Mr. Queen | Review

A man wakes up in a Queen's body and tries to flee from her suddenly intrigued husband.

Notable Actors/Actresses

Shin Hye-sun: Kim So-yong / Jang Bong-hwan

Kim Jung-hyun: King Cheol-jung

Director:

Yun Seong-sik

Screenwriters:

Park Kye-ok, Choi A-il

Genres: Period, Romcom, Palace, Fantasy, Period Romcom

Year: 2020
Episodes: 20

Reviewer: FanFanX

Jump to Review | Comments

Cast

Shin Hye-sun: Kim So-yong / Jang Bong-hwan	Kim Jung-hyun: King Cheol-jung
Bae Jong-ok: Queen Sun-won	Kim Tae-woo: Kim Jwa-geun
Seol In-ah: Jo Hwa-jin	Na In-woo: Kim Byeong-in

Romcom/Romance Checklist

How much of the plot is angst/romance?

0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

The ML: 

Cold–Lukewarm–Warm / Timid / Falls in Love First / Noble Idiot / CEO / General / 

The FL: 

Bold / Cute / Cool & Independent / Falls in Love First / Better Than ML / Noble Idiot / 

Describe the Relationship (the tropes):

Bickering Start / Childhood Connection / Cohabitation / Contract Marriage or Fake Couple /  Enemies to Lovers / Hidden Identity / School to Adulthood / Love Triangle / Married Couple (Real) / Secretly in Love (F/ML) / Star-Crossed Lovers / 

Relationship Progress (officially together; first (official) kiss; breakup*):

Ep 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10  / 11  / 12  / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16  / 17  / 18  / 19  / 20  

# of CPs (including main CP):
0 / 1 / 2 / 3

Ending:

Happy / Sad / Open Happy / Open Sad / Bad

Happy Queen with an even happier King.

Review

by FanFanX

This series was fun over the course of four days. The love story is kind of sweet and quite funny for a sageuk - with plenty of modern elements (including the music). In terms of politicking, Bloody Heart has it beat. However, even as I say this, I definitely like the couple here more than in the other series, as they’re more of a real team in taking down the dastardly queens and officials. I also really enjoyed the actors here. 

Main Leads: The leads are new to me as I haven’t watched anything with either before. Shin Hye-sun as Kim So-yong rides this line of being pretty and feminine yet foul-mouthed and too bold for comfort. This was the perfect representation of a man (morally grey Jang Bong-hwan) being suddenly stuck in a woman’s body. Now, let’s talk about my favorite actor in this, Kim Jung-hyun as Cheol-jong – it’s all in his eyes and the microexpressions – from the tiniest quirk of an eyebrow to the tremble of his lips. Kim Jung-hyun isn’t my usual cup of tea but his acting really made that a moot point – as I was on his team from the get-go. I was rooting so hard for the two of them. 

Supporting Actors: I like Na In-woo but seriously, how many times did I really need to see his tear-filled eyes? (Less than three is the right answer.) I wish they would stop creating and dragging out this pitiful lovelorn secondary love interest character. Seol In-ah is absolutely gorgeous in this, and I appreciated seeing her range in this – sweet to conniving with a redemption arc. Bae Jong-ok was lovely and hilarious as the scheming Grand Queen Dowager Sun-won. I honestly didn't recognize Kim Tae-woo at first as Kim Jwa-geun, her brother, who is manipulating everything to keep her in power. Cha Chung-hwa as Court Lady Choi is such a memorable character. She’s saying and doing things that one would only dream of – such as running into the bamboo forest to yell insults at the Queen. (Treasonous!)

Romance ✔️

Hilarious & Independent FL✔️

Hilarious ML due to FL ✔️

Lovelorn 2ML/2FL✔️

Palace politics ➖

Outlandish sidekicks ➖

Annoying family ➖

I wanted to rate this one higher but it is hampered by palace politics, plus the angsty 2ML/2FL. And our leads’ romance is a bit jarring - as Cheol-jong seems to fall for her overnight and is relentless in his pursuit. Kim So-young’s initial resistance (as she’s actually a man in a woman’s body) is fun to watch. With that being said, I’d still rewatch this one for the main leads’ interactions for a pick-me-upper. No touch!  

Rating: 3/5