The King 2Hearts, Rooftop Prince, The Equator Man

Lee Seung Gi (Prince Lee Jae Ha) & Ha Ji Won (Kim Hang Ah) will be playing as a married couple in The King 2 Hearts.

"Lee Jae Ha, the supposed 2nd Prince of South Korea marries the thirty-something army instructor, Kim Hang Ah who is also the daughter of an influential family from the north korea through an arranged marriage after both of them were being caught in a "special situation".

The once carefree and frank, Lee Jae Ha began to walk his road of revenge as the king after his older brother was killed in a bombing attack during his engagement. And as both of Jae Ha and Hang Ah slowly falls in love with each other despite of clashing and fighting at first, they finds themselves once again at the mercy of the political factors which had brought them together at first but now wants them to be apart."
Synopsis source: yeohweping - soompi

The King 2 Hearts has been described as a black comedy, human melodrama with Kylie Minogue's 2Hearts as the theme song.

Ha Ji Won told her fans that the OST for this drama reminds her of Studio Gibli animated film Howl's Moving Castle, Merry-go-round of Life.



Howl's Moving Castle is a dark animated film, it's a pretty meaty & heavy film and has a bit of comedy to balance out the heavy & dark theme. Out of all Studio Gibli film, Spirited Away & Howl's Moving Castle are my favorites.



I don't have any doubt about Seunggi & Ha Ji Won capabilities as an actor, Ha Ji Won is also well-known to bring the best out of her partner and Lee Seung Gi has mentioned in several different interviews that he'd love to work with Ha Ji Won; so I know these two can pull this off. I just hope Seunggi won't be too overacting as what he did in the first episodes of MGIAG.

The King 2 Hearts was originally called "The King" / "King 2 Hearts", but it has recently changed to The King 2 Hearts.

Park Yoochun will be playing as Prince Lee Gak who lost his Crown Princess in the Joseon era and he travels jump 300years later to the modern world (from the fans-pic, it looks like he's walking around the street wearing his blue hanbok hahaha).



In this modern world, he meets with a woman who looks alike with his long-lost Crown Princess and there will be another woman who falls in love with him. A romantic love triangle ^^

It's said that he's going to live in a rooftop, hence this drama is called the Rooftop Prince. Described as a fusion, romantic comedy, action drama; this drama uses the power of the flower boys and boasts the birth of Joseon F4: Park Yoochun, Jung Suk Won, Lee Min Ho and Choi Woo Shik.



Writer Lee Myung Hee said that he believes in Park Yoochun as he has the charm & charisma and if he can pull it off, it will be a breaking point for his acting career. And I believe in you as well, Park Yoochun! Fighting.

At the moment, I honestly still confused about his women. Some said that Han Ji Min is his lost Crown Princess, but some said that the Crown Princess is Jung Yoo Mi. But I hope he will have great chemistry with both women =)

Park Yoochun, Han Ji Min & Jung Yoo Min have experience in playing in both period and modern drama; so I know they can pull it off beautifully.

Even though the Equator Man will start at the same time as the other 2 dramas, however, they have just finalized the lead cast few days ago. Isn't it a bit late?

I initially was so happy as I read the rumor that Oh Ji Ho was considering the offer to be the lead cast, but in the end, Uhm Force took up the lead role as the man who fights hard even though he was an orphanage but his courage, tenacity and hard work allowing him to be a successful CEO.

On the other hand, Lee Jun Hyuk (the prosecutor from City Hunter - my fav! ^^) will be playing as Uhm Force best friend turned enemy. He was born in a poor family and becomes a smart prosecutor.

A melodrama written by the same writer of "Woman of the Sun", dramabeans described The Equator Man as the male version of Women of the Sun.

I guess everyone will be nervous to see which drama will come on top in terms of rating.

The King 2Hearts does have an advantage as it follows the big success of Moon that embraces the Sun. But it's a big burden as well. And King 2Hearts genre of black comedy may not attract large number of viewers (but I hope I'm wrong here, hopefully the storyline is great and the actors execute their parts well). Most of black comedy drama / film that I watched, usually involves murder / suspense thriller and lots of swearing (Seunggi aka Prince Jae Ha has mentioned that his character swears a lot!). Even though the writers tried to put a parody in between, however, not everyone will love this kind of drama. But one thing to note, both Lee Seung Gi and Ha Ji Won are well-loved in Korea, Seunggi is well known as mother's friend son & Ha Ji Won is well known as mother's friend daughter.

Update: okay, just watched the first teaser of the King 2Hearts and it gives me goosebumps & I think I'll like it!

I heard that the Korean viewers (mostly the older generation) love melodrama. And the trailer for the Equator Man shows angst and makjang, not to mention Uhm Tae Woong is well-known as one of the best melodrama actor - so in this case, The Equator Man will probably do well.

However, the younger generation may prefer to watch romantic-comedy drama, in this case, Rooftop Prince will be the clear winner. Just from the photoshoot & BTS video, the OTP (Yoochun & Han Ji Min) have already formed a solid chemistry!

The first two episodes of these dramas will the vital point to keep the viewers watching the rest of the drama.

Wishing the actors, the writers, the PDs and the production crew all the very best! Just hope they won't be too pressurized by the broadcasting company to produce a drama with a high rating. And I hope they will at least have similar ratings. ^^

AGB Nielsen only get their rating data from 2050 households panels [nationwide] and 550 households [Seoul] (source: AGB Nielsen Net], so I always thought the rating is only a representation of the minority of Korean viewers.

As long as the drama is well received by the majority of the viewers, the actors deliver great acting skills and the storyline is engaging; I will say that the drama is successful.