River Where the Moon Rises (2021)

Where the Moon Rises: A princess with a plan and a soft-hearted hero

🔹 Would I rewatch? Yes,

✨ What happens when a determined princess meets the kindest man in the kingdom, and they discover how love can change their paths?

📕 Overview 🎬
🔹 20 episodes, historical romance
🔹 At the time of this review, all episodes have aired
🔹 Adapted from the novel Princess Pyeonggang by Choi Sa Gyu
🔹 Kim So Hyun portrays Princess Pyeonggang, a character who is brave and dedicated to her country.
🔹 Na In Woo plays the character On Dal, who is gentle, loyal, and braver than he realizes.
🔹 The story begins when a princess loses her memory after a royal tour incident, grows up as Yeom Ga Jin, and later meets a peace-first young man.
🔹 Ideal for historical romance enthusiasts who enjoy court politics combined with a tender storyline.

🌸 How It Felt Watching 💙
🔹 Setup: a palace filled with tension, where a determined heroine is on a mission, and a quiet hero steps up to help her out, all while keeping his heart intact.
🔹 Viewing feel: warm romance intertwined with the stakes of a palace setting, with a few heavier moments introduced later on.
🔹 Themes explored include love, duty, and courage.
🔹 I liked their chemistry. Even when things slowed down later on, I kept tuning in to see what they were up to.

✨ Cast & Acting
🔹Kim So Hyun as Pyeonggang felt right from the first scene, strong yet tender.
🔹 Na In Woo portrays On Dal as a calm character who grows into his courage, showcasing strong chemistry.
🔹 Supporting cast: a well-balanced mix of allies and rivals that holds the drama together.

🎶OST
🔹 "I Become Love To You" by Zia
🔹 "Against The Wind" by Ahn Ye Eun
🔹 "Tears Of The Moon" by Kang Tae Kwan

🎞️ Production Style
🔹 Setting and mood: forest paths, rivers, and court halls that feel lived-in and authentic.
🔹 Costumes and sets: period armor and robes that are clearly visible on screen.
🔹 The rhythm is generally steady, but it slows down to a softer pace later in the run.

☕ Tea Notes
🔹 What worked well was that the characters felt authentic together, and she took the initiative in the story.
🔹 What didn't: I felt some repetition in the palace arc, and the pace slowed near the end for me
🔹 Would I rewatch? Yes

☕ SpillTheDramaTea's Rating: 8/10
🌿 Tea-Scale: A nice brew, I enjoyed it

✏️ As SpillTheDramaTea, I really loved getting cozy with a classic historical K-drama.

✨ In the mood for a brