Mr. Queen

I don't like the Saeguk genre. I started watching this due to the extreme hype & Shin Hye Sun. At first I was pleasantly surprised, the first 9 episodes were perhaps the best saeguk experience I've ever had. Despite the nonsense story I just felt an incredible amount of joy watching this. It was like 95% high quality humor & 5% political bullshit/scheming. Unfortunately the ratio completely flips around after episode 9. The humor is not enough the carry the story anymore. In fact if I ignore the comedy & look at this as a political romance the writing is on the weaker side of mediocre. The second half of the story has a lot of makjang with a really sloppy love story & a weird love triangle situation. I found the second lead to be the really really annoying, cartoon villain type, but the other villains had really unclear & unreasonable motivations as well. In general having characters that have teary eyes in every single one of their scenes is just a terrible chliche and this drama has 3 of them, yep.. (prince, drug addict assassin guy & second ML) The second FL's story is also kind of like something one would see in a lakorn, what a wasted bromance opportunity. (or more?!) Also about the guy with the scar on his face, it's just intelligence insulting that someone would have such a distinct scar on their face, but use a mask that doesn't cover that area. Even in the mask shop scene there were suitable masks on the wall.
Every moment with the OTP on screen was entertaining to watch, but the writers just couldn't commit to handling the whole genderbender, semi BL situation and this concluded in what I consider one of the worst endings I've seen in a kdrama. (typically I don't even start a kdrama, if the ending is bad) I'm sure that the fear of conservative housewives bombarding them with letters is part of it, perhaps even KCSC could have been considered, but good God there were so many ways to turn the situation tame in a more wholesome, happy manner. (there are some great ideas in the comment section)
While I was watching the drama I was thinking that perhaps the main writer wrote all the political stuff & the main storyline, while a group of writing interns were responsible for the comedy. Imagine my surprise, when I saw later that this drama has been written by a duo. I guess that could explain everything.


Despite the bad story I decided to give the drama a 8/10 rating. Partly because it's been an extremely memorable experience, partly because the comedy is just so on point and also because EVERY actor was trying so hard. Korean actors are almost always professional enough, but in this show nearly the entire cast has shown near tangible enthusiasm, even more so than in Crash Landing. As I said the saeguk makjang writing was bad, but thanks to the extraordinary acting performances - at least compared to other saeguk makjangs - it felt quite polished to me.
If Shin Hye Sun doesn't win a Daesang for this, then the award show season of 2021 would hold no meaning. (She is way more deserving than Jun Ji Hyun ever were) This is not the first time for her to carry a show on her back almost singlehandedly (not even the second time), but she was just too brilliant.

The production quality is very high, the sets, the OST, the cinematography were all up to standard. That "Bong Hwan-A" song is just perfection..

Shoutout to court maid Hong Yeon, I'd be more than willing to watch her in a leading role.

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A drama that would have been nearly perfect with Moon Lovers ending...

Wow what a show! I have to admit I wasn’t really into it at first. It took me like forever to start liking the king and caring for the palace people at all. At first I only wanted to know what happened to Bong Hwan. But then suddenly they got me… What I find most fascinating is, that this might be the most queer k-drama we ever had… even though they did try to avoid any discussions about it with a weird ending and yes that is a small down point for me.

Shin Hye Sun outshined everyone with her acting if you ask me. She is simply amazing and I loved her portrayal of So Bong as well as So Yong (though I did not like So Yong at all). I also think Kim Jung Hyun did a great job, I already loved him in Welcome to Waikiki and was able to discover a new side of him again after CLOY. And as much as I loved Na In Woo’s outfit I think he has got room for improvement… but that could have been due to the script I am not quite sure (but dios mio he was hot in that outfit).

