Garanosekai

More characterization is needed. Right now the leads are mostly acted out of their generic archetypes. Might pick it up once their flesh out more character arcs.

I need the Kingdom episode

Pretty boring, where is the drama?

He tried to kill her ... twice.
Another time is the end of EP3, he prepared a knife in case the queen actually acknowledged she knows he is the one who tries to kill her...

Yeah. The CN novel does have a resolution for this, that the body swap happens, and there is some god like being told the chef's character that this was a mistake that he belongs to the ancient time as always, blahblah. So his present time body was going to the original female soul.

I hoped that the KR version could adapt this idea somehow, that BH would gets the chance to whether to return to the modern time, and he could choose to stay while send off KSY's soul there to give a chance to live in a free society, while he could stay here.

It still won't be perfect (chef would never see his families again), but IMO, it could make most people happier than the ending we were given.

The ending is not bad for me because it isn't logical. It is actually quite logical:
1. The chef should return to the present time, because he is a comedy relief, and that is about the strongest protection you can have to avoid death
2. Bad guys get what they deserved
3. King is now in power and reform his kingdom for the better.
4. Since the chef is now back, then the original queen has to be summoned back to get this character ... rolling.

So yes, consider all the requirements, and one episode left, this ending shouldn't be surprising to me. At least, I was like semi-prepared for this to happen.

But that is not to say I am not disappointed. Because this is ending is really just ... predictable. You got enough information to tell this is a possibility from EP1-2. What unexpected to our viewers is whether the romance would happen, and there was quite an argument around about it.

Well, IMO, it happened, and people were pleasantly intrigued, became to expect that the writer might have something more surprising prepared for us. But then, the ending kicked in, in its safest and most predictable way. I can't help but feeling the message is: yeah, it could happen but it doesn't matter. Thus this emptiness and the feeling of lost, because clearly our expectation is played.

Thinking of that bullet DID kill the SoBong we knew, after all it would KSY and JBW in their separate era of time, this really gets me. What an abrupt and brutal way to 'kill' off a character that we had loved for 19.5 episodes.

I think he sensed it, but didn't break it. Still pretty sad.

In ep14, the chef refused the king's confession because 'I am not the real KSY'
In ep19, the chef referred this KSY as 'that woman'

So I don't think the two souls are becoming one, it is clear to me that those are two different people. The chef might connect deeply to KSY's past, but he always knew who he was.

Which makes the ending all the more uncomfortable to me. There is only one scene that the king had directly interacted with the original queen, and that is literally the ending of the whole show.

They hug, they smile, and the end.

I think the writers are saving themselves some trouble trying to detail their dialogue more deeply, because it is going to be unnatural/awkward, to both the king, who clearly dislikes a 'perfectly' mannered queen, and us audience as well. Maybe that is the real reason why the spin off gets green lighted, because they know many viewers would hate this, and try to salvage the whole thing.

And about the SK being homophobic argument, so the ending has to be like this. But the chef queen already kissed so many times, and had sex with the King, and got pregnant even, how is this particular ending makes it lesser ? So the SK conservatives would be happy that the main characters engaged sexually, as long as they don't stick to each other for long after that? How does this make sense?

My only personal viable theory about why the ending ends like this, is because it is convenient, avoiding difficult choices for themselves and the characters in the stories alike.

This is the worst ending possible really.

The audience barely knows the original so young. She might be a perfectly lovable character but she isn't the one I grew with the show. The real character growth is the one for BH. She/He is the character companied us audience through this journey.

Let alone that the king, in his words, admit he loved this person who is rude and arrogant and full of flaws and won't be possible in his time.

That is where the drama is, that is literally the pillar of the whole thing.

Then the ending came and swiftly undid and told us it is happy ending for all. See the bad people get punished, history changed, and there is the ending scene of happily ever after.

At this point I could only guess the writer either didn't know what he/she was writing or maybe he/she knew but he/she didn't want to go there for some known reason.

But that is no reason for us audience to like this resolution. The chef we grew to like so much just gets ejected last minute at the most hopeless moment. Just like that the Mr Queen said goodbye to both the king and the audience. I lost all interests for the following plots. It just doesn't matter that much anymore.

I think people watch drama or stories of others, at the minimal level, are in search for meaning, that the actions and choices the character made bares weight and consequences. Not like this in this ending, our chef fought all the way to the very last, then being told this is not your story after all.

Just want to say if they go camping like this in the winter (it shows snow in some scene), they would be literally frozen to death.
I know this is fantasy and comedy, and searching for the king is important for the plot...but it really won't work, let alone the queen is pregnant.

The CN/KR are different stories at this point, though some key elements are shared and rehashed here and there.

The king in the CN version is a different character all together. There is little comedy to him, and he is ruthless. I like the approach that KR ver took, that add much needed nuance to make his character relatable and likable.

One thing I do like about the CN version more is that the CN version centers more on the development/interactions between the male soul queen and the king. The fact that there is man in the queen's body and the King believes it, it brings some interesting tension/twists, makes it more satisfying viewing experience for me.

Fair to say I enjoy both versions, though I did enjoy them differently :)

The acting is over the charts in the Korean version. The dual carried this drama for me, despite a flawed script with major pacing issue and too much deus machina.

Had not SHS took the role, it wouldnt work.

There are people who call for the cancellation of the show, due to the perceived history distortion, etc, which would be a better description. Navigating through some news on Korean outlet, the controversy had died down quite a bit or already faded.
There is close to 0 chance this is going to get cancelled at this point. The rating is excellent, the popularity is undeniable, and the filming had almost wrapped.

@B1G-SM0NK
I won't write out the possibility that they follow the c-drama eventually. So far it is a great adaptation with a lot of fresh ideas of its own, but the main plot conflict stays close to the source material.

Yep. Their acting single-handedly carried the show for me.
Very satisfying.

No.
In the novel, the romance happens, and the original soul barely appears in the first place.
Also the queen never loved the SML either. I too believed it is the case in K-drama, she kissed him just because she was desperate and hopeless, or maybe a kiss goodbye to her cousin before her suicide, but definitely not love.

I think this would happen only after he accepts he would be a woman forever in the Joseon, and deals with it. Or the writer plays two-souls-merge-into-one troupe whatever that means.
But definitely not the current status of the queen.
And the romance, if it was to happen, would be really late stage of the story, I would assume. The meaty part would be how of both of them come to terms with it.

There are just too much filler.
Some of which aren't even pretended to be relevant anymore, like scenes in the kitchen.
I am not sure sure why TVN makes its drama running time even longer. It brings the pace down significantly.

I doubt it...He did attempt to kill her in worst scenario right?
But I think we would see their relationship improves drastically next week