This drama is so much fun! Quirky and silly, but with a natural and relatable side as well. Both leads portray their characters well, especially the ML. Most brooding men come off as one-dimensional robots, but either the ML actor is stellar or the writers are bc his character and development were done beautifully. FL has more of a flat arc in the sense that she doesn't grow as a person much, but she's a strong yet feminine woman who's easy to love. And their chemistry together was magical 💕
I'm on ep 13 and was surprised when I Googled the show to find out if there were any sex scenes (evidently not! Yay!), and discovered such a low rating. A quick read of these reviews reveals it's merely bc of the way the Arab prince was portrayed and the Muslim religion by extension, though idk that the prince ever said he was Muslim or gave an indication of it either, but I may have just missed it. Either way, negative reviewers want to ratio the show to oblivion merely bc of imperfect representation (which is silly bc all kdrama is imperfect representation of something: Korea, love, rich people, poor people, students, Westerners, Christians, etc.). The prince is not shown in a negative light, nor is he shown as a demon, and by the end of his arc, he's downright lovable. They didn't give him special treatment bc he was "foreign." They treated him like a person (the horror!) and he is one of my favorite side characters bc of his brotherly sparring with ML and his natural charisma.
So, in conclusion, if you are capable of watching a fictional show while simultaneously remembering the definition of the word fiction, then you will be able to enjoy King the Land for what it is: a lighthearted rom-com. And I'm sooooooo grateful that's all it tried to be! We could use more of that, these days ❤️ 💙 💜 Enjoy!