Queen Cheorin (2020)

El drama histórico que me conquistó por completo. <3

¡Me gustó mucho! <3
No suelo ver dramas históricos, pero este en particular había llamado mi atención desde hace tiempo. Tenía la sensación de que lo disfrutaría mucho, y así fue. (,:
Es un drama que combina originalidad con momentos inolvidables. Me hizo reír a carcajadas y, en otros momentos, me llenó de ternura con sus escenas románticas y divertidas. Aunque debo admitir que lo dejé pausado por un tiempo, no porque no me gustara, sino porque no estoy acostumbrada a este tipo de contenido.
Lo que más me fascinó fue la forma en que mezclaron la cultura de la Corea antigua con elementos de la Corea actual. La integración de ambas épocas estuvo muy bien lograda y supieron manejarla.
Y si me lo preguntan, el amor BL fue mi parte favorita. Seamos sinceros, yo solo veía una relación entre Jang Bong-Hwan y el rey Cheoljong, aunque Jang Bong-Hwan estuviera atrapado en el cuerpo de la reina Kim So-Yong, mientras recuperaba sus recuerdos. :3
Sin duda, lo vería otra vez. Me llena de alegría saber que ahora tengo un drama histórico en mi lista de favoritos. <3
Ahora entiendo por qué fue tan aclamado en su tiempo.

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Hard Time-Healer

As we know we are still facing hard time until now, this drama came like an oasis, like healing and giving a reminder, that laugh sometime is a cure for all of your situation ❤️
Not lying that the historical fact bothering me, but at the end their performance steal the viewer's heart.
With this drama came to end, its feel like you are left behind by your best entertainer person in your hardest time :)

Bless all the actors, production team, and all the people involve in this production.
Your hard work worth to remember in this hard time. Thank you for especially giving back my laughing time :D

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En iyi komedi k-draması

Genelde daha çok aksiyon dramaları izlerim, ama bu diziyi keşfettiğimden beri daha çok komedi ve tarihi dizilere bakış açım değişti.

Öncelikle k-dramalarda gender bend yapmalarını çok seviyorum, ve bu dramanın komedi & geçmişe gitme & body swap olduğu gerçeği benim için dramayı farklı kılıyor

**HİKAYE**
• 9.5
- Bir adamın bir kraliçeyle bedenlerini değiştirip geçmişe gitmesini ve kraliçenin bedeninde onun yerinde olmasını anlatıyor. Biraz bir kaç dramada mevcut ama bu dizide daha farklı işlendiği için daha iyi olduğunu düşünüyorum.

**OYUNCULUK/CAST**
•10
- Shin hae sun baş rol olarak iyi bir iş çıkardı, ve bu yüzden diziyi izleme merakı her bölüm daha da arttı. Kim Jung Hyun da rolünü güzel oynadı ama benim için FL daha iyiydi. Oyunculuk 10/10, hem yüz ifadeleri olsun hem de olaylardaki tepkileri olsun dizideki herkes beni güldürmeyi başarmıştı.

**MÜZİK**
• 10.
- Bong hwan şarkısı istemsizce (?) kulağa çok komik geliyordu, diziyle 100% uyumlu olduğunu düşünüyorum, dizide bu müzik çaldıysa artık komik olacağını biliyorsun.

*YENİDEN İZLEME DEĞERİ**
• 8.5
- Genelde ben izlediğim bir diziyi ASLA yeniden izlemem, her ne kadar güzel, kaliteli ve sevdiğim olsun, tüm zamanların en sevdiğim draması dışında hiç bir k-dramayı yeniden izlemedim. O yüzden söyleyeyim ki, bir daha asla izlemem. Ama eğer canım sıkılırsa ve k-drama slumpuna girersem, kesinlikle bazı bölümlere göz atarım.

& Ekstralar:

Eğlence : 10/10
Akıcılık : 8/10 - Dizi çok sürükleyici olsa da politik tarafı klasik olarak tarihi k-dramalarda olduğu gibi burda da mevcut ve bazen can sıkıcı bir hale gelebiliyor. Onun dışında gayette akışkan.
Son : Queerbaiting gibi hiss etmiş ola bilirsiniz ama benim için FL/ML asla krala aşık gibi görünmemişti. Genderfluid olduğunu düşünüyorum yine de. Ve arkadaşlıkları güzeldi, sonda bir şey kaybettim diye düşünmesi beni yaraladı :"

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Jang Bong Hwan fot the Queen!

