[Drama 2020] The King: Eternal Monarch, 더 킹: 영원의 군주

[Chellsee]

16 hours ago, mrsj3n said:

Nah.. our King already declared she is the Queen. Lol

 

But come to think of it, she has yet to accept.

So who knows? She will declare she accept being the Queen yah? 

 

Our King did his declaration and he chose his Queen, but my girl didn't say anything yet. Sigh.

What is confirmed, our King and Queen loves each other. The latter was braved and said it first.

She is his Princess Diana for now. 

 

 

We are halfway, there's more to unfold and I have high hopes that we will all smile in the end. 

[Heretorant]

Is no one going to talk about how PM asked,

 

“Aren’t you getting married, your majesty?” 
 

Are they deliberating tricking us? Or are we really going to get a wedding? Rumors has it wedding bells are ringing. I honestly don’t see how it can happen but I’ll take it. 

[koreaboooo]

2 hours ago, Heretorant said:

Is no one going to talk about how PM asked,

 

“Aren’t you getting married, your majesty?” 
 

Are they deliberating tricking us? Or are we really going to get a wedding? Rumors has it wedding bells are ringing. I honestly don’t see how it can happen but I’ll take it. 

 

I'll take any wedding fake or not as long as it's between LG and JTE. Ofc, I would prefer real but can't be too choosy at this point in the drama. 

[gtLmh0622]

https://goggler.my/the-king-eternal-monarch-review/?utm_source=imdb&utm_medium=socmed

 

The King: Eternal Monarch

Dept. of Lee Min-ho-ing It

April 28, 2020April 30, 2020

TV Reviews/TV

by Umapagan Ampikaipakan

 

Umapagan Ampikaipakan decides to pop his K-drama cherry by getting in on the ground floor with the brand new Lee Min-ho series The King: Eternal Monarch.

 

Barely ten minutes into the first episode and I’m hooked. A tense interrogation by the police flashes back to an incredible face-off between two brothers, one the reigning monarch, the other, a resentful bastard looking to usurp his throne. Both men stand in stark contrast, the traditional and the modern, the king and his guards in their royal regalia, the assassin and his henchmen in slick black suits. There are guns and swords. There are shards of glass and snow raining from above. The room drenched in blood. It is a stunning scene, choreographed with such care, as to create suspense and drama and mystery.

Fine. I’m a believer. Actually, scratch that. I’m a convert. Born again and spreading the good word to anyone who will listen. I might as well be starting every conversation with: “have you heard the good news?” I spent most of the week going on and on about this exciting new discovery of mine while the rest of the world rolls their collective eyes. “Tell us something we don’t know,” they say. “The last decade called, they were wondering where you’ve been?”

Why didn’t anyone tell me these things were so good? Okay. Maybe they did. Over and over again. For years. Maybe I just didn’t listen. But I’m here now, incredibly late, but fashionably so. For I don’t think I could have picked a better place to start than with The King: Eternal Monarch.

 

 

But before I go any further, a primer for all my fellow freshmen. The King: Eternal Monarch marks the long-awaited return of OG heart-throb Lee Min-ho to our small screens. After taking a three year hiatus from show business in order to fulfil his mandatory service with the South Korean military, the series sees him paired with Kim Go-eun (of Goblin fame) for a world hopping, wibbily wobbly timey wimey tale of action, adventure, romance, and drama.

The series, sees our characters traverse two parallel worlds, our own present day reality and an alternate one in which Corea (that’s Korea spelled with a “c” according to Netflix’s subtitles) remained a monarchy, complete with a king, a four tiger sword, and a magical flute. This fantastical premise serves as the foundation for our story. Of an illegitimate prince murdering his way to the throne, of a romance that transcends time and space, and all of the conflict and intrigue in between.

