Well-scripted Historical Drama
I am not a fan of fantasy dramas or body-swapping dramas, but this has to be one of the best I've watched. All characters fit their persona, and even from the interactions with other characters, you can distinguish each. You will lose track of time as you watch the drama. In one day, I was able to finish nine episodes. The comedy is great. There is visible character development. The main male lead played a role in Crash Landing on You, a great actor. From the first episode, you are also immediately being educated about Korean history and culture. As the show progresses, you can see much more (I even memorized the Korean Kings' song thanks to the first episode). I love the outro, it really fits the drama, the ost is so unique and very enjoyable. Overall, a great show. I would rewatch the drama.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Oh My Tummy Hurts!!!
My Two Bits:Here's how it went for me:
Hahaha
Oh Shit... Hahahahahaha
Oh Oh No Way HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Damn... Hot and Weird
HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHHEHE
Damn... that made real tears ?
Die Already!!!!
Oh HOHOHOHOHO... Is this for real... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Ouch
It's Over... So soon??
Phew.... that was one incredible ride!!
The rest is just your personal preference after you've invested in at least 4 - 5 episodes of your life
1 from my many many Favorite Bits.... that cart ride HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
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Total Review
Drama is a must watch Korean drama. At first I thought it would be more like Scarlet heart ryeo but then the story plot was well written as well directed. I loved every bit of it, especially shin hye sun's performance. They way she portrayed queen cheorin is commendable. Not to forget our dear actor playing the king. The plots is very entertaining as well comedic in parts. The romantics scenes are swoon worthy. By each passing episode it grabs your attention as to what is gonna happen next. It always hangs you in a cliffhanger. It is a must watch in this period of pandemic. It has that good feel to it.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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A beast of a drama
This drama is a jack of all trade and a master of all it's all thanks to the writers/screen writers/director scenes are never boring or out of place there is a lot of wow/dramatic moments that would make you appreciate screen writing and when its funny its at home where it wants to be it mixes romance, comedy and sadness so well a moment you would be on your toes thinking what's gonna happen next the next moment your stomach muscles gonna be in so much pain from laugher it does everything it tries to do so well and it sprinkles the perfect choice of actors on top it's a fine meal.A ML inside a FL gender switch idea was so weird for me specially when he was talking in a voice of a male inside of the female body the first few episodes were so confusing as he liked the romance part but he wouldn't admit it and would fight it off 24/7 at that point a figured maybe there won't be so much romance and would be just a comedy drama until he/she fill into the second vegetative state and finally started self talk in her female voice (a part of her came back ) and from there the romance got a lot better.
The characters are all so loveable
King Cheoljong a cute pure person with so much to prove yet controlled for most of his reign getting stomped to the ground every time he tries to prove himself.
Kim So Yong , Jang Bong Hwan both are so alike yet so different in situation solving both seem to be confident and upfront they are so smart and so loyal yet so shy when it comes to loved once.
Grand Queen Dowager Sunwon and Kim Jwa Geun are the perfect partners in crime a tactical mastermind whose power was his knowledge and an emotional grand queen whose power was her position a perfect chemistry to make great villains.
great writing, great characters, great actors makes a great show
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Funny, Bold, Enticing -- the perfect KDrama
Can you imagine a drama where an overused and tired trope is presented in such a fresh and enticing way that you cannot help but REVEL in its GENIOUS?Are you looking to be surprised by a historical drama that's not entirely historical, has steamy romance, the perfect balance between politics, seriousness and COMEDY?
Do you want to watch a drama that is PURE COMEDY GOLD, that flows naturally and effortlessly?
WELL, LOOK NO MORE!!!
I have to say, I was sceptical going in. The trope of a person from the present travelling to the past/ soul-swapping/ period dramas are such overused settings that I believed nothing good would come of it. But boy, did they prove me wrong!
Any and all success of the drama goes to its writers and the actors. The female lead is AMAZING!!! There isn't a moment in the drama that you'd question if she's actually a man stuck in a woman's body. And the male voice-over -- he has the perfect honeyed voice of a casanova. I have to say that I miss it a bit.
