Mr. Queen: The Bamboo Forest (2021)

Fan Service at its Best

First, let me warn you by saying don't look for these to strictly adhere to continuity. It's really fan-centric one-shots meant as a gift by the actors and producers. For example Byeong-In is in one episode as the captain of police at the same time Cheoljong is looking at the Queen's Dictionary which has notations about voting and gold/dirt spoons, which occurred later. In another segment, Hwan is sporting the sunglasses he first wears in episode 20 whereas all but the prequel seem to indicate the stories taking place right before or immediately after the banquet.

Segment 1 - SY and CJ meeting for the first time as adults. More So Yong centric than Cheoljong. At least they did manage to flesh out her character just a little bit. The prequel is beautifully shot with CJ romanticized and looking like Prince Charming from a storybook to the Nth degree. It has a dreamy quality to it.

Segment 2 - An absolute hilarious acknowledgement of the fans' comments about the similarity in looks and build of Prince YP and Byeong-In.

Segment 3 - Focused on the flirtations of the Royal Chef and Lady Choi

Segment 4 - KDramas are known for several tropes, one of which is the jealous lover. Didn't fit into the narrative of Mr. Queen too much, though they did manage to fit in one small scene towards the end, so the producers created this one-shot that is jealous KDrama lover overload. Very, very funny and really showcases the comedic timing of Kim Jung Hyun.

Segment 5 - Card game gone extreme between the Kim powerhouse siblings with poor So Yong's father caught in the middle.

Segment 6 - The most enigmatic one. This segment had some moments of comedy, but it had a strange undercurrent of wistfulness and melancholy as well which is tied into the wishes each character makes upon seeing their first meteor shower.

Overall, it was just fun watching. The comedic elements were ramped up and more campy than usual. The segments were definitely poking fun at the characters and storylines while at the same time trying to give fans elements that they couldn't necessarily incorporate into the main drama.

Looking back, I also feel that it supports my reincarnation theory. Prequel hints at the idea of destiny, middle segment answers the question of where the love and attraction is stemming from, and the last gives us the promise of reunion for the soulmates.

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Bamboo Forest was a series of stories that supplements Mr. Queen. It was very enjoyable spin-off made by the production for the fans. It explained the beginning and ending of the main show. Some may not like how they end things on the main show, however this explained 2 things: (1) King likes So Yong even before Bong Hwan. (2) 2 souls were really inside the queen and they can both control the body.

The spinoff also had every character that I enjoyed in the main show had a highlight except probably for the Second Male Lead, which was already explained by the actor why his story is removed. (The pain he caused us is simply enough in the main story.)

All in all, it was an enjoyable very short thank you gift from the production of Mr. Queen. I would really miss the drama. Also, it deserve every praise they're getting because they made a drama that is unique and gave laughs to a lot of viewers. :)

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Honestly more satisfying than the actual finale for me

Damn idk why the other reviewer is so mad (well I kind of do) but I found the spin-off to be delightful and a joy to watch! I really wrote this review bc I didn't think it would be fair to just have that one very negative review when I really enjoyed the "spin-off" and adored the base show. Especially the second episode - for me, you could tell it was the last thing that the actors filmed because they were all so easily teary eyed. I loved every second honestly and I thought it captured the heart of the show which is just a lot of fun and lighthearted in a lot of senses and also filled with a lot of love and great chemistry amongst the cast.

I just want to note that I've only given three 10 star ratings in my short drama watching career (it's coming up on a year now) and that is for this spinoff, the base show Mr. Queen, and It's Okay to Not Be Okay if that helps to reference my taste. We all are sad that the ending wasn't gayer, I sure am b/c So Bong and Cheoljong are a beautiful and delightful pair, but I know the Queen is composed of both So Yong and So Bong and this was made is South Korea so how gay could we actually have expected it to be lol. It was so close though.

Really happy that I watched the second episode after the finale because it helped to fill the emptiness I was feeling after the finale. It would be such a gift to see SHS and KJH work together more in the future, but we all know how beautifully the entire cast worked together.

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A spinoff that serves as an offensive justification to the messed up ending of Mr. Queen

I’ve watched The Bamboo Forest, Mr. Queen’s spinoff, and, damn, the writer has actually managed to make the story even a bigger mess than previously, if that’s even possible.

Apparently, So Yong and Cheoljong had met once before prior to her being selected as his queen in a fairtytale-like first encounter.
That creates another additional problem of the drama - if you don't include such an extremely important crucial moment in your series and leave it out for some special spin-off episode your series is irrelevant and basically pointless. The series has some 20+ hours and they couldn't include that one scene? Why doesn't CJ remember that moment in the drama and in all of his flashbacks he only remembers the time BH was in charge of SY's body? Also, the meeting never appears in So Bong's flashbacks of So Yong's life either. Plus the spin-off got greenlit in the middle of the drama airing because of its success so it had never been originally planned to happen. So that one scene is an aritifical glued-in nonsense to justify the ending which the writer would have written just by the time the spin-off was announced because kdramas don't have completed script at the time when they began to film.