 

 

Lee Min-ho is utterly charming as the intelligent and thoughtful King struggling with the traumas of his past. Watching this, it is immediately clear why he is such a star. His ability to switch seamlessly between commanding and vulnerable, between the dramatic and comedy, is truly something to behold. And then there’s his face. So pristine it looks like it was sculpted from a single block of marble by Michelangelo himself. For years, I sat next to a colleague who was obsessed with Lee Min-ho. I now understand why.

 

Kim Go-eun too is eminently watchable as Jung Tae-eul. She isn’t just another damsel in distress looking to be saved. In line with her character, she is everything a police detective should be: observant and skeptical, in relentless pursuit of the truth.

 

The both of them have incredible chemistry. Not just with each other, but with every one of the other characters. There are complex and emotional interactions here. Which make for a truly interesting ensemble.

 

 

The King: Eternal Monarch is soapy and operatic. It is melodrama at its finest. But I urge you to look past the soft focus slow pans, the hopelessly sentimental music, and the heavy make up, because there is so much more here.

 

The Koreans, it seems, have fine tuned their ability to craft this sort of serialised fiction. By now, we’re all incredibly well-versed with the mechanics of storytelling. We know how a plot unfolds, how characters evolve, and how mysteries are unveiled. The K-drama leans into what we know, cunningly manipulating us, by withholding information, by teasing us with minor reveals, and giving us just enough to leave us coming back for more.

 

What’s more, the series is also very aware of everything that has come before. It builds on those fictions. There is a pace to the storytelling, where obvious plot points are dispensed with quickly, leaving room for new dramatic tensions. This isn’t, say, Lucifer, where you’re 40 episodes in and Chloe still refuses to believe that Luci is the actual devil. This is a series that doesn’t rely on unnecessarily prolonged contrivances to keep you interested. It quickly answers the will-they-won’t-they question and creates new conflicts instead.

 

Spoiler

 

The most fascinating thing about The King: Eternal Monarch is how unafraid it is of genre. (Which, I have since learned, is one of writer Kim Eun-sook’s signature traits.) This one show seamlessly blends science fiction and fantasy, police procedurals and romantic dramas, with a little political and palace intrigue thrown in for good measure. This is all but unheard of in the West, where the mere threat of science fiction is enough to scare audiences off. Surely you remember the barrage of think pieces that tried to explain how Game of Thrones was successful in creating appeal among demographics that would otherwise be turned off by all of that “Lord of the Rings nonsense”. Here, our hero uses the idea of zero being a complex number to flirt.

 

Spoiler

 

I’m new to this. Which means that all of this is new to me. If you are a seasoned observer, you might already know how all of this plays out. As for me, besides the simple notion of “love conquers all”, I have no idea what’s coming next. And it’s left me counting down the days until the next episode.

 

If you’ve been here all this time, if you’ve been a long-time devotee, then this is me reaffirming what you already knew. I’m not here to preach to the converted. I’m here to join your heavenly choir.

 

If you’re not already watching The King: Eternal Monarch, or K-drama in general, I’m here to tell you not to be like me. Stop wasting your life watching reruns of The Big Bang Theory. Do yourself a favour and get in on this instead. I promise that you won’t be disappointed.

I’m going to leave you now with a picture of Lee Min-ho on a white horse.

 

Spoiler

 

 

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ps. Umapagan is a media moll. You can find him almost everywhere – from newsprint to the world wide web, from radio to television – where he contemplates everything from the idiosyncrasies of Malaysian politics to his unnatural obsession with the written word. Blessed with a critic’s pen and a reader’s enthusiasm, Uma (as he is fondly known), is one of our foremost literary voices. His long-running radio show, Bookmark on BFM89.9, is Malaysia’s pre-eminent broadcast on all things book related.

 

[Heretorant]

10 minutes ago, koreaboooo said:

 

I'll take any wedding fake or not as long as it's between LG and JTE. Ofc, I would prefer real but can't be too choosy at this point of the drama. 

And I’ll take a wedding between lmh and kge over LeeEul any day. 

