This Korean adaptation was not liked by a lot for its end but despite being a fan of happy endings, I think the conclusion to this was not only heartbreaking, but extremely beautiful, sad, nevertheless. I don't think I would have been this moved by the story if it did indeed have a typical happy ending.
To remember that Wang So, despite all his hardships, became the king only to lose the only thing that mattered to him in the entire world, still tears me apart. I cried for a week after I finished watching this show because that's how strong its impact is.
His character is written so well that you can't help by root for him from the very beginning. His character is seen to have developed and matured the most among all others.
STORY- The plot is very intriguing and keep you hooked with the greed of just ONE MORE EPISODE until you finish watching all in one go. And then you want more.
MUSIC- This show has one of the best musics I have seen in K Dramas.
ACTING- All the characters are top notch but Lee Joon Gi strikes out. Also, you cant help but fall in love with Byun Baek Hyun's innocent character.
REWATCH VALUE- I would place it pretty high because over the past 6 months of first watching this show, I have already seen it 3 times thus far.
If you want to cry your heart out, definitely give this a try. I might sound sadistic, but sometimes, shows like these act as a trigger for releasing burdens that have been cooped up for long.
For me, Moon Lovers is one of the greatest things I have ever seen in my life.
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This review may contain spoilers
I LOVED this drama. LOVED. LOVED. It is the only drama with a score as high as 9.5 on my own drama list. FULL DISCLOSURE: I had never watched or heard about the Chinese version before I watched MLSHR. I did not have an inkling of how it would end. I had no preconceived notions of what is "supposed" to happen.
I did not start out liking this drama, I confess. I watched it to gratify my friend who begged me to watch it just so she could have someone to discuss the drama with. The first few episodes didn't interest me much. It was fun, interesting, enjoyable with a few cliched moments but I didn't invest much in it emotionally and I thought that it would go in the makjang-ish direction.
Oh, how wrong I was. About halfway through the show (EP 9-10) when I had grown an emotional connection to the characters, learned to tell the princes apart (both physically and learn their different personalities), I knew this drama would be something special for me. There were moments before EP 10 which pulled on my heartstrings but I resisted them because I had almost made up my mind not to invest in this drama. But the drama pulled me in, it roped me in, it trapped me; I could barely resist. I let go. It was in EP 10 I let myself fall in love with this drama and let it take me where it was going.
Around EP 12-15, where I find most dramas drag and lag and slow down and a lot is very skippable and expected, this drama picks up its pace. There are unexpected twists and turns and the fast pace kept me hooked and wanting more.
EP 16-20 were a beautiful conclusion to this story. For me, the ending was heartbreaking but beautiful. Unexpected but strangely satisfying. In spite of the tragedy there was still reconciliation and hope.
The soundtrack was beautiful. CBX's For You after the last scene in EP 20 brought on the waterworks for me. It was a lively but romantic song that reminded us of the lighter first few episodes and so intensified the pain of the last few. Davichi's Forgetting You and Lee Hi's My Love were absolutely beautiful and have been on my playlist since November. Epik High and Lee Hi's Can You Hear My Heart was a beauty too, though not absolutely appropriate for the more solemn moments. Im Sun Hye's Will Be Back was the well known "Death" song of the series and just a bit emotionally manipulative but I still love it so much though. When it came to the score, Pastoral Morning seemed to carry so much nostalgia and hope in it.
All the flashbacks were relevant and beautiful. The theme of nostalgia, reminiscing and looking back on one's life were heavy in the last few episodes and it was so affecting because that's what we all do when anything (our lives, a stage in our lives, a programme) is coming to an end: look back.
The princes with their varying personalities were all a delight to watch. Wang Eun was very little brother. Wang Wook was the virtuous one. Wang Jung was steady, brave, a fighter. Baek Ah was so flower boy but so loyal. So loyal. (In fact, my friend and I joked that MLSHR is a love story between Baek Ah and Wang So in which Hae Soo features). Wang Moo was more "uninvolved in their little games but wish them well" older brother. Wang Yo was the bad guy you grow to feel pity for. Wang Won was his sheep. And Wang So. Wang So. How can put Wang So in words? There are no words.