As for the ending, everyone was basically ready to give this drama a 10/10 but the ending ruined this for most of us. I have to say I was not too surprised, but would have wished for something similar to Moon Lovers in that case. Even though it would have been heart-breaking I would have preferred So Yong dying and maybe waking up as Bong Hwan again in present time (just like Moon Lovers). Cheoljong would have suffered of course and it would have been quite tragic but it would have been fair and simply logic. The way the drama ended means he is now married to a woman he doesn't love because the women/man he loved was Bong Hwan. And that's it. Also I don't get how Bong Hwan can be okay in present time. I mean you can say whatever you want but he LOVED Cheoljong. I think the drama missed a huge opportunity here to make a point about the fact that you can fall for everyone be it a woman or a man, because you fall in love with a person and not with the persons gender. But yeah it is not a surprise they finished it that way, without questioning Bong Hwans feelings, it is a k-drama after all. And since the genre was comedy they couldn't let So Yong die of course...

However despite the ending I think this was a great drama and I am glad I did not drop it. I might even rewatch it again in a few years :)

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different from everything, crazy funny and taboo free

Without spoiler:
this drama is really fresh, different, soo much funny and catches you from the first 10-20 minutes. there are so many things that are soo different from usual dramas.
what was great:
1. FL (though she kind of is ML) - character like who we haven't seen
2. phenomenal acting from FL. others are good too, but not near to her.
3. humor, oh God, I haven't laughed that much soo long
4. cliche and taboo free, for example I don't remember drama with so much sexual/intime undertones, they act so natural and show so real chemistry and sexual tension, passion...
5. very unusual story, I mean gender switching is normal in dramas, but there are so more unusual storylines in this drama, few times I was like "no way, they wouldn't goo so far..." but this drama really breaks many drama taboos
6. the whole mood of the show, with perfectly fitting music and acting, there are soo right mood, soo funny
.... there are many really good things too, you should watch )))

what was bad:
main problem is the end, 1-2 little different scene could be make this drama completely perfect.
Spoilers:
the whole story clearly showed, that it was only SY's body and then some memories, BH even blamed female body for wanting king. Even if there was some piece of SY which helped BH fall for king, the character we watched for 19,5 episodes was BH. King fell in love with BH and then changing him even and King didn't even noticed it... that's just not logical.

There was scene, when BH/SY says to that guy who loved her, that it's just her body and if he loved her how he couldn't notice that now this is different person, so same goes to king, even more because king was his husband and was all the time with her, so how he doesn't noticed?
Ok I understand if they would stay together and happy anyway, because he already loves her and even if noticed that she changed, he wouldn't just stop loving her in one day, would see her in good way anyway and get used to even new herself, it is realistic, on the other hand SY not saying "you know, I'm not the one you fall for" is realistic too, she loved king whole life. But at list they should show that king sees difference, is kind of confused, misses how she was or something like that. He loves his wife but misses something, that wouldn't destroy happy ending or anything.
We can't say that they afraid taboos or gay theme, because this drama had so many brave scenes, so much sex/intime undertones, they already showed us practically two males fall for each other. one gender theme was in side characters stories too. So why back at the end?

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The best historical series ever

I really am both excited and happy about such a cute,fun and happy series.i was doubted to watch it at the first episodes were released due to a man came to a woman but when i started watching it the only feeling that a had was happiness with loud laughter and pure love .i was never stressed or deeply sad as the happy moments went after the sad ones and the revenges were not that poisonous to darken our hart,i really care about ending of series so the happy and open ending- which make me hope that it could be Mr Queen 2 in near future- was really pleasing.the Ost is one other thing make me connect to the story and luckily the ost did go to the story line very well i really will miss this series i really hope that they come to decide to make the second Mr Queen series .....thanks to all cast and crews.wish to see you soon.

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Great show with full of comedy and refreshing idea, but losing it in the last episode

The Show has broken through many types of clichés, and for the first 19 episodes are gold. Great comedy, amazing acting, good script as well. But, seeing the season finale, it gave me a disappointment.

*SPOILERS*

Because we kind of lost one of our main character half-way in the last episode(Bonghwan), where he went back to his lifetime and left Soyoung's body with her soul (and here I thought she is dead for the whole 19 episodes!). After that, Soyoung just lives in her body but apparently, also adapting Bonghwan's behaviour. Now, I don't know what to feel about this. Because Cheojong fell in love with Bonghwan's character, his persona and everything about him (he admitted this in the ealier episodes), and now he was left with someone, who is completely stranger to him, and us. I thought he is going to realize that the person inside of Soyoung's body is not really her, but the writer seems to ditch that off. It's kind of what I've expected because writer-nim also did that with Byung Im (he is completely oblivious with Soyoung's new behaviour and still think that it IS her).

