Eager to see what the year had to offer, I picked up My Princess with hopes for finding new patterns in South Korean series in 2011, but it was rather easy to find typical patterns in the plot…
“It doesn’t stray far from standard South Korean romantic comedies—flawed female character meets refined male character, conniving villains and jealous sisters, and a few unimportant ‘crises’ attempting to enthral us with suspense, but falling short. All together, it’s quite typical—but we can expect better for 2011.”
The Rundown
Behind the name: Hangul- 마이 프린세스
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Released by: MBC (MunHwa Broadcasting Corporation)
Cast: Kim Tae-Hee (as Lee-Sul), Song Seung-Heon (as Hae-Young), Ryu Su-Yeong (as Nam Jung-Woo), Park Ye-Jin (as Yoon-Joo), Ryu Su-Yeong (as Jung-Woo)
Compare to: A Cinderella Story, Anastasia
Hate it or Love it? Like it
Synopsis in a Sentence: A struggling college student discovers she is the last living member of Korea’s royal family, and the diplomat put in charge of her re-instatement into the imperial family can’t help but fall for her; so will she sacrifice her throne for love?
On Writing: The Plot
The story was good. It was fun, bright and cute, but not a bit more than that. The plot dealt with a good mix of themes like love (of course), jealousy, wealth, and social status, so it was a good mix. On the whole, it had all the good ingredients for an excellent romantic comedy, but fell on two main faults:
1. It relied too heavily on unimportant events in an attempt to create unnecessary suspense
2. It had too many ‘cute’ parts
I know—how can a romantic comedy have too many cute parts? Well, successful romantic comedies thrive on the ability to create tantalizing and lingering romantic moments. If the story hangs too much on sentimentality, then it’s not quite as effective. Well, this one did just that—we knew what was going to happen before it did—it bared it all out far too early in the story, and so we had no cause to be enthralled by the romance.
(3.5/5)
On Acting: The Cast
It’s a beautiful cast, I must say.
Already South Korea's screen princess, Kim Tae-Hee plays as bright and bubbly Lee-Sul, the princess. Although she plays the role effortlessly, I must wonder—In the entirety of South Korea, is there no other age-appropriate up and coming actress to play this role? While Tae-Hee is skilled, she was simply more mature than her college-level character. We’d love to see her play roles that require her experienced acting skills, while roles like these can be left to talented emerging actresses.
Song Seung-Heon, who plays Hae-Young, the diplomat (otherwise known as love interest) is just right for this role. He plays the young, put together, professional quite well.
Together, Kim Tae-Hee and Song Seung-Heon have great chemistry, and the're fun to watch.
It was also fun to see Lim Je-Yin (Kim Da-Bok) in this one. She plays “mother of poor household,” once again or, more appropriately, mother of the princess pre-royalty period. Last time we saw her, she was in Boys Over Flowers, and she rocked as the pleasure-seeking mother. Seems like she’s perfected her skills since we last saw her.
And what are South-Korean series without its villains? Others of note include Kang Ye-Sol, for her portrayal of Lee-Dan, a.k.a jealous sister, and of course, Park Ye-Jin, for her rendition of chief villain, Oh Yoon-Joo. Even the bad guys were good…
(4/5)
On Production: The Creativity
Good music—well, one really good track. I had to look for the track the first few seconds I heard it (Kasio-Taru). That’s one really cute track, and a perfect musical rendition of the sentiments in the series. As far as editing, camera work, and transitions, they weren’t bad either. They all quite worked well.
(3/5)
On Resolution: The Conclusion
What would happen in a predictable romantic comedy? You can guess right from here. Yes, it ended just as you thought—although there were notable attempts to thwart our thinking—but it didn’t quite work, MBC. We were able to guess the ending after the first five episodes…
(3/5)
The Verdict: It doesn’t stray far from the standard South Korean romantic comedy—flawed female character meets refined male character, conniving villains plot evil and jealous sisters tag along, inject a few unimportant ‘crises’ attempting to enthral us with suspense, but fall short, and you’ve got the gist of My Princess. All together, it’s quite typical, but we can expect better for 2011.
Overall Score = 13.5/20
Watch My Princess [www.dramacrazy.net/korean-drama/my-princess/]
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