Moreover, when CJ was confessing his love to So Bong he was describing Bong Hwan's personality, not So Yong's, and not even once did he mention how he already loved her before but had to deny his feelings and supress them because she was from the Kim clan. That's an information you would expect to be included in such a confession. So Bong literally asks him why he loves the Queen and he never mentions their first meeting or her kindness.

Let me tell you something, if you Cheoljong had no problems killing "So Yong" after their fairytale-like meeting, he didn't really love her. The only reason he didn't kill her was because he ended up being distracted by Bong Hwan's strange reaction and Byeong In. These are not the eyes of a man who is torn because of his lingering feelings of love for the woman in front of him. There is no hesitation or regret, only cold determination to eliminate her if she proves to be a threat:

On the other hand, when Bong Hwan was in danger, he was willing to sacrifice his own life without a second thought.

Also, as I mentioned in my previous post, the whole drama was against the idea of love at first sight. Cheoljong fell in love with Hwa Jin gradually when they become reunited after he came back from exile and he fell in love with Bong Hwan gradually so in that regard it completely undermines another important message and theme the story had for the first 19 episodes, but, I guess, after the final episode there hasn’t been anything left to undermine.

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We needed this T T

I truly needed this special after the drama because it cleared up a big confusion i had about Cheol Jong's and So Yong's relationship. He did have a small thing or attraction for SY before JBH entered her body. His resentment for her could be traced back to her being a Kim. In the first segment when he didn't know who she was you can see he is drawn to her somehow. But when he realizes her identity that is pushed aside by him. The comedic moments made me laugh so hard I had tears in my eyes.

The comparison between Prince YP and KBI is hilarious along with the end of the world monologue especially SD Hong. It truly feels like it is not a good bye but a set up for a new season. I cried even when there was no sad scene because of how much I'm going to miss the entire cast. The special is beautifully done and reminds us of how amazing of a journey the drama had taken us on. Also the fanservice with jealous CJ and SoBong and reference to rookie historian made me laugh so loud.

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Surprisingly good!

Not a fan of time travel and cross gender( or whatever it is called) dramas. I didn't read any reviews on this and just started watching. It hold my interest from the very first episode. I loved the way out FL/ML did the acting of a Male in the body of a female. She did fantastic job in acting as a male. Loved the story and the content. Beautiful costumes from Joseon period. Initially found it awkward about a male falling in love with another male thing him to be a female, it's little complex to describe it but then i got used to when the character accepted it. It was cute and hilarious that the king is trying to learn queen vocabulary. Over all its not a new story but the way it is produced and acted definitely entertaining and hold your interest. This has everything, mystery, drama, romance, marshal arts, obsession, revenge, time travel, body swap, politics, you name it. Definitely entertaining!!

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Fanservice at its best

Bamboo Forest is a collection of short visual stories wholly lighthearted in nature. A perfect goodbye to the long-form drama. We see our favorites return in their roles and act splendidly in various shenanigans. There's no linear timeline to this - we get to see Kim So Yong before she was assigned as Queen, and though short, we get a look into her character and realise that she does have various similarities with Bong Hwan, perhaps this was the show creator's way to deal with how the drama ended (there was lack of closure after all). So as viewers, we get to convince ourselves that it was only the King's prejudice against that Kim clan that kept him from accepting So Yong. Apart from the King and Queen, we do get to see how life in palace existed behind all the turmoil. Fun, light, humour ingrained (couldn't stop laughing when they decided to go meta with Prince and Byeong's storyline.)

This is a very happy watch, especially if you are sad to say goodbye to the drama or little dissatisfied with the ending.

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It was Okay...

I was afraid that the writers would try to solidify the SY-CJ ship after that lackluster and disrespectful ending but luckily that's not what we got. I definitely enjoyed the second episode more than the first episode because I am not that interested in Soyong as a character but it was nice to see that she is not always a well behaved noble lady and she can be fun at times.

After watching the first episode, I don't agree with the fact that the king fell in love with SY at the first sight, the only thing I got from this first episode was that "the love at first sight" theory applied more to SY I feel like it was one sided . The king was curious and had a sense of familiarity about her at BEST and we all know that everything went through the window when he realized that she was from the Kim Clan.

The second episode was much more enjoyable because we had cute jealous moments with CJ clearly mesmerized and obsessed with his eccentric wife meanwhile our Tsundere Sobong is going through some identity crisis and trying to understand the origin of his/her desire for the King even though they didn't dwell too deep in it.

The ending was quite interesting and I can understand how it gave closure to some people regarding the ending of Mr Queen. Overall a fun watch specially the second episode.

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Short, Sweet and Silly

Great fun! I thought it was a really nice complement to the original show. It keeps the humor and ridiculousness known to Mr. Queen, without any of the political intrigue and scheming (which honestly turned me off, it's really not my thing), all while keeping the episodes short and sweet. I personally really liked it and I legit wished that had been more that two episodes of this special... It should've had at least ten episodes more of these little moments that didn't make it into the original. I can't get enough of the silliness of Mr. Queen. For any Mr. Queen lovers out there, this is an absolute must!

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