My Royal Nemesis

Maybe it's me but I don't understand

Seriously I don't understand the plot. Okay it's a story about reincarnation but I really don't understand all the plot behind the fusion between Seori and Dashim.
I mean the story started really well with a great potential but at a certain point it became madness. Somehow the 2 team leads saved the show thanks to their chemistry and facial microexpression. Also when Segye get injured at the end it was commissioned by Mundo or no? Like i said this was another hole in the plot.
Not talking about the girl from the troupe: why she was so mad about Seori? A lot of questions and zero response

Read More

Strong Beginning, Weak Second Half

This drama started off really strong for me. The first few episodes were funny, entertaining, and had a lot of potential. I genuinely enjoyed the chemistry and the overall vibe of the show at the beginning.

But as the story progressed, it slowly started falling into very predictable K-drama clichés. The biggest issue was the lack of communication between the leads. So many problems could’ve been solved if the characters had simply talked honestly instead of hiding things, pushing each other away, or creating unnecessary misunderstandings.

At first, the female lead felt smart and refreshing, but later her character started making frustrating decisions just to drag the drama forward. The misunderstanding arcs became repetitive and easy to predict, which made the second half lose its charm.

By episodes 10-11, I was honestly getting bored, watching in faster speed, and skipping scenes. Eventually, I dropped the drama at episode 12 because I completely lost interest.

Overall, My Royal Nemesis had a strong and fun start, but the second half became too cliché and frustrating for me to stay invested.

Read More

Good Finale, But the Pacing Held It Back

i think the last ep is the only episode that was good from start to finish. i get that the writer was going for an emotional drama with a bit of romcom on the side, but the pacing was way too slow and honestly got boring at times. there were moments where it felt hard to even finish an episode. i feel like it would've worked much better if it was cut down to 10 or 12 episodes. the cp dynamic is really carrying this series because everything else feels like a pretty standard k-drama with nothing particularly special. they're lucky they cast Heo Namjun, that's all i'm gonna say.

Read More

peak leads mid finale

this drama started off so strong! the characters were enjoyable and the plot was genuinely good. that scene in ep 13 with grandma and seori was absolute emotional peak television. sobrang gandaaaa! the writers clearly knew how to pull the heartstrings and build up incredible character dynamics, which is probably why the finale felt a bit nakakabitin! the last ep was underwhelming bc i was actually hoping for more scenes between segye and his grandfather. just a few more quiet meaningful scenes would have given their dynamics the closure it deserved. also, i was expecting a much more satisfying downfall from choi mundo. super sayang nito bc he was actually a great villain (talagang kuhang kuha nya pika ko ever episode) so he deserved a proper, drag down ruin. but looking at the big picture, it’s still a massive win. the chemistry between the main leads was top-tier, and as far as time travel dramas go, it was such a refreshing, well-paced ride for the most part.

Read More

Perfect for Killing Time

Let me start off by saying that Im Ji Yeon is a national treasure and must be protected at all costs. Without her, this drama simply would’ve fallen apart. There’s an incredible intensity to her performances. It’s always a pleasure to watch her on screen. She was also the main reason I struggled to rate this series.
The writing was unhinged from the very beginning, so I don’t really understand why so many other reviews mention a decline after episode 10. I’d even go as far as to say that this drama is perfect if you’re just looking to kill time. There’s always something happening, but it still follows plenty of kdrama clichés.
Overall, the rest of the cast delivered decent performances.
I’d recommend this drama to anyone who’s still experiencing withdrawal symptoms from mid-2010s kdramas.

Read More

I was surprised I liked it as much as I did

The most pleasant surprise for me was Heo Nam Jun. He has such a completely different look from other Korean actors. He's got the face suited to a villain, and I didn't know what I'd think of him in the role. Oh, my goodness! He's harsh and hateful at times, yet vulnerable and loving at other times. I watched this on the heels of a drama where every time the ML yelled, he was seriously overacting. Not so here. There were a couple of times that he yelled, and I could feel his hurt and anger. This actor has yearning down to a fine art. The economy of movements, the blank stare, the tears in the eyes - it was excellent.

I didn't LOVE the main couple, to me, she seemed older than him. Maybe that was because she was supposed to be from the Joseon era. I do have to say that her continuing to talk like she was in the Joseon period was irritating, and I feel that there were many opportunities lost for her to be a fish out of water and trying to learn technology, etc.

Episode 13 - when her grandmother was dying (which I felt was completely unnecessary), the bus they were on stopped at the bus stop made famous by BTS in Spring Day. It was like the perfect product placement. Though they didn't use the song, if you know the words, it conveys loss and sadness so well. That got me in the feels.