The male and female leads have great chemistry and all the cast display a stellar performance.
This drama is like the perfect chilli hot chocolate -- it's rich, creamy, smooth and sweet (but not too sweet), and the spiciness just cuts through it to take you to heaven -- it gives you warmth and comfort on a cold winter night.
This drama is a godsend to remove the aftertaste of 2020.
Also, can we talk about the OST? It's sooooo good! A special shout-out to the 'Bong Hwan a' song because that just hits the spot.
P.S. Do not watch this drama in front of company because you'll be ugly laughing and snort-laughing. You'll have no time or inclination to laugh sweetly/politely.
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Best Historical K-Drama EVER
There are about a hundred positive words to describe this masterpiece of a drama, but the most suitable one I think would be “amazing”. This drama really didn’t let me down, and it’s 200% worth all the high reviews it has. “Mr Queen” had me laughing the entire time. I never got tired of it, and I promise you won’t as well!There are many factors to this, but the first thing I noticed was the stunning visuals of the actors/actresses. Whoa. The FL and ML portrayed their characters flawlessly, and so did the supporting roles! I really enjoyed Court Lady Choi and Hong Yeon’s characters! They were like the best besties anyone could ever ask for, haha. Additionally, the effortless chemistry between the leads deserves a pat on the back, because it was all too romantic and sweet. I especially liked Kim Soyong’s actress, because the way she fitted into the different personalities and roles was all too perfect. What really got me was her facial expressions!
Moving on, I’d just have to mention the OST (music). From the moment Bong Hwan woke up in the queen’s body and starting running around, being chased by the palace maids and eunuchs, to the very last second of the drama, I could not sit down still while any of the theme songs were played. “Bong Hwan A”, “…Keep Going”, and all the other songs had me dancing along, meanwhile “Here I Am” had me shedding some tears and presenting some of my terrible vocals. Such wonderful songs for a wonderful drama!
Furthermore, I genuinely enjoyed the storyline as a whole. It was humorous most of the time, it was serious at others, and it was helplessly romantic too. A combination of all of these and you get a chef’s kiss drama. Mr Queen not only related to modern society, but also had lots of historical politics in there as well. Although most of it wasn’t historically correct, I really liked the conflict between the Kim and Jo family, both in-court and in the inner palace. The only thing I would say about the plot is that I wish the ending could’ve been a little different. I think this, because Cheoljong first fell in love with Bong Hwan’s reckless and unrestrained attitude and behaviour, but when he returned to the modern world, the king didn’t really notice or do anything about it. I don’t know about you, but I lived for that version of Kim Soyong, and I felt a little disappointed with the finale when that side of her disappeared. In addition, I would’ve also liked to see their baby in the end, but unfortunately we did not get to add that cuteness to this drama. However, it wasn’t a big deal and I still really enjoyed it overall.
If you’re searching for a fantastic historical drama, I highly recommend “Mr Queen”. I guarantee that it will be the best one yet. So please do yourself a big favour and add this title to your watchlist! :)
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No Ta chi
The story was very unique. It had some LGBT elements that had to be handled with a certain level of care and awareness. Unfortunately, at least in my opinion, the writers decided to go down the safe, less gay, route without realizing that the ending completely destroyed the plot.** SPOILERS **
The drama was about Bong Hwan (BH), a 21st century man, traveling back in time and waking up in a body of a princess soon to be a queen. It was filled with very funny and clever moments that kept me very entertained. But, after episodes 14-15, the plot kind of became stale. The scenes were not as funny anymore but annoying. I eyerolled at the scene where the queen threw a temper tantrum over Lady Choi eating all the yogurt. However, this wasn't the biggest problem with the show. The biggest problem was the ending.
The story was about BH's relationship and subsequent love story with the king. Nowhere in the drama did the writers elude that BH and So Yong (SY) ever fought for control of the body, or that sometimes it was BH and sometimes it was SY who was in control. It was always BH. This was even confirmed in the queen's last conversation with Byung In telling him that "she" did not know where So Yong was or whether she was even alive.
