and when I tell you this is the kdrama I loved the most in 2023...then WHAT

This is the perfect rom-com to watch if you need a couple of hours of relaxing and happy times.

Let's start with the main couple: in my opinion Lee Jun Ho and Im Yoon Ah have a beautiful chemistry and they worked really well together, they really looked like a strong and beautiful couple.
Gu Won is such a precious guy I wish I could put him in my pocket. I love that's he's not the usual kdrama chaebol who starts off as a tsundere and doesn't start to change until halfway through the series, he's actually an adorable dork from the start, and he's such a pushover for Sa-rang it's actually so sweet how he would do literally anything for her and to win her heart. And he's such a nice guy to anyone in the end, I mean the guy took under his wing mr. No because he wanted to help him during his first day of work and Gu Won actually acted out of his promise to make him his assistant, and then they became best friends! I love the relationship they have.

I feel like Sa-rang is a bit more stereotyped to other general female leads in dramas, what with her being a strong independent woman who doesn't fall at the man's feet after two seconds but, she's also super kind and caring which I appreciated.

But to me, what really makes it in this drama are the side characters. I must admit that I often struggle to enjoy secondary characters and other couples, I often find them annoying and irritating, especially some of the FLs' friends, but I am so glad it was not the case here. Pyung-hwa and Da-eul are such supportive friends, and they're so funny too! Ro-Wun is literally like a prince, and No Sang-Sik was a pleasant surprise too. I love the little group they formed as the "six siblings", I really enjoyed their scenes together.

I noticed this drama has A LOT of negative reviews, especially regarding Gu Won and how he doesn't do anything except courting Sa-rang and how he doesn't care about his position in the hotel and I'm so confused??? Did you not watch all the scenes where he actually goes out of his way to get to know his employees and their wishes, continuosly pushing the hotel council members to do better and appreciate their employees more?

In conclusion:
Is this drama full of chichés? Yes
Is this drama pretty much void of angsty and super dramatic moments? Yeah, kinda
Is that a crime? No. Sometimes, you just need something romantic and funny without any excessive tragedies, and that's okay. If you enjoy lighthearted stories that make you laugh and warm you heart with their simplicity, King the Land is the drama for you.

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worth watching just because of Seo Kang Joon

this drama was a mental rollercoaster for me, it started with all the best intentions and ended up with me wanting to rage quit watching it.

the first part of the drama is super interesting, it was entertaining and fascinating watching robot Nam Shin training and trying to act like his human counterpart; Seo Kang Joon is absolutely brilliant in this! He does an amazing job at managing the microexpressions and body language that distinguish human Nam Shin with robot Nam Shin.

i'm just sorry that after a while the drama became so boring, focusing only on who does what to get the company (from little jokes to literal murder???), with a side of human Nam Shin being an assh*le towards everyone, especially that poor robot. I mean, I guess it's understandable to be shocked and upset if you wake up from a coma and find that a robot copy of yourself has replaced you, but there's a limit to everything.

Kang So Bong has got to be one of the WORST female leads I've ever encountered. She starts as an opportunist double agent, and although she changes throughout the story and sides with the good guys (except that disgusting journalist friend of hers, who is there just to expose people's secrets and ruin lives), she is so annoying and SELFISH all the time. I'm sorry, who decided you were the only one who got to have Nam Shin 3 all to yourself and stop him? She keeps telling him he has to fight for his freedom and then tries to stop him every time he tries to do things out of his mind.

I'm not even going to mention the ending which was super fast and left me with lots of questions, but honestly I was just glad it was over, I just think it's too lazy to do a "one year later" time skip and assume that everyone is living happily ever after.

In conclusion, if you watch it, watch it for Seo Kang Joon and his amazing acting, because you're going to want to slap in the face pretty much everyone else on this series.

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So much wasted potential :/

if I could describe this drama in two words they would be exactly these: wasted potential. With a cast like that, the writing was so bad it was almost a shame to watch.

The premises were good, I liked the concept of the show but the more I watched it, the more I realized it was just going to fall victim of bad and naive writing.

The first episodes were...okay. I honestly loved the series more when it focused on the patients' story and how they got at that point in their life to end up in a mental hospital. But I got the feeling they tended to heal too fast; all the doctors kept saying "just take your meds and you'll get out of here" uhm that's not how it works??? And in fact most of the patients we see get discharge, came back after a while because they were not healed and they were not ready to be in the outside world.
A perfect (and sad) example of this was the story of Kim Seo-wan. Nobody listened to him, let alone our super empathic female lead, and he eventually took his life.

After Kim Seo-wan died, the show went completely to shit. (Good, because he was my favorite, and he didn't deserve to die just to create a shock value to Jung Da-eun). I get that they were trying to show how depression can hit anyone, and it's true, but to me this storyline felt really forced and exagerated, it was really boring to watch and I just wanted to slap Da-eun, she was really immature and selfish.

The "main" couple (if we could call it like that since they have like three scenes together where they're being somewhat romantic to each other) was honestly unnecessary, he was so fixated on her to the point of being almost creepy at times, while she didn't seem into it at all LOL.
The second couple was... okay. They didn't make me feel anything in particular, it's the typical rich boy/poor girl trope with the bonus that he's completely bland as a character (as in, we don't know anything about his background or his family etc.) while she suddenly decides she doesn't want to be a nurse anymore because she wants to go sing and dance on a cruise??? That made me laugh so much, the writers really pulled that out of their asses LMAO

Also, this drama was all over the place in terms of genres! You go from cringe (supposedly hilarious) scene with hemorroids to a pinch of romance just to pass to a list of suicide attempts as if you were going through a grocery list.

