Goong

Imagine a pact being sealed between the late emperor and his commoner friend years ago, being materalised in the modern times.

Adapted from a best-selling comic in Korea and "Princess Hours" as its English translation of the title, it's about the adventures and mis-adventures of a commoner-turned-crown princess. Chae-kyung, a student who takes design at an arts school, has always got her friends around her. And despite her family situation, she takes things in her stride. But it all changed when the current Crown Prince of the royal family 19-year-old Lee Shin is attending the school, leaving the school all in a buzz of excitement.

But Chae-kyung don't let that get into her head till a public confrontation with the Crown Prince happened. At the same time, rumours went around that the Crown Prince has to find a wife in order to continue the royal line.

But Lee Shin longed had a girl he liked, but she rejected his proposal. Then it was know that many years ago, Chae-kyung's late grandfather who is a friend of the late emperor (who happened to be the late grandfather of Crown Prince Lee Shin), had made a pact that their future grandchildren will fall in love and be married. It became interesting because Chae-kyung is the only female in school who dared to go against Lee Shin.

The marriage did went ahead and it even invited worldwide media attention. This is where the former Crown Princess and one-time famous actress Hwa Young and her 19-year-old son Lee Yul come into the scene given they had been staying in the UK for 14 years. Hwa Young had asked her son to return home before she did, in order to stage a comeback into the royal family where she was banished from 14 years ago after the death of her husband. Unfortunately, her son slowly took a liking for his sister-in-law. To make it more complicated, the two of them are classmates.

Along the way, there are many obstacles for the royal family (domestic problems and beyond) and even in the form of Lee Shin's former girlfriend as well. A whole new can of worms had also been opened as well on the royal family's past along the way. But, can Chae-kyung save the day, given she has a happy-go-lucky personality especially in the eyes of the Queen Mother.

The clash of commoner life meets royalty can be quite a hit in the modern era, where royal life can still be seen as a novelty sometimes.

I absolutely love this K-drama and I have watched it countless times. I just finished rewatching it, yet I already feel like watching it again. The actors and actresses have incredible chemistry, and their performances are truly unforgettable. Although it was released a long time ago, I still wish the main actors and actress could reunite in another drama. Their pairing is extraordinary, and I can't help but adore them both. Watching this again reminded me of the thrill and excitement of romance that recent K-dramas haven't quite captured. It might sound exaggerated, but I genuinely love them.

It was a really hard sell when a core part of the plot was the male lead treating the female lead like a piece of crap, combined with the "oh no he doesn't know how to express his feelings", these tropes are better left in fanfiction. The case was even worse due to the absolute lack of any chemistry between any of the four leads, this was the definition of negative rizz. It got even worse, all of the three leading cast Ju Ji Hoon & Song Ji Hyo & Kim Jeong Hoon brought an utterly abysmal joke of a performance, admittedly, this was their first main role and was totally incomparable with their current performance, all of them went to do much better and bigger things, it's better to forget they worked on this drama. On the other hand, Yoon Eun Hye was pulling the entire thing together, solo carrying whatever left to be salvaged. Her dynamic with her friends and family was quite good, but not with any of the leads. The puppets at the end of each episode were a nice touch, it would have been nicer if they incorporated that in the drama itself. The earlier parts of the drama were generally better, the events in the palace were a bit boring. To build up for the climax, the last 4 episodes created the last point of tension however it was seriously atrocious writing, one of the worst conflicts I've seen a writer come up with. It was just pure bad writing from that point until the last frame of the drama. If they slapped in some random terminal illness nuances it would've been a better serviceable finale. If anything, I'm only remembering this drama for its awful last few episodes. At least it was much better than Boys Over Flowers (2009).

After I've watched Boys over flowers and completely hated it, I was thinking of not even picking up Princess' Hours. Especially since it was twenty four episodes long! But, this drama proved me wrong. It is one of the few times that I couldn't stop watching a drama. The story is catchy and the couple has extremely chemistry, which aids the drama tremendously. Now, there were some trops of that period that the drama followed, like the annoying parents (who were better than others though), the mean mother in law, the love triangle with the second lead being an angel and so making it difficult to not root for him. Plus, some twists were idiotic. But the execution was good and the pace really well managed. So, eight out of ten.

i love this romantic love story soooooooo much!!

the prince is so lonely, so gentle, so generous, so man!!!!!

do u think a man like him can be true in real life? i envy such deep love between he and his lover...

although mixed with pain and doubt, and beginning with a forced wedding, their love is warm and deep and pure.

and the cute teddy bears, adds love air too.

the story gives us a hope for true love.. it reminds me of such feeling which has gone too far away and too long ago in my heart.

love will melt icy lonely heart. love will open your door of heart toward a sunny garden.

u will hope the best moments will never end, when your hands were grasped by your lover and when you sleep so safely in your lover's arms. at least the TV series make me think of that and hope for that.

oh god, give me such a love bah!