Read More

had so much potential...

i absolutely loved this drama in the first few episodes. there were a lot of not-so-subtle feminist elements as seori learned about the modern world which was really refreshing to see. this kind of time travel trope is not rare, and yet so few of them make the most out of it -- here, too, they really could've milked it a lot more. after we see seori learn about the modern world through youtube and dramas, she is almost never confused about anything ever again which is a bad creative decision in my opinion.

i still mostly enjoyed the rest of the show, but as everyone else is saying, the last few episodes were just a bunch of bullshit. it almost feels like they originally wrote a 12-episode show but were told at the last minute they had to come up with 2 more, the way the last 4 episodes drag on.
- we spent this whole show watching choi mundo be the most evil person of all time, and in the end they resort to making a deepfake of him dumping a body to turn the press against him? and we're supposed to cheer them on for this? i'm glad he went to jail of course, but surely there was enough to leak to the press about his ACTUAL wrongdoings without making a deepfake???
- there was no need for the grandma to die, it added nothing to the story and seori's little monologue felt cringey instead of touching. side note, i feel bad for this actress always having to act out dying in every role she has 😭
- having jihyo get attacked by her ex JUST so that gwangnam can come in to "save her" and turn it into a romantic moment is so cheap and lazy. i could go deeper into this but mydramalist is not the place for serious critical discussions
- there was zero need for segye getting stabbed and seori going into a coma... literally just filler plots

i still gave it a relatively high overall rating because it was overall an enjoyable watch. wish i stopped watching after episode 12.

Read More

Unstoppable Chemistry, Unhinged Comedy, and a Faceplant at the Finish Line

The drama kicks off with brilliant momentum, serving up a lot of laughs as the Joseon-era heroine attempts to navigate the bewildering modern world. She is delightfully unhinged, wonderfully chaotic, and completely steals every scene she's in. Naturally, the electric chemistry between the two leads is a major highlight, keeping me thoroughly invested in their dynamic.

I really wanted to give it a higher rating, but unfortunately, the show completely stumbles at the ending. The bizarre finale attempts a messy, parallel-timeline gimmick that fails to connect its narrative dots, leaving behind a rushed and unexplained backstory.

Read More

8.3 average is a joke

I decided to watch this show because of the hype that was going on with it in the internet (and instagram) and the first 7 episodes where good. It was interesting fun to watch. Nothing serious. But from episode 8-10 it was “Ok. I continue because I watched half of it” and from episode 11 to 14 it was a challenge to make me stronger. Terrible ending. The show put every hints to say we will have a dramatic goodbye and then out of nowhere they decided to say oh no. It’s going to be fixed magically with 0 explanation. Or to be more accurate with 0 understandable explanation. They wrap it up with just few scentences lol
And after that the main show ending is terrible. They should keep the show fun, fantasy, and romance but they decided to focus more on the company and how MC takes his revenge on antagonist

Read More

if you're K-drama hardcore fans, I'm sure you've seen 93489483 dramas similar to this one

My Royal Nemesis is your typical K-drama romance. A lot of drama, involving chaebols, a business contract marriage, yadda yadda. Honestly, I didn't really pay attention to the timeline, the business politics, or the family drama—because if you're here to analyze all of that, you're going to find a lot of plot holes. As usual, the female lead's rival—why is it always a rich, beautiful, successful woman who is completely obsessed with the male lead? Are there no other good-looking chaebols in Korea? If I were her, there's ain't no way I'm chasing after a man.

Moving on, there's only one truly evil character, and I swear to god, he’s just an ungrateful brat. As for the grandfather (the ultimate ML-FL relationship hater), he isn't the ruthlessly cruel, inhumane type. He's still warm, and honestly, his objectives actually make sense. BUT THE HIGHLIGHT IS: CHA SE GYE, THE MAN YOU ARE, I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU.

Now for the female lead—she was described as smart and manipulative, right? But approaching the final episodes, I don't know, her intellect kind of dropped. It’s like she started forgetting about everything that had happened. Maybe because she finally opened up to the ML, she became less aware of her surroundings and just felt safe.

Overall, it’s okay. Since the whole plot is similar to other romance K-dramas—time travel, reincarnation, chaebols, business matchmaking—it might be boring for some people. But for me, this is such a comfort drama.

