Drama Review: Rooftop Prince

Hello everyone! A rainy afternoon to you all. This is kind of a long overdue review because this drama have ended last week and I was able to watch the English subbed version this Saturday. I just got busy with my dad getting injured during the race this weekend so I was unable to post until now.

Anyway, let's go back to the purpose of this post. I am gonna share my thoughts about the Korean drama Rooftop Prince.

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Comedy, Historical 

Episodes: 20

Air Time: Wednesday, Thursday

Broadcasting Network: SBS

Broadcasting Period: March 21 - May 24, 2012

Casts:

Park Yoochun as Prince Lee Gak / Yong Tae Yong

Han Ji Min as Park Ha / Bu Young

Jung Yoo Mi as Hong Se Na / Princess Hwa Young

Lee Tae Sung as Yong Tae Mu / Moo Chang

Lee Min Ho as Song Man Bo

Jung Suk Won as Woo Yong Sool

Choi Woo Shik as Do Chi San

Summary:

This is a time-travel drama which also involves reincarnations.

Joseon Era (18th Century) - Crown Prince Lee Gak lost his Crown Princess Hwa Young and he believes that she was murdered.  He gathered 3 warriors (Song Man Bo, Woo Yong Sool, Do Chi San) to help him investigate the case. During the investigation, they were hunted by a group of bandits and ended up disappearing.

Seoul (2012) - The Prince and his 3 warriors appeared on the rooftop apartment of Park Ha. After they realized that they jumped 300 years to the future, they concluded that they were sent there so that they can investigate the death of the Princess. They attached themselves to Park Ha because they don't know anyone except her since she's the first person they met and she is very nice.

Park Ha grew up in the US because she was adopted after she lost her memory due to an accident when she was only 9 years old. She came back to South Korea because she found her biological father after searching for a long time. She reunited with her dad's 2nd family but her step sister Se Na didn't like her at all.  She took care of the 4 strangers that appeared on her rooftop apartment and thought them how to survive the present. They became great friends and she believed that they came from the Joseon Era.

MY THOUGHTS on the drama Rooftop Prince:

I watched this because of two reasons: (1) The main character is played by Mickey Yoochun of JYJ and (2) it is a romantic comedy. I really loved Mickey because aside from being a great singer, he is also a great actor. He already have won awards for some of his dramas but my favorite would be Sungkyukwan Scandal and he played a noble of the Joseon era too...He was so good there and I really believed that he would do great in this new drama...and I'm not disappointed :)

This drama made me laugh, cry and fall in love with the characters all throughout. It never had a dull moment and I love the writer and director for that. Everything is well written and well executed. The comedy parts are not awkward because it feels so natural. I believe Mickey is meant to play this kind of roles.

I also commend how the love between the two lead character Lee Gak and Park Ha evolved from irritation to being actually in love with each other. There's no such thing as love at first sight in here which made it really realistic. And as an audience, it made me feel the emotions more when they finally realized that they will get separated anytime because of their situation. 

The distribution of scenes and the character development are also superb. Each of them have their own moment to shine. I specifically love the Joseon Power Rangers (that's what the fans call them hehe) because those three warriors are so fun to watch while they are trying to adapt in this new world. 

Here's a clip of their first day in the year 2012...you can watch it in Youtube with English sub...just click CC and choose the language ^_^

*SPOILERS alert!*

The ending...I don't know what to say. It is sad but funny at the same time. I guess it gives a complicated feeling but since it was done great, I did not get put off by the ending.

I am sad that Lee Gak and Park Ha can't be together because they are living 300 years apart but I still hoped it is possible. I love that they got "married" before Lee Gak disappeared and went back to Joseon because it made their relationship's ending beautiful. 

I cried during this scene because just after this kiss, Lee Gak started to disappear and Park Ha was left alone with no other memories like pictures coz those disappeared too :(

Prince Lee Gak ended up alone because he stayed in love with Park Ha...he also learned that Bu Young loves him but they can't stay together because she's dead.... while Park Ha ended up with Yong Tae Yong who got revived from being in a coma (I guessed this because their meeting is the last scene).. I guess it is still a realistic ending...

But I laughed during the scenes when the 4 Joseon Power Rangers got back to their era and they learned that even though they lived a long time in the future, they were just missing for one day in their time.My favorite part is when the three warriors brought with them things from the future like mp3 players, beer and candies. I actually laughed that after solving the murder case, the three warriors set up a small cafeteria that sells omurice only. They still love the omurice made by Park Ha and they eat it whenever they miss her ...and they used their knowledge too to earn money at the same time ^_^ 

OVER-ALL RATING: 4.5/5 -

I still can't get over the fact that they didn't get to stay together hehe

WILL I RECOMMEND THIS? Definitely! This is the best Korean drama for the 1st half of 2012. Also, after watching this, definitely check out Sungkyukwan Scandal too if you haven't watched that yet.

Thank you for dropping by! Until my next review ^_^