The Mon-Tues time slot for tvN has been weak for the past year, not since Record of Youth has it really delivered solid dramas and/or rating hits. I’ve only liked Awaken (Night and Day) since then but the other dramas in that period include Birthcare Center, LUCA, Doom at Your Service, You are My Spring, Navillera, and most recently High Class. Just premiered sageuk Secret Royal Inspector and Joy is also the first sageuk in awhile in that slot and it feels like a breath of fresh air. The drama premiered to a decent 4.961% ratings but I don’t know if it will go up or down because this drama is either your cup of tea or not. There is no in between, it’s that strong in local flavor. It’s the K-sageuk version of a Stephen Chow movie style from the 90’s for sure, what’s referred to as “mo lei tau” or nonsense. From the moment Taecyeon‘s government official got dressed while running through town in his innerwear while carrying his lunch box, which I found charming and he pulled it off so well, this drama doesn’t even pretend to be serious. I’m sure it’ll eventually tone shift there once the conspiracies and Big Baddies show up but for now it’s just taking audiences into one province to see if the newly arrived secret royal inspector can root out corruption, deliver the hammer of justice, and make friends and partners with a Joseon era feminist. I find Kim Hye Yoon perfect in her role so far but her plight in this drama world is really tough to stomach. I hope she gets her divorce ASAP so she can bust crime with Taec and the foursome along with his servants can bumble their way to righting wrongs.
I’m gonna check this one out. I liked Navillera but dropped Record of Youth, LUCA, You Are My Spring and Doom so, yeah, it hasn’t been great for me.
I love record of the youth. Some viewers think that was a boring drama but still a lot of viewers loved it coz it was a relatable one. Not a typical cringy, clichéd romance…it has still a better ratings compared to the other dramas with A lister actors /actresses. It was not overhyped coz most of the younger viewers wished for a happy ending with a marriage finale etc. Hehe
Too much comedy for me, so definitely not my cup of tea. Instead I checked out Idol the Coup and it was so good, I feel addicted already! This one is much more emotional and raw and feels more realistic than Imitation which was such a disappointment (except male lead). I can’t wait for next week already!
this isn’t your typical male lead and female lead. interesting. I’m gonna check this out later
Honestly feels like they’re jumping onto the ‘One the Woman’ train and blindly pursuing the “ham til you die” trend of comedy, which to their credit is apparently popular locally. Not my cup of tea and I have a lingering suspicion that it’ll go bat shit crazy towards the end a la LOTRS. We’ll see.
After Lovers of Red Sky and The King’s Affection, I found the first episode a little bit cheap with the costumes, the braids, etc.
I will try the second episode to see if the balance between the comedy and the more serious scenes will work with me.
The opposite, I find the costumes (at least the lower class) feels more realistic…they didn’t have detergent and bleach lol. Altough I feel the women’s hairstyles are weird…never see hairstyles like that. I wonder from which era/region?
But I understand that costumes are also important to keep you interested. I remember Arang and the Magistrate’s costumes looked cheap and made me feel less satisfied. From the few sageuks I have watched, Scholar who Walks the Night and Mr.Queen had good costumes.
The King’s robe looked cheap. I don’t really care for the poor ones, except it was funny to watch them being so tanned when Kim Hye-Woon was very white in the middle.