Whether or not u will like this drama depends on how well you can handle a slow romance. The romance is slow but its a teasing type of slow like any other love after marriage dramas.
The Sword and The Brocade is a well produced period drama. The story is well written and sweetly manage to balance reality with fiction.
The fact that having several concubines, the harsh reality of a concubine's and legitimate daughter issues, all portrayed in a logical aspect and amidst all that is our heroine trying to overcome one challenge after another while trying to survive in a family with a trillion rules.
With a supportive husband who trusts her implicitly, the two make and unbeatable team against their adversaries.

This drama made me realize that Seven Tan is a queen of chemistry!

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Although it's already the 15 episode, I'm not even excited about what will happen in the final episode.
It's watchable but I wouldn't recommend this as a must-watch.
If you have nothing to do and still want to watch a decent drama with good acting and good quality then this is the one for you.
The drama is basically about exorcism mixed with a mystery involving 2 generations. Just consider this as the introductory guide to exorcism and ghosts. (lol) anywho this is predictable but still watchable.
I only watched this drama because of actress Jang Na Ra. ( this is better than her previous drama oh my baby )

EDIT
finished watching the final episode...

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Unique

This drama is definitely one of a kind and in a different league than other dramas. The bizarre story, along with good directing and synchronized acting, gives this drama a different vibe from the usual Korean dramas I've watched. The main key point while watching this is don't try to use a lot of brain cells to understand it and just enjoy whatever the drama throws at you.

To summarize the story, it's about a woman who is close to a Radical feminist who looks down on men and a guy who has trust issues with women and looks down on women. Circumstances led each other to fake-date each other, and they agreed despite their contradicting feeling for the opposite sex. Both of them aim to make the other person fall in love and later break their hearts. Little did they know that things won't go as they planned. Little by little they end up understanding each other and get rid of their prejudice against the opposite sex and learn to respect each other. Eventually, they end up facing hardships together as a beautiful couple. The story is laced with many misunderstandings. The way that the actors portrayed their characters was truly very refreshing. The leads are strongly supported by the second lead who also did an amazing job.

The female lead's feminist ideas can be very extreme at times to a point that she is paranoid but her mindset is created after growing up under a very sexist father and seeing her mother greatly wronged by his sexist ideas.

The male lead's revulsion towards women stems from an unsuccessful relationship.

The OST is good, the vibe is good and I binge-watched it through the night. A beautiful story (although unrealistic) and enjoyable. Def worth my time.

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Took me to a whole new dimension for a brief 6 episodes.

The plot is brief, concise and presents the main points of the story in 6 short episodes. There were no unnecessary plots, it portrayed, the cause, the effect and the final result in the most straightforward manner.
I saw some people say the lack of emotions of the characters was a drawback but I think the characters were just perfect. Given their situation in a post-apocalyptic world, if they start crying and bawling at the deaths surrounding them, then that's when they will go out of character. They weren't inhuman, they were just surviving, and no matter what they needed to go ahead with their lives.

I like this fresh idea for a post-apocalyptic drama and a nice change of scenery. The cast was perfect and yes Kim Woo Bin nailed it!

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*All in all, was the story successful??* Ummm.... nop.

*First of all, does it need 18 episodes?* Not really. They could have told the story in waaay less episodes than that.

*Police vs shaman? was the synergy successful??* Again not really. It was already hard to find a midpoint in the harmony between police and shaman to catch criminals and the shaman here is really just a profiler and a hacker.

*Is comedy successful?* tbh Seo In Guk did an amazing job of trying to bring out the humour within his characters and maybe the shaman team did a good job but the police team failed miserably and so when taking the entire story the comedy fell short.

*Characters?* again Seo In Guk did the best out of his characters, but the female lead failed miserably. or maybe her character was really annoying in the first place. Han Jae Hee is a self-opinionated woman, who just believes what she wants to believe. And she is caught up in her own guilt for her brother's death, which also was a result of her own bullheaded personality. And she always screws up Nam Han Joon undercover projects.
The first few episodes are like Nam Han Joon goes undercover --> Han Jae Hee discovers him -->Han Jae Hee screams Nam Han Joon name as loudly as she can --> The bad guys discover that something is fishy --> Han Jae Hee ends up revealing herself as an undercover cop while also exposing Nam Han Joon.
This was soo annoying tbh.

