Queen In Hyun's Man

Foreword
This is a romantic comedy about a classic scholar who time travels 300 years into the modern times (year 2012) from the Chosun (year 1694) through a tailsman, and meets an actress. She helps him to know about the history of his time and he changes some events. After that they start to develop feelings for each other ,but is it possible for them to have a successful relationship?

Story/Introduction on characters

1. Ji Hyun Woo as Jin Peng Dao
He is a scholar who is also the curator of the imperial library. He supports the reinstatement of Queen Ren Xian when Zhang Xi Bin's schemes cause her being deposed and she is replaced as King Su Zhong's queen consort. Almost his entire family is wiped out so he learns martial arts to protect himself.

There is once he is nearly killed by An’s assassin. Luckily, a talisman rescues him. He travels 300 years into the future of modern Seoul and meets Xi Zhen. She is a struggling actress gets the meat role as Queen Ren Xian in a TV drama 'New Zhang Xi Bin'. The first time when he is thrown into the modern era, he is caught off guard to see all filming in the imperial palace.

The second time, he is on horseback killing an assassin to give Xi Zhen a shock and land her in hospital. Xi Zhen’s crew gets her there with the talisman while he gets her smart phone but doesn’t know how to return her call. She has to sneak out of hospital using GPS. He adapts to the new environment easily as the imperial palace has not changed its outlook and he doesn’t lose his way. He steals the modern clothes and changes into them. However, he doesn’t know how to fastern the car seat belt and Xi Zhen has to do it for him. Neither does he know what a drama or actress is.

He learns that he has travelled over time but is calm. He picks up fast. He has deduced that the talisman saves him so he changes into the ancient clothes in Xi Zhen’s hospital ward toilet. By reading the words on the talisman, he returns to the past again. While interchanging in different worlds, he keeps stealing clothes and also learns how to use the present won.

Peng Dao is extremely intelligent. He keeps transferring from the past to the present frequently after that. Each time, he learns something new – Arabic numbers, using a cellphone and remembering addresses. He changes the history and also his own fate of dying young. He protects Queen Ren Xian from her enemies in the past and also the present from Na Jing.

He even brings his ancient sword to the present to sell it as an antique in order to buy a new car for Xi Zhen. The most touching part is he returns to the present to be responsible to his lover after selling another sword to get a house. Hyun Woo plays his part well to show the many faces of Peng Dao – Peng Dao is serious in ancient times but becomes humourous and also playful in modern day.

2. Yoo In Na as Cui Xi Zhen
She has never made a name for herself after the beauty pageant. Through Dong Min’s help secretly, she gets her role as Queen Ren Xian. She is shocked when Peng Dao kills the assassin in front of her and the deceased becomes powder after blood is spilled onto her skirt.

Just like the past, she is bullied by Na Jing who is a famous actress and looks down on her. Peng Dao feels sorry for her and recites phrases to cheer her up. She wishes to learn them so he writes the Confucian lines on the toilet mirror before returning to the past. She thinks that she has seen a ghost!

She is quite unhappy to get the car as she longs more for his presence and worries for his safety. She takes the initiative to be open to him and that is why he also doesn’t become reserved in front of her too. She prefers to believe that he steals the car and might stay with her forever even without an identity card to hide from the public. She loses her memory with Peng Dao for a while when the talisman is cut into two and he can’t return to the present for a year.

When she remembers, she waits patiently for his return to keep dialing the cellphone. That saves his life when he is about to kill himself in the prison cell with a tie that she has given him when being arrested and they are reunited in the cinema. She is dubbing for a documentary on his ‘suicide’ letter to her and he protests that he must burn it to prevent the public from reading but it is being locked up in the library. In Na acts quite well but I feel that sometimes she has overdone some scenes with too much cuteness.

3. Kim Jin Woo as Han Dong Min
He is a top actor who is a playboy. Xi Zhen breaks up with him but he finds her attractive when peeping at her secretly to change clothes for Queen Ren Xian audition. He joins the director in the selection and helps her in a way. Later, he believes that he still stands a chance to win her back. During the promotion event, he hugs her close to him. Knowing that she doesn’t faint due to stress, he guesses that she seeks attention.

Thus, he cooks up the news on Na Jing bullying her on the set. He is pleased to have both actresses fighting over him. Later, he discovers that he actually loves Xi Zhen and goes all out to woo her back. He has thought of Peng Dao to be a stalker when seeing him on the plane.

Xi Zhen has to reveal that Peng Dao is her boyfriend after she fakes his passport. However, physically, he isn’t Peng Dao’s match and it becomes his turn to get locked up in the bathroom. He gives up after knowing that she is a ‘two-timer’ and things can be so bad between them that he refuses to shoot any scene with her and the director has to get a stand-in. Jin Woo is hilarious! He provides so many laughs in the drama. Cute, jealous but actually harmless.

4. Ga Deuk Hi as Zhao Xiu Jing
She is Xi Zhen’s close friend and roommate. Later, she becomes her manager. Seeing that she still wants to visit the crew to apologise to them on the delay of the shoot due to her hospitalization, she stops her as this will make matters worse. She doesn’t like Dong Min too but often gets his calls when he asks over Xi Zhen. She tries to get Xi Zhen to forget Peng Dao in order to save her career.

5. Park Young Rin as Yin Na Jing
She is the actress as Zhang Xi Bin – you will laugh after seeing that her make-up is exactly familiar to the ancient queen. She is haughty and is reluctant to communicate with Xi Zhen. She completely ignores her as she is also Dong Min’s ex-girlfriend. She suspects Xi Zhen of complaining to Dong Min to cook up the rumour so she comes to the hospital to slap her. Never does she expect to see Peng Dao in the room. Peng Dao pulls her out of the room and learns from Xi Zhen how to lock the door to prevent her from going in.

When Na Ying brings reporters to claim that Xi Zhen is hospitalized to be with a man, she is dismayed that she can’t find him anywhere. She is sore that Dong Min still has feelings for Xi Zhen and gloats over his misfortune when he fails. She doesn’t like Xi Zhen and tries to make life difficult for her.

6. Jo Dal Hwan as Jin Quan Xiu
He is Dong Min’s manager. The poor man has to ferry him everywhere – to the shooting venues and also to Xi Zhen’s home. He only prays hard that he doesn’t give him anymore trouble.

7. Uhm Hyo Sup as Min An
He is the evil prime minister to want to frame Peng Dao every now and then. He regrets letting him off in the past when he could have killed him. Now, it is too late as Peng Dao is King Su Zhong’s favourite. He plots to assassinate him repeatedly and fails. So he tells Su Zhong that Peng Dao has an affair with Ren Xian so that Peng Dao will be shot dead by arrows. His plot backfires and he gets executed. He is alarmed to see Peng Dao in the crowd before his end.

8. Lee Kwan Hoon as Zi Shou
He is the assassin. He is stunned when Peng Dao disappears in front of his eyes. He has no idea how this happens and he suddenly returns to the palace without him knowing. When he knows of the talisman issue, he informs Min An so that the whole court knows that he is using black magic.

9. Jin Ye Sol as Yin Yue
She is Peng Dao’s late wife’s maid. However, she loves him and thus risks her life to become a courtesan to work for An as Peng Dao’s spy. Worrying for his safety, she insists that he carries a talisman to protect himself. An has evil designs on her but is agitated to learn about her identity. Peng Dao helps to gain her release to settle her in the temple. An doesn’t know that he is being tricked till later.

Yue is aware that misfortune will befall if Peng Dao decides to stay in the future. She alerts him despite loving him. Her fate is sad when she is killed by Zi Shou and Peng Dao is too late to save her. The whole talisman turns black, losing its use. Peng Dao only manages to kill Zi Shou later.

10. Ji Nam Hyuk as Han Dong
He is Peng Dao’s servant. When Yin Yue is released, he leads her to safety by killing An’s men. He gets Han Dong to flee alone after his ‘death’ so that he will not implicate him.

11. Seo Woo Jin as King Su Zhong
He disposes Queen Ren Xian but doesn’t have the heart to kill Peng Dao who is a talented man. Thus, he keeps him by his side. Upon knowing Ren Xian’s ‘adultery’, he is angered and jails Peng Dao. Peng Dao begs him to sentence him to death so that the black magic issue can be solved to clear Ren Xian’s name. Su Zhong reluctantly agrees and Peng Dao reaches the future on time to seek treatment in the hospital.

12. Kim Hae In as Queen Ren Xian
She is a quiet person who accepts her fate quietly. She doesn’t want Peng Dao to risk his life as she feels bad for implicating his family. Thus, she keeps silent when Su Zhong questions her. She is also upset when Su Zhong doesn’t trust her.

13. Choi Woo Ri as Zhang Xi Bin
Her name is actually Yu Zhen. Xi Bin means concubine. She conspires with An to want to get rid of Peng Dao. She wants Peng Dao’s head but Peng Dao gets her killed by the poison wine that Su Zhong gives her.

14. Kim Won Hae as Eunuch Hong
He is An’s accomplice. Like Zi Shou, he also has no idea why and how Reng Dao is unharmed. Thus, he blames An for not doing his job well. It is funny when you see him often quarreling with An over why Peng Dao appears when he is supposed to be dead.

15. Kim Kyul as Reverend Ying Ming
Yin Yue gets another old monk to write the talisman. He himself doesn’t know that it can be so powerful to transport Peng Dao to the future although he examines it. So when Peng Dao asks him about the use, he is clueless. He is concerned about him and hides him in his temple when he is in trouble.

Interesting facts

It is hard to believe that the baby-faced In Na is now 30 years old. She has suffered as much as Xi Zhen in the past. When others busied themselves over their studies at 17, she had prepared to become a singer. No matter how hard she tried, many treated her as a sweetie pie although she loved rock music. Thus, she became an actress when she gave up to be part of a 4 people-group.

One Mblaq member joined a programme and was punished to ask an autograph from a stranger. In Na thought that he was afan and autographed for him. When knowing that he didn’t recognize her, she was disappointed and was determined to be famous. She became better known after shooting ‘Secret Garden’ and finally got the lead role in ‘Queen And I’. Who knew that she worked 13 long years for this chance?

After filming this drama, the cast and filming crew had a celebration. Even though Hyun Woo knew that he was 2 years younger than her and would be enlisted into the army soon, he braced himself to tell her that he liked her in front of the crowd. All were stunned – not just the fans, their managers and also his mother. In Na was unprepared for this and replied that they needed some time to sort this out to reply him.

One week later, a reporter shot a photo of them holding hands and walking in a garden. In Na finally revealed that he was really her man now.

Most favourite character
Peng Dao, unlike other comical characters, he is cool when in modern days to figure out what goes on. He isn’t afraid of setbacks to learn things fast.

Most hated character
Xiu Jing, besides providing lodging and a car for Xi Zhen, she goes too far into probing into Xi Zhen’s private affairs. Anyone can see that Xi Zhen can’t tell her everything as she will blow things up.

Conclusion

This drama is similar to Bu Bu Jing Xin except that the lead is sent to the present instead of the past. It is a clever drama to include history and also comedy in one. Peng Dao is becoming a passenger who is faster than anyone sitting on a rocket to reach the destination he wants. Being good in Maths, he can estimate the time needed for travelling and where he will land.

All must be curious to know how the two survive a 300 year gap relationship. It works despite their different personalities. It is a cute arrangement and the leads do their parts well. A good mix of tragedy and also comedy that all might wish to experience in this drama.

Sukting’s ratings :

On acting : ***1/2 (Scale of 5)
On story : *** (Scale of 5)