Moonlight

Feeling disappointed with the plot and characters

I started watching "Moonlight" after finishing Esther Yu and Ding Yuxi's LGIEF. I loved their chemistry in LGEIF so I was eager to see more of it in this c-drama.

The first few episodes were intriguing and I liked how we were given tidbits about the publishing industry and what being an editor entails. The ML and FL's online friendship was also one aspect of the story that I loved. Plus the ML and his best friend's bromance of course.

The ML blushing and acting like a schoolgirl with a crush made me giggle and swing my legs too lol.

However, since I expected the ML to cut down on the cold rude love interest persona I was left annoyed and rolling my eyes at his behaviour. I thought he would cut down on it and show more tender vulnerable parts of himself to Chu Li (FL) after she moves into his house. But he doesn't. Instead he keeps demanding her time and attention, acts immature and petty when he doesn't get his way and is pretty one dimensional as far as episode 13.

Scenes where the ML showed more sides to his personality than the whole tsundere thing were far and far between. I can't see what the FL sees in him to be honest. Most well written dramas with cold and jerk MLs start to the 'thaw the ice' (generally speaking) after the ML and FL sort of become friends or tolerate each other's presence in some cases lol. This maintains the intrigue and keeps the watchers invested in the story.

I think the only time I felt invested or even mildly interested in the ML was to see how things will play out between his father and him. Both father and son have a superiority complex although the father's also a raging asshole to his son and has an even bigger superiority complex than ML. As the ML's exasperated mother rightly pointed out, both of them are like dictators. Poor woman is tired of their bullshit.

Another issue with the drama was that there were no ups or downs even by episode 13.

The good looks of the cast and their acting skills were the only things which kept me watching the show and spending 13 hours of my life on it.

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Loved it!!!!

One of my fav ML...love his drama...i saw this because of him but soon i loved all the characters. The story is amazing...i got know more about the writers world and the book publication process and everything.

The couple are cute their on screen scenes are so funny cite adorable and everything. This drama avoids misunderstanding which creates whole new mess thing so thank god for that.

I was hooked from 1 st ep to last ep....its just amazing. It will be worth of your times. All the couples in the drama are sooo cute and i love the friendship/brotherhood between both ML lead and 2 ML lead or second couple ML .
All the actors did an amazong job...the cast picked for this drama is so perfect. The songs are so catchy!!!
I loved the ending...dont worry guys,its a happy ending so go on ypu can watch it!!
I hope you all will like it.

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When pursing your dreams, do not give up

There are a lot to learn in this drama, not only its a very well paced one with great casts. It really teaches you to not give up on pursuing what you want to do. When you fall, it is never to late to get up. With people around you giving you support or not, always do what you believe and want to do.

The romance part in this series was good, you've got the rom-com part and one with regrets but nonetheless everything works well it in end.

As an avid reader, I would also say that I've got even more insights on how publishing work, how important is each and every step.

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Nice to Watch Fun Main Couple

This is a 9.5 for because I really enjoyed the watching Chu Li and Zhou Chan. It made up for all the things that annoyed me.

I liked Esther Yu and how she portrayed Chu Li. There are a lot of comments about her voice and all, but I think it fits with the overall and I didn’t mind it at all. You’d think that she was acting too cutesy, but as I said it just fits with the overall character. She also played well in parts when it called for serious scenes. I liked Chu Li’s character. In the beginning I thought she was going to be the dumb female character who will be a pushover and bullied in the workplace. She turned out to be someone smart and got things done in her own way, sometimes while being cutesy  I loved how she dealt with Zhou Chan’s tantrums; sometimes he doesn’t even realize he’d been had.

I like Ryan Ding so I just enjoyed watching him  but he played Zhou Chan well too. His subtle expressions that tell all.

Their relationship was refreshing to watch, they communicated with each other, considerate and supportive of each other. Even that breakup and getting back together moment was just right, they were both reasonable – “I’m mad at you and I’m showing it. Realize where you were wrong. Sincere apology accepted. Back together.” No unnecessary dragging out problems – what a relief cause that always happens when there are too many episodes.

As much as I enjoyed watching Chu Li and Zhou Chan, it exhausted me to watch Jiang Yu Cheng and Gu Bai Zhi. I won’t go into too many details, just thankful that they finally sorted it out – well during the last two (?) episodes.

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Sweet but long winded

Sweet romance but the leads took too long to confess their feelings. This whole drama have lots of incessant scenes and I found myself having to skip through everything because the second leads are really boring. Story is mediocre but at least the romance is about authors and editors, rather than the typical overbearing boss with clumsy employee. Female lead is smart and naive at the same time. She is very successful and capable but failed to realise that male lead lied to her when she confronted about his other identity. There were so many clues and the reasoning he gave her to brush her suspicion off were not convincing enough and she believed it. It was nice to see the female lead changing the male lead from a hot tempered, weak-willed, lazy, unromantic with zero social skills to someone romantic, heart warming and supportive boyfriend. Female lead is very capable, successful and smart and is a huge pillar of support for male lead. She’s extremely bubbly, adorable and cute. When both of them were at their lowest, both of them stayed strong together and female lead slowly climbed her way up. There were no break ups at all. The dog was really cute. The second leads were boring. Literally skipped their parts out as they were predictable. This drama could have shortened to 24 episodes but they choose to have 36 episodes of unnecessary scenes.

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Esther Yu and Ding Yuxi my cuties

Overall very enjoyable.
The first 16 episodes are enjoyable and engaging. The episodes after that feel like a drag, nothing exciting happens and it feels like nothing is really moving forward however, the last few episodes make up for it. Chu Li and Zhou Chuan's relationship and dynamic is so beautiful and fun to watch. I liked how Chu Li was able to pursue her dream of being an editor due to her persistence and determination to prove herself and work hard. Zhou Chuan's relationship with his father is also something that was beautifully cultivated and grown as the story progressed. A reminder that communication is utterly important! All the characters were well written and each character had something to learn from as you watch. The soundtrack is absolutely perfect. Would highly recommend watching!

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A dreamy and cute romance!

goodness me, what a delightful watch!

pros:
- wonderfully written characters who developed well as the episodes went on. there was a beautiful balance between romance and plot happenings.
- healthy relationship between the leads. it started off rocky with ZC’s very apparent daddy issues but I love how his character actually grew and matured while still maintaining a playful air! i love the trust and loyalty they had towards each other, with a sprinkle of healthy jealousy. it was so nice to watch <3
- the plot was actually good! i feel that often with cdramas, the romance and story can clash or be incompatible sometimes and i lose interest in one or the other after a bit but i enjoyed both in Moonlight! it was nice seeing some insight into the publishing world
- i loveeeee the beige/warm colour palette and aesthetics. so comforting :)
- the acting was great :D DYX has really nailed the loving gaze (reminds me of Mark Prin’s loving gazes haha) and his kisses are so good lol there were some bits from Esther’s side where i felt was a bit awkward? but overall, everyone did a good job.
- side characters were not jarring and i didn’t feel like they’re screentime was taking away from the leads’ storyline. well written once again!
- the natsume soseki references. ugh will never be soft for ‘the moon is beautiful tonight’ confessions.
- the ending was perfect! beautifully wrapped up :) love it when they end with them becoming a family and not just a wedding :D
- er gou. that’s it. that’s the tweet.

cons:
- i did skip Jiang yu cheng’s storyline and romance, it was so boring to me lol
- it got a *little* draggy near the middle before zhou chuan and chu li got together. they overused the interruption before the leads wanted to say smth trope and it got annoying after a point. nothing a good skip can’t solve though.
- sorry but zhou chuan’s style was horrendous LOL he’s meant 28 year old man they were dressing him like a 12 year old fortnite kids at times (what was with the hoodie + blazer/trench coat combo?!) esther’s styling was nice though.
- i am not a fan of babyish female leads and unfortunately chu li was just that. it took me at least 10 episodes to tolerate the baby voices, sounds, accent and mannerisms. while i still enjoyed her character in the end, i felt like her character could have done without it. it seems she always gets casted in these type of roles since her voice is very scratchy and squeaky and is so unpleasant to listen to when she wails. her acting is pretty good though so it didn’t ruin the drama for me in the end.

overall, a very smooth sailing drama and such a gem! i highly highly recommend it! 9/10

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