My Royal Nemesis

The plot has lost the plot

I'm torn about this drama. There is so much to like. Yet, the plot is doing my head in.

It is not as if there is no through-line. There are too many! I'm constantly thinking, did I miss something? Are we still in Kansas . . I mean Seoul.

I have a laundry list of such observations. I'll just focus on a few key ones that are particularly problematic.

For instance, the Joseon part of the show is quite inconsistent. Most of the time, the FL appears as a young (late teen?) court lady. Yet in other scenes, she appeared as an older high-ranking concubine and even the Queen. I know forbidden love is plot du jour for many sageuk dramas, but one core tenets is a lowly maid don't get elevated to Queenship without exceptional circumstances. In this case, I saw none.

The confusion spreads to the present. The soul swapped FL has this haughty quality, and I love her archaic ways. She knows a lot about the intricacies of the Joseon court, and she is supposed to know Chinese medicine as well. Once again, these are all above the pay grade of a typical court lady. In the present, she is clever and SUPER adaptable. She can use a mobile phone and other mod cons within hours of crash landing in modern Seoul. Who is she? I sense a great disturbance in the Force. 🤔

Along the way, several characters are used as plot devices. Such as the lady shaman which is air dropped into the plot to give the writer-nim a convenient out. There is no backstory. Is she a demi-god?

My biggest issue is with the soul of the modern FL. She is meant to be a c-grade actress playing small roles to survive. She was a famous child star, but a family tragedy torpedoed her promising career. The show did give us a bit of her backstory, but it is hyper fixated on one event. Then nothing. Why is this woman the Chosen One?

To this day, I'm still not sure what happened to her soul. Did it get wiped? Did she get send to Joseon? If you stop and think about, it feels wrong. That woman lived for 30+ years and has a grandma who loves her. Don't get in the way of story telling is a poor excuse. This is why I have a love-hate relationship with this series.

On the positive side, I love the FL's acting. She IS the show. The ML is fine. He is suitably stoic and handsome. He played both roles comfortably.

They certainly have chemistry and the skinship felt nice and natural. Especially towards the end when they are quite playful with each other. This is a nice change from the one-and-done staged kiss with fireworks.

The large ensemble is filled with familiar faces. Most of their roles are straight out of central casting. They fulfilled their contractual obligations.

Then the ending happened. Ye gods, they must have blown their budget on rainbow effect and unicorn hire. It is sweetness overload and should come with health warnings.

Our leads certainly deserved their HEA ending and I can't complain. My problem is how it is delivered. It is just a parade of scenes. Delightful but hardly illuminating.

Oh, there is one final sting in that tail. The FL visits the antagonist in jail and did the usual farewell speech. She then told him he could have broken the cycle of suffering that trapped the three of them. The problem is the antagonist has no memory of his past life so he is just being a ruthless heir-in-waiting. He did exactly what is expected of his character. It feels rather self serving.

If I'm honest, I'm not sure what she is talking about either. I don't remember any 300yo curse. Our writer-nim loves this type of "convenient" throwaway lines and subplots. It sounds good on a neat and tidy storyboard with the writer-nim seeing all. We are none the wiser.

This is the fundamental problem. It is hard to be immersed when you start to question everything.

In the end, I must temper my expectations. It went from a refreshing and promising romance to a messy guilty pleasure. Damn those little grey cells. I wish I can go full couch potato mode.

Even now, half of me wants to bottle the swoon-y bits and sell them on Etsy. The other half is hugging my therapy teddy while rocking back and fore mumbling "Ask no questions. Ask no . .".

Inner peace. INNER PEACE.

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Losing the plot

Somewhere, in the middle of the plot, the writers got their wires crossed, and their characters mixed up. Also, they make the crucial mistake of telling instead of showing. So that the delightfully anachronistic speech of the female lead, and the subsequent hilarity and confounding of the male lead, overall a promising start , flattens out into a drawn out slug of flashbacks to the secondary world not well explained, and a disfunctional relationships with repeated cycles of declarations of love and abandonment. Even a bit of Goblin wasteland thrown in, but with ennui rather than perseverance.. This needed some serious proofreading before making it to production.

I would rewatch just to figure out where the drama wrong.

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There were things to love, there were things to question, and there were things to criticize.

Objectively great rom-com, subjectively I had a few beefs with certain aspects. Specific parts and elements were perfect, but they did not quite make a perfect picture. Be in the characters, plot, set up, twist - some imbalances and conflicts just made me roll my eyes a few times too many. I had fun while watching the episodes, but I was never truly excited to start them.

Se Gye was the true unrealistically perfect male lead. His undying love for Seo Ri made all the best men on the planet combine seem mediocre. Handsome, hot, devoted, rich, smart and dedicated, but also willing to show vulnerability to the person he loves. As a romantic interest, he did not have any flaws. The man that no one deserves. What’s more? I adore how the moment he figured out he likes Seo Ri (which did not take him that long), he did not act dumb and was not led by his ego - he acted according to his feelings, did not hide them, did not pretend like he was not interested. Do I want one for myself? Of course.

