I’ve never hidden my affection for Kim Eun Sook‘s highly polarizing attempt at a Boys Before Flowers high school knock off with Heirs. It’s way more re-watchable than BOF even if male lead Lee Min Ho was at his best in his first star making drama. I love more Kim Eun Sook dramas than dislike if I’m keeping track and her current The King: Eternal Monarch is so disjointed and disengaged I cannot even connect it to her writing, honestly. Episode 4 stayed lower than the first two episode ratings during premiere week, taking in 8.0% and 9.7% with a slight increase from episode 3.
Narratively the only interesting thing to happen was King Lee Gon riding his Maximus back through the portal to pick up Jang Tae Eul and bring her back to his Kingdom universe. The problem is that no character connects with the viewer and especially not the leads. Lee Gon is like a royal mannequin walking around with no emotion even when he’s trying to be sincere, and Jang Tae Eul is annoy in her close-minded view until she’s suddenly 180 about turns and starts missing Lee Gon for no reason and goes along with him. Can someone help explain stuff to me, I watch and feel so…….perplexed as to what the entire drama wants to me feel and what I actually feel. Hint, it’s like parallel universes that don’t intersect.
Well I am loving this drama. I like the chemistry too. Waiting for next week.
Heirs was the worst drama i ever seen. There’s was no story,nothing happened ever.
The Ratings of the drama is quite good tho. I know Koala rushed on this but it’s generally a fallacy article report. It this drama is airing on Netflix South Korea and SBS the same day. There subscriber numbers in South korea is numerous. It makes a significiant diference.
It Drama is even in worse disadvantage than a CABLE Tv and can’t be judged on part of it’s ratings because it’s airing on 2 platforms in the same day. No other dramas have done this before maybe except Mr.Sunshine. It is something new that needs to be broought to attentiion
This pretty much. Not many people watch Television nowadays except the elderly. Being on 2 platforms on the same day takes the wind out of it. Can’t definitely not be judged on ratings
I think KES wanted to double time both with SBS and Netflix. Seems like she is the only one willing to take on the momentous task of airing concurrently on 2 platforms in the same day but others will follow suit.
For Cable Tv the ratings is considered half as success. Example if Cable TV have 5% is considered 10% but for concurrently airing tv-shows it should be even more signficiant imho. 5% should count for something like 15%. Ratio should be 1:3 not 1:2 like cable TV
This makes things more sense and fair for concurrently airing tv-shows in the future they will get a new fair criteria judge guidelines like CABLE TV’s do.
@Marissa
Yes. New criteria will be formed for these concurrently airing on the same day otherwise it would be silly using an outdated formula
Not a fan of this drama but What they could probably do is add it’s netflix numbers on top of it’s Nielsen numbers but that would not be practical. Netflix dosen’t release numbers. But yeah I reckon they can’t be judged on the Tv ratings as that would be out of question due to concurrently airing. I don’t understand why some Tv-shows would want to take the chellenge of airing concurrently dose KES thinks she is to powerful and can do it on 2 platforms in the same country?
CLOY, Itaewon Class, Hospital Playlist were also airing on both platforms and are cable dramas but still able to bring in 2 digits rating so to say that it’s a disadvantage for TKEM is not so true tbh. The real disadvantage for TKEM is airing close to TWOTM timeslot and it’s kind of a makjang drama that also on its climax so of course viewers will choose to drop one and choose the other
@ Pete
Netflix is streaming The King: Eternal Monarch ONLY outside of Korea, it’s region blocked for the South Korean Netflix subscriber they can only watch on SBS. That’s why both allowed it because it cannot cannibalize their own ratings and audience.
Ergo for The King there is no taking away viewers in South Korea so the domestic ratings are accurate as to the South Korean viewers who are interested as there is no alternative source to watch other than SBS.
https://media.netflix.com/en/press-releases/highly-anticipated-korean-drama-the-king-eternal-monarch-to-premiere-on-netflix-in-april
That article is outdated Koala it’s airing on the same day 1 hour apart
https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/the-king-eternal-monarch-season-1-netflix-k-drama-plot-cast-episode-release-schedule/
It’s still proof that it isn’t aired simultaneously. One hour is one hour. It didn’t affect dramas ic, cloy, or when camilla blooms ratings.
1 Hour has great effect and it’s basically concurrently airing on 2 platforms. 22:00 and 23:00. It dose have a massive effect. Considering the large subscriber base in that country
Crashing landing, itaeon class, and when Camilla blooms had high ratings on network and was also shown on Netflix on same day as well.
Why don’t we just focus on quality of drama instead of ratings? LOL
shows such as itaewon class, crash landing, and when Camilla bloom also was on Netflix on same day and still maintain high ratings.
Why not focus on what matters, the quality of show lol
@Laura the only Tv-show you mentioned is Itaewon class that aired on the same day with 4 hours difference the rest air 1 day later. Not much effect except IC. But airing 22-23 is basically concurrently airing and makes huge impact
Maybe? You might be right? Idk I honestly don’t know korean habits on watching dramas haha
You guys seem to have missed Okoala’s point about Netflix being region blocked for SK viewers for TKEM during its run. That means although the drama is broadcast on two platforms the SK viewers can only watch on ONE. The broadcast station makes money from advertisements during the run of a drama so it doesn’t make sense that it would allow a pay-to-view channel to eat up its viewership. If only someone here is from Korea to confirm if they cannot watch TKEM on Netflix. That would help clear up lots of fruitless debate on ratings here.
@Hye Mi.. Nothing is blocked it officially airs 1 hour apart. Alcois is telling the truth. 23.00 It’s on Netflix in Sk and 22.00 on SBS channel. One hour is nothing and won’t stop it’s viewership eating itself this was expected imo to happen otherwise they wouldn’t have experimented this
I am getting confused by the Netflix platform. Isn’t it exactly the same format as vagabond – SBS and Netflix. Some commented it was a flop, while others said it was doing well in Netflix. Whatever it is, VB did keep a low double-digit rating everytime it was aired (except once at 9.3). I am not comparing, what I meant is situation is exactly the same, Fri/Sat, Netflix with SBS …is isn’t something new and only happened to the king.
Why suddenly this discussion when Vagabond has exactly the same format (same time slot, SBS and Netflix, big budget) and it was deemed a flop even though it has a stable double digit rating rather than declining. This is not something new.
Lols, but 1 hour later.. but in one hour later, wasnt it the airing time for the world of the married???? I wonder if koreans love to do the multitasking.. lol
And, the king didnt even get trending, when we talk about popularity, no matter what platforms you use, it will get trending. But the king only got trending on ep 1.
Kes was popular as rating queen writer.. rating means a lot for tv and production team. Im currently watching born again, with low rating but very good story, plot, chemistry and acting. For those who love, rating isnt everything, but for the crew, rating means anything. This drama far from expectation. No matter how much you defend it. Still not a popular show. Why wait on netflix when you can watch on tv and you live in korea and you dont need sub etc. People’s logic duh.
@alCois, the article you posted just states it will be available on Netflix same day as Korean broadcast, it doesn’t say anywhere that it’s available to SK audience. Ratings is everything is Korea, so I don’t see why SBS will want to split the local viewership with Netflix. Plus the drama is getting only negative response from Korean audience, hence the low ratings.
@ *** exactly the one hour thingy was not mentioned. And as far as I know only the international audience gets to see the subbed version after one hour. So don’t know when it is aired originally in SK eventhough it is released on the same date..
@ yui
Yup let us assume it airs at 23:00.. So does it mean people will skip TKEM in SBS at 22:00 due to bad quality and wait for one hour to watch it on Netflix only to be clashed with A couple’s World.??.Now that is a joke. The interested people would definitely watch it on SBS cause who would want to miss A couple’s world.
@Yui @May @***
Trying to make an argument against this is counterproductive because as *** said he obviously thinks 1 hour dosent make huge difference but his extremely wrong. The traffic for the king on Netflix Sk is significiant as expected. Alot youths catch it there. As for trending it was trending #2 worldwide on twitter and on Weibo in china. It’s not exactly a small TV show both in viewership + trending both locally and Internationally. SBS had no other option than to share the viewership with Netflix in the local market they knew this on before hand. All other arguments is just running circles
True,probably since this is a weekends drama knetz prefer to watch it in paid tv which is netflix,why would I rush home to catch up, it will be available in netflix 30 mins later after the airing in free tv so it’s more convinient, this drama is currently dominating netflix in many countries and also in sk netflix itself, knowing netflix has a huge audience’s ww, the % in free tv is just a bonus, right now TKEM is no 19 spot in netflix around the world for 2020,ang its top 9 ww netflix for May 2020,this happen when a drama premiered in both paid and free tv
Above all this drama is very interesting mindful drama,why many are saying no chemistry for the leads, no conection of the story, lact of acting and may more complain, well don’t blame the drama, blame your poor brain, since this is a very intectual drama you need to focus in every detail in order for you to understand well, don’t just simply throw a negative comment
They are not gonna change the system in place just because it is a Lee Min Ho drama…..fact remains that a show on cable channel is getting 22.9% which a had zero promotions, then there is a drama with 32 billion won in investment and was hyped to the sky with extensive promotions and it is loosing viewers while another show with veteran actors just made a debut with favorable reviews that is Yoo Ji Tae and Lee Bo Young’s new show. What would you guys blame it on if it keeps bleeding more viewers and a new saturday sunday show gets better numbers. It won’t loose money but is would still not be considered hit if it looses more viewers each week or keeps getting single digit.
So true. It’s no use engaging with LMH fans as they will do anything to justify the single digit ratings lol. The fact remains that TKEM was the most anticipated drama this year with the highest budget but is underperforming. It’s also a fact that the last 3 KES dramas brought in great ratings and became THE biggest drama of their respective years. That is definitely not happening this time with CLOY, IC, and TWOM performing much better. Heck, even Hospital Playlist is on an upward trend with its OSTs charting high on music charts.
It has nothing to do with LMH fans.It’s just basic reality. You just can’t come here and expect to get great numbers while airing concurrently if you think otherwise they lack brain cells
It’s just basic reality being on Television and streaming platform on same day is huge not to consider. Thats my objective opinion
You have to be dumb if you think any series should get held on such high pedastal and take it’s ratings as criteria in this circumstance. It’s an oxymoronic idea. Imagine if Witcher series was airing both on Netflix and TV on same day. Will peasants like you come in here and tell us that it has poor TV numbers so it must be doing poor yada yada but that is not the case here. You need to see the bigger picture here. Any drama that is airing concurrently deserves by default a different rule. Any drama airing on 2 platforms within the same country on the same day
I think we have to see this from the bigger picture and not just rush to conclusions here. I reckon some may want to see this drama fail or what not but lets not get irrational with each other folks nor hasty. I agree with basically what Mathchilde said.
For these airing on streaming platform and TV on the same day needs different perespective and vice versa. I am not a LMH fan so before you all go saying LMH fans? I am not
@yus @Augusta okay, by your logic explain this…IC ran one hour later in SK just like LMH’s new drama, CLOY ran like 3 hour later at like 3 AM, Mr. Sunshine ran 1 hour later concurrent….so why did it not bleed viewers from concurrent viewing? And Game Of Thrones aired on HBO and all the HBO online platforms at the same time worldwide, it did not loose viewers…if a drama is interesting, people will tune in period. When My Love Bloom, I saw one episode and it has me hooked so much that I keep looking for subs for episode 2. I can bet it is going to eat into the Saturday numbers for TKEM starting next week. If you’re worried just one not so well performing drama looks bad for LMH than rest assured it won’t hurt his brand…..he has made a career in the industry playing Rich, out of touch Heir/Rich, Cocky King for as long as I can remember…he will be fine….he just needs to take really good care of his face.
@Gem
No CLOY aired 24 hours later not 3. IC was the only one that aired 4 hours later. by that time it was midnight. It was only Mr. Sunshine that aired on that same timeline like the king 2200-2300 so as you can see it is significiant nothing to take lightly. If you continue in this you will only reek of desparation. HBO tv and HBO online platform is basically the same stuff. hahah. but all in all you need to understand when a series can cause harm to it’s self and how streaming works when it comes to live airing and streaming platforms
Ok so I am wrong about everything, I don’t understand a thing about streaming than how did Mr. Sunshine do so well each week in and out, lets apply your logic to all this…and why is TKEM bleeding, explain this @alclois Keep in mind, Mr. Sunshine had a very problematic scandal ridden lead.
For God’s sake, it has only been airing 4 episodes. Why so harsh?
All of this ratings talk is boring, let’s focus on the real problems of the drama. Both sides have merit.
Quality and storytelling is pitiful and weak. I care about being properly entertained than ratings any day LOL
I hope ratings are sufficient enough where all parties involved are satisfied, I feel bad when people who worked hard but lose money 🙁
I love this series. It’s mysterious and very at edge of yoyr seat drama. Its romantic and passionate. I live how all pieces are coming together. I am eager to see more. Great actors.
I love this series. It’s mysterious and very at edge of yoyr seat drama. Its romantic and passionate. I love how all pieces are coming together. I am eager to see more. Great actors.
I loved The Heirs, hated Boys Over Flowers, don’t even start me, but this The King. I really want to love it but agree 100% with Koala what the heck is it about? I can’t stand the girl, she’s rude, aggressive, snide, uncultured, oppositional and arrogant. So huh? What’s to love? How could audiences possibly connect with her? Why would he? Minho is so disappointing in this. His personality just doesn’t come through at all. And the antagonist is just plain irritating.
The girl is a detective, dont expect a weakling, girl in distress. She plays her role perfectly.
The girl is a detective, dont expect a weakling, girl in distress. She plays her role perfectly. Minho is a King, he has to act dignified to his subjects…but he shows his boyish charm in his private relationship with people close to him
I am totally entertained ??❤
This is what happens when a mediocre artist is hyped even he/she got shitty skills. LMH has never acted a great/layered character properly (example : BOF/City Hunter)
I agree Heirs is a bit better. This drama is horrible.
Hahaha… Agree @Jennie. Heirs is one of my fav because I can feel LMH liking PSH very much, the way he protects her through body language and expression. He didn’t afraid to show it all out. And the story flows better with a lot of screen time for main leads to build up the tension and create momentum.
i got hooked in K dramas right after watching the heirs twice loving it and the soundtrack is amazing..
It’s not the lack of chemistry is the biggest problem but the romance in itself is just so strange and not logical at all. He falls in love with her when he was a kid? He falls in love with an ID picture? He thens falls in love with her when he sees her in person despite her being different from how he originally imagined her to be. I don’t but the idea of falling in love with someone before you ever met them in person and getting to know them personally.
He approaches her and want her to marry him? Before even getting to know each other? He must be feeling lonely at nighttime or something LOL
It’s the same for her, she thinks he’s a mental, crazy stalker but allows him to tag along and then follows him to a forest? She barely knows him but starts to miss him? They didn’t have any heart to heart connection before they separated.
On episode 4, I liked them better when they were separated before they reunited. It made their scenes a tad better together being separated for a bit.
This romance makes no sense, like Snow White following a stranger prince after waking up LOL
There’s no build up to the relationship.
Exactly my sentiment. The drama and each actor is more enjoyable for me when they are separated, which shouldn’t happen but I’ll take what I can. The story picks up in this episode which is a good sign. At this point I’m not looking forward to the romance anymore because it’s so unbelievable. I’ll just stick around to see where the story heads instead.
