It's been about a day and a half since I finished this drama, and I feel like it's going to take me a bit to get over. I'd had spoilers for how things were going to end, but I'm actually grateful for that because even though I was prepared for heartbreak, it still punched me in the gut. It takes a lot for a movie/show to make me cry — I hardly ever do — but the last episode broke me with the culmination of the absolute tragedy that all of the characters experienced.

I admit I started this show for Lee Joon Gi after watching / becoming obsessed with Flower of Evil, and he absolutely did not disappoint. But all of the other characters grew on me as I watched, too, and I was heartbroken for all of them and how the pursuit of the throne ruined everything for everyone. So many of the brothers wanted its power, but even being king doesn't let you just be able to do what you want. I could write more but I'm having trouble putting it all into words. I just have a lot of feelings :sob:

Not to say this series is without issues. I could have done without the time jumps for sure, and would have liked slower pacing in general in the second half. Some of the music didn't really seem fitting (but some of it I really enjoyed). And leaving off without showing Ha Jin and So meeting in the present day is just cruel (I've seen the pictures of the deleted handkerchief scene).

All in all, though, I thought this was well worth the watch. I literally couldn't put it down, much to the detriment of my sleep schedule. Not sure if I'll have the emotional fortitude to rewatch it or watch the Chinese version, though.

> The opposite of love is not hate but to be **thrown away**

We have all been warned of how sad the show and I have waited waited .. waited ..postponed until a legit release in my region but given the flurry of new saeguks I had to watch made want to finally watch this show.

[spoiler]
I have prepared myself to enjoy the final episode no matter what .. but I ended up crying like a baby ! but still I would say it is the most authentic finish for a Saeguk . We should applaud the directors for the courage to stick to the history and end it in such a way.
[/spoiler]

I am more sad for Wang So than anyone else to be honest ; he is thrown away by mother , father , siblings and finally found love [spoiler] only to be thrown away again by Soo Hae ... [/spoiler] .

I have seen petitions for second season ; yes the cute scene (ep thumbnail) at the end doesn't make up for all the shit happened in the end but I must say i immensely enjoyed 90% of the show and I am still of the opinion the remaining 10% is good despite hating it to the bone.

I am a huge fan of IU and I wish she acts more ..Its been ages since My Mister and Hotel Del Luna .. I think this is the show where he acting skills have matured and we can her shining among those princes and not played around like most female leads we see in Saeguk.

As for the rest of the princes some of them received what they deserved and some not so much ....**They were all trying to survive **

In the end
> No one is happy in the screen and off the screen

I don't know if i will pickup the courage to watch the show again but If i do it will be when they announce S2 :love_you_gesture:

This drama turned out to be a reverse harem in disguise. A handful of princes with varied flavors happened to meet a mentally handicapped girl to start their quest of hunting this wild female from a different timeline. All of these princes have the edgiest troubled teens behaviors with a mix of daddy/mommy issues. Out of all of them, the male lead took the edge in being the ultimate dark and mysterious bad boy, literally. Zooming out, all of this was done for a trail of pathetic emotional baits with no substance, they were begging the viewers for pity points. The moment the female lead knew about them, she approached every single one with the mentality of "I can fix him". While the princes were intentionally irrecoverably broken by the writer to serve a purpose for the female lead, she equally had her own set of problems. Within the span of a few episodes she became weirdly too attached to all of them and going even further to offer sacrifices, while neglecting her brief arrival and the fact that she was transferred to the past, but I guess shirtless bois are irresistible. The romantic entanglements in general were agonizing to tolerate, it kept you wishing the worse for all of them. Although it was bad as is, but why did they decide to make it worse with each passing episode in the second half? It's just too painful knowing the writer is making fun of us. At least the cinematography was okay and I watched it on BluRay.

This show went from very happy, cheerful and optimistic to bleak and heartbreaking. The last few episodes are just drenched in sadness, and the very last one hits peak anguish, so be ready for that.

During the first few episodes (before anyone died) I kept pondering how in a much smuttier and adult rated world, this would have been a badass reverse harem story. Having a bunch of good looking guys crushing on a somewhat oblivious girl, I found it impossible for my mind not to fall straight into the gutter.

*Ahem*, anyways...

Lee Joon Gi really gave it his all in this drama, he was absolutely fantastic! He made me cry my eyes out in the last episode. And as unlikable as could be, and as questionable as some of his actions and decisions were, I still found myself empathizing with him and rooting for him to find some peace and happiness. The broken bad boy, be it in historical drama version, or in modern times is always so alluring.

IU was also did a great job. Her transformation from bewildered girl transported back in time to dignified court lady was seamless. It's crazy how she had unique chemistry with each of the guys playing a Prince. From sibling-like love, to puppy love to full on soulmates love, she had such great rapport with them.

The costumes were beautiful, even if at times the wigs looked insane and the polka-dotted court lady uniforms were kinda weird. It was my first time watching a historical drama not set in the Joseon era, so seeing everyone rocking the loose hair was kind of a wild experience LOL

Keep an eye out for the weird zooms into the actors faces during some of the episodes. It'll feel like you're watching the Office (US), and the characters will break the 4th wall, address you directly and say something completely at odds with the time period. I still wonder about that directorial choice.

All in all, not everything about this was great, but the good definitely outweighed the bad. This is worth watching if only to see the main couple act their butts off.

P.S. I want a second season set in modern times, with a rom-com feel where everyone gets a happy ending! Make it happen SBS!

A 花より男子 (Hana Yori Dango); Meteor Garden show with political sibling rivalry

I. Story
In a story with many important characters, it is important to tell it clearly, they did well in doing that. The political war between the brothers were interesting, they also picked a good period for the Korean version of a Chinese novel.

Sadly, the romantic aspect of the story was delivered poorly. It did not elicit any emotional reaction. There was no built-up. This is primarily a story about sibling rivalry gone to the political level.

II. Acting
It was lacking in some areas, there were also scenes which looked like they were practicing. There were also memorable scenes, from pure laughter to serious where their acting were very natural.

III. Music
The music, unfortunately, did not make an impact. There were scenes where a powerful music fits but instead it did not have any or a weaker music was used. They should've used more.

IV. Production
The production was very good. They spent for quality materials and designs for the wardrobe of the actors. This is specially true for IU where she was able to wear historical wardrobes yet with a modern touch which fits her aura. Great job in blending the two eras.

However, close-up shots were overused to the 5th power. It wasn't needed in many of the scenes, it became annoying. In the boat scenes, there was too much backlight glare from the sun the actors (again close-up shots) can be barely seen.