 

Wait, is this The King’s thread? 
 

Wrong thread. 
 

[syntyche]

Major foreign media outlets are posting articles on the popularity of K-content, which is visiting viewers' screens around the world on Netflix. This is due to Netflix investing on K-content produced by Korean creators that is exported to more than 190 countries. Beyond Southeast Asia where the Korean Wave fan base is strong, entertainment fans in the U.S. and Japan are also drawn to Korean content through Netflix.

 

Netflix continues to invest in quality K-content for its 183 million paid subscribers worldwide. In addition to years of partnerships with local content companies such as JTBC, CJ ENM and Studio Dragon, they are also working on producing original Korean content and producing new and fresh stories told by Korean storytellers.

 

This is possible because Netflix believes that good stories come from everywhere in the world and are loved everywhere, unlike most global content companies that have regarded Korea and other overseas markets as content export markets. Netflix is actively investing in works made by creators, actors and producers in the country, focusing on great storytelling itself, not on nationality or genre.

...

Asahi Shimbun, a leading Japanese daily, also intensively introduced Korean dramas, which have recently become very popular in Japan, and analyzed that more Japanese people enjoy K-content at home through Netflix. According to the daily Top 10, which Netflix releases every day,  ... and  "The King: Eternal Monarch" are loved by Japanese viewers. Some say that the Korean Wave in Japan, which had slowed down somewhat, is rekindling with Netflix. Although the works are broadcast on TV and Netflix in Korea, they are introduced as original Korean Netflix in Japan and other foreign countries.

Singapore daily The Straits Times published an article titled "The Unstoppable Rise of K-drama," highlighting the wide popularity and extraordinary competitiveness of K-content. In an interview with Kim Eun-hee, author of the Netflix original series "Kingdom," the article stressed that Netflix and other streaming services played the biggest role in spreading K-content. Netflix is also said to have contributed to the diversification of K-content. 

 

The Straits Times quoted Kim Min-young, head of Netflix's Korean content division, as saying, "We are helping Korean directors and writers who collaborate with Netflix to show stories that have been difficult to create so far through freedom of creativity," and that it is possible to discover and produce various Korean content that takes into account individual tastes without restrictions such as intermediate advertising or programming of Internet streaming services.

 

http://www.thedrive.co.kr/news/newsview.php?ncode=1065577165803523

[Jad068]

13 hours ago, leeminhosny said:

Netflix The King

#1 Korea

#1 Pihilippines (for 3 days )

#1 Hong Kong (for 2 days)

#2 Sri Lanka 

#4 Peru

Just these I can see on TW

Still number one in Philippines for four days straight (Sat-Tues)

[leeminhosny]

13 minutes ago, syntyche said:

Major foreign media outlets are posting articles on the popularity of K-content, which is visiting viewers' screens around the world on Netflix. This is due to Netflix investing on K-content produced by Korean creators that is exported to more than 190 countries. Beyond Southeast Asia where the Korean Wave fan base is strong, entertainment fans in the U.S. and Japan are also drawn to Korean content through Netflix.

 

 

I found this too while I search Wavve

 

https://variety.com/2020/digital/asia/universal-korean-content-from-wavve-ott-1234579346/

[Yippeun_eonnie]

 

from all of her appearance in this drama, I really like her in this outfit.... its somehow looks good on her even her colleagues said its a fashion disaster kekekekekekekekkek

 

I want to know about her character more, most forum said that she is "too cold" in showing her love to the king, but I guess her character as a policewoman show that she has minus in showing romance or the gesture, even she mean to be really romantic.

