Princess Hours

Cast:

Yoon Eun Hye as Shin Chae Kyoung
Joo Ji Hun as The Prince/ Shin
Kim Jeong Hoon as Yul
Song Ji Hyo as Hyoo Rin


All because of my sister's suitor, who was propelled to buy the pirated version of the series in one of the queued DVD-vendors in Recto.

This 24-chapter series (whew! quite long) is a big bubble thought of what if Korea is still in the monarchy rule. Okay, it's kinda awkward for me to relate to how the whole government works because as far as I am concerned, I was not quite diligent during my World History/Social Studies days in elementary and high school so I am clueless as to what the characters are fighting about. And when one mentions fairy-tale existing titles such as prince, princess, queen, king, empress and emperor, I've only heard them in fairy tale movies and books. On the other, I thought that being ignorant to all of these, this series would enlighten me as to what should I know. But err, it failed to do so. Why?

1. The subtitles are awful. I gotta buy the original if I really want to be critical and accurate with translations. Thank goodness, I know a little bit of their language so I did survive an episode without subtitles. But the 3 discs of "Chinese-dubbed episodes", that I can't even imagine how I managed to watch it in mute.

2. The political side was not really emphasized. In fact, I did not like the series for its historical content (regressing and orienting people of how Korea was way way back).




3. If they tried to highlight the political roles of Shin, Yul and their respective families, it was not clear. The story veered into the usual details of life in the palace: confinement, melancholy and rigidity.

4. There are too many impossible occurrences. For instance, the "Thailand-rendezvous" of Shin and Hyu Rin. But hey, what are dramas for? The impossible to be possible. But still, did not work for me.




Acting-wise, Joo Ji-Hun is best in commercials and his CF's. Leave it that way. The big screen is still way far to be ripe for him to indulge in. I like his silent shots though, they're so...commercialized. Prince Yul did better compared to the others. In fact, my sister and mother agreed to my opinion that he looks better than Shin. Shin Jae-Kyoung's character is very inconsistent. Her first encounter with the prince reminded me of Meteor Garden's Shan Cai and Dao Ming Si locker scene. How could she suddenly had agreed to marry the prince when there is no "hate-like-hate-like" teetering scenes? She is the epitome of overacting. Oh, how can I ever forget her "tigress-like" kissing scene with Shin to think that they are both acting as 19-year olds? Haha reality directly depicted.




The soundtrack is really really good. "Sarang InGayo" (Perhaps Love) is just one of the tracks one will fall in love with after watching the entire series. The other cuts are mostly instrumental (there are in fact, 2 CD's for this series), and the positive thing is, they sound oriental.

If this drama is not historically-inspiring, status-quo-shaking, stereotype-rupturing, what is so enjoyable that people cannot resist to patiently watch it every night? I guess the undying "kilig-factor" plus the worn-out humor of Prince-Princess tandem. Here are just a few of the aforementioned:

1. Prince carrying Jae Kyoung after the latter had fainted while talking to Hyu Rin.
2. Prince signalling a row with Yul when he caught the latter with the Princess talking in the balcony when the Princess has not yet fully recovered from her illness.
3. Prince and Princess going to the supermarket and cooking food together
4. Prince saying "I Love You" to the Princess live on TV.
5. Prince seeing that Yul and the Princess cut classes and rode the car together, was big-time worried.
6. Prince secretly elated with the Princess' gift for his birthday: personalized design for his old sneakers.
7. Yul's party. Enough said.
8. And many more. 24 discs contain a lot.

Well, count me in as one of those who brainlessly became a zombie to follow this series. I guess actions prove louder than words for I fail to be adamant when it comes to not watching this popular series that everyone's talking about. As early as now, I will say that I will probably look forward to eyeing Princess Hours Part 2, which is currently shown in Korea.