(Note: when you see 'OM' in the following review, it stands for 'original movie', referring to the 2001 'My Sassy Girl' movie.)

The first character I would like to address is Gyeonwoo, the male lead played by actor Joo Won. Gyeonwoo has proven to us so far he has all of the necessary traits that the Gyeonwoo of the 'OM (original movie)' had. This character's greatest motive in regard to the story is his desire to be by the female lead's side, and help her endure the pains of being separated from her birth mother. He also shows affection toward Princess Hyemyung despite the fact that she is not the conventional female, nor "his type". These may be the traits that the Gyeonwoo of the drama has in common with the Gyeonwoo of the 'OM', but there's one thing that is bothering me very much about this Gyeonwoo in the drama, and that's that he has no appeal as an individual! The drama's producers have apparently forgotten the very important fact that in the 'OM', what brought Gyeonwoo and Geunyeo closer together and made them eventually fall in love was all the fun times they had together, goofing around! The drama is so focused on imprisoning the princess behind the palace's walls and restricting her from everything little thing possible, that there's no room for the classic, yet odd, romantic comedy feel that the 'OM' was so loved for. 

Next, we have our female heroine of the story, Princess Hyemyung. She is played by actress Oh Yeon Seo. In terms of all of the characters we have in this historical drama, Princess Hyemyung is the most likable and the most appealing character. In the few opportunities that she's had, she has shown viewers that she is the "sassy", spunky, outspoken, and lovable girl that is so iconic of the 'My Sassy Girl' series. The actress herself has also done a good job of pulling off all of the up and down emotions and stress that the princess has to endure due to the restricting circumstances the drama continues to put on her. The only negative aspect Princess Hyemyung has is that she has only shown us glimpses of her great personality, because with the way the plot is currently heading in the drama, there's very little room for the heroine to defeat the bad guys with some badass attitude. If the latest episodes were any indication, there's a lot more crying, moping, not being able to do anything, and oppression ahead in her path...

Now we have our royal guard chief Kang Joon Young, played by CNBLUE's Jungshin. It is still very difficult for viewers to discern whether or not this character will pose as another romantic love interest for Princess Hyemyung, or if his role is more that of a loyal and protective guardian. The character is in essence a very clear and interesting character. He is a side protagonist with a lot of determination, whose primary motives are to protect the people he trusts, and his serious and analytical personality sure hits the spot as the adequate second male lead all the female viewers will swoon over. Despite our being able to understand his character well, Kang Joon Young has not been able to fully display his fierce, strong-willed, warrior side to his fullest. The drama's script was so far written in an unfulfilling way where he's come up short and disappointed in the courageous save-the-day scenes thus far, and most of the time, all he's doing is making angry faces at the camera because the bad guys got away, again. 

Our final lead of the lead 4, we have Da Yeon, played by actress Kim Yoon Hye. Now Da Yeon, we can easily analyze without too many questions puzzling us. She is in every sense an outright antagonist, and her purpose is simply, to obtain everything she desires, regardless of what or whom may get in her way. Her biggest prey? Gyeonwoo. The biggest obstacle in her path? Princess Hyemyung. She will undoubtedly continue to sulk quite a bit after continuously witnessing Gyeonwoo and the princess grow closer together, all the while urging her father to get rid of the princess and causing her own share of mishaps on the side to boot. So if she's such an antagonistic character set on making the protagonists suffer, why am I... not that mad at her? Why do I want her to somehow end up with the police force head, Park Chang Hwi (The guy who's always pining over her, but he's really dumb)? Is anyone else thinking that way?