Nothing special, but - HaNee!

Lee HaNee is always worth watching. She's clever, funny, and creates delightful characters. The drama itself is nothing special, but it's a pleasant thing to watch. Kim Won-Hae is another actor who can always be depended on for a great performance, here an increasingly demented prosecutor. I have a particular affection for Kim Chang-Won because in addition to being a good actor, he's a great classic rock guitarist. If you like rock, look for him! There are a couple of other standout actors in smaller roles. Jin Seo-Yeon is marvelously evil, but she handles the pre-evil bits well and you feel sorry for her - she was made evil and didn't start out that way. A nice performance. The cast is well worth the trip here, and even th eplot has a twist or two I didn't see coming. The gangsters are delightful - as gangster cooks should be.
I enjoyed it, likely you will too.

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Enjoyable if you have the right attitude

It's a mistake to take a supernatural saeguk too seriously. Parts of this were so hyper that it was quite funny. I kept wondering what the Ha Ram script looked like as he turned into various manifestations of the demon - what are the stage directions like? The changes certainly kept the makeup people busy. And how many times did Painter Hong say abeoji in this drama? Good grief. I'm very fussy about CG, and all the CG effects were well done.
This is possibly the most over the top historical I've ever seen, to the point that it became absurd. But it still provided pretty good entertainment. The cast did a great job, the writing wasn't annoying, it was a little over-long but not horribly, and even the music did not offend. It was fun to watch, and you could spend your time in a worse way - like watching Squid Game.

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Best sageuk in a while

Sageuks tend to be polarizing. there's a group of people who love them all, and another group who don't like them at all. I've found the quality to be variable - some are engaging, some are deadly dull (I hated History class when I was a student). If you are new to the genre, this is en excellent introduction: https://koreanhistoricaldramas.com/introduction-to-sageuks/ They come in all degrees of historical accuracy, and there's the occasional fiasco like Joseon Exorcist .

This was quite a nice thing to watch. It could have been a couple of episodes shorter, but it wasn't as draggy as some get. The acting was superb throughout - what a wonderful cast! Historically, it did not offend, although I'm no Korean historian. It suffered from the common problem of the impeccably tailored Joseon era, where everyone has manicures, flawless teeth, and new clothes. Pretty much no one dresses in rags. The only K-drama I have ever seen that was believable in this area was Chuno, where the teeth on the bandits were awful. It's amusing that modern dentistry looks so phony in a historical drama. And no matter what was happening - fights, being driven from their homes, etc, - their clothes never get dirty or torn.

I don't see any point in re-hashing the story - that's easily available everywhere. I just want to say I loved the excellent cast and fine acting. It was well-written, and the music was good, although it's seems that only the k-pop sounding songs make it to release. The closing songs in Ep. 18 and 20 were lovely in a more traditional sound, but they don't seem to be released. If you like historicals, this is a nice one.

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Mildly entertaining

This movie contains some of the worst animatronics I have seen in 15 years. If you can get past that, it's a slightly entertaining "family" movie. Of course, anything with Lee Sung Min in it is bound to have some redeeming features, and this is him doing his hammy overacting shtick, which is pretty funny. Bae Jung Nam was a nice surprise and handled a ridiculous part with - well, you can't call anything that silly "with aplomb" but he was quite excellent. I'm pretty sure David McInnis is actually a terrible actor, either that or he's always directed badly. He wasn't any fun to watch. Sinvely Whiplash would have been more nuanced.
The music was irritatingly loud. I often had to turn down the volume and then crank it back up when there was talking.
If you are not expecting much, this is a nice movie you can watch with kids who speak Korean or who can read subtitles fast. There's some comic violence.

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I try not to write reviews of dramas I haven't finished, but this one needs a comment. I bailed out in the middle of episode 4, because I couldn't watch another minute of the stereotypical uptight emotionless CEO and the goodhearted but clumsy, always needing to be rescued woman who works for him. Haven't we seen these two in numerous dramas before? Sung Hoon might be able to act, but you can't tell from this, with only a couple of programmed expressions to choose from. The whole thing was vacuous and shallow. I'm sorry, because I have many friends working in the game industry, and this certainly didn't mirror anything about that work experience. Waste of time; you might as well go and cut your toenails - more entertainment value.

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Too Overhyped

There are a few long reviews by people that didn't like this drama, so I won't bother. But the FL is so annoying - her voice grates and the unsuccessful attempt to be cute just feels like wading in saccharine. I really can't stand another episode - I'm surprised I made it through 3.

There doesn't seem to be any real substance, although dropping after 3 episodes means that things might have gotten better. But when I'm watching K-Dramas, I want the characters to be interesting and have some depth. Would I invite them to a party at my house? Would I enjoy sitting next to them on a long plane ride? And the answer is no, not these characters.

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This moves at a glacial pace, interspersed with more flashbacks than you can imagine. It seems that the writer felt that we needed to see every scene at least twice to get the ideas. After 4 episodes, I felt bored by these slow moving, over-thinking and indecisive people and didn't really want to see any more. The sub-plot with the little boy was more engaging than the romance;I'm sorry I don't have the patience with the main story to follow through to see what happens there. Perhaps this slow, turgid pace was intended to be artsy. but it simply made me annoyed. Not for me, but YMMV.

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There is no here here.

Remember Gertrude Stein's line "There is no there there?" Well in this drama, there is no discernible here - or there - anywhere. Not much happens. There is a fair bit of heavy emoting from time to time, but even the emotional content seems vague and insipid. I have rarely been so bored by a K-drama. It re-defines vapid. I'm having a terrible time even finding the500 words needed before a review can be published. Basically - skip this, there is not content, the direction is turgid, and nothing the actors did could have saved it. There is nothing to see here, folks - move along.

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Not worth the time for me

I am probably the wrong person to review this, because I dislike revenge dramas. There is enough pettiness and misery in a normal life to make it unnecessary to add to it, even in the shows we choose to watch. Overall, I found this to be mean spirited and rather unpleasant. People brought their wishes to the diner and usually had to pay some unpleasant price, which just seemed unnecessary. If you have powers like that, why extract a painful price from people who are just trying to make their lives a little better? This thread of unkindness held to the end, and there was really nothing redeeming about it.
For what it is, it's reasonably well done although the writing was unoriginal. If it hadn't ended after 8 episodes, i would have dropped it after 5 or 6, because I don't need to add misery to my days. YMMV, depending on your taste for revenge and pettiness.

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I adore Shin Sung Rok, so anything with him is a must-watch for me. His first love in acting is musical theater, which calls for a more dramatic style than TV, so you can expect that anything he's in will be slightly - or a lot - over-the-top. In this, he crafts a conflicted character who is evil, loving, tortured and a victim as much as an evil-doer. If you are watching this because you want a fluffy romance, you're in the wrong drama.
I don't understand people who complain that some scenes are unrealistic. It's modern Korea with an Imperial family - you are looking for realism? Don't be silly. It's a fantasy and a melodrama. Keep your expectations within the parameters that the author has set, and you'll be fine. If you hate makjang, look elsewhere.
The story is intricate, with the expected plots within plots. It's easy to lose track of all the women in the Emperor's life. But even if you miss some threads, it clips along at a good rate and doesn't drag things out unduly. Typical palace intrigue.
The cast is outstanding. Jang Na Ra is a perfect counterpart to the Emperor, with humor, ethics and strength to spare. I don't think there's a weak performance in the lot, and 7-year-old Oh Na Rin is a winner as the crown princess. If you're addicted to second lead syndrome, you will like Choi Jin Hyuk, although he wasn't my cup of tea. Shin Eun Kyung as the Dowager Empress gave a good performance as the stereotypical woman mad with power.
The music wasn't annoying, always a difficult thing to find in K-drama, and a lot of it was good. Instead of trying hard to create an OST soundtrack that will appeal to the K-Pop set, the music enhanced the drama and rarely called attention to itself, blending carefully into the fabric of the whole.
The ending was surprisingly satisfactory. I expected to be disappointed as the Emperor ended up being a horrible guy to the end, but there were great nuances to his development; it was a nice example of why I love Shin Sung Rok.
Overall, I enjoyed it immensely - it was pure entertainment, well crafted by all. If there was something this engaging every season, I'd be a happy K-drama addict!

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This took me by surprise. I didn't think it would hold my interest, partly because. although So Ji Sub is an excellent actor, he has never been a favorite of mine. But the combination of outstanding acting, excellent writing and spot-on direction turned this into an engaging story with characters it was easy to like and care about. There were ample laughs without it becoming a farce, and by the end of it I was eagerly anticipating each episode. It's a great balance of romance, espionage, humor and drama, And I can't say enough good things about the cast. Watch it of you want something that will not depress you and you will find yourself truly entertained.

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I really wanted to like this, because like so many people who have enjoyed KHJ's work in the past, I'd like to see him get his career back on track. But this won't help.

The story was confusing. I found myself losing track of what was going on over and over. There didn't seem to be a clear destination for the story. The acting was not outstanding. Let's face it, KHJ has never been the greatest actor but he puts his all into everything he does. He was served badly by this dull, emotionless character with none of the vigor KHJ usually brings to his performances. By the 7th episode, I found that I had almost given up on understanding where it was going, I skimmed through 9 and started 10 - and gave up at a scene with a lot of leaden people sitting around a bed having the dullest, most lifeless conversation imaginable. I didn't care about any of them.

I hope something better comes along for KHJ in the future. He deserves more than this limp story.

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