The King: Eternal Monarch - Guest Review

My sisters and I created a Korean drama club in April 2020. It's like a book club, except with Korean dramas. Sounds fun, right? Our first drama we chose was The King: Eternal Monarch because it just came out at that time. The 2 episode release per week helped us limit our time watching dramas (because it's easy to binge watch!) and also gave us the opportunity to have in-depth discussions each week. Today's review is brought to us by one of our members, Manang Karen. Don't worry, there are no spoilers!

Our first drama to watch for our club was The King. I had high expectations for this drama not only because it’s Lee Min Ho’s first drama after coming back from enlistment but also because the writers were the same as Goblin’s.
Sadly, the first episode did not make me want to watch more episodes, but I convinced myself to keep going. Unfortunately, at the end of the series I was still unimpressed. The storyline was actually quite interesting, but there were just too many unanswered questions and “holes” in the story. I think maybe if they had extended the series to possibly 20 episodes instead of the usual 16 then it may make for a more tangible and solid story. The soundtrack was also lacking so it was hard to associate feelings to certain events in the drama.
It was not all bad though. The acting was very good, and I believe for the most part the actors and actresses fit their roles very well. This was a good introduction to actor Woo Do Hwan which I think we all agreed was our favorite for his exceptional talent at portraying two different characters. The cinematography was also well done despite this drama being supernatural.
Overall we give this drama a rating of 6.5, possibly 7, out of 10, but we would not recommend to watch it, unless you have absolutely nothing else to watch.
The King: Eternal Monarch (16 episodes)

Rating: 6.5/10
Recommend: No

 

Sumorie

I don't have much to add to her review. There were too many stories unfinished and many holes throughout the drama. It seemed that they rushed the drama. I think there were many positive reviews on this drama because it was written by Kim Eun-sook, the same screenwriter who wrote Guardian: The Lonely and Great God. Maybe that's why even the title is similar - The King: The Eternal Monarch. Additionally, it stars Lee Min-ho and Kim Go-eun, giving it a bigger buzz. The OST is also average -- nothing much to write about. If I were to hear one of the tracks from this drama in a store, I don't think I'll be able to recall or draw a connection between the song and the drama.

I would have to say that my favorite scenes are all the scenes with Woo Do-hwan. I think his character is one of the best supporting characters among the dramas I watched and he also gave this serious drama a playful touch. You can see some of his funniest clips at this here. 

VERDICT

I would not recommend this drama. The storyline had too many holes, it was rushed, and the OST was not memorable. If you do decide to watch, do it for Woo Do-hwan.

Sumorie Rating

2/5