The characters were nothing out of the ordinary and they made me angry most of the time which of course did not cause any good feelings towards the drama.
Chemistry between the main leads was okay but Kim So Hyun definitely had the most boring character I have ever encountered in my entire drama life. Her acting was fairly good but she had no significant character traits and I still do not understand why the crown prince fell so hard for her. The only reasons that come to my mind are their first encounter and his pity towards her.
Because of her boring character, I fell head over heels for the second female lead which usually never happens to me because they are annoying and tricky women. She was the exact opposite of that, forcing me to finish the drama just for her. She was simply an amazing character that fights for what she and her love want. Simply stunning in my opinion.
Despite her appearance and the pretty good acting and cinematography, I absolutely dislike this drama and would not recommend it to anyone. Thinking about how it actually won a few awards makes me laugh... I do not have an idea how they managed to pull that off when there were like 500 other dramas that deserved these prizes more, in my opinion. Of course, you can check this out for yourself and might end up loving it but from my point of view, you should not waste your time on this drama.
If you are looking for nice dramas, there are plenty others out there.
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This thing was crap. . . I actually tried it because of the main character since most of his dramas were nice, but this one was very dissapointing. Let me put it in a sentence:
"Two guys love same useless girl for no apparent reason and nation at stake but winning the useless girl's heart is much more important than the people sacrificing themselves."
Seriously, it begun very good but as soon as that girl with fake smile showed up, the nation was doomed, friendship was doomed, parents were doomed. . . Plz, for the sake of not making yourself feel stupid, don't watch.
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A flower must endure the hardships, to bloom beautifully
Wow, what a journey emperor is, experienced all sorts of emotions while watching it and overall a perfect historical drama.For some reason, people here in MDL love shitting the drama, but for me it deserves more praises. It had a perfect balance of light moments but gets darker wheb resolving the main problems.
At first thought the drama is about one of the most famous histrocial figure Yi Sun Sin journey but apparently not and it just happened to have same name.
Basic plot is interesting, we start off with a revolution killing the king and a crown prince running for his life, while being replaced with a fake one, it doesn't get more interesting than that. Emperor gives you things to ponder about, is the freedom you will lose worth it? Who really is the perfect ruler? Is Dae Mok really our antagonist, or the cruel society?
My favourite thing about emperor is the friendships the drama built while we follow the slow burn succesion of the crown prince.
Speaking of Dae Mok, that was the best ending for him and showed us his humane side, wish we would have seen more of his origins though. Also watch out for lots of Dae Mok wordplays and metaphors, brilliant scriptwriting and execution from the actor.
Yoo Seung Ho and Kim So Hyun as expected gave an amazing performance, they were the IT couple of Joseon!! Crown Prince was well developed character, we first saw a naive and know nothing about the country and it's people prince, but overtime we saw a slow improved King of Joseon, a problem I do have is plot armor, a character should die when they should. Some writing that had my head hurt a lot, was Ga Eun. She started off great but It's seems like as the story progresses, she becomes soooo boring as well, basically a personality of a rock. And you can trust me on that, because I'm the biggest Sohyun fan saying this.
Biggest surprise for me was Yeon Seo Hee and L. First time seeing Seo Hee acting and I came in thinking, "people are overreacting there's no way the SFL is this good" and yes I was proven wrong. Hwa Gun is the only character I was emotionally invested, I expected her betraying the prince after not reciprocating her love, but no she stayed loyal loyal, and that captured my heart. She was the only character that had consistent intentions and fought for it bravely, furthermore Ep33 cemented her, at least to me as the rightful queen.
L was honestly the best actor here, he switched sides a lot and had the deepest character development which means harder acting burden, but he carried it well.
Writing was okay, besides a few character ones I mentioned and the overused naiveness of some characters in a situation, making the conflicts feel repetitive and forced. Besides a few moments, I thought the pacing was perfectly balanced and had continuous thrill and suspense, quite the cliffhangers too, both in romance and politics side.
To end on a good note, I thought all the actors performed the action seauences well, even as a man, I can admit that Gon is such a swoon worthy bodyguard. Cinematography was good, and can be easily told that this wasn't a low budget drama. There were a lot of good soundtracks, that some are in my playlist. Personal favourites are 'star and sun' and 'can you hear my heart'
Overall a light historical drama, compared to others, it was funny and romantic for half the time. Also it still doesn't forget to give proper resolutions to the conflicts, and for that good job emperor! Would highly recommend to everyone!
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This is a typical Joseon setting drama with a series of twisted events, heavy drama, unrequited love and awesome battle scenes. I enjoy how Ga Eun and the Crown Prince fulfill their Joseon love story. I this one much because they've manage to pull the emotions despite of the plot. :)
********Highlights:
*The shyshy couple - hahahaha I hope that this ship of mine will sail. So Hyun is really great and Seung Ho really prove to be a great leading man here. Hahaha si So Hyun lang talaga eh
*Camera shots - Camera angles and battle scene shots were really superb.
*The man named Dae Mok - Woah, this sickin' villain is more than just your super power and super influential one. He'll sure make your blood boil million times because of his wisdom and cunning ways and techniques. He indeed is fearsome.
*That poison thing is money in our time - they've made a plot that is parallel with what's happening today but in a different way and it says a lot from what we do and act nowadays.
*HWA GUNNAH! - this is not your ordinary girl in the block coz' she's got some long claws, poisonous fangs but a super duper loving heart. Yeah, for me, she's the strongest female kdrama second lead. You'll hate her, love her, hate her again, like her a bit, hate her again, thank her, love her and super love her at the end yeah! Way to go Hwa gunnah.
*Cunning Kko Mol - she maybe is sweet and playful but she's indeed slick and cunning. A good observer but a bit frank little girl that made us smile several times not just because of her cuteness but with the way she teases.
*That mask thing is a freak - well I get it but it was really.... we'll just leave it there since it's part of the title :) .
*Burn poppy burn - this is my favorite scene of the drama. Hwa Gun fully knowing everything burned the heart of Pyunsoo Group. Yeah and her "smirk" is priceless. Unrequited love plus failure will surely make you furious so... come let's burn some field.
* Kim So Hyun's face actions and heart stopping smile - this is not your typical Kim So Hyun drama were she takes the spot and shine bright. Here she's a dormant virtuous lady that has the face of an angel, wisdom of a hermit but a heart of a mother (well, let's add that honey coated and sugar filled smiles). Though her character was really restricted to grow here, she made it happen with the experience she had. She related her emotions well :).
I'll gave it a 8.7, since they've got really had a hard time punching some lines here. Seung ho and So Hyun are great with adlibs, Ga Eun's story should've been improved, short childhood moments, Dae Mok and late kings story was not elaborated and what Pyunsoo Group really is. :)
Well done KSY and YSH!!!! #fordramalist
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Mask off
I found the main cast to be quite dislikable. Heo Joon Ho was the only one who had a decent performance. Yoo Seung Ho was overexaggerating with every breath and Kim So Hyun was a plank of wood. Their characters were equally as bad and underdelivering. The most important plot device in the drama was the mask, however, although its introduction was okay, but how they handled it later on was disappointing and its conclusion and reveal made the whole journey worthless to care about the mask. At the beginning, I thought they would do something clever with the mask play but it turned out it was just some random element to kick-start the story and give the drama its title.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
As much as the series was supposed to be inspired by the Game of Thrones, being unfamiliar of the series I can't quite relate to it. But I guess all the political in-fighting in this drama kinda mirror the same scenario. The whole scenario of the crown prince having to hide his face behind a mask and ended up being switched with a fake did remind me of Alexander Dumas's The Man in the Iron Mask novel. And that kinda setting being reworked into a sageuk story was what attracted me to watching this drama.
Lee Seon was quite a charming character, and Yoo Seungho really manage to bring out his innocence and strength of character as the crown prince attempts to investigate the reason why he had to hide his face. It was heartwarming to see how much the crown prince grow as he attempts to overcome his trials and tribulations and strive to retain his kind heart. That said, Kim Sohyun who played as Han Gaeun did very well to portray the noblewoman who fell from grace due to the manipulation of the evil Pyeonsoo group. As much as the character did seemed to be just a damsel in distress character, Gaeun turn out to display a different kind of strength as compared to the crown prince.
This drama was the first time I'm seeing Kim Myungsoo playing in a sageuk drama and he did quite well in playing the character of a peasant boy who happened to have a similar sounding name as the crown prince and ended up being forced to become a puppet king. Yoon Sohee as the granddaughter of the leader of Pyeonsoo group, Kim Hwagun was also a great character. It was nice to see how much Hwagun had grown from being just a selfish girl from an evil group into a much more courageous person who decided to oppose her own family in order to protect the person they love. It was really intriguing to see how the dynamics and relationship between the four start changing as the four were being dragged into the political situation.
