tvN weekend saguek Queen Cheorin (Mr. Queen) debuted to the second highest premiere ratings for the network ever on the time slot and the second episode has increased slightly to 8.800% ratings. I had a chance to watch episode 1 and it was as enjoyable as I hoped it would be, I’ve been harping about how fun it is that K-ent is finally remaking the low budget but strangely entertaining C-drama Go Princess Go and the result is a total improvement all around. I get zero OTP feels for the leads at this point, Kim Jung Hyun is low key hilarity hiding his own agenda and Shin Hye Sun is overkill comedy with total persuasion as a dude in a woman’s body. I almost want the two leads to team up, take down the baddies, and jointly rule Joseon as a bro-team as wifey goofs off and husband does all the boring court work ahaha. I think the drama is going to have to dispense with the male soul voice over by Choi Jin Hyuk soon to sell the romance otherwise this drama is nonstop entertainment.
I’m really loving this drama. Shin Hye Sun is just perfection! And I suspect the King isn’t as dumb as he’s pretending to be. 8.800%? Wow, just EP2 and it’s already #24 on the list of highest-rated cable dramas? Dayum. Go Queen Go!
On to another high-rated drama, Uncanny Counter increased to 7.654% for EP6 which makes it OCN’s current highest rated drama! And in EP5, one of the characters was watching IOTNBO! That infamous scene where Ko Moon Young aggressively confesses her love for Moon Kang Tae. Haha. That scene has been parodied a bajillion times but this is the first time I’ve seen a drama reference it. Ha, who said IOTNBO wasn’t popular in Korea?
I thank the drama gods for these two wonderful shows (so far) to escort us out of the clusterf/ck called 2020.
Speaking of shows, is Koala or anyone here also watching True Beauty (I like it so far), Awaken (I like it so far), Cheat on me (I like it so far) or Hush (haven’t seen yet. Any early reviews)?
I tried True Beauty, it turned out to be very cringy. I can’t stand the plot. I will drop it soon. I thought I’m watching Boys Over Flowers again.
Hush is good too.
@Miguel
Yeah, TB is not perfect. There were so many similarities to Gangnam Beauty (including some scenes and the actors but I enjoyed GB more and felt it had more substance and depth. However, TB is not bad enough yet for me to drop it. I’ll be checking out Hush when I get the chance. Thanks for replying.
I’m also watching true beauty, I also think it’s just okay at the moment. I didn’t like some of the changes they made, they removed some of the things that I considered was memorable in the webtoon. I also didn’t like the inclusion of the dad. I’m already shipping her with sejun like I did in the webtoon, second lead syndrome strikes again haha
@Laura
Ikr? They took out so much and replaced it with unnecessary stuff it didn’t feel true to the webtoon at all. I was #TeamSuho since he knew her without the makeup and liked her anyway. But I also came to like her relationship with Sejun after he accepted her real face (which isn’t as bad as she thinks).
I took a break from the webtoon since at some point it felt like it was going round in circles and Ju-gyeong wasn’t having much character growth. She was still the timid, insecure girl we first met. Are you still reading the webtoon?
True beauty is a good drama i normally binge watch dramas but there r very few i watch on weekly basis and TB is one of them
The male lead improved a lot and the actress is damn good its my first time watching her
Waiting patiently for the next ep
queen cheorin will binge watch as too much waiting is really frustating can try with only one drama at a time and drama looks really good hope i can wait that long
@aurora
OMG, we are the same, I also dropped the webtoon. It became stale and nothing progresses, and you are most certainly correct, there is very little character development. I hope they do a better job on the drama in regards of character growth! I understand why there are people who support Suho, he is also a kind-hearted character in the webtoon. I’m not looking forward to the angsty love triangle they most likely will push for the drama which wasn’t really present in the webtoon. I agree, the drama adaption does lose some of its webtoon essence.
@ana
The cast of true beauty are doing a great job in the acting department, I whole-heartedly agree. I only wish the script was written better. Did they really need to make her a klutz and fall down so many times? Haha
Yes, that’s the problem of watching shows live, we must impatiently wait haha 🙁
I thought this was my first time watching MGY in anything till it just hit me like a truck that she was Heo Im’s assistant in Live Up To Your Name! Haha. I think she pulls off Ju-gyeong very well. And also agree the cast is doing a good job. I know webtoon Suho was aloof but was he this rude? Saw the actor in GB and the role seems similar so far but I hope the writing will give him more to work with in future episodes. I find Sejun more interesting here.
In addition to the klutziness, I also don’t like how she lets her little brother walk all over her. All in all, the drama is not bad but I’d like to see it get better.
@aurora
You’re right, in the webtoon he wasn’t rude at all. And the male leads were actually good friends to each other after they resolved a misunderstanding. Her brother was very cumbersome in the webtoon as well but I think we will grow to like him overtime. And the female leads weren’t immediate friends until after some emotional but impactful moments, so I didn’t like that change either.
