Princess Hours

Imagine a pact being sealed between the late emperor and his commoner friend years ago, being materalised in the modern times.

Adapted from a best-selling comic in Korea and "Princess Hours" as its English translation of the title, it's about the adventures and mis-adventures of a commoner-turned-crown princess. Chae-kyung, a student who takes design at an arts school, has always got her friends around her. And despite her family situation, she takes things in her stride. But it all changed when the current Crown Prince of the royal family 19-year-old Lee Shin is attending the school, leaving the school all in a buzz of excitement.

But Chae-kyung don't let that get into her head till a public confrontation with the Crown Prince happened. At the same time, rumours went around that the Crown Prince has to find a wife in order to continue the royal line.

But Lee Shin longed had a girl he liked, but she rejected his proposal. Then it was know that many years ago, Chae-kyung's late grandfather who is a friend of the late emperor (who happened to be the late grandfather of Crown Prince Lee Shin), had made a pact that their future grandchildren will fall in love and be married. It became interesting because Chae-kyung is the only female in school who dared to go against Lee Shin.

The marriage did went ahead and it even invited worldwide media attention. This is where the former Crown Princess and one-time famous actress Hwa Young and her 19-year-old son Lee Yul come into the scene given they had been staying in the UK for 14 years. Hwa Young had asked her son to return home before she did, in order to stage a comeback into the royal family where she was banished from 14 years ago after the death of her husband. Unfortunately, her son slowly took a liking for his sister-in-law. To make it more complicated, the two of them are classmates.

Along the way, there are many obstacles for the royal family (domestic problems and beyond) and even in the form of Lee Shin's former girlfriend as well. A whole new can of worms had also been opened as well on the royal family's past along the way. But, can Chae-kyung save the day, given she has a happy-go-lucky personality especially in the eyes of the Queen Mother.

The clash of commoner life meets royalty can be quite a hit in the modern era, where royal life can still be seen as a novelty sometimes.

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!

There are a lot of potential fans out there considering how many people obsess over the British Royal family -- and over how many young (and old) women dream about marrying into one. This TV series will have special resonance since it's about a gawky commoner who does exactly that.

At least that commoner is played by the delightful Yun Eun Hye who brings the character to life in an uninhibited way. Even when she's over-acting, she seems entirely natural. But if you want to see her at her best, check out the much better romantic comedy/drama COFFEE PRINCE (aka, 1ST SHOP OF COFFEE PRINCE).

This one flows along nicely enuf. Unlike American series which are intended to go on forever, this had a definite time limit, so it had a definite arc. Still, maybe the plot would have worked better at less than 24 episodes. But you may find an actor or character you like and latch on happily for the duration.

Unlike American series, this is bright and colorful (almost gaudy at times). There are better Korean shows out there for grownups -- unless you're a grownup obsessed with royalty -- then this may be your ideal show.

I have heard a lot about this drama. Hence, I wanted to watch this one. Considering the fact that it's a really old drmaa. I have rated this. If you want to watch a Cinderella story. It's for you. The only difference is there is love square for you here. The prince is in love with his x and the princess is loved by the cousin in law. Flaws of this drama is that it drags a lot. Very slow. Thankfully, I was bored. So I just fast forwarded the scenes and could bear though it. Unlike others, I didn't like the traditional costumes. And the traditional names were a pain. I didn't like the palace as well. But despite it all the drama was able to engross me in. That's why I gave it 8 stars. For a few hours I was able to go into a princess story and for some reason I didn't put it down. There was no real villian in this story. Everyone was just trying to get what they want to overcome their pain. I would say if you have a lot of time to waste and want to watch a fairytale go for this. On a personal note. I preferred Yu Gul over the male lead. I felt he was more genuine and did everything he could for her. I have no hatred for the male lead though. After some time you get used to him. So yeah. It's not for everyone. Particularly after such a long time. But if you have time to kill and want a fairytale to look forward to this one is for you.