This drama truly felt so special to me. Having known both Yoo Seungho and Kim Sohyun from their earlier child actor works, it really felt wonderful to see them both playing the leading characters of the drama. Not to mention the amount of other child actors involved in this drama as supporting and background characters, Ruler really felt like a drama series that intend to shine light to the many great acting talents of child actors and former child actors.
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The scenic beauty of this drama, a big bonus.
I think what made up for the lacks and potholes in the emperor was the attention to the side factors, seemingly unimportant elements of each scenes. From the beautiful landscapes, the plant blossoms, the stunning sunsets, the demeanor of the locals going about their business in a very matter-of fact way, the customes🥰(although I felt they could've done better with the Kings' and Queen dowagers' official wardrobe) and the soundtracks were simply amazing.*Okay I'm a huge saeguk fan,no no.... I'm an unrepentant hooogeee!! fan of Kdramas 😩😊
I'll recommend this drama for the love of Korean historicals.*
*The not so good*....... Ga Eun🤦🏽♀️, her appearance in the first episode promised alot more but about two episodes down the line,the character turned out a disappointment. As the student of medicine and a pupil of former Sungkyunkwan master,she deserved a better script than playing the trophy girl in distress. The script made it seem as though the crown Prince's character would've been utterly useless without him running over the place on her matter, with the initial plot, she ought to have been a sort of (bong Yun, roots of the throne) and not a Rapunzel waiting to be swooped, making ridiculous decisions without communication despite knowing the current challenges faced,(then there's the rushed affection between her and the CPrince, it sort of felt like the prince developed "intense love" for her mostly beacause of his role in her father's death) with the way the romance turned out, it was utterly ridiculous for her to run off as a court lady without discussions or proper planning which betrayed the "die for you" peak of their romance since at that rate she'd have known what'd crush the prince but noo....'ima jump into the war zone and hope for utopian salvation' especially when she (without backup)made those outrageous trip to the Kings' room to sniff around. Another betrayal of the supposed "hot romance" was Ga eun-ah becoming a clueless puppet when it came to her deceased father and his honor, she seemed to suggest for half of the entire drama that the Crown prince(as lord Cheon soo) be damned until she regained her father's honor.
And there's poor Hwa gun, exceptional second FL, brilliant, thoughtful and I incredibly loyal to the brutal end, after all those story saving sacrifices,she ended up sadly, it was agonizing to say the least though that sad fate is very much understandable because shits like that happen more often in life than desired.
In all, the actors did well, the potholes was in the script writing because So hyun and others would've done better but for characters scripts being poorly developed.
Nevertheless, I'll recommend this drama to absolutely anyone, especially those like myself who find pleasure in other aspects of Kdrama than the scripting.
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If you like Sageuk, plots, clever guy, duel fights, honor, respect... you might like this drama.
Scenario : a good story with intrigue, poisons, jealousy, Friendship, Love, respect
Acting : Actors and actress are quite good especially main leads.
Some parts could have been improved.
1/ Funny time: not so much
2/ Romance : this is main part to improve, but it's okay for me, i'm not looking for romance in Sageuk.
i recommand this drama.
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Story: The story is okay. In my opinion it isn't very extraordinary. A crown Prince who fights against the bad guys and falls in love with our heroine, who was falsely asccused and executed. The Crown Prince can't trust everyone but a few people who make him stronger. The Beginning of the drama was good, but later I was a little bored. I don't know why but when you've watched this and Seven Day Queen at the same time maybe you will understand me.
Acting/Cast: The cast was the main reason for watching and awaiting this drama. And it is the Main Reason because I give this drama a 8.5 and not a lower rating.
Yoo Seungho played the real crown Prince Lee Sun who has to face the angst to die since he was born. He loves the people even though they talk very much but he is a little naive. But Yoo Seungho played the role very good. Honestly I would love to see him in a melodrama with romance soon, because saeguk dramas have their weakness in this aspect. Seungho is one of the best actors when it comes to crying scenes (after Lee Junki) and he proved it again in 'Ruler'. In my opinion he was the stongest Actor in the Drama.
