Thoughts on Rooftop Prince

Source: http://allkoreandrama.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/rooftop-prince-korean-drama-1.jpg

It took me awhile, mainly because I did what I usually do: Look at the recap of the last episode on dramabeans.com. And so I got discouraged. The reason I got discouraged, even though this show is hilarious, it's because I do not like conflict.

I know it seems ridiculous for someone who loves dramas and movies as much as me, but I am very sensitive and I just cannot help but cringe every time there is a confrontation in a drama or a sad ending. However, I had to watch the remaining episodes because if there is comedy, I can stand a little conflict.


Please Note: Rooftop Prince came out earlier this year and it is one of the many time traveling dramas this year. I started watching Dr. Jin, but got discouraged by the bad reviews and reading the recap of the last episode, I have to agree that it is horrible. The other time traveling drama is Faith with Lee Min Ho (Boys over Flowers, Personal Taste) which is absolutely amazing because he's handsome of the deliciously evil villains, but at the same time it's kind of dragging on and getting nowhere. Oh well the power of eye candy is a great one. On to the review....

Rooftop Prince is a time traveling drama starring Korean pop star extraordinaire Micky Yoochun (Miss Ripley, Sungkyunkwan Scandal), Lee Min-ho (Moon That Embraces the Sun) and Han Ji Min as the female lead. Yoochun plays prince Lee Gak who comes forward in time with his tutor (Lee Min-ho), a palace eunuch (Choi Woo Shik) and his bodyguard (Jung Suk Won) after discovering his poisoned dead wife floating in a lake one early morning.

The four men from the Joseon era of Korea (late 1300's A.D.) come to the present time and discover the reincarnations of not only the prince but the princess that died and her younger sister. To make a long story short, the prince has to find out the truth about the princess' death and the reincarnations of the sisters let him realize that all is not what it seemed back then; The princess he married is a treacherous witch and her younger sister is the lovable kind one. All of this among the hilarity of the color coded tracksuits the four men wear and the adorableness of Lee Gak's companions.

To be honest there is something I have never liked about Yoochun. He is not the hottest out of all the members of TVXQ but having watched the dramas other members have been involved in, it is clear that Yoochun is the best actor of them all. In this drama his deep voice and his acting made me actually fangirl over him and I never thought this would happen with him. He has clearly improved considerably in his acting and he is just so natural with the tears. However,  I think so much of it was how well his character was written as well as the great performance of Han Ji Min.

I also loved that this was not the typical Korean drama where the male lead is so prideful that it takes 14 episodes for him to confess his feelings. Lee Gak knew he fell in love with the younger sister of the princess (played by Han Ji min) and he never apologized for it. I appreciate decisiveness in a man and I love that he never tried to deny his feelings for her. The ending was a bit bittersweet in that you have to decide how you want to think about it.

It involves thinking about the aspect of time traveling, reincarnation and the transcendence of love across time. In which case the so called "happy ending" depends on the viewers perspective. Personally, I hate these types of endings because if I wanted to think about what the ending of a drama is supposed to be I would just write my own drama, but here I find I can wrap my head around it and just believe what I want to believe and still have my happy ending.

Ultimately, what I always ask myself is "was I entertained?" and for this drama the answer is a resounding "heck, yeah!". It was hilarious. Even with all the serious elements, the prince's companions were a hoot and a half and I could not stop laughing at their antics. I feel that they deserve their own show. Who wouldn't love to see Rooftop Prince 2?