9. The King 2 Hearts

Broadcast: Mar-May 2012
Episodes: 20, Romance/Comedy/Action
Cast 
Lee Seung Ki as Lee Jae Ha
Ha Ji Won as Kim Hang Ah
Jo Jung Suk as Eun Shi Kyung
Yoon Je Moon as Kim Bong Goo / John Mayer
Lee Yoon Ji as Lee Jae Shin

The last Kdrama I saw with Ha Ji Won was Secret Garden where she starred along side Hyun Bin. I really enjoyed Secret Garden, but that will be another review for later.

There were a lot of drama irks in this one. I was so annoyed with them that I even considered not finishing watching this one, but I preservered and completed it anyway.

This drama was set in modern day Seoul with a fictional constitutional monarchy. It's about trying to keep peace and even attempt to unite North and South Korea in a marriage between a Northern Korean special forces officer, Kim Hang Ah (she was a trainer in the assassination squad for the military) and the South Korean spoiled brat of a prince Lee Jae Ha.

They met in a combined training programme for both North and South Korea to prep themselves for the WOC (World Officers Contest). Couldn't they have come up with a better name? Anyway, they met there, and the first impressions of each other were not good. The prince was an idiot, who was lazy, spoilt, and a coward. Whereas, Hang Ah was tough and strong; she came across as too tomboyish and like one of the guys rather than a woman. There were friction from the start. Slowly over time, an attraction begin for the two.

A marriage was arranged by accident for the two. Both were too proud to admit openly that they liked each other which caused a lot of misunderstandings and confusion. When the current king (Jae Ha's brother) was assassinated, Jae Ha moved into the the King's role. For the first time he had to be responsible and look after his country and people. As the drama progresses, he is a developing character that grows to be a man of responsibility and integrity. He was fortunate that he had the support of a very intelligent and capable fiancee, Hang Ah.

Near the end of the drama, the prospect of war between North and South is saved by the two brave King Jae Ha and his gorgeous North Korean wife Hang Ah. They even capture the guy that assassinated the King.

As mentioned earlier, there were a lot of things/characters that annoyed me. First one, the character John Mayer (no, not the American singer that dated Jennifer Anniston). This guy is much uglier, and bad acting. When he talks, saliver flies everywhere. Please have some hygiene for the person you are talking to! He kept speaking in korean to his Club M team who were Europeans, and they kept speaking back in English which really tells me John Mayer can't be bothered learning English but it stated that he grew up in Europe. Very convincing.

The princess Lee Jae Shin was damn annoying. She always had nice funky hair but yeah she was so annoying, always wanting Eun Shi Kyung's attention. Yes, I can understand she had gone through a lot e.g.  jumping over the cliff and being crippled for life.  I don't know what it is, she was just damn annoying. Maybe because she looked psychotic most of the time.

The Queen mother was annoying also. She didn't look royalty at all, and was always worrying about everything. I guess Queen mothers are like your normal mother. Especially because a country rest of her son's shoulders. I should give her a break - she lost her husband, her eldest son, and her daughter is now crippled.

Last of all, Hang Ah's North Korean accent. OMG, she sounded like some ditzy blonde putting on a pure sweet voice. I had to watch some parts of Secret Garden to hear what she really sounded like. I think she over did it with the North Korean accent.

The best character I liked was Eun Shi Kyun. He was righteous, brave, loyal, strong and not bad looking (if only he was taller). I was sad when they killed  him off near the end.

OST: Missing You Like Crazy – SNSD’s Tae Yeon; Love is Crying – K.Will.

I didn't enjoy this drama as you can tell. I'm not a fan of monarchies, war or politics. I've seen worse Kdramas than this one though.

Rating: 2.8/5