Summary: King Lee Gon of the Kingdom of Corea, a parallel world of the Republic of Korea, crosses dimension chasing after a person who he thinks was his savior when he was a little boy who was about to get killed. He finally meets Jung Tae Eul, a detective in the other world, who he thinks was his saviour but she doesn’t have a recollection of him. In his constant trip to the other side, King Lee Gon realizes the two worlds are messed up due to the doing of his traitor uncle Lee Rim. So he is finding a way to fix it.
Trailer: The King: Eternal Monarch
Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Time-travel, Kings & Princes, Rich Boy Poor Girl
Episodes: 32
Stars: Lee Min Ho as Lee Gon
Kim Go Eun as Jung Tae Eul / Luna
Woo Do Hwan as Jo Eun Sub / Jo Young
Kim Kyung Nam as Kang Shin Jae
Jung Eun Chae as Goo Seo Ryung
Lee Jung Jin as Lee Rim
Likes: I absolutely love this fantasy/romance with time-travel genre! Although I knew time-travel would always confuse me but I was willing and all ready to be confused before I started the first episode. And talking about it…
The first episode. That was a mysterious, intriguing and nerve-racking first episode. Everything was perfect! It started so well. I love the storytelling as if someone was reading a legend to me. “And so there once this legendary bamboo flute which allows the owner to travel between parallel worlds. Of course, because of its power, one soul wanted to get hold of it and use it for his plans and that to take control of different worlds and live almost immortal. Unfortunately or fortunately, the flute got snapped into two and he only got half of it. The other half went to our guy, the King!” That was a good introduction to a complicated storyline combined with a remarkable action scene when the crown prince was about to get killed but then shooting began and broke the glass roof. Following the shattered glass, came down the powdery snow onto the dead King and the hurt young crown prince. Yeah, what a scene! I thougt it was brilliant!
The promising cast.
Lee Min Ho as Lee Gon – It was good to see LMH back in the drama world, I’ve missed him! Although, I know in my heart he’s not the best actor out there, he’s still a favourite of mine and it was good to see him taking the role of King Lee Gon of the Kingdom of Corea. He looked dashing in his kingly outfits and very knightly on his white horse, Maximus!
Kim Go Eun as Jung Tae Eul and Luna – I like both roles but my favourite is her Luna character – lonely, dark, sad, scary and even dying. Jung Tae Eul on the other hand was the likeable type – brave, smart, happier and healthier. I would say Kim Go Eun did well especially with Luna.
Woo Do Hwan as Jo Eun Sub / Jo Young – Woo Do Hwan was awesome! Upstaging the lead actor is definitely a feat. As Jo Young, the very handsome bodyguard of the King also known as the unbreakable sword, he could pass as the next Bond! But his Jo Eun Sub character would give Woo Do Han the best acting award. He totally pulled it off! Jo Eun Sub was such a funny guy with a very heavy Busan accent. The show was light-hearted because of him.
Kim Kyung Nam as Kang Shin Jae – He’s not your typical Korean cutie but omo this guy can act. I was very impressed with his crying moments.
Jung Eun Chae as Goo Seo Ryung – two words, intimidatingly beautiful! Young but she looked very mature in acting. The Prime Minister role suited her so well.
Lee Jung Jin as Lee Rim – oh this guy is a veteran, I could tell. Such a brilliant actor. I think the show would have struggled more without him as the villain.
Awesome OST & score. I love the score most, very powerful! But here’s a link to both OST and score… The King: Eternal Monarch OST + Score.
Set Design. There was an obvious effort on the sets but my favourite was the King’s office. That library / office was just impressive. Lee Gon always looked kingly in that room. Well done!
Costume Design. Of course, the king’s wardrobe was the best. I love his outfit when he went to see Jung Tae Eul for the first time and he didn’t have money so he had to sell the precious buttons on his coat. That was lovely coat! Runner up is the Prime Minister’s wardrobe.
Epic Scenes. Aside from the first episode’s epic scene, there were some more like the almost battle with Japan, the rescue of Jung Tae Eul on the streets of the kingdom headed by the king himself, the king’s New Year walk on a snowy night meeting Lee Rim and everytime when the TIME stops.
The Ending. Not so bad actually. I was kind of getting ready for a sad or tragic ending. But it ended well, giving closures to most of the threads.
Dislikes: It wasn’t the best but it wasn’t a bad script, it was just simply poor execution of the script. After the first episode, it was a total mess. Confused the hell out of me! It took it until episode 11 to finally take off but even then I wasn’t completely satisfied. Such a waste, it could have been done better.
I’ve never seen so aggressive ad placements in my kdrama watching history. Really onto your face ads! Too much chicken, milk tea, ginseng, coffee… and more! Ruin the whole thing.
So disturbed by Lee Min Ho’s perfectly done lips especially on the earlier episodes. Too much makeup!
The chemistry wasn’t just there.
