Yi San

This story was good up until the marriage of the king and Song Yeon. Although I loved the story, I thought that parts were dragged out, the acting was flat, especially Song Yeon, and there was no chemistry between the lead actors. I got tired of shots of Song Yeon's big moon-eyes and tearing-up the entire drama without much actual dialogue. She had an inconsistent personality, very humble and submissive almost to the point muteness most of the time then suddenly becoming verbal, willful and determined. This made her character both boring and unpredictable.
The love story dragged out until the king's marriage and then, after all of that tension, they ended that part of the story in one shot. The love story fell flat after that with only minor insight into what was going on between them except for Song Yeon's struggle to be accepted into the royal family. When she finally becomes a Royal Consort and the Crown Prince is invested, there is one shot of the rituals and back to the intrigue in the palace. So I'm saying that they built up the love story to a point then the resolving of the tension was too short to be satisfactory.
I loved the acting of King and Dae Su. I thought Dae Su was great, even if his character was never fully developed after the revelation of his love for Song Yeon. I really loved the story but ,as I said, it got boring after a while and the agony was never balanced with the good that might have been portrayed as well, and this was disappointing to me. On another note, the music was too repetitive and even the theme song became annoying after a while. There needed to be different music included and not just the theme song over and over. I felt the music was rather manipulative as well.
I have watched Dong Yi and The Jewel in the Palace and definitely thought Dong Yi was the best. These other two dramas kept me interested, involved and n the edge of my seat right up to the last episode, with great acting and chemistry between the lead actors.

A stunning historical epic chronicling the life of Korea's greatest ruler, Yi San. I adored the child-actor that played King Yi San and Lee Seo Jin turns in a compelling performance as a king whose natural leadership ability united the country even amid constant intrigues and obstacles. Excellent acting and a beautifully written storyline created many emotional moving scenes for the memorable characters. Great from start to finish and a good investment in time.

This series is not bad overall; however I lost interest mid-end of the series. The storyline to me seemed a little odd at times. It has some rather questionable scenes for western viewers at the beginning of the series that in my opinion should have been edited out. One thing that plucked my last nerve was how they kept mentioning "you look pale" a hundred times over. lol The actors were good, but there were times you could tell they were acting. I would liked to have seen more zones/sets in this series too. I've stopped watching the series before finishing it. I think it is not too bad overall.

Yi San starts off well, but bogs down and loses focus at the end. Personally it has about 10-15 episodes too many. Maybe they tried to make it fit too close to historical reality. The end was nothing but camera shots of people in a room talking politics and politcal ramblings creating a very uneventful ending to a promising begining.

The music for the most part is descent, but is not memorable at all.

The characters are varied with more than the typical cut carboard figures like many other dramas, but are overblown and completely unrealisitic for the most part. You would think that the average Korean is an idiot by watching this.

The acting while good on the female leads part is unforgettable to abominable on the lead Males part. Conversely the children were excellent I thought.

Overall, if you have the time, watch the first 40ish episodes or so and leave the rest unless you are really bored.

I wouldn't say its the "best" out of all the saeguk drama's I've watched HOWEVER this drama is filled with gem actors/actresses and moments that almost make up for the drawn out plot. Lee Soo Jin plays a phenomenal Yi San and his love for his best friend and future consort is just beautiful; its a bittersweet story about the trials and hardships that King Yi San faced to make a better place for his people...

overall i'd put it on par with maybe All In, behind Jewel in the Palace, Jumong, Princess Hours, Coffee Prince, which are a cut higher. There's a long series of plots against the King. The acting is pretty believable and strong so these hold interest. The progression of the King's friends is the best part. The dialog is pretty slow and there are flashbacks to bog things down, though. I guess being accurate to the history may limit the dramatic license of the writers. These are not super heroes.

Beautiful story about the journey a crown prince must take to become a sage king that his father wanted him to be in his place despite all the corruption in the royal court. Yi San struggles just to survive with all the assassination attempts but finds strength to live from his precious childhood memories with his best friends Daesu Park and Song Yeon, who later return to serve their future king with sincere loyalty. The journey was wonderful to watch despite the drama tends to get longwinded at times yet I would definetly recommend this drama to those who watch a story teaching about power. One lesson to learn, "Power is like dung .... its filthy and it stinks ... however, used wisely you can fertilize barren ground."

I loved it. The beginning was a bit slow and did not quite understand. But after a few episodes I got pulled in so much and could not even leave for a bathroom break. I must admit that I had many sleepless nights. That good. Heart breaking love story to go with suspenseful political intrigue. They picked a right person to portray the King. He delivered a credible performace with commanding presence and beautiful authoritative voice. He WAS indeed the king. The story dragged on a little too long at the end. The queen Dowager knew the end was near but still tried to resurrect the lost cause by mobilizing unlikely army. This is a western set in Korea 500 years ago. Good guys alway triumph in the end. Well worth your time to watch. Don't miss it.