@ hyemi
I’m kinda hoping now that in every episode, they will be separated for a bit. Individually they have more color but together they become grey and murky brown LOL
The romance is non sequitur. Yes, it’s better if we just put the romance in the back burner and just focus on the mysteries and sci-fi sub plots haha
@Laura, this is what I meant also, but you have explained it better in detail. From the logical point of view, LMH as a kid while seeing the ID pic should be interested in finding out who is his saviour and trying to solve the crime. Moreover it is extremely odd if since small he already liking the woman in the pic because of the age gap 😀
And even if he is longing for her for 20 years and start to liking her, I cannot feel the warmth and longing from his eyes, or in the way he speaks. At the last scene of ep 4 while the two CP staring at each other, i cannot feel anything.. DUH.. And honestly from beginning to almost the end i just skip many scenes, because the stories are not important and jumping from here and there. They should make more scenes between the main leads LOL..
@ evi
Thinking about it gives me goosebumps. I’m shivering. Imagine one day at the dinner table, their curious child ask their parents how their love story begun… awkward for days LOL
Sometimes when they stare at each other, I have a hard time believing that they are even looking at each other and not looking through each other as if they are transparent like ghosts. It’s forced romance shoved down our throats without any receipts of putting any effort to make it happen in the first place. He skipped the courtship and went straight to asking her hand in marriage lollll
so true. it was my exact thought . i dont want to b criticizing but park shin hye and lee min ho had much better chemistry . this show is not able to satisfy any of the genre , i dont feel any romantic bubbles watching main lead , except watching police friend
@ sd
I agree he has better chemistry with people in heirs.
I only have bubbles of disbelief through out any
so -call romantic scenes LOL
Yo. Even i like Kyung Nam more than LMH in this. At least Shin jae (the cop friend) is the most sane person around. Plus Woo Do Hwan also doing good playing the double role
Here are the fans of psh, it’s 2020 move on folks???
I agree with Laura and Koala. I KIV the Ep 3 coz it was so DULL….
Definitely, I hope next week is better. I play with my fidget spinner and message people on my phone while watching loll
Sad… started Kdrama for LMH … from
BOF to LDBS saw a versatile actor with a great sense of comic timing, style, & real involvement with the plot that took the story forward with or without a great script…. . The dramas also had chemistry between the lead stars, top class sub plots and just the sense that everyone knew what was going on…Really looked forward to The King… but it has none of the above ….
LMAO.. your narration thou..you guys are not being fair..this is only episode 4
All KES drama has always been have the same formula or there is always a pattern. Its always been like this, and yet, Korean and International eat up all of her stuff. So I don’t want to dig deeper into technical aspect of why this time it’s not working for them. Hell, The Heirs is not that good either for me, yet, It’s get good rating and has international success..
I’m more keen towards the unexpected hits “The World Of The Married” become the main factor. It’s not only In South Korea, But also In International. Heck I’ve been surprise It’s consider a hit in my Country, and My friend who are not regular Korean drama Watcher follow this drama and addicted to it.
@Laura
Exactly my thought. There’s absolutely zero foundation about this ‘love’ b/w them. The show may be a little bit tolerable as long as they are not on the same screen. This is obviously a glaring mismatch that the casting people completely ignored.
At least with Heirs, you can actually feel LMH liking PSH’s character very much. Here it’s like a wooden ornament. Totally dead, no emotion, bland. Plus, the female lead was so overacting that she keeps distracting me from trying to understand the story which is already so muddy. Execution, delivery and direction are all so bland yet convoluted.
At this point the actress playing prime minister is stealing the thunder from all of those so very easily.
@mindy
I agree, a screen test and chemistry test should had taken place instead of just casting big names and hoping it all works out LOL
What a waste of a potential… when I watched the first episode I just knew that the drama was doomed …. I wanted to really like it so much but I can’t …… I just can’t seem to get into the drama at all … I’m so sad as I was really looking forward to the drama before it aired… what a disappointment
@ladykays
I feel you. I’ve been waiting for lmh comeback drama for three years. I did not wait three years for this drivel. I really despised the feeling of forcing myself of Liking something, I should be liking something naturally 🙁
The lead actress and LMH do not match at all. These two should never share screen time with other as leads. The actress playing the PM is a better match for LMH.
On the international fan base, TKEM was in the top 10 trending on Netflix India for the first week, now it’s gone. CLOY and IC did well here too.
Goblin is one of my all time faves. Sure the romance wasn’t that believable. But the second leads had one of the most unconventional romances. It went from funny to tragic in a sec and I liked the bromance too. Plus Goblin as such was an interesting character. I find nothing interesting about the King though. Plus the whole Einstein monologue was just weird.
I am dropping TKEM after early Ep4. Will see if it gets better
People now are more interested to a drama like world of the cheating man???? funny tho
I agree…It was in epi 3,I mean who the hell will give 2 million Won to a stranger who has no identity ,just because he looks rich and handsome ?..A government officer that too a police was acting like an errand boy to a person whose activities are suspicious.TE let a person roam freely who claims to be a king and orders to get people beheaded every now and then . She isn’t bothered when he reached her home and stalks regularly. I will be freaked out in such a scenario if a no name jerk claims to know me. She is a police after all so she must have dealt with many suspicious people and LG could have easily been a fugitive but girl got smitten by his intelligence (looks?).LG behaves as if he knows everything about past and present and easily deduced that his uncle is alive and using the portal due to the flute. Ok I get that you are smart but care to explain how u reached to that conclusion because viewers are not inside your head to decipher the clues. Seriously I don’t get what is the intention or motivation behind their actions. It is like they are keeping it to themselves and audiences are fended off to be at their own mercy. It really feels disconnected..Actors are supposed to bridge that gap by showing appropriate emotions so that we are certain of what is going on in their heads. And a person who never had a gf in his life suddenly finds TE beautiful,fell in love and wants to marry?..
I want to like it too but so many questions pop up in my mind that I just can’t concentrate on the drama carefully as I really want to catch all the hints thrown to get a thrilling experience .
Having two condescending, stubborn characters communicating to each other but not really listening to each other is a recipe for disaster. They may both have high IQ but their EQ are alarmingly low.
is the number one fan of the king on hiatus? hahhaha. i’m missing her on this site. lolzzzZz. i miss her talking about CFs, real estate, profit, wahahahahahha
probably, i see her coming back once rating of this drana hits 20%.
Expectations for the king External Monarch are high because of its star studded Cast, famous writer and PD not to mention that this’s one of the most anticipated projects of 2020 and the comeback drama of Lee Min Ho. So some are being dissapointed because of the unmet expectations. I myself was expecting that this drama would be as Good as CLOY and IC. Hope the drama improves in the succeeding eps.
Hi i agree w u i hv high expectations of this drama as high as cloy but cloy itself sets the standard v high w good story flow and the ending is something you are curious to find out .. alot of KES dramas have weird flow, slow paced (goblin) and not knowing what to look forward to(DOTS, the heirs). Well at least the heirs was funny.
Alot of people have high expectations of this drama bcs of the star studded cast, LMH comeback and of cos KES. Bt sadly airing same time as world of marriage which all the ajumas loved..
Pig you write so much like Ady. Is this your comeback? RIP
@SMH, I don’t think it’s her. Peppapig didn’t mention CFs and not enough spelling errors.
Yeah, adyjunjihyun seems to have disappeared. She’s normally the first to comment on every single article about LMH and defend him to the death citing CFs, Netflix ratings of TKEM in Peru, India, Mexico. Lol. Her obsession with real estate too. Maybe she has to go back to work after boasting about not having to work as she’s a rich landlady.
@Sam HELP I can’t stop laughing at your comment lol it’s so accurate
If heirs is better, what is this drama?!
Thankfully I felt episode 4 is better, finally I find some interesting points on the story and the directing /editing seems to be much much more on point. Ep3 seemed to be directed or edited by someone drunk.
The problems are still there – the story is confusing. Pls don’t get the viewers wrong, One can follow a difficult story but the story telling has to be there. This is just placing scenes here and there with no justification which is just plain lazy or arrogance. The plot has promise but it needs to be told properly. I believe there is potential but someone needs to redo the style and how the story is revealed.
I’m divided about the cast- KGE is not earning any brownie points – I think she overacts too much. But it is better in ep4 thankfully. LMH looks like he is just reciting his lines – where the soul bro? You need to immerse and interpret the character not just read lines and look pretty/ where’s the body language, where’s the nuances? Omg he is handsome but he used to be better, he could take my breathe away (even if momentarily) not just by being pretty but by how he could make the character work and relatable. You need this. Otherwise no chemistry in a KES drama is like poison because her lines are so cheesy you need OTP chemistry and first Leads charms to pull them off! Period. I want to like this so I’m hoping they get their act together.
LMH takes my breath away in BOF ,this is how I got to know of his existence in the first place.He was rugged, passionate and sexy in BOF but his face has totally changed.He has been made to look boyish and cute instead, baby faced with very little expression in this new drama The King.
The story line is totally confusing thus far and have had to watch the first 4 episodes twice over.
The fact that it’s only twice a week doesn’t help either ,it loses its effectiveness along the way.
Having said that I will watch anything LMH is in because he’s very talented and very beautiful, again most especially as Gu Jun Pyo .
Heirs is one of cringest K-dramas… but the cast have better chemistry than TKEM.
I read it in a forum that The King is one of the few dramas which airs simultaneously in SK Netflix as well as SBS. So younger generation stick to Netflix for HD whereas the older ones tune in to SBS. That’s why the ratings are so low. If this is true then I think it explains the unsatisfactory ratings to some extent..
I know CLOY and IC were also in Netflix and had high tv ratings as well.For international viewers like me the subbed episodes used to come out one hour later after it aired in SK. Thus I don’t know whether IC or CLOY were aired simultaneously in SK Netflix…ig need to check it out. Regarding CLOY ,only in Japan and Europe all episodes were released together in Netflix ,once it ended.
In SK I think IC and CLOY were still airing in Netflix along with tv broadcasts .But I don’t know at what time they were uploaded in SK Netflix cause koreans don’t need the subbed version ,so why wait for extra one hour.
@ May
during the First episode TKEM, it got double digit ratings. Im sorry, but are you saying that the decreasing viewership rating of this drama is due to being concurrently shown on Netflix? thanks.
No I was just stating what I read in a forum and not necessarily be true . I can’t confirm whether it is Netflix’s fault or not cause IC and CLOY were there too. But at the same time I don’t know whether or not these two aired at the same time slot along with the broadcasting channel in SK. Subbed versions usually came out after one hour but koreans don’t need subs.
There is one thing I m sure of. During the premier week TKEM was at no. 2 in SK Netflix whereas Hospital Playlist was at no. 1. On the other hand Hospital Playlist is also garnering good ratings despite having one episode per week. So you judge
I am telling you this you can take it from me yes. This drama won’t likely going higher 9-12% in it’s entire run. Because it’s running concurrently
@May
IC and CLOY didn’t air the same day on Netflix they were exclusive on CABLE and than entered on Netflix at later days and the same with Vegabond.
Mr.Sunshine and The King: Eternal Monarch are airing concurrently on Netflix South Korean and SBS. The condition is even worse than a CABLE TV drama. I know some people want to see this drama fall and everything but that is just not the case. All this 9-10% ratings you see it’s just a small friction of it’s viewers inside SK.
If you consider the fact that it’s concurrently airing the same day and pulling this numbers its positive and great ratings taking everything into consideration
Mr. Sunshine did really well locally thats a fact. Even during concurrently airing on 2 platform the same time. TKEM is also doing great in this new format.
Airing on the same day for any Series is huge disadvantage specifically if you want to grab only the Television ratings and even a marvel movie will lose around 80% culture my ass. People will consume things as fast and easiest as possible they can get
I dont think so….
The script , acting and directing wasnt fun for episode 1 to 3. However Episode 4 picked up and i am begining to see the good in the drama. I hope my expectation is not cut short.
Anybody saying its because it airs concurently on netflix as SBS hence the reason for the low rating is not being objective at all.
@May not really..a 32 billion won project delivering domestic single digit is not a sign of success after double digit premiere…..it won’t loose money but next week when Lee Bo Young and Yoo Ji Tae’s show takes more viewers away from TKEM because World of Married is untouchable at this point, that would be the final nail in the coffin.
Even if TKEM sits around that 9-10% would be success as it’s in different category because it’s airing concurrently on Netflix and SBS on the same day. TKEM technically has more viewers than the world of married inside Sk because that drama is not airing concurrently on 2 platforms
@Matchide Wrong again, TWOM has a huge international following now thanks to word of mouth….I am sorry Lee Min Ho’s project is not doing well but don’t just drag other shows down to prove a point especially a show that is critically acclaimed right now and will likely sweep every award out there for drama category. Netflix point is also wrong because even Hospital Playlist is on netflix, it trends in 1 and also keeps getting higher and higher domestic rating each week with 12% rating this week. That show will end with 18% range at this rate. Wasn’t CLOY and IC also on Netflix?? Wasn’t Hyena on Netflix?? A show can be a huge his every platform provided it is a good show.
They are not concurrently airing tho like TKEM. None of these previously mentioned dramas like CLOY and IC did not air concurrently on the same time. I dislike Lee Min-ho. It has nothing to do it. Air concurrently on the same day it’s entirely a different matter altogether
@ Gem
i agree with you though. TKEM is at 2nd number in the premier week whereas Hospital Playlist is at the top. So let us assume that a huge chunk of people shifted to Netflix from SBS for The King due to similar time slot. Also HP first gets broadcasted on tvn on Thursdays and then later on in Netflix at a different time.Then why the hell was it still in no. 1 position. Did people watch it twice?. First time in tv and later on in Netflix??. I don’t think most peope would rewatch recent episodes so soon cause HP is not a type of drama where you have to look back at the episodes scratching ur head to constantly look for clues and one time watch is okay for it. Similarly let us assume people watched CLOY and IC in tvn thats why they had high ratings. But they were at the top in Netflix as well. So once again..Do people watch it twice.??.Yes some people do but very few of them.
That is load of bull…they are made available each week at same time according to time zone. Wait you think SK has both netflix stream and SBS on air running at the same time…only SBS has broadcast rights in SK…netflix is for worldwide distribution. Netflix can’t run a show in the country of its original release at the same time, it hurts business.
Also leave the rest..Just look at the ratings of Mr. Sunshine itself.It was also broadcasted in Netflix at the same time slot as stated by people. MR. Sunshine was a recent drama having aired in 2018. People were using Netflix back then as well and SK being the country with fastest internet,I bet many people watched it in Netflix also. Its cinematography was praised a lot which was even alleviated if viewed in HD.
Also you can’t argue by saying that due to COVID and lockdown more people are turning towards Netflix hence the difference between Mr. SUNSHINE and TKEM. This is definitely not the case in SK and it applies to the outside world only. SK was never in a lockdown and their daily life is going on normally..Over these two years subscribers have surely increased but the ratings disparity shouldn’t be that much significant between Mr. Sunshine and TKEM .As we can see the formers ratings are even higher than the later despite it being aired in Cable tv.
I think what you people fail to understand is that airing concurrently dosen’t mean it was on Netflix. Dropping on the same day thats what mathilde meant. The King was no.1 on sk netflix the second day of it’s premier.. Tv-shows like Hospital playlist don’t air concurrently on Netflix like TKEM is doing. Completely different subject nor did the other mention shows
It would be unwise to expect a western tv-show airing concurrently on Streaming platform like Netflix and TV to have a higher TV ratings than that it should have if it was not on the streaming platform. It dosen’t makes sense right?
Concurrently airing is a different subject. Example if a marvel movie is concurrently airing in the theaters and on Disney+ do you think it would do the same numbers as previously? it would lose around 80% to 85% of it’s normal viewership. It’s the same for any popular Tv-show and especially for south Korea it has a large subscriber base on netflix. No CLOY, IC, Hopistal playlist and other did not air concurrently except Mr.Sunshine and TKEM
@Alan Mr. Sunshine did 8% on debut, rose each week and it finished with 18%…Upward trend in numbers…TKEM is on downward trend and premiered with double digits and now hovering in single digit with strong competition from all sides. Using your own points of concurrent streaming, TKEM is not doing well…And Marvel movies is a stretch for example…even if they did release on streaming sites, people would rush to theaters…its a brand, watching it on IMAX is a phenomenon, you don’t just watch it to see who won…its a cultural experience…you are so off point here.
