100 Days My Prince (2018)

LOVED IT!

Almost everything about this drama was amazing!

I'll start off with the cast. The cast was excellent, I loved the main characters as well as most of the side characters. They played their roles well!

The story was great! Got a bit confusing every once and a while (possibly my fault, but who knows) but was still amazing nonetheless. It was good but never left you on your toes. There were serious moments, sad moments, and moments where you could have a good laugh. I really liked the development as well.

Overall, if you're looking for a drama with good development and to pass time, I recommend this one!

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Really enjoyed this drama - Kyungsoo deserves the hype, since he drew me in as Crown Prince Yul and Wondeuk. Nam Jihyun's character can frustrate you every now and then, but don't let it stop you from watching this drama. I'm not fond of sageuks - they're too politicky, too many characters with their hands stirring the pot and in the end I can't keep up. But if you're looking to start watching them, I think 100 Days My Prince is a good gateway drama - it just has the right amount of politics to keep me interested but doesn't take over the story, and also has plenty of fluff and comedy.

The romance also kept me going - I love a good fluff to balance out angst. The only things keeping me from giving this series a 10 is: one, Mooyeon and the Crown Princess' story had me rooting for them, but I can't say Mooyeon didn't have it coming. He had too much blood on his hands for him to escape from his life as an assassin cleanly. I just wish it hadn't been so sudden or tragic. Two, I CAN'T WITH HONGSHIM AND HER RELUCTANCE TO BE WITH YUL AFTER THE DEATH OF THE VICE PREMIER. Like I get you're thinking of him and his future, BUT YOU DESERVE IT TOO.

If you feel like the beginning drags a bit, I'd say power through it - the drama really does pick up towards its latter half, when Wondeuk/Yul starts regaining his memories and the small village world of Wondeuk and the palace life of Yul start to mix.

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Cinderella esque but with more depth and intrigue

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2018 historical romance with 16 (+2) 67-85 minute episodes. Alternate titles are 100 Days My Husband and The 100 Day Husband.

As the nephew of the king, Lee Yul (Do Kyung-soo) is told to keep a low profile and not do anything, such as excel in learning, that would make the king feel threatened. So, instead of studying he spends his days playing and unintentionally bullies the other kids. When Yoon Yi-seo/Yeon Hong-shim (Nam Ji-Hyun) notices Yul’s behavior, as a fellow noble, she scolds Yul for using his authority to make the other children do as he wishes. Yi-seo also teases Yul for his lack of knowledge. Yul has an immediate crush on the pretty and spunky Yi-seo and starts studying to impress her. Before the children can become closer friends, Yul’s ambitious father participates in overthrowing the royal family and killing them and all their supporters, including Yi-seo’s father who was a right hand man of the king. The intent was to kill the entire family but Yi-seo’s brother helps her escape. is the King's nephew who enjoys spending his days playing instead of studying.

10 years later Yul is a cold, distant crown Prince who is reluctantly married to Crown Princess, Kim So-hye (Han So-hee). The marriage was a condition of Vice-premier Kim Cha-eon (Jo Sung-ha) who carried out the overthrow of the former king which allowed Yul’s father to ascend to the throne. There is a lot of pressure on Yul to consummate the marriage with the Crown Princess and the current claim is he must to end the drought. His response is all unmarried people in the kingdom should become married instead. The punishment for not following the royal decree is flogging. Before Hong-shim can be punished for resisting marriage, an assassination attempt leaves Yul with memory loss and he is saved by Hong-shim’s adoptive father. To keep aging-shim from being flogged, her adoptive father hides Yul’s identity and tells the two they are affianced. Will this pretend relationship become real love?

*spoiler alert. I really liked the premise that he loses his memory and lives as a commoner. I like the backstory with the evil left chancellor and the fact that Hong-shim was also nobility that had to live as a peasant. I liked how his character develop from a cold noble to a person that wanted to be a contributor. I thought their relationship was really cute and believable and I loved her adopted father. The timing of when he discovered who he really was worked well. The only part that I found a bit disappointing was toward the end when Yi-sei was like we can’t be together because of what my brother did. I did not think that was a good reason for them not to be together and I felt like she was more using it as an excuse because she was intimidated by the fact that he was the crown prince. To me it made it as if she dId not love him enough to overcome that which conflicted with the relationship they had as commoners in the village. I also thought he should’ve insisted they be together more and reassured her when she was stubbornly insisting they would not work because of past events. I wished Yi-seo’s brother would have lived and fought with the prince to redeem himself. What he did was wrong but I did not feel there was any way he could’ve helped it. I was really happy that the king did not kill the crown princess. That was consistent with his character. The part where they finally got back together felt rushed after all they had overcome to be able to be together. I would’ve liked to have seen them together and maybe the wedding with the king there. Despite the small drawbacks it is overall a very entertaining and heartwarming story. I highly recommend it for romance, light humor, and historical components.

