Everyone Deserves A Slice of Happiness
I was so not over The King Eternal Monarch that I want to find another tv series that would be at par with it. Gladly, after reading some reviews and since I love IU and Lee Joon Gi for that matter, I decided to start on this series and embark on an adventure down to the time of Goryeo dynasty. I wasn’t disappointed. I easily breezed through all 20 episodes.This is another fantasy and historical tv series. Although the story is fictional, but the historical data were there. The show started with a scene from present times, our female lead, after saving a boy from drowning , found herself in the body of Lady Hae Soo (Lee Ji Eun or simply IU) because of a lunar eclipse. Set in the times of Goryeo Dynasty, Hae Soo have to accept the life she now has. Not a bad life at all considering she finds herself surrounded by handsome princes. One of which is married (8th Prince Wang Wook) to her cousin of where she is staying at the moment. She found herself mixed with the lives of each of these princes. She became a sister, a friend, a lover to each of these princes thus complicating their lives in the process. The plot and storyline is superb and intriguing. Deep, inner emotions are indeed lethal if bottled up. The choices we make in life eventually drives the wheel.
THE THRONE
FACT: This drama shows the succession of the throne from King Taejo, Hyejong, Jeongjong and Gwangjong). Makes you scared and lonely. It is indeed a lonely seat. Always the throne. Hard to get and harder to protect. Biggest question and where this show somehow revolve in: If you only have to choose? The heart or the throne?
MAIN CHARACTERS
I am still amazed of the undeniable chemistry of our two lead actors, IU and Lee Jong Gi. I watched their behind the scenes and I cannot believe that they could just laugh it off after a very intense and heart breaking scene. There is absolutely a switch whenever the director says “cut”. They automatically transforms to all goofiness, frown and tears wiped out.
(Who played Wang So) Lee Joon Gi’s spectrum is so versatile . He can smile and be sinister at the same time ... cry and laugh …the makings of a true and powerful king. He definitely have the skill for this role including the action and sword scenes since he does his own stunt!
IU or should I say, (Lee Ji Eun) since this is a historical drama and the director wants her to use her real name in the credits truly is adorable in this drama. I cannot get over the fact that she seems fragile at the same time strong enough and adorable enough to win the hearts of all princes, the crown prince included. Be it a friend, a confidant, a “doctor”, advisor and of course, lover to Wang So. I was really rooting for them and I wish that Hae Soo was just decisive on how she felt and have the courage to say it to the King. I wish they could just hug this out and just have a day of where they’ll just focus on their love for each other even for a day. But as reality hits them, a life of a king during the Goryeo times is but a lonely throne. Why does a king always need to sacrifice so much including his heart and things he lived for in order to protect the throne?
TURNING POINT
When she paved the way to take off his mask... when she looked at him in a different way and not just “pity”.
She look at him way beyond the obvious and the face , she saw a good person underneath.
EMOTIONS
Sometimes these Korean writers are so cruel. Can’t help but feel frustrated all emotions hit me from nowhere. Why can’t they just be true to themselves and be vulnerable at the same time .. He could have let her know that he is still watching from a distance . Is it destiny? Is it simply their fate?
Overall, I recommend people watch this(if you haven’t considering this was released 2016). Don’t get frustrated(like me, though). Just enjoy their journey together and focus on the happy times and sweet moments.
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Box of Tissue Required
This started gloomy then became fun then ended in so much tears.I’m recommending that if you haven’t seen this series, 20 episodes is not too much to invest time on. You either like it or you don’t. Hang in there til episode 5 at least if the beginning is too slow for you. It gets better and then you’ll be hooked.
The ending left me bewildered and maybe someone can explain: she came back to the future and for a year have been dreaming of Goryo adventure. She sells perfume and the guy who looked like the Goryo astronomer came to her telling her what her last name means in Goryo time. Came across the museum and then realized she’s a reincarnation. Started crying. It ended with The portrait transitioning to Goryo period. That’s it. It’s not a happy ending folks, confusing ending to me.
Overall it is an excellent film - so enjoy.