Mr. Sunshine was a cable drama and untill TWOM came into picture , it held the highest avg rating of almost 13pc for the entire series . So how was this possible eventhough Netflix aired it concurrently.
Mr. Sunshine did really well locally thats a fact. Even during concurrently airing on 2 platform the same time. TKEM is also doing great in this new format.
Airing on the same day for any series is huge disadvantage on the same market specifically if you want to pinpoint only TV-ratings and Yes even Marvel movies will lose around 80% culture my ass. People will consume things as fast and easiest as possible they can get
@slevin CLOY and IC were aired on Netflix exactly one hour after their run on TV, not “days” lol And The King arrives one hour later too lol
Last time I chekced both arrived 1 day later and that is what it says on the netflix website as well. That they are released 1 day later on Netflix not same day. So there you have it
CLOY one day later……IC on same day.
IC aired 03 AM so it’s technically next day but to be exact it aired 4 hours after. Not 1 hour later but still good. IC was great drama
@alCois, I was waiting for IC and it was up on air exactly one hour later. Not four, five, six. One. Don’t confuse people here. I also saw koreans using Netflix one hour later to watch it. So it was available domestically and internationally at the same time. But they also searched for re-broadcast in the morning on jtbc, on Naver key word almost always trended the next day. Because it was simply a popular show. Maybe Netflix and morning re-broadcast took some portion of their audience, but overall it performed great in late 22:50 hour.
Honestly, the heirs is better drama. There’s a story!!! While this one, well, totally meh.
Basically not all KES’ dramas have the same formula. On air, lovers, dots and mr sunshine were different. Especially on air and mr. Sunshine.
Guys, i highly recommend you to watch On Air, an old drama but totally worth you time. And Mr. Sunshine, even tho some might hate seeing Mr. Lee.. but the story is really good.
Hi Yui
I may have a very unpopular view, but I thought the acting by Lee Santa and Kim Taeri in Mr. Sunshine was very wooden. Which was why I dropped the drama. The supporting actors in Mr. Sunshine did much better with their material. When I read praise for Kim Taeri’s and LBH’s acting in that drama, I wondered if it was the same one I watched. And I went up to episode 13 before quitting. I guess different strokes for different folks. While I admire what KES was trying to do with her plot, it didn’t resonate with me. I loved YYS tortured acting and BYH’s role, though. Now the problem with the Eternal Monarch, is that most of what propels the drama forward and guides the plot happens off camera. Small wonder the viewer can’t relate. And sometimes they show flashbacks of disjointed scenes which would have been more cohesive if they had just shown those scenes in the first place.Drama is full of crappy editing, awful directing. Imo ep. 4 was better than ep. 3. If KES was going to stick with LMH and KGE, then she should have stuck with the director of DOTS and Goblin. The dude directing and editing The Eternal Monarch isn’t doing her any favors and he is ruining her drama. Smh.
Hi, no worries, i respect different opinion. For me, Mr. Lee wasnt at his best but literally not bad. I guess, it was bcuz of his character, but never mind, i dont really like his acting too.
While for kim taeri, i really liked her performance. That was the first time i saw her acting but totally loved it. Especially comparing to KGE and PSH. But well, i like all this actresses but this is what i thought.
Agree with you about the director. Goblin was really beautiful. Honestly im not so into fantasy genre, but goblin kept me stay, even tho at the 2 last episode it got boring but well, no perfect drama.
Heirs had Kang Haneul, Kim Ji Won, Kim Woo Bin too, Park Hyung Shik…..there were enough good looking and good actors to put a plaster on Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye’s lack of acting prowess…..not too mention the secondary characters were fun to watch including Krystal and Park Hyung Shik. See it had a strong cast to back up……the King does not have it….Lee Min Ho has to do heavy lifting and he is doing a less than stellar job.
Lack of what ??
Seriously shin hye is really good in acting tree of heaven , pinocchio , don’t worry I am ghost , flower boy nextdoor ..etc I don’t know why people intended to put down of others in heirs the KES who wrote their characters with weak conversation but the people still blame shin hye for crying …blah blah seriously in this drama you blame the writer and in heirs you blame shin hye’s acting !!!!???
@NileRose Park Shin Hye was not at her best during Heirs. She did improve on with later projects but Heirs was she at her absolute lowest point. I stand by what I’ve said. I liked her better in her films, I liked her better in Doctors.
Totally agree with Gem, PSH wasnt at her best. I really like her personally, she’s cool. But doesnt mean i will only talk good things about her, when it comes to criticism, it’s good for helping her improve her acting skill.
@nilerose in this drama i BLAME ALMOST EVERY SINGLE PART OF THIS DRAMA. Actor, script writer, director, chemistry, plot, story, even the ost isnt easy listening. Let be honest, do you really think that PSH in the heirs was the best compare to Krystal and Kim Jiwon? Really? Do you think it’s the best she can do??? No. She can do better. That’s why we hope she can act better and get more challenging role.
For me shin hye working on script which was written by KES which doesn’t give her justice in heirs you know KES the famous writer calling her for a role for shin hye is big offer and this script was being written every episode so after this drama KES apologized for crying scenes and for me her female leads are just pillow for male lead but my complaints is everyone blaming her on something not her fault the other characters was wow like Krystal ..etc .
My point is the script and the power of dialogues is what make the whole show is powerful or not who make the cast showing their best in acting which make the shin hye character basic without any additional spark because the writer want this character like this and shin hye is just act according to her writing.
Heirs is a mess, and I agree with @NikeRose, the script makes PSH character is the least likable. I hate poor character, but even worse, poor and weak. All she did everyday was whining and balling her eyes. No self improvement at the end.
So you can’t blame PSH for her acting because she delivered exactly what it’s been written for her character. You can blame her for choosing such a poor written female character to act.
Look at IU role in “My mister” to compare, a strong script with good character development brings the best out of her: poor, look weak outside but strong, street smart and dependable.
Actually i love watching The king of Eternal Monarch. Watching this drama allows me to do multitasking. Also this drama helps relieve my insomnia. lol
when watching THE KING, i was having this feeling that Lee Min Ho was just reading his dialogues from an idiot board. I did not feel any emotions from him. Im not a fan of Kim Go Eun, but probably she’s OVERACTING all the time to compensate for the Male Lead’s acting. IMO, The male Lead is not doing his job. What Lee min ho was displaying from Episodes 1 to 4 was terrible acting.
THIS! My opinion as well. If KGE overacts with LMH, I get the feeling she’s overcompensating for his rote like performance. When she’s in scenes with Kim Kyung nam her acting is more natural and flows more smoothly. Honestly, KKN is the best thing that happened to this drama. His scenes with his gambling mother were powerful. He and Jung Eun Chae are really carrying their roles so far.
I agree on KKN. I have loved him since Prison Playbook. I hope he gets the praise he deserves in this mess.
I feel bad lmh n kgo have to act this drama. This drama no good. I lazy continue to ep3 n 4. Why not put both lead in a real world. Feel no love chemistry in both lead.
This drama just begin… Too early to judge right… Why not we wait for more episode… But this drama have interesting vibe compare to others… Storyline really different… One thing that I can’t wait is.. How to catch the villain from other world… How the cop’s can get prove from the other world ..
The easiest way would be is guarding the bamboo forest as it seems the portal between the parallel world. How they don’t catch him yet when they have cctv installed in that area?
I’m actually looking forward to the next episode. Will she meet her counterpart in that world? Hmm
It has a slow start nevertheless it was watchable. I thought episode 4 was pretty good. Im looking forward for the next one…
I like the story. I’m intrigued by how all the parallel universes work and the time stopping/travel. I want to know more about it. Shin Jae looks very interesting.
