If I were still activity recapping I probably would not have the energy to continue on with The King: Eternal Monarch. Needing to describe every scene with a prelude and my thoughts after would only amplify all the problems and I would be hard pressed to muster the commitment to continue. Being able to watch and casually comment has made me able to stick with it and I’m glad I did because this drama begs for a post-finale dissection once it’s done and we see what screenwriter Kim Eun Sook intended and can compare to what went wrong with the execution.
Was it a flawless script and the wrong PD ineptly presented it, was the casting wrong in either role or pairing chemistry, or was it all on a convoluted script that wrote itself tighter and tighter into a death spiral of nonsense. It’s fitting that the last full K-drama I recapped was her Descendants of the Sun because it was so fun to watch and the recap journey was so worth it for me. Life halted my time availability to recap but I still remember DotS fondly and wish the cast of TKEM as seem in the just released BTS stills showing beaming smiles and adorable cuteness had a great time filming because they certainly deserves pats on their back for a job not necessarily well done but good effort made.
Kim eun sook didn’t need to do complex stories that she couldn’t handle herself. She used to make simple stories look fun. I like king, but she added so much complexity that she couldn’t manage herself and changing PD didn’t help either especially first 3 weeks where direction was mess and many scenes didn’t connect at all
@ady Reading just this comment from you makes me think you transported yourself into another dimension and this version of you is a reasonably-pleasant, void of hatred, grammar-concious writer. Is this you? Or is that you on the other side? Or are you another person? This post of yours is a surprise of my day. Will this be staying for good? Lol
Suzy and her fans will always be exception though!
I realized my comments were really not good and i am not such a person in real. I don’t hate anyone here. I don’t take them seriosuly but i saw some people getting affected by those comments of mine and how i made a wrong impressio . From now onwards, i will take CRITICISM as one, but if someone is bashing my fave unfairly, then only i will bash them back. Overall i will try to be rational.
@ady I understand where you’re coming from. I’m glad you’re taking things rationally. I didn’t think you were mean like some of the girls who really just attacked actors and actresses personally without reason and below the belt. I can tell you just really wanted to speak up for your favourite actors or actresses. I know it must annoy you when someone bashes them especially when they’re not true. I feel need to correct those people as well. But try to choose those you need to reply to. Some aren’t worth it. I am regretting wasting time on them but I still think they needed to be educated on how to give a proper criticism than just plain bashing where as you realised you can react and behave differently that alone is a very good thing.?
Thnx buddy! I have made some terrible comments too to irritate some people to be honest???and they always get triggered???but its fair game when name calling starts on my fave i wont stop?. But i will try my best ti not to start the abuse game.
Yeah sometimes its good to speak up against people. U did right
I just finished watching TKEM, I think LMH carried the whole show and his unbreakable sword guy. I guess I expected a lot from Kim Go Eun bec of her previous works but I certainly think this was not her best.. I also agree that the production was pretty spectacular for a SK Drama, the story was just poorly executed that it made many scenes hard to watch and appreciate. There were times that I seriously think there were so many characters and storylines… as a viewer, I expected to be entertained but again complicating things almost always never work. And this is what happened in TKEM. Scenes could have been all relevant. But the actors made me finish it even the older characters.Congratulations to LMH and KGE ?
Yes I agree…but then I just overlooked all the flows because of the pairing of LMH&KGE I love this 2 so much .. just the 2 of them give me happiness & fulfillment. Everything is just secondary to me…excitement of the story is still there though
Rewatch the first few episodes. You will find it fabulous as we now able to put the puzzle pieces together. FANTASTIC plot!! Very uniquely created.
Agree but problem is general audience don’t have patience for this. They should have added more fun elements at the start
I’m looking forward to the ending. I enjoyed it for its entertainment value. I wish all the cast and even the scriptwriter the best And I will continue to watch their future projects. The behind the scenes were fun to watch they really got on well and probably made new friendships considering they filmed almost 7 months. I still don’t know how it will end.
I loved kim go eun and lee min ho off screen moments. He barely talks to his ex costars and have very close bubble of friends. I wonder if n kim go eun will be frnds after this show? I lowkey ship them
@ady KGE tend to stay friends with her co stars. Park Bogum went to her fan meeting and the Goblin cast LDW, GY and yoo in na sent her coffee trucks and she is even friends with the veterans Jeon do Yeon and that actress in Coinlocker and even the girl in Cheese in the trap is her friend. I saw the interview in happy together. So many fans are it’s all over social media and even my friends are shipping them together so badly but she looks good with Hae In ?. The fans on social media made really funny fan fiction and showing so many interaction between the two. LMH wanted her and WDH to call him oppa and hyung in their press conference so I thought he wants to have that friendship with them too. That would be nice if they stayed friends they both look like they’re fun to be around with. You can tell in the Bts that they had fun and you get to see how playful LMH is.
i super love the king, eternal monarch. while during quarantine this was d only show i watched and always looked forward to the next episode. lee min ho and kim go eun is such a good pair. i hope in real life they will continue their friendship on a different level.i wish the episodes will continue to season 2
I actually think TKEM has so many similarities with Melting Me Softly.. Two same age korean stars most importantly known for their good looks ,international popularity..fresh from military..
The MMS had a star writer whose previous work included Strong Woman DBS, Woman in Dignity etc.. The director of MMS was even better with atleast five blockbusters namely the 3 dramas from Lovers Trilogy , Secret Garden, Gentleman’ dignity..
And not to forget hits like City hall, On air ,Gu family Book..More or less he is the male counterpart of KES in terms of hits..
JCW and LMH had never thought that with such star names the final product will be this bad.I mean who would leave such opportunities to work with such acclaimed people. Both MMS and TKEM had very unique premise on plot but fell flat on execution.. This made me believe that having a star team doesn’t necessitate a good drama.
Just hope both LMH’S and JCW’s next projects to do well and they choose their work based on the script and not on the script writer or director.
Correction -* unique premise on paper*
You gotta be drank comparing Melting you softly to TKEM. TKEM was a global hit on netflix and fan-favourite who had a high consumption. You can’t compare a drama where people left in the first episode like legit left it was that bad bro
Well I m talking about the receptions..i.e ratings. they both thought TKEM and MMS softly to do exceptionally well but the opposite happened.. I m not comparing the quality of the two dramas in which MMS is the worse. But just talking about the similarities and how everything just backfired .. Whatever arguments you give but I will still believe ratings do matter despite overseas popularity amd actors feel the same too. Scarlett heart is still considered a flop even though it made so much money. Now you will say Scarlett heart was mostly popular in China.. I agree but atleast it garnered enough money.
And it is not that TKEM has not lost any audience.. it Statrted at more than 11 pc and now ranges at 5 pc. That says it all.
You must have some comprehension problems.Read it properly. I was listing out the similarities which included star writers and directors. And TKEM also lost its viewership among SK TV watching people.Check out the ratings of first epi and the latest one..
I didn’t compare the two dramas to say which is better and if I may then MMS is definitely worse. I just stated the abysmal reception on home turf despite having such strong teams who had strings of hits in their resume.
The get outta here with that. You are talking about some old people on SBS they are irrelevant in all of this. This show is a global hit scarlet heart was not this big. comparing MMS is like comparing fiat to ferrari or comparing Money Heist to Hospital playlist
I sensed little similarity with Lee Joon Gi ,though unlike the other two, he choose projects based on the kind of character. He played varied, diverse and multidimensional characters not considering the size of production, experience of writer and directors and has worked to many newbies. He tends to also work among he had previously worked and among his circles.
I’m so relieved this drama’s over.
I only watch it so that I can contradict the stubborn fans who would like this drama to spread like a disease because of their blind worship comments.
I don’t know why you’re asking so many questions.
Certainly, the directing and editing was flawed.
But it’s obvious that the script itself already carries all the seeds of failure.
Anarchic scene cutting, excess of secondary characters, lack of dramatic tension, etc…
The king was not a success in terms of viewership rating in korea but It made many international fans very happy. Goodluck to Lee Min Ho and Kim Go Eun on their future projects.
When everything is said the actors and director walks away as big winners in this project looking at it objectively. It’s a netflix hit series to a much larger audience. LMH got like 5-mio followers since TKEM was airing only in less then 7 weeks. It’s doing wonders and did wonders for the actors involved in this show and thats just the reality of it
And basically netflix distribution paid off the budget. They must be hapoy eith viewing . Lmh might get more netflix offers. Bigger productions bigger budgest bigger exposure and bigger salary as Online is future
@jonas I followed him on Instagram because of Tkem and I think he is now the most followE SK actor then JGS etc. He got if I’m not mistaken close to 2m the r 1.8m more followers more because of Tkem. KGE gained 1m I followed her too because of the drama. I also follow WDH he also gained a lot of global fans. And although I thought the show had flaws, I think because after a few episodes I’ve been more relaxed I enjoyed it. I have a few frustrations and questions but I think since it entertained me and my flatmates and we bonded over it. We even went to the alley here in London because we are the target audience ? I think I rather enjoyed that I was able to talk about it with friends who also watch it in other countries. And regardless of the rating for us it provided a but relief or sort of escape from the harsh reality we are facing. ?