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I just wanna say that this is now one of my most favorites and unforgettable dramas of all time. There are maybe some challenges in the production like editing and such, but it doesn't really matter when in the end you get to feel and experience each characters strongly, specially the main leads and empathize with them through their hardships, feel their heartbreak as if it's your own and smile when they do in the story episode per episode. I'm not an expert to analyze whatever loopholes there may have been so, I can only share what I have experienced in watching this drama. That it has broken me to pieces and made me cry a river like a fool. And I wanna add also, this is where I discovered a rare gem of an actor and performer called Lee Joon Gi.
This is one great drama worth binge watching for! It's definitely on my rewatch list.
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Characters.
The casting was amazing but so random that it kinda distracted me, i'm mostly talking about the brothers, they were so different which was kinda the point of the show but it can really be an eyesore.
Overall i would definitely recommend, its heartbreaking, its beautiful and it takes you to another world. It completely absorbs you.
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This review may contain spoilers
The drama was like a roller coaster ride. It has its high and lows, to be more specific the drama has different hype all throughout its run. But overall it was a very good drama from start to finish. I was fascinated on how other couples would end but this drama has it's tragic genre which means there will be no happy ending at all. The later part of the series which start from the death of one of the prince until its finale was the most interesting part. In my opinion , some speculated that there will be season 2 but for me this drama already has the best ending to "end" this series. Was this review helpful to you?
Let me say this, the plot, actors, characters, music, production everything is so on point. Can't describe how beautiful and great it is, you wouldn't get it unless you watch it yourself. Experience this beautiful and happy suffering yourselves!
I never cried, laughed, got mad and got all emotional because of drama like how i did when i was watching MLSHR. This drama sure knows how to play with your heart and make you never forget about it. Yall who's going to watch it be prepared, cuz watching this drama really is an experience.
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They may have had some good times during the series but it was OKAY at best. I am a big fan of LJG and I am always blown away by his character in this drama. It is however had to suffer drastically with IU's serious lack in acting prowess. She was miserably overshadowed by almost all of the cast that even the Support Roles delivered better.
My Journey with this drama nonetheless is enjoyable. It is not something that I will definitely rewatch within the next few weeks but it delivered well enough to be highly recommended especially to Shakepearean trashes like myself.
The Bad
1. Mismatch - I couldn't say enough of how incompatible the pairing was. Not that IU is totally bad, its just that LJG's work deserved better, LJG was great in his craft and whenever the camera takes its turn into IU it all goes dark and gloomy. Luckily, LJG was enough to keep me from dropping this series entirely.
The Good
1. Music - OST is "G.O.L.D.".
2. Support - Talk about a villain who is indeed a villain and character you'd love to hate and love altogether, that is what this Drama promises, the support casts were perfect for their roles and regardless of which side they were in, you gotta love 'em. The Princes and their stories were incredible. It was delivered well and is a great twist from the main line of events without stealing the show entirely.
3. Bromance - Lee Joon Gi & Kang Ha Neul, Lee Joon Gi & Nam Joo Hyuk, Nam Joo Hyuk and Ji Soo. Bromance was sbutle and just the right amount given that the drama is a historical adaptation. But nonetheless they were beautiful.
The Great
1. THE ENDING.
A lot an be said by how almost all of Korean Dramas end in a unflattering manner regardless of how it was midway most end in "Meh". Even the 'Greats' were not an exclusion to BLAND endings (Goblin, My Love from Another Star, Warrior Baek Dong Soo, Secret Garden to name a few) while others are OKAY (DOTS, IRIS, Jewel In the Palace, Queen Seon Deok, Love Rain, Chicago Typewriter) and on my limited experience, some were closed GREAT (Six Flying Dragons, Jumong) and This drama falls among those that ended GREAT.
I love tragedies. and this show it may not have ended tragically as how Shakespeare would've done it but it ended with all the right things in the right time. It feels like a the final pieces of the puzzle were put into there rightful place without trying so hard. I hate having loopholes in the story and this drama leaving a gaping wide hole in the end is incredibly forgivable.
Recommendation:
It is known that historical adaptations are with blood. So if you are one who hates seeing blood or seeing innocent people or good looking princes being stabbed to death, tied, maimed and drowned, You might want to hold it in and watch it still. This drama will not disappoint given the right expectations.
Do not dream of the usually cliche among Korean Drama endings which is all bubblegum and honey sweet because it won't deliver that to you.
Now if you loved Leonardo Di Caprio in Romeo and Juliet, Titanic and The Revenant, then you should get on board and you'll definitely be up for a wonderful treat.
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For the first time I have fallen into the spell of romantic dramas.
I'm not the romantic type but historical dramas and time travel have always caught my attention so I decided to watch it.The script is quite simple, triangular relationships, betrayals and war also many misunderstandings, there were several historical mistakes but we know that most of the industry does. The characters are not the most elaborated but something that I have always loved is that the scriptwriters give a space to each character, that not everything revolves around the main character.
The music is a total winner, with a deluxe cast from the great SM artists to the UI itself. It is composed of very sweet and sad melodies that you will keep listening to until after the drama is over.
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Class act
For someone whose never into historical or fantasy, this one was a change especially at the first half of the story, it was really intriguing. What did not work for me is the fact that the initial worm relationship between princes/brothers did not stand long against the conspiracies for the throne, the violence, the exiling, I wish it would have. Standing out for top performance, Lee Joon-gi, then both Nam Joo-hyuk, and Ji Soo. However, if you don't like to shed some tears and get your heart broken over drama, this isn't for you. Still, you will lose seeing a great cast, and a great first half indeed.Was this review helpful to you?
Also the ending wasn't satisfying enough or at least not fully closed but it was acceptable in away
I hear there will be a season 2 but I don't think it would have the same affect as this one
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This review may contain spoilers
Hot actors alert
Ok sooo i heart about this drama , nirmally i am not into long historical drama's but after i saw 10 miles of peach bloasom i thought i could give this one a try too.Ok ok...leta be honest what motivated me the moat to watch this drama was the excessive amount of eyecandy!!! Omg!!! I was never bored watching this!!! I started saturday around 11:30 and watched non stop still i finished around sunday morning 4 oclock ( yes i did skip some fighting parts?)
I love the brotherhood the joy and laughter between the brothers in the beginning! I loved how they al got along well with the female lead. You could see how they shared a warm heart for her.
I also loved the fact that she didnt just loved once....but went on with her life when she felt betrayed...because of the timegabs you know they took her time to recover.
I could write so many things here but i think you should really invest some time and watch this drama!! It will not dissapoint you;
My favourite part in this drama at the end where he realizes that he just met his daughter!! The loving and warm eyes when he looked at her before he knew...and the awkward realisation that he has to respect the wishes of her mom...and keep her away from the palace....however still wants to be part of her live and lifts the banning of his brother so he can come with his daughter and visit him....???
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I found my favourite drama ever... and it hurts.
{I'LL WARN YOU ONCE I GO INTO SPOILERS}Hello. This year, for some reason, I haven't been writing reviews for every drama I watched. I think I got a bit lazy after watching so many dramas that didn't make me want to write a review for them. I watched many 8-star-worthy dramas in 2020, which was bittersweet. I felt like I was somewhat losing my deep interest in dramas because I had already watched the ones that would always stay in my top 10 list (is this sentence confusing? It is to me... I'm sorry hahaha). And then Moon Lovers came into my life. I don't know how I'm going to write a review for my favourite drama of all time but I knew I had to write one. So that I could later remember these feelings of when I first watched it when I rewatch it over and over again. Yes, this drama is flawed and I'll point that out later in this review. But no other drama could make me feel like this. This exact feeling I'm feeling right now after having binge-watched the show for three days. This feeling that I can't name but that I'll try to describe throughout this review.
Okay. Let me get into the review.
