go Eun's character is both Jung Tae Eul (in Korea, our world) and Luna (in Corea, the other). Multiply that up for almost all characters including side characters. Now randomly flip between worlds without giving the player any hint as to which world you're in and try to keep up. It's not impossible, I *think* I just about managed it but i'm positive I missed plot points while trying to figure out if person A is talking to the person B from one world or the other because there's ramifications if it's the other and they're impersonating - which does happen.

I don't mind being misled a bit but it really felt more like chunks of story left out.

Next you've the problem with this Uncle and what his whole game is. He's a bad guy, ok we get that. He's doing bad stuff, yep, with you. But what's his goal exactly and what's his plan to achieve it? It seemed like he was doing "stuff" over the 25 years or so from the original treason to where the story actually picks up - but then there's really no actual pay off or benefit from him doing that at all, or indication as to what it should have been and at what point this was foiled and brought crashing down. Again, I think this is just a victim of the cliff-note storytelling, except it's bad cliff notes as it's clearly missing major plot points!

The time travel was quite nicely done.

The whole thing was set up to be absolutely brilliant, I can see the skeleton of what was intended (I think) and it was an incredibly ambitious project, it had a great cast and the production values on it were sky high. What it needed was either 20 or 24 episodes to actually do its epic tale justice. 16 was just too short for a project of this magnitude.

Some people are upset about it having too much product placement but honestly i'm immune to it, I find it amusing and still prefer it to advert breaks. Sometimes I like to play Product Placement Bingo when I'm watching a drama! :) Perhaps they went too far but... honestly it didn't bother me at all.

My favourite actor in this is definitely Kim Go Eun - big fan of her work anyway - but her character is tough, strong and skilled. She knows her stuff. Sometimes the story does have her be the victim to be rescued but I actually don't see a problem with that either - you can't be strong all the time, and a balanced character will lean on others as much as be leaned on.

Lee Min Ho... comes off as a mix of the strong regal king, and an arrogant ass, but overall I thought it played well for the character.

Final episode was good which just reinforces my belief that his was a well thought out project but far too ambitious to squeeze it into the timeslot it was given.

Watch if you like the actors, particularly Kim Go Eun, but expect to have to pay attention to keep up and fill in the blanks.

Leia Mais

When I heard about the release of this drama, I immediately wrote it down on my calendar and eagerly waited for the first episode.

When I watched the first episode, I ended up having a headache and more questions than answers. (In retrospect, I do know that is how it should really be to get the viewers hook on the show but the headache didn't really go away for the first few episodes). By this time, I was just actually watching because I'm intrigued. I want to know where this story will take us. To be honest, the leads I love the lead actors on this drama BUT the two of them together? I'm not really sure. I wasn't the biggest fan of their couple. It also didn't help that it wasn't clear enough why, when, and how Jeong Tae Eul fell for the ML. It was like Lee Gon went home, she missed him (or his company) and boom she was in love? That part, for me, really was a deal breaker.

I always tell my friends that if they remove the love line in this drama I think it will be 1000x more beautiful. The action/ political/ fantasy side of the drama was really off the charts. It was sooo good. Really intriguing and the concept was really good. However, I really didn't see the importance of the love line at first, it was only at the last few episodes that I somewhat saw the significance of it (but still not 100% sold to the idea).

This drama started as okay but got did get better in time. Ending was okay, I think almost everything was addressed properly except what will happen to the throne since I don't think they are planning to get married and start a family? Wished they showed more of the second leads love line. Especially our Yeong. He really deserved it.

Also, one thing I really loved in this drama since the beginning (other than the bromance of Lee Gon and Yeong) was the cinematography. Just wow. Daebak!

Anyway, congrats to the whole team of the drama for a job well done!

Leia Mais

It’s a story about a guy saving his own life.

Problems with this drama are too many to count but I’ll try..

1- The romance is super cringy
There are hugs, kisses and I love yous coming out of nowhere...it’s ‘scripted‘ literally and so the scenes have to be done not because the characters feel it naturally to do so...