I enjoy watching The King that i don’t want it to end . I just don’t get why it has a low viewer’s rating in Korea when it present a very good story line with the answer to the questions unfolding in every episode and the actors are all great. I have watched a lot of korean dramas and most of them present very simple stories usually involving chaebols eventually falling in love with the poor but beautiful hardworking ladies which makes women viewers dream that it would happen in reality. With The King well of course it would be very hard and almost impossible to find a King now as a knight in shining armor most especially as handsome as Lee Minho. And also not a lot of women could relate to the role of Kim Go Eun as a tough police detective officer which she played very well as it not customary for women to be in that field. Other fantasy korean dramas also have simple plots easier for the average viewers to understand. The King is deep and would make one to think. Isn’t it more interesting to stimulate the brain while watching and at the same time being entertained? At any rate i love The King and looking forward to the final episode.
If your impressions of Kdrama is chaebol (rich guy) and candy (hardworking poor girl) I don’t think you watch many Kdrama. Therefore, your assessment about how “deep” the king and how “rating” doesn’t make sense is as hollow as candy vs chaebol plot line.
Puhlease, you obviously didn’t watch many kdramas and just watching popular ones due to bandwagon…if you want TKEM is a mess, if you really want “to stimulate the brain”, there way better dramas like Signal, Save Me, Secret Forest and many more underrated dramas.
I love TKEM regardless of how others criticize it. I’m not from Korea so I didn’t really notice the editing and PPL part but the fact that the each episode just keeps you on edge and thinking of what will happen in the next episode is mindblowing. I understand the fact that Koreans are not used to this type of genre or the relationship of the leads progressing at such a fast rate but still they’re adults they knew what they wanted and went for it ain’t nobody got time to waste. Even if it isn’t received well in Korea I think it has gotten international audience and that alone has made it a global hit.
I’ve got a whole week to binge TKEM in one go. That is the main reason why I am waiting for all 16 episodes to hit. I’ve read the comments and am unaffected because I think it is a good story and stellar cast but my reservations were right from the beginning – the casting of KGE as the FL mainly because I thought being LMH it would have to be someone visually compelling, breathless don’t take your eyes off FL but hey not her fault KES chose her and then to force the romantic angle in the first 2 episodes that was the reason Korean scoffed at that set up which I must admit ruined/distracted everything else that followed. Then the confusion with the time line, doppelgangers etc.. I for one really want KES to sit back and rethink her whole writing strategy and to stop calling on A listers to headline her dramas cos she has the power to. Take off the blinkers and look at all the talent SK currently has instead of relying on names. I found Ha Ji Won, Hyun Bin from Secret Garden and the Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo from DOTS because of KES so I’m grateful for the introduction so I am willing to throw 16 hours of my life on the ground to see TKEM through. Thank goodness Dramabeans has a episode recap guide for people like myself who need my hand held every step of the way cos I am impatient and dense so assistance is required. I’m over my angst and looking at this with fresh eyes cos there is an element of excitement being..Lee Min Ho and Woo Do Hwan oh I forgot Jung Eun Chae and Kim Yong Ji to follow. Good on those including Ms Koala for sticking with this drama with insights and opinions at least it goes to show you were all still engaged that would mean more then dropping it after a few episodes. I would rather have viewers offering unpopular opinions then nothing at all. ** I know BSR and It’s Okay turn is next week so it’s nail biting time cos no one knows what’s going to happen when they drop. Mz Koala is impartial and will be 100% true to her word if she fans or pans it.
I think what matter the most is the execution. I don’t like how the king’s fans passive aggressively mocking drama with simple plot line as “unintelligent” and not as “smart” as the kings.
Twilight is a unique story with sparkling vampire, haven’t been done before but just that qualify the show as masterpiece?
There is Nine times travel, W, Goblin, 365 Repeat the year,memories of alhambra and so on with actual world mechanism and the viewer isn’t critical much because the world building is well thought and well presented.
