Moon in the Day (2023)

The Love Story of a Curious Spirit

Surprisingly, the ratings for the drama "Moon In The Day" were really bad. It only got a rating of 7.7 on Mydramalist, and only 1.0 percent nationwide (according to AGB Nielson), not even in the top 20 in the Seoul area.

After watching, I just understood. Actor Kim Young-Dae was caught up in making the Korean drama Moon In The Day, which didn't really have a plot.

At the beginning of the drama, it is said that Han Joon-O, played by Kim Young-Dae, really hates Kang Young-Hwa (Pyo Ye-Jin) and even repeatedly intends to kill him. The reason was that Do Ha's spirit possessed Han Joon-O, believing that Kang Young-Hwa was the reincarnation of the woman who had killed him.

Strangely enough, in the middle of the drama, the fact that Han Ri-Ta, the spirit who experienced her 19th reincarnation in the form of Kang Young-Hwa, was revealed to be Do Ha's wife.

Or simply, 1,500 years ago Do Ha and Han Ri-Ta were a married couple who loved each other. The two of them were separated because of the actions of Do Ha's stepfather, who also appeared 1,500 years later as a curious spirit named Seok Cheol Hwan.

How could Do Ha, a spirit who lived 1,500 years ago, forget the embodiment of the wife he loved so much? Even willing to die for his wife.

As a result of this confusing plot, Kim Young-Dae was forced to act like he hated/antagonized Pyo Ye-Jin, changing to acting in love/infatuated with his co-star.

The audience was no less confused. The spiritual atmosphere changes according to the fragments that appear incomplete in each episode (cliffhanger). Makes you uncomfortable! While I was having fun listening to the love story of a pigeon duo who were often disturbed by an antagonist, suddenly I was thrown into the past.

Actually, it's a good idea. The cliffhanger in the Korean drama Moon In The Day is like a puzzle that is trying to be put together into one complete story. However, this series of misperceptions really tears the audience apart cruelly.

It's not surprising, even though Kim Young-Dae and Pyo Ye-Jin's acting didn't disappoint, their chemistry was a mess. After mutual repulsion, mutual attraction occurs. 😭😭

How can the director and scriptwriter be so cruel?

The next review can be read here: https://www.maria-g-soemitro.com/2024/05/moon-in-day-cerita-cinta-arwah-penasaran.html

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Not bad, but not that good as well.

This drama had immense potential and unfortunately it didn't utilize all or even most of it.
The story is fundamentally great and so is the acting, especially from Kim Young Dae. But in my opinion the directing and screenwriting are where this drama is lacking, had these two things been better, this could have easily been an unforgettable experience for the viewers. Instead, now it's just an average one.
I honestly wish the review's ratings had a 《Directing》category so we could rate that as well. Had that existed, my ending score for this drama would have been different. I honestly don't want to give a lower score to any of the other categories, as they were quite good. But the directing is just not doing it here for me. I'm a bit disappointed... Maybe it's because I had way too high expectations for this (I legitimately couldn'twait to watch this. I was super excited since I learnedit was being produced). It's not bad, I simply expected way more, like something with more mysterious or dark vibes, something to blow my away like Goblin did, also something with better special effects...
I ended up skipping a lot of scenes because of my boredom or frustration.
If anyone asked me about my thoughts on this, then I'd have to say: All in all not bad, but not that good as well.

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I am not happy with the ending

End disappointed me. Starting was the story was good. Modern era connected with historical era. Story of the prince who worked according to his father who was a king . The father was always cruel with his son . He made him doing the cruel thing and because of that the prince image infront of the public was a cruel . Because of this the female protagonist hated him . She killed him . Here there is a suspence which I will not reveal. His soul was not liberate . In every reincarnation of her his soul was always around her. In one of her reincarnation he got the body of dead person and since at that time he started taking revenge from her but since at that time gradually many things started reveal infront of him .

Two things not satisfied me here were her reason of killing him ,second what was the story between father and son why he made his son cruel infront of his people.

Story end with the scene if she didn't kill him the story of theirs would be different and their ending would be different.

The series left me puzzled when the female lead chose to end the life of the male lead, a moment depicted around the third or fourth last episode. The motive behind her action remained unclear to me. The notion that they could never meet led her to this drastic decision. In my view, it seemed more reasonable for her to place trust in him, or if trust was unattainable, they could have faced their fate together, finding solace in each other's company until their last breath.

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Love the lead couple - but ultimately dissapointing

Let me start with the good. There was great acting all around. I love the lead couple (Pro Ye-Jin and Kim Young-Dae), which is why my wife and I watched in the first place. And they were great. Also, the premise of the story was fun.

But...

First and foremost , there was too much sadness throughout the series with too little payoff at the end. The ending was very disappointing and NOT what we were hoping for. I won't spoil it, but gads, what a letdown. :-(

Also, although Mr. Kim, as usual, did a great job, his character was too morose and sullen through virtually the whole series. It gold pretty darn old after a while. He is much better in more upbeat roles. We absolutely LOVED him in Sh**ting Stars, where he was so fun and totally killed it!

Overall, the story was just not our cup of tea, I guess. So we won't be rewatching this one. Too bad.

If you are up for being down (ha ha) for 14 episodes, go for it. But don't expect to be happy at the end.

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This wonderful drama suffers from poor writing and poor chemistry

I wanted to love this drama so much. I do love major parts of it. The historical part of this story is fantastic. The slow burn, the looks, the evil dad, it's beautifully done. Kim Dae Young is a standout in this drama. He has such range. I don't know whether it was his choice or the director's choice to talk so slowly when he's Do Ha, but that choice aside, I loved him in this drama and I hope he gets a chance for another lead.

Pyo Ye Jin is a fantastic actress, but her character is so poorly written. She's so inconsistency written and made stupid or weak as a plot device, and that really bothers me. But also, I've seen Kim Dae Young in Sh**ting Stars, so I know he can have great chemistry with his leads, and kiss well. This drama's slow burn was amazing from his end, but I didn't quite believe Ye Jin's modern character. Also, the kiss scenes gave me major ick.

Honestly, it's a brilliant story, but I blame the directors and writers and editors for mangling it. There was no need for it to be so incredibly complicated, or for the multiple jumps back and forth. I think this would have done well as an 8 episode drama, with a tighter script it might have been better.

But I just loved the actual story and plot hidden underneath it all, and if you can manage it (I did by fast forwarding where they were just rehashing the same thing over and over again), there's a really great drama somewhere underneath the garbage piled on by the directors.

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A Melodrama that Missed

If you were to really look at the scope of this series, it feels like a melodramatic appeal from the ML perspective. The ML is tormented from beginning to end. Even the 'happy' moments are bittersweet. The OST was a bit nonexistent due to the dynamics of what the script was trying to convey. The leads didn't have great chemistry. However, they gave solid performances. The horror turn towards the end was expected due to the drag midway. Yet the end tried to do too much with too little. It was an assumptive 'extra' that wasn't needed. which made the drama fall short. This would have been better with an cleaner edit at 12episodes. Overall, this was okay.

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Must watch!!!

So i am not a review writing person but this time i felt to write about the review of this drama. Basically i decided to watch it because i saw reels about it on Instagram and i thought the story was good and captivating.
Without any extra talk i will like to straightforwardly tell you that despite of the hate comment or negative comments you must watch this drama and trust me you will nko regret it but if you have high expectations from this drama just like some famous kdrama's of the year then this drama will be not to your liking. The story is about how the male lead is attached as a lost soul to the female lead for 1500 years and first he thinks he wants the revenge as she killed him in the past but thats not the case. For the female lead she is the reincarnated women of han ri ta as you will watch it you will get to know and the story is little bit dragged and i dont want to give all the spoilers so just lastly i would like to tell that the plot was good and about the chemistry between the leads it was ok as i think they are not that experienced actors and i love how the male leads love is just unconditional for the female lead despite her behaviour and about the ending as kim do ha's soul disappear the real han joon oh doesn't remember her but still she lives for him and her wish for being together inthe next life comes true as they show us the glimpse of their next life as an ordinary people and i think it's up to us how should we think about the ending and i personally think that they made sure that in the next life they will be definitely together and spend the rest of their lives without any obstacles. Overall i would rate this 8 out of 10 and i am happy that i watched this drama

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Great Start, Confusing Progression

Moon in the Day started well and caught my attention right from the beginning. One of the best things about this show is the actors. They're talented and do a great job in their roles. Their acting made the characters come to life and added a lot to the show. In the beginning, the story was engaging and made me want to keep watching to see what happens next.

However, as the show went on, it started to get a bit confusing. There were too many flashbacks, which made it hard to follow the story sometimes. It felt like the same scenes were being shown over and over again. This repetition made the show less enjoyable as it progressed. Even though the actors were great, the way the story was told with all these flashbacks and repeat scenes made it harder to stay interested in what was going to happen.

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An iconic start followed by dismal second half

On the surface it looks like a common revenge theme drama, but it is a lot more. Case could made about various flaws of this - story too focused on main pairing, a simplistic story, not too much going on. In spite of these flaws this has been a mesmerising drama for me.

I was already a lot excited as it was Pyo Ye Jin's first drama where she takes a spot among first 2 leads in MDL casting list. Needless to say I've liked her role a lot in Taxi driver, Our blooming youth. I wish her luck for future successes.

Now coming back to this drama. It starts with your usual bickering ML-FL, but it takes a sudden turn. And we are introduced to their past lives. ML is a military general mired in a battle against rebels. And FL of course is somehow related to rebels. This is the past connection. Story goes forward, ML dies and blames FL for his death. He takes a solemn vow to exact revenge on FL.
Now, it's not a typical revenge. And this non-typicality of it makes it such a decent drama.

I initially gave it a 10 after first 4 episodes, but was heavily let down by second half. Major flaws of the drama would be the:
1. The unnecessary storyline of Han Min Oh
2. The execution of the past foster father's revenge

After introduction of above 2 storylines, even the main romance plot lost its lustre.

If you want to watch this drama, it's very good in first half. Rest you can skip or skimp.

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Absolutely great drama, smart and original - a Korean take on Romeo and. Juliet

To the persons who would pick this drama thinking it is light: it is not. It is not a romantic comedy (on the contrary to See you in my 19th life or Destined with you .
it is more a tragedy like Romeo and Juliet. They can’t love each other in the past, can’t in the present…. It is smart, very well constructed and makes perfect sense in every regard. It is impossible to guess what truly motivates the main protagonists in the past until ep. 11/14.
This drama is sad, a real tragedy took place in the past, the ML having no clue as to how to repair/end a terrible cycle repeating for the FL, not aware of it. This drama has the only ending that makes sense. In that regard, it is better than See you in my 19th life or Destined with you, whose tropes also use past reincarnations and doomed love stories. On another good note, the glimpse of her 20th life in the end is perfect …

After having watched the absolutely awesome c-drama « Wonderland of Love », I had difficulties finding a drama that captured my interest from the first moment…Moon in the day has done it. It is extremely original in its take of the Enemies to lovers trope in the past and present…maintaining the suspense as to why the ML has been killed & become a vengeful spirit while the other has been protected by a talisman to the end, without making it possible to guess what actually happened that resulted in the tragic past events …
Very smart storyline, very well constructed in its development and insertion of moments of their past lives when it is meaningful.
Kim Young Dae is excellent, leaving no doubt as who he is portraying at any moment …very charismatic, what a Fierce vs. Candid looks! Perfect in this role.
In general, the cast is just absolutely great. The range of emotions displayed by the main leads is a far cry from haters comments…their roles are difficult ones. Again, it is not a romantic comedy. Don’t be mistaken by the 1st episode…
the storyline is well balanced between past and present, …not messy at all, you just have to pay attention, …;) as it is not a shallow comedy after all… actually, it really makes you want to understand what really happened between the 2 in the past…(like the ML who doesn’t know why he has been killed, a bit like with « Destined with You » in which you have to wait until the last ep. To understand what happened between the 2)


(… Amazing the number of negative critics by haters who can’t have actually watched the series after ep1 considering the false remarks on the storyline or acting (no it’s not a question of taste)…

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Fumbles the basics

If there is a theme that has trod a well worn path in recent dramas, it is the wronged-in-a-prior-Joseon-era-life-reincarnated-to-seek-revenge setup. Certainly, some of the most recent productions have left room to improve on this plot but "Moon in the Day" never approaches doing anything remotely competently.

There's some shoddy special effects during a fire scene.

The flashbacks to Joseon era are tedious and circle over the same plot points repeatedly.

These flashbacks would be more of a distraction if the modern era scenes were any more compelling but, oy, those aren't much better.

The supporting cast is not great. Even the usually reliable Lee Joon Hyuk is cast as a humorless agency fixer and it's not a good fit.

Pyo Ye Jin is somehow supposed to be both an asskicking firefighter and a stereotypical helpless damsel in alternating scenes.

One or two of these flaws aren't fatal. Even all of them together might have made just been annoyances. But there's simply no way that any show can succeed with a lead as badly acted as Kim Young Dae does here. He can certainly crush the petulant, lazy narcissist that present day Han Jun Oh is. But then he's possessed by the spirit of the Joseon era warrior and it is hard to imagine a worse pairing of character and actor than this one. Taciturn? Grizzled? Intense? Nope. Nope. Nope.

So, there's nothing new plot-wise, it's choppily directed, alongside an uninspiring cast and there's not much left that can possibly turn it around for the show. Not recommended.

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