As amazing as a romantic lead he was, it’s not the same story outside of the lovey-dovey scenes. From the start he was set up to be a masterclass of manipulation and schemes, a fool only to the woman he loves. So why did he keep making the dumbest mistakes over and over again by the end of the drama? You want to tell me that this man with what they claim is a working brain would not take precautions against whatever wild plan Mun Do might have, being fully aware his dear cousin had no issue killing people? Apparently, the moment you drove your enemy into a corner is also the best time to be alone at night in the dark parking lot, asking to be stabbed. He kept underestimating Mun Do without proper explanation, while also writers claiming he can predict every step Mun Do makes to bring him down… so which one is it?

Then we have our lovely female lead Seo Ri - I love this woman as an individual. From the opening scene I knew her story was worth following. Strong, brave, smart. Caring for people she loves. Her strong will to survive and lead a good life was truly inspiring.

I was excited for Seo Ri's scenes outside of the romance. Her slow journey into becoming actually content and confident and not just putting the front as a defense mechanism. Her search for who she was and how to navigate in the “new” world. Her growing career and how she slowly took the spotlight with her sheer talent. Her story was truly amazing.

As for the dynamic between the main characters vs their individual stories… For most of the screen time I did not care for Cha Se Gye as a character outside of his romance with Seo Ri. I did not care about Seo Ri as a character inside her romance with Se Gye. And that clashed badly. I was half excited for the romance scenes, because of Se Gye. Seo Ri gave me the bare minimum, and the last two episodes with grand gestures and sacrifices were not enough. Yes, I loved the last two episodes, but that does not negate the lukewarm romance I’ve got from her in the previous 12… Only in the last two episodes they tried to switch the focus for the leads - we dived deeper into the company politics and schemes on Se Gye’s side, and Seo Ri’s love and devotion to Se Gye. Too little, too late.

Their relationship just felt painfully uneven for most of the drama. She was his whole life, but he was not hers. They made him unrealistically perfect, and made her beautifully realistically flawed. And these two writing types do not match well together. It makes the viewer frustrated with the well written complex character, because they keep hurting the unrealistically perfect one. So when she blamed him for her own mistakes, or pushed him away, I kept thinking - do I even want them together? When he is always the one giving in? It’s kind of annoying to watch. If we talk about character writing she is so much better and more complex. But if you talk about my delulu feels, Se Gye is the gold standard. Love her as a female character. Love him as a love interest.

And I want to state it clearly - Seo Ri’s behavior was valid and made perfect sense. I understand why her character was written like that, why she made the choices she made. Does not negate the fact their relationship did not feel equal up until the last 2 episodes. For quite a big portion of the story she was too self-absorbed. For valid reasons. But one can be right for themselves and that makes them wrong for another person. Too many times she did not learn from her past mistakes at all, did not trust him no matter what he did for her and how open he was. And again, all valid behavior taking into consideration her past, but it's also true that it was all unfair towards Se Gye.

Still, the last episode was so strong, they did make me momentarily forget about that tiny frustration I felt when watching the show.

For the other characters, the two I was especially happy with their developments: Mo Tae Hui and Cha Dal Su. For my girl - I love how they did not let her burn and become the evil second female lead. She fought as long as she thought she had a chance, and when she clearly saw it wouldn't work - she gave up that romantic relationship and entered partnership. I loved that for her. She would work hard for a man, but she would not destroy herself for one. As for Cha Dal Su - obviously an asshole, but in a realistic way. I was scared they would make him oblivious to Mun Do’s schemes, so knowing he was up to date with the shenanigans made me happy.

On the other hand, Mun Do was a huge disappointment. Flat, poorly written, annoying. A lot of things shown about him made no sense. Did he even do any work himself? He kept spying and following Se Gye and Seo Ri personally, as if he would not have people to do it for him. I wish they explored his relationship with his son more - 2 or 3 phone conversations about the kid is not enough to validate his last scene with Seo Ri. It had no emotional impact, because they did not set it up enough.

Moving strictly to the plot.

What I love about this show is how unpredictable it was on a tiny scale. You had all the cliches and they all got a royal twist to them. The scene starts, I recognize the pattern I have seen 938475645987654 times in other dramas, I know how this ends... and then it takes a sharp U-turn. The end of ep 7 and beginning of ep 8 was a good example of that: you expect them to announce they are dating and even if not announced, this coming out in public as gossip. Nope. Seo Ri had a different plan to calm the media and explain the situation. Lead up being exactly what you expect, the conclusion not so much - love it.

On a more technical part of the storytelling and choices made - love how Seo Ri did not adapt to modern time on day one. She kept the speaking mannerisms of Joseon till the end - even if it became less and less obvious. And how Se Gye was just okay with her weird behavior. For the longest time he did not know about her time travel, he just thought she was strange like that and vibed with it.

Sadly, the whole past storyline was a complete flop except for the opening scene in episode 1. Underdeveloped and honestly inconsequential for the modern story for most of the show. They went with "past is mimicking the present" and not "present is mimicking the past" and it completely changed the viewing experience.

