Fantasy romance drama 'Queen of the Ring' explores lookism

By Park Jin-hai

“Lookism” is the subject of fantasy romance “Queen of the Ring,” the final installment of the “Three Color Fantasy” drama trilogy by MBC and Naver.

The MBC drama premiering this Thursday stars actress Kim Seul-gi who will play the leading role of Mo Nan-hee, a plain-looking university student. Actor Ahn Hyo-seop will star as the love interest. The story is about Mo who is handed down a family ring, whose wearer can cast a love spell on the person who puts the ring on her.

“If a man puts a ring on a woman, its wearer looks like his ideal type. It tells much about lookism. Whenever people meet others, they tend to have prejudices based on looks. I wanted to deal with this prejudice,” said Kwon Sung-chang, director of the drama, during a press event at the broadcaster’s headquarters in Seoul, Monday. “People must have imagined that it would be great if they look ideal to the eyes of the person they love. While I am telling that story, I thought about something funny that also can give a strong impression to viewers at the same time.”

Kim said her role is customized for her. “After my debut in show business, I came to think I am not pretty at all. Since Mo is an average-looking girl, I thought that I can do this well.”

The nine-part drama had all its episodes pre-produced before the broadcast.

As a collaboration between MBC and web portal Naver, a few scenes of its first episode have been revealed already through Naver since Monday.

MBC aired an edited version of Naver’s web drama “Splash Splash Love” in 2015. Since then, the two companies have been seeking further collaborative projects to lure younger viewers who increasingly consume mobile video content.

Since it is a new broadcasting format, the previous two installments of “Three Color Fantasy” didn’t do well in the viewer ratings. But viewers’ responses online have not been as bad.

“I don’t feel much pressure on the part of the viewers, because it is a new attempt and late Thursday night is not the ideal time slot for a popular drama,” director Kwon said. “I think the drama itself is meaningful as it is a new shot and a collaboration with Naver.”