O Rei: Monarca Eterno (2020)

Too much to tell

While watching this drama I felt that the love story isn't that important and that the drama strifes to tell a lot which isn't possible in the given amount of episodes. Like a proper love story for example or more background about some of the characters. Regarding the antagonist's goals I wondered why he invested so much time into useless stuff. First it felt like he wanted to become the king, which was impossible anyway - but why all the chaos just to get a flute? I guess that could've been solved sooner.

Further the storytelling tended to be confusing from time to time regarding all the time jumps. Not actual time jumps, but what happened in a previous episodes sometimes only continues at the end of the next episode, so I tended to wonder "what time is it now?". Time was a huge factor in the whole drama and I think it's one of the reasons why the love story seems to be "rushed". I guess the time that actually passed was different from what we watched, so certainly I tended to ask myself as well "Why do you love him now?" or "Why the heck are you crying if you'll just meet again?". Similar in regard of Mrs. Koo who for some unknown reason killed her doppelganger. Seriously. What for? Lots of decisions seems to be just ruthless without putting much thought into them.
Still I liked the structure, I liked the efforts to put some science into it, I liked the music (which isn't always the case, I dislike most korean drama "songs" since they all tend to sound the same) and some of the twists.

On the other hand they showed the darker side as well in my opinion. Just like when the fl is kidnapped and goes on some sort of killing spree or when Lee Gon just slaughters everyone and turns his continuous joke about beheading someone into reality. There were funny moments though and after Mad Dog it was nice to see Woo Do-Hwan again.

I certainly don't regret watching this, but I just felt there could've been more to tell, more reasons to develop (the antagonist kinda reminds me of the guy from "My Love from the stars" - he seemed to have no good reason for anything either, I prefer something more reasonable). I feel like I watched some fairytale now - an entertaining fairytale certainly.

Some mentioned the product placement and I noticed it as well. I mean, I'm used to all Koreans eating at Subway by now, driving Kia and all Chinese using Apple phones. It's just like that. Here it felt indeed a bit ridiculous to hear real advertisement phrases from the characters. So I agree, they overdid it.

Leia Mais

The premise of this show is so interesting and has so much potential for development so it’s really disappointing to see that this mistake ruin the whole show. As this show happens between two different worlds, the viewers are constantly questioning exactly which world are they referring to as there aren't any big signs that show the difference between the two and it only gets more frustrating as the show progresses.

The saving graces within this show are all the actors beside Lee Min Ho, the cinematography and the osts but I’ll get to that.

The cinematography and color correction is done so perfectly as it sets the mood for the show that it makes me as the viewer even become more aggravated that the fact that most of the story isn’t well done and rather choppy which causes the viewers to pinpoint mistakes out instead of enjoying the show as a whole .

The osts are all sang by so many big names like Ailee, Gummy, Davichi and many others. And the worst part is that all of them are really good compared to the pacing. The difference is so big that I want to separate the show from the osts because it's a shame the this lovely songs came out from this horrible example of a k-drama.

Lee Min Ho has many years of experience as a actor and has a sophisticated aura which allows him to play many roles of certain luxury which I personally think is both his biggest advantage and flaw. Whenever there is a scene that requires him to be emotional and cry, there is a film of pretentiousness that creates a gap between his feelings and the viewer's empathy towards his character, making it hard for the viewers to put themselves in his shoes and empathize his highs and lows along with him. It was so bad that I was actually laughing at him while he was crying miserably.

The other lead actors, Woo Do Hwan & Kim Kyung Nam all have embodied their characters perfectly especially in the case of the “one actor, two characters” roles which is a job that is hard to accomplish and yet both of them have embodied both characters perfectly and that it’s clearly distinguishable. I’ve only come to know Kim Kyung Nam as an actor through this show and i think his body language is possibly one of best with this cast and I’m deeply impressed by his portrayal of the character Kang Shin Jae. And to mention Kim Go Eun, she was nothing less than the perfect embodiment of a police officer and was extremely enjoyable to watch unlike her partner.

Great cinematography, a lukewarm delivery and a underwhelming outcome.

5/10

Leia Mais

Imagination gone wild

Don’t read this review if you don’t want spoilers.
I have to give credit to the writer for finding the best possible traits in a male lead in all history. Handsome king, just and loved by all, brave, excellent fighter, loves the FL unconditionally and provides her with constant support, praises, even provides for her poor choice of fashion, cooks for her in uniform etc. the list goes on. I would suspended my belief for all of it except an additional trait. He is a math genius with a sense of humor. That my friends is the most outlandish thing I have ever heard in my life ?.
The supportive hero called unbreakable sword is a very talented actor depicting two polar opposite personalities in a single frame.
Visuals are great, chemistry and acting is acceptable and even praise worthy.
Story line is a mess especially at the end. But suspend all belief and enjoy the ride.

Leia Mais

Loved it!

This is one of the best shows I have seen this year. A very good sci-fi drama with wonderful acting by the cast. I do understand some character development has not been done in a proper manner but overall you will surely enjoy it.
If we watch carefully there are small hints depicted by the director which took the story ahead beautifully. I loved the closed ending and not leaving it to the public.

This is definitely not for people who do not enjoy such genre or such concepts or want more chemistry to be shown.

Personally I loved it alot. And I do understand people have different tastes and choices. So that's alright.

Have a good watch.

Leia Mais

Too many Loopholes and questions, confusing

First, I'm referring to Manpasikjeok as Flute for easier typing.

This had the potential to be great but too many loopholes, questions. Episodes 1 to 12 were good even with the unnecessary Jumps from one scene to another. Episodes were understandable even with Sudden switches from Corea to Korea. but from episodes 13 onwards it started to get really confusing especially if you watched 10 episodes in one sitting. It gave me headache to process everything. Too many JUMPS from one scene to another. Maybe bad editing/sequecing. Any websites which can help me understand? Like after the first time LG travelled back to 1994, how was he able to travel from that 1994 to different timelines and get back to the present day with only half of the flute in hand? Plus wearing the same clothes during the whole time. What was the disappearing plant meant when Jung Tae Eul woke up from a nap on her desk? In what time line was it when JTE was interrogating Luna was it before LEe Gon cameback or after? And what's the point of that? Filler? Also I thought they can only travel through different timelines if they have both parts of the flute? LG was only holding half of the flute when he travelled back to 1994 for the second time, he was with Young, since the other half was with Yee Rim. YEE RIM used it to enterthe gate with JTE. Sooo confusing.

What happened to the present lee gon? Like how was he able to travel back to his PRESENT timeline? Did he "steal" the whole/unbroken flute from the 1994 timeline in which he killed the 1994 Yee Rim? If he stole it and brought it to his present timeline, does that mean the "new" 1994 timeline in which he saved didn't have its own flute? The Flute that Lee Gon brought from his own timeline already vanished.

Also when he travelled different present timelines/universes to look for the JTE version that he loved, was he using the Flute from the 1994 timeline? Did he travel through 14,000,605 timelines? Difference between 2020 and 2021 aren't that long, I don't think that's long enough for his search for the correct timeline/universe to Find the right JTE.

Timelines/parallel worlds are complicated.. LEE GON saved his and her timelines but it doesn't mean all other timelines are fixed or according to the fate that they think is right. towards the end they make it appear that "fixing" one timeline fixes all the the timelines/universes. They make it appear so from all the time travels they've been to at the end. Fixed means no BAD GUY Yee Rim.

Since I'm not blinded by my admiration of the Main Leads Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun, i think I can honestly say this was not the best. Good but not great IMO. Great acting but really messed up execution in some parts. Don't get me wrong, I really liked episodes 1 to 12 and the last 36mins of episode 16, they really just messed it up at some parts towards the end. I LOVED every moment/scenes that Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun were together. They were cute. The last 36mins made all better since it's a happy ending for both. They can make you forget all the confusion from episode 13 to 15 and first 44 mins of episode 16

Leia Mais

A 20 hour long commercial with beautiful horses

First of all: so much advertising! I mean, at times it felt like watching an elaborate commercial.
It was really distracting and my main reason for the low score.

Normally, I'm super into space-time paradoxes (among my absolute favorites within the sci-fi genre), but this is messy and, most of all, terribly boring (I'm so very disappointed in Kim Eun-sook).
I fell asleep multiple times.
By episode 5 one can easily guess the masked savior's identity and still fail to understand the mechanics of the parallel worlds created by the writer. For instance, how is it possible for universes that diverged for hundreds of years to have the same people, born on the same year and day from the same doppelgangers?! And how does it make sense to base everything on this premise and still assert that a different choice or being a second late can cause chaos in the space-time continuum?!!!

Despite their individual talent, the main couple was tepid throughout. The characters were dull and their love just came to be so suddenly that it was as nonsensical as the plot.

At one point I rooted for the prime minister, she looked like an interesting one with her political schemes and feminine outfits, but even that fell to nothing.

Honorable mention for Woo Do-hwan that tried his very best here and kept me watching to the end.

Female Empowerment Score 3/5: the three points go to the cool building owner and, in a smaller percentage, to the prime minister lady.

Leia Mais

Um...what?

What started out with a great story and premise falls amazingly flat. We are immediately introduced to what seems to be a wonderful plot of fantasy, realism, intrigue, and action, but somewhere after episode 2 this series decides to turn into the average soapy romance of long stares, slow motion wide angles, and a main lead who can't seem to be convinced that his character is real. In all honesty, I was utterly disappointed with this series because it could not deliver what it promised in the description. Is this a case of bad writing, poor casting, or something else? I'm not even sure.

But. What I do know is that the side characters carry this show.

Leia Mais

Woah. That's too much biased hate. I think people rode the hate train and followed the footsteps of others rather than watching the drama themselves.

Okay, so I am no fan of any actor of this drama except Woo Do Hwan. And I just finished this drama. I am telling this because I want to let you know that my review is not going to be biased because of Love or hate towards a specific cast.

The drama wasn't the best. I admit it. But it wasn't the worst either. It was a pretty good drama with a good cast and definitely a unique story. The story had me so confused throughout the drama. But guess what... It all made sense in the end. Everything was answered. And I think the writer did a wonderful job handling such a difficult story. Also the last episode was one of my most favorite last episode of a Kdrama ever. And even most high rated dramas have disappointed me with their last episodes like World of Married.

Anyways,

The middle part was a bit boring. Other than that drama is definitely worth giving a shot.

The drama is definitely unpredictable and have some really jaw dropping moments. So that's a plus point.

Leia Mais

It's worth your time !!!!

Emotions, romance, each and every thing is so believable and put to perfection. Lee min ho is an amazing actor and how he has embraced the KING character is brilliant. He is so true to it. Gentle and respected. Same goes with Kim go eun. She is so natural and effortless. Woo do hwan steals the show with his sheer versatility, acting two opposite characters to such perfection.

There is no unnecessary drama or misunderstandings between the two leads which they usually add in such genre of drama, which is incredible because it will take some time to understand the story with its amazing twists and turns, we don't need anything else to keep us hooked.

The cinematography is so beautiful, the sets are awe worthy. What more can I say to bring justice to it. Everything is very believable. That is the word. I am so happy that I stumbled across this beautiful show. LMH made me fall in love with him again.

Leia Mais

The casts need to comeback for Part 2.

I watched this again for the 3rd time. They are one of my favorite K-drama shows in Netflix. Same as Crash Landing. To me, they are both first number one in Netflix. The reason why I love this kind a show is because. There’s not too much sex and violence. They captured the respect for women and the men are very gentlemen and well mannered. Not to mention the Actors and the Actress are good looking and they’re are great in acting. This how made me laugh and made me cry. I am entertained. I would like to know if there’s Part 2.
This is rated 10 and way thumbs up!

Leia Mais

So I'm writing this review straight after binging the whole drama so that the details are still fresh in my mind. To be honest, I was a hesitant on watching this at first, after reading some reviews about it. Alas, I finally gave it a go.

And WAAAAH! To my surprise, I actually really enjoyed this drama, contrary to the reviews I read. Like, yes the story is a little bit confusing because of the 2 different worlds and some actors playing 2 different characters. And of course the whole time travel thing. Any story that involves messing with time/space is always going to be confusing anyway. But still, I loved following and uncovering more about the story within each episode. The characters and the actors were also all just incredible.

I definitely think this is a drama to watch if you have patience for more complex stories and are willing to delve into understanding all the little details. However if you're not for that, you'll probably just get frustrated with this drama.

STORY:
The story is definitely more on the complex side. There's a lot going on. It's easy to get lost and get confused so you have to really pay attention whilst watching it. Now, I get some people may not be into these type of screenplays, maybe they prefer a simpler story or just one that's not as easily confusing.
But for me, I actually really really enjoyed the complexity of the story since it kept me intrigued throughout.

Yes there were some science and math garjon to do with time in this drama that if you're unfamiliar with will just confuse you. And since I am definitely not a science-y/math person, it definitely did confuse me a bit. So I would say/advise, try not to pay much attention to all those garjon stuff as it's just something that will just confuse you the more you try and understand them. At the end, all those garjon didn't even really play a big part to the story. They were more of a filler to add extra character to Lee Gon. Instead really focus more on the characters that are travelling back and forth.

With that said, the most confusing parts of the drama where some viewers might get lost with was trying to figure out which of the 2 worlds a certain character is at or a particular scene is taking place in. Unless it's the Busan palace in the Kingdom of Corea or the Gwanghwamun Square in the Republic of Korea, it's kinda hard to tell. Then once you add in the dopplegangers as well, I suppose it can get even more confusing. So this part of the the story could've probably been made clearer because once you don't know which world is which or which character the actor is playing then obviously the story will get all jumbled up.

There was also a lot of focus on the bits to do with the parallel world (i.e. characters crossing back and forth) and the Uncle's actions (building a secret army) that the romance bit of the story was rushed and there wasn't really a build up to it, except for the ID card and the main characters meeting each other.

Maybe Kim Eun Sook could've probably taken out a couple bits from the base story i.e. the lightning burn, since they didn't even fully explain why some travellers had it and some didn't. Or maybe even took out some characters from the uncle's army like the pregnant lady or the stable guy.
If she would've taken some unnecessary bits, it would've probably been not as confusing and then maybe she could've also put more of a build up to the love story instead.

CHARACTERS/ACTING:
Kim Go Eun was great as Tael Eul. I watched her for the first time in Goblin and was really impressed by her performance there. She did a great job in this drama too. Her emotional scenes were very moving, that they could really bring you to tears. She was a badass in the first few episodes when she fought off criminals too. Her doppleganger character (Luna) was just alright. It was a quieter, darker character with a more haggard look so I don't think it took much to deviate from her Tael Eul character as she just had to tone it right down and make it seem like a sick, more depressed version of Tael Eul to be honest.

Lee Min Ho was also great. This is the first time I've ever watched him and must admit he does have that king aura and charisma to him so he carried the character really well. Though it would've been interesting to see him play another character in the drama as well to see a different style to his acting.

The supporting cast also did an excellent job. Their chemistry was a joy to watch especially the Violent Crimes Unit Squad, the bromance between Lee Gon & Jo Young and that familial love between Court Lady Noh and Lee Gon. A special shoutout and applause to Woo Do Hwan (Jo Young) as well for playing 2 very different characters so well. He was the best in duality among the whole cast.

Overall this drama is really not as bad as I expected and I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I actually enjoyed it. The story was good overall. It could've done with a bit more character/love story build up but the basic plot line was well written in my opinion.
The one negative thing I must agree with among the reviews I read was the insane amounts of product placement. There were far too much that it became ridiculous. I don't mind product placements in dramas since ads, sponsorship and product placement is literally in everything BUT there should be a limit. It wasn't like the drama was promoting 1 or 2 products either. There was at least 6 different products. And there was a placement in almost every episode.

WOULD I RECOMMEND:
If you enjoy complex stories, 'don't-beat-around-the-bush' kind of love story and don't mind product placement then I would definitely recommend. But if you prefer simpler story lines, love a good character/love-story build-up and don't like ads in your dramas, then I would give this a miss otherwise you'll just get annoyed.

Leia Mais

One of my favorites!

I know a lot of people don't love this drama, but I absolutely adore it! The OST is to die for, and it makes the drama 10 times better!! It can be a bit confusing, but everything gets cleared up later on. I wouldn't recommend it as a good first drama for anyone, it may be too confusing for people who are new to k-dramas and don't quite know how k-dramas run yet and because of that, it could give them the wrong impression about them.

Lee Minho's and Woo Do Hwan's bromance in this is literally the best! Also, the bromance between Jo Eun Sup and Jo Young! I live for bromance and this is everything. Definitely give it a shot! 1000/10 recommend!!

Leia Mais