*All in all, was the story successful??* Ummm.... nop. This is sad for me to say really, cuz I'm a huge fan of Seo In Guk and I just feel sad that he choose a project like this. I know he did his best, but the overall story was a failure.

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This is summary of what happens after the drama according to the novel. ( season 2 of the novel.)

This is not a review for this drama but a summary of what happens after the drama according to the novel. ( season 2 of the novel.) After the cliffhanger ending I badly wanted to know what happened after the frozen lake so I look the luxury of reading
the novel and just noted down the important parts of the story. The novel never mentions any jianghu related stuff unlike in the drama.

After the frozen lake incident Chu Qiao is saved by Yan Xun but she cut ties with him. Yuwen Yue too survived the frozen lake incident and later become the King of Qinghai.
The real fall out between yan xun and chu xiao hapened when YX killed lady Yu and Master Wu and becomes a full out tyrant king. CQ's xiuli army and YX's imperial army engaged in battle and CQ leaves. She gets trapped between yanbei border and the wei borders and saved by Xiao Ce and Yuwen Yue.

Xiao ce now the emperor of Liang take CQ back to his kingdom. From there onwards CQ travels around the world.
During this time CQ meets YY and they professed their love to each other but soon parted promising to meet each other again.

Years later CQ comes back to Liang after XC managed to defect a coup against his reign. But soon after XC is assassinated and Liang state falls into chaos. ( XC dies in the arms of CQ and entrust the state in her hands before his death ). CQ saves both Liang state and XC's 2 sons and help stabilize the Liang state under the rule of XC's son.

After that CQ and YY gets married. (XC had already prepared a dowry for CQ way before his death ) .Soon after that Wei emperor dies and Wei empire falls into its chaos. Taking this opportunity YX attacks Wei and captures it. This is the start of Empire of Yan Bei. The Wei emperor's son Yuan Che establishes a new Wei state in the norther regions.

CQ and YY now has 2 sons and 1 daughters. ( they are such a lovey dovey couple.)

Finally Yan Bei, Wei , Liang and Qinghai is faced with a common enemy and so all the 4 states joined forces under the one leadership of CQ and defeated the barbarians. Later the 4 states entered into a peace treaty and everyone lived happily ever after. Oh and Qinghai become the Qing empire with YY as it's emperor and CQ as the queen.

(YX love for CQ never dies but he choose to be the a**hole he is ).

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Chaotic yet heartwarming story

The story of a small town called Samdal-ri where there are no secrets lol. Cho Sam Dal, the only successful Samdal ri native to make it big on the mainland comes back after a setback. What met her was her chaotic town people who welcomed her with open arms and warmed her already cold heart. Although being the gossipy town people they were, they protected their own. Although the story rotates around the Samdal-ri star cross lovers Cho Sam Dal and Cho Yong Pil, it also peeks into the beautiful lives behind the other town forks, their pain their love and their ordinary lives.
The entire 16 episodes don't let you get bored telling the story of their boring lives and instead make you laugh smile and sometimes even cry.
An absolutely beautiful story brought to us by an amazing cast, director, producers and writers.

And I personally feel that Ji Chang Wook finally found his perfect role after many long years. And Shin Hye Sun worked her charm into her character. Ji Chang Wook, Shin Hye Sun created the perfect chemistry between Cho Yong Pil and Cho Sam Dal. The Five Powers Rangers, the Haenyeos, the weather forecasters, and the entire Samldari town created a heartwarming yet chaotic story of Welcome to Samdalri.

The OST --> loved it!

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Came for Kim Soo Hyun stayed for Kim Soo Hyun

This is the perfect example of how a mediocre plot/story/screenwriting can become a masterpiece with the right cast.
Queen of Tears is your average storyline, more like the stories of the 2010s, revolving around the traditional plot lines of, a rich girl and poor boy, terminal illness following the ML and FL rekindling their lost love, finding a miraculous cure and finally a happily ever after. Add to that there is the typical villain who is manipulative and makes your teeth itch wanting to beat them to death.

There was character and story development, but in the end, it all was just average. But oh BOY!! didn't the cast do a brilliant job?? Like every actor /actress was amazing, taking out their full potential to bring out the oh-so-average characters. If this drama was acted out by anyone else, it would not have been as successful, so kudos to the cast. It was a Brilliant performance.

This is one of that rare moments where I came for the actors and stayed for them cuz the plot did not engage me as I was hoping it would be.

This 8/10 from me is entirely for the cast and none for the plot/screenwriter.

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Worth your time

It's already a known fact that after the epic success of "The world of the Married" there has been a sharp increase in similar dramas. But for me, this is so far the BEST of them. Like really something good to watch after so long. The story is intriguing, the villain is extremely hateful, and the love story is sweet. I think the main leads manage to bring out the emotions of their characters in a profound way that you can't help loving their respective characters. This is one of those good, handsome, capable CEO who is not a jerk falling in love with the poor mary-sue character. This story is not too dark or not too light and at the same time despite making you want to strangle the villain, they still give you a few sugar scenes in between.

I would recommend anyone to watch this drama cuz this is definitely worth your time.

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The entire story in a nutshell -->

A genius mathematician high school student is suffering from psychological trauma after the passing of his roommate. Not knowing that he is suffering his parents keep pressuring him to study harder. At this point, he meets a teacher, who recognizes both his talent and his pain and gently guides him to overcome his trauma and helps him find a newfound love for maths. Unbeknown to the teacher, the kid starts to slowly fall in love with his teacher. But good times don't last long when both teacher and student get dragged into a power struggle with the Schools's top student, her father, and the High school principal. The young maths teacher, on discovering all the underhand schemes behind the glorious Math Olympic Programme organized by the school, fervently fought for justice on behalf of the genius kid. She won but she also lost. Because in retaliation the evil high school principal destroyed her marriage and her life.


3 years later they meet again, the genius kid is now a famous mathematician. Both of them looked like they moved on from the past injustice done to them. But only they themselves knew, how long they've been waiting to get their revenge and to prove their innocence. Once again the teacher-student duo forms a team to reveal all the corruption behind the High School administration. In the process, the teacher also falls in love with the now grown and mature ex-student. Finally, they succeeded and got the justice they deserved, and proved their innocence.

The first 5- 6 episodes were rather slow, but the story picked up after the 3-year gap. The maths parts were hard to understand and you can only stare with your mouth open when they start talking about theorems.

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Slow torture

14 episodes spanning over 3 months. This drama was a slow torture not because I have to wait every week for one episode, but because this boring story never seems to end.

The story, mind you was intriguing but yet again, the cast delivered it in a way that got me dozing while watching. It makes me very sad to say, that the only contribution Cha Eun Woo managed to throw in, was his dazzling handsome face, his acting has a waaay further to go. Fighting! Cha Eun Woo! You got this!

But yeah, how can they make an interesting story boring is waaaaaay beyond me, but as a person who watched it just to see the ending I was just disappointed. They should have just broadcasted it and got it done with instead of dragging it over for months without any real gain.

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Unsatisfactory HE?

The beginning of the story is super interesting, and I loved every minute of it.
13 years after the palace coup where the son of the crown prince ran away, 3 guys appeared in a guest house. One of them is the Crown Prince's son, Lee Seol, one is his hidden guard, the Watchman and the other is the mysterious guy who later turns out to be Lee Seol's half-brother.

But I should say, the ending wasn't satisfying, it was a HE but I feel like Kang San and Yoo Ha didn't get the ending they deserve.

I really feel bad for both Kang San and Yoo Ha. In the end, Kang San has to give up his real name and Yu Ha has to live in a fake name. It wasn't the most satisfactory ending. And I don't feel satisfied with Yu Ha becoming the king, because I don't see the leader within him. To this whole taking the throne fiasco his contribution cannot even be compared to how much Kang san and the rest have done. He didn't even create the Mokinhoe anti-monarchy organization, he was just an unpopular transcriber in it and wasn't even leading the others. He has been so laid back in everything, and when he gathered people under the name Lee Seol in Mokinhoe, it was not even his idea, he was going along with the people around him. None of his decision was barely from him. While Kang san tried to gather his own people, create a coup on his own, tried his best to enter the palace and become a royal guard, He did everything in his power to get back the throne while Yu Ha was just walking in the path that other's created for him. This was why it disappointed me when he took the throne in the name of Lee Seol. The only brave thing he did in this entire time was to hold out the royal guards from going after Kang San, dan oh and the others when their identities got exposed in the end. Even then, he was waiting for Kang San to save his sorry ass.
And even at the very end, Kang San has to leave so as not to make himself suspicious, like how can this be a satisfying ending? At least Kang San cud have taken the throne and abdicated it to Yoo Ha legitimately.

Also, I do remember in a previous episode when Dan Oh met that servant of the previous Grand Prince, he told that there was a woman who was pretty close to the Grand Prince, who turn out to be Hwa Ryeong. But then Hwa Ryeong gave birth to the Crown Prince's kid. So does that mean the Crown Prince slept with his brother's woman??!! AND Lee Gyeom and Lee Seol are the same age, so does that mean the crown prince went sleeping around with women and doesn't even know when he got her pregnant and after he finds out, he hides the kid and doesn't give a damn for the outside woman?? Even if it was troubled times like wtf, I'm questioning Lee Seols's dad of all the characters in this story. *facepalm*

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As expected from a drama starring Cho Seung Woo

As expected from a drama starring Cho Seung Woo, this drama will never disappoint you. And the main fact that blew my mind away was the cameos in it. idk if all the veteran actors just decided that this was the drama of the year, but almost all the cameos are by veteran actors and there's hardly any new face in this drama.

The story itself is wholesome and melts your heart in so many ways. The target age group is mostly middle age but I think it's a nice to watch drama for young adults as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, to the point where 12 episodes seems very little to me and I was at a loss after every episode, cuz I was so deeply into it.

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The story is solid with a gripping storyline

The story built was excellent with incredible momentum.

The story starts with a poor guy after getting killed by the owners of the Sunyang Group that he worked for, waking up as a rich grandson of a chaebol family some 30+ years into the past. From there on, with his identity as the rich grandson Jin Do Jun, he starts a mission to buy the said Sunyang Group which led to his demise in his previous life. The next 15 episodes tell the story of JDJ and how he works hard to create his own company while fighting his uncles and cousins and at the same time going against his very powerful grandfather and the owner of Sunyang Group. The fight was hard but it was worth it. He used every cell and energy in his body to achieve his target. 10+ years after his rebirth he did manage to achieve his dream, that is to acquire Sunyang Group and thereby almost came close to achieving his ultimate goal, removing the management succession policy in the group. Every minute of watching his struggle for the goal was worth watching. From how he juggled his money and how he manipulated everyone around him with his knowledge of the future. Those moments were exciting and exhilarating.

BUT, the catch comes in the final episode. And I felt like the building blocks gradually collapsed each minute of the final episode. Because in the end, all those exhilarating moments I've been watching for the past 15 episodes over 2-3 weeks, ended up in the deep sea without even making a 'plop' sound. All those moments JDJ spent his very cell and energy on building, collapsed in a moment of his death and our protagonist gets transported back to square one, the poor guy version. But the main reason for my disappointment is that all the emotions that I spent on this drama added up to a futile finale. JDJ/YHW managed to achieve his ultimate goal of removing the management succession policy in the group, but he was left with nothing in the end. He won, but his effort rendered no reward and nobody understood his commitment.

This is a star-studded drama and the cast duly created a perfect performance. The story is solid with a gripping storyline, but there is one downside and that is the timeline. If one doesn't focus properly on the timeline, then one will at one point lose themselves in the plot. Because at some points there are time skips from months to years and even decades, and only by keeping up with the story can one keep up with the timeline as well.

Although there are too many characters in the story, for this drama I didn't see it as a downside. Because all these characters had their own separate roles, it was easy to keep up with the story without being confused.

And last, of all, there was a brief love story but that too ended up in the deep sea without even making a splash.

I really don't want to judge all of the other 15 episodes, just for the one final episode, but in the end, I just can't help not doing it.

P.S. - The OST is SUPER awesome. I'm listening to them on repeat.

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