[Personal Review] Mr. Queen
Cast: Please forgive me because I might have fallen for your leading man over here and I can’t get enough of him that I started watching School 2017. Shin Hye Sun as Kim So Yong / Queen Cheorin or Choong Jeon,& Jang Bong Hwan; This actress is amazing in this role and I don’t know how to emphasize that even more. I think the first time I saw her was in She Was Pretty and then in Legends of the Blue Sea. I’ve seen clips of her other dramas too but those were the ones I remember. Now, this character is not your ordinary character since [SPOILER] she’s playing basically 2 characters in one body. So Yong is this queen to be that’s very reserved and then merge that with Jang Bong Hwan who’s this famous chef that’s very full of himself and arrogant and you get this awesome Queen acting like she can do anything and everything. It’s so fun to watch, tbh. Kim Jung Hyun as Lee Won Beom / King Cheoljong; A word of warning, this might get a little over the top. Okay, so this the first time I’ve seen him act (aside from watching clips from School 2017 & Waikiki from time to time) and I gotta say he grew on me and I really fell for him after like 3 episodes. I’ve been watching clips of IG live sessions for a few days now and I’ve been binge-watching his covers and such. Plus I mean come on, the guy can FREAKIN sing!! His voice is amazing! (I’ll fangirl more about that later) and this is purely based on experience but I think it really helps to have a strong vocal range to play King since most of their lines are orders and basically shouting. In all seriousness, I think he was able to give justice to this role. I read about King Cheoljong and how he’s described in the books and such and I kinda like that they stuck to that character but they made him into something more than just what they say he is. He’s just fun to watch ❤
Story: The story is a little more complicated to tell without spoiling a lot, to be honest, so little warning to those who do not want spoilers. [SPOILER ALERT] Okay so the story focuses on Jang Bong Hwan who is a chef in the Blue House (Residence of the President) and he’s good but my goodness, he is an arse and his ego is off the roof. However, his life changes when he experiences this time slip (and more).
The story for me was something new. It’s like a combination of time slip and gender role change which was great and at the same time confusing for me. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVED it since it’s new but I sorta got confused in the end because it made me question who he (the king) really liked. It’s such a fun story despite the usual fight over power theme that’s usual with period dramas.
Pairing: You have to excuse my fangirling here. I really went all out hahaha
Cheoljong & So Young (Kim Jung Hyun & Shin Hye Sun) – Okay. I need to calm the F down while talking about these two. They are just too adorable on cam and of cam. First, their chemistry is amazing and they really do compliment each other especially when he finally has these feelings for the Queen. He started to transform from not really wanting to do anything with her to killing whoever touches her even if it’s just her hair. It’s also funny how he just realized one day that he is indeed IN love with her. I don’t want to spoil too much and I don’t think I need to LOL.
Their off-cam relationship is too adorable as well. (I did a ton of research for this) I think that Hye Sun invited Jung Hyun for coffee or something, with the help of the writer or director (? I’m not entirely sure who) so that she can get to meet him and know him a little better which I believe, helped when they started shooting. Junghyun also said in an interview that he accepted the project because of Hyesun… Now isn’t that sweet??
They had such good chemistry that they’re able to work with adlibs and such, Don’t get me started about their IG Live because this post will be too long. I suggest you watch the Special and the Commentary too. They’re too adorable in both of them,
Royal Chef Man Bok & Court Lady Choi (Kim In Won & Cha Chung Hwa) – These two are the cutest and purest couple ever. I love how they bonded over their frustrations and they turned that into something sweet and adorable. [SPOILER ALERT] There’s this one scene in the bamboo forest where they just shouted their frustrations and it turned into a sort of like a date.
Their off-cam relationship is cool too and I think they’re in the same company so they’re familiar with each other.
OST: I don’t usually include OST Reviews in these things but I had to include this one since it was on repeat for about a week in my house. (LOL) I think there are some songs that I listened to, repeatedly but the whole album is amazing. Here are the ones I was addicted to. I won’t go into detail for each of them but omg this ost is amazing 🙂
Like A Star (별들 중에서) by Onestar
Like The First Snow (첫눈처럼) – Kim Jung Hyun (Cheoljeong!!!)
Puzzle – SoyouPark Woo-jin (AB6IX)
My thoughts: This drama gave me a hangover that I’m still getting over with. I give it a 4.99/5 since the ending was a little meh but I’ll make it 5 since they kinda gave us some extra videos and whatnot. It was such a fun drama that made me laugh, cry and made me feel giddy inside. To be honest, I still am watching some clips if ever I encounter one when I’m browsing through my SNS or as soon as soo (as per Cheoljong). What made it special is that they’re also amazing off-cam and I think it showed on screen because it was such a fun cast and they’re all amazing and I became obsessed with most of them.
Shout out to Baby Youngjae!! I’m so happy to see him in a drama, too bad he didn’t sing in the OST and let’s not forget Na In Woo (Byeong In) who is now Dal. I really ah happy that I got to know new actors through every drama I watch. This review is too long lol but I hope you’ll see this drama. It’s super worth it.
If you’ve seen it, let me know what are your favorite scenes. If not, I wish you Happy Watching ^^v
