Review of My Royal Nemesis /멋진 신세계

If you’re new here, and stumbled upon this blog through the mythical powers of the Internet, welcome! I know a lot of visitors to my website are people who randomly come upon this website through search engines like Google, but I also do have a lot of visitors who come back. Regardless: my name is Ashley, and I started this blog in order to keep track of everything I’m coming across in the world.

I feel like a lot of my blog introductions, especially when it comes to movies, have been lamenting on the fact I don’t have a ton of time lately. I used to work as a film critic (which, in fact, was so incredibly underpaid that I now make more off of this blog’s display ads than I ever did publishing anywhere else), and then when I was in graduate school I was writing a lot about film, so I used to watch so many movies.

But now I work an 8-5, come home, and then doom scroll my evenings away instead of watching the movies I used to love so dearly. And recently I realized I want to stop doing that, so I’ve set limits on my phone and am fully prepared to sit back and watch movies and shows again.

I didn’t used to watch a ton of television, then I worked as a critic. I’d formally studied television as a part of my undergraduate education and had watched it on the side, but I never saw it as my focus. Then I slowly started watching more and more—now I say I’m more of a television-focused individual.

I do love a good Korean drama as well, although I’ve been watching less lately due to the lack of time. I saw the hype online for My Royal Nemesis, which is why I ended up watching this drama on time.

Let’s get into the review though! I don’t want to ramble too much in the introduction.

A despised Joseon concubine finds herself adjusting to life in modern-day Seoul, despite some romantic and financial setbacks.

This movie opens up in the Joseon Dynasty, where our female lead, Kang Dan-sim, is a courtesan, or concubine. She’s worked her way up the Joseon hierarchy to gain more power despite her humble beginnings, but that creates some enemies along the way. When she becomes the royal concubine, in the sixth year of King Anjong’s reign, she’s forced to kill herself by higher powers.

That’s the common way for Joseon royals to kill: they wouldn’t do it directly, but instead force the hand of the individual. As Dan-shim is forced to drink poison, she wakes up and finds herself on the set of a drama. Turns out there was a shaman spell and a lunar eclipse occurred, sending her into modern day Korea.

Now inhabiting the body of Shin Seo-ri, an actress who works with saeguks, Dan-shim is forced to adapt. Not only does she not know how to live in modern Korea, but her host body also lives in a goshiwon and has no money. Good thing right outside of the film set there lurks Cha Se-gye, fresh off of a new controversy.

A chaebol heir who’s used to getting what he wants, Se-gye doesn’t realize that Dan-shim has no idea where she’s at or what timeline she’s existing in. He assumes she’s trying to extort him for money because of the controversy, but their meeting is what’s going to change their lives.

Suddenly they’re going to be seeing a lot more of each other, especially when Dan-shim accidentally saves his life. As we see through the present moment and flashbacks, though, is that they were connected even in the Joseon dynasty—as well as another figure who serves as the antagonist.

All of this is happening while Dan-shim tries to figure out her new life in South Korea, starting over and changing not only her fate, but Shin Seo-ri’s as well.

Overall Thoughts

I came into this drama not really knowing what to expect, as I pretty much only knew the basis Netflix synopsis and that people were talking about how much they liked it online. I watched all of it throughout the course of two weeks, due to the sake of time, and there wasn’t really a moment where I wanted to give it up.

I feel like this comes across as a classic drama. It’s lighthearted most of the time, serious when it needs to be, and I liked both of the main characters across both time periods. I don’t know if I’m going to rewatch this one any time soon though, although maybe in the distant future I’ll come back to it.

Go watch this drama if you have the chance and haven’t already! I would recommend trying a few episodes out if even if you’re only vaguely interested in it.

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