The drama Grand Prince's Wife of the 21st Century has come to an end with high viewership ratings. Due to its massive buzz, various viral clips emerged from every single episode. Unfortunately, controversial scenes also made headlines almost every week.
It was undeniably the most anticipated drama of the first half of 2026. The cast featured Byeon Woo-seok, who recently shot to stardom through Lovely Runner, alongside IU, who boasts a powerful fandom and delivered another solid performance.
As expected, the show generated immense buzz right after it started airing. While it didn't record explosive ratings from the very first episode like traditional dramas used to, the viewership steadily climbed with each passing episode, eventually wrapping up at its peak rating.
The drama can be categorized as a fantasy. Specifically, it is an alternate history piece rather than a traditional historical drama. Nevertheless, it was still built upon the foundation of our actual past.
Because of this, it was impossible to be entirely free from historical context. This seems to be the part the production team overlooked. Throughout its run, the drama faced constant criticism regarding its historical accuracy and verification.
Controversies over the acting also persisted from the early stages. Byeon Woo-seok played the lead role with a traditional historical tone, while IU portrayed a chaebol heiress with an attention-seeking personality.
These elements felt unfamiliar to viewers at first, leading to many comments calling the acting awkward. Honestly, however, it was never to the point of being truly distracting.
In a way, this is the inevitable fate of a project that enjoys such massive popularity. They often say that total indifference is scarier than malicious comments. The criticism likely stemmed from the fact that the drama was receiving so much attention.
IU has already proven her versatility through various roles. Even if not traditional, she has previously starred in historical-themed dramas and recently received high praise for her acting in When Life Gives You Tangerines.
Acting isn't something one can excel at completely alone; it depends heavily on the chemistry and synergy with the co-star. Facing continuous criticism must have been quite challenging for IU.
In the end, however, an irreversible error in historical verification occurred in the final episodes. It was so indefensible that the production team had to release an official statement. In reality, there is nothing an actor can do about these production-level issues.
The backlash grew so severe that some critics even claimed the drama was inadvertently promoting the Northeast Project to a global audience. Despite this, IU expressed a deep sense of responsibility during her recent birthday fan meeting, stating she should have done better.
Showing tears as she apologized for falling short and promising to work harder in the future, IU truly deserves our support.
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