Altho i did not agree with the ending completely cuz Jang Bong Hwan should have stayed in the body of Kim So Yeong to be forever with the King Cheol Jong, after all he loved him and im my humble opinion they were meant to be, but.. i can understand why it ended/concluded the way it did. The story was very funny, endearing, thought through, entertaining and mostly lingering. I did love it, i shared my laugh and tears. I do not regret watching it but i do regret not savouring it more. The sound effects were funny and music pretty on point. Acting was immaculate and i believed them every line of the script. I was immersed in the story and the characters. Truly spectacular kdrama to watch.

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Your non-conventional Sageuk Rom-Com

Had been so long since i finished a 20 eps Korean drama and I will say it was super worth it? While I won't say the whole drama was perfect (few loops holes & rushed ending) but I thoroughly enjoyed the series during it's run :)

While it explored the dark areas of the political agendas, all the characters provided great comic relief (aka Kim jwa Guen & GQD). It was smart to infuse time travel traits as it means antics and laughter when people from the past can't understand the modern lingos. It was even funnier with the touch of modern food & beauty LOL. What was special was a male soul entering a Queen's body. While it was disturbing at first, I think I was able to get past it with the great directing and stellar acting from the leads.

STORY
Before I touch on the things I liked + my own interpretation of the ending, I probably want to list down some points I did not like/ felt rushed:
- Hwajin x Cheoljong: It felt kinda weird because the King had liked HJ for a long time (though it was because he mistook her for Soyong during the childhood trauma trope) and moved on rather quickly to the Queen suddenly? The story does suggest King's change of heart was of course due to his realization of his childhood sweetheart / peculiar Queen behavior, and the change in HJ due to her jealousy. I get it was for drama development, but I still feel like there should be more screen time between the 2 to justify this change of heart.
-Hwajin's Redemption Arc: While she isn't the main villain in the series, she does have a great redemption at the end. It's good, but it felt kind of abrupt for me? Her sudden change/ realization that she can't be compared to the Queen...
-HY's Love Triangle: So she rejected Kim Hwan, so was there any progress with Inspector Hong? They just dropped this subplot after the rejection LOL
-*Sobong's Soul: I had not finished watched the spinoff which supposedly will help viewers understand the ending better, but I doubt the reason the Bonghwan's soul entered Soyong's body was explained? I think this was also probably a big reason why there are mixed reactions to the ending with Soyong x King. But it was still a satisfying ending for me if I were to intepret it my own way (continue below). Also, they did not explain what triggered this soul entering gimmick as well?
-Bonghwan's life: The ending was too rushed? Obviously BH has feelings for CJ now that he had returned, but he seemingly got over everything at the end? After all he has been through?

*ENDING INTEPRETATION
So in the end, Bonghwan returns to his world, while Soyong had awaken herself in the body. She lives happily with Cheoljong, and others who obviously saw her change from before.

Many felt like BH did most of the job in the romance between the King & Queen. I feel the same, but I will interpret the ending this way:

There is definitely a link between Queen & Bonghwan, and since no explanation were given, I will just take it as reincarnated souls/ parts of the same souls. What linked their souls was maybe the brink of death etc that cause the soul lapse to happen (if anyone watch Love Destiny - thai drama, you are probably more receptive to such explanations).

For Soyong's personality and who the King truly loves, here's my own explanation: Using my soul explanation above, I will say Soyong & Bonghwan are essentially the same soul*, but Soyong & Bonghwan and extreme ends. So at the start with the depress Queen persona, she tried ending her life because of the familial pressure & how she doesn't enter the King's eye even when they felt in love at first sight (from spinoff) just because she is a Kim. So her suicide kinda trigger another persona in her, aka Bonghwan whom happens to be at the brink of death (just think of it like Oh My Ghost! / Kill Me Heal Me). While Soyong's depress persona was triggered, her "defense mechanism" aka BH who happens to leave his body (while its recuperating) and enter her soul since there were linked*. This also explains why SY & BH personalities were like extreme ends? Just think of it like bipolar/ defense mechanism for personality changes. All this while, I believe SY & BH co-existed in Queen's body, just that while SY's soul was trying to recover, BH trait stays dormant. So at the end, BH essentially helped the Queen recover and stayed true the final personality we see in the last episode, as a mix of BH & SY. If any of you watched Oh! My Ghost (Shin Hye Sun was in it too LOL), I think it is not hard to understand that this was what the writer was trying to show at the end. So essentially, King loved SY & BH whom are both a part of the Queen at the end - SY was love at first sight (the spinoff), BH helped him throw aside his Kim stereotypes and embrace SY truly.

ACTING
Actually the whole male soul in female Queen trope felt disturbing to me at first because it is like spiritually BL lol, but i must say SHS X KJH nailed their roles? I did watched SHS in a couple of series, and i really love how natural her acting was??? I only watched KJH in CLOY, but I am so surprised with his acting as the King?? As far as i know, sageuk dialect is so difficult? And he has to master all the emotions & incorporate it in his lines? (okay fyi, i think King's way of speech is more difficult than normal saguek characters) so i am impressed? Plus their chemistry was awesome and the acting was so intense and on point that I could look past everything and enjoyed the series.

All the characters were cute, Court Lady Choi and Royal Head Chef, the bamboo forest couple LMAO.
Grand Queen Dowager was funny too lmao, she can do a Joseon mukbang spinoff man together with her court lady hahhaa
And Kim Hwan was so cute, even though I felt he wasn't much of a value-add to the story until the last episode?
Prince YP, yes i was so worried he will turn evil because he loved HJ, but thank god he did not. It was a open ending for him and HJ, but i think they make a good fit, i will just believe they eventually end up together!

All in all, this series was fun. It will be great to rewatch this some day. It had really been a long time since i completed a Sageuk (probably 2 years ago) so this was really good enough imo!

At last, can we get SHS & KJH in a modern drama??? :)

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Historical kdrama which was actually fun

REVIEW OF MR QUEEN
First thing that comes to my mind is that, it's a historical kdrama which was actually fun, had great comedy instead of the usual sad painful types. Every minute, every second, of each episode I was so thoroughly entertained. The cast is so perfect for their roles.The leads are so amazing. The script is so well written that you can never guess what will happen next . The chemistry between the leads is terrific. I was excited for it since the trailer was out🤩 I love how the series makes you laugh even in the intense scenes. Literally a stress buster.

There is no dull moments or boring part. The blend of historical and modern switch was very neat and smooth. Even amidst the tension between the political scenes, there was lot of entertainment. Viewers also got new words like "no touching, anti-fan, dragon brunch, cctv, dragon, Mc Dunaldo and others. Plus there were many food scenes which was actually very appetizing 😋

Even though all the cast did amazing job, special appreciation for Shin Hye Sun for portraying a character of male in the body of a female was done fantastically. Her expressions, her emotions were all on point.🔥 I remember watching it and waiting for the next episode for a week feels like a decade 🤣 The comedy element in this drama is beyond funny. There will never be a moment where you get bored. Even in the midst of a scene that you would think to be serious, you will almost always end up laughing. And speaking of laughter, your stomach will probably ache at the end of each episode. The music was so perfect and there will be one particular song which will stay in your head😆! So overall it was a great kdrama 🤩

If you want to laugh and have a great time, MR QUEEN is highly recommended 💯🙌

- KDRAMAAA_LOVE

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pips should watch this, jinjja.

At first I thought that it doesn't makes sense because of the soul shifting or whatever it is. Many people recommended it to me to watch but I didn't watch Mr. Queen because just like what I've said, it doesn't makes sense. But man, I was wrong. It was funny from the start that it almost made ROFL! It was another character portrayed by the FL which highlights how K-drama artists handle their characters well. It was well written and they gave justice to their history. I first watched the ML on Waikiki and I thought he can't pull off CJ's character but I was wrong again. He's not attractive but when he played CJ, he became more and more attractive in my eyes. I love how the story goes and I didn't regret watching it. It's nakakagigil at the same time but it's a good thing cause it only means that the characters are effective.
I know a lot of people watched this already but gor those who haven't, please give it a try. Worth watching again.
However, the OSTs are not for my liking but it's still okay. For the production, two thumbs up for the team.

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DON'T WASTE YOUT TIME, WATCH THE ORIGINAL VERSION

This "Go Princess Go" adaptation is nothing compared to the original Chinese one. First of all, the main leads. Deleting the sexuality element is totally deleting the whole story and the main topic. FL doesn't know who he (she) is, ML doesn't know why he falls in love and with who he falls in love. The intrigue political scheme is non-existent.
There is no balance in comedy and seriousness, it's more like a parody ( when the beauty of the original is in their balance).
The modernity of the topics doesn't exist, it lacks the flavor of a new field.
It's bland, and the actors can't act. She is even not cute and nor elegant or femenine at all. Beauty doesn't exist. Their climb to understand who she really is to reign is deleted. I'm not surprised, when Korea is only able to ruin Chinese masterpiece making them a laughingstock.
The tragedy is 0.
Don't waste your time with this trash and watch "Go Princess Go".

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Like everyone else says, what's with that ending?

Okay, so before I finished watching this show I'd heard that the ending of the series was somewhat controversial but thought to myself, 'how bad can it be?' and didn't actually read any of the reviews - the answer? Very. However, things started going wrong with the storyline long before that, in my opinion...

Let's talk about what I liked about this drama first and then I'll go on to giving certain aspects of it a good kicking. First off, the overall acting performances all round - top of the pile, of course, with all the heavy lifting duties was Shin Hye Sun who effectively ended up playing multiple characters (So Yong as an individual and the Bong Hwan-So Yong mixture at its various stages of existence). I was pretty much equally impressed with the acting by everyone involved, from the various members of the royal family through the household staff and on to the ministers. Excellent work all round. Secondly, the initial set-up for the storyline worked really well, with a real 'fish out of water' aspect to it and I particularly liked the fact that the queen's internal monologue was (for a while, at least) in Bong Hwan's voice.

Now the problems - it's all about internal logic for me. When we first hit Joseon, we've got the consciousness of a male modern day individual in the body of a woman of that time, with a male internal voice that works with that, and then suddenly that internal voice changed to a woman's. Was this meant to signify that the queen was now a mixture of both individuals, rather than a (male) consciousness with added memories? If so, that doesn't really come across in the way the scenes are written.

Likewise, in the final episode after Bong Hwan's consciousness leaves the queen's body, it's pretty clear that this is So Yong again, just with a wider vocabulary and a few less shits to give. Poor king, he might have reclaimed his throne but the woman he's come to love over the past 19 episodes doesn't actually exist any more and we don't get any on-screen recognition of this. Meanwhile, what does poor Bong Hwan get out of this? Dude has been through a sexual identity crisis and risked his life, but for what? A warm and fuzzy feeling and that's it.

The only one who's got what they wanted out of this situation is So Yong, with zero recognition of the impact of these story decisions on anyone else. Where was the 'soul' of So Yong all this time? We know Bong Hwan's body was in the hospital, his consciousness was in So Yong's body, so where was she? The story would have been much stronger (and probably less contentious) if more thought was put into how to show her 'return' and also some recognition on her part of what she (and the king) have lost by Bong Hwan's departure, as well as how they were both going to adjust to that going forward.

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A real cure for the heart

I promised myself to write a review for this Drama even before watching the ending, because simply, it deserves that much after all what it gave me.
My review contain 2 parts. The first one is directed to those who haven't seen the Drama yet and confused whether to watch it or not after seeing different kind of reviews; people who rated the show 10/10 and others went as far as to give it 1/10 which is complatly unrealistic if you ask me, despite the fact that people taste differ from one to another, but it's unbelievable to have such a huge gap. And so for that reason I didn't classify my review as "may contain spoilers" even though it does because the first part is spoiler's free, so if you didn't watch the show yet you can read the first part BUT not the second.
PART 1:
1- Why I started the drama? I wasn't planing to watch it at all before it started airing because I read the plot and I felt that it's not my cup of tea, a man in woman's body? that's weird, the romance will be weird and the ending will be tragic and I'm not a big fan of any of the main cast, so why should I, but quickly after the first 2 episodes aired, I started seeing many posts and screens and it looked really funny so I said why not, I started it with the Idea that I'll watch the first funny episodes and when it gets boring or dark I'll drop it, as I do a lot recently, and that I don't care about the end because I won't bee watching it maybe hearing about it that's all, but I found myself hooked for 20 episodes not thinking for one time to actually drop it, in the contrary I was longing froward to the weekend and watch scenes from raw before it get translated and think about it a lot during the week, I didn't do that since a long time, I can't even remember when was the last time I was obsessed with an airing drama like this.
2- I'm not going to repeat what is already mentioned in the plot, but I guess the first thing comes in mind after reading it, is "so is this a BL story?" Yes and No it's not exactly gay 'cause we are talking about a relatonship between 2 souls in 2 bodies with opposed sex (I'm talking about the queen and the king's bodies) So if you are into BL, this is not exactly what you used to watch but you certainly won't dislike it, and if you don't like BL's stories as myself, I asure you, you will looove this one 'cause there is nothing wrong about it, after all, as I said it's a woman's body and you will ship 2 souls together not who they are. So if you are hasitating because of that matter, you should stop and start the show, YOU WILL FEEL confused at the beginning not knowing even what to call the queen is it a "He" or a "She" , but in some point, that won't matter anymore.
3- If you are looking for a drama that will make you cry from begining till the end, then stop and go look else where as there is plenty of those, most good historical Kdramas are tragic, BUT if you are looking for a change, the entire opposite of what you used to see in historical's, or that you hate historical dramas because they are too dramatic, too sad, too frustrated, too much injustice and dark. Then you are in the right place, I didn't have that much laugh while watching a Kdrama, or any type of drama for that matter, for a long time, so this one is a cure for every broken heart, the word "boring" won't dare to come out of your mouth as you'll be so busy laughing all the time and the hour will feel like a 10 mins, you'll laugh watching a manly man's soul (a womaniser actally) coming from the present days, trapped in a woman's body and not any woman, it's a married woman, it's THE QUEEN from 200 years ago, you'll be laughing at many side characters that gave the show a strong comedy, not just the good people that are in the queen's side but even the drama's main evil characters, because simply, everyone act funny dealing with our queen's personality.
4- If you hate historical dramas because they are too old fashion, too many rules, everyone is talking and acting coldly, too much formal speechs even between a married couple. Well, our queen was capable of changing all of that, having a wild soul coming from the future inside a palace can do that, you'll see too much running inside the palace not only by servents but royalty as well, you'll see many rules get kicked in the wall, and you'll be hearing the king's name beeing called more than you did in all the historical drama's that you've watched or will putting together,because the name of the king is not something that you can just say it whenever you want, well, you can if you are our queen.
5- You hate when the main characters are royalty because there is too much drama, plots and schemes, and as a consequence, too many misunderstanding between the couple and mostly that's because there is a love triangle made of the main couple who loves each others and a concubine who is trying to separate them and destroy their love, I'm not going to lie and say that we don't have a love triangle here, but it's just not the typical one, it's not 2 women fighting over the love of the same guy but it's more like a circle because they are not completly two women, you will laugh while watching our queen upset seeing the King and his concubine together but just not for the usual obvious reason LOL.
6- looking for a perfect acting with a wonderful chemistry between the main couple, you'll find that here. I don't even remember where I've seen Shin hye sun before (which I regret deeply now I which I could remember her roles because I've seen her in many dramas as side character but didn't even remember in which dramas until I googled it) and I've seen Kim Jung Hyun in CLOY and liked him there too but just not as much as I did here. They both were magnificent SHS will make you believe that there is actually a man's soul inside her and deliver every single emotion her character is feeling, and KHJ wasn't any less than her, he too gave his role justice beeing funny, pretending weakness and stupidity in front of everyone, mysterious and manly. Not just them but everyone in the cast was awesome.
6- you will like how the OST is well fitting to the drama and to the scenes that get played in.
7- You maybe wondering by now why someone will rate this drama with 1-3/10 after all this, it's one simple and huge reason: THE ENDING! what I can say without spoilering it is everyone watched the same ending but not everyone feels the same about it, there is those who may consider it a SAD ending, a HAPPY ending,an UNSATISFIYING ending, a LOGICAL ending, even a PERFECT ending. which answear is the right one? I'll say none, because it's depend on how we want it to end compared to how it DID, because this time, every single one watched the show was hoping for a happy ending, even me who said at the beginning that I won't care about it, but eventually each one had his own definition of that 'happy ending" it's a matter of: did the ending match what they had in mind and heart or not, but whetherway, we can't judge the entire book by the last page of it, I don't regret watching such a wonderful drama and I wished it'll never end more than wishing for a happy ending because watching the journey was a real cure for my heart; I just hope to move on quickly and find something as good as this one soon.
So my final advice; watch the show you won't regret it, enjoy every single episode and judge the ending by yourself.
I'll leave the second part to another day.

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A Joseon Era Time-Travel Dramedy

In Mr. Queen (Korean title: 철인왕후), Jang Bonghwan is a sharp-witted, carefree chef working at the Blue House who gets framed for endangering the life of a foreign ambassador. In his attempt to escape the authorities, he falls into water and transmigrates back in time into the body of Kim Soyong days before her marriage to King Cheoljong, who’s known to history as an incompetent puppet king under the control of the Kim clan. The new Queen Cheorin, with his twenty-first century cooking skills and slangs, confuses everybody with his erratic behavior and, strangely enough, captures the heart of his previously unloving husband, who’s not as incompetent or resigned to being a figurehead as he appears.

If the premise sounds familiar to you, that’s because it’s based on the 2015 viral Chinese web series, Go Princess Go, about a modern day playboy who transmigrated back in time into the body of the crown princess of an unspecified Chinese dynasty. I’ll go into more details later, but in general, Mr. Queen is a vast improvement upon its predecessor, and a drama that more than deserves to be judged on its own merits first.

Queen Cheorin and King Cheoljong Are Made for Each Other
Queen Cheorin/Jang Bonghwan has one brain cell, and it only works for five minutes a day, by the looks of things.

King Cheoljong, one the other hand, is very intelligent when it comes to everything but his queen.

Combined, our protagonists make for a hilarious couple whenever their storylines remotely involve each other. From the numerous instances of miscommunications (“no touching” in particularly invokes a second layer of mirth, as it reminds me of that one Arrested Development gag) to them being horny on main for each other (AKA that scene in episode 17 where they faked public sex), their antics throughout the drama are endless. They’re ridiculously perfect for each other.

They’re amazing characters individually as well. Bonghwan’s lighthearted storyline remained independent from King Cheoljong’s more serious and suspenseful one for much of the earlier episodes. This not only heightened the misunderstanding-based comedic moments, but did the job of establishing them as distinct individuals with personal agendas before their fates lined up later on.

So Many Scene-Stealing Characters
In other dramas, there might be one or two outstanding breakout characters worth mentioning alongside the main leads. In Mr. Queen, everybody fits that bill.

I mean, do I talk about Queen Cheorin’s devoted maid, Hong Yeon, and her weird love triangle between Hong Byeolgam and Kim Hwan, who are two idiots who also have a weird, homoerotic thing going on?

Or Court Lady Choi’s magnificent facial expressions and awkwardly repressed sexuality, and her budding romance with Royal Chef Man Bok, the owner of the most stylish mustache in all of Joseon?

Or the dimensions that make up the Grand Queen Dowager, who’s simultaneously a petulant but adorable old lady and the cruelest, most vain person ever?

Or Jo Hwajin, who defies all my expectations and emerges from the story a better, more confident woman who sees her life extend beyond obtaining King Cheoljong’s love?
Or how devoted Kim Byeongin is to Kim Soyong, and how despite him coming off as pathetic and pitiful in the story, his actions make complete sense when you look at events from his perspective?

Or how terrifying a villain Kim Jwa-geun is despite him literally not emoting for most of the time he’s on screen?

For Mr. Queen, getting through a scene with no interesting characters is not a problem. The drama gives even the minor characters distinct personalities and traits—nobody’s boring!

How Mr. Queen Improved on Go Princess Go
A large part of why the original Chinese web series, Go Princess Go, blew up as it did was due to its abysmal costumes and set designs, as caused by budget and time constraints. That, contrasted with the series’ sharp comedic timing, abundant pop culture references, and an actually good story exploring the taboo themes of gender and sexuality, made it the viral hit it was.

Mr. Queen lost none of the humor—only adapted it for a Korean audience—and improved on everything else.