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Great acting

This is the first kdrama I’ve binged in awhile. I felt like there was a good balance between comedic fillers, fluffy moments between the leads, and politics. Most sageuks tend to lean more heavily towards political stuff during the second half (which I find kinda tedious to watch), but this show didn’t go too far down that route, which I appreciate.

What I loved most about the show was the sense of community amongst the villagers. They ate together, laughed together, shared their heartaches with one another; most of all, they tried to make the most out of their hardships despite being oppressed and mistreated by those in the upper echelons of society. Although they initially made fun of Won Deuk for his pompous attitude and his lack of knowledge about the tasks villagers were expected to do, seeing them gradually warm up to him (and him to them) was very very endearing.

I also like that the romance progression felt really natural. I’m glad that they were given a chance to get to know each other as adults and fall for each other again (without knowing about the childhood connection)!!! I did find the lingering feelings over childhood love a little too far-fetched, but then again that’s practically a kdrama staple lol. Everybody’s pining over their childhood crush from 20 years ago and no one bats an eye lmao.

ALSO, everyone’s acting was so good! D.O.’s acting really exceeded my expectations, even after reading many rave reviews about it. I loved that he managed to portray a very imposing sense of authority, through his constant poker face and the iconic line ‘this makes me feel uncomfortable’. Nam Ji Hyun’s comedic timing was great too, and her chemistry with D.O. was very cute!! Special shoutout to Jo Sung Ha for making Lord Kim such a hateable character. Every time he appeared on screen I wanted to punch him in the neck. Hated his character in Save Me as well. Tis the mark of a true actor.

Lastly, the background instrumentals were super lovely too. They complemented all the scenes really well.

Although there were definitely some slow moments and the amnesia plot line dragged on for a little too long, I think the chemistry between characters and the acting really made up for that. I did feel like the ending was a little rushed tho! Would’ve loved to see more cute moments between the leads and more severe punishment for Lord Kim but oh well :’)

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Sweet and fun!

I paused watching the drama after three episodes, because the ML's haughtiness had driven me crazy. However, when I started watching it again, my resolve has melted, and enjoyed the story till the end. ML still remained all serious even when joking (I liked more SML's cheeky smile), but to be honest, it did fit his role as the Crown Prince. FL was absolutely gorgeous, I couldn't find any fault in her acting. Even though SML was oozing with charm, I didn't feel any SLS, because it was obvious from the start his priorities were elsewhere. Supporting cast was amazing, from the villain and the king (the all-present Jo Han Chul, he was in everything I watched so far!) to hilarious FL fellow villagers. The story wasn't complicated and inundated with heavy historical plot, the villains weren't overtly devious, and episodes were all equally strong, not dragging at all.
I recommend watching this if you are looking for something sweet and fun to entertain yourself with.

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There was potential.. but the execution was simply ok

There had been quite a lot of potential with the set up of the story, I really enjoyed the beginning portions. But a lot of the middle part of the show just fell flat for me. The intentions behind people's actions felt very one-dimensional and laking in actual human motivations. I was very disappointed in how they wrote both Hongshim and Yul's character decisions for majority of the show and skipped through a lot of it for the latter half of the show.

There was quite bit in the show that felt very much glossed over - for example how Yul found out he's not actually Won Deuk - the way the scene showed the interaction felt like there will be some sort of explanation but there was none. Some of the palace drama seemed petty/insignificant and felt very much like troupes being applied in the stories. Overall, I had high expectations on how the characters would develop/story unfold, but it did not meet what I expected.

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Sabotage, passionate romance and sexy men

I needed to take a few days away from this drama to think critically about it. I LOVED it, but there were a few flaws.

The production was great, with beautiful shots and gorgeous scenery: captivating and touching acting and great music. I have e a few minor gripes about the story.

I know that this is a similar story to Shopping King Louie, but it is infinitely more captivating and passionate. The acting gave a great benefit to the intensity of the scenes and the overall gravity of the situation. The overarching plot was incredibly stable, with no major shocking twists or changes. This isn't inherently bad, as the plot was interesting enough that I was motivated to complete the series. However, the resolution was quite underwhelming. The antagonist was sneaky and plotted the entire series cautiously, but his final "plan" left much to be desired.

This is my own personal annoyance, but I'm not too fond of dramas that have one person in the romantic relationship constantly deny and leave the other character for many reasons. This drama uses this trope several times until the very very end. By only allowing the characters to be together only at the conclusions, we do not resolve many other important subplots. For example, we don't really get to see the Crown Princess and her baby except for one tiny scene. Wouldn't the main female lead want to see her own brother's baby?? Also, is she just accepted easily into the family even though she denied having her social status reinstated? I thought there were very rigid social classes at this time. ALSO, Kim Seon Ho did NOT need to be so sexy in this drama; it may have been the driving motivator to watch this drama. I never heard of him before this drama, but I will be watching his career VERY closely from now on.

Anyways, besides the previously stated reasons, the romance was absolutely thrilling. Super romantic and touching, and as much as I thirsted for Kim Seon Ho, the main couple had incredible chemistry. Their chemistry reminded me of the passion and connection I felt from Oh My Ghostess. I will probably rewatch this drama; it really was heartwarming.

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100 Days My Prince (2018) - this korean drama is one of historical dramas that I wasn’t so attached with. Maybe because it’s a light drama, and romance is the main part of the story. It was unusual for me to watch a korean historical drama that is romantic comedy since most historical dramas I have watched are either comedic at first but eventually led to melodrama which I like. Both main leads did a really great job in their respective roles, but I’m not a fan D.O being a prince nor a king. Maybe because of his height? I don’t know, basically this drama is fun to watch especially if it's for binge watching since there is not so much struggle with the whole storyline.

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Not worth watching if you want to watch very good drama.

Not worth watching if you want to watch very good drama. It's the kind of story written without much importance to impress the audience. it rom-com. prices like 16old boy with 4year old brain and princess-like 25old.

Funny part:
He is a king without concubine and never sleeps with a girl till the drama end and all around him, all are sleeping with girls.

Con:
Once the price is missing they search for new people found in every village and town. but no one checked him for missing prince.

ML's crush is already married to ML. then why is she stand as a single in the end?

He didn't show in the end where the ML crush ends up as queen or concubine or he never marries her after the end card kiss...
they show ML as a mock who only kisses sometimes.

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Enjoyable as a chick flick

If you're going into this drama expecting a super deep convoluted plot with twists and turns and grand moments of satisfaction this is probably not it. This drama is mostly a cute romance with some intrigue happening in the middle and not a lot of suspense.

I think I've become a bit used to these Joseon period dramas to have a more thriller vibe so that's why I was a little taken aback when things turned out to be pretty simple. This does not mean the drama is not enjoyable. It's actually a well acted and visually gorgeous, but the story itself is predictable and pretty straightforward. It's something to watch on a lazy sunday when you don't want to think much.

That being said awesome job to the cast for making all the characters lovable with their acting. I think ML is the star here, his character could have been incredibly unlikeable from the way he's written especially at the start, yet he has a charm and a presence that drawns you to him. He has a good mastery of micro expressions that tell you that not everything his "rude" characters says is what he means or comes from the heart and whenever he acts like an ass in those first episodes you can tell there's more to it. FL is pretty good too. She's brave, lovable and kind, though towards the end she became a bit tiring for me to watch her as her decisions were a bit too self-sabotaging and that is one of my pet peeves.

I do have to give especial kudos to every side character. I'm personally not a fan of side characters usually but this is one of those dramas that made everyone so lovable so they upped the drama and raised the raiting for me. Just awesome job.

Overall this drama is enjoyable and a fun watch.

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Sweet Little Drama

First and foremost, if you're looking for something new and revolutionary, this drama is not for you. There is no reinventing the wheel here. It is chock full of tried-and-true tropes that pop up in many, many K-dramas. Amnesia? Check. Secret identities? Check. Villain out to destroy the leads? Check. Shared childhood between leads that haven't seen one another since said childhood? Check. Powerful/rich male lead falls for poor/lower class woman? Check. Childhood trauma that follows the leads into adulthood? Check. Dead parents? Check. Love triangles? Check. Second-lead syndrome? Check.

But just because it follows all the expected tropes doesn't mean this drama isn't worth the watch. The story focuses on (reluctant) Crown Prince Lee Yul (played by EXO's D.O., Do Kyung-Soo) and Yeon Hong-Shim (Nam Ji-Hyun), an assumed-dead noblewoman living in hiding in a rural village with her adoptive father. Being a victim of palace intrigue and backstabbing all his life, Lee Yul is mistrustful and cold to the world around him, even those closest to him. While he performs his duties as crown prince and excels in everything he does through hard work and effort, he loathes nearly everyone around him for their weakness, deceitfulness, and/or treachery. He's trapped in a loveless, arranged marriage with a woman he doesn't like and can't even touch or stand the touch of. With a father-in-law (Jo Sung-ha as Kim Cha-eon) who killed his mother and a wife (Han So-hee as Kim So-hye) pregnant with another man's baby, it's no surprise when Lee Yul becomes the target of a plot to eliminate him before he exposes the betrayals of those around him.

