The First Night with the Duke

DELIGHTFUL!! No disappointments from this drama as far as I'm concerned. A true fantasy tale that delivers on romantic comedy needs. It was extremely satisfying to watch and funny in so many different ways. While additional time (by way of 2 more episodes) spent explaining foundational points of the first 3 episodes and tying up loose ends on the last 2 episodes, I still give this 10🌟 as it was a close to perfect romance drama,

Ok Taec-Yeon and Seohyun had a chemistry so real, thrilling and tender it covered up any gaps in telling such a unique and fun story. Some inconsistency around supporting characters caused a bit of plot anxiety. Heros become villains, villains become heroes for no other reason than to direct the story to a satisfactory end. Yes it worked! Some months ago in writing another K-drama review I mused that some viewers want a happy ending that takes you with the characters into their everyday future. Just to see what it looks like. IMO it would make a drama so much more memorable and enjoyable to see the outcome some time in the future. What was the family life like? How many children did they have? Are they happy? And so forth. Instead of the old "and they lived happily ever after" with a 30 second wrap up. Let's just say, I found the ending to my personal taste.

Below are my spot check ratings:

Actors Chosen. 10/10 (100% 👍🏾) Characters as written 9/10 Story/Plot 10/10 Story as told 9/10 Art Direction/Cimematography 10/10 Music OST 10/10 Costume 10/10 Entertainment Value 10/10 Fantasy Story Resolution 10/10 Length of drama 10/10 (even though it could have had an extra 2 episodes to refine the tale telling.

I usually don't watch Kdrama because I feel it gets too cheesy for me, but this one hit all the right spots for a romantic series. It's straight to the point, low stakes, absolutely romantic, funny, whimsical and the leads are so adorable together. The scenery is stunning and fresh, and the story captivates you, even the side characters are well written and you'll find yourself rooting for them, my fav side character is Do Hwa-seon, I just loved her sassiness. This is easily one of my favourite dramas in recent times, and I can see it becoming a guilty pleasure watch. I hope there will be another season!

I should also add that I logged into my imbd account after 5 years just to leave a review 10 stars.

First Night with the Duke is an enjoyable drama. It is over the top funny, silly, and definitely romantic. Its 12 episode format is well paced with a definite ending. The character driven storyline feels fresh yet familiar. Tacyeon is a great actor and I would love to see him in English language dramas. Hollywood doesn't know what its missing!

A modern day college student time travels and finds herself in her favourite historical romantic novel where she expects to be a side character but ends up being the lead. Seohyeun plays Cha Seonchaek the time traveller superbly with a cheeky and endearing performance. The duke Lee Beon is played by Ok Taec-yeon who has a horrible reputation at court for being the ruthless hunting dog for the Emperor. We have the usual side stories with various factions fighting behind the scenes to seize power with good performances from the entire cast. I do think it falls a little short in the plot as little thought is given to the back story of most of the cast as all concentration is on the romance.

I have decided to quit watching after 4 episodes as this drama is just waaay too silly and low level for my liking. The other casts are ok, except for the female lead that is just annoying. I get that the character is from the modern world but she exaggerates every expressions, loud and unclassy, a character that's not likeable. The "love" story is lame & forced, very childish indeed. The script is probably written for kids or people that like brainless idiotic series.