This drama is visually stunning. Everything is flawless, from the female characters’ hair ornaments, to the food, to the clothes, to the designs of the sets, to the cinematography, to the performance of every actor. The production quality is top-notch, and the team behind it deserves all the accolade for it.

Mr. Queen basing its story on a real life king from Korean history also added a sense of inevitability for the audience. I spent a good chunk of the drama wondering if our protagonists can overcome fate, or if we’re doomed to an unhappy ending. Having historical context really helps newcomers unfamiliar with the culture of Joseon-era Korea too. (Relatedly, a disclaimer about historical accuracy at the beginning of a drama does wonders. Why China can’t just require time travel dramas to have that instead of banning the genre altogether is a mystery to me.)

The Gender Question
Perhaps Mr. Queen‘s most notable contrast to Go Princess Go is its handling of Jang Bonghwan’s identity crisis. In Go Princess Go, the main character’s identity crisis is purely a gender-based one. The Original Good no longer exists once Zhang Peng transmigrates into her body.

That is not the case in Mr. Queen. Kim Soyong, as it turns out, remained dormant within her body when Jang Bonghwan takes over. Remnants of her muscle memory, her actual memory, and her behavior bleed into his personality. They become one person during the duration of his stay, and the drama is both better and worse off for it.

Making Kim Soyong a part of the equation serves a lot of narrative purposes. She’s not only there to provide a mystery for Jang Bonghwan to solve, but she’s the key to several plot points and story elements crucial to achieving satisfying and guilt-free pay-offs, most notably, those related to her father and Kim Byeongin.

Her memories and her personality blending together with Bonghwan also drives his story along. Without them, he’d be happy just living out his days as the queen of a country instead of doing what he needed to do to change the course of history.

Lastly, having her back wraps up the story nicely in some ways, given that it all started because of her figurative wishes. In the beginning, she kills herself over love, happiness, and freedom, all of which she could not have. In the end, through Bonghwan’s guardianship of her body—and he is like the guardian angel she never asked for—she gets everything she wants.

Where this deviation from Go Princess Go fails on a story-level boils down to a simple question: Who did King Cheoljong fall in love with, Jang Bonghwan or Kim Soyong?

This is a question with no real answer. The sad truth is, he never knew either of them. He came to know Jang Bonghwan in the context of Kim Soyong, and Kim Soyong only after Jang Bonghwan has colored King Cheoljong’s experience of her with his personality. Although both inhabitants influenced each other, they’re separate people at the end of the day. The way Mr. Queen chose to end their bizarre, three-person romance is probably the most disappointing aspect of the entire drama.

In the context of the real world, Jang Bonghwan’s identity crisis being a crisis of personality allows the drama to gloss over a huge part of what made Go Princess Go so controversial and interesting in the first place: gender and sexuality. Every one of Queen Cheorin’s feminine inclinations can be explained by the presence of her original self in the body. Jang Bonghwan’s attraction towards King Cheoljong? Kim Soyong caused it. He didn’t really love him, at least, not in a gay way. That was all Kim Soyong. When their inner voice switched from male to female? Kim Soyong. There’s no bisexuality or transgenderism here. No, sir!

Uuughh….

I get it. South Korea is conservative. I don’t blame the team behind Mr. Queen for this decision. Still disappointing though.

Final Rating and Recommendations
Do you want laugh-out-loud antics? Subtle jokes and running gags? A protagonist who’s the smartest idiot alive? A romance interwoven with political intrigues? A plot that builds just right? Then Mr. Queen is twenty hours of your life you’ll not regret.

Based on the viral 2015 Chinese web series Go Princess Go, Mr. Queen is a improvement on its predecessor in almost every way. It’s a fast-moving, whip-smart, and utterly addicting series about transmigration and time travel with a talented cast, wonderful set designs, and great costuming. I cannot say enough good things about this drama.

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Funny

I liked this drama. It was very funny. Shin Hae Sun's acting is phenomenal. I loved how she potrayed the Mr. Queen. Her acting made this show great.

The story was confusing, but I think I may have missed some key details.

For some time I was confused on what was the ledger. Why was it so important? I'm still currently unsure who the dowager ladies are related to. I also think the ending could have been better.

But overall, this show is one of my favorites! The chemistry was off the charts! I was always eager to see scenes with the king and the queen, and I had a fun time watching it.

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