My Royal Nemesis Review
- 5 minutes ago
- 7 min read
This is not what I expected from this drama.
Maybe it was the title, maybe it was the synopsis, but I felt disappointed when I realised it's not going to be what I hoped for.
What are your thoughts about "My Royal Nemesis?"
I have never seen "Cheer up", which was the director's debut work. I remember dropping the drama, but I don't think people were happy with the ending of it.
However, I trusted the screenwriter who has worked on one of my favourite movies, which is "Soulmate".
"My Royal Nemesis" didn't have that many memorable scenes for me. I remember seeing everyone going crazy because of the wrist kiss, but even if it was cute, the moment was a bit ruined for me.
Also, how many times does Shin Seo Ri have to say no to the male lead to finally register? Let's move on from non-consensual kisses and romances!
There were no scenes where I was sitting in awe with the scenery or surprised with the editing. It wasn't that impressive, but it wasn't bad either, though some of the things looked pretty sloppy.
For example, Cha Se Gye's mask just reminded me of "Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo", and the scar reveal was a bit underwhelming.
Directing: 7/10
Synopsis:
A romance comedy centred on a love-hate relationship between Shin Seo Ri, a legendary villainess from Joseon, and Cha Se Gye, a ruthless modern-day chaebol.
Shin Seo Ri, a nameless actress who becomes possessed by the spirit of a notorious Joseon-era femme fatale, gains a vicious personality. Once a royal concubine of the highest rank who was called a national seductress and sentenced to death by poison, her soul is transported to the 21st century, where she begins a new life. (Mydramalist)
Do you now see why this became confusing, and I expected villains to find some romance?
This was just a drama where a woman from the Joseon era wakes up in the 21st century and finds her rich man while everything is strangely entangled with the past.
Mostly because of my expectations, the true plot kind of let me down. It's hardly any different from the dramas with the same time-travelling trope, and some moments made it hard to root for the characters.
It's all about the politics with a cousin and who gets the company, and of course, while this side quest is happening, there is romance between the leads.
It happens so quickly that I didn't care much for it.
Cha Se Gye falls in love because she's not like the other girls, and this feeling comes for Shin Seo Ri because she remembers him from the previous life.
Though it takes her a lot of time to realise because the mask hiding 1 quarter of your face does a lot!
I don't want to deny that there are some great scenes and funny moments in the drama. It was interesting to see Shin Seo Ri learn about the new world and try to understand her. And there were relatable moments like her watching dramas, getting angry with the characters or laughing her ass off.
However, there were so many characters that were underused and underdeveloped, such as Se Gye's secretary, Seo Ri's manager (though they tried), the aunts and more.
And even the main characters are left without much development because we had so many other stories that we forget that they can grow.
This is a very unpopular opinion, but I didn't really ship the leads and feel like it would have been way more interesting to watch Seo Ri first finding who she is in this world rather than getting a rich man who gives her every opportunity.
Overall: 5.5/10
As the female lead thinks she's dying, she gets transported into the 21st century.
The things she gets up to as she's trying to understand what is happening are quite fun to watch. If the whole drama was like that, I believe it would have been more enjoyable than it was now.
The leads fall in love very quickly with one another, but they rarely had any chemistry. It's one of those tropes where "she's not like the other woman" and bam, he's in love.
Straightforward, without any depth, to my annoyance.
Even the cute moments between them are ruined: the confession scene was very cute, and this was great chemistry until they pull out Disney music?? The wrist kiss was cute, so why at this moment do we also need a kiss on the lips? YEARN for her MORE!
Slowly, as the series moves on, we unfold Cha Se Gye's family and realise how pointless his aunts are, and his cousin is the true villain!
The storyline with him was a bit more interesting, to think about how he's going to try to destroy Se Gye next. However, everything concluded so quickly that you won't even get to blink.
Everyone wakes up, puts the guy into jail with AI video, and everyone moves on? At least show us why Grandpa was pretending to like him so much this whole time?
And this is not the only loose thread. We never find out about that extra or why she hates Shin Seo Ri so much. They even showed her in the last episode, as if they have met in a past life, but Seo Ri says she never even knew her.
It would have been an interesting twist if it was actually Kang Dan Shim who she hated, not the 21st-century female lead.
This would also add more depth to the other soul when they switched bodies.
One thing I have to compliment is the way they have dealt with the female lead actually being from this world. I did not expect this, and it would have been a perfect twist if she still didn't need to go to the Joseon era.
The scene where she realises that she's actually Seo Ri was really well done and made me look at the drama more positively.
Of course, we had to end this all with the last episode. There were so many unnecessary scenes, a lot of flashbacks, and we don't even get to see Seo Ri waking up properly.
The next scene is her meeting Se Gye, and you're kind of left wondering if this is a dream or real life. It would have been well done if we actually got to know that, as the drama continues to get more ridiculous.
Storyline: 5/10
There was so much second-hand embarrassment. Shin Seo Ri screaming all the time, Cha Se Gye telling random people about his black card, etc.
Shin Seo Ri is one crazy woman, but that's completely understandable as she just got transferred into the current era and there are so many things that are unknown to her.
With time, she learns new things and how the world works. However, I would have loved to see the person she would have become if she kept to herself for a while, and how she would have managed to live on her own and without a rich boyfriend.
But I can't judge the woman; I would do the same.
Cha Se Gye did not impress me much, neither during his cold-stone CEO days nor when he was soft.
He has always stayed the same throughout the drama.
Se Gye will always scream in your face about how worried he is rather than go to therapy.
The moments where he was doing anything for Seo Ri not to have a kissing scene felt more controlling than just a haha funny jealous scene. They later made it seem that the actor is a creep, but it still left a bad taste in the mouth.
However, there is one person who had the most character development compared to these two.
It's Shin Seo Ri's manager: Baek Gwang Nam.
At first, he was a bit annoying, stealing food, always bothering and complaining every time you saw him. In the end, he gets a bit softer and stands by his people more.
Of course, we never got a real chance to explore him or romance with top star actress Ji Hyo.
It feels like they have a lot of story to tell, but it never got anywhere because the writer decided to focus on the most random shit.
Choi Mun Do was my favourite part of the drama. He is the real villain who doesn't turn soft just after two seconds, and you can see glimpses of where he's coming from.
Of course, the way he deals with Se Gye is bad, but he's the villain after all.
It would have been nice to see more of his backstory. His relationship with Grandpa, how he acted with him and the betrayal he must have felt when he heard the word "salaryman" coming out of the person who seemed to support you so much.
This moment has been stuck in my head for a while. Amazing impact it had, but it was never properly developed.
Skimming through other characters because they don't matter: Grandmother was a nice touch to Shin Seo Ri's story, but her death did not do anything for me emotionally.
The secretary had great comedic moments, but he was literally just made for that, just like the aunts. They never felt like real people, just a tool to use for comedy or some drama, as well as that lady who "loved" Se Gye. She did not make any sense to the story, and I still don't understand how she fell in love with him to the point where she chased him down every time.
This was the moment they could have put the childhood friends trope! Even if it's overused for the second female lead.
Characters: 4/10
There are some good songs on the playlists; however, a lot of them were not that memorable and a bit similar to each other.
Young K's "Season of Us" was my favourite, and not because it's sung by him. It created the perfect mood for the end and is very fun to listen to. Even if I didn't like the drama that much, I would think about saving it to my playlist.
The slower songs are the ones that seemed similar to one another, and as great a singer Seo Ja Yeong is, I'm not sure if having two songs from her on the playlist helped with differing from others.
Music: 6.5/10
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