The King repeatedly doing this. This is not called “romantic”, it is “sexual assault“.
(Honestly, do you need to understand the dialogue they are saying?)

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    Would you believe that the writer of the novel, PD, and the writer of this show are women? I don’t understand this kind of sick fantasy, to be honest.
    These historical figures and their love story was so rare in this era, and this is how they interpret it.

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      Just check, both PD and screenwriter are women. Not sure about the writer of the novel, but I guess it’s a man.

      Don’t underestimate the ignorance and cluelessness of East Asian audience, @kiara, for Taiwanese media I monitor the most on K-dramas, they (also, according to those media, South Korean netizens) do think it is “romantic”, and believe he shows the “power” so she “loves” him. I guess that’s why there are so many sex scandals in Taiwan and South Korea …

      My point is, a handsome guy sexual assaulting someone doesn’t make the act more “justified”·, right?

      (In case you are interested, I quitted the show in Episode 9. Now I am watching a Norwegian-Israeli drama called The Girl from Oslo, and SBS’ Our Beloved Summer, which I think it is way more romantic–I cried in the end of Episode 8)

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        The novel writer was 17 years old when she first started writing RED SLEEVE. This story is a young girl’s version of the romance between a king and his concubine.

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      It reminds me of a genre of older US romance novels (that I despise). I really have a love/hate relationship with this drama now.

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    Yeah, he repeatedly threatens to rape her, so ummmmmmmmm

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    I have’nt watched ep 14 15 but after reading everyone’s commemts I’m having hard time to continie this. From what I read the route they’re going is not wrong of the king threatning and lusting I mean it might have happened that way but they should’nt have shown this as romantic. I forgave San for holding her neck because he was young and giving the drama and San a second chance. Looks like he went in the opposite direction. The movie The Concubine did a better job in potraying the lust of the prince and how far he would go for it.

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      “The Concubine” is at the same fictional adult level as “The Frozen Flower,” don’t you think?
      So far, I think YISAN is still the closest sageuk to the actual history (political-wise). It’s long but necessary for many characters to flesh out their motivations.
      There is not much written about the women, so Deok Im was portrait as an artist, but once she became his concubine, it was all history from there. Their four years as a married couple were long and satisfying, with many episodes dedicated to their life together until she died.

      Back to RED SLEEVE, I also thought the writer was going for character growth with San’s earlier behavior, but it doesn’t seem like it.
      From his perspective, I think he was frustrated and didn’t know how to deal with it properly. He married young before he knew what love was, and he didn’t date his queen first, so no experience there, Lol. With Deok Im, he has to work hard to change her mind.
      Even with that as a possibility, it’s still questionable. Call it an attempt to find a reason that makes sense.

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        Just now completed upto ep 15. San-s behaviour and longing was good but they had to go and ruin it with the forced kiss and rape threat. And I’m not warmed fo Doek Im’s character the way she went behind the king amd I think Hong do was right she took advantage of the king’s preference for her. She may be desperate but still I did’nt like her there. Just leaving out the kiss scene and the threat scene would habe made the drama so so much better. Anyway I just started to view this as a non romance. Junho is making very thing 100 times better.

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    I started hoping she’d stab him in return.

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