433. Mr. Queen 철인왕후 (2020-2021) Korean

Shin Hye Sun, Kim Jung Hyun, Bae Jong Ok, Kim Tae Woo

Drama Rating: 9/10     Neck Score: A+

I had my eye on this one when it was announced, and it did not disappoint. Although I'll admit that it was not exactly what I expected. I was thinking it would be more like a body swap, but instead it was a gender swap/soul swap. So not Secret Garden, but Scarlet Heart Ryeo except the person going back in time in the soul swap was a free spirited, playboy chef named Jang Bong Hwan, ending up in the body of Kim So Yong, the soon to be queen of Joseon. I was immediately caught when that free spirited chef was played by Choi Jin Hyuk. A lovely unexpected special appearance that made everything even better, especially since he still did the voice of the chef's thoughts inside the queen's body. So imagine deep manly voice as the petite Shin Hye Sun acted it out. I thought their team work was amazing. I have an even deeper respect for Shin Hye Sun in this role. It really felt like she was channeling Choi Jin Hyuk even down to the expressions. Then add in amazing chemistry between her and Kim Jung Hyun and yes, this drama was awesome. I haven't raved while telling people about dramas in a while, but I was totally talking  my sisters' ears off about this one.

Yes, there was a lot that you just had to let go. It wasn't historically accurate by any means. The things that Jang Bong Hwan got away with as the queen was a far stretch, but this is a comedy, so that doesn't really matter. What does matter is that is was super funny and super compelling. It also had an ensemble that you really cared about. Even the villains made you care about them, as they were very well rounded to the point where you loved them and hated them all at once, or at least were just shaking your head at them. The ensemble was so good, in fact, that they made a special that filled out some of the in between scenes and gave us more story to those side characters, as well as more cuteness between the leads as well. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if these weren't all scenes that were just cut, but so cute and funny that they decided to create the special so that they could still be shared. I'm not sure, I didn't research it. I just watched it and loved it, since it meant more of these wonderful characters.

I wasn't 100% satisfied with the ending (but that might have been because I didn't want it to end) because it was a complicated situation, very similar to Oh My Ghostess, because the king is falling in love with the queen only after she has Jang Bong Hwan inside her. Is he falling in love with the queen or with Bong Hwan? Bong Hwan's feelings are also super conflicted because he doesn't know if it's him having a sexual identity crisis or if what he's feeling is due to the queen's soul still being in the body too, so their emotions and memories are blended. It's a mess on that point, because there are three identities involved, but two are blended and we don't know where the real Kim So Yong is and if she is there, why is she not more involved. So in the end, I was a bit unsatisfied because we didn't really get to know the real So Yong very well, so to have her remain at the end, as not the person we were emotionally invested in, was a bit meh. Like, didn't the king really fall in love with Bong Hwan? Seemed like a cop out to me. Not going to lie, I wanted reincarnated Cheoljong to meet real Bong Hwan at the end. They could at least be friends in the modern world too. But I do understand that things do need to go back to the way they were supposed to be, and we did see a bit of who So Yong was, and she was also cool, just way less investment into her, that's all.

Anyways, I really loved it and highly recommend it. It was a lot of fun, if you want some sageuk but with plenty of comedy and really lovable characters. Also, make sure you also watch the special, Mr. Queen: The Secret. It's super cute and funny. It also gives more glimpses into So Yong, pre-Bong Hwan, so you can love her more too.