My Royal Nemesis opens with a bang, literally, as a notorious Joseon-era royal concubine named Kang Dan-shim is executed by poison after falling out of favor at court. Instead of the afterlife, she wakes up 300 years later in modern Seoul, inside the body of a struggling actress named Shin Seo-ri who was mid-scene filming a historical drama.
What follows is a classic fish-out-of-water setup with a twist: the fiery, cunning Dan-shim has to navigate 21st-century Seoul while slowly building a love-hate relationship with Cha Se-gye, a cold, calculating third-generation chaebol heir dubbed “the monster of capitalism.” As the story unfolds, buried secrets about Joseon-era royalty, a corporate power struggle, and a centuries-old soul connection all come tumbling out.
WHAT WORKS
The first stretch of episodes is genuinely a blast. Watching a Joseon noblewoman try to make sense of smartphones, convenience store food, and modern slang is comedy gold, and Lim Ji-yeon completely sells it. Her delivery of stiff, archaic dialect colliding with modern Seoul life produced one of the most memed moments of the drama’s run.
The chemistry between Lim Ji-yeon and Heo Nam-jun carries the show even when the plot gets shaky later on. Their enemies-to-lovers dynamic feels earned rather than manufactured, and the kiss scenes/tension in the back half are genuinely well done.
Side characters, especially Seo-ri’s neighbor-turned-manager, add warmth and comic relief, and the early “slice of life” episodes work almost like a love letter to Seoul, showing off the city’s food, streets, and daily rhythms.
WHERE IT STUMBLES
The tonal whiplash is real. The show starts as an airtight comedy and gradually pivots into corporate intrigue, family betrayal, press-cycle drama, and time-travel mechanics. Around the midpoint (the Jeju arc and onward), pacing slows considerably, and a stretch of episodes buried in tabloid/press subplots feels like a detour from what made the show fun in the first place.
The male lead’s arc has a rocky patch too — there’s a period where his behavior toward the female lead reads more toxic than swoon-worthy, which some viewers found hard to root for, even though the writing walks it back in the final few episodes.
The ending, while emotionally satisfying, leans hard into melodrama and metaphysical soul-connection logic that requires a fair amount of buy-in. Some plot threads (how exactly the soul-swap first happened, side character motivations) are left a little fuzzy.
THE VERDICT
My Royal Nemesis is at its best when it leans into its fish-out-of-water comedy and lead chemistry, and at its weakest when it gets tangled up in chaebol company politics and reincarnation lore. It’s an easy, bingeable watch that rewards patience through its slower middle stretch with a genuinely heartfelt final run of episodes. If you love enemies-to-lovers rom-coms with a historical twist, it’s worth the ride — just don’t expect the magic of episode one to sustain all the way through.
Best for fans of: reincarnation romance, chaebol rom-coms, fish-out-of-water comedy Watch it if you liked: Love to Hate You, Business Proposal, Queen of Tears
Have you watched My Royal Nemesis? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
