Regele, Monarhul Etern (2020)

Fun for a glamour filled time-pass during quarantine times.

I’m not a LMH fan very honestly and only waited and finished this series for Do Hwan...and he did justice to his characters. Not a second of his screen time was a dreaded moment. Loved how convincingly he portrayed both his characters. Can’t wait for more shows of him as the lead.
As the for the show, I’m not gonna be very cynnically critical and say the show was terrible...sure it had loop holes and some bad acting moments and a weak story line overall but I didn’t mind much until the last 2 episodes. It was anti-climatic, extremely weak and just ridiculous. The whole build up of 14 episodes was deflated in the last 2. You want us to believe they lived in different time lines forever? He’s the King after all. Or does the kingdom end with him? And all the other dimensions angle though obviously scientifically it’s existence is a factor in the show, the way they portrayed it was just meh at best.
Instead of dialling up the necessary story lines and emotions, they dialled up stupidity levels and gave a ridiculous ending.

But thanks to the makers and the actors, we got some much needed time pass during these quarantine times. So for that and for Woo Do Hwan❤️ I’m grateful.

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A Potentially Interesting Concept but Poorly Executed

Id like to believe that this drama and its concept/storyline had the potential to be a really interesting and fun one ifff done right...but unfortunately this just didnt hit the mark for me....there was no cohesive flow to the overall storyline. It felt very choppy to me especially with the transitions between the parallel worlds/dimensions. It kept going back and forth where sometimes i could literally spend about 10-15 seconds figuring out which world they are actually in because they are just jumping from one scene to another....The mains chemistry just seemed off to me...wasnt convinced especially since there was no real development between the two where we could see how and why they fell in love (espeically Tae Eul) she wanted nothing to do with him in the beginning...and now that hes gone for a little while she suddenly has feelings for him??? The romance scenes were honestly my least favorite part in this series although it was the main focus in this drama. It was very boring to me. And I dont know if my ability to focus longterm deteriorating or if the pacing was just reallyyyyyy slow.....I felt likeee i was watching these episodes for forever...with little movement...One of the few saving graces for me to continue on with this show was Captian Jo/ Eun Seob, Shin Jae, and the grandma (she was adorbs!!)

Overall...not a terrible drama, but not that good either. I felt like there was a lot of things thrown at us with very little explanations...I mean I dont mind a little guessing game and trying to figure out and piece together but here I felt like Im just guessing orr inferring on things most of the time without knowing if Im truly understanding whats happening or not...But maybe thats just a me problem *shrugs* But at least the ending was nice & satisfying so I didnt feel like I completely wasted 16+ hours....but Im still not fully convinced that the director and screenwriter knew exactly what they were trying to convey. Seemed like they had an idea but didnt know how to present it well enough in a cohesive and concise manner where it leads me to wonder if they even had a solid understanding of what they were trying to present to its audience to begin with....or if they were just banking on the popularity of the leads along with reputation of the screenwriters previous work to help make this drama a hit...

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all the right elements but no execution

my first review! here goes...

I went into this drama wanting to watch cheesy plot, tbh. so I wasn't super dissappointed by the weird moving romance that actually didn't make much sense considering it went from nothing to "I'll die without you" so fast. even web dramas have more slow-burn than the main couple.

what upsets me about this show is the best and most interesting part about it. the whole time travelling between dimensions thing is absolutely fascinating I was so ready for the actual government conspiracy plot to start moving along and then IT CRASHED AND BURNED AND LEFT ME FOR DEAD.

I cannot even begin to write the essay that is my dissapointment in the ending developments. like oh they go back in time to save themselves? and alter the timeline that was already predetermined? okay, that's cool, I get that, kinda dig it, but that made all of the character development that was there almost for nothing. like the prime minister.

and the absolute tragedy that is the use of complex doppelganger relationships I was so ready for and in the end it failed me too.

I've learned my lesson, you can't expect a complex plot in a cheesy romance. and this kinda was the cheesiest of romances I've seen. its worth a watch if you like that kind of thing, just don't set high expectations.

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Very good show (But! last 2 episodes were rushed)

If you want to enjoy this show, you cannot be a perfectionist, and you will have to keep some logic aside. If you do so, you will be guaranteed to like TKEM.

Character Development:
All characters directly jumped from one feeling to another without any explanation. Basically no character development.
They had too many elements to explain. They put their feet in all directions like profound timeless romance, evil villain, mixed-up timelines, past characters, the logic behind how the magic works but none of these were completely justified because those last 2 episodes were rushed and they could not explain everything and close it with a cute ribbon. Because the show was good for 14 episodes, my rating for the show won't be dominated by those last 2 episodes.

Chemistry:
Also, there was no chemistry between the lead couple throughout. This was because there was no scene that showed any initial spark between them.
People out there are saying that Kim Go Eun should not have been cast with Lee Min Ho. You can even say the other way around that Lee Min Ho should not have been cast with Kim Go Eun (#psuedo-feminism). Kim Go Eun is really pretty and I definitely felt she looked so much better with Kim Kyung Nam.
There was also some good amount of bromance. But even that was one-sided!

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Beauty with not a lot of substance

This drama has all the star powers: screenwriter of Goblin, Lee Min Ho, Kim Go Eun, Woo Do Hwan, and most likely a huge budget. I won’t go into the the details of the plot, but there’s a lot going on: treason, parallel universe, time travel, royal intrigues, fate, crimes spanning two worlds, friendship, romance. I admit there are funny scenes (see Woo Do Hwan and his other parallel person) and truly heart fluttering romantic moments between the King and Tae Eul (neck kiss for one). The first few episodes captured my attention and I find them interesting, wanting to know more about Lee Lim’s treachery and how Lee Gon’s and Tae Eul’s relationship will progress. I think starting episode 10, I became less enthused about the drama, not bored exactly, but the episodes became too predictable. I am also having a hard time connecting emotionally with most of the characters. Even the romance between Lee Gon and Tae Eul became kind of stale (maybe the love confessions came too early). It’s hard for me to write it, but sometimes I ship the bromance between Lee Gon and Jo Yeong (royal guard) better thank Lee Gon and Tae Eul.

After finishing the drama, I still have questions: why was Lee Gon able to time travel but not Lee Lim; who is the kid/young man with the yo-yo and are there more like him; where did the flute come from; why didn’t Jo Yeong’s memory get erased like the others; why was Prime Minister Koo’s parallel person killed; how did the young Sin Jae become comatose.

This is just me, as a fan of romantic happy ending, I would have liked for Tae Eul to be his queen and maybe for viewers like me to see a baby. The first few episodes were all about him needing to get married and having successors/heirs. One of the most romantic moments is when he declared Tae Eul to be his future queen ("Save her at all cost; she is your future queen."). That statement sets an expectation for me as a viewer that I am going to see Tae Eul the Queen of Kingdon of Corea. This living in the moment, going to and from different worlds and times, is to me, like eating whip cream or cotton candy: all sweet, but no substance.

I wish the whole time travel thing wasn’t thrown into the mix; just stick with the parallel universe—my average human brain can’t take two space-time continuum theories simultaneously. Also, the product placements in this drama is just too much! They become laughable because they’re so obvious.

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It's not all that bad

Sometimes the reviews on here will have you believe that if you start watching a drama, hands will come out of the screen to choke you or something.

After reading the numerous negative reviews of this drama, I just had to see what this train wreck was all about and...it wasn't that much a disaster that I thought it will be.

I admit...it felt that between episode 10 and 11 there should have been another episode in between explaining what the HECK was going on, which threw the entire show...but I guess I've watch enough dramas to fill in the blanks not to be bothered by it much.

Also admitting, some OST's are so outstanding that they just stick out against non-emotional scenes. I found myself smirking numerous of times while beautiful music played against a scene that did not match the mood of the song.

Someone on here complained about the kiss scenes, and although I never really talk about these in my review, the complaint stood out so much it was hard not to notice the kisses between the main leads while watching this show. They were not all that bad...I've seen a million times worse...okay since you are curious on a scale of 1-10 I give the kisses a solid 6.

Now my major complaints
... from having a powerless villain...He was evil, but was really stupid in the long run...and to be honest, the actor was so good at playing such an evil character, I felt bad for him in this role.
...to having "so what" characters, like the prime minister, that really had no real role and took up too much screen time. And the little boy and his yo-yo, who should had more of a background to his story instead of a 5 second montage of nothing.

...I always give time travel and multiple universes a pass when story-telling because although it could be confusing and accepting things without question can be hard for some people...it all boils down to imagination.

So overall: I give this drama a solid 7, if you like your story tied up in a nice bow at the end...this may not be for you...you may be left scratching your head at the end, wondering...but, what about this??? What happened to this character???

Until my next review... I'll be watching another drama.

I'm out.

