I watched the first episode and it was somewhat compelling. I'm not a huge Park Ji-hoon fan, which does detract from my enjoyment. He's fine in this--once again, the problem is me. But I do find myself re-casting the part in my head, and then I feel bad about doing so. This makes for a semi-stressful watching experience even before we consider the actual plot which relies heavily on some exceptionally abusive parenting by the king.

My own inner turmoil aside, the set-up for this was clearly delineated, the directing and pacing are crisp, and the PTSD profound. I'm not sure the sudden on-set amnesia trope either made sense or was necessary here, but we'll see how it develops. I'm willing to give it another episode or two.

I just saw that this is shown on Viki and it's only 1 episode a week? I wonder if, for this type of drama, that works in its favor. Does it have alot if special effects or something that would benefit from airing once weekly?

For Park Ji Hoon to be a "pretty boy", he can have awfully sad & resigned eyes. I wondered if that's part of how he's going to try to differentiate between Ak Hee & Sajo Hyun.

It's so weird cause I am not interested in the show but now I just curious how it's gonna play out.

I like the opening credits though. That alone makes the show pretty intriguing to me.

I just realized I had started this webtoon months ago but never finished it haha

And if I hadn't actually watched the episode, I wouldn't even be curious about the show. I don't think the trailers capture the ridiculous weirdness since they seem to be focused on the dramatics of ill fated connections, destined love, and split personalities.

I guess, maybe, technically going by the first episode (I don't know how much the folks who cut these trailers know or see before they do these edits) those are the buzzwords but it still feels kinda weird given what I just saw.

Ak Hee's mask, after it was cut, reminds me of the phantom of the opera haha

And I've read more of the webtoon and so far based on what I read, I prefer the change to have the father be an antagonist. Maybe it's because I'm not invested in the webtoon but I don't get why people would be mad about this change (Hyun not yet king).

Sidenote: it is ironic that I said that given I was mad/disappointed with Weak Hero Class 1 making a likely similar change even though I understood it.

Watching the 2nd ep preview, I'm in awe. I was really waiting for an interaction between the two personalities and it was so good? I mean it's the same actor at the same time and yet he served two different characters so perfectly? Like I didn't have the thought of them being the same person until I was writing here. It's so good.
And the two personalities Sajo Hyeon and Akhee can only meet in his head, so it was hilarious to see how Akhee designed his palace, like a painting and even having musical sessions with wine (something similar), he's so cool

I don't have the words to describe how Hyun is different from Ak Hee but I think one of the ways being used to differenciate the two is the physicality.

One thing I liked in episode 2 is seeing a bit of how the girl could possibly develop interest in Hyun because she's drawn to how happy and passionate he is when making clothes. It's one of those things I like about the amnesia trope; when people are drawn to the same people, places, or actions without any context or reference.

The episode once again zips by and leaves me wanting more. I just want more of Ak Hee, Hyun, and the girl. I want to know how she gets out of her situation.

This is random but Ak Hee/Hyun's interactions with the girl reminds me of the song Satisfied from the Broadway show Hamilton haha

🎶set my heart aflame, everything aflame, this is not a game🎶
Haha

lol I'm back again after watching the 3rd ep preview and AKHEEEEE!!!! PARK JIHOON IS INSANE FOR PLAYING THIS ROLE!! Also seeing how hyeon is in shackles it seems like he couldn't pull the uno reverse card as it was supposed to happen according to the webtoon and THIS is what creates a very big plot twist because it was supposed to be akhee in there and not hyeon. I am so nervous because it looks like already half of the webtoon will be done by ep 3 BUT this plot twist (I really hope it is) might literally take a completely new turn to the og story.
Also I need to say this so much, Gyera is so beautiful. Literally every woman in there is soooo beautiful ♡
The King Sajo Seung is is effed up. Even Akhee cannot stand him (I'm very sure of that)

The ending of the first episode was super creepy. In a show where the king is criticized for using his power to sleep with anyone he wants, it's weird that they put ML on the same boat. I also feel like it was very slow in the beginning and the rebellion comes out of nowhere.

