“Mr. Queen is pure comedy at its best. It was so much fun to see the series filled with epic moments by Bong-hwan inside the Queen’s body”.
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First things first
The following review has no spoilers.
Let me tell you: Mr. Queen is a jewel.
This series is so much fun, you will laugh on each episode; of course, it also has drama, it also made me cry sometimes and made me shout with excitement. I cannot be more complete.
I watched this drama with my husband, and he also loved it! Each Sunday afternoon he’d say “… so, at what time are we watching Mr. Queen?” It was fun to watch it together. What we used to do was watch the 2 weekly episodes every Sunday night.
Mr. Queen is a Korean series of 20 episodes, released on December 12th 2020 and its genre is historic, romantic comedy and fantasy. It is based on a Chinese drama called Go Princess Go, which is based on a novel by Xian Chen, under the same name.
Synopsis
In present time, Jang Bong-hwan is a prestigious Chef, whose fame and talent allowed him to obtain the position of Chef of the Blue House (home of the Korean President). He is a womanizer, promiscuous and has huge success with the ladies due to his charming charisma.
Victim of a trap, Bong-hwan suffers an accident and his soul wakes up inside a woman’s body in 1851. But not any woman, she is Kim So-yong, who is a day away from marrying the King and become Queen Cheorin.
Now Bong-hwan tries at all costs to get back to his body, while trying to survive in the middle of conspiracies in the Kingdom, and avoid at all costs physical contact with the King.
In general terms
Mr. Queen is pure comedy at its best. It was so much fun to see the series filled with epic moments by Bong-hwan inside the Queen’s body. Not to mention the reactions of people around her, totally confused with her actions and vocabulary, it was hilarious!
The intro of every episode, song and illustrations were very well done, even the name of each episode was great. The production cared about every detail.
I read somewhere that the plot is very different from the Chinese version, but that’s not something relevant to me. Each version of a story has its own style, and the development of events is not always the same; which I think is fine, because it gives a fresh insight to the original story. Usually, when there are different versions of a story, is the first one I watched, the one that becomes my favorite.
Why do I recommend Mr. Queen?
The Plot
The plot is not new; but that doesn’t make it less hilarious. Each episode is so good, and not only funny, but the development of events is very exciting. Imagine this, Bong-hwan, as womanizer and egocentric as he is, being inside a woman’s body is terrible. He misses his male parts and being with women, but he has no other choice but to avoid any physical contact with the King, and also try to understand what is happening around him, in order to survive.
The king, on the other hand, apparently is weak and ignorant, easily manipulatable; but actually, he is very strong, and also a vigilante who wants to unmask the corruption of the leaders. Since his marriage was arranged by the enemy clan, he doesn’t trust his wife at all, and sees her as another corrupted person in his Kingdom. But, little by little, things start to take an unexpected turn, when the eccentric personality of the Queen, and her actions, start to draw the attention of the King.
The characters
You will love all the characters in this drama. Amongst my favorites are the King and Queen of course, they are divine; also, Court Lady Choi and Hong Yeon, que Queen’s maid, they are both awesome. The Grand Queen Sunwon, a very dangerous and powerful woman, that I really enjoyed watching, specially her vanity, and her gastronomic taste. The Chef of the Kingdom is so cool, imagine his frustration when the Queen shows up and starts cooking amazing dishes no one understands where she got from. There are many other characters you will also enjoy watching.
The chemistry between King Cheoijong and Queen Cheorin (Bong-hwan)
The chemistry between both is incredible. I loved seeing them together in all the stages of their relationship. It is not very common to see a connection that intense between two actors/characters.
Both as actors were spectacular, but Shin Hye-sun acting as the Queen, with a man from the future inside her body, is another level of awesome! You can’t miss that!
Locations and clothing
Production did an awesome job with locations, cinematography and costume design. You can tell they invested well on these aspects, so they can transport us to that moment in time.
Music
The OST is so much fun! My favorite song is Bong Hwan A by Norazo, you can listen to it on this YouTube link. Other song I love is Here I am by Jo Hyun Ah and you can listen to it on this YouTube link.
A little ending note
Mr. Queen is on my Top 10 list of favorite Kdramas, and by that you can tell how much I recommend you to watch it. Once you’ve seen it, I’d love to read your opinion.
Xoxo,
MJ
*All pics taken from Pinterest.
Other reviews on my Blog:
Mi terapia es escribir. Me desahogo escribiendo sobre la vida, mis aficiones, aprendizajes, bienestar, historias, libros y recetas. También me hace feliz conectarme contigo.