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Picture this. It's year 2006 and you're living in modern day Korea whose ruling government is constitutional monarchy, where a parliament and a royal family coexists peacefully. Suddenly, the Prince of Korea transfers to your school and you accidentally overheard him proposing to this certain girl. To make things worse, you keep bumping into him every now and then due to unfortunate circumstances in the most embarrassing and extreme situations. Only to find out one day that you will soon be marrying him because of a pact between your deceased grandfather and the former emperor. Your dad lost his job, your family is in debt and your house will soon be mortaged. What will you do? Would you rather suffer and oppose the marriage? Or would you despite all odds, set yourself aside and do it for the sake of your family?




Well, what do you expect? I'm sure you all know this. The Crown Prince Shin hates the presence of the Crown Princess Chaegyung, as he thinks she's nothing but a hindrance to his secret relationship with Min Hyorin, a ballet major who has who has big dreams. He proposes to her to avoid the policy marriage, but she rejects the proposal because she wants to pursue her dreams. His lady love goes overseas for a ballet competition, taking the proposal as a joke. Too late to realize that she just lost him over her dreams. The Crown Prince then accepts the marriage cold-heartedly and against his will, which only makes the dispute between him and the newly-adjusting Crown Princess worse. Then, the Crown Prince's cousin Yul enters the picture to make the whole story even more complicated as he falls for his cousin-in-law. He then discovers that if his father, the former prince did not die, he couldh've been the one married to her instead of Shin. The stunning presence and the indescribable closeness of the crown prince and his cousin in law triggers the crown prince's sudden affection to his new wife. And then, the story goes...




The story revolves around the conflicts of the four main characters, the rules of the palace, and their tertiary roles as they adapt to new responsibilities, tasks and duties. Every character has his and her own story to tell. You'll hate and that the same time love the characters in the series at particular points and situations. As the story progresses, you'll notice the overlapping and contradicting values and principles of the characters, as well as the people around them. A dynamic and ever-changing interaction between four completely different people so to speak, from a bubbly, optimistic and naturally happy disposition (Yoon Eun Hye), to a silent and reserved individual who'd rather keep things to himself (Joo Ji Hoon), a caring and protective friend who later develops feelings for the person that he is protecting (Kim Jeong Hoon) , and a determined mind over heart girl who regrets her decision after realizing he lost him to somebody else (Song Ji Hyo).

Goong ("Palace" in English) whose alternate title "Princess Hours" aired in 2006, and that's about a year ago in Korea and it reached the Philippines a few months after it aired successfully with amazing ratings one episode after another in its home country. It was based on a novel of a few volumes written by Park So Hee, an acclaimed Korean novelist. Originally, it consists of 20 episodes, but because of its popularity, it was extended to 24 episodes which aired from January 11 to March 3, 2006. Before the series, the rookie leads were relatively unknown. Some even doubted their potential to pull it off and be convincing on screen as they did not have a formal acting training, so to speak. But after it's successful premiere to box office as Korea's #1 hit of 2006, everyone's favorite royal couple, Joo Ji Hoon and Yoon Eun Hye automatically entered the spotlight.

I have always loved the series and I've kept my own copy carefully in what I call, my very own "treasure box", which houses my other favorite Asian flicks. I have watched this a year ago, and I always wanted to make a review out of it but I had no time; however, here it is anyway.

Picture this. It's year 2006 and you're living in modern day Korea whose ruling government is constitutional monarchy, where a parliament and a royal family coexists peacefully. Suddenly, the Prince of Korea transfers to your school and you accidentally overheard him proposing to this certain girl. To make things worse, you keep bumping into him every now and then due to unfortunate circumstances in the most embarrassing and extreme situations. Only to find out one day that you will soon be marrying him because of a pact between your deceased grandfather and the former emperor. Your dad lost his job, your family is in debt and your house will soon be mortaged. What will you do? Would you rather suffer and oppose the marriage? Or would you despite all odds, set yourself aside and do it for the sake of your family?




Well, what do you expect? I'm sure you all know this. The Crown Prince Shin hates the presence of the Crown Princess Chaegyung, as he thinks she's nothing but a hindrance to his secret relationship with Min Hyorin, a ballet major who has who has big dreams. He proposes to her to avoid the policy marriage, but she rejects the proposal because she wants to pursue her dreams. His lady love goes overseas for a ballet competition, taking the proposal as a joke. Too late to realize that she just lost him over her dreams. The Crown Prince then accepts the marriage cold-heartedly and against his will, which only makes the dispute between him and the newly-adjusting Crown Princess worse. Then, the Crown Prince's cousin Yul enters the picture to make the whole story even more complicated as he falls for his cousin-in-law. He then discovers that if his father, the former prince did not die, he couldh've been the one married to her instead of Shin. The stunning presence and the indescribable closeness of the crown prince and his cousin in law triggers the crown prince's sudden affection to his new wife. And then, the story goes...




The story revolves around the conflicts of the four main characters, the rules of the palace, and their tertiary roles as they adapt to new responsibilities, tasks and duties. Every character has his and her own story to tell. You'll hate and that the same time love the characters in the series at particular points and situations. As the story progresses, you'll notice the overlapping and contradicting values and principles of the characters, as well as the people around them. A dynamic and ever-changing interaction between four completely different people so to speak, from a bubbly, optimistic and naturally happy disposition (Yoon Eun Hye), to a silent and reserved individual who'd rather keep things to himself (Joo Ji Hoon), a caring and protective friend who later develops feelings for the person that he is protecting (Kim Jeong Hoon) , and a determined mind over heart girl who regrets her decision after realizing he lost him to somebody else (Song Ji Hyo).

Goong ("Palace" in English) whose alternate title "Princess Hours" aired in 2006, and that's about a year ago in Korea and it reached the Philippines a few months after it aired successfully with amazing ratings one episode after another in its home country. It was based on a novel of a few volumes written by Park So Hee, an acclaimed Korean novelist. Originally, it consists of 20 episodes, but because of its popularity, it was extended to 24 episodes which aired from January 11 to March 3, 2006. Before the series, the rookie leads were relatively unknown. Some even doubted their potential to pull it off and be convincing on screen as they did not have a formal acting training, so to speak. But after it's successful premiere to box office as Korea's #1 hit of 2006, everyone's favorite royal couple, Joo Ji Hoon and Yoon Eun Hye automatically entered the spotlight.

I have always loved the series and I've kept my own copy carefully in what I call, my very own "treasure box", which houses my other favorite Asian flicks. I have watched this a year ago, and I always wanted to make a review out of it but I had no time; however, here it is anyway.