 

[Joanna Alfson]

Kings guard? Spoiler scene

[leeminhosny]

31 minutes ago, Jad068 said:

Still number one in Philippines for four days straight (Sat-Tues)

Thank you , I just know that Netflix never want to lose LMH I hope he will work Legend Of The Blue Sea PD again 

[Heretorant]

@leeminhosny @syntyche from what I understand, this drama is airing on all SBS, Netflix and Wavve. The key takeaway is that Wavve is partially owned by SBS and shows on there are from SBS, KBS, and MBC (no cable shows). The King has been number 1 four weeks straight on Wavve. So it looks like most people are choosing to watch on Wavve instead of SBS but technically, it’s about the same thing. I’m not sure who needs to hear this (not most of us on here) but SBS is doing just fine! They’re earning profit by airing this show on Wavve too. Correct me if I’m wrong. 
 

Btw, I wonder who’s reporting that The King is not doing well. They top Netflix South Korea and Wavve. And they top Netflix all over the world. Have Koreans themselves say The King is a failure? Or are these just international people who don’t know their information? Clearly it’s doing well in South Korea, regardless of the ratings. 

[leeminhosny]

2 minutes ago, Heretorant said:

@leeminhosny @syntyche from what I understand, this drama is airing on all SBS, Netflix and Wavve. The key takeaway is that Wavve is partially owned by SBS and shows on there are from SBS, KBS, and MBC (no cable shows). The King has been number 1 four weeks straight on Wavve. So it looks like most people are choosing to watch on Wavve instead of SBS but technically, it’s about the same thing. I’m not sure who needs to hear this (not most of us on here) but SBS is doing just fine! They’re earning profit by airing this show on Wavve too. Correct me if I’m wrong. 
 

Btw, I wonder who’s reporting that The King is not doing well. They top Netflix South Korea and Wavve. And they top Netflix all over the world. Have Koreans themselves say The King is a failure? Or are these just international people who don’t know their information? Clearly it’s doing well in South Korea, regardless of the ratings. 

Korea doesn't report international success , they judge just rating so they say failure, Korea doesn't know us unfortunately and haters use this opportunity for judge KES and LMH, They never talk about Wavve and Netlix 

[Geolyvseven]

[leeminhosny]

9 minutes ago, Heretorant said:

 

Btw, I wonder who’s reporting that The King is not doing well. They top Netflix South Korea and Wavve. And they top Netflix all over the world. Have Koreans themselves say The King is a failure? Or are these just international people who don’t know their information? Clearly it’s doing well in South Korea, regardless of the ratings. 

And everyday reporters search new mistakes and  write articles again and again .

[Geolyvseven]

PM Koo 

[syntyche]

 

 

Dual roles in "The King": a summary of characters in the parallel worlds

 

'The King-Eternal monarch' is enhancing the persuasiveness of the parallel world view through different characters with the same face in the Korean Empire and Korea.

 

In the seventh and eighth episodes of the SBS Friday-Saturday drama "The King-Eternal Monarch" (written by Kim Eun-sook/directed by Baek Sang-hoon, produced by Hwa & Dam Pictures) aired last week, Luna (played by Kim Go-eun), a criminal of the Korean Empire who looks just like Jung Tae-eul (played by Kim Go-eun) was revealed, as well as the shocking story behind Kang Shin-jae (played by Kim Kyung-nam), a member of the Violent Crimes Squad 3. In this regard, the dual roles of actors in the Korean Empire and the Republic of Korea were organized into three categories: "Shock," "Desperation," and "Myo-ryeong."

 

1. 'Surprised existence'

Dual roles, "the existence itself is a shock," left a strong impact on viewers.

1-1. Eight-year-old Korean Empire Emperor Lee Gon vs. Eight-year-old Deceased Lee Ji-hoon of South Korea [Children-Jeong Hyun-jun]

Lee Gon, an eight-year-old emperor of the Korean Empire, and Lee Ji-hoon, an eight-year-old Korean, are at the heart of a dual role that explains the parallel world view. Of the two children with the same face, one grew up as the crown prince of the Korean Empire and one grew up as a child of a poor family in Korea. Lee Gon, an 8-year-old who witnessed the death of his father Sun Hwang-je (Kwon Yul) with his own eyes, and an 8-year-old Lee Ji-hoon, who lost his life after witnessing the death of his uncle Lee Sung-jae (Lee Jung-jin) in a wheelchair, were presented with the fate of misfortune by a wicked man named Lee Rim (Lee Jeong-jin) of the Korean Empire.