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Qui avrei tantissimo da dire. Innanzitutto c'è troppa carne sul fuoco: doppelganger, viaggi nel tempo e attraverso le dimensioni. Il tutto è stato trattato abbastanza male, soprattutto il fattore del doppelganger poiché ha introdotto tanti di quei personaggi secondari che ad un certo punto si è confusi da tutto questo marasma. Nella prima parte (più meno fino al decimo episodio) la storia prosegue abbastanza lenta e appunto, introduce tantissimi personaggi che poi non sono così tanto approfonditi da segnare la storia, quindi potevano anche non esistere. Dall'undicesimo episodio è tutto un colpi di scena a raffica, pianti, battaglie, viaggi avanti e indietro che sei lì lì che dici "aspetta un attimo, rallenta!!!" (≧▽≦)
La storia d'amore principale parte anch'essa lenta e vediamo soprattutto lei che non è minimamente attratta dal protagonista. Poi tutto cambia all'improvviso, di botto. Non c'è l'evoluzione della storia d'amore.
Detto ciò, è un drama da buttare?
Assolutamente no. Non mi ha fatto piangere ma cmq è stato un bel intrattenimento, volevo saperne sempre di più su questi mondi e su come sarebbe finito tutto. Non è il top del top come drama ma è veramente godibile, qualche emozione me l'ha fatta provare.

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Product Placement Show

When Netflix started promoted the Drama a month before on-air it normally to expect many things from them.
Especially, Male and Female leads are very famous among international fans.
After I watch first episode I still confused about the plot and theme of this drama but it's okay because it just started.
I try to give a chance many times but I cannot get along with it. Actually, the storyline was very strong but every scenes has so many PPL (for example, Bubble Tea, The Balm coming from nowhere, Kimchi, Lightening mask(?) etc..)
I known that this is Big Project and production team need a money for budget. BUT every scenes was TOO MUCH for me.
So I gave up to understand the drama and need to say goodbye to this show.
I hope the actors will choose another better project for them.

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Messy but enjoyable

It took me a while to get back to this series after watching the first episode. It failed to grab my attention so I moved on to other shows. I finally came back to it once I ran out of things to watch.

I did enjoy the show for the most part and the parallel universe concept, albeit clumsily done, was kinda cute. I thought most of the characters were done/acted fairly well except the king and the traitor. Both of them were wooden and emotionless throughout the show. I chalked it up as a character trait from being a part of the loyal family. I really loved the side characters, especially, the head court lady and the unbreakable sword/his other self. I loved their acting and roles they were given. Fantastic. I didn’t like the prime minister character. The acting didn’t seem genuine and she went from being ambitious to being evil big time fast. It’s one thing to play political games but conspiring with a traitor and letting her friends get killed…. Hmmm…. As for Tae Eul, her character development went from a strong female cop to a cry baby girlfriend. Hmmm….

I read a lot of complaints about the king being a super human, kingdom of corea being a super power and the lack of solid foundation for time travel/parallel universe concept. I do agree with most of what I read but it didn’t bother me much since this is a K-drama and they tend to dial things way up to the unrealistic realm. But once they introduce the time travel element, things started to get real messy fast. The show was already confusing because of the chaotic nature of the way they edited scenes from different universe. It was hard to follow along with how the king was able to travel in time and impart different memories to people without changing anything? If I learned anything from all those Marvel movies is that you can’t change the past because it’ll birth another timeline. 😂😂😂 And the Kingdom of Corea smacking Japanese navy around. 😆😆😆 It’s a wet dream for Koreans. I’m Korean and I found it stupid.

And the ending!!! The way everything and everyone was changed except the king, unbreakable sword and Tae Eul… pretty unbelievable but I guess I saw it coming. But how the writer chose to make sure everything turned out well except for the traitor and the prime minister… I feel like it was a cop-out which led to the absolute worst case scenario for the main characters. A long distance parallel universe relationship? What? This just doesn’t make sense in so many ways but that’s what happens when the writer doesn’t have a clear vision. I think she should’ve been more bold and given herself permission to not give every single person the “best ending”. Sigh…

I think the writer got drunk on her own past successes and figured that she could write anything and people will watch it. The word “Indulgence” comes to mind. After all, this series seemed to have a huge production budget and a stellar cast. I do remember Mr. Sunshine, one of her other works, getting real messy toward the end so I’m thinking the writer knows how to start good story threads but doesn’t know how to wrap them up. I see this in a lot of other K-dramas, too.

I’m hoping Netflix will start carrying Goblin. We shall see.

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Had great potential that wasn't met

When I first started watching The King: Eternal Monach I was very excited. There was an interesting plot revolving around 2 parallel universes; one pretty much like modern Korea and the other one based in modern Korea if they had kept their kingdom. The cinematography was top notch and there was also the very handsome Lee Minho and his handsome white horse. I thought it was going to be a ripper of a drama but a convoluted storyline really ruined The King: Eternal Monach.

Things i didn't like was that the once awsome kick ass cop FL ended up being a damsel in distress, the product placement was too much (in fact that's what this movie is best known for) and the series went longer than it should have. My Dad who never watched Kdramas started watching the King Eternal Monach because he really liked the sound of the storyline and the parallel universes but he gave up after 4 episodes.

I remember I liked the soundtrack.

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