The Emperor: Owner of the Mask

 

The Emperor: Owner of the Mask  is a South Korean television series starring Yoo Seung-ho, Kim So-hyun, Kim Myung-soo, Yoon So-hee, Heo Joon-ho and Park Chul-min. It aired on MBC every Wednesday and Thursday at 22:00 (KST) from May 10, 2017 for 40 episodes.

The show was a domestic ratings hit, garnering an average rating of 12.4% and ranking as the 4th most watched series in Korea during 2017.

During the Joseon Dynasty, the long-awaited son of King Yi Yoon is born, but in exchange for its life, the king will hand over the power of the Bureau of Water Supply to the secret society "Pyunsoo Group" that controls the government. The king covers the Crown Prince’s face with a mask and raises him secretly in order to protect him from the Pyunsoo Group.

Sixteen years later, Crown Prince Yi Sun, who grew up as a respectable young man, removes his mask and left the palace secretly to go to the town to find out why he has been masked since he was born. The purpose is to meet scholar Master Woo Bo who is the only person who knows why.

Crown Prince Lee Sun then meets high-ranking official’s daughter Lady Han Ga-eun and a young man who has the same name as himself, Lee Sun, and deepens friendship with them.

After some time, the secret society Pyunsoo Group assassinates King Yi Yoon but Crown Prince Yi Sun escaped. The Pyunsoo Group put a fake king on the throne and controls this king and the whole Imperial Court by using a suspicious drug with poisonous properties. Having witnessed the people's suffering, the Crown Prince decides to devote himself to fight the Pyunsoo Group and reclaim his throne.

Main Cast

Yoo Seung-ho as Crown Prince Yi Sun, the real Crown Prince of Joseon and also known as the Chief Peddler.

 Kim So-hyun as Lady Han Ga-eun, daughter of Deputy Magistrate Han, one of the students of Master Woo Bo and childhood friend of commoner Yi Sun. She has wide knowledge of medicinal herbs.

 Kim Myung-soo as Commoner Yi-sun, initially worked as a water deliverer at the Bureau of Water Supply, student of Master Woo Bo and a childhood friend of Lady Ga Eun. He was planted as a fake king by Pyeon-soo group and this slowly gave birth to his greed and desire to become the true king of Joseon in order to earn Ga-eun's feelings, as partially driven by his jealousy towards Crown Prince Yi Sun and the manipulation of Kim Dae-mok.

Yoon So-hee as Kim Hwa-gun, granddaughter of Pyunsoo Group leader Dae-mok and head of all the merchants in Joseon. She fell in love with the Crown Prince at first sight.

 Heo Joon-ho as Kim Dae-mok head of the secret society “Pyunsoo Group.” He controls King Yi Yoon and the imperial court by using a mysterious drug with poisonous properties. He forgives no one when they betray Pyunsoo Group.

 Park Chul-min as Master Woo-bo, a scholar in medicine and well-versed in Western knowledge.

Despite differences in tone, the media noted the drama's similarities with KBS2's hit series Love in the Moonlight (2016) as both are set in Joseon era with young lead actors born in 1993 (Moonlight's Park Bo-gum, Emperor's Yoo Seung-ho) and 1999 (Moonlight's Kim Yoo-jung, Emperor's Kim So-hyun). Emperor also co-stars Park Chul-min who had a supporting role in Moonlight Interestingly, Park Chul-min portrays an antagonist and corrupt official in Moonlight, but in contrast, he plays a righteous man who was a trusted ally of the protagonist Crown Prince Yi Sun in Emperor.

The first script reading took place on December 23, 2016 at MBC Broadcasting Station in Sangam, Seoul, South Korea. The series was pre-produced with filming commencing in December 2016, and lasted six months The series reunited Kim So-hyun and Yoo Seung-ho who starred in Missing You (2013), and Kim Myung-soo and Yoon So-hee in The Day After We Broke Up (2016

The series was promoted heavily by MBC, with the first teaser released six months before its premiere at the MBC Drama Awards, where leads Yoo and Kim also served as presenters. There were also several exclusive Naver features and V Live broadcasts before and during its run.

Despite being touted as the next Love in the Moonlight (2016) which became a youth sageuk sensation, Emperor was not able to emulate Moonlight's success and only averaged modest ratings of 12.4%.Additionally, even though it topped ratings in its time slot, it was overtaken by its competitor in the important 20-49 year old demographic, as well as streaming, popularity, and brand reputation charts for consecutive weeks With the extensive promotion and hype the series received before premiere, its figures were underwhelming. Performances of the cast were praised, though audiences also stated their dissatisfaction with the story and the production as a whole. William Schwartz of HanCinema stated that the series is "irredeemably stupid", adding that "...the obstacles the characters run into are never clearly defined. It's one of the reasons why the resolutions in this drama are so unsatisfying. There's no tension.