My Royal Nemesis is a romantic comedy that follows the love-hate relationship between a modern day chaebol (Heo Nam Jun) and a high-ranking concubine (Lim Ji Yeon) known as a seductress from the Joseon era who is transported to the present and inhabits the body of an actress.
Lim Ji Yeon plays Sin Seo Ri who is a high-ranking concubine from the Joseon era. After being sentenced to death, she is sent to the modern day and finds herself in a completely new world.
Heo Nam Jun is Cha Se Gye. He’s a cold chaebol heir who has his world turned upside down with he appearance of Sin Seo Ri.
My Royal Nemesis was a decent watch. It does some good things, and it does some not so good things. It all kind of balances out to an okay drama. Of course, I’m a sucker for time slip dramas. So, I was definitely there for a Joseon villainous being transported to modern Korea.
And that first episode or two is where the fun fish-out-of-water shenanigans really take place. It’s always fun watching someone from the past adjusting to the present in humorous fashion. I particularly liked how Seo Ri had such a commanding yet dramatic presence. Right from the get-go, she is not someone to be pushed around, and she will always make her wishes known.
Another plus is the chemistry between our main couple of Se Gye and Seo Ri. They do start out quite at odds, and we have to endure a lot of bickering, but they had a strong magnetic chemistry that really came through both during the more heated exchanges as well as when feelings became more serious. This was definitely a strong point of the show.
Now, on to a few negatives. Continuing with Se Gye and Seo Ri’s relationship, they really do struggle to get on the same page for a long time. Obviously, that could be expected with some of the challenges they face. But after we move through the bickering phase, we kind of get stuck in this loop of Seo Ri wanting to be with Se Gye but holding back for a myriad of reasons, then giving in to her feelings, and then pulling back again. It was a lot, and went on for a long time.
And there is an issue that I frequently encounter with this type of drama which is when there is a historical portion of the story too. I frequently find the historical portion to be much more engaging, and that was certainly the case here. The characters were just more interesting, and I was more intrigued with the overall story back then. It does tie in majorly into the present though.
Another negative was the handling of the power struggle plot involving Se Gye and his family and company. This issue is set up early in the show with scenes sprinkled throughout involving our big bad. But it didn’t feel like quite enough to get invested in it and felt a bit disconnected from the story that was going on with Seo Ri’s career and her relationship with Se Gye.
Then as we get about 2/3 of the way into the show, a switch flips and we go quite in depth with this plot. It was fine and definitely added to the story, but it did feel like it was a bit much and oddly enough still felt a bit disconnected. I wasn’t as bothered by some with this change as it at least kept the story moving forward, but some might be disappointed by the change in direction with the overall plot.
Overall, My Royal Nemesis was a decent and mostly pleasant watch. It was a bit slow for me, and I found the plot lacking. The chemistry between our main couple was good though a bit circular. The family power struggle story was okay but not plotted the best. So, as mentioned, the drama did some good things and some not so good things. You’ll just have to give it a try to see how you fare.
My Rating: 6/10
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