u/Abject_Guitar_4015

It’s been a topic online that the acting in this drama is “cringe.” I’m here to say outright that I’m an IU fan, and most of what she does, I usually eat up. But this drama was so cringe at times that I had to fast-forward scenes with her, the prince, or honestly whenever the two leads were together. Ironically, the side characters were far more expressive and compelling acting-wise.

But after watching more episodes, I realized the actors themselves are not the problem — the character writing and development for the main leads are just weak.

IU’s character is written as someone who faced prejudice because of her family background yet still managed to climb her way to success. Naturally, you’d expect someone raised under those circumstances to have humility, emotional intelligence, foresight, and the ability to move strategically and quietly in business. Instead, she acts like a spoiled brat half the time. She screams at employees over small inconveniences, creates scandals for PR, and somehow has zero contingency plans despite knowing her marriage contract could be exposed at any time. When things fall apart, she immediately runs to her father for help — who doesn’t even help her. Meanwhile, the issue could’ve been solved earlier if she had simply spoken to her brother.

The biggest issue is that the drama keeps insisting everyone falls in love with her, but it never really shows why. The writing treats “working hard” and “being top of the class” as enough justification for her being irresistible. But personality-wise, she’s often the most obnoxious person in the room. Even the fan-service scenes feel awkward because she’s written as a chaebol business owner, not a K-pop idol. If this were a real person, most people would probably find her exhausting and cringe.

Now for the prince.

The “heir and spare” setup is actually a good premise, but the execution is shallow. The drama keeps telling us the younger prince is more capable than the crown prince, but how do they show it? Through grades. The king gets angry because the younger prince scores higher academically. That kind of scene feels outdated and lazy. A much better approach would’ve been political discussions or government matters where the younger prince proposes better solutions. That would’ve naturally shown the tension between the brothers, the insecurities of the crown prince, and the king’s expectations — all in one scene.

We’re nearing the end, and I still don’t fully understand why the crown prince wanted to abdicate despite already having a family. Abdication in a monarchy doesn’t just affect you — it removes succession rights from your descendants too. If mental health or emotional burden was the reason, then the drama should’ve developed that properly through flashbacks or deeper characterization. But it never commits to exploring it.

Then there’s the overall plot.

The marriage contract was built up as one of the biggest conflicts in the entire series, only for it to be resolved in basically a single scene. The payoff felt incredibly unsatisfying compared to how heavily the drama emphasized it.

Now the fashion and aesthetics.

This drama was marketed as a spiritual successor to Princess Hours, and while that drama definitely had plot holes, people still remember its aesthetics and fashion nearly 20 years later. So why does this drama look visually identical to every other modern chaebol K-drama?

The only standout styling belongs to the queen. Her hanboks are stunning, and even her modern outfits still carry the aura of royalty. But for IU and the prince? Their styling feels generic. IU’s wardrobe could’ve incorporated subtle inspiration from traditional Korean fashion to make her visually distinct as a modern royal figure. Instead, she just wears the standard “minimalist chaebol” wardrobe: suits, fitted dresses, and designer pieces we’ve already seen a hundred times in other dramas. The prince suffers from the same issue.

Overall, I genuinely think this drama had perfect casting and an interesting premise, but the execution was so disappointing that I’ll probably forget it three months after the finale.

This is a post about Refresh Wellness. Honestly, this reminded me a lot of my previous experience with Nue Aesthetics.

I’ve noticed na dumadami na yung mga “wellness clinics” that seem more focused on selling memberships rather than actual services. Wala naman akong nakita na outright illegal activity, but the aggressive upselling — especially into six-figure memberships — already feels like a gray area to me.

I originally just wanted to avail a simple CO2/carbon facial. They do offer it, but it costs around 10–12k per session, which was way beyond my budget. Since my budget was only around 2,500, I decided to go for one of their lower-priced facials instead.

While I was there, the manager and attendants kept complimenting me, then started offering a Hydrafacial worth 10k but “discounted” to 5k. One attendant even reacted with, “Hala, laki nung discount nung facial!” so mapapa-oo ka talaga because they make it feel like you’re getting an amazing deal.

Honestly, I also think part of the upselling strategy is having another staff member react to the “huge discount” to create more pressure and make the offer feel too good to pass up.

To be fair, the service itself was okay, but personally, I still felt the 5k Hydrafacial was overpriced for what I got.

During the session, the manager kept coming in to push their membership packages. Sobrang hard sell — may installment options pa, “discounted” memberships, and they even started offering me “free” products. Honestly, I almost said yes. But then I remembered reading online comments about suspicious sales tactics, and I also know my own financial limits. Realistically, wala talagang space in my budget for another six-figure installment commitment.

By the end of the session, I politely declined. I still listened respectfully and told them I needed at least 3 months to think about such a huge purchase. After that, the “free” products they initially gave me were suddenly taken back after the facial ended.

Another thing I noticed: one attendant mentioned that the owner is Russian, but from comments I’ve seen online, other people were saying the owner is actually Israeli. I honestly don’t know which is true, but it added to the weirdness of the overall experience.

They also showed before-and-after HIFU photos during the consultation, but the two photos were obviously of different people. Napatawa na lang talaga ako internally when I noticed it.

Another thing that stood out to me was when one attendant mentioned that they’re already planning to open another branch in Tagaytay. Parang ang dating tuloy sakin is madami na rin talagang nabubudol or signing up for these memberships for them to expand that quickly.

Again, this is just my personal experience. The staff were polite, and the service itself was okay, but the aggressive upselling and membership pressure made the whole experience uncomfortable for me.