Cinderella and the Four Knights

I love all Cinderella movies and every possible version of it, so when this title appeared in the suggestions on my Netflix, I couldn't resist! It took me 5 days to see the whole thing and it was a beautiful week 😍

As for the content 👇

• Eun Ha-Won is a high-schooler and hopes to become a teacher one day like her deceased mother wished for her. She is bright on the outside but as all Cinderellas, have a sad family situation. Her father is always working far from home so she has to spend time with her an unpleasant stepmother and a terrible step-sister. Ha-Won or studies or works, she does everything to collet money to university tuition and to be able to store her mother's ashes at the cementery. But those multiple emplyeers don't pay enough and ashes were recently removed due to unpaid bills.
  
  
• Prince no. 1 - Kang Hyun-Min, the oldest grandson of CEO Kang and possible heir to the fortune. He is a beau who continously changes girls. He loves to show off his family's wealth and is second to none in being confident. To please his grandfather, he proposes Ha-Won to play the role of his fiancée.
  
  
• Prince no. 2 - Kang Ji-Woon, second grandson and the only one born outside of the family. He had never met his father and his mother had recently died. He does not want to be associated with his father's fortune and does everything contrary to his grandfather's wishes. He's a rebel who hates this family's fortune. He can't get along with his older cousin as he is notoriously hurting his beloved Park Hye-Ji (who actially loves Hyum-Min).
  
  
• Prince no. 3 - Kang Seo-Won, the youngest of CEO Kang grandsons. He is the most kind and lovely of all Kang grandchildren. He can get along with everyone and there is no-one that hates him. He is the only one with his own career - music. 
  
  
• Prince no. 4 - Lee Yoon-Sung, this prince is not as obvious as the others as he is not directly related to the Kang family. He is CEO Kang's secretary and one of the most trusted person. At the same time, this is the hidden son of the grandfather's fifth wife.

In order for all the boys to finally get along and finally behave like a family, Grandpa Kang built a special house where each grandson has his own room and it is their duty to eat meals together every day. To make this happen, Ha-Won accepts a job and moves into the Sky House. In this way Cinderella has to manage the player Hyun-Min, tough Ji-Woon and sensitive Seo-Woo. The secretary's help is mandatory!

Let the hunger games begin! 😅😂

Pluses:

Female lead who is independent and does not give a shit. It was very refreshing point of view on Cinderella which is usually portraied as sweet and cute but scared of others. Also this type of female character seems to be quite rare in k-dramas, female characters are almost always very feminine and Ha-Won stands to quite a bit 😅💪 She is strong mentally and with her body 😍 I liked from the first moments of the drama and didn't lose it even when she was a bit annoyin about episodes 9-12. I found an comment calling her situation a "reversed harem" and that was so accurate! Because what girl wouldn't like to be closed in the giant luxorious house with 4 handsome man that all like you and want you for themselves.... and you get paid for it!! Don't tell me twice, I'm going right now 😎❤

Sweet chemistry between the leads. Even though the sentance that was the most often said between there two was "kkeojyeo" in English "fuck off" 😂💜 they managed to fell in love in a beautiful way. They had so many cute moments that there was no other option. I am not going to say whom she chose because that would spoil everything therefore all I'm going to say is that their road is sweet but bumpy. I could feel that they really care for each other. Their love story wasn't rushed or forced 💞

Music. Till this I have never even thought of searching for the soundtrack of a drama. Even though I loved many song in various dramas, I had never downloaded it but "For You" from BTOB and "I Believe" of Younha had to be the exceptions. Those songs are so fantastic that I had to have them on my morning playlist. 

 

Minuses:

Title: Cinderella is surounded with Four Knights only in a theory. She lives with 3 of them and fourth (?) is coming and going and we also know shit about him. The title completly doesn't corespod with that is actually going on in the drama. At one point I was even thinking that maybe producers thought of fourth knight as a father of Ha-Won or as a CEO Kang? Because Lee Yoon-Sung doesn't fit with the role. He has almost none interactions with Cinderella (not talking about any feeling because how to develop them when through out the drama they had what... 3 descent conversations?).

They tried to sell that this is a reverse harem kind of story 😆😂 The first few episodes showed promessing love triangle which maybe was a cliche but at least entertaining one. Up to a point though .... because at one moment one knight let's Cinderella go while other one doesn't know what to do with her.

Clichés: Hye-Ji has the looks and is from a well-raised background but also is terrible stubborn what makes her miserable. Producers made her into a beautiful barbie with knowledge only in fashion. Boring and annoying character what brings only mess to the show. This character's background and special characteristics are just as mismatched (almost pathetic) as Ji-Woon's who is forced into being a bad-boy who fixes broken cars and rides a motorcycle. Cliché after cliché 👎😩

Unexplaind music career: Seo-Woo is one of my most liked characters as he has his own life and is not unneccesarily mean to others but his carees is just thrown onto spectators and never explained how and why. There's no back story to his characteristics. He's popular, talented, romantic and seems to be  unattached to the entire chaebol family.  *** SPOILER *** Through out the drama he is secretly in-love with female lead and unreasonablly let's her go. *** SPOILER *** He would be much better partner for Ha-Won.  *** SPOILER ***

 

The series has a few shortcomings but fortunately the drama is well put together so they are not bothersome. Personally, I liked the drama because it is a fresh look at the Cinderella story and I would rate the series 6/10 - it's not over the top but also not boring 👌😋 It has a good balance.