1-2. Korean Empire Criminal Luna vs. Korean Detective Jung Tae-eul [Kim Go-eun]

Among the shocking dual roles are Luna, a criminal of the Korean Empire, and Jeong Tae-eul, a detective of the Republic of Korea. Luna, a Korean Empire criminal who uses violence casually and has no home or identity , and Jeong Tae-eul, a righteous and cheerful figure leading the Squad 3 of the Jongno Police Station in the Republic of Korea, caught the eye with extreme visuals.

1-3. Jo Young-jo, commander of the Korean Imperial Guard vs. Jo Eun-seop, a South Korean social service worker [Woo Do-hwan]

Another set of main characters with shocking dual role transformation are Jo Young, general of the imperial guard of the Korean Empire, and Jo Eun-seop, a Korean social service worker. They have the same face, but showed extreme difference in their hairstyles, fashion, speech and behavior. In particular, the fantastic meeting between the two in the last episode caused laughter and made us look forward to a more maximized performance in the future.

2. Human Desire

In some dual roles in "The King," there are dangerous characters who have eliminated their other selves due to human desire, raising the drama's tension.

2-1. Lee Rim, the Imperial Geum of the Korean Empire vs. Lee Seong-jae, the deceased Korean with polio [Lee Jung-jin]

Lee Rim of the Korean Empire, the eldest son and bastard, who wanted to be a god by conquering the two worlds with the Manpasikjeok, was appointed as Imperial Geum at the age of 13. On the other hand, Lee Seong-jae of Korea, born with poliomyelitis and has the same face as Lee Rim, was killed 24 years ago by Lee Rim. Since the beginning of Lee Rim's desire to become a god, the balance between the two worlds was threatened.

2-2 Sun-young of the royal court of the Korean Empire vs. Min Hwa-yeon, the mother of Kang Shin-jae [Hwang Young-hee]

Sun-young, from the palace of the royal family of the Korean Empire has the same face as Min Hwa-yeon, the mother of Kang Shin-jae of the Republic of Korea. Their sons also have the same face. Above all, the two are causing problems in their respective worlds. Sun-young goes to the bookstore of Yoo Kyung-moo (Lee Hae-young), a subordinate of Lee Rim, and serves as a spy to inform about Emperor Lee Gon, while Min Hwa-yeon is suffering from gambling addiction. In the 8th episode, Sun-young was seen crying as she looks at Kang Shin-jae's photos left in a book, leaving questions about the story.

2-3 Park Ji-young, daughter-in-law of a chaebol family in the Korean Empire vs. a poor pregnant woman in Korea [Park Ji-yeon]

Park Ji-young is the granddaughter of the founder of a large pharmaceutical company in the Korean Empire and a daughter-in-law of a chaebol, and also a junior of the Korean Empire's prime minister, Koo Seo-ryeong (Jung Eun-chae). Meanwhile, in Korea, her counterpart is a poor pregnant woman who signed a contract with Lee Rim due to her human desire. The two are living completely different lives in the Korean Empire and Korea. Moreover, Lee Rim raised tension as he said, "You can kill the other you," to the poor pregnant woman as part of the plan to steal the life of Park Ji-young of the Korean Empire.

3. Curiosity is mounting as some of the dual roles have yet to be identified.

3-1. Korean Empire 9-year-old boy vs. Korean detective Kang Shin-jae [Kim Kyung-nam]

Kang Shin-jae was shocked to learn of a nine-year-old boy in a parallel world having the same face as his. Attention is focusing on the story of Kang Shin-jae, who remembered scribbling a flower in his notebook and an eight-year-old emperor Lee Gon, and thought it was a nightmare coming to Korea from the Korean Empire.

