Queen In Hyun's Man

Queen In Hyun’s Man

8.5/10

Queen In Hyun's Man

Genre:                                Episodes: 16                          Year: 2012

Romance

Comedy

Fantasy

Synopsis:

Kim Boong Do is a nobleman in the Joseon era. He works to keep Queen In Hyun safe, which frequently puts his life in danger. A friend worries for Boong Do’s safety and gives him a talisman to protect him. When his life is in danger, Boong Do gets transported to modern day Korea where he meets Choi Hee Jin, an actress portraying Queen In Hyun in a new drama.

Cast:

Ji Hyun Woo (Kim Boong Do)

Yoo In Na (Choi Hee Jin)

Kim Jin Woo (Han Dong Min)

Ga Deuk Hee (Jo Soo Kyung)

Eom Hyo Seop (Min Am)

Lee Kwan Hoon (Ja Soo)

Jin Ye Sol (Yoon Wol)

General Thoughts:

This is an excellent drama that was pretty near perfect. The story was engaging from start to finish, and both of the leads were loveable and interesting. The driving force behind the drama was really how fantastic the two main characters were. Both of them were likeable on their own, so together they were just magic.

How I love when the girl is the instigator for skinship

The story was strong and gave the wonderful characters something solid to stand on and work around. Blending history with the modern day always tends to be interesting, but the plot never let itself coast on the fish-out-of-water humour that comes with a Joseon man being thrust into modern times. Sure, the jokes were there, but the story never overplayed them and remained quite like our hero- mostly serious but able to provide some clever comedy when required.

Ohh the feeeeelings

The writing was magnificent, and its strength was in the way it could have several emotions in a single scene. Most mediocre dramas tend to only have one emotion running at a time- funny, serious, angsty, sweet etc. The mark of a well written drama is when one moment can make you feel a mixture of emotions, and ‘Queen In Hyun’s Man’ had that in droves. There were moments that were serious but had a slice of comedy which prevented the drama from ever becoming too heavy, and of course with all the separation there was bound to be angst, but this angst was more often than not accompanied by a sweetness owing to the loveable natures of the leads. It’s a series that's easily and quickly able to capture hearts and makes you care for it’s characters, and that’s basically half the job done- when you truly care for the characters in a story, you’re going to keep watching and a happy ending is probably enough to satisfy. But ‘Queen In Hyun’s Man’ had more than likeable characters, and ended up being a lovely, well-rounded series. While both the main leads take on character traits that we’ve seen in other dramas, both have a touch of uniqueness and feel like real, genuine people.

I love him, I love her, I love them together, I love this drama

They aren’t pigeonholed into one character type, but still react in consistent ways. Boong Do is calm and logical, but he’s not cold and indifferent the way most calm and logical K-Drama men are. Hee Jin is sweet and hardworking, but she has a hint of cheekiness that prevents her from becoming just another Candy heroine. While there isn’t a bunch of development for the other side characters, having two detailed, complex leads was enough to keep the story going, and really, you only notice the lack of other characters in hindsight anyway.

I don't think I've ever enjoyed angst this much

There’s nothing overly complex in the plot, but it almost makes for a nice change in a world were shows are constantly trying to be better and smarter than each other- it showed that the team behind the series had confidence in their story and that it would be enough to win the hearts of its viewers- which it did. While I admit to not always being aware of what was going on the Joseon period (my fault, not the drama’s), it was still interesting, and easy to know who to root for- if he’s swinging a sword at Boong Do he’s a bad guy. The tension was always well balanced- though no one was swinging a sword at anyone in the modern timeline, it still felt exciting. The music did an excellent job at blending the two timelines together, as did having our heroine acting in a historical drama. It was a clever way to link the two times together and keep the story feeling whole, rather than having two disjointed sections that sometimes clashed. 

What Was Great:

OTP:

Probably one of my favourite pairings of all time. A lot of K-Dramas like to go the hate-to-love route, which can be cute and funny, but I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I’ve seen a drama couple just genuinely like each other and decide to pursue a relationship together. If we’re all being real, that’s how most relationships tend to start.

How nice to have two characters just be purely into each other

While bickering can be fun, this drama showed a different way of courting, and while innocent flirting may not be as comedic as love-fights, it is insanely adorable and ran no risk of making the characters seem unlikeable in any way. The chemistry between Yoo In Na and Ji Hyun Woo was amazing, and I had a hunch a couple of episodes in that they might have dated after filming (which they did)- the romance was so utterly believable.