He was unpredictable, likeable, determined to keep what was his, and most of all, relateable. He has insecurities and hurts but he faces the future with determination. He will love and protect the ones he loves until the end. At first, he seems like your cliched "arrogant with a good heart" male lead but he is so much more than that.
The series stayed with me for months after I had watched it. I have never watched a drama that was so difficult to forget. I read fan theories, campaigned for a season 2, tried to get my friends to watch it, read up on the histories of the characters, participated in forum discussions, had dreams about this drama (literally, dreams about this drama at night. In my sleep. Vivid REM dreams).
So, why am I not giving it a 10?
First, Hae Soo. the lead was actually one of the most forgettable people in this show. She is nice and even likeable but not particularly interesting because the events seem to be happening to her. She doesn't take an active role very often. She does a few times, though.
Second. The romance between Baek-Ah and Woo-hee is not developed well. Baek-Ah and Woo-Hee's love story interested me but left me confused a lot of the time. I am not necessarily asking for more screen time, just better clarifications about why they did certain things they did. (This is me trying not to include spoilers) Wang Eun and Soon Deok, for example, had a lot less screen time as a couple than they did, but their story made so much more SENSE to me than Baek-Ah's and Woo-Hee's.
Third. The drama was so reverse harem. I would have been more satisfied if one less prince had been in love with her.
For me, this drama was so satisfying because of how much MORE I wanted at the end. I know for some people, this makes it unsatisfying but not me. Quite the opposite, in fact.
I watched BBJX after this. I still preferred this version and was glad that they stuck to the plot while taking some liberties of their own. I like that the ending was not exactly the same and that her relationships with the princes, while generally sticking to the same story, was developed in a slightly different way. One missing thing was that she didn't have as close a relationship with 13th prince in the Korean one. I didn't miss it the first time I watched MLSHR but after I watched BBJX, I wished it had been present.
In conclusion, this drama is everything I expect from a tragic romance. Be prepared to fall into the characters and their world and their loves and hates and hopes and disappointments.
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Story - This drama for me is a total package. Comedy, Action, Historical, Romance, heavy Drama as in everything is here.
Acting/Cast - Very good actors even Idols are here like IU & Baekhyun, they both gave justice to their characters and special mentioned to my favorite actor Lee Joon Gi who really captured my heart after watching like (first 2 episodes).
Music - OST is love
Rewatch Value - I've watched this I think 5 or 6 times already and still can't move on..
Overall - Perfect dramas to watch for over and over
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Missing a lot of beats along the way
A modern woman fell into a river and wakes up in the Joseon period inhabiting another woman's body, Hae Soo. She gets involved with five princes whom she becomes friends to lovers, whilst enduring all sorts of palace political stuff. This is her story of being a very naive woman with modern sensibilities struggling to survive in palace life.The show is really beautiful and the music is really good, it's very emotional and elevates this show as a whole. The first 11 episodes are the best in my opinion. I like how believable all the character's motivations are, even the villains you understand why they're doing what they're doing. Afterward, there are a couple of time jumps and characters change, relationship dynamics change quite a bit, and it feels very detached from the first 11 episodes. Everything just kind of gets murky and lost its' focus. I don't think the time jump is suitable in this show because the first 10 episodes built my interest to see these characters' journeys in progress. I lost a lot of interest in the show and just stuck it out because of all of the goodwill for the characters. I needed to watch the to the end but the ending just wasn't satisfying. I was just unsatisfied with the conclusion of the relationship. I like their dynamic in the beginning much more and then it sort of changes like it just kind of happened. I didn't see her go from one love to the other, I didn't appreciate it. I feel like they're wasting such a great foundation they have built in the first 11 episodes.
(Spoilers ahead, rants ahead... XD)
I feel that the show as a whole is kind of missing the point as I don't feel like there was a reason for our female lead to go through all this hardship. She goes through so many sufferings and it just at the end there is no point in it all, especially if she wasn't gonna end up with her true love interest. Yes, she learned about ambition and the consequences of power but that is more relevant for the 4th prince. So it's just like I can't pinpoint exactly how the female leads character arc was. The show changed a lot and I am sad that it didn't leave a good impression on me at the end.
To not end up on a negative note, some of my favorite moments from the show. These are actually the little moments... so the first one is when Hae Soo makes the decision not to tell the 8th Prince when the king has died and she actually tells the 4th Prince I really enjoyed that part because she has some agency for herself in making that decision. I thought about the moment between her and the 4th Prince when she looks at him and she's like yes I'm gonna tell him the truth and like he recognizes the significance of her telling him the truth, I loved that entire scene!
OK, another moment is when she cuts herself to give herself a scar so she can't be married off to the 1st King. Oh! like the sound of the vase breaking and then she got a cut. That whole moment I thought it was really well done, it was so juicy. There's a lot of agency there that I really appreciated because she found a solution to her problem even though it wasn't the greatest solution but solved the problem.
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anyway not here to review about the Chinese version but the korean version. first of all i have to say, i loved this drama... i had stopped watching kdramas for almost seven years because it got so monotonous and boring, then came across this with no recommendation and no expectations i didn't even read the synopsis, and then wow just wow, the story got me hooked. coming to the second point, the cast... They were all pretty :) and then there's lee junki my all time favorite. but kang ha neul caught my eyes i loved him as wang wook, 8th prince. and iu i guess she did Ok
Lee junki was a standout though.
thirdly, the music the soundtracks... well some of them had English words and rap, which kind of didn't fit the historical settings but damn they are all so good, the soundtracks was one of the best I have to say.
and lastly i couldn't get over this drama for weeks. it left me shattered, normally I don't watch tragedy but this drama is worth it. worth all the tears and emotions u are going to invest.
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I would like to reiterate that this Korean version was not written by the original Bu Bu Jing Xing writer. This is entirely a Korean written drama. The biggest difference are the characters. The main male lead in this drama is a bit of a ruffian and pariah with tendencies towards brutality. The female lead of this drama is a weak character who is always the victim and never a success of her own (which is so unlike the female lead in BBJX!). Maybe the idea of a strong, arrogant, cold male with tendencies towards brutality and a weak, simpering, without backbone and a blur-bordering-on-being-stupid heroine appeals to the Korean audience as per the rich, arrogant, powerful, abusive chaebol guy and the poor, happy, innocent woman formula. In any case, the lack of strong lead characters (including that of the second male lead) totally spoiled this drama for me.
The charm and success of BBJX relied heavily on its unforgettable characters. The storyline of time-traveling and involvement in palace politics itself is not new and pretty 'standard' in the Chinese drama scene. Popular examples include Palace: Lock Heart, The Myth and the recent web-drama comedic hit Go Princess Go. The Chinese have been making such time-traveling dramas for decades now. What made BBJX achieved such a big success was mainly because of its unforgettable characters and not necessarily the storyline itself. The Koreans went and adapt the main idea of the story and the open ended ending but pretty much made a mess of all of its characters.
Do not get me wrong here. I am not comparing the Korean version with the Chinese version. To do so, will be like comparing chicken to duck. Both are two very different products although from the same story idea! I am merely stating that if the Koreans had decided to do a drama based on time-traveling, palace politics and romance - they could learn much from their Chinese counterparts about writing characters that create lasting and strong impacts instead of following the usual mold of what constitutes a successful Korean romance pairing (rich abusive guy with poor weak woman). I believe if they had dared to break away from this mold and give the audience a strong female character with a strong, upright and strategist of a male character against a kind but ambitious second male lead, the drama would have been a much bigger hit. The only characters that this drama did well are the characters of the 10th prince and his wife. To this day, I cannot decide if I like BBJX's 10th prince and wife better or this Korean version's 10th prince and wife. In both versions, the characters of the 10th prince and wife were given good justice although both had different stories and endings for the 10th prince and wife.
Acting/Cast: Most of the male casts did well, as did the supporting actresses. The female lead, however, was a total let down. She only had three expressions: shy smile, expressionless and shocked. Her body language was a bit stiff too - making it hard for me to be convinced that there's even chemistry between her and the male leads; hence making this so-called 'great romance that caused brothers to fight against each other for the throne' less convincing. Even the shocked look looked rather unconvincing. In cases like these, there are 3 possibilities: 1- This was how the character was depicted in the script, or 2- The actress is bad in acting and shouldn't be acting, or 3- Both 1 and 2. I do not know much about the female lead as I do not follow news of Korean young idols and since this is the first drama of hers that I'd watched, I cannot make a concrete judgment of her acting skills. The jury is out on this matter. What I can say for absolute certain was the lead female character was the reason why I dropped this drama after 6 episodes and only caught up after it has finished airing (with fingers firmly on the fast forward button!).
Music: Nothing that stuck in my head.
Rewatch value: I will not be re-watching this.
Overall: Enough said. I recommend that you go watch Bu Bu Jing Xing instead if you haven't watch it.
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Sigh, now I hope they make a special or a second season atleast. I'd love to see these amazing group in a modern setting! Their BTSes and photoshoot are everything that made me smile.
I wont really re watch it per say but I know I have a few scenes in my mind that make me smile but then what follows is disastorous so dunno if I'll be able to watch them freely lol. But one thing is sure, the beggining of the series, is worth it. It's everything!
I'd make the review short and just say, watch it if you like serious melodrama, with lots of good acting, twisted plots, borderline stupidity, a number of romances that make your heart ache (often with the same lead lol) and if you like historical setting.
I'll say one last thing. Moon lovers is one of those shows that makes you want to give it a 10 but then when you think back to all the heart aches it gave you, you reduce it to 8 lol. It's like an exboyfriend that you loved so much but he gave you a big ass heartache in the end! Sigh
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This review may contain spoilers
Let me start saying I didn't watch the other remake (or even the original one) or read the novel, so it was the first drama I watched with this story that was told plenty of times. And let me say this made me want to watch everything (including the chinese original, saddly I didn't find it yet). Scalert Heart has an overused plot, or at least that's the impression I've got after reading so many chinese novels with almost the exact same description. However, instead of China, it takes place in Goryeo and, unlike many heroines I've seen in these kind of novels, the main character seems rather docile and ingenue. Althought don't be fooled! This drama is a rollercoaster and it will make you cry more than an infant.
Let's start with the acting: what can I say except superb? I know that IU was not great at all, but at least she made a half decent job in some scenes, and her forever frightened face kind of mixed well with other scenes too. But the real star I'm talking about here is none other than Lee Joon Gi and his portrayal of the dark, traumatized and passionate Wang So. Seriously, he got me crying, smiling, squirming and cheering for him even though his decisions and actions weren't always likeable. And let me say that it's very difficult for me to feel this way about a character.
Other thing I really liked on this drama was how morally ambiguous every character was. Even some characters I didn't like from the beginning, I felt some sort of empathy for them (except Wang So's mother, that bitch). And their morally ambiguity is more than justified given how living on a palace, pratically sparring for the throne, is stressing. Really, I also liked how Hae Soo's love interest changed through episodes, which gave us a really well done love triangle. One thing I always hated on kdramas was how most of the time the second lead has no space on the female lead's heart except friendship, but this one did a good job by balancing both love interests instead of doing one-sided crushes.
The music was also addictive and made me feel warm and sad at the same time. I know it seems strange to mix such modern and upbeat music to a historical drama, but everything was mixed so well it gave me not only good additions to my playlist, but also made some scenes seem so much sweeter.
My only major complaint though, was how they dealt with Soo's time traveling and adjusting to a whole different era. It was like they began to develop it on the first few episodes, but then suddenly she was already used to everything and how everything worked. It just didn't feel realistic at all. I understand that with her more submissive, sensitive demeanor she can blend in easier, but her life suddenly changing from one thing to another was mostly handwaved.
And now to finish this review, I'll talk about the ending(spoiler free): I know many may complain about it, and I agree in some parts, but overall I think it was great. It gave me the goosebumps, made me cry a river, but still I wouldn't change a thing. That's how I feel about this drama: sure it had it's flaws, but the overall picture was so well done, it made me cry and have the feels for at least two days. Not every drama makes me like that.
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Moon Lovers is a remake of a Chinese drama with its story modified to fit the Goryeo setting. This one is a challenging story to execute with a lot of Goryeo princes to build up (and destroy too) and a modern girl transported to live in their period. I love how refreshing the first few episodes were. A female-centric story just lost its way along the way. I'd like to think that these amazing actors are shooting a different drama at some point because sometimes I don't even understand why a certain character acted that way. At some point some of the characters just went incoherent and crazy.
It's very rare to assemble such amazing cast and they really did a good job. I love Lee Jun-ki even before and I rarely watch sageuk, but if it's him, I'll surely try it out. Kang Haneul is the best! I've seen him in his other dramas but he just made me amazed in him. I'm totally sold with Wook's love story with Soo. I like Nam Joo-hyuk here as the only brother who's close with So and the bromance he briefly shared with Jung. There's a lot of amazing cast that I will no longer mention all of them. Even the portrayal of Yeon Hwa and the Queen Mother is an act to behold.
I love the story, the cast and acting, the music, the cinematography (I'm talking about shots of landscapes here), all of which are almost perfect for me.
What I really don't like about this is how the direction of the drama went. I don't think that this is a matter of messy writing cause I believe there's a limit on how a good drama can be ruined. The drama's greatest flaw will definitely be its editing which is a big part of its directing. I think SBS learned their lesson on having a fully pre-produced drama that came out half-baked. The confusion it cause when we had two different versions for a single version will never be justified. It may be unfair to the drama to be evaluated because of these things but since watching Korean drama should be a wholistic experience, I can't just ignore it.
I finished this drama definitely because of the great actors in it. Such an amazing display of talent there is in Korea. I will forever treasure it's characters and remember them on those bright moments at the beginning of the drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
Like many Reverse Harem anime/manga
I was excited to watch this show, in fact i tried to savor it for special occasion to watch it. As soon as i watched episode 2, i was praying for it not to fall into trap of those Shoujo anime/manga. Unfortunately, it followed the exact same pattern, very hard to watch all the Princes swarming the heroine and falling in love with her. Of course the one who is the black sheep and is the most outlier will eventually wins her heart etc etc. I can name 10 anime with exact same plot, going back in history, some political intrigue, some tear jerking story about the ML and eventual romance. I was hoping more from this highly praised kdrama (And I've watched over 50 shows), but this one really could not differentiate itself from some run off the mil Shoujo anime/manga.If you have a hard time believing me, just google "time travel reverse harem manga" and see for yourself.
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This review may contain spoilers
Ok, this is the first drama that i watch when it was still airing.. STORY
It is based on Bu Bu Jing Xin novel from China, so i cannot criticize it for it's weakness.
However, I still think that this show should have more episodes coz the few last episodes seem to be fast forwarded, everything happened so fast and somehow i don't understand why certain people did certain things? There are too many characters that have not been developed well enough, so I don't really have attachment with the characters here except maybe 4th Prince character lol.
As for Hae Soo character, I really dislike her character so much. I know the author of that novel created her that way, ok, ok, but i really don't like her. She is weak and too naive. Somehow her sense of justice is twisted too, i don't understand her action.. Or maybe since this show does not have many episodes, i still don't understand hae soo's character.. I don't know. I don't see what's the reason many princes fall for her. She is quite pitiful though, to be trapped between palace politics.
I like the politic but the politic is not deep enough, too focus on romance and romance as the reason for them to act. Certain part/scene seem to be forced just like that without any reasons to back up. Certain action is also questionable and without explanation why they do it. I still left with questions even though the drama has ended..
ACTING
Acting is good, especially for Lee Joon Gi and Kang Ha Neul. IU is also not bad, could be better.
Lee Jon Gi can act perfectly, he can show 4th prince character so well without being disrespectful.
MUSIC
Music is good from the beginning although some musics are too modern for this era.. So it's a bit out of place while listening it during the scene...hahahaha so weird, but if the songs are listened by itself, without the movie, they are catchy..
Re-watch
I don't really re-watch anything
OVERALL
My feeling while watching it just like a roller-coaster, sometimes annoyed, sad, angry, happy, disgusted etc.The ending is satisfying for me, coz i believe hae soo need to get a lesson for her poor actions, but i think she does not even realize what her mistakes. I don't really like the Chinese novel original story, But this show really bring Lee Joon Gi for more fame and I don't mind since he is such a talented actor..
I admit that this drama is great, they put everything in details, like the scenery, the costums, make up, the palace, really beautiful, but i really disike lead female character so it may harm my review..
I still recommend u to watch this drama, if u want something unpredictable u should watch this.
****SPOILERSSSSS!!!**************************************************************************************
When I said certain things seem to be forced without any reason, that Eun's death, oh come on, it's Yo who Killed him and why Eun asked So to finish him instead, it does not make sense.
I also don't understand why woo hee needs to sacrifice her life, yes she is baekje princess but there is other way to stop the war.
Don't understand why Queen Yoo hates her child 4th prince so much but love her other kids so much????! There is no reason at all, Why is she so cold blooded with her own blood? If he is not related to her, i would understand, but he is her own flesh and blood. Also don't understand Kang family, i thought they hate 4th prince but then why they are helping 4th prince to take the throne? I NEED TO SEE MORE WARS!! HAHAHA, i really hope to see how well they fight when 4th prince take the throne, but there is no scene like that hix!
Don't understand why finally Won drink poison when he read ChaeRyung's letter, i mean he is clearly a cruel person whose hobby is to kill his own brothers but why only now he is sad and regret of his action only because of 1 slave that he used before? No idea. And so many more that i could not explain one by one here. The writer nim is weird.
Jung is being a good husband, perhaps if Soo did not die, she will be happy with Jung... Too bad Soo does not have enough time to turn her affection to Jung hahaha
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To those who want it short and sweet, I think the most important thing I have to convey about SHR is that it captured the "magic" of a Kdrama. To those that say that the plot/characters/music/logic was bad, they are probably right. But despite all of that (and it's weird, because things like that usually bother me too), I just fell in love. I guess you could say it was the Hae Soo to my Wang So (sorry, I had to...).
~
More thoughts:
It was hard to rate this drama objectively. If I really think about it, there were times when the plot was off or the characters behaved a certain way to move the plot. That's why my overall rating is a subjective one (how much I enjoyed the drama) rather than an objective one (how good it actually was). Like I said, this was the type of drama where the parts didn't equal the sum of the whole.
I thought the acting was really good. I know IU's acting of Hae Soo and Hae Soo herself got some crititism. As far as IU goes, I thought she was able to show Soo's emotions well, along with her growth and life experiences. It was good enough for me.
And as for Hae Soo, she was good enough for me too. Sure, the actions she made could be called stupid or selfish. But when I look at her reasoning, her intentions or her emotions at the time, I can understand and relate to her, and even cheer her on. If I put myself in her shoes, I would probably behave much worse.
As a side note, I feel like there are a lot of light romcom-esque sagueks these days, but a true saguek tells the story of people trying to survive in a dangerous and volatile time period. Even though, yes, there were a lot of shallow elements, I felt that SHR fell in the latter category, and that's why I was able to accept Soo as a character. Because along with the people of the time, she was trying to survive. It was also why I was able to accept the total shift in tone of the drama and the ending.
Music: as some have stated, all that pop and rapping was probably out of place for a historical drama, but I loved the songs themselves and they added to the magic. It was one of those dramas where I had to get the OSTs. And the instrumental/other music was really good to.
As a side, the setting/scenary were just pure awesome. SHR definetely reaffirmed my love for Goryeo hair and clothes.
Rewatch: I usually never re-watch dramas. This one? I woudl start watch/skimming it again while waiting for it to update.
In summary, I think this is a drama where YMMV. Some loved it, others hated it, and in a few years, newcomers may wonder what all the hype was about.
As for me, I was having a phase where I was losing interest in a show halfway through. This was the drama that brought me out of it. You could say it felt like watching my first K-drama all over again.
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