2- The characters keep changing by the will of the writer.

A few examples given below

The female lead who is a police officer, strong, persistent and unapologetic about what people think of her, becomes a fast paced lovey dovey cry baby and falls for a king just like that. The king who should be trying to look for his murderer day and night is more interested in getting married and developing feelings without any backstory except he found an ID card of a woman when he was a kid.

A really ordinary man saves the king’s life (Not his king) without any training of knowing when and how to jump in front of a shooting bullet!

In the first episode there is a woman shown to be a prime minister and in a parallel universe she’s shown to be a singer/idol because she has huge billboard dedicated to her and female lead also confirms that one would need a ticket to see her... 12 episodes later the idol is just an ordinary person sitting in the bleachers of a ball game with nerdy glasses on and later found in a morgue cause ordinary people are easy to kill. When did the writer decide to change the character image from idol to an ordinary and common person?

Leia Mais

Hold swords while enemy fights with guns

A train wreck in the best way possible, A drama where the bromance is better than the romance. This a drama with full blown craziness in all its glory.
No matter how high the production cost is, No matter how good the lead actors are, No matter how amazing the supporting cast and OST is, if the story does not click with the audience, the drama is doomed to fail.
There is no denying that The King: Eternal Monarch is a visually appealing series thanks to the high production cost and great actors but the story telling lacks depth, you can sense that as a viewer from Episode 2 itself. The amount of attention on the visual appeal should have been given to the pace and storyline.
The drama failed for me as a viewer because of the stiff acting, forced and rushed chemistry between the main leads, too many historical errors, a very confusing plot involving parallel universe and time travel with many contradicting theories and loose ends and lets not forget the in your face product placements.
The relationship rumours of Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun meant to lure the audience failed to fool the viewers either.
Rewatch value? This drama doesn't even have 'watch it once' value.
This drama would be used as an example of not taking the audience for granted, I watched it only for Woo Do Hwan

Leia Mais

The story evolves as the show goes on, nothing is as straight forward as it seems. It is very satisfying to see story plots and ideas shown in the early episodes come to fruition in the later episodes. Everything comes full circle, things that may have been dismissed in previous episodes as not that important comes to be important in later episodes.

The acting by every single person in this show is amazing. From Goblin we already know that Kim Go Eun is a fantastic actress but she is absolutely brilliant as Jeong Tae Eul in King.

As Lee Min Ho's come back drama after being in the military, this was a great show to showcase his acting skills, in the heartbreaking moments, you cry with him and in the more light-hearted scenes you laugh and just want nothing but happiness for his character Lee Gon.

Woo Do Hwan as both Jo Yeong and Jo Eun Sop, was amazing, before this, I had only seen him in The Great Seducer, in which he was amazing but he truly shines in the double role here. Absolutely deserves all the praise he is getting and I am now going to look into more of his dramas.

Leia Mais

I started watching this drama after almost all the episodes had aired, so I could watch them back-to-back without the disadvantage of having to wait week after week for new material. From what I've seen of people's complaints, I think the biggest problem with this drama is that people set their expectations WAY too high because this was Lee Min Ho's first drama since his return from enlistment, and it felt like people were expecting something that would rival Goblin. Which is why people were so disappointed when it turned out to be an "alright" drama filled with the typical product placement that is rampant in most dramas (Do you want some skin care with that fried chicken, anyone?).

The concept and storytelling was good, the acting was great, and the OST is memorable. Hwa Sa's Orbit will be on repeat for a while to come. I wouldn't say the drama was exceptionally brilliant by any means, which is what I think everyone wanted it to be, but it is NOT bad. Lee Min Ho was dreamy as the king hopelessly in love with the woman of his dreams. In addition Kim Go Eun, Woo Do Hwan, and Kim Kyung Nam especially did a great job in this drama.