Background:
I never had any interest in watching this show. I thought period dramas weren't for me and I had a huge prejudice against this drama because of that- which is very ironic, considering many of my favourite dramas, such as Goblin and The Untamed, have the same elements of a period drama. I love history but I was scared I wouldn't understand the story or wouldn't be able to connect with the characters because of the setting. Therefore, I had been ignoring Moon Lovers since 2016, even though I've heard many amazing things about it. I only decided to watch it because, on Sunday (September 27 2020), my boyfriend made me watch The King and The Clown, a great movie that shoot Lee Joongi to fame overnight. I tried to resist it because it's also set in the ancient times but thankfully, my boyfriend insisted and I watched it. Lee Joongi's performance was... very touching? He left a great impression on me, that's for sure. And, suddenly, literally out of nowhere, I thought "He's in Moon Lovers, right? Why don't I watch that after I finish the dramas I'm currently watching?". I ended up watching it before finishing anything else. The power Lee Joongi holds!!!
Acting:
I was interested in the story from the very first minute. That scene with IU complaining about her life to the homeless man. I later found out that many people didn't like IU's acting and for that gave up on the drama. Wow, never have i disagreed with anyone more! I honestly think her performance was stunning. It didn't feel like acting so I was completely immersed in the drama from the very first scene. In fact, I loved every actor's performance in this show. Even the actors who were fairly new to the scene (like Baekhyun and JiSoo). I think everyone fit their roles very well and even though I hated some characters, I was very glad they were portrayed by those actors and actresses.
Lee Joongi took the best actor award for me, however that is only because he is absolutely insane. His facial expressions could rip my heart apart. How could is smile hurt more than when he cried??? Insane, that's what that man is. I'll now have to watch every single project he's in! Yay! Kang Haneul, Hong Jonghyun, the senior actors. Literally everyone. They made these characters come to life and I couldn't say enough good things about this cast. It was on point.
Characters:
Let me start off by saying that I love that every character had grey areas. No one only had white sides to them and no one had only black ones. Each character had flaws, ambitions, made mistakes and had a reasoning behind their actions. There were characters that I loved more than others but I know I couldn't just take one character out of the story because they all added something to it and I couldn't completely hate anyone because I could understand what motivated them to do what they did. That's one of the big reasons why this drama impacted me so much. How cruel, pure, passionate, ambitious and desperately human these characters were. I also love the fact that we got to watch them change throughout the show, even though it stings and we want to go back to how everyone was in the first few episodes. It hurt but it made sense. That's all I ask from a drama. On top of all that, the fact that women weren't portrayed negatively in this drama made me so happy! There were female characters that I "despised" but I can't deny they were powerful! There were many female characters I loved, such as Court Lady Oh and Lady Hae. Amazing. And the complexity of these characters... 4th prince So is one of those characters you never forget after you get to know them. But if I start ranting about him I'll never finish this review.
Plot:
The plot was huge. Very well written but sometimes they had to rush some things so that they could fit everything in 20 episodes. I wish they had taken their time to include the things I'll mention in the "Things I would change if I could" section. Overall, the plot was very smart and it made sense for the era that the story was set in and the characters' personalities and situations. It makes the viewers think about what they would do if they were in the characters' shoes. And call me crazy but if I could live in any drama and interact with any characters, I would choose this drama.
OH AND BY THE WAY!! The scenery was beautiful! The props too. Great production.
Soundtrack:
Never has a soundtrack fit a drama so well. There were some modern songs thrown in there, which, in my opinion, fit those scenes so well because Hae Soo had just arrived from the modern times and was filled with happiness and innocence. So the music was kind of funny and cute, in a way? And by the middle/end they weren't played anymore.
And the sad scenes hit differently because of the soundtrack. The songs were absolutely perfect to emphasize the emotions of each scene. Lovely.
Things I would change if I could: [THIS SECTION MAY INCLUDE SPOILERS]
-The fact that Hae Soo seemed to have forgotten her life in the modern times too swiftly. Like, she didn't even try to go back more than once. Also, she didn't seem to miss her family or friends and the only time she mentions anyone is when she mentions her brother when she has that conversation by the lake with So. I wish we had got to know her life before she went to Goryeo and that she had expressed more pain or fear for being there? At least in the beginning!
-Also, Hae Soo's personality changed quite drastically throughout the drama, which I understand since she went through a lot and grew up. But I wish she showed more of her former self. I'm not sure what I mean by this but yeah, she seemed a lot more like Court Lady Oh as time went by (which is probably what the writer wanted to show- the parallel between the two lovers of the Kings).