3-2. Prime Minister of the Korean Empire vs. Korean Glasses Girl [Jung Eun Chae]

Ku Seo-ryeong, the prime minister of the Korean Empire, was surprised to find a woman wearing glasses who looked just like her in a mysterious newspaper sent from her home. Curiosity arises on the identity of the woman with glasses, who is cheering for baseball in the Korean newspaper with news on "Trump, the U.S. President who stepped on North Korean soil" and "BTS."

3-3. Myeong Seung-ah of the Korean Empire vs. Myeong Nari of the Republic of Korea [Kim Yong-ji]

Myeong Seung-ah, an employee of the Korean Empire's public affairs office, and Myeong Na-ri, the owner of a Korean cafe, are figures with the same face. With subtle differences in personality between cheerfulness and coolness, Myeong Seung-ah and Myeong Na-ri are expected to interact with Jo Young of the Korean Empire and Cho Eun-seop of the Republic of Korea.

3-4. Son of a master of the Korean Empire vs. Dead body in the trunk of a car in Korea [Kim Jong-tae]

In the last episode, a master's son of the Korean Empire with a face like Lee Sang-do, who was found dead in a trunk in Korea, appeared and stole attention. With the appearance of Lee Gon in the stable, doubts are mounting over the awkward behavior of Lee Sang-do of the Korean Empire.

3-5. Yu Kyung-moo of the Korean Empire vs. Lee Hae-young of the Republic of Korea [Lee Hae-young]

Yu Kyung-moo, who led the "night of treason" in the Korean Empire with Lee Rim, cast doubts as he also existed in the same position with the same face in South Korea. Attention is focusing on whether Yu Kyung-moo of the two worlds will be able to stay with Lee Rim until the end.

"The King" will have a series of stories that mix characters from the Korean Empire and the Republic of Korea," the production company Hwa & Dam Pictures said. "Please look forward to how the dual roles will fill the drama's narrative more closely."

Meanwhile, the ninth episode of SBS' "The King of Eternity" will air at 10 p.m. on Friday.

 

http://pop.heraldcorp.com/view.php?ud=202005120956532095446_1

[Layali]

12 minutes ago, leeminhosny said:

Korea doesn't report international success , they judge just rating so they say failure, Korea doesn't know us unfortunately and haters use this opportunity for judge KES and LMH, They never talk about Wavve and Netlix 

That's due to lazy journalists trashing it solely by tv ratings. If they analyzed it from the diverse platforms the show is viewed through,they could easily inform the masses that TKEM is indeed widely popular. SK netizens have a herd mentality..they conform to what every one else is watching so ratings merely on tv is telling them its not worth it. I think production house should do media play and release news articles within SK to let this WAVE,Netflix success be known to wider public. 

[leeminhosny]

Just now, Layali said:

That's due to lazy journalists trashing it solely by tv ratings. If they analyzed it from the diverse platforms the show is viewed through,they could easily inform the masses that TKEM is indeed widely popular. SK netizens have a herd mentality..they conform to what every one else is watching so ratings merely on tv is telling them its not worth it. I think production house should do media play and release news articles within SK to let this WAVE,Netflix success be known to wider public. 

I really curious why Sutio Dragon doesn't make news about success , maybe They just earn and don't care these hate comments about actors , because Studio Dragon is one from biggest company, maybe just actors and theirs fan worry about this.

[ktcjdrama]

Tbh, I have not come across any report that out-rightly says TKEM flops. I feel like it's all the saying of individuals (bloggers, commenters, etc.) who seem to only go by the national ratings in South Korea.

 

That's why I could never understand the worry that this drama is not doing well... How can it not be doing well when it is already airing globally and viewed by millions of people?

 

The dual characters should be anticipated already since the premise of the story is parallel worlds. For me, I just didn't expect so many people to be involved because of the main villain active eliminating and grooming of his army of supporters.