The only thing about this drama that somewhat disappointed me was the ending. Endings are hard to get right, especially in dramas containing time travel, so I am not surprised that the finale was full of plot holes. However, despite my personal dissatisfaction with certain writing choices for the ending, it was alright. For new viewers who are just discovering this drama, I would simply suggest that they skip reading the comments and spoiler-y reviews, and simply watch it without bias and do not expect it to be another Goblin.

Leia Mais

This really had so much potential. Needed better and tighter writing. Second half is better and more fast paced but even the ending became disappointing too.

I like the female lead in this one (compared to get in goblin).

Lee min ho was very model like and majestic and ok.

His royal guard and Eun Seop was the shining beacon in all of this. He played his doppleganger and guard self so well.

The relationship between the two leads was far too quick. Suddenly in love and their ending was mildly boring mehhhh

Sorry I wish u could rate higher but it didn't hit the highs I needed it too

Also warnings for all the blatant product placement and they all work really well to get you looking hahahaha

Leia Mais

The mastery of unfolding.

Contrary to what I have expected The King has definitely highly exceed my expectations and even above that, it is definitely one of the best dramas in 2020, even in the last few years. Wonderfully written, brilliantly produced and masterfully executed.

Let's start with the story and plot. Complex, intriguing and most importantly engaging. I don't think I have watched a drama (for a while at least) that urges me to think about the plot in deeper ways, questioning every single scene and input. And actually thinking while watching. I wasn't just brain-pausing. I worked, but it was so enjoyable and I didn't want it to stop. This drama has received some critique, I haven't seen a lot, but most of them were about how they did not understand the plot. I disagree completely, it's not that I am smarter, I was just very attentive and invested. I do have to add that the first 4 episodes were rocky for me, but the moment Lee Gon brought Tae Eul to the Kindom of Corea the hype hit the rooftop and I was starting to get very interested. And up until then everything just got better. What shook me the most about this whole creation, is the UNFOLDING of the story. Not revealing much, but just enough for the viewer to understand, IF they watched carefully. The world building was done so damn well, like it is not an easy task to build a world as complex as this. And double that cause there are technically two worlds. Praise the director and writer. I appreciate the happy and lighthearted ending, this drama has been heavy from the first episode on and it feels very reasonable to end it like this. Also why did I knew that they'd add the old hands, it's beautiful but heartbreaking. A part of me definitely wished them to stay in either of their worlds and marry and have kids or whatever, but I guess they can't because of their counterparts. What I wanted to add as well, is the fact that these people did not just sell the plot. They sold the emotions of the characters that were in this world. It was the emotions and ambitions that carried the show. Things didn't just happen, they happened with an action and there was a reaction. And I could see that every single character was so emotionally scarred and involved in the happenings.

The production is insane. The money that went into this... I couldn't even imagine. The cinematography wasn't just gorgeous, but also purposeful. They didn't just decided to choose that angle, that cut and that grading. They choose while thinking about the narrative and feelings they wanted to portray. And you can see that, which I appreciate so much. The music. I mean I don't quite like the songs tbh. Not gonna lie, they don't stand out much, but DAMN those BGMs (I mean the instrumentals, the orchestration). Especially "If you..." or "My love and..." that melody will forever be stuck in my head. It will remind me of the feels of every time they played this. Every time Gon and Tae Eul had a heartbreak to endure, an obstacle to fight. It represents the drama in every way. Beautiful, glorious, majestic, endearing, heartbreaking, bittersweet and hopeful. I am a bit obsessed you see... you hear! In conclusion this BGM is superior and a masterpiece. It fits so perfectly and underlines the emotions of the scenes, I dare to sa enhances them, I couldn't ask for more.

