Nan-hee (played by Kim Seul-gi-I) is a college student with a problem. She's unattractive. By which I mean, she is not a tall model, which is a kind of arbitrary standard. Nan-hee has a great personality after all. No really, she's quite feisty and driven to succeed. It's just, her only apparent goal at the moment is to be conventionally attractive. But as it happens, Nan-hee's mother Je-hwa (played by Hwang Jeong-min-I) is in possession of a magical ring that can enchant a single man into thinking she's the most beautiful woman in the world.
The ethical implications of this are noted, if for now mostly ignored. Yes, Je-hwa's husband and Nan-hee's father Joong-heon (played by Jeon No-min) is under the effect of the ring's magical powers. And plenty of weirdness ensues as Nan-hee's crush Se-geon (played by Ahn Hyo-seop) quite literally sees Nan-hee as a completely different person when under the effects of the ring's spell.
The sheer awkwardness of this is hard to understate. Yes, Nan-hee is principally attracted to Se-geon on account of his fabulous physique, but recall that the crush only really starts when Se-geon somewhat heroically rescues Nan-hee from a disastrous situation at her part-time job. By using the ring, Nan-hee forces Se-geon to objectify her, just as she objectifies him, and makes it incredibly awkward for them to so much as ask for each other's names.
The concept in "Three Color Fantasy - Queen of the Ring" is great. Like, really really great. And Kim Seul-gi-I is the perfect actress for the role, managing to consistently be both cranky and cute at the exact same time. Nan-hee is a young woman completely unaware of how and why she can be attractive because she never sees herself in that kind of light. Tae-hyeon (played by Lee Tae-seon) is also a high point as Nan-hee's generally obnoxious and accidentally flirty best male friend.
The only real flaw in "Three Color Fantasy - Queen of the Ring" is that it's patently predictable. Like, how do we go from a set-up like this to anything except "true beauty is on the inside", possibly the single most eye-rolling cliché of them all? Ah, but even there the cliffhanger of the second episode sets up a potentially shocking plot twist. But even if that doesn't amount to much, "Three Color Fantasy - Queen of the Ring" is a lot of fun so far, and definitely worth keeping an eye on.
Source:HanCinema
