Perfect Crown with IU and Byun Woo Seok Hits Midway in Airing with Decent Ratings and a General Reception of Good But Not Great
I loved the first two episodes of Perfect Crown but a lot of that was just lowered expectations and giving the drama the benefit of the doubt during the set up phase. But since then each episode has just lessened my interest and excitement with now midway through airing episode 6 last week left me rather cold. The ratings have gone past double digits to 11.2% for MBC but that’s nowhere near hit territory and only cements it as not a flop for the big budget and big star casting. IU and Byun Woo Seok are doing fine for their respective characters but I’m with the majority assessment that the two don’t have chemistry with each other. They have charisma to the camera and fun chemistry with their respective assistants onscreen but the raw or even sweet romance is not there with them. The drama execution also feels like a series of “scenes” intended to propel the plot but feeling at times disjointed or just not satisfying with the feeling that gaps are being hurdled over. It doesn’t help that the main leads just keep doing stuff while the second leads are the opposite and just bottle everything inside and seethe/plot/pine behind the scenes. Overall the drama is an entertaining and at times fun watch, but so far it’s nowhere near being a really good drama that merits better ratings or even a spot in the pantheon of memorable dramas lineup. Let’s see if the second half significantly picks up.
Iu trashhh fans were saying it is blockbuster and how she is such amazing actress. But her comic acting is terrible and she can’t do ott roles. For eg jjh at her peak could slay such roles.
Local trash
once again proving that blackpink fans are toxic little sh*ts lmao. you’re bragging about jisoo “winning” when no one takes her acting seriously and her dumb facial expressions are always clowned on and made to be memes? lmaooo
Two of you worth each other actually.
I dropped it early in episode I because I realized it had everything I disliked about sageuks, just in a modern setting. And there wasn’t enough chemistry between the leads to keep me watching. And I didn’t even care about them individually.
I dropped it early in episode 4 because I realized it had everything I disliked about sageuks, just in a modern setting. And there wasn’t enough chemistry between the leads to keep me watching. And I didn’t even care about them individually.
IU just isn’t doing it for me. I can actually see she is acting. Then the second leads come on screen and I see the actual characters so that makes it worse. I stopped and will just skip through it when it’s done to see the major points. Not worth more than that.
She never does it for me in any of her roles. U can see shes acting n she never has chemistry with her male leads, just very cold n low energy
Did not pick it up after the first two eps. This is IU’s weakest outing as an actor since she started. I thought she of all actresses would be able to elevate a boring script, but guess not. She’s doing a… LAZY job? Weak script overall, and unfortunately, the lead actors don’t seem invested in the story themselves to at least give their characters some personality and a little chemistry. Smh. On to the next!
Why do I find so much criticism on acting on this website? Are all the commenters acting coaches or Oscar winners? Why does no one talk about storyline, setting, characterization, etc? It seems like all the main actors/actresses in asian dramas are terrible according to ya’ll!
Half the comments are ‘I skipped this… I fast forwarded through this’; what right do you have then to comment like you watched the program fully? Who are ya’ll comparing these actors/actresses too? Anthony Hopkins? Glenn Close? Tom Hanks? What kind of realistic acting are ya’ll expecting? If its the acting that makes the show suck then why don’t ya’ll ever complain about the directors/producers/script writers/editors for letting sh*t through? How can it be only the actor’s/actress’s fault? Exasperating!
No one would claim Star Trek Original TV series was superior acting; Meg Ryan wasn’t ever an Oscar winner; but both carried mass appeal. So many famous shows didn’t have amazing acting but drew people in because of the plots and the familiarity the characters gave us. Cheers, Golden Girls, MASH, Game of Thrones all had acting that was average for most of the shows episodes to setup characters/plots so that the audience would care when an actor’s/actress’s portrayal showed complexity. Even soap operas need time and writing to make viewers care!
How can your two minutes of watching an hour episode at normal speed before fast fowarding the rest give you creditials to talk smack? When you do that you are not really giving the show or the actors/actresses an unbiased view; ya’ll are just running with ‘I hate him/her because …so I didn’t watch but I can say that the actor/actress ruined the show… etc.’ Did you watch the whole series at normal speed not distracted by doing other things? If ya’ll just dislike one person say that don’t make a moralistic judgement on his/her work when ya’ll don’t even bother to really pay attention to the work. Just say ya’ll are biased and narrow-minded cause that how your proud behavior of boasting that you judge after watching a tiny amount comes across as. Be honest in ya’ll bigotry.
Lastly, how do ya’ll judge chemistry even? People’s relationships and therefore characters’ relationship have to be nuanced. Not every romance is grand passion!
Personally, I really don’t mind the constructive criticism about acting, but so many people in this site always comment below-the-belt vile hate comments, acting like the actor or actress they hate did something bad to them or something. I will never understand it. But then again, I’m someone who reserves my utmost hate to terrible people who committed crimes (i.e. the male celebrities involved in the Burning Sun scandal).