Less of the drama flaw, more of a difference in perspectives, but I always feel so conflicted about this whole "scarifying yourself for the other person's life" plotlines... It's hard to call it selfish since the character is giving up so much, but also... it is by all means selfish. Because if they were in the position of the person "dying" they would not want their loved one to give up anything for them. So at the end of the day they are choosing what will be easier for them - give up what's important to you, save the person you love, instead of living alone with the guilt of them being gone. What the "saved" person wants and decides is not even part of the consideration. It’s a well known trope and plot development, so it’s not necessarily a dig against My Royal Nemesis alone, but I wish if the dramas decide to use it, they would present it in more depth, as a moral dilemma it is.

For the big plot twist of Seo Ri from the past actually being the original Seo Ri from the modern times - great idea, mixed execution. I wish they actually set up the existence of said twist better. For most of the drama, the majority of viewers did not even consider the possibility of the twist existing and for me that’s a bit of a failure for the storytelling. It means the twist was simply not set up, just revealed in its full glory when the timing was right. It felt more like a cope to give a happy ending, and not the well developed part of the plot.

I am also honestly shocked how much I loved the last episode. Even though I am 100% confused about the past storyline… I guess that past story has an open ending, we are not meant to know what happened to them. The little “flashback” is more of the imagined ending by the leads, and not a confirmed conclusion. Still, what a solid last episode. I am so used to being disappointed by the last episodes of the drama, I am shocked with my current level of enjoyment. Not gonna lie, the angst desperate era Se Gye went through was everything I needed in life. Seo Ri stepping up and matching Se Gye’s dedication was also something I kept craving to see. The bad guys being published, the good guys moving on with their lives. Loved the details like using the deepfake team from earlier episodes against Mun Do. Little moments that put a smile on my face.

We obviously, as always in any drama in existence, had a whole set of dumb choices from not caring for danger, misunderstandings, miscommunications, saying you will be honest with each other, to lie and hide shit next scene - the usual sins of kdramas. Things we slowly learn to accept, ignore and move on.

As for the performances - bless Im Ji Yeon and Heo Nam Jun. Will start with Heo Nam Jun since it will be shorter - this man knows how to act in love. There are some actors who are so good at showing love with their eyes and micro expressions I could easily be fooled to believe they actually love their co-stars.

As for Im Ji Yeon, this was an extremely hard role to deliver. She truly had to give us everything - tragedy, comedy, romance, mystery. She had to feel strong and imposing because of her Joseon back story, but also vulnerable and delicate because of her modern circumstances. The slow changes in her behavior, mannerisms, way of talking, moving, addressing people. Showing how the character slowly adapts to her situation while not losing the hints of the past life impact. She did not miss one beat, not one scene seemed off.

For the production - this is a typical case of good, but not memorable. Do I remember one moment that stood out because of the scenery, set design, editing, camera work? No. Be it in a good or bad way.

Side note, can we get a new hair stylist for Se Gye. Heo Nam Jun should have his hair either all up or all down - this weird side bangs… not it.

Overall, a really enjoyable watch. A lot of unexplored potential might be the reason I did not rate it higher. I was good, but it could have been great. There are some shows that exist for pure entertainment and nothing would fix the plot to make more than that. But I feel like a few changes here and there could make this drama great.

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"Fun and Entertaining Joseon to Modern Day Rom com Kdrama"

My Royal Nemesis successfully revitalizes the familiar time-travel genre into a brilliantly chaotic and addictive fantasy romantic comedy.

The series thrives on a perfectly paced enemies-to-lovers trope, blending modern corporate corruption with tragic Joseon palace intrigue.

Instead of taking itself too seriously, the drama shines by leaning into self-aware humor, unhinged physical comedy, and sharp wit.

The narrative keeps viewers thoroughly hooked with strong subplots that satirise the entertainment business and explore the mysteries of reincarnation.

While it proudly relies on a compilation of classic K-drama tropes, it executes them with a playful confidence that never drags.

Lim Ji-yeon delivers a magnificent performance, She masterfully balances subtle micro-expressions of icy intensity with deep vulnerability and impeccable comedic timing.

Heo Nam-jun excels in his breakout lead role, transforming a typically cold, arrogant chaebol archetype into someone deeply multi-layered.

He displays exceptional screen presence, nailing the transitions between severe irritation and unexpected tenderness.Their fiery, combative on-screen chemistry forms the true emotional anchor that elevates the overall series Average rom-com.

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Down Bad Dynasty

My Royal Nemesis is a rom-com that puts a delightfully chaotic spin on fate, reincarnation, and second chances. When the spirit of Shin Seo Ri, a notorious Joseon-era seductress sentenced to death centuries ago, awakens in the body of a struggling actress, she finds herself navigating a world completely different from the one she once knew. Armed with the confidence, wit, and cunning that helped her survive in the past, Seo Ri crosses paths with Cha Se Gye, a cold chaebol whose life becomes increasingly entangled with hers. What follows is a romance filled with bickering, longing, and enough sparks to light up a palace.

Unfortunately, this is one of those dramas that started incredibly strong only to lose momentum as it went on. The first half gave me a kind of rom-com euphoria that I have not felt in a long time. Every episode left me excited for the next one, and I genuinely looked forward to seeing where the story would go. Then came the second half. The excitement slowly faded, the pacing began to drag, and I found myself losing the motivation to immediately continue watching after each episode.

A huge part of what kept me invested was Cha Se Gye. Heo Nam Jun once again proved why he is one of the rising actors constantly catching my attention. His portrayal of Se Gye was ridiculously charming. His eyes, his smiles, the way he delivered his lines, and even his ad-libs were enough to make me blush. Sure, there were moments when his expressions carried a slight "he knows he's handsome" energy, but his performance was so charismatic that I could hardly complain. Some of Se Gye's lines would honestly sound cheesy on paper, yet Heo Nam Jun somehow delivered them in a way that made my heart flutter instead of cringe. Special mention must also go to his bath and shower scenes because, well, the man clearly did not skip upper body day.

As a character, however, Se Gye is fairly straightforward. He is essentially a typical chaebol with a backstory attached to him. While his personal struggles serve their purpose, I never found them particularly intriguing because they felt familiar and predictable. Seo Ri, on the other hand, was the character wrapped in mystery. After surviving death as Kang Dan Shim in Joseon and awakening as Shin Seo Ri in the modern era, she becomes determined to live differently. Rather than allowing herself to be defined by love or sacrifice, she wants to prioritize herself for once.

One of the lines that perfectly introduced her character was:

“I am filled with profound gratitude simply to be alive thus, rather than dead. No, this is not a curse. Let me think of it as a rebirth. Not a punishment, but a second chance. It may be wretched, but I survived. So in this life, I shall live as I please. And consider this a reward.”

That monologue immediately made me interested in her journey. Im Ji Yeon was completely convincing as both the Joseon-era Kang Dan Shim and a Joseon woman reborn in the 21st century. Her speech patterns, mannerisms, and line delivery felt natural throughout. However, I do think the drama missed a golden opportunity with Seo Ri's adjustment period. We get glimpses of her fascination with modern life, but the drama rushes through most of it. I would have loved to see her learning how to use a phone, reacting to elevators, figuring out modern fashion, or dealing with countless everyday things that would seem like sorcery to someone from Joseon. Instead, the story quickly skips ahead and presents a version of Seo Ri who has already adapted surprisingly well. The few Joseon touches that remain are entertaining, but I cannot help feeling there was a lot of comedy and character development left on the table.

The writing also suffers from a few inconsistencies. Early on, the drama establishes that Seo Ri possesses an ability to sense impending misfortune, showing examples from both her past and present lives. Yet after she saves Se Gye from the mannequin that crashes onto his car, that ability practically vanishes from the narrative. It felt like the writers introduced an interesting concept only to quietly forget about it later.

As for the romance, it is both one of the drama's strengths and one of its frustrations. The dynamic between Seo Ri and Se Gye is undeniably cute. I enjoyed watching Se Gye openly pursue her while Seo Ri remained determined to focus on herself rather than immediately jump into a relationship. In a genre filled with emotionally constipated male leads, Se Gye was refreshingly honest. He never hid his feelings, never played games, and never hesitated to admit how much he loved Seo Ri. The man was down bad, and he wore it like a badge of honor.

One of my favorite aspects of their relationship was how respectfully Se Gye treated Seo Ri's unusual circumstances. He never mocked her when she failed to understand modern concepts. Instead, he patiently explained things to her and even embraced her traditional way of speaking. Seeing him call himself "서방님" was both hilarious and adorable. More importantly, his affection never felt possessive. He showered Seo Ri with love, but it always came across as sincere rather than overwhelming. Even lines like "I will never let you go" felt less like a threat and more like a promise that he would remain by her side as long as she wanted him there. The wrist kiss scene deserves its own mention. To me, it felt like the final request for consent before taking the next step, which made the moment surprisingly sweet and memorable. Green flag enthusiasts, this one is for you.

My biggest issue with the romance lies with Seo Ri's side of the relationship. Initially, I liked that she remained firm in her decision not to pursue love. It aligned perfectly with her second chance philosophy. The problem is that this internal conflict dragged on for far too long. Seo Ri constantly moved one step forward and two steps back. Every heartwarming moment seemed to be followed by her distancing herself again due to worries she created in her own mind. After a while, it became frustrating rather than compelling. There were moments when it genuinely felt like Se Gye loved Seo Ri far more than Seo Ri loved Se Gye.

The historical storyline also had mixed results. Since the drama constantly shifts between past and present, the early episodes can feel somewhat confusing. Over time, the timeline becomes easier to follow, though some questions remain. An example is how I never fully understood how Dan Shim's journey from servant to concubine unfolded so quickly. If the King had already cast aside the Grand Prince, what exactly was the purpose of making Dan Shim a concubine? Certain motivations felt underexplained.

For most of the drama, I assumed the past and present storylines were connected in a very specific way. Then came the twist. While I appreciate the attempt to surprise viewers, the execution left me with more questions than answers. The reveal felt like information being dumped all at once rather than something carefully woven into the story through breadcrumbs and subtle hints. Because of that, the twist landed more as confusion than revelation. Once everything was exposed, I found myself becoming even less invested because the ending became fairly easy to predict. Personally, I think the story could have comfortably wrapped up in 12 episodes instead of 14.

Beyond the leads, Jang Seung Jo deserves praise for his performance as Choi Mun Do. Although his performance was great, unfortunately, the writing did not do his villain role justice. He felt like an average, so-so villain who's one bad day away from completely snapping. He is sometimes infuriating and sometimes I just felt indifferent. His schemes felt predictable. That said, I occasionally questioned why he spent so much time personally staking out Seo Ri's home instead of simply sending his people to do it. Even villains deserve better time management. The other supporting cast was generally solid, though a few emotional moments failed to resonate with me. Seo Ri's grandmother's final bus scene, for example, felt like it was trying very hard to be moving, but I personally felt very little while watching it.

One area where the drama consistently impressed me was its visual presentation. Some of the visual effects were genuinely creative and charming. I loved how the lights behind Se Gye transformed into heart shapes while he read Seo Ri's poem. I also adored the transition from the candle scene to Se Gye's adorably annoyed expression, where the candles appeared reflected in his eyes. Small touches like these gave the drama personality and elevated many scenes beyond what was written on the page.

In the end, My Royal Nemesis is a drama that perfectly demonstrates how important consistency is. It began with a fascinating premise, lovable leads, strong performances, and enough romantic tension to keep me hooked week after week. Heo Nam Jun and Im Ji Yeon carried the story with undeniable chemistry, while Jang Seung Jo added weight whenever he appeared on screen. Yet despite all its strengths, the latter half struggled to maintain the same momentum, introducing pacing issues, frustrating character decisions, and a twist that felt underdeveloped. Even so, the drama never completely loses its charm. If you enjoy reincarnation romances, persistent green-flag male leads, and a heroine determined to rewrite her fate, there is still plenty to enjoy here. It may not stick the landing perfectly, but the journey, especially in its first half, was enjoyable enough to make the ride worthwhile.

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TOXIC TROPE AND A story seen and reviewed. It can make you laugh every now and then.

My Royal Nemesis - A Beautiful
Setup Ruined by Toxic Tropes
A Promising K-Drama That Fails to Deliver What started as a highly anticipated fantasy rom-com quickly devolves into a tedious, exhausting watch. Frustrating Pacing and Wasted Premise
• Stretched Storyline: The reverse isekaiconcept of a Joseon royal waking up in modern Seoul loses its charm after just a few episodes.
· Repetitive Enmity: The clash between the leads is dragged out so excessively that the "enemies-to-lovers" dynamic turns entirely frustrating.

· Lazy Writing: Instead of developing
genuine emotional depth, the narrative
relies heavily on clichés, slow-motion
standoffs, and uninspired plot armor.
Flawed Chemistry and Stiff Delivery
• Wooden Male Lead: The performance lacksany emotional nuance, delivering the exact same facial expression and flat tone of
voice across every single episode.
· Mismatched Energy: The main characters share zero natural on-screen chemistry, making their forced romantic progression incredibly hard to swallow.
• Carried by the Heroine: While the female lead tries her absolute best to salvage the comedic timing, she cannot carry the weight of an entire uninspiring cast alone.

Toxic Tropes Overload
· Exhausting Male Lead: The "cold-hearted to the world" trope goes way too far, crossing the line from a charmingly distant chaebol into a genuinely unlikable, arrogant character.
• Outdated Romance: The show heavily
relies on toxic K-drama clichés from
decades ago, failing to offer any modern update or actual joy to the viewer.
Time-Wasting Pacing: Watching this series ultimately feels like forcing yourself through 12 hours of filler content, leaving you with nothing but regret

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B-list acting and story cringe-fest. But apparently it "hits new high". What a joke :))))

I don't remember the exact numbers but you can find the article on MDL. "New highs"= 6%. Comparatively, "Perfect Crown" had 11% or something like that. But hey, the clickbait works. And most viewers think "highest means good, right?" anyway :))
So, this is going to be a very short review. Finally.
Visuals. Everything's on low settings. Colour palette, cinematography, vfx. Everything. And no, the "hand-drawn cute vfx" while ED, it doesn't count. It literally takes you (at most) 2 minutes to select the necessary brush, to draw, to mask, to apply the custom effect, to hit save, per image.
** Honorable mention. The character takes a bath, wants to send a message by smartphone. Usually we get different methods like compositing, overlayer etc of messages or phone display over the original image. You know, half screen is the phone, half the character typing. Or bubbles with text. Stuff like that. Well, this drama did something fking brilliant, just for that one scene. Because of the hot water and the steamy room, they could make the message appear looking like an invisible finger draws the letters on a fogged window. The fact that the message was very short also helped. But the idea was awesome. The second nice thing visually, the music box looked amazing.**
Audio. Poor sound design. From OP to the normal tracks. Sometimes it worked, but most of the scenes were lousy, so... Also, this sound design is used mostly like a way of manipulating the audience as to what the scene is about. Bad comedy? Just add some quirky track and make it seem like something high-quality funny is actually on. Heavy track = tension. And so on and so forth. It doesn't matter if the things on screen will make you feel/think certain way, the tracks will give you a queue as to how you MUST feel. Another mention: the ED theme was decent. Or not bad.

Sht writing. Sht directing. Nothing makes sense, everything is a plot device and plot contrivance. "It just so happened that....". Thats all there is to it. Especially when its about the "bad guy". Its like any bad guy was like a child compared to him. The amount of domino pieces falling as intended is staggering. Oh, should I also mention her "6th sense" schtick that they make a big deal about (with lots of examples) and thats used as a plot device in the first few episodes but then completely discarded later? More so when a couple of "something big" happen in the later episodes, and those things should've activated her "sense" at full power. But then the script would've been screwed and we can't have that. Amazing writing quality, isn't it? *sigh*
About the script, every dialogue is an out loud monologue, sometimes even an expository one. Sometimes it doesn't even make sense as "words on paper". It just wants to sound... , I don't know, grand, or smart, or something. To give it gravitas? But only sometimes, because most of the times is just sht writing.
The so-called acting is reduced to "act like a Jack Sparrow. No, more leaning. More. Thats it. Now you surely seem a noblewoman". Yes, again, there are a few good scenes of good acting from some very few actors, but thats because of the actors itself, not the director or the script. Tiny mannerisms and such. It gets a little bit better towards the end, but just a tiny bit, so it doesn't really matter. And also it raises other questions. Like, Was the bad acting intentional because of the directing, or what? How? Anyway.
Plus, lots and lots of plots and subplots that go nowhere. And we still have no idea what all that was about until the end. Oh, I'll put it here, because it doesn't matter: it got worse as time went by, sure, with the last 4 being horrible,and the last 2 in special were horrendous. Besides the fact that I knew it was the last week of torture, it felt boring and horrendous because magic bullsht was the writer's answer to everything. I'm not joking. Magic/spiritism/whatever you wanna call it. Suddenly it can grant wishes to end a shtshow (I wish). *sigh*
** Some examples. "The Writer: how can we create nonsensical drama? Oh, I know, lets make her "get lost" on a well lit road. Hmm, yes, lets make her go off-road for no fkin logical reason". Thats the kind of writing we have here. The writer's only solution is to make the character ret***ed every time there's need for drama. That same scene has even more idiotic stuff happening. Lost, but she is saved and leaves by herself in a random direction (I've checked, its not the one he came from). So, lost but not really. All that drama was for nothing.... Or a scene happens. We get "his" and our pov, later we get "hers". But they actually were two very different filming. It is supposed to be some sort of manipulative editing, but its on the level of Glass Onion. As in, it never happened, we can clearly see what happens the first time, later, all that sht that supposedly its what really happened is invented. And then, one minute later, he has a flashback, remembering what? The first version, the one that we saw the first time.... This level of idiocy is mind-boggling. Like I said: sht writing, directing, acting.**

Most of its comedy is cringe. That low iq comedy you find in this kind of drama. Yeah, there were also a few, very few, good jokes there too. But mostly, the usual slop of low comedy. "See? Because different time, she doesn't know the modern things and the way she acts. See? Its funny. Pls laugh".
Same for romance. No chemistry, no matter who we're talking about. Poor script (again). The main's pair is reduced to: "We can't, who do you think you are? Ok, fine, I'll accept and go with the flow. We can't. Ok, fine, I'll accept it. We can't. Ok, fine...." *sigh* Basically, you start the episode with "don't wanna see you", then it gets to "why weren't you here, near me?", the second half is "I must leave anyway", then it ends with "I thought I could but I can't...". Do you understand? All in just one episode... Unfortunately, the whole season does not contain just one episode... *double sigh* To be fair, the whole episode might've covered one week or one month, we don't know....
No character development, no world building. Sht pacing. As in stuff just happens, for the sake of happening. At one point, apparently two weeks passed and I had no idea. Luckily the ML told us. So, something might happen, no one talks or does anything about it for any time they want, everyone else also forget about that fact, "suddenly" it is 2 weeks later, and "suddenly" everyone remembers and starts reacting.... Now imagine the rest of the show, when we're NOT told abut time lapses, but it does happen. And so on and so forth. Yes, later we find that 3 months has passed, but my previous point still stands.

You get the gist. So, a rating of 3. Not recommended, no rewatch value. No nothing. If someone said or gave it a rating higher than 6 (this was never mid-quality, but lets pretend), they are trolling you. Or they have mental issues. If you like someone from the cast, just watch/rewatch some of their other works.
Btw, I'm talking about quality, not enjoyment. All reviews should be about quality, and yes, you can even like bad media, there's nothing wrong with that (aka "my guilty pleasure").
Don't just "Omg, I loved the actors. I loved every second of this kdrama". Maybe you enjoy this media, but you also enjoy hitting puppies. We don't know what kind of person you are. So a review should be about its quality, not just your opinions...

Have a lovely evening.

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Strong Start Average End

I had a lot of expectations from this plot but it disappointed me a bit. A queen from the Joseon area forced to drink poison ends up in the modern area and in a historical drama shooting no less.

It started out so great and slowly the weakenesses started to reveal itself. She started off struggling to understand the world around her in the first episode but by second episode she had already adjusted herself to the clothes, tech, and general world around her. Even the elderly can't adjust this fast and they've had years seeing it introduced. No one was teaching her.

For a woman with no money, she gets the best phone and and get dressing style? Where is she fitting those clothes in that apartment?

The grandfather and villain step brother were very boring characters. Sisters were useless. The male lead and her had decent chemistry and some cute moments. The best side character was the shaman.

They tried to resolve the problem of 2 women in the same body and I did like that part. But when does she leave? And when she returns she has time to get fully dressed up before going to meet the male lead? Maybe I'm nitpicking but the drama was not as exciting as I thought it would be. Not many twists. Could have been magical.

Overall it was nice but I just had higher expectations that it didn't meet. Still worth a watch.

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My Royal Nemesis ?

The story My Royal Nemesis started off really well. We have a protagonist who travels into the future and has to adapt to all the modern things. We’ve seen this kind of storyline before, but this time I found it especially enjoyable because the plot seemed really interesting.

At the beginning, Shin So-ri was written very strongly: a fearless woman who didn’t even give in when someone tried to poison her. She also had a strong sixth sense for danger, able to anticipate and avoid threats. The way she struggled to adjust to the modern world at the start was pure comedy. However, as the story progressed, her entire character changed, and by the end there were so many unanswered questions that it becomes unclear what the actual goal of the story is. This brings us to the negative points.

Shin So-ri is known for being able to sense danger in her life as a queen, yet she gets hit by a car, is knocked unconscious by sedatives in water, and is constantly monitored by her coworker—without noticing any of it? So a queen who spent years sensing danger suddenly loses her ability after saving Cha Se-gye in the car incident? She also failed to foresee all the dangers targeting Cha Se-gye, such as the knife attack.

Furthermore, Shin So-ri became weaker with every episode. At the beginning, she could fight palace guards from the past and take down several thieves in the modern world, but the further the story progressed, the more she became tearful, weak, and barely able to protect herself. That was really disappointing. I didn’t mind her emotional side, but it was unfortunately overused.

In addition, Cha Se-gye’s family was basically irrelevant throughout the entire story. The aunts barely did anything beyond a few weak attempts at minor schemes. The grandfather never took down or punished Choi Mun-do, even though he knew how terrible he was.

And then there’s Choi Mun-do himself: what was his actual purpose? He wanted to earn enough money to be a good role model for his son and give him a good life—but as a CEO, he already earns more than an average person and is already extremely wealthy in society. He had a highly paid job and strong career prospects, so why become even greedier and try to take over the company? For his stated goal, it wasn’t necessary at all. It felt like he considered himself a poor beggar, even though he was already rich. He could have taken care of his son perfectly well with his existing income while still living comfortably.

Overall, the entire family was poorly written. The antagonists were also rather weak. Even the traitor on set who sedated Shin So-ri is completely characterless, and by the end we still don’t know why she did it or what her role actually was. Cha Se-gye’s storyline—like dealing with the construction workers trying to kill him or the AI video incident—also feels unfinished.

We also never really see how the fashion and beauty division of Cha Se-gye’s company develops. In general, all characters feel underdeveloped and underused.

That said, I really liked the relationship between the two main leads—their chemistry worked very well. I also really enjoyed the dorm where Shin So-ri lived, especially her roommates and the caretaker.

However, everything I mentioned above, and especially the ending, was very disappointing. The plot itself was the strongest part of the story. We learn that Shin So-ri had already switched bodies with Kang during the car accident, and there were many opportunities to expand this storyline and properly explore the past. But the prince’s storyline was given too little attention.

I also didn’t like that time was partially reversed at the end to “fix” things, which essentially erased the version where Kang was queen. The ending felt rushed, and Choi Mun-do’s downfall was far too easy.

Overall, the series was good and entertaining, but it couldn’t fully reach its potential. Especially the last two episodes were far too fast-paced and left me with more questions than answers. I think the show was probably intended to be 16 episodes but got cut down to 14, which made the ending feel unbalanced.

Nonetheless, I had a lot of fun with the series, and I hope you enjoyed my review ^^

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The ML Yearned, FL Hesitated while I...Yawned

I feel completely robbed after watching My Royal Nemesis. They really should have stuck to developing the central love story. While I saw a beautiful shift in Cha Segye's character after he fell hopelessly in love, I can't say the same for Shin Seori. She kept her walls up for way too long, remaining guarded even after countless reassurances from Segye. However for this, I solely blame the pacing of the script for making her deal with a lot; sick grandma and transmigration.

Plot-wise, it was a lot! We got patches of a family feud mixed with frustrating love rivalry from the second female lead, who quickly became an absolute eyesore. It was exhausting watching such a clever woman resort to unnecessary antics over a man especially when Segye countlessly told her off. She got redeemed in the end (good for her I guess), but as a viewer who had to tolerate her, I was just pissed.

Then there's Segye's cousin, Mun Do who I lowkey pitied him because his character was just so boring and predictable. All he ever did was plot over Segye. His entire existence boiled down to: What did Segye do? Who did he meet with? How many times did he poop? Ugh! As if that wasn't enough, how he quickly met his end was so anti-climatic. The only genuinely interesting plot thread was Shin Seori's transmigration arc; I absolutely loved that twist however I'd have preferred if they expounded more on the rules of such occurrence.

On the bright side, I liked the top notch acting. Despite Mun Do being predictable, the actor was a great villain who oozed an intense, evil aura that not many can pull off. Our lead couple also killed it. The yearning from Cha Segye was masterclass; his delulu gaze and that hand kiss... which made me constantly wonder why Seori was hesitating to give this man a chance! Nonetheless, I loved how LJY portrayed Shin Seori, flawlessly maintaining those Joseon-era speech patterns and mannerisms despite migrating to the modern world. And their roadside fight? Iconic.

I also have to say the OST of this drama was so beautiful as it really elevated most of the lead couple cutesy scenes.

In the end, I finished it purely because I'm a sucker for a yearning male lead and Heo Namjun as Cha Segye aced it. Sadly, Seori's lingering doubts and insecurities meant that by the time she finally let her walls down, I had already emotionally disconnected from the romance.

This had the potential to be the rom-com of the year for me, but it fell short. I probably would have rated it a 6, but their undeniably cute scenes and great OSTs in the final episodes managed to pull it up to a 7.5.

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Surprisingly, They Stuck the Landing

Spoilers - I can't bang on freely without sharing some secrets.



Firstly, the actors were appropriately beautiful and handsome.
Im Ji Yeon has this ability to be quite disarmingly normal looking when needed and then stunning for modeling scenes. Also, her character has an amazing maniacal laugh & smile - most notable when drinking. So fun.
Heo Nam Jun initially presents as very cool and classy but has some very cute facial expressions as his character starts to let his feelings out.

Props to how menacing they made the villain Choi mun Do. I mean, he had a great smile and was handsome enough but there was just something off about him. was it make-up? Or was his teeth slightly grey? i don't know but he definitely had a sinister aura about him.

This show really started off well. It was very fun to watch. The characters have great personas and interacted so well together.
The comedy of their meeting and early interactions was on point. I enjoyed Sin Seo-Ri's attitude and how she was presented early on as this fun, larger-than-life personality - getting memed and becoming an influencer.

I like how Cha Se-Gye Was locked in and focused on perusing her quite early. Then she initially came around pretty quick too. I did have an issue with Sin Seo-Ri being hot and cold towards him, even after she knew her feelings but this is a K-Drama staple.

I would've liked to see more fighting from her as she initially pitched herself as this anti-assassination savant, Joseon baddie but then ended up being quite reactive and ultimately getting caught herself.

The scene where she was keeping him distant but then had an instant meltdown when she found him in cardiac arrest on the plane was really well done and entertaining. I laughed out loud. I must say, they really leaned into the slapping in this show and I'm here for it. It's like their love language. The fact she got electrocuted too was perfect.

I loved how the music was used in the show. The delicate lighthearted piano intro of Losing My Heart playing throughout the episodes as they slowly got to know each other was used diabolically, building to crescendo as the white truck of death plowed into the restaurant. So good. So devastating. Props to the writers for making it a white truck. Classic K Drama. Everyone knows it; everyone respects it.

The latter episodes we're a bit hard to get through when Seo-Ri was always gloomy with her anticipated departure. Having said that, when she did go back, I liked how it played out very much. Point's for Cha Se-Gye who in hindsight recognised her depressed lack of response to his enthusiasm and treated it with compassion instead of recrimination.

Also in the latter episodes, it wasn't clear to me what was happening with the 'soul shifting' and had to go to the comments section and then watch the episodes again to understand it. Ultimately it was cleared up with the scene in the water where the souls are swapped but before then, I was scratching my head.

Endings like this always feel a bit deus ex machina to me - like Alchemy of Souls where the happy ending was nothing to do with the leads agency and entirely up to Jin Seol-Ran's decision to depart etc. but in this case, even though Seo-Ri was in limbo, I could get into the idea that Cha Se Gye remembered her coming back to save him in his past life and called her back. That was a great way of handling it. Then what I always like to see - the leads working together to solve that dramatic tension - in this case, the Choi Mun Do arc. I almost feel sorry for him.

As an aside, I really enjoyed seeing Lee Se Hee again after Young Lady and Gentleman, a show in which I really enjoyed her acting & character but thought overall it wasn't great. I'm looking forward to seeking out more of her past and future works. She really nailed it here.

In summary, A++. I always judge a show by how much I am enjoying myself while watching. A happy ending isn't very satisfying if you have to grind through 8 episodes of unhappy trauma to get there. In this case, I enjoyed watching at least 90% of it.

A simple trope handled in a fun and clever manner.

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