KDrama Review 4 [Rooftop Prince]

I've got another K-Drama review for you guys and this is a first for me. What I mean by it's a first is that this is the first k-drama I started watching while it was still airing. Wait that's a lie I started watching City Hunters while it was airing but never finished it, this is the first one i've finished. Anyway today's review is over Rooftop Prince.

BE WARNED THAT THIS POST WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS

SYNOPSIS: The story center's around prince Lee Gak from the Joseon era in Korea, who after the mystery death of this beloved crown princess seeks to find out the events that led to her death. He is aided in his efforts by Song Man Bo, a brilliant man for his time who can memorize anything almost instantly, Do Chi San, man who is pretty enough to cross-dress which helps him discover all the gossip around town, and Woo Young Sul, a man with amazing fighting skills who is trained to fight with both weapon and hand to hand combat. Together they are all transported 300 years into the future where they land on the rooftop of Park Ha. Together with Park Ha, Lee Gak and his crew learn how to survive and act in the year 2012. They soon come to discover that the crown princess was reincarnated, so Lee Gak goes to extreme lengths to be by her side believing that the only way to return them to the past is to once again gain the heart of the now reincarnated princess.

MAIN CHARACTERS: 

Micky Yoochun as both Yong Tae Yong/Prince Lee Gak  [Lee Gak is nobility in every respect, meaning he knows only about the finer things in life and is used to everything being done for him and everyone following his every command. This becomes one of his biggest trial when he's in the future, where he must step out of his comfort zone and do things for himself. Tae Yong is easy an going artist who has no interest in running his families business. He also happens to be Lee Gak's reincarnation. When Tae Yong goes missing due to Yong Tae Moo's actions, Lee Gak pretends to be him in order to be close to Se Na and later to protect Tae Yong's claim to his inheritance]

Han Jin Min as both Park Ha/Bu Yong [Park Ha is a young lady who has not had an easy life, yet has somehow managed to always look on the brighter side of life. After a car accident when she was young, she lost her memories and was adopted by parents in America, where she stays until she is grown and is able to learn who her birth father in Korea is, and returns to Korea to seek him out only to find that he has passed away. She then comes in contact with her step mom and her step sister Se Na. Bu Yong is the younger sister of Hwa Yong, and was first chosen as to marry prince Lee Gak when they are children, however after her face is burned badly by Hwa Yong, Bu Yong's name is withdrawn and Hwa Yong marries the prince leaving Bu Yong in a the shadows.]

Lee Tae Sung as Yong Tae Moo [Tae Moo is Tae Yong's cousin who puts all his effort into helping run the family business, however he is constantly frustrated by the fact that their grandmother prefers Tae Yong to take over the family business over him. When he meets with Tae Yong in New York there is a confrontation and Tae Moo ends up knocking Tae Yong overboard into the water leaving him to believe he has killed him. So it is a total shock when Lee Gak shows up and claims to be Tae Yong, and not only that but Lee Gak is out to prove that Tae Moo had a hand in Tae Yong's disappearance.]

Jun Yoo Mi as Hong Se Na/Hwa Yong [Se Na is a beautiful secretary who works at the Yong's families place of business and is in a relationship with Tae Moo, the only problem is that she is constantly weaving a web of lies. Having been none to happy that her mother wants to join families with Park Ha's, Se Na even at a young age is constantly bullying Park Ha eventually she is given a chance to once and for all get rid of Park Ha when she leaves her in the back of a truck which later gets in an accident and is the reason for Park Ha's memory loss. Se Na is ashamed of the fact that her mother is lowly fish seller and so she lies about almost everything in her life and finds great pleasure in trying to steal everything away from Park Ha.]

SUPPORTING CAST

Lee Min Ho as Song Man Bo [A brilliant man, who can memorize anything almost instantly he is the brains of the group and also the maknae of the group]

Choi Woo Shik as Do Chi San [man who is pretty enough to cross-dress which helps him discover all the gossip around town.]

Jung Suk Won as Woo Young Sul [A man with amazing fighting skills who is trained to fight with both weapon and hand to hand combat. His a man who very rarely smiles and is very protective over the crown prince] 


ACTING: I was very pleased with the acting in this show, from the main actors to the supporting characters and even the minor characters I was very happy with. I was actually a little more impressed with the villains of the show then the main good guys, both Tae Moo and Se Na had such complexity to them and you simply wanted to see them pay for every bad thing they did to the main characters. Micky as a crown prince was fun to watch but I also enjoyed him as nice guy Tae Yong. And of course I can't forget about the trio they were so cute and such a good element to have. Also I really loved Lee Moon Shik's character Pyo Taek Soo, who was in charge of helping the trio and protecting Tae Yong from Tae Moo's evil intentions.

PLOT OVERVIEW: I tend to shy away from K-Drama's that are set in the past for two reasons, 1. I'm still brushing up on my Korean history so sometimes when they make a gesture that would seem sufficient to a Korean viewer it's lost on me, 2. Historical drama's often do not have happy endings. However I was really happy when I learned that the majority of the show take place in present times. I though it was a good plot theme to have the group of four travel to the future because it was humorous to watch them try and learn about cellphones and whatnot that they don't have in their time.

With that being said I was not a fan of how they began the show, having the events so out of sequence. Instead of first introducing the characters and giving us a backstory they did it really out of order and I was really confused. Also another problem I had, was the time lapse in the show, they did not transition well to show that two years had past since Tae Yong went missing. Also a big thing I found odd is that it is considered very scandalous for a man and a woman who aren't married to live together in Korea, yet Park Ha lived with four men and no says a thing. However over all I really did enjoy the plot, it had just enough mystery to make me want to watch to the end, had a good amount of romance, and a good amount of drama but didn't over do it like some shows I know *cough*Boys Over Flower*cough*.

ENDING: Now as a hopeless romantic I always want an ending where the main couple ends up together and gets married and has kids, you know the whole nine yards. However this ending went a different route which I found surprisingly refreshing. It truly spoke to how much they loved each other. The only thing I wish they might have done is when Tae Yong and Park Ha are both unconscious if they might have met each other in their dreams, but maybe that's me wanting a bit of a Secret Garden element to the show. Also I felt that Se Na should have been punished more for everything she did to Park Ha throughout the show.

SOUNDTRACK: Such a lovely sound track and at first they were slow to utilize it how they finally started to use and it really added to the show.

RATING: Ok so on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the worst drama i've ever seen and 10 something I could watch everyday of my life I give it an 8. I really loved this drama and I will be buying it when it comes out on DVD, however there were a few elements of the show that left me wanting and the beginning was a bit confusing.


As always I encourage everyone to form their own opinion about a show or movie, these are simply my   views and reflections of what I felt about this drama.