Anyway, now Cheoljong will live a life, where he thought the person who he loves is right besides him, but actually not. And what about Bonghwan?? Are you already forget about him, who has already done everything to save Cheoljong and everyone in there, while Soyoung had done nothing and just enjoy all of his hardwork up until now?

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Excellent 19 episodes, trash finale. Queer baiting trash.

This is a completely hilarious show with an interesting premise that produces a queer leading character - a man in a woman's body. It's extremely unfortunate that the finale is such a cop out, which renders the entire show another example of queer baiting. This is an exciting roller coaster ride that at the end throws you off your seat to your death.

Spoilers below:
1. The king is explicitly in love with the spirit of the male MC, not the real queen. He noticed that the queen is out of character but did nothing. They’re now just another straight couple.
2. Is the MC bisexual now? Ending it this way makes it another queer baiting show. The writers are also trying to backtrack and say that both characters' souls are inhabiting the same body but remember how the queen's body almost died because the MC went back to the 21st century? The doctor said her body was in a soulless state. This is the only time where the queen's soul took back control of the body and their explanation is that she's in hiding all along? Also, none of the queen’s feelings for other characters stayed, not her feelings for her childhood friend/maid, cousin, or father, only her feelings for the king, whom she met once as a child, “remained.” But why? Is her entire existence anchored around her love for the king? The MC certainly rationalized it as the queen’s feelings when he first felt his attraction to the king. At the same time the MC certainly has enough control and agency to do whatever he wanted unrestrained by the queen's years of etiquette training, including acting on his attraction to women. Bullshit.
3. The original queen is literally the most useless character on the show but gets to reap the fruits of the MC’s labor. In fact, she is a(n abusive) damsel in distress saved by straight male MC. This is not feminist at all.
4. All the reforms they did led to an identical Korea in 2021.

Bad ending on all fronts. 0/10. Just don't watch the finale.

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Despite the main character being a man trapped in a female body, there is a certain focus on women within this drama; their lives, roles and work within the palace, which I enjoyed. Shin Hye Sun is absolutely amazing in this role and can switch from comedy to drama with great easy. It never feels forced to too harsh of a transition. I enjoy her so much in this role. And considering that this is a comedy about gender-swap, I never really found the humor that demeaning or like it talked down to women, or even homosexuality for that matter, as the romance became more prevalent. It wasn’t perfect, but I had expected worse, and it never really got on my nerves personally.

Whether we need this gender-swap to tell the story I am on the fence about. I think but that the story could have worked well enough if the main character was just a woman from the 21st century. Sometimes it seemed to me that they were brushing over things that should have underlined the struggle that a person who is not in that time, not in their body, would deal with. And I don’t think this is the radical or feminist take that some might have wanted about of women or the gender. But I also don’t think the drama ever intended to be a big commentary on society or gender roles. It just wanted to be a comedy sageuk with a twist.

I liked pretty much all the female characters in the drama for different reason. There was a range of characters and even the more comic relief ones had more to their roles than just that. Most of my favorite moments in the show had something to do with the main character’s friendship with their maids as well as the mutual respect that existed between them.

The sort of regular, everyday life of the court, especially for the women in the highest positions, was something I enjoyed too. Those moments are usually more in the background in these dramas. And I found the humor mostly revolved around that; life in the palace, the people who worked there, a little bit about politics and power struggle, but also the fact that the main characters was from another time period and how that person did things differently from the others and the conflicts that created. Much more than the actual gender-swap. Which is why I think we didn’t need it.

It took a while for the drama to mix the humor with the more serious tones of the drama that boosted the suspense in the story. The humor that led the drama in the beginning, but the more political bits never felt too jarring to me. And after a few episodes I felt like they managed to mix those two elements well enough so they worked together.

Despite some complaints about the politics taking up too much time, Mr. Queen was always a comedy and manages to keep the humor up throughout the drama, despite the politics and all the power struggles taking place. But even in the darkest, most tensest moments the show always manages to mix in lighter and funnier moments in. I never felt like the overall tone of the show dropped, or that it become too heavy. The humor never dried up and the story never became too dreary.