Sure, I have some actors and actresses I don’t like, but I just ignore any content about them. And again, I don’t spread hate towards them because I don’t know these people personally and they didn’t do something bad to me, I’m just not the fan of their acting or looks or both
I had the opposite reaction: the first two episodes were meh but I persevered and am really enjoying the last few. IU is not the greatest actress but I think she’s improved a lot over the years and I’m finding her very funny in this. Byun Woo Seok, for me, is doing a great job of conveying his feelings for IU’s character. I’ll be interested to see if she can do the same for him once she figures out how she feels.
I like the series overall and I’m discovering Byun Woo Seok just now. As for IU, I’ve always tried to check out her works (even when I don’t end up liking it).
Some pros:
– I find it refreshing to have a male lead I’m not familiar with.
– It has some of the classic tropes of kdramas from its glory days.
– A what-if scenario that hasn’t been overused (yet)—the monarchy surviving to present time.
Some cons:
– The supporting cast are solid veteran actors too (the priest, the king’s grandpa, FL’s father, etc.) but it’s midway already and they’re woefully underutilized.
– I think this stems from the fact that they’re trying to squeeze in everything at 12 episodes when they could have expanded the world and fleshed out the side characters.
– The director is… okay? I’m no expert. But I have a feeling the drama could have been raised to stratospheric levels with someone more adept, somehow.
In summary:
– I somehow miss the days when kdramas were still producing 24 episodes (Chuno, Money Flower) or 50+ episodes (Empress Ki). The world felt more lived-in, there were lots of side characters to love and hate while the chaebol or sageuk leads battle it out with their schemes. Perfect Crown is a good intro to such dramas, I guess?
idk, I’m enjoying it, it got better after week 1 and they actually do have great chemistry when they’re interacting with each other in a scene … until the director decides to ruin the effect by making Byun Wooseok do model walks or act like he’s in a fancam/put IU in slow motion. I like him when he’s allowed to emote, love her, and love them together when they’re actually talking and not posing, and the supporting characters are charming/well acted too (the child king is a scene stealer), as a romance I buy it and I enjoy it
And on the subject of hype, can I just point out that it seems to be getting a lot more buzz than the other very hyped recent-ish romcom with two big name leads and a star writer, that Genie drama just came and went with no impact (it’s nowhere to be seen on any list of most-streamed dramas despite When Life Gives You Tangerines- netflix’s other hyped exclusive romcom of 2025 – being on all the lists and in the top 5 for views?)
I’m so amused by all the wild reactions to the show. While I found her diva swag – middle fingers up to the royals – super entertaining, some folks are clearly turned off. Or did they just dislike her from the get-go cause they are already biased against her? lol
BWS’ acting is decent, even though his character isn’t written to be as dramatic as IU’s. At the very least, their chemistry isn’t cringeworthy like in so many other rom-coms. I’m not much a rom-com fan. Most rom coms failed me including hit drama Queen of Tears. Surprisingly, I have enjoyed 6 eps of Perfect Crown so far. I’m not completely sold on this drama yet, but the plot has me curious enough to keep watching.
@Somebody – IU’s character amuses me, the way she/their relationship is written also has the classic kdrama trope feel but with enough twists to make the character dynamic feel fresh
(e.g. her being the one to initially pursue him, how much they actually talk even in the middle of a breakup, and him being super repressed and restrained but still frank about his feelings)
Their chemistry is good and they’re believable in their roles, anyone expecting this drama which was advertised as a “what if” romcom to be some detailed serious thing about constitutional monarchy is just being silly or a lowkey hater. There are only 4 episodes left out of a total of 12, I feel like it should maybe have had 2-4 more episodes but at 12 the pace is good)
I’m really enjoying it – its like a Cinderella story so far (with modern problems). Beautiful sets, beautiful clothing (esp. love the hanbok inspired suits the Grand Prince wears). I think their chemistry is good – they are playing their parts so well. Looking forward to the last half!
Also enjoying it. Think the two leads are doing fine, like their characters and interaction. BWS is laid back and cool. The young king is cute, especially in the scenes with his uncle.
Thought the out of control car scene was too long, too over the top but that’s OK. Also, realised I really shouldn’t watch a series as it comes out, especially one with only 2 episodes a week, but that’s on me.
This kdrama is not getting my attention, most of them are over-acting except the Queen and the Prime Minister. I don’t see the story or the plot at all, and most of the scenes are cutesy-cutesy and have those slomo effect which is in EVERY episode. I dont see the chemistry between the two, I was eagerly awaiting for this kdrama but I am disappointed, I actually was hoping it be like ‘The last empress’ kind of drama. This is my own opinion so … if you like it then good and fine.
Is it just me who finds that the male lead has an annoying face? Sorry
from the photos alone– I can see no chemistry, the height different is also a bit too much lmao. this one is not going to be on my dramas to watch, but i get some people like it but i can see kdramas bubble is going to burst sooner or later. cdrama is sooo much better nowadays
I’m really loving the story and taking a warming to how BWS is portraying his character, but IU seems so superficial here and her acting is just off. I don’t know, she pulls me out of the story with the way she’s choosing to act out what her character is supposed to be emoting or doing. What a waste. I know there’s a lot of people criticizing BWS here but as the show went on he’s miles better than IU.
IU has no femininity – she reminds me of a middle schooler playing dress up.