I think that if it focused every episode on a patient and their disorders, explaining all the peculiarities of their illness and how to get better, it would've been such a good heartwarming (and hearbreaking) show! But alas, it ended up being over simplistic and boring. Too bad because it truly had a fantastic cast.

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A great summer comfort :)

I was a in a k-drama withdrawal for months so I needed something to take me back, and a comfort drama set in a cozy village with local best boy Ji Chang Wook? I was SAT.

I'm not the biggest fan of the trope "childhood friends to lovers" BUT I think it's done quite well here, I find it really interesting how close their moms were and how Yong-Pil and Sam-Dal were born on the same day and basically grew up attached to the hip.
Sam-Dal and Yong-Pil have a really cute relationship, they know each other well but can also be completely oblivious about some things. I know the "strong independent woman who needs no one" trope is a must in these kdramas, but sometimes it really felt like Yong-Pil was much more into in than Sam-Dal , or at least I got that impression; at the very first hiccup she was ready to hit him and run away, while he fought and chased her over and over.

In general I would've liked to see Sam-Dal stand up more for herself, especially with the scandal with her assistant. That woman stole your boyfriend, your projects, your career and your reputation from you, you have the evidence to prove she's lying and you just do nothing? Come on!! I get that Sam-Dal didn't want to go through the revenge route (plus it's difficult to deal with the media in these situations) but anytime someone insulted her it was always her family or her close friends defending her, and it's also thanks to them that in the end the assistant got what she deserved. In that regard, she didn't grow at all.

What I really loved about this is the people. I love love LOVE the relationships in this drama, the sisters are really close and always 100% supportive of each other, and the Power Rangers?? I wish I had a group of friends like that.

The side characters are also super interesting and I actually enjoyed all their storylines and adventures. Jin-Dal was definitely my favourite, but Hae-dal and Hae-yul are adorable together and their newfound dolphin dad was very sweet!

Honestly, the only exception is Yongpil's dad, oh how I hated that man. I'm sorry, you can be in all the pain of the world and that still doesn't give you the right to treat your own son like shit , his girlfriend or Ko MI-Ja's family. I can understand not wanting to interact with them and blaming them, but come on, he threw away anything Ko MI-Ja cooked him and SPAT in front of her? that's disgusting and rude. I don't even care he got a redempion arc in the last two episodes, it was WAY TOO sudden and honestly felt a little fake but, oh well.

To wrap this up, I want to say I really liked this drama. It was genuinely funny and made me laught a lot in some parts, but it also made me cry a lot, especially in some stories like the story of the two Mi-jas or the final exhibition. All the townies are super funny and sweet and they really help you get into the story

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what can I say except: I. LOVE. THIS.

I started watching this drama with no expectations at all and I ended up finding a gem!

I absolutely love this, there's nothing more I love in this world than a good "enemies to lovers" story, it's my favorite trope and it's perfectly executed here! Lee Sung Kyung and Kim Young Dae have an AMAZING chemistry, it was awesome to watch them, they were cute, funny, romantic and adorable.

I'm not kidding when I say this has become one of my favorite dramas now. It has a good balance of dramatic, sad but also silly and funny moments, it made me laugh and smile a lot. Oh Han Byul and Gong Tae-song have become one of my favorite couples ever, they're so in love!!! I love how much they know each other, and how deeply they care about each other, especially when they weren't together yet and was still supposed to be in their hate/fighting phase.

The second couple was,,, okay. Not my favorite but what can you do.
What really shines (to me) is the couple formed between the attorney Do Soo-Hyuk and journalist Jo Ki Peum. They are both two amazing characters and I love that they end up together, I didn't see that coming! I was a little scared after Soo-Hyuk got rejected by Han Byeol that he would be cast aside or disappear but instead I love him with journalist Jo, they were super sweet and funny together, honestly I wish they had more screen time.
We have a lot of couples in this dramas (all of them very cute) but lastly I want to talk about the youngsters! They were unbelievably funny, I can't believe those two started hating each other and literally pulling their hair out and at the end they're the only one who [SPOILER!!!!] get married and have a baby lol they were super funny and refreshing to watch, especially the interactions between their managers, those were some of my favorite moments.

WHAT I DIDN'T PARTICULARLY LIKE:

This drama only has two super "dramatic" archs, one with the young anti-fan and one with the creepy housekeeper, and both felt a little rushed in their solution. The stalkerish housekeeper storyline was a bit weird to begin with, and with all the big deal she made of giving him trauma and "something to remember her by", she was quickly forgotten and never really dealt with, like she just disappeared and walked away like that?? okay. ..
At least the anti-fan faced a lawsuit, and I know he was like "do you need a reason to hate a celebrity?" well, yes?? he made such a big deal of hating Tae-song because of what happened with Lee Yoon Woo, I thought he would be at least a friend or a brother of Lee Yoon Woo but no.
Same thing with Lee Yoon Woo ex's manager, that sh*t was wild. Man kept sending ominous messages to Tae-song for years and when he was confronted he was just like "you know what? yeah I guess... goodbye i shall never be seen again"

like, for a kdrama most of the dramas are solved pretty quickly but whatever lol

ANYWAY, the cast in this is absolutely amazing, I think they did a wonderful job. Like I was saying earlier, Lee Sung Kyung and Kim Young Dae have great chemistry, but I really enjoyed every characters and relationship, like the bromance between Tae-song and Do Soo-Hyuk or Tae-song and his manager Byun Jung Yeol, as well as the agency's boss or Han Byul's team colleagues gossiping about her love story behind her back. lol

All in all, it was a more than enjoyable and adorable drama, you should definitely give it a try!!

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