-I don't know if I would change this because that's what makes the 4th prince that mesmerising but the cruelty he showed when he became a king was scary. But he also had his reasoning behind his decisions... but... I guess I'm just used to the plain good male leads so So's decisions are a bit hard to take in but all of them make sense and they may seem cruel but what choice did he have?? Okay, I'm ranting now.
-A lot of shots were straight up ridiculous. When the 3rd prince "died" and fell off the cliff it wasn't shown! I was so frustrated haha. Also, when Hae Soo was writing the shots never seemed appropriate? Or when some characters came into some scenes. A bit awkward.
My favourite scenes: [THIS SECTION DEFINITELY INCLUDES SPOILERS]
- The deaths. I know it sounds a bit morbid but oh God, did I cry... They were really well done. Even those of the characters I didn't like were good. I have to say that the one I cried the most was Eun's death, along with his wife's. That was probably the moment I cried the most in the whole drama. What a tragic ending!"I'm all she has... I won't leave her alone." And then So (finishing) killing him... UGH!!!! So much pain. Just thinking about it breaks my heart. The song that was playing... AHHHHH it hurts.
-8th Prince Wook crying after his wife's death and realising he did love her but never got to tell her that.
-The snow scene with Hae Soo and Wook.
-The scene where Hae Soo and So met.
-The scene where Hae Soo and So reconcile and act all cute ):
-When the princes were playing together in the first few episodes.
-When 4th prince was doing the rain ritual and it started raining.
-Their daughter... and So asking Jung to come to the castle often with her... his smile... why must it hurt like this?
-The last scenes of the last episode. THEY. HURT. SO. MUCH. I. COULDN'T. BREATHE. Loved them and I will always remember them.
-To be honest, every scene. That's it. That's the section.
Random thoughts/observations: [SPOILERS]
-Ok but... did Ji Mong like Prince Moo??????? Guys... I squealed!!!
-Was that little girl Woo Hee's reincarnation? Heartbreaking.
-It hurt when So made love to the Queen. But it hurt more that he couldn't care less about his son. Poor boy. I wish he wasn't so cold to him but once again, So is a flawed character. After Hae Soo's death he must have lost the will to live and to love anyone else. It's just sad that his son will probably suffer as much as he did because he will feel rejected by his own father.
-The fact that he ended up alone in the end... all his brothers died or left him. The love of his life died too (or was unreachable). The astronomer and the general left too. My heart physically hurts just thinking about how lonely he was, from the very first episode. "The Lonely Wolf"...
There are so many things I want to talk about but my computer is already lagging because of how long this is hahaha help. I'll just say one more thing:
The ending:
[SPOILERS] I liked it. It hurt, for sure. But it hurt so good? OMG HOW CAN I EXPLAIN THIS? It's memorable. I'll never forget how it made me feel. This type of hurting... as if I was the one living this story. Of course I wish there was a second season (as long as it didn't ruin what this show did for me, of course). But I like how it's kind of open and lets the viewers imagine what could have happened. I like the fact that a second season is not necessary but that there's room for it to happen. Also, no one can convince me that there is anything more painfully beautiful as that last scene. Stunning. I can accept a sad ending when it's well done. It fit the story perfectly and that's all I can ask for. That said, I'll now go read the novel and hope for a more cheerful ending hahahaha it hurts. It hurts so much. I just wish it didn't end. Or that I could forget everything and watch it like it was the first time. It hurts. It physically hurts.
Remember the feeling I mentioned in the first paragraph of the review? There is a Portuguese word that is unique to the Portuguese language: "Saudade". That word describes the feeling of missing someone, something or a moment so deeply that you're filled with nostalgia and your heart aches. And usually that feeling stays with you and you have to carry it with you for the rest your life. I think that's the best way I can describe how this drama made me feel, and it can describe just as well the feelings the characters have for one another.
I just feel like this drama was tailored to fit the number one spot in my heart. I was certainly not expecting it but I'll forever be grateful that it exists and that I found my way to it.
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