Hong-Shim, meanwhile, falls victim to a decree made by Lee Yul that demands all individuals of a marrying age find a partner to marry in the hopes that the weddings (and the resulting baby boom that is expected to follow a bunch of people getting married) brings rain to end the drought. Fiercely independent and self-sufficient in her own right, Hong-Shim tries to delay her inevitable pairing off by insisting she's engaged to a soldier from a neighboring village, Na Won-Deuk. Her lie can only take her so far though, and just when it seems like her life may be over for defying the Crown Prince's orders, her father discovers an injured amnesiac in the woods that he insists is his daughter's long lost betrothed. Little does anyone know that amnesiac is none other than Crown Prince Lee Yul after a botched assassination attempt.

The setup is obvious, but that's okay! There's nothing wrong with obvious or predictable. The true charm of this drama exists despite the predictability. Lee Yul/Na Won-Deuk is a man out of place in the rural village, struggling to cope with what feels "right" to him (fine goods, plentiful food, talking down to everyone, not getting his hands dirty, literally and figuratively) and what he's told he likes and does (manual labor, simple foods made of rather disgusting ingredients, a simple life). Hong-Shim is struggling with wrangling a loose-cannon of a husband while trying to survive in a world and system that has little to no regard for the lower class. She's left trying to clean up Won-Deuk's messes, while also trying to make life better for herself, her family, and her neighbors.

As a viewer, nothing can really compare to watching the two gradually win one another over. The pair set boundaries galore from the moment they were married, yet those barriers begin to lower as they find they might actually like or even love the person they are married to. Watching them come together and ultimately be torn apart is heartwarming and heartbreaking. Each struggles with who they are, who they want to be, and an immense amount of guilt and responsibility on their shoulders. You can't help but root for them to find their way through the dizzying maze they're trapped in by birthright, betrayal, and the actions of others.

While I've talked a lot about the leads, this drama wouldn't be half as good as it is without the supporting cast. Songjoo village is full of characters that will make you laugh and despair simultaneously. The characters in this series tend to be pretty black and white. The "good" characters are just that; they're loyal, loving, friendly, forgiving, and generous. The "bad" characters are greedy and heartless criminals with no qualms abusing their power and wealth while always on the search for even more power and wealth. There are very few gray characters in this series. For the most part, you're going to love or hate (in the way you're meant to) pretty much everyone you're introduced to. What makes that especially beneficial is there's not a lot of filler. Since you'll have pretty strong feelings about everyone, all scenes feel relevant and important to the overall plot, regardless of whether they're light or heavy.

The acting in this series is top notch. Everyone is believable in their roles, sometimes frustratingly so. This is the first time I've watched D.O. act and in the first few episodes I was a bit turned off by his performance which felt very clinical and mechanical and dry, but after a few episodes it became clear it wasn't bad acting and was instead Lee Yul's cold, detachedness. As Won-Deuk begins adjusting to Songjoo village and his place within it and opening himself up to others for the first time, a new side of Lee Yul/Won-Deuk begins peeking though, and that side is only expanded upon once he regains his memory and place within the palace. By the time the series comes to a close, the mechanical Lee Yul is gone, so if you start the series and have a similar experience of not connecting to/with Lee Yul... just keep going! D.O.'s performance actually ends up being one of the best parts of the series.

Personally, I'm not usually one for period dramas. I don't care for the class system, palace intrigue does little for me, there are a lot of formal roles/positions within the palace and society that I don't really understand or care to research, and the costuming can be as distracting as it is beautiful. Most of the period dramas I've started I've lasted an episode or so before I move on to something set in the modern era, but 100 Days a Prince easily hooked me.

The music wasn't anything especially memorable or noteworthy. The score was overall there as a background character, supportive and present, but not especially key or necessary to what was unfolding in front of it. I always love when the music is a character in and of itself within the drama, but this wasn't that. When I purchased the soundtrack after finishing the series, I was disappointed to find there were only a few singles released. "Erase It" by Gummy and "Cherry Blossom Love Song" by EXO's Chen are the highlights and worth a listen/purchase.

I will definitely rewatch 100 Days My Prince again in the future. It's not one I want to watch and rewatch back to back, I feel like it's one that needs to breathe a bit between viewings, but it definitely has rewatch potential. The characters are easy to grow fond of and the story is tried and true.

Overall, this was a really sweet drama with likeable leads that have tons of chemistry and charisma. Give it a try! You won't regret it.

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