Queen In-hyun's Man VS Nine

Song Jae-jung is one of the best drama writers I know. The hit-maker of the decade is Kim Eun-sook, who most recently wrote Goblin but also popular shows like Secret Garden and Descended of the Sun - in a phrase, she creates popular epic romances. I personally love Park Hye-ryun, who wrote the fantasy-law drama I Hear Your Voice which is still incredibly precious to me today, as well as Pinocchio and Page Turner. Song Jae-jung's list of works is the shortest of these three. She most recently wrote W, but the best of her dramas are Queen In-hyun's Man and Nine. In fact, the reason I had such high expectations for W is because her previous works were flawless time-bending masterpieces.

Queen In-hyun's Man twists actual Korean history to make a thrilling and incredibly romantic drama. Essentially, about 300 years ago, Queen In-hyun was dethroned and replaced by scheming concubine Jang Hee-bin. The show tells this story from the perspective of intelligent and crafty scholar Kim Boong-do, who is faithful to the Queen. A girl as close to him as a little sister gives him a talisman in hopes that it will keep him safe, but it works better than that - everytime Boong-do faces death, he's transported 300 years into the future. There he meets actress Choi Hee-jin, who ironically just got her first drama role playing Queen In-hyun in a sageuk. She becomes his support in the present, where he uses books to guide him through his own time. It's only when Boong-do and Hee-jin fall in love that this dynamic stops working for time, and they both start to want more. The talisman thwarts their happiness over and over again.
  I love time-travel as a genre. The only problem I've had with these kinds of shows in the past, like Rooftop Prince, is that sometimes the writers just can't figure out how to explain themselves. Rooftop Prince is actually a great example of how the internal logic of the drama ultimately failed and deprived the audience of a happy ending. Queen In-hyun's Man is better than that, by leaps and bounds, because it was rock solid at the core and the logic behind the talisman's power was clever whilst easy to understand. In addition, Queen In-hyun's Man sported one of the most compelling romances I've ever seen. Their love felt real and ardent, so when time got in the way of their being together it was a formidable punch to my heart. This, frankly, was helped by the fact that Yoo In-na and Ji Hyun-woo actually fell in love on set!

Nine couldn't be more different from Queen In-hyun's Man. It revolves around reporter Park Sun-woo, who discovers his older brother (who disappeared years ago) was found dead in the Himalayas. He also finds out that his brother went their in the first place in hopes of acquiring nine incense sticks capable of sending him exactly twenty years into the past, which he hoped he could use to prevent their father from being killed, which broke their family. Sun-woo gets these incense sticks, but consequently learns the hard way that changing the past can never be a good thing. A few of his screw-ups include bringing his brother back to life (or rather, making it so he never died), and by doing so, turning the woman he loves into his niece. With the incense sending him exactly twenty years back each time Sun-woo can't fix the mistakes he's already made, and he only has a set number of chances. Or does he? (Oh, and by the way, the picture is of Sun-woo talking to his past self, if you weren't mind-blown already.)
  Unlike with Queen In-hyun's Man, I can say I was completely hooked by the end of the first episode, which set up Jung-woo's revenge scheme perfectly. The drama was just so addictive with it's quick plot and detailed concept of time. But Nine broke me a little - as amazing as it was, it was equally as painful. The incense were constantly screwing Sun-woo over, just as he'd recovered from his last hurdle. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who couldn't deal with that, especially since the ending was anything from happy. Speaking of that ending, though, I actually didn't hate it (which isn't like me whatsoever). The open ending hurt, but I loved the way it set up the story anew and gave the characters, and the audience, hope that they may eventually get that happy ending.

Both of these dramas are masterpieces in their own rights, but their set up for completely different audiences. Nine is dark, deep and reality-bending; made for those who want something that will make the cogs in their brain whirl at crazy speeds. Queen In-hyun's Man is for those who crave a romance that can conquer anything, even time and space. I hope one or both of the drama is right for you, because shows as great as these are rarely found.
  For another winning romance try Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu, and for thrills try Signal.