You can legit see the hearts falling out his eyes

There’s something nice about watching two people fall in love with each other (hello, it’s why we watch so much romance media), and having the actors falling for each other made the drama seem that much more genuine, and the couple moments that much sweeter. Something else that really added a lot to the drama is that Boong Do and Hee Jin actually wanted to be together. I mean, the hero about kills himself every time he hops over to the future for a date. I’m not a fan of forced separation, especially when it’s one of the main characters that willingly leaves, but there’s something intensely engaging in watching two people fight against all odds to be with each other- it makes it really feel like a romance worth rooting for. Another thing K-Dramas tend to love is the idea of fate- that everything is predestined and there’s a set love waiting at the end of your path. It’s not a bad idea, it’s actually quite a comforting thought to think that everyone is destined for someone else- no doubt why destiny plays such a large role in so many romance dramas. But there’s also something nice in having two characters decide that f*ck destiny, they’ve found someone they want to be with and they’ll make it work no matter what. It’s a sense of empowerment, and this series definitely leaned more towards our characters making their own futures, which is where a lot of the conflict sprung from.

I wish a handsome man would leap through time and get tangled up in my destiny

Us K-Drama viewers are so pre-conditioned to thinking that fate controls all, that fate becomes a force to be reckoned with even in a drama that doesn’t expressly say ‘fate is a big deal, don’t mess with it’. The show does drop some hints about some greater power and the complications of going against that power, but the writer was smart enough to know that the idea of fate is a widely accepted notion, and that a few hints were all that was needed. This idea was further supported by having Hee Jin in a happy relationship with Dong Min during the time she forgot about Boong Do.

Bummer- if a talisman hadn't spewed a Joseon man into your film set she might've ended up with you

It was as if the show was pointing out what fate had planned just so our characters could go against it and choose each other instead- which was just so wonderfully romantic. It seems like a weird thing to say about a romance, but we’ve all seen so many romantic stories that you kind of have to up the game to make hearts flutter now. Having our characters seemly go against this greater power not only added a great amount of tension, but further enforced the love story- if these two characters believe that their love is something worth risking everything for, we’re likely to believe it as well. 

Time Travel:

This is one of the older time-travel dramas I’ve seen, and yet is probably one of the best. When you introduce a magical element to a drama, it runs the risk of becoming something too big to control.

Oppa, you look cool in every era

However, by limiting the magic to a single talisman (well…mostly), it was easy to control fantasy element. The basic rules were set up early on so that we could understand how the time jumps were happening, but there was still room for the understanding of the magic to grow- which it did. There was always an element of uncertainty about the talisman- would it stop working, would Boong Do be trapped in one time or the other- and that was where most of our story’s conflict came from. While there was plenty of danger in the Joseon period, it was really the risk of Boong Do not being able to jump back to the future or constantly being ripped back to the past that was the real conflict. The drama also didn’t use the time travel only for the romance, but cleverly incorporated it into Boong Do’s Joseon struggles. Having him able to go to the future and use modern transport to move around was a clever way to solve Joseon complications, and also gave the time travel more substance than simply having a lover in the future. 

What Wasn’t:

Get Out of Jail (Literally) Free Card:

The drama's one great weakness. Most of the magic in this series is well understood and works within the bounds of the rules it set for itself. Which is great, because when you have magic but no rules it’s nothing but chaos and you never really feel a sense of urgency as you know that some specky magical solution will poof out of thin air and ensure everyone’s happiness. Because the talisman had been set up with limitations, it ensured that we felt a sense of insecurity about our lovers’ future- when will Boong Do disappear from the future for the last time?

What if he disappears for EVER?!

It added a huge amount of intensity to the drama as it made every choice Boong Do made to go back to the past much riskier. However, the trickier the conflict the trickier it is to resolve, and sad as I am to say it (because I loved this drama from start to finish), the drama did pull a magical solution out its ass in the final hour. While the talisman is adequately explained, the magic of memories is not.

Good thing your phones are magic or you would've been in some real trouble there

Although we did see memories play an important role in the series, it mainly came across as our characters actively choosing to seek an answer for one question they had or another, and thus their desperation to uncover the truth led to lost memories being restored. Sure, I can accept that as it places the power in the hands of our characters- they keep fighting against fate, so they keep ending up at the same place. Makes enough sense for me. But never once had memories been used to drag one character into the other’s timeline. But lo and behold, in the time of need magic memories zap Boong Do back to the future via phone call. I so desperately wanted a happy ending that I was satisfied enough to see our characters living together happily, but man I would have been much more pleased if our final resolution was one that made some sort of logical sense. I get the romanticism in the idea of desperation and love reaching through time and whatnot, but the rest of the series was so logical that I was a little bummed when the finale relied on pure magic that hadn’t been explored in the series previously.

Re-watch?

Perhaps. It’s an enjoyable show, but half the fun was not knowing how our leads were going to make it work. It will also remind me how sad I am that Yoo In Na and Ji Hyun Woo broke up.

One of my favourite K-Drama couples of all time