Oh right, I remember her. The seemingly perfect but fake friend with her own insecurities. She was also clingy with both Suho and Seojun. Her name was Su-jin, I think. Dunno why they changed her character. Maybe they thought she might be too similar to that character Soo-ah in GB? Or maybe she’ll eventually show her true colors? Let’s wait and see.
Not just SHS, I want to praise KJH too. The King character is not your fave perfect ML at all, this character is very difficult to play. He is doing a great job as the King.
The King has his own purposes and he is just faking everything to achieve that. He is definitely a two-faced, he doesn’t trust the Queen at all because of her Andong Kim Clan.
Can’t wait to see more about the King and Queen.
I agree with you on the king. At the time of my first comment, I’d only watched EP1 and SHS stood out more. But EP2 confirmed that there’s more to the king than meets the eye. And I love it! I’d like to learn more about him and his company of masked man. And more about his relationships with the queen and concubine.
Jang Bong Hwan, on the other hand, annoyed me a bit with his not-so smart decisions this episode. He can be astute but also incredibly dumb. Going to the kisaeng house and in a poor disguise at that? What was he trying to achieve there? He’s still in a woman’s body. I get it’s supposed to be comic relief but come on man. Think. Hope his character has more layers and depth in future episodes.
And how does he sometimes see the real queen’s memories? Is her soul also in there but not dominant? Hmm, looking forward to next week’s episodes.
I think there is still the real queen’s soul in her body. Bong Hwan would not take over the Queen’s body forever. The real Queen will take over her own body too. She is probably in love with the King. The King still doesn’t trust or love her.
Yep, Ep 2 confirmed as the King is actually smart and smarter than Bong Hwan. I wish the King and Queen trust each other and fight together. Or with Bong Hwan.
You know, I initially thought it was a soul swap wherein the real queen’s soul had also gone into Bong Hwan’s body. But if majority of the story will take place in the Joseon era, it makes sense to have both souls in the queen’s body. The queen was dormant before but it seems she’s breaking through bit by bit. It’ll be interesting to see them bicker. And team up. Lol.
Jang Bong Hwan is still in a state that he doesn’t seem to care that much because he thought if he died, he’ll be back to the future and he doesn’t care about anyone in the palace for now.
If we go by Go princess go, the female lead also let the affair happen because she just want to enjoy the lavis style of being a queen until she realised the impact of her decision, that what she did happen in real time, including real people in the past
One thing I’m really curious about is if we would see the romance between them. It would be such a waste if it’s not.
So far I’m enjoying this show.
Congratulations ? to the Mr. Queen Team. At this rate, this drama will surpass over 10% rating soon.
Zero OTP feels?? Really? Even though there’s still no romance, I saw a lot of chemistry between them. I think when the original soul would take over the Queen’s body, we will be able to see romance between them. It looks like the original girl is in love with the King.
I am wondering if the concubine girl is just faking her kindness. It will be fun if both the king and the “queen” fall for her. Can’t wait to watch the next episodes!
I actually love to see the real Queen. What’s she like? Probably she has a crush on the King. The King dislikes her (for now). It’s because the King doesn’t know about her, he thinks she is just like her Kims family. The Chef in her body could help the Queen and King to learn about each other and later fall for each other.
Lol but the person who the King will fall in love is the Chef not the real Queen
Really? It was like that in Go Princess Go? But, you don’t know that. It’s not a remake of GPG. And, Korea would not go for BL, you know.
I just have one problem with this drama, I don’t think KJH has charisma as the king. Btw ep 2 become more interesting
He is not the normal King. He had poor background and still has no power as the King. He is two-faced King, who acts like a puppet King in front of everyone. He acts dumb and his dumbness saved his life when his whole family was banished for treason.
KJH is definitely doing a amazing job as the King. The King Cheoljung himself was no aura or charisma as the King. You should just go read the real history. Of course, they still need to be fit with the historical figure.
My ally ass is ready for queer romance, about time. So, I have zero problem with the voice overs. Shin Hye Sun is killing it!
shin hye sun is carrying this drama for me the comedy is good but the whole cross dressing as a man is stupid i hope the story progress and have more depth i think its popular in korea how this just relief you in stress as korea facing new wave covid case
Go Princess Go made me loose brain cells but this kdrama already started out more rationally. Very interesting to see if they’ll stick to the novel’s idea of loving a person for who they are instead of their body.
Interesting concept to tackle, especially in Korea where they seem more Christian and less likely to embrace ideas of reincarnation and dual identity.
Would love to see the queen romancing the concubine hahaha.
Seol In Ah (concubine) is so pretty but always playing bad character like here in Mr Queen and Record of Youth. Hope she get casted in better roles.