Ah, this show is so dumb but I'm enjoying it so far haha. The weecaper said the show had campiness and I think I get what they were talking about haha. I think the ridiculousness is the reason I'm liking this so far. For this to be about ill fates and tortured souls, it doesn't take itself seriously (at all so far)

I feel bad for Sajo Hyun because he seems so weak and powerless compared to Ak Hee. The fact that Ak Hee could actually force himself out or lock Sajo Hyun up is just so messed up.

The speed at which things are progressing makes me wonder what's in store that they're getting through the setups so fast. I don't necessarily hate it cause why draw out her learning about the 2 personalities and trying to get her memory back but for the folks who do care about developing the characters and all that, it's lacking.

I don't remember if I've watched many shows or dramas that dealt with dual multiple personalities but I have seen some shows where the characters are hiding "dark"/sinister personas and why are those ALWAYS the more compelling?! Haha

The "bad" one is almost always the one that has this dangerous, confident charisma to them. They have the glint in their eye and they *almost*, depending on the levels of their badness, make you root for them. I feel like that may be the case with Ak Hee. I don't think he necessarily makes you want to root for him but he does have the comedic moments as well as the confident charisma.

3 episodes so far and I still don't really know what to think or feel about Sajo Hyun aside from he seems weaker to Ak Hee. Maybe he's also more serious/stern. I saw someone say they found him boring. I personally don't find him boring but I think more could possibly be done to make him charming; maybe he could have a deadpan, sardonic sense of humor? A hidden cute side? I think there has to be something, aside from his passion and enjoyment when doing his designs, that makes Gyera fall for him

I get it; it's a hard balancing act of having to make to distinct personalities sharing one body.

Fellow Beanies who watched episode 3, I need advice here. Is this really a sinking ship or did it get better?

Guess what happened? The pre-release clip of ep 4 dropped!
I don't know why I was expecting another Hyeon-Akhee interaction like the previous two eps (well one of them got locked out in the earlier ep but we have to see yet who it is, my guess is the ritual backlash hit akhee and he got locked up intsead in that....'bonghamsal'?)
Ep 4 preview was about the fl and the king, and according to the king she looks a lot similar to someone he knew very well. And ofcourse he meant Yeon Punghak aka. the fl's late father. He also jokingly said the fl looks like a real leader (ooh foreshadowing I believe).
So far it looks good and I'm really eager to know what will happen next because every ep was so fast paced I had no idea what to expect. But since Akhee got locked (99% sure) we'll see more of Hyeon-Wol (the fl has so many names but since she's gotten her memories back I'll be going with Wol from now on)

Ep 4 prerelease pt. 2 has me shocked?? Like omg?? The crown princess already found out about wol's real identity?? I thought from the previous clip that the king just thought that she looked familiar but what if the crown princess shares this info to the king later? Thank God she went to Sajo Hyeon earlier, I REALLY hope he finds a way to save Wol this time though he'll be pretty shocked and devastated himself from her real identity, but let's see.

I think I know enough about the webtoon to mentally fill in some blanks but man, does this zip by haha.

I wouldn't be surprised if something happened with the king this week or the next.

I meant to mention this before but what's with sageuks having not only a clothes designer who's going against norms (though technically this is a fantasy so norms don't necessarily apply) but crepe myrtle flowers?

Is that a popular flower? If it is, it's funny that I'm *just* learning about their existence.

Hmm, I don't know what to say. Mixed feelings? I liked the show SIGNIFICANTLY more when it had the dumb fun element. I knew Ak Hee brought the mischievous charm aspect and when it's gone, sigh, the flaws in the show are more noticable to me.

I felt like I had whiplash and that I had somehow blanked on everything I had previously seen particularly regarding the grand prince. Are all the royal guys supposed to have issues because seriously, wtf? The king has bouts of delusion and hallucinations. The crown prince is possessed. The grand prince has some crazed, duplicitous moments. He maybe just as deranged as the king. What did I just watch?!

That aside, I do feel bad for Sajo Hyun. He really must feel like he doesn't have anyone he can truly trust or rely on who cares about and accepts him. And he wanted to be "better" than Ak Hee and get that praise and acceptance but he just doesn't have it in him to be needlessly cruel or violent. It's so weird that is considered a negative for him. I hope he's able to prove himself without having to sacrifice who he is in future episodes.

During week 1, I said I thought there had to be more to Hyun and Gyera falling for each other than the clothes. Now I'm wondering if they're gonna be bonded over trauma.

The moments with the eunuch and the shaman made me chuckle.

With the ep 4 prerelease clip, I thought hyeon would save wol. But oh wow, he literally sent her to be punished, hah.. haha.

The ep 5 pre-release clip shows hyeon in his mourning clothes, mourning qt the king's funeral (YAY HE'S DED, although that was so sudden, like this is only ep 4?? What more do they have in store for us?) And call me whatever you want, but he looked SOO GOOD in that attire?? I'm like...fascinated. That aside, I really wished Hyeon to stay indifferent to his father's death just like he was in the webtoon. But here he was really mourning, and that's a sad side of every domestically ab-used child. Hyeon wanted 'validation from his father, and he was even starting to work on it (although he didn't have it in himself to hunt an animal) by getting into the royal gatherings and also with Wol's help. But all went in vain and he literally sent Wol to be punished for she was accused of assassinating the king.
Wol's cries and screams shuddered me actually. And the best part of the clip - Akhee waking up in his vessel!!!. Haha he's really gonna beck after just one episode

The dumb fun has turned into stupid melodrama😔
The same feel that the promos probably tried to convey that I had no interest in.

When I found myself not having as much fun with it, I compared it to Kokkdu: Season of Diety and that has been my metric on whether to continue or not. So far, it's not Kokkdu levels of bad to me but I just they had kept the dumb fun. Apparently people insist on comparing it to the webtoon and saying how it's different; if it's already different, why not keep it fun?

I don't know if this is considered campiness or what, but the way the grand prince and the consort reacted to the king's death just reminded me of the word "hammy"; just totally hammy acting and I was left thinking is this a direction or was this an acting choice. It's just so obvious that the grand prince was being super dramatic and attention getting as if to let the audience know "yeah, he did it; he's the guy"

I thought it was so messed up how he framed and betrayed the group that he been sponsoring for years. I mean, it does fit his now shown power hungry and duplicitous side but it's still messed up.

I stopped scrolling for a comment of someone who likes the show as much as I did. I don't know. Maybe my taste is different or I just really enjoyed this show a lot (especially Akhee who always made me smile lately) to even care about the flaws every one else is saying. But I guess since there's more negative comments than positive so there is no per episode recap/review here in this site. Which sucks really but I guess I'll just enjoy it on my own. I already can't wait for episode 6

I wonder if Hyeon's time on the run, outside the palace will give him a better sense of what the kingdom needs. I mean it's not a stretch to say ALOT needs to be done since the king and his sycophantic supporters haven't done much of anything except engage their greedy, selfish interests but knowing something and experiencing it are very different.

Maybe his time in as a commoner will up his endearing charm since there's the potential for some fish out of water moments.

Ah, and we're back to some of the ridiculousness from the earlier episodes haha

Imagine coming back to your body and you're not only underwater but you're kissing someone haha

Then the jealousy of "Oh, sorry I'm so cold to the touch and Ah Kee was so warm. You must've liked that"

Hyeon had a light smile of triumph thinking he got one over on Ah Kee by being able to carry Gyera only for the bubble to quickly burst haha

"Ah Kee endures pain to touch you? Like touch you how? Just a slight brush or mmmore?"

I like how Gyera was amused watching that play out haha. It must be such a mind freak to witness.

And the shaman! Haha
Oh that's so weird and awkward talking about Ah Kee needing to keep his lusty thoughts and impulses at bay haha.
I truly can imagine how much cringing happened after that scene was shot haha. Just so embarrassing haha

"I can't love or lust, what can I do?" Haha