The issue is that a lot of the scenes are reposing on the chemistry between the leads, on the sexy tension and there isn’t. So their dialogues fell flat instead of flirting chats.
Shin Jae is becoming one of my favorite characters. That conflicted feelings and difficult spot he is in due to his reckless mother. That was powerful.
I really hope they invest more time explaining the portals and other scientific measures that logically supports the worlds they’re living in and adequately explains the time travels. I hope we are not expecting too much.
@Laura
Thanks for bringing this up. It’s the same drama, yet Kim Kyung Nam was able to bring pathos and empathy to his character with limited scenes. It further reinforces the fact that LMH is not emoting. Because a good and competent actor overcomes a bad script. I often feel that KGE’s overacting is compensating for LMH’s wooden acting. I can’t even feel any chemistry between him and WDH. As a side note, KGE acts more naturally in scenes with Kim Kyung Nam plus they have more chemistry in their scenes than she does with LMH. Is it too late to rewrite the script? Maybe the King can end up with his Prime Minister? They seem more compatible. lol.
@adal
He’s one of the brightest standouts for me in this drama. His story is captivating me.
I agree that kge has more chemistry with shin jae, however, I honestly believe that every character is more riveting and exciting individually when they’re dealing with whatever situations on their own. Maybe it’s better if everyone remain single at end of series LOL
for now im not really so much concerned about the single digit viewrship rating of TKEM since it’s only on its 4th epidode. But what bothers me most is the acting of the male and female leads. the male lead shows wooden acting (esp in Episode 3) while the female lead is Overacting which makes her annoying.
there is no logic behind their romance and the main lead dont look romantic at all. its like memories of alahmbra romance being created abruptly with no build up but otp had gud chemistry at least . i have never felt so bad watching lee min ho in heirs atleast. its like driving two stranger to play cindrella and prince charming on stage forcibly
I drop halfway of Ep 2.
It’s like a teenager fantasy of having a prince (upgraded to a king here) riding up on a white horse and sweeping her of the feet. Of course she can’t resist because that’s her one true love.
End of story. Don’t need 16 episodes of fillers.
Doesn’t it feel like all 4 episodes could have been condensed into 1 episode and the writing would have been stronger. There are too many filler scenes and too much backstory about supporting characters instead of the main protagonist and antagonist. The romance moves fast but that’s how KES likes them so that’s not the biggest problem.
Why do I feel like one is overacting(KGE) and one is underacting(LMH)? Lol
Yes I feel the same
Underacting early in a drama is Kinda what LMH does recently. Think LOTBS Heirs, but usually he gets in the groove as the drama moves along and gets it. At that point he shines and you understand why he is the star he is supposed to be. I sure hope he does in this drama too. Because I am not getting him here at all. ep4 had some little spark so let’s hope it’s a upward trend for him. For all the OPPA fans before you tear critics to pieces be rational, I like LMH trust me, I have a soft spot for him so the bar is not high. He just ain’t delivering for ep1-4 period, no ifs no buts. When you are an A lister you start the drama with impact immediately from GO. So he’s getting a get out of jail card already from many.
For KGE she needs to tone it down. I’m not sure maybe she was trying to get a reaction chemistry with LMH early in the series when he’s just so so flat so she’s compensating. Doesn’t work that way. He has better chemistry with his horse for some reason *face palm *
I don’t find her overacting and find her acting natural. Might be because she is against someone who act like statue so it feels as if she is overact.
I agree..gove it time ..I like it ..
J’aimes bien cet drame surtout les personages sont bien travaillé là-tue merci beaucoup Lee min ho vous êtes un acteur très agréable et sympa c’est pourquoi je vous aime bien je hâte de voir les autres épisodes
Ratings asude, I think TKEM from episodes 1 to 4 is lacking in so many aspects. The story line, acting of the leads and their chemistry, directing, story telling among others.
Im not a fan the leads to be honest, but im streaming thsi drama on netfliz because of its popularity.
This is just my opinion, i just hope that would tenporarily stop saying that the reason why this show is getting sinngle digit rating is that because it is also being shown on netflx- unless its proven that there is some “cannibalization” that is going on. Would SBS allow that? im not sure. Just my two cents.
I dropped after episode 1. Never liked any of KES dramas, I always find the narrative bland and the characters cliched in a way I don’t feel comfortable with. I was looking for a high profile drama these days of covid confinement, so I decided to try TKEM…but it is definitely not for me.
lmao at all the excuses for single digit ratings. In the words of the loudest LMH fan: “single digits equals no star power.” lol
It’s unfortunate that KES is now on the downfall. I started to like her after Mr. Sunshine despite a lot of her works being cheesy and mediocre at best.
IKR? All this technical. Aspect analysis of why this drama has single digit. I think the international busz is still consider high though.
It’s just there is huge competitor like TWOTM in South Korea and that’s it.
For me this drama acting is better compare to The heirs. This drama has KGE, Kyung Nam, Heck even Doo Hwan. Though LMH is more lifeless here than in The Heirs.
Given the huge promotions, this is such a downfall. Expectations of many for this project is to be the best in terms of ratings. There should be NO EXCUSE iF it tanked the ratings. They have ample preparations too. Partly reason is timing. They started when wotm is dominating the ratings and tkem has nothing NEW to offer.
Another is the quality. Truth be told, the drama is really underwhelming. Even actors are underwhelming. KKN is the only actor emoting here. KGE isn’t really at her element. Wdh shows his limit as an actor and LMH is just so pretty. The worst is KES writing is just a combination of all the tropes she did in her past projs.
Started eternal monarch and I’m enjoying it so far, it definitely has its issues but it’s entertaining which is all I ask for from dramas. Also I finally get the hype over LMH’s looks (his acting is still on the bland side but I think he’s also holding back a bit too much to portray a king).
I’m also watching World of Married which is just incredible and riveting, an hour and 20 minutes passes by in 5 minutes and the twists and turns never stop. Kudos to JTBC!! Sidenote: Did anyone else think King was on TVN this whole time? I was shocked it was on SBS.
This drama has been disappointing to me. I’m not really a fan of sci-fi in general but I like Kim Go Eun and Woo Do Hwan so I gave it a chance. The romance is extremely underwhelming, and doesn’t really make any sense. He’s proposing marriage by the end of Ep. 2?? They don’t even know each other and neither does the audience know these characters since the show just started. How can I as a viewer feel anything when I haven’t had a chance to get into their stories? Not giving the loveline a chance to develop organically over time just makes characters’ actions look stupid and feel fake. So I am not surprised by the low ratings. I really wanted to like this drama, but weak script, mediocre acting by the leads, weird directing and bad editing choices are hampering me.
And I don’t understand this Netflix/SBS ratings debate at all. According to Netflix press release, the drama is on Netflix outside of South Korea. I believe SBS has the exclusive in South Korea. But let’s just say that perhaps it is available to watch on Netflix in SK. It’s crystal clear from the Netflix press release that this drama airs on SBS FIRST, if not Solely, in SK. So why would the rabid fangirls choose to wait to watch their idol? Doesn’t make sense. The drama has bad ratings because it’s got problems, and it has strong competition from other dramas in the same time slot.
Maybe the drama might improve next week, we will see. It’s going to be difficult for this drama to beat World of the Married though.
I agree with everything you’ve said esp on the Netflix/SBS part
I watched the first episode, but I am waiting for all the episodes to come thru before I totally commit. I love Lee Minho, even if he was just standing there Smiling, it would be an awesome show. But, I’m glad he’s acting again, loved boys over flowers & inheritors. Also love all his songs, listen daily to his music.
Faithfully coming to you from the US.
Why such comment here in too judgemental… Better to judge when it reach its climax.. 2 to 3 eps. only laging it character scenario. So don’t expect some boom eps only just airing 4 eps. Like firing a coal you can’t get the real heat of fire until the coal absorb the heat. And hard to compare TWOM to TKEM because it has different genre the its like reality vs fantasy. Where most people relate to reality especially to the oldies 60+… Also you cannot compare the rating because TWOM is already in its peak will TKEM is just on its starting point.. Other has a point that they should gave a fair points where TKEM air in two platforms here in our country in Netflix it is top#1 and 2. when the drama is aired.
And I challenge the LMH huge fan base in korea if you really love your oppa or really support him… Make a huge impact to make his one and only comeback drama at least make it to the top5 highest rating or make on the top. Or you just making LMH look worst in every of his tv drama. I CHALLENGE YOU…
Liar. Netflix never releases any ratings. Challenging LMH fans for SBS ratings support is so embarrassing. First the drama has to be worth watching. What a shameless plea!
The only embarrassement here is you. He/she expressed there opinion. Don’t get all worked for irrelevant stuff. Let folks breathe. I think opinion was decent
I don’t feel embarrassed. My opinion should count too.
“you just making LMH look worse” by calling people to watch a boring drama just to support the rating. Is this a joke?
I don’t understand why people are getting obsessed about this drama streaming on 2 different platforms and whatnot. This has been the streaming setup since the drama started airing to high ratings and the only thing that’s changed is that those ratings have fallen instead of risen. That’s a simple fact. If the drama could start out with high ratings why couldn’t it keep the high ratings? I think it’s evident that the drama has been losing some viewers for various reasons, it’s still doing pretty well by all means though. Personally this drama just falls flat for me despite being a visually stunning. I watched the first episode and just couldn’t feel any emotional connection with the drama and felt disconnected the entire time. Planning to watch more before I give up on it but it’s not looking good…
Agree. Analyze the ratings trend not merely the absolute Numbers. It is obvious this drama is losing viewers. Enough said.
I agree. I don’t get all the talk about ratings. I think it’s still premature to call this a flop. The show isn’t even in its halfway point.
Episode 4 was another meh for me until Gon brought Ta Eul to his other world. That made me look forward to next week’s episode.
There’s just a lot of moving parts in this drama, but they’re not cohesive. Methinks the writer is too ambitious.
I have pleasantly enjoyed the drama so. I like the premise, world building and everything else surrounding it. First two episode began strong while the 3rd episode slowed down and again picked up from the last part of the 4th episode.
Seems like we have reached climax and she has already crossed over to his world and she is basically in shock crossing over the bridge of both worlds.
I am loving the acting of LMH and KGE so far in the show and I think they were a great casting by KES she did great in casting these 2. They are great fit as they are in the same age range and tbh quite never got into the Goblin relationship between the lead due to age cap but here they seem to be in the same age-range. They could even fuck to kingdom come if they want I am okay with this pairing.
The clifhanger was really bad tho I wanted them to air all the episodes at once
@ joker and @ dick
hahhahaha.
What a disappointment of a drama. I mostly enjoy KES dramas and have a soft spot for LMH. Can’t believe we get this after waiting three years for his comeback. Hopefully it will be wake up call for him.
I think this was a HUGE casting mistake. Leads simply don’t match and have negative chemistry if there is such a thing. LMH is sleepwalking through it and KGE’s character is rather annoying. I don’t remember watching a drama with worse otp chemistry.
I don’t understand why KGE is casted again after her mediocre performance in Goblin. The second female lead is much more pleasant to watch.
Only KES knows.. KGE was mediocre in Goblin too but everything else in that drama worked (direction, OST, Gong Yoo, bromance, second otp story and chemistry) and she got a free pass. Everyone in Goblin overshadowed her in the acting department including the actors playing younger king and queen. She has no charisma imo.
It has been a while but I recall an interview with the writer who felt that any of KGE’s performance issues in Goblin were on the writing. Basically the writer took the hit for not fully fleshing out the material. I think she was cast as a kind of re-do opportunity even though Goblin was hugely successful. I absolutely loved KGE in CITT. She was outstanding and totally owned that role. In Goblin I actually understood what the writer was going for but KGE couldn’t pull it off; I could see the acting.
It is odd to actually see people hit LMH for his wooden acting and then also blame him for KGE’s overacting. These are professionals who are responsible for their own performances. If they are having these type issues, then the director she be involved.
Kat. I read the interview but KES did it again and maybe even worse… KGE has failed badly again with her overacting in The King. Can’t blame anyone except the actress herself. The writer is incapable to revive her mediocrity. One can never hang onto one good performance in CITT and call it a quit, right? She is such a big disappointment.
I agree this is on KGE. However, some directors are able to help get the performance they want but you can’t count on that. I actually thought it was nice of KES to take the hit, but I think re-casting her so soon was a mistake.
It’s hard creating chemistry with someone who show lack of emotion. I understand their problem with KGE acting in Goblin. But here, I don’t understand their critics. Might be they are just plain haterz. Or critics gor the sake of critics. Critics for something it’s not been there. Simple.
Probably very difficult to look at KGE face and strike any emotion. I can’t… too ugly…
Dick. I have to agree with you. As a guy, it’s really hard to look at that FL face and convince myself to like it. Feel sorry for LMH. I can’t even joke seeing that yuk.
@Dick and @Joker, that is a very mean and shallow thing to say. An actor should be judged first and foremost by their performance (aka acting) not their look. There are actors and actresses out there that aren’t your typical Korean beauty but are still charming and do their job well (Kim Seul Gi from Oh my Ghostess, Han Ye Ri from Six Flying Dragons and Nokdu Flower, and a bigger name? Bae Doona from Forest of Secret and most reenrly Kingdom). KGE might not be beautiful but her previous leading men have good chemistry with her (Cheese in the Trap and Memories of the swords). As actors they have to look beyond their partner’s outward appearance to achieve credibility for the roles and emotions they are supposed to portray, so blaming the lack of chemistry on KGE’s appearance is ridiculous. Both KGE and LMH here are at fault. It is their acting that is the problem, not their looks. People complain if the actors are ugly but if they are beautiful and can’t act they would be up in arms too. Hey I’ll take an average looking actor who can act over any beautiful walking piece of wood anyday.
I didn’t know what to expect before i toned in. The hype have reached me so I was thinking lets check this out is it good or not? I honestly found myself slowly but surely loving it to my surprise when Lee Gon took his lead on the horse was the hour of truth and it got me hooked.
I wanna know what is gonna happen between them in Monarch Korea and how will they live together. Because right now she is in his world. I bumped up to see what is gonna happen to her and how she will survive all of this and also about him since his facing denger from the villian so there is many things to look forward to here.
I am loving this drama since it’s lee min ho.am not sure of the leadong lady if they have chemistry,but on the ep 4 i think they have.about lee min ho,others sauing that he’s like a mannequin maybe because he has to portray that kind of emotion because the writer wants to emphasize that he was traumatized by death of his father.so,we keep on watching.am excited to watch episode 5?
I don’t get why everyone is so invested in the rating thing, and I mean both ways. People get off on trashing the drama ratings or get defensive if it isn’t doing as well as expected. I will say there is an ick factor to people cheering on the possible decline of someone’s career. (Yes, I realize people are trying to legitimately explain how Netflix works but who cares…the production company made bank because Netflix throws $ around like a sailor in port.)
I remember years back when Hyun Bin had his big comeback post military. It was Hyde Jeckyl and I. Same thing. He’s old, he’s over, he can’t bring the #s, his movie flopped too etc. Both him and the actress just walked away from dramaland for a while. Regardless of how you feel about either of them, seems like it worked out ok. But the time will come when they’ll have another dud because that’s the wacky, wonderful world of entertainment.
I hope that whether the drama #s improve, that the drama actually improves. If it doesn’t than KES needs to go chill for a while because more than the acting, the main thing I hear from folks is the story is the problem with the directing being a close 2nd. I personally can handle meh acting, but I don’t do boring.
HB is always a much better actor even in Hyde Jekyll but the script was just terrible. LMH is always mediocre, and he has gotten worse. Flat affect and very boring.
