Lets start our Mr. Queen K-Drama review, starring Kim Jung Hyun and Shin Hye Sun, this drama takes us along the journey of betrayals, secrets, assassinations with a healthy dose of humor mixed with it. From the first episode itself, you will be cracking up with laughter which will make you stick around till the end.
Story
Mr. Queen K-Drama is a story about Jang Bong Hwan, a high-caliber chef who works for the Blue House. Things set off in a way that ends up with his soul in the body of a woman from the past Korean era. The woman is Kim So Young who is about to marry King Cheol Jong and become a queen.
We see Jang Bong Hwan in the body of Kim So Young trying to navigate the struggles of being in a female body during an ancient era. He has no idea what is in store for him. Jang Bong Hwan desperately tries to go back to his real body but first, he has to get through some stressful situations in this era. He realizes soon that the King has no real power. So for his safety, he tries his best to be on the side of the people who have the power to do things.
Characters
Jang Bong Hwan/Mr. Queen
Shin Hye Sun has done an amazing job portraying Jang Bong Hwan’s personality. It’s completely a treat to watch her doing crazy actions. Her character as Jang Bong Hwan is the heart of this show. The way Mr. Queen K-Drama deals with things gives you comedic relief when it comes to this drama. His personality originally comes off as someone who just needs to save his hide without caring about anyone else. He is smart enough to recognize the power plays and plays safe by choosing the side which is beneficial to him. The best part of this character is the cooking.
As in his world, he was a chef, he brings his cooking to this part of the world to gain favor and it amazes everyone around him. The drama focuses on cooking and it feels really pleasant to watch it. He is adaptable and I love how we see the changes to his personality as we move forward in the drama. The way he tackles his opponents and gives his all when he decides something is really fun to watch.
King Cheol Jong
The King is an interesting character. You see him as a puppet at first who is only following the orders of others and does not have a mind of his own. This makes you curious about his character. It makes you wonder if he is substantial to the story. But this drama surprises us in a good way and we end up understanding his character more as we move forward in the drama. I liked his character, he had to deal with a lot of things in the palace where everyone is eager to betray each other in the blink of an eye. There’s a surprising side to him which we see later on which makes us sympathize with his character.
Grand Queen Dowager
She is the evil character we need to be beware of. The one who holds the reins of the King. But the way Mr. Queen deals with her makes you see her as a lesser threat because he does it in such an entertaining way that you see the funny sides of this character. Her evilness is balanced off with the help of Mr. Queen’s character.
Kim Jwa Geun
He is Grand Queen Dowager’s brother and the real threat in this story. He is the mastermind behind all the evil plans that take place in the palace. His cruelty has no limit. He wants to achieve his goals and for that, he can go to any lengths which makes him dangerous.
Kim Byung In
This one is a complex character. He is the adoptive son of Kim Jwa Geun. This makes him part of the same clan the queen Kim So Young is part of which makes them cousins. But Byung In feels differently about So Young than what a cousin should feel. Also, his love for her makes him do questionable things making him the anti-hero of this drama. What I honestly liked though as we reach the end, all the bad feelings attached to this character sort of disappear and you feel a different kind of strong emotions towards him. This twist and the feelings generated inside me because of it was unexpected but I liked it.
Friendship
Jang Bong Hwan’s bond with the queen’s maid and the court lady is so special. These two were unaware of the soul exchange and even with the questionable things Jang Bong Hwan does in the queen’s body they support the queen. They were the only true ones in the palace he could trust because they were completely on the queen’s side. As the drama goes on Jang Bong Hwan gets attached to these two. Even when he tries to go back to his body he always expresses how much he will miss them. Closer to the end we see a beautiful moment of their bond and how much they care for each other. It’s a given that these two need to take care of the Queen but it feels good to see Jang Bong Hwan appreciating them and feeling closely connected to them.
Romantic relationship
This was a tricky aspect of this K-Drama. As the King hardly had any love for Kim So Young, he was not affectionate towards the queen and saw the queen as an enemy. For Jang Bong Hwan he was naturally more into the women around him than the King himself. He saw King as someone who was a rival to his man ego. This brought out some hilarious scenes that left me laughing so much. But as we move forward they form a sort of partnership when it came to dealing with things in the palace. It was so entertaining to watch the King getting attracted to the queen’s craziness. The queen’s strange actions did not deter him.
And when Jang Bong Hwan finds himself caring for the King, the mini attacks he faces suddenly because of Kim So Young’s body betraying his soul are so enjoyable to watch. We reach a point in this drama where Jang Bong Hwan is comfortable about how he feels attracted to the King and it just makes you so happy. We see them being a perfect team against the other people in the palace. It’s the best thing to watch.
What did I like about this drama?
Shin Hye Sun, her acting is so on point. I completely love the way she was able to portray male mannerisms and entertained us fully with her acting. Mr. Queen’s antics were the best thing to watch. It felt so relaxing to watch the drama even when the plot had a serious element to it.
Court Lady Choi was such a fun character. The things she discovered and how she dealt with Mr. Queen’s crazy behavior were hilarious to watch.
The interactions between the King and the Queen. The way King was so confused about why the Queen acted the way she did. And how hard our Queen tried to make sure he was not attracted to the King was pretty fun to watch.
Issues
The only thing which was a tad bit disappointing after enjoying the whole drama was the ending. I don’t want to spoil anything for you but it was the one thing I was worried about since I started watching the drama. Sometimes with these soul exchanges, the ending can be very tricky as you need to justify the story but also do right by the characters which did not happen here.
But fear not, we have a spin-off version of this drama called Mr. Queen- The Bamboo Forest which is of two episodes. In the second episode, you feel good after watching it. It takes away the disappointment from the actual ending and leaves you with a better picture in your mind.
OST
The soundtrack plays a huge role in adding up to the humorous parts you see in the drama. Also, we have great instrumental music that makes certain scenes more impactful.
One song that has been stuck inside my head is Bong Hwan A by Norazo. Whenever this song came up it was during the times when Mr. Queen K-Drama left us amazed or cracked us up with whatever he did. Those were the best scenes.
Also Here I am by Jo Hyun Ah, this is such a beautiful song filled with all feels.
Conclusion
You need to watch Mr. Queen K-Drama, it’s a comedic relief that can make you feel better. It’s such an entertaining drama that takes the stress away from your life. Watching something that makes you uncontrollably laugh is always a good choice!
Mr. Queen K-drama is available on Rakuten Viki
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