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Season 1 of this show is about 4 kdrama actresses, all reasonably well known in the kdrama community and 2 of which are in their prime career with numerous primary lead roles in the last 5 yrs, who are somehow coerced to do a series where they train for one of South Korea's most challenging annual triathlons. They all know of each other but have never worked together previously. And they each have challenges which I will not spoil but they are formidable personal obstacles they have to overcome.

How to describe this show:

• love of friends
• sacrifice for each other
• drama
• excitement
• terror & fear a plenty
• triumph
• a river of tears
• and the gut wrenching toll of defeats and highs of victories.

In many respects even though this is somewhat of a documentary show it is the quintessential kdrama. The only aspect not in it is romance. There is the love & respect of 4 fish out of water actresses supporting each other on a journey that was more challenging then they ever imagined.

Kudos to their coach Kim Dong-hyun, a former UFC heavyweight fighter and the last person we might ever have thought to be a great coach for 4 women attempting to train for a triathlon. And it turns out he is fantastic. I have coached in both athletics & in business environments and I can say I learned many things from him.

This is a show you will binge. Episodes are long (made for 2 hr time slots) and often emotionally exhausting. It is a surprising ride in every good way. And you will finish with so much respect for Seol In Ah, Park Ju Hyun, Jin Seo Yun and Uee and five minutes after viewing likely be out trying to better yourself.

Season 2 (boxing) is now in middle of release and fyi, is no less thrilling.

Its only 2 episodes in but the show built impressively every step in these episodes. Some writers really fumble the initial steps of character development and your in the dark wondering who, how & why, but here the writers succeeded in developing their essence and backstory while moving the initial plotlines along handily.

The comedy was impressively pulled off especially by Yoon A. Every past criticism of being a beautiful Kpop artist with sub par acting holds no water here: physical and verbal comedy are both carried out with aplomb. The Emperor proves to be a handy foil until he finally gets his teeth and even then we feel for the fact underneath he is still a bit perplexed.

For those not familiar with Korean history it is true that a bit of the time period is confusing initially but as the 2nd episode progressed most was explained satisfactorily without causing the plot to drift sideways.

We also are teased with just enough foreshadowing to have a glimpse of some of the mayhem on its way, and it looks to be delicious!

There are tropes galore: a staple of kdrama. Well executed instead of cringe. Just because the kdrama favorite trope of time travel has again been utilized does not detract this time, thankfully.

If they can keep the momentum up for all twelve episodes Bon Appetite Your Majesty is going to a majestic ride and we will be thrilled.

The audience viewing numbers tell the tale even if one feels a singular review may be s suspect. The show picked up an impressive increase from Ep 1 to Ep 2 after the word of mouth circulated about the quality of the first episode. Boosting it to #3 Worldwide and #1 non english series in 89 countries on Netflix. Are tens of millions that much out to lunch? I think not in this case.

Such a fabulous show. Park Shin-Hye looks amazing from start to finish. Shin-Hye is just so breathtakingly beautiful and if your a fan this alone makes it a must watch. And pay close attention as she does a lot of facial acting in this series displaying her maturity as an actor - we are trying to figure out which there was more: outfit changes (has to be at least 200 and she nails everyone of them) or different expressions to match the circumstance. Really amazing acting.

Although there are romance elements, and the underlying theme is as with many Kdramas all about love of family and friends it is first and foremost a drama oriented about crime and consequences. This is a very violent show. It deals mainly with murder and punishment and for some the blood, gore and certain other displays may be difficult to watch.

The cast was great and there were many well developed supporting characters. Although the first season did give us a full story arc they left the window open for season 2 which has since been confirmed and I would assume will again be available on DisneyPlus where we viewed it. And this is absolutely worth celebrating. The next seasons cannot come to soon.

Best way to view if not a Korean speaker is Korean original language with English (or our language) subtitles.