No one has time to read countless of “fan board/theory” just to justify bad writing.
Just accepted the king as the mediocre drama like how it presented itself and stop acting like people just don’t get it, you are the one who doesn’t get that bad writing can’t be excused and explained by fan theory. If you can fill the plot hole and justified it with your theory then no drama/story has plot holes. Sigh
Hi to all. Likewise, I enjoyed the show and actually like it. It started with almost endinh part then the story goes back how it all started. Yep,not too much drama tension and wasted unnecessary scenes. Could have been a good series. Nevertheless, it made me pay netflix for the first time just to watch it and no regrets at all. I salute the actors and actresses. They’re great in their part.
I m waiting for the next project, i m ready
Why is this author so full of himself?? If there was an ounce of intelligence you will understand the story. And comparing to DOTS! Why don’t u compare it to Titanic or Casablanca also. Wonder what is the basic qualification needed to write critic articles. Someone with less brains and inherent bias maybe is enough?
I feel so sry for the people who couldn’t understand this drama,bcoz all people are not witty I can understand and even they shouldn’t watch Hollywood movie or series… Bcoz It would blow their mind… If they couldn’t understand this mind-blowing drama,god knows how would they understand those Hollywood movies?? Story of”the king ” is such a great… Obviously the writer did a great work along with those actors and actresses… It’s really mind-blowing drama..
Yeah ….so true
This drama required patience for first few weeks. Problem is first few weeks they didn’t set the execution right. Director messed up and let the initial viewers go
It’s even worse when you fully understand the drama, there are no grey areas, and it’s even easier to show how crappy it is. There’s nothing mind-blowing, just mind-messing. Worst script ever with a limping realization. A boring easy plot with ridiculous artistic vanities, hidden under a ton of unnecessary complications and filth in every corner. To understand drama, the brain is useless, it is better to have skills in industrial cleaning, and to have a hobby as a philatelist. Anyone without a degree can do that, and it makes engineers laugh. I respect people who like drama in a simple way, because of the actors or the atmosphere, but those who take it seriously are ridiculous. Only fools really get swindled by that.
Funny thing is, you probably didn’t understand the drama yourself! Every time I read what people like you describe, they’re talking nonsense, LOL!!!
Get a mensa test..not a drama to test your IQ
I’m not Asian but I loved The King!! I don’t want it to end.
Final episode on Friday and hope it has a happy ending
I think we criticize this drama because we’re really rooting for the cast and KES and the production crew to do well. I am disappointed, but I still watch this on Netflix (although I skip some parts, err, many parts). After all this is over, I will still be watching LMH, KGE, WDH in their next projects, and will still give the writer KES a chance 😀 Just because we criticize, it doesn’t mean we’re mean. 😀
I am not Korean but I thoroughly enjoyed this series! It was different From many others that I have watched. I have been looking forward to every episode with anticipation. I love the cast especially Woo Do-hwan, he is a very versatile Actor. Lee Min-Ho and Kim Go-Eun are great together. So sad that it Will come to an end soon, wish there were more episodes to come.
this was in the news yesterday
[Studio Dragon is expected to meet market expectations in the 2Q, a time when sales of overseas copyrights are maximized thanks to ‘The King: Eternal Monarch.’ Overall distribution sales are expected to increase 27.8% to 77.1 billion won, the biggest level since the 3Q of 2018.]
haters want this to flop because their bias weren’t in it. easy to tell who their bias are based on the TAG popularity -only two names are in 20 pt font size. BTW LMH got his following increased on weibo and ig by a few millions in the last month.
And hallyu ban is tumorrd to getting removed. Lmb will get his endorsements back in china whwre he aopeared in tv show watched by billion people and had 20 olus endorsements. King
Oppa Thanks For Your Hard Working And Now We Really Wants To Thanks From You. Take Care About Youreself And Dont Attention To Haters Coz Drama Are So Popular İn My Country İran ??And Asian Country And On Netflix. So İ Really Enjoy When İ Watch İt And İ Wish They Make Season 2?. Fighting Oppa & İ Love You ❣️^_^
All 15 Episodes Was So Perfect For Minoz And We Waiting For 16 And Final Episode ??Many Thanks Oppa For Your Hard Working ❣️??
This is drama that has its flaws and i skip some parts when i watch it. But it has some parts that are extreamly brilliant and well done. It will leave a mark in my heart and i am proud of Lee Min Ho as a fan. I am looking forward to the Final.