Horas de Princesa

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).

Palace, also known as "Princess Hours", is a Corean television drama, based on a concurrent comic book. Upon its airing, it became one of the most popular dramas to air during its time period. Set in an alternate reality where upon Corea's independence from Japan, its people reinstate its royal family in the form of a constitutional monarchy. What unfolds over the course of the series is an emotionally charged, slowly paced, relationship drama featuring a quartet of principles, combined with courtly intrigue and remarkable production and art design.

This is my second experience with a Corean television drama and I came into it with a lot of skepticism after being disappointed by my previous attempt with Winter Sonata. However, I found Palace a lot more accessible and enjoyable and less contrived. One of its strongest aspects is it's production values and art design. The whole affair glows from the money that's pumped into it, from huge set pieces (the royal wedding parade scene was tremendous) and gorgeous costumes, to high quality video and sets. There's a lot of eye candy in the picture and it's easily one of the prettiest dramas I've seen in a while.

The story essentially follows a spirited high school girl, who by a long-forgotten betrothal, becomes the bride of the Crown Prince of Corea. It follows her entry into the monarchy and the ensuing turmoil as she and the palace itself adapts to their new situation. Throw in some complications with the Crown Prince's original love (who spurns him at first, leading to this marriage) as well as the return of the conniving exiled former Crown Princess and Royal Prince and you have courtly battles for power as well as the development of a tangled web of relationships. Granted, it doesn't take much effort to see how the story's going to play out as it's actually relatively straightforward. Instead of high degrees of "action", we instead follow, very slowly, the development of the characters as their collisions cause them all to react and grow. That said, while I found the characters fairly interesting, the show suffers a little from developing the characters too slowly, often threatening the characters becoming flat. This is especially true of the returned Royal Prince, who becomes fairly stale.

The newlyweds however, retain a lot of chemistry and their bickering on-off relationship helps propel the story forward and fortunately, the crux of Palace rests on that story. The other parts of the story don't lend themselves to much surprise and fail to provide the same dynamism, as such, I often found that many scenes could be trimmed or entire episodes rewritten and cut down to keep the pace of the story afloat. The underlying themes and "substance" to the story are a little weak and as such Palace becomes a little bit more of a confection, often veering into and from soap territory, but it wears its heart on its sleeve and its pleasures are in sharing those up front emotions with its viewers.

Props to the actors, the young unknowns that take the main roles. Although they are sometimes a little stiff, you can tell that they're not just rattling off the performances and the veterans do their jobs as well as you can expect from veterans of the screen. The direction gets a little quirky at times, perhaps thanks to its comic book heritage, with a handful of manic or ridiculous fantasy/daydream sequences, but ultimately, this is a straightforward work and it doesn't really falter where it counts.

I can recommend Palace quite simply because it's easy to get into, has a lot to look at, and has a emotionally hooking central love story. While it does plod at times, I found myself enough enchanted by the principal protagonist and her Cinderella story that it was still easy to watch the whole thing through to the end. I don't think Palace rewrites the book at all when it comes to its medium, genre or format, but I think it's a fun ride. It doesn't hurt that I love its alterna-history imagination as well. It's fun, lightweight (even though it gets heavy for the characters) entertainment and a decent entering place into the world of Corean dramas. 8/10.

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!

The story setting is the romance between the prince of korea and an ordinary girl schoolmate. Like Fated to love, romance grows after their marriage. It is always fascinating too to watch life within the palace, like in King2heart.

The plot is well-written. Their love grows so naturally as they face difficulties together.

The most funny and memorable scene is when they first stay together in a room for a night. Serving maids waiting outside the room to check if they actually sleep together. But actually nothing happens between them. It is so funny to see how the male lead has to suppress his sexual needs.

Female lead is cute and pretty. Her character in the story is so optismistic and lovely. She refreshes the life of the royal family. Male lead is always stern looking. . But this suits his role as a cool prince.

A drama that survives through time. Still regards as a classical love story after more than 10 years.

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.