@jeannie @kat
I agree w jeannie that HB is a good actor but HJI’s script was terrible.. HB is a versatile actor. Glad he managed to get his reputation back in CLOY.
I have to say lmh is dashing and good looking but i feel he is just like a model not an actor.. I dont know if he is afraid to take on new roles and characters or thats just how he portrays all of his roles.
You misunderstand. HB is a good actor, but I remember the hateful comments which I noted previously that were sent his way because of one dud drama. I don’t think LMH is always awful. I do think he is bland and oddly seems to be getting blander. Does he deserve to have hate sent his way? Life’s too short. Watch the drama or don’t. My point is people seem to revel ins this type stuff and yet it was just a few years ago people were being nasty about HB.
@Kat. I do not remember any hate towards HB during Hyde Jekyll drama, he plays two roles in that drama and people gave him praises for the challenge because he did an ok job despite to very very poor plot. People can tell that he worked very hard in that drama. HJM is the one who got a lot of hate for that drama. Would you have mistaken on who actually got the hate?
Yep, the actress got more grief (not her fault either…crap writing), but I recall HB getting some as well. Now this wasn’t from knetz. I watched on a legal site for international viewers. There was a lot of trolling going on about HB partially because the other drama about multiple personality blew HJ&I out of the water. (A role I believe he turned down.) This is not the point I was trying to make. I was trying to say that people seem to throw grief at actors (talented and mediocre alike)and revel in the negativity and it is icky. Honestly besides Marvel and DC Comic fanboys, I don’t see this in other areas of entertainment besides k-drama and k-pop.
I tried to leave a comment and it didn’t go through. I’ll try again and preapologize if it’s duplicative. Yes, the actress got a lot of grief. Was it her fault or the scripts? It was the scripts.
I watched on a legal site with international viewers and he was getting grief. But these were not knetz. I think that you think I’m dissing HB. I am not. I am saying a talented actor cannot save crap writing. If the two leads of The King were super talented, the scripts and directing would still suck.
I really feel bored watching this drama, the lead male actor acting so flat,,, I didn’t feel anyting whatever he said and can’t feel the emotion that actor give.
Ratings are not a great guide,many classic and much loved dramas have not been popular on release but have grown . Waiting and watching in the UK I’m sad to think I support this more than some. I like what I’ve seen so far even with subtitles
People are not watching it because they want to wait and finished the whole episode before watching it. I myself is doing the same thing I binged. I hate waiting episodes every week.
While almost everyone talking about how the leads does not have the chemistry, it kinda feel okay for me now at least for now. What this drama suffers right now are burden of “expectation” I would say. I like LMH, I watch every single of his drama. Eventhough, most of his characters from prev dramas always have the same “prince charming vibe”, I still enjoy his potrayal.
But rather than him, so far I’m dissapointed with the scriptwriter. The first episode was ok for me. Nothing special. But after watching ep 2, I’m starting to questioning whether is this the same writer who wrote Goblin/DOTS that manage to get me hooked? Ep 3 is more like a filler to me. All of KES works that I watched, each time the episodes end, I will looked forward to continue the next episode, and somehow it didnt happen to me with this drama. Ending ep 4 gives me little excitement and a bit of hope for the future ep. I hope the story the become more progress in terms of the plot. It supposed to be about parallel world but it seems to me its more like alternate version of the world.
I’m also cannot help but wondering on why KES recasting LMH & KGE as leads. She never did this before. Strangely, eventhough I’m a fan of LMH, but out of all KES male lead character, LMH is the least fav to me. KWB definitely outshine him in Heirs. Even the same thing happened with KGE, there’s nothing much about her character in Goblin, in fact Sunny character have a solid backstory that keep me interested throughout the drama
But at the end of the day, if the drama turn out to be no fun at all up until the end, I’m going to watch it anyway, it just that like I say I feel dissapointed thinking this project coming from a scripwriter that all her works turn out to be a mega hit.
Why is everyone so ready to bash Lee min ho?? He is a human being and so sometimes his drama can hit and sometimes not.All the famous actors have both high rated and low rated dramas. I noticed that if people want to compare korean actors, they drag Lee min ho every time,,,why is that?? There is another famous actor Ji chang wook who recently did Melting me softly drama,, it’s rating is far more low than that of Lee min ho’s TKTEM drama but no one bashes Ji chang wook that much like that of Lee min ho. I think people should not bash Lee min ho because of his new drama.Like us, he also suffers if the outcome does not come as expected.
The story of this drama may be good but it cannot be seen as such because it is impacted by the lack of chemistry between the main leads. LMH and that girl do not match at all. Not only that she doesn’t look good with long hair but she should have carried her hair short in her current universe which seems to be modern and it would have differentiate her from the LG’s universe.
The age gap is also not a problem especially between the parallel universes. It is alright for LG to propose to her based on his status as king, his old time, and culture of his universe. Otherwise,the actress playing the PM could have been a much better match for LMH to play his lead actress in this drama.
I believe that’s why this drama feels a bit off to so many viewers and therefore gets a single digit rating. The showing time has nothing to do with the rating. Both main leads are among my favorites and it is fair to say that they do not match as leads especially that short hair fits that actress better than long hair. Where as she looks fake with long hair but she looks charming and lovely with short hair.
Btw, both main leads act well despise the lack of chemistry between them. LMH’s lack of emotion (as people call it) is simply part of his acting according to his position as a suffering king who grew up with a lack of display of affection except only shown subtly through his nanny and longtime friend. I’m going to continue watching this drama to see how it will unfold and because the leads and their longtime friends are of my favorites.
My all time favorite Korean actor is Lee Min Ho, and my UF writer is Kim Eun Sook, and i used to like Kim Go Eun in Goblin days. But i keep on thinking, “What went wrong with this drama?” I tried to connect from episode 1 to 4 but felt lame by it. Only for the last part of episode 4 I felt excited. Looking forward for an exciting episode 5 this Friday. I’m still trusting the works of KES. And waiting for the solid chemistry of LMH and Go Eun.
How will you feel when other say hateful word about your work, acting is not easy and this is just the beginning why so hash
lame excuse again for a mediocre actor!
This is my first time to watch Lee Min Ho and his partner. I’m not so into the lead stars but I’m more interested on how my favorite writer, Kim Eun Sook, would tackle the law of meta physics. Why are there some who could not empathize with the story…because it missed some important aspects of the law and it failed to present it on a manner that would be easily understood by the majority of the viewers. But still I am enjoying it. It should not be compared to another drama which has already reached its denouement.
i am.in love with this drama..cant wait for the 5th episode.. lee min ho nd his leading lady. majes this drama really worth waiting every episode. love. both of them
@Marie, I remember she bashed you back in February. Some other trolls were having epic fights with adyjunjihyun too quoting Shakespeare what not. They were some of the most hilarious comments ever in this blog although the vulgarity and sewer remarks from ady lowered the standard a bit.
Where is that Ady now?
I have nothing against The cast as they have all proven how good they are at their craft. I am now focused on how/what the writer and the director want the audience to take away from this drama. I expected this as fantasy~romance but there were too many characters that there were only very few scenes to magnify the stages of Main Leads’ romance. I also find it weird that this drama lacks Music background.. Hoping these reviews reach the director and writer though..
I’m loving this series so far. While I agree with the criticism about the show, I’ll still watch it because I’m a huge Lee Min Ho fan and he’s the reason why I got into Kpop and Kdrama. Looking forward to Episode 5!
Loving this drama. Can’t wait for episode 9
Many tv stations in my country are going bankcrupt. People are switching from tv to gadgets. They should rate number of viewers not only from tv.I can not move on from TKEM. Please make more episodes!!!!
Im in usa and i waited for this drama bc the hype but it was there…it did not keep me on my feet waiting for the next episode like Vagabond….I only watch it when i was waiting on other episodes to load on other dramas ….Camilla blooms was also on netflix but it was great i waited for every episode