The king, Cheoljong, fell in love with BH in SY's body. BH's unorthodox behavior, unpredictability, straight forwardness, lack of manners was what was attractive. If the king wanted a meek and polite young lady, he would've stayed in love with Hwa Jin.
Everything the king did - writing the queen's dictionary filled with new words that BH introduced to him, writing a journal about new fighting and exercise techniques that BH taught him, reforming the country, was because of his relationship with BH, not SY. SY by herself was a very minor character and appeared in only a few flashbacks. Even SY's ideas about women's rights were BH's ideas and not hers.
And, what do we get at the end? BH goes back home without even saying "good-bye" to anyone. The king ended up with SY, who was not the person he fell in love with. But, that's ok, so long as SY looked exactly like the person he loved, we were supposed to accept it. What a terrible, horrible, no good message.
I am not sure why the writers did not go down the incarnation route where SY and BH were the same person living in different eras, and, at the end have SY and BH's souls and personalities merge as one in SY's body. There was already a premise for that with the queen's identity crisis "her" being a man in a woman's body and having a romantic/sexual relationship with the king.
It was also strange how the king did not pick up on the fact that after BH left, his wife became a completely different person who could no longer cook and had an entirely different personality. Or, that SY ended up lying to the king about who she was and did exactly what Hwa Jin did. But we are supposed to ignore it.
Shin Hye Sun is an actress from god. She did an amazing job portraying BH and SY as completely different people, they even spoke differently. SY was soft spoken. BH was coarse and aggressive. It was rather strange to assume that the king, who was head over hills in love with BH, did not see that his wife was different, considering that the differences in SY's personalities after the suicide incident were consistently addressed in the show. We did get a scene where the king somewhat realized that he lost something, but that scene looked like an afterthought rather than a serious and tragic realization that something important was lost.
Even Byung In, whom I hated, became a sympathetic character at the end because he actually confronted BH about SY and was the only one whose love was authentic. The writers made it look like it didn't matter to the king who he was married to so long as that person looked a certain way.
I honestly thought that BH would return to the king in one way or another, but the ending left me completely flabbergasted. Nobody ended up with the person they actually loved and the king's relationship with the queen was based on a lie. The attempt to paint SY to be more like BH because she started cursing was a lousy cop out. What made BH different was his boldness, a sense of justice, and ability to form close relationships with servants and nobility alike. SY just capitalized on it and ripped rewards from everything BH accomplished, without achieving anything on her own. What a stupid way to destroy an awesome story.
The rewatch value is like in the Game of Thrones. Everything is awesome until it all falls apart at the end.
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Appreciate the Brilliance of Shin Hye Sun in This Incredibly Entertaining Series!
I have seen Shin Hye Sun in three series before this one: Oh, My Ghost, Stranger, and most recently in Hymn of Death. All of the above are dramatic roles, and all I can say is, “Oh, my God!” Her comedic chops are off the charts! She is nothing short of brilliant, stealing virtually every single scene that she is in! I compare her to Lucille Ball. While the rest of the cast is absolutely fantastic, this series doesn’t work without Shin Hye Sun’s incomparable performance!Most body-switching movies and shows are same-gender switches. I’ve seen just a handful of cross-gender switches, and while they tend to go for comedic effects, the actors tend to overcompensate. The man exaggerates female characteristics such as speech and walking while the woman does the same. Shin Hye Sun, instead, goes for more subtlety and realism as a man who’s suddenly been thrust into the body of the Queen. Jang Bong Hwan is a chef from the future, so he not only has to figure out how to live in the body of a woman but also a woman who also happens to be of royalty!
What we end up getting is some of the funniest and zaniest roles I’ve ever seen. Shin Hye Sun brilliantly doesn’t even alter her speech very much. Just to the point in her smirk, the way she sits and communicates, which is Jang Bong Hwan’s style. In short, she gives us a very masculine queen as well as one from the future, who isn’t afraid to inject current idioms, terms, and ideas into her speech, often causing hilarious confusion among the Joseon people from 200 years ago who have no idea what she’s talking about. King Cheol Jong even begins keeping a Dictionary of the Queen’s Language in an attempt to understand her. He also has no idea why his once docile queen is now far more aggressive and direct in her speech and manners!
We are taken back to Joseon about 200 years in the past when a puppet king is being controlled by nearly everyone around him, but most notably by the Grand Queen Dowager, the Queen Dowager, and Kim Jwa Geun (the Grand Queen Dowager’s brother). It did take me a few episodes to get the names down because there are so many. Basically, you have two rival families in the Kim’s and the Jo’s who are vying for control of the country. The Queen is of the Kim family while the King is of the Jo family. Little do they realize that the King is far stronger than anyone realized or anticipated as he struggles to find a way to bring balance and contentment to his subjects, who mostly live in slavery and poverty. But the wild card in this drama is the Queen. No longer meek and docile, Jang Bong Hwan quickly decides that the Queen is nobody’s puppet and nobody’s fool. Instead, he figures out a way to understand his new role but also how to help the King gain power to stand up to those who would use him for their own purposes.
I’ve said this in numerous reviews already, but Koreans are masters of storytelling and always find a way to convey an uplifting message or something to think about to improve things. This series is no different. Overall, the series is comedic, but it does have some dramatic moments, some heart-wrenching ones, and also some inspiring ones too. In the end, we find that both King Cheol Jong and Queen Kim So Yong (after she’s reverted back to herself without Jang Bong Hwan) have both changed (even if Jang Bong Hwan left behind a few seeds of influence!). Jang Bong Hwan, himself, realizes that he is no longer the same, self-serving man that he was before either. He wisely states, “Perhaps it isn’t about trying not to be rotten, but instead cutting out what is rotten.” And that such an idea might—in fact—help to change the world, but it first begins with changing yourself. Gandhi himself stated as much when he said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
This is simply one of the most delightful series I’ve seen, and it is literally rock solid from beginning to end. I kept waiting to see if the story would begin to falter or drop off slightly toward the end. It didn’t. It kept me completely invested from beginning to end.
Unfortunately, the government in Joseon from 200 years ago proves that not much has changed in the world since that time. The rich still oppress the poor. The powerful still exploit the weak are always in search of ways to retain even more power. Mr. Queen gives us some food for thought; that just because that is how things are, it doesn’t mean that nothing can be done or that they must somehow stay that way. King Cheol Jong and Queen Kim So Yong give us two examples of what can be done if will, determination, and courage are vested. Or perhaps one of my favorite quotes from Lord of the Rings: Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.
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What if a modern man landed straight in the middle of your standard Joseon era plot, but into the body of the queen instead of the king?
The actress here (Shin Hye Sun) is really amazing, and plays all the bodily quirks, humor and slapstick in a truly wonderful way. The first 10 episodes sail along on her sheer acting ability plus some love triangle intrigue. The male actors that form the love triangle are a bit one note, but they show good connection with the actress.
It quickly became clear that no one knew how to end the plot, and the writers just stuck to the same themes and gimmicks of the first 10 episodes. The rest of the actors and plot devices are somewhat mediocre, and so everytime the main actress is off screen it was hard to pay attention.
By episode 17, I was skipping rapidly (I did finish it). Music was fine, I would not rewatch. I grade on other criteria:
Complex Themes: 6
Love can come in unexpected ways. Embracing what life throws at you with sincerity can be rewarding. The gender and body dynamics are not explored much at all.
Character Growth: 7.5
The male chef in Kim So Yong's body goes from being dismissive and treating it all as a game, to sincerely wanting to help the people he encounters, and feeling more open to emotions. It was an expected transformation, but still decently done.
Complex Women/Relationships Between Women: 7
There's lots of women characters but besides the main character, they are all somewhat caricatures with very thin backstories. Kim So Yong's rival was the only other female character that had a bit of depth.
Cinematography/Production Budget: 7
Competent, in the way most modern dramas are. But, the sets, costumes etc. all feel like you've seen them twenty times before. The fight scenes are fairly uninspired.