Kim Sohyun was very good, too. She is one of my favourite Actresses, but she was annoying towards the end. It wasn't her acting but her role. I don't knwo why but sometimes I questioned myself, why Gaeun was the 1st lead. Her Role wasn't written well, but she did her best. And for such a role she was very very good.
For Yoon Sohee I have to say it was the opposite. Her acting was bad at the beginning but her role was well written. The development of Hwa Gun let me thought that she would be better the 1st lead. Sohee did a great job after about 10 or 11 Episodes.
Kim Myungsoo (aka L of Infinite) was okay. At first I didn't like his acting, but at the end he was great. He did better than in his previous projects. His role was nice written and he acted well.
The supporting Actors and Actresses were also good. To name some of the best of them: Heo Joonho (as Daemok), Shin Hyunsoo (as Chungwoon), Lee Chaeyoung (as Maechang), Bae Yoorim (Mooha) and Park Chulmin (Woobo) were some of the Actors who carried the drama until the end. Without them it wouldn't have been a drama I would rate 8.5. So yes the Cast was the best Aspect of the Drama...
Music: The OST has very good Songs. My favourite is from Hwanhee (maybe because I love his voice). But I also like the Songs from K.Will and Hwang Chiyeol.
My wish to watch it again isn't very big but before I miss Yoo Seungho too much I would do it...Maybe, if I don't want to watch one of his other dramas again.
I hope I could help some of you a bit.
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First, I loved the villain. Dae Mok was always the first step ahead of everyone. The way he plotted & schemed against everyone. I loved that.
At first, Crown Prince Lee Sun was immature, native and foolish. But after experiencing so much, he became mature, smart & scheming. But he is too kind-hearted for his own good. He cares for people more than anything. It could've been great if he had been a little bit brutal.
Kim Hwa Gun is another character that I liked. She was always devoted to Crown Prince Lee Sun. She did everything in her capacity to help & save him from her grandfather. She loved him so much that she could die for him. I wished Crown Prince Lee Sun & Kim Hwa Gun were a couple. Their love story could've been interesting to watch. A forbidden love story.
I find Commoner Lee Sun irritating & annoying. I never once sympathized with him. In the middle of the drama, the things he did annoy me to the core. I skipped so many scenes of him. He didn't even have any character development. I get it that he is a puppet of the group, but still some growth in his character could've been nice to watch.
It's a quadrangle love story. Kim Hwa Gun's love was pure & honest towards Crown Prince Lee Sun. Even if he didn't love her, all she wanted was to see him safe & happy. On the other hand, Commoner Lee Sun's love for Han Ga Eun turns into an obsession. And our dear Han Ga Eun had no idea about it for quite a long time. I mean how come a girl doesn't notice if a boy loves her or not when he is behaving out of his character for you.
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Even ‘Ole School Korean Dramas’ can entertain you.
The Emperor: Owner of the Mask (2017) is a period drama and will remind many Korean Drama devotees of another period drama, ‘The Crowned Clown’ (2019). There are 40 episodes of 30 minutes each. This Korean drama is well worth that commitment time of 20 hours. This commitment is a slow boil, as it builds to a loud crescendo in the back part of the drama. At times this drama becomes a little melodramatic, but by episode 20 the pace is allegro (quick, fast) as action builds to a burst. This is an ‘Ole School’ type Korean Drama.Emperor: Owner of the Mask has court intrigue, twists and turns, and several great love triangles. “To whom does power really belong?”, that is the question. It belongs to The Owner of the Mask. How that plays out is slow but great storytelling. The drama received post awards for screenwriting. Emperor: Owner of the Mask started off in Korea at a viewing audience rating of 10% for episode 1, which starts off this drama as a hit drama (10% is considered a hit drama). The drama reached a rating of 16% by the finale, with some of its episodes as high as 20% of the viewing public. The last two episodes have some issues, but these can be overlooked.
Cast
Kim So-Hyun (Love Alarm, My Lovely Liar)—She is a beast of an actress, who started off in the industry as a child actress.
Kim Myung-Soo (Royal Secret Agent, Angels Last Mission:Love)—Kpop band member from INFINITE and an actor. He does a great job in this drama
Yoo Seung Ho (Memorist, My Strange Hero)—He is also a child actor, reaching heartthrob status by age 18 years old in his memorable Korean Drama Warrior Baek Dong Soo.
Yoon So-Hee (Ghost Doctor, The Spies Who Loved Me)— She does a great job in her role.
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