The Emperor's New Foe (2025)

surprisingly coherent and fascinating

I finished this as the first vd this year (1.1.2026!) while the page for this title was still not on MDL. I have a private list of all of the VDS that do not have the pages here and I occasionally check if the page was created so I can update my list with comments and rating. So I went back to it within 3 weeks and discovered that someone added this title. As a result I am writing this in response to the second viewing because I wanted to refresh my memory of this drama.
I'm going to start with what I did not like:
1. characterization of the female lead: she was annoying at times with a modern I don't care attitude, although the actress played really well. Her mastery came out in the last 15 or so episodes were the plot changes drastically demanding more artistic license and skillful acting.
2. character of the male lead: somewhat wishy-washy and (while likable) sort of a blockhead type, but just like with female lead he played his role well.
3. this was pretty much two character plot, meaning second female lead and second male lead had very little to do with the change in the course of the story, and the story revolved around relationship between the leads.
4. as with most vertical dramas the budget was small which showed in how the camera had to be positioned, meaning no grand interiors, decorations or vistas, no cinematography to speak of- just the close-ups and 3/4 plan with faces and full body with minimum background in most shots.
5. I watched it on YouTube as one long uninterrupted video, which meant the music was mostly cut out or the voice track was playing without the instrumentals, so I can't comment on the quality of OST. I would have liked it better with the better version of it, I'm sure.
And now on to what I liked:
we got a combination of two unusual characters: a person transmigrated into the book (meaning she knows what the story is about and what is going to happen), and a character from that same book, i. e. the character from the story, being reborn (meaning he has the knowledge of what had gone wrong in the story already and wanting to change it). And the major premise of this drama is: these two personas are mortal enemies: one scheming against the other and the other killing the first one. Of course with such a setup the things are bound to go wrong and of course they may not end well, particularly because both leads make strange errors in judgment thus ending up in precisely same situation that they did not want to be (female lead constantly at risk of dying and male lead being schemed against).
This is not exactly the angst driven plot of "will she love him? will he fall in love with her" but about the consistent distrust and misunderstandings between the two leads. And it is amazing.

The female lead cares only about her own survival and disregards anything emotional in herself and in the male lead. The male lead cares only about not ending up the same way he did the first time around, thus not giving the female lead the benefit of a doubt. For a love story this is contradiction in terms as the leads do not share deep love but merely an attraction. They are just two souls thrown in together and at one point collaborating for mutual benefit. The attachment they form is not the romance, it's understanding of themselves and not necessarily the other person.
The best part of this drama is the ending and watching how happy-go-lucky woman realizes her ultimate doom caused by herself is approaching regardless of all of the scheming she had done to survive, and how the man who feels completely conflicted about her basically because of insisting on his own biases and reactivity to her indifference and rejection of his attempts, tries to save her. And the bickering and verbal exchange between the emperor and the female lead's father in the end is hilarious.The level of emotional tension and expression in the final scenes with the male and female lead and female lead's father was just heartbreaking but awesome. I actually couldn't believe that I cared that much about completely unbelievable story and completely fictional characters. So bravo to the director and the actors for creating such a good illusion of reality and giving such a moving performance and production.
I am recommending it for this story being both typical and yet unusual

Read More