This drama is packed with great stuff—romance, political intrigue, comedy, action, and frankly some of the best non-asian actors I've seen in a kdrama. (Most of them aren't actually good actors, but most "foreign" actors I've seen in kdramas have been terrible, and these actors are somewhat decent. . . mostly.)
One of my favorite aspects of this drama is Ha Ji Won's character Kim Hang Ah. She's a tough-as-nails North Korean drill sergeant who has to deal with South Korea's crown prince/Peter Pan/playboy Lee Jae Ha (in a world where South Korea has a nominal monarchy). Are we surprised that Ha Ji Won is playing a tough chick? Not in the least, because she's awesome at it, but this girl has a squishy center.
To be honest, I'm not always a fan of the Hong Sisters' dramas. This drama had been on the back burner for me for a long time—I had some desire to watch it, but needed a little push to start it. That push came (happily) from a combination of my current frenzy over Big and a newfound love for Lee Seung Ki after watching King 2 Hearts. And I'm glad I finally got that push.
It's not a perfect drama, but despite that, I really enjoyed it. How can you not swoon over Lee Seung Ki's adorable dimples? How could I resist the delightful twist on a Korean fable/fairy tale? (I'm a total sucker for good fairy tale adaptations, even if I'm not very well versed on the story.) And the Hong Sisters are generally quite good at writing comedy. I also loved the mystery interwoven throughout the story, which added a nice tension and some conflict to the plot.