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Good premise
I really liked the idea—a time slip gender swap. First couple episodes were hilarious. Unfortunately turned into a subpar sageuk. I actually really like sageuk, with all the political drama included, but the writers really missed a lot of opportunities for anachronistic humor and examinations into Bong Hwan finding his feminine side. That said, it might be a good starter for sageuk newbies as it’s on the lighter side and doesn’t assume you’re well-read in Korean history. I actually prefer Scarlet Heart Ryeo for a similar feel but a deeper understanding.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
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A melhor comédia romântica do ano?
Entrou com certeza para um dos melhores dramas que eu já assisti. Sou uma amante de dramas e filmes de comédia e esse drama está perfeito. Em TODOS os episódios eu consegui me divertir bastante assistindo. E pra ser sincera, depois dos episódios especiais eu sinto cheiro de uma segunda temporada e no momento NECESSITO para sobreviver.Não é meu primeiro dramas com os principais, e posso dizer que eles mudaram a imagem que eu tinha sobre eles (que era boa também) para melhor.
Shin Hye Sun teve uma performance incrível, ultrapassou todos os sentimentos pela sua atuação maravilhosa magnificamente. Eu ri, chorei, gritei de raiva, me decepcionei junto dela. Acredito que nesse drama ela se superou, conseguido colocar tudo de sí. Nesse trabalho ela juntou todos os seus anos de experiência em um só. E aqueles olhares com raiva na hora da vingança? Uau, apenas. Incrível.
Kim Jung Hyun, um ator versátil que conseguiu superar todas as minhas expectativas. Eu já conhecia ele por Waikiki e Crash Landing On You e sei o quão bom atuando em comédias ele é. Ver todas as cenas de ação, seus picos de raiva, o olhar vingativo e mais.. Foi inovador e surpreendente para mim. E eu amei, apenas amei ver o quão valorizado seus trabalhos estão sendo. Por que ele é um ator foda.
Eu não esperava muito do drama por que recentemente muitos dramas novos de "comédia" tem sido bem diferente para mim. Mas ainda bem que assisti esse, não me arrependo de jeito nenhum.
Eu estava preocupada com o final, por que muitas pessoas estavam insatisfeitas e refazendo o final no youtube. Então pensei que ia ter morte dos principais ou algo do tipo.
Foi um final bom, entendo o Bong Hwan voltar para os tempos modernos. Afinal, sempre acreditei que ele tinha voltado ao passado apenas para ajudar o Rei.
E pensei que assim como eu muitas pessoas tinham percebido que as não era só o Bong Hwan no corpo da So Yong, estavam os dois ali e eles trocavam e seus sentimentos se misturavam. Mas vi tanta gente falando da Rainha, que pensei até que eu estava tendo uma visão errada kkkkk
E apenas vou citar o meu ódio e pena pelo primo lá, o vermelho. Cara, se ela negou na sua cara milhares de vezes que gosta de você POR QUE insiste? Inconveniente e chato, porém não mereceu a morto que teve, afinal do início ao fim mesmo do jeito chato dele ele protegeu a rainha do início ao fim. Era um cara legal, merecia mais.
Court Lady Choi, A MELHOR. Todas as expressões dela me fizeram chorar litros de rir. Quando ela gritava "MAMA!", eu ria pra caramba.
Eu penso que uma segunda temporada com o mesmo elenco nos tempos modernos não seria loucura, seria um presente dos céus para nós. Assim como muitoa dramas de época onde envolvem viajem no tempo tem. E o final dos episódios especiais me deu a sensação que TALVEZ no futuro tenhamos algo do tipo e eu estarei aqui assistindo e apoiando.
E pra finalizar, a melhor ost.
BONG HWAN-NAAAA~~~
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I can't give this show a small grade bc it brought me a LOT of joy, laughs and heart-warming moments. I tried not to ship the main couple because I knew this could happen in the end, but the writers made such an effort to make us ship them, and root for their journey that there was no other way. In the end, this show was about the love story of two men and the writers were too coward to give it the ending it deserved, it comes across as unfair both to the characters as to the viewers. Nevertheless, I'd definitely recommend watching this show since all 19 episodes before the finale are a must watch. The characters are all highly interesting and nicely built and Shin Hye Sun makes the watch worth it! Unfortunately, the ending may give a bitter taste on your mouth. Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