Many people do not like the high stakes, which never feel that high compared to other such period dramas, or the politics and just want the romance and the comedy. But personally I think dramas like these could not keep the story going with just funny moments and no politics. There have to be stakes and in the palace stakes comes with political maneuvering. Most stories are based on some kind of tension, risk and conflict.

The conflict here comes out in subtle fights for power, very under the table political tactics to, shifting of allies and clashes between several powerful clans within the Joseon era. But those conflicts never took over the whole story. It is the usual shenanigans that you usually see in these period dramas, but just a bit more woman focused, which I enjoyed a lot. How the women used their power and manipulated the court and people around them. The king has his focus as well, but the is surrounded by really smart, calculating women.

Overall I felt like Mr. Queen was a pretty standard period drama that tried to have a little bit of a different angle on things, that just aimed to be very fun and entertaining. It never took itself that seriously, but I also didn’t think it was saying that much either, although criticizing society through comedy is what the genre is sort of made for. Yet the light-hearted spirit that was always persistent through the drama, the character and just the amazing performance of Shin Hye Sun, made Mr. Queen overall a really easy and entertaining show to watch.

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There's a power that comes from watching a show after it's ended. It means that you can watch after you've confirmed that it did do what you were worried it was going to do. Korea is simply not ready to tell these stories, although this pushes the boundaries more than I expected it to.

Based on the (controversial, censored) Chinese web drama, Go Princess Go, Mr Queen tells the story of a modern day man who finds himself living in the body of Joseon Queen. The first two episodes were unwatchable slapstick but I persisted for one major reason: the acting, the amazing acting. These are two transcendent performances from some of Korea's finest actors.

I won't spoil anything for people who haven't seen it but this is a fusion Sageuk romp with a fun script, wonderful acting, brilliant production values and an ending that was as disappointing as it was inevitable. The show's attempt to backcast the themes as some sort of quest for justice or campaign against corruption rather than a romance is jarring but it doesn't mean you can't enjoy the ride, even with its last-minute attempt to walk back The Gay.

If you think about it too much you might get annoyed so, as with most fusion Sageuks, it's best to not think about it at all. Just enjoy. And there's a lot to enjoy. Especially around Shin Hye-sun and Kim Jung-hyun proving they are A grade actors with amazing comic timing and genuine gravitas.

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SPOILERS AHEAD

I am proud to say I'm an anti fan!
This drama had everything. Interesting storylines, out of the world acting, fantastic music...
The King and the Queen were ultimate couple goals. Personally I believe that after the second lake incident So Yong started to resurface along with her memories and she was unconsciously directing Bong Hwan. So the King wasn't only in love with Bong Hwan's character and charisma.
The only thing that I wasn't fine with was the death of Byung In, this guy had me frustrated for 18 episodes and then he made me like him in 5 seconds, damn you second lead syndrome...
Lastly, I have to talk about my favourite secondary character... Kim Hwan was stealing the show without even trying. He is precious someone protect him.
Definitely gonna rewatch this drama.

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The best show I have ever watched

I don't normally watch historical movies by this one was fantastic. It was just a great show everything was perfect from comedy to romance, thriller. I was always at the edge of my seat and expectant but this how never failed me, The idea was great, the bromance was touching. I cried a lot and laughed a lot when they started to fall in love i was just so elated and proud. I wish we saw the baby boy or girl and I wish he stayed there longer Definitely will watch it again and honestly everyone should watch it you won't be disappointed. Hopefully, there will be a season 2 with a much better ending.

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Typical

Like so many K-dramas, its better to stop at episode 4 or 5. In this series the cute-ness and comedy has worn off by then.
The characters didnt develop and the story line drags. To stay interested I concentrated on the make-up and costumes- which always looked brand new (am I the only one that notices that? Also- its weird when you can tell the men are wearing lipstick)There wasnt a very big cast to populate the palace and a couple scenes looked like they were filmed at a public park. I had to remind myself that this was a period sit-com not an epic historical drama. This wasnt my cup of tea.

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