Read More

KSalad Reciepe: Time travel + Soul Swap + Modern day drama + Flashbacks + Loovey Doovey Rom-Com

One thing about me is that I love time travel kdramas. Its one of my top 5 tropes, hence why I had HIGH expectations about My Royal Nemesis.
From the very first episode I though this was going to be an interesting experiment. A rom-com fantasy drama with a cast notoriously known for being ruthless villans. Like seriously BE IT MAIN LEADS or SUPORTING CAST they all did an AMAZING JOB. As far as ACTING is concered 10/10.
Music was also on point. I think I have at least a song that stayed in my memory and playlist so its a solis 9/10.
And now about the PLOT. I get why many people could consider this a salad. Way too many things happened simultaneously and there plenty of unexplained things left on the air.
First incredient of our KSalad and the major plot device its TIME TRAVEL. Obviously a lot of flashbacks and memories and switches from past to present. Ofc one might argue about its originality as well. Its giving Rooftop Prince meets The Story of Park Mariage Contract meets any modern chabol drama you might think of. HOWEVER the execution was exquisite up until the secound half where the writers started to complicate and intricae things in order to somehow set this drama apart from others. One one hand we had the reincarnation of the Prince being Sae Gye and of the shaman being also a shaman. And then we had some sort of soulw swap/transmigration phenomenon on Seori/Danshim side. Which left people confused. First because we though initially she was going to be a reincarnation too. Turns out there were 2 complete different souls that were swicthing supposedely because of the COMMET. The COMMET was absolutely missused turining from the time travel mecanism into a simbol for bad karma. Giving that it was reveled that the switch started from present time when Seo Ri was a kid, when there was no commet, and ended with Seo Ri choosing to return from the limbo to the present AFTER the commet that suppoosedely comes every other couple hundred years completely VANISHED. Writers wanted to be ambitious and somehow lost the control over this most important plot device over the episodes.
Another plot device was THE COMEDY + THE LOOVEY DOOVEY ROMCOME + THE MELODRAMA in the ending which was super cute and cpuld have worled a million times better into a less crowded plot. The Romance became more important then the time-space logic of the story. Don't get me wrong, I ADORED THE COUPLE and THE CHEMESTRY. I found Sae Gye a liitle bit childish and possesive but never the less, cute. The ROMANCE part that remained unclear to me is how and why would the real Danshim and the Prince end up togheter. The Prince supposedely fell in love with Seo Ri in Danshim's body. He died for her and that is why she needed to go back to change the fate. But the thing is if Sae Gye is a reincarnation it means we are talking about the same soul. Why would Seori look at them as totally diffrent human beings? Could not she have stayed with the Prince in that lifer and then reincarnate togheter in the present? Why should she let another women THAT LOOKS LIKE HER have her men for a life time? But then again...what would have happened with the real Danshim then? I feel like instead of trying to save the Prince she should have punished the King in the past. That would have changed the present Mundo's trajectory and meaby this way she could have given a happy ending both to Saegye and to Mundo's kid.
Which gets me to the 3rd plot device: The FIGHT AGAINST MUNDO/ The King: The king was left unpunished in the past and somehow Mundo was punished in the future with some stupid proofs that could and should have come to light earlier. The ML's family was completeley usless + a filler + a massive cliche. Aunties that want the money, a grandfather that wants to force a marraige upon him that has no control over Mundo but somehow threatens him with the kid. And the kid that was supoosed to show Mundo has a good part ended up as an extra in his own house cause Mundo ended un imprisoned. The entire fight against Mundo felt very repetitive. At least 3 poisonings in each timeline. Accident. A lot of hospital scenes, but NEVER a proper investigation over the murder attempts.

Another filler which makes this drama feel like 7 dramas in 1 was the actresses that somehow hated Seo Ri cause of her good acting. One became a friend, one tried to posion her (twice) and ended up not imprisoned but with a childesh BO HO HO threat on the wall. Gwang-Nam was the cutey puppey of this show. The stress relief factor. Kuddos to Min Seok's puppy harmless face. But his potential relationship with the frienemy actress was also left into a WHAT IF?
The grandma part was somehow need for Seo Ri to understand what happened to her. And the acting of mrs Haesook actually made me cry rivers. Such a good actress!!

The beginning was Rooftop Prince style. The ending was 98% copy pasted from The Story of Park Marraige Contract with the only difference being that the one in the past was not left alone in this one. (Spinoff meaby??)

Final thought/questions:
At the end the shaman kept telling Seo Ri that her punishment has come to an end. Why was she even punished for? She did not choose to spontaneously time travel and deal with idiots that try to kill her. She supposedely made a sacrifice. Which did not seem like a sacrifice at all in the end.
Why was Seo Ri in present time left in a sudden coma? Why did we not get to see Danshim? It felt like Danshim was asleep all the time and only walk up by the ending.

Read More