Last but not least the characters. What I just realised in the last episode, was the fact that there are no kdrama tropes in this. If I would illustrate a kdrama it would be some kind of shape, any shape depending on the drama, but most of the time there is this deformed saggy part. That annoying character who just doesn't make any sense and in the end they try to justify this character with some whack redemption arc; that annoying car crash; that annoying memory loss; that annoying misunderstanding (triggers me every time); and so many more I can't even think of them. What I mean is, that saggy part is undeniably a part of the whole thing, but not pleasant and just unnecessary. But The King doesn't seem to have that. Everything is finely tuned and written for the whole story, everything fits without being awkward and that includes the characters and their actions. I can't despise them for any personal reasons, because... they didn't annoy me. They made sense and just acted on their beliefs, which always seemed legit. Praise the writer. I loved: Lee Gons intelligence and kindness, but strictness; Jeong Tae Euls bravery, trust and quick-witnesses; Jo Yeongs loyalty and friendship (and everything else about him, especially that hair, and those clothes); Jo Eun Seops jokes, childlikeness and love for his family and siblings; Koo Seo Ryungs ambition, strong headedness in a mainly male dominated industry; Kang Shin Jaes good heartedness, his silent love for Tae Eul and his sacrifices.
It was indeed very nice to see them again, with a different destiny, living their lives as they should have. Luna as Seo Ryungs police sister and again as Shin Jaes junior. Lee Gon in the marine, Shin Jae still living on the edge of between a cop and a gangster. And Jo Yeong with siblings (I lost my heart when he passed out, it looked like dying i was dying ok).
I gotta say with all honesty. I am not a fan of Lee Minho, never have been, I just think he is incredibly overrated for what he serves, and his visuals are definitely not my style. But damn, I never said that he can't act, but he SERVED as Lee Gon. Especially his emotional scenes were excellent. I can't imagine anyone else than him as Lee Gon. Well done!!
Kim Go Eun, as always. Amazing on screen. She just acts and acts and it's just perfect. Her crying and clinging on to Lee Gon, her fighting scenes, I mean she's just brilliant. (Btw her hug scenes with Lee Gon were the best I've ever scene, I could feel that damned pain and love) I am rooting for you! Waiting for the next drama hihi.
Well, here comes my bitch, or more like I am a bitch for him. Woo Do Hwan. Might just be the main reason I pushed through the first 4 episodes. I probably would have watched this because of Kim Go Eun anyways, but the moment I saw him in the trailers I just couldn't wait. And oh, my boy did not disappoint. He literally stole the limelight, I am sorry to everyone else, but he shined, both as Jo Yeong and Eun Seop. This role was just perfect for him! He deserves more recognition for his amazing acting. Damn, the way he sobbed as Eun Sup when he and Yeong said goodbye to each other (gosh I was sobbing too), and that passing out scene in 1994, that TEAR synced perfectly with the camera movement and the music. Satisfaction level reached. His voice also, AH. Plus, that face. I have fallen under his spell long before, but I am even deeper after this drama. I am so glad he got the chance to do this role, it's just perfect.
The cast has made this story to what it is today.

The King: The Eternal Monarch is a show to watch with attention, and only then will you be able to comprehend the magic and brilliance the production team has created. A wonderful and adventurous story, with a heart wrenching love story, strong and loyal friendships. The story of waiting, trusting and finally accepting your own fate and quote: "decide to be happy with our fate". It tells its story excellently and I don't want to change anything about it.

PS.: Y'all act like the ads are the majority of the whole drama, also they aren't always in your face. And don't act like there aren't any in other "amazing" dramas. And also, I really don't understand how people have so much to criticise I just don't see it.

PPS.: After a few months I still think this drama is better than people make it sound like, but I do agree that it had more potential and could've been done better, but if they lived up to taht potential it would've been l e g e n d a r y.

Leia Mais

I knew that KES's drama always a big hit but i don't know it'll be this fab. I knew her from The heirs and after that i've watched many of her dramas. The King is one of drama where i need my brain to be useful. The actors, the ost, the plot twist and etc. It's just too perfect. The King will always be my favorite K-Drama and then Goblin. I'll be waiting for another wonderful project from KES. And hopefully it'll be very soon and can i ask for Kim Soo Hyun to be another main lead on her drama? And Kim Go Eun too, i'll never be tired if she's the female main lead. You know you can't resist her charm, she's just too good to be true.

Leia Mais