"Perfect Crown" now has only one episode left, and amid controversies over historical distortion it is receiving cold stares. Attention is on whether there is a trump card to overturn this and whether it can finish on a high note.
MBC's Friday-Saturday drama "Perfect Crown" (writer Yoo Ji-won, directors Park Joon-hwa and Bae Hwa-young, planner Kang Dae-seon, produced by MBC, Kakao Entertainment), which opened in a splash with its first broadcast on the 10th of last month, has only one episode left until its finale.
Set in a 21st-century constitutional monarchy Korea, the drama "Perfect Crown" depicts a class-defying romance in which a wealthy chaebol who has everything is frustratingly of commoner status, and a king's son who cannot have anything is a sad man forging his destiny; with production costs of more than 30 billion won and starring trending actors such as IU, Byeon Woo-seok, Gong Seung-yeon, and Noh Sang Hyun, it was highlighted as this year's most anticipated work.
Opinions were divided when "Perfect Crown" premiered amid expectations. Although it is an alternate history piece, critics said it lacked verification and had a weak narrative, while defenders argued that, as a so-called "brain-off" drama (a show to watch without thinking), the setting and story serve merely as tools for the protagonists' romance and therefore are not of great importance.
Among alternate history genre fandom, "Perfect Crown" may have received harsh reviews, but among fantasy romance fandom it gained popularity: on MBC it recorded a peak rating of 13.5% (episode 11, Nielsen Korea nationwide), and on Disney+ it was one of the most-watched Korean series globally, even excluding the APAC region, with strong viewership in North America, Europe and Latin America.
Amid viewers' heated debate, "Perfect Crown," which had risen as a "cash cow" for MBC and Disney+ and continued to pull its weight, faced a huge setback in episode 11 broadcast on the 15th. Viewers pointed out that the show used "cheonse," a term used when a vassal state is subordinated to an imperial state, instead of "manse," a symbol of an independent country; that while the emperor (king) of an independent nation wore a "ten-string crown" with 12 strings of jewels, "Perfect Crown" had a "guryumyeongwan" worn by a vassal who is a subject of the emperor; and that it followed Chinese tea ceremony rules — sparking accusations of historical distortion and Northeast Project controversy.
Perhaps sensing the chilly public mood, "Perfect Crown" removed the scene of shouting "cheonse" in the 11th episode rebroadcast that aired on the afternoon of the 16th. Precisely, the picture remained but the audio was removed, showing awareness of the controversy.
Throughout its run actors' performances, lack of plausibility and weak narrative were criticized, but having hit the huge wall of historical distortion and Northeast Project controversy, attention turns to whether the final episode can overturn this and finish "strong from start to finish."
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