King 2 Hearts (2012)

Country: South-Korea
Format: drama in 20 episodes
Genre: action, romance, political, drama
Cast: Lee Seung Gi, Ha Ji Won,Jo Jung Suk, Yoon Je Moon, Lee Yoon Ji, Lee Sung Min, Jung Man Shik, Kwon Hyun Sang, Choi Kwon, Lee Do Kyong, Samantha Daniel, Fabien Yoon,
Synopsis: Lee Jae Ha is crown  prince of South-Korea. Fresh out of military service he cannot wait to go back to enjoying his great life. Only then he finds out that his brother, the king, has put him into South-Korean team of South- and North-Korean military training sessions in order to take part as an united team in World Officer Contest. Lee Jae Ha meets Kim Hang Ah - the leader of the north team - and has no idea how meeting her will change the lives of everybody in those two countries.
Rating: 5/5
This became fast one of my favorite dramas I have seen and I think that it is a bit underrated for its awesomeness. This drama gives you all the emotions you need and more.

Lee Jae Ha is told to have IQ of 187, yet he does not care about using it. He is a playboy and has never thought of becoming a king or doing things that he is expected to do. For him his life is only for enjoying the privileges. That is the reason why everything becomes difficult for him when he finds himself in situation were he has to lead people. He falls so fast in love with hang Ah without knowing it himself that is so funny. Even funnier is how he tries to talk-act as if there is nothing while he is already way too obvious with his actions.

He is like perfect example of hot and cold. I like how he matures so much with the time as you see young carefree boy growing up to masculine adult. The role of Lee Jae Ha was actually offered to 3 other actors (Lee Byung Hun, Zo In Sung and Lee Je Hoon) who all turned down the offer. Funny thing is that with every actor the age decreased and in the end the last actor is 17 years younger than the first actor who was offered. Even though I think that others would have been great in this role too, I am happy that Seung Gi got it as he was one of the main reasons why this drama got me interested. His acting is amazing and I think perfect for the role in every way.

Hang Ah is exactly the opposite from Jae Ha - she is the daughter of North Korean general, which is the reason why she is in the army too. She is strict and fearsome at work, but actually she is naive woman, who just wants to get married and have a family. That is also the whole reason why she gets involved with the mission as his father promises to help with finding a man for her, as she herself has a lot of troubles with it. At first I did not like her overly cute voice, but actually it became refreshing to see her giving her bloody best to be accepted. I understand how difficult it must be for her when she does not even know what is right and what is wrong, not to mention remembering all the ways how to speak. I had a feeling as if from one moment everybody expect her to leave her roots behind and start being South-Korean. Ha Ji Won is amazing in this role as she acts out all the scenes.

For me, John Mayer is the greatest, sickest, most horrifying villains in the history of dramas. He is lunatic with very serious mental issues and the biggest problem is when someone like he gets in front of the power. There is nothing that holds him back from his plans. With his storyline you start to realize how corrupted and small our world is. You can think it is only in drama and if you want to believe that, do not ever make a research about businesses and corporations. I think from all people, Jae Ha is exactly the right person to go against him and even greater is to see, how both of them are trying to outsmart each other. In addition, I must acknowledge Samatha Daniel's performance as Bon Bon. She was amazing!

Eun Shi Kyung won my heart as soon as I understood that he is actually not after Hang Ah, even though he causes enough jealousy in Lee Jae Ha. Eun Shi Kyung, as being brought up next to royal family with the thought that he is going to serve royal family for all his life as a bodyguard, is really restrained with his feelings and actions. Sometimes he is so formal that everybody including me want to hit him. With him it is really nice to see that when Lee Jae Ha becomes more adult, then Eun SHi Kyung finds his youth without losing his personality traits needed for his job. Of course, most of his changes are thanks to Jae Shin who is able to surprise him in almost every action.

Lee Jae Shin is more similar to Jae Ha than to Jae Kang, because she also rather enjoys what life gives her and does not think too much about her position. That is way Eun Shi Kyung annoys her at first because that guy really cares more about royal family reputation than she does. When life changes she becomes the prisoner of her own mind. There were many times when I did not understand her, but the more you see the more you understand. The actress also win an award for her outstanding performance and I can say that she deserved it.

King Lee Jae Kang can definitely count as one of the best kings in the world. He is kind, outstanding, honest and stands for his country and people. He has things that he keeps for himself just because he cannot trust others or he does not want to worry others - that is way some things are called "national secret". He is actually one of my favorite characters in this drama as there is so much that he hides from others just to keep others safe. Unfortunate that sometimes great people have to suffer the most.

Queen might be the only character with who I had kind of love-hate relationship as at first she seemed a bit too obnoxious with Hang Ah and asking too much from her. Yet then again there came the understanding about her position and origin. I think she might have been one character who lived through the most as I think most of us agrees that mothers live every worry-sadness-illness  of children double or triple times more (at least my mother does). Despite everything, she might also be one of the strongest characters, because she does not let them get into her head.

In addition, it is also impressive that the cast was international and they spoke in many different languages in one drama. I was impressed. Neither I expected there to be so shocking things in the drama. I cried my eyes out in the 7th and 8th episode. So much of enjoying the end of 6th one. It is amazing how many different situations and emotions they are going through. It takes so much energy from the actors to work in this kind of drama, but I think they all were doing a great job.

I would like to go over the good points of the drama again: only one real villian, great in-laws, one serious relationship with being sure about their feelings from the start. I did not have to go crazy with third wheel getting into others business. I get really easily annoyed when there is too much relationship drama between 3 people, so it is nice to see a drama where there is actually no second lead in a relationship. Of course, in this drama it totally understandable, because they had way too many things going on already.
I think this drama is underrated. It is so much better than most of dramas I have seen and it is definitely my number 1. This is one drama that makes me scream. If you start to watch it, then let me say one last warning - do not get too fond of characters, it does not make you any good.