‘The Princess’ Man’ is a romance sageuk (historical) drama from 2011 written by Jo Jung-joo and directed by Kim Jung-min and Park Hyun-suk, who won Best Director in the 2012 BaekSang Arts Awards for this drama.

The Tragic Setting

This drama takes place in the Joseon era, around the 1450’s. The story focuses on the Romeo-Juliet-esque romance between Se-Ryung, the daughter of Crown Prince Suyang, and Kim Seung-yoo, the son of Suyang’s political enemy Kim Jeong-seo. The political upheaval of the time serves as both the backdrop to this love story and as the main source of conflict and drama.

While Suyang’s daughter and her life are all fictional, Suyang’s coup and eventual ascension to the throne as King Sejo is not, and the drama does an excellent job of meshing the two together.

It’s worth reading up on those events, because it will definitely affect your perspective when watching the show. Sejo is the main ‘villain’ of this story, and the bloodshed that paved his way to the throne is essentially the gears behind the story’s progression. However, knowing that he actually went on to become a great king for Joseon casts a different light on his motivations and really rounds out the political aspect of the drama.

Nothing Will Sink This Ship

Se-Ryung is a curious, passionate, and idealistic young woman who tries to follow her heart, and Moon Chae-Won’s stellar performance in this role absolutely stands out. This is even more impressive when you realise that the entire cast did a great job. Park Shi-Hoo stars as the male lead, Kim Seung-yoo, and if he doesn’t have you falling in love with him in this show, get your eyes checked. He’s the prime minister’s son, and they meet when he starts tutoring who he thinks is the Crown Princess, but is actually Se-Ryung.

The two protagonists have amazing chemistry and they really sell the love story, which is crucial for this drama, but everything about their performance is brilliant. As I mentioned, this drama features excellent performances from all of the cast members – most notably Kim Yeong-cheol as King Sejo. And let’s not forget Song Jong-ho as a nobleman friend of Seung-yoo, who did give us serious second-lead syndrome because even when his actions were not exactly noble (to avoid giving anything away), his motivations were clear and understandable.

Among the reasons I fell in love with this drama are not only the fantastic cast and the well-written story, but also the soundtrack. I cannot overstate how great the soundtrack is. To this day I will tear up just listening to ‘One Day of Love’. However, I would advise you to avoid checking out any videos for the OST before actually watching the show, as they literally have all of the spoilers.

Now, I did mention love story between offspring of political rivals, political upheaval, and considering that this is a historical drama, the tragic plotlines are obviously a given. Please have your tissue box at the ready when you watch this, and don’t say I didn’t warn you.

This is one of my absolute favourite K-dramas and I will forever be recommending it to everyone. Even if you’re not particularly into historical dramas, the romance here is strong enough to pull you, and if you’re not particularly into romance dramas, the political intrigue and backstory is strong and well-written. It’s not just forced drama to advance the main plot, but rock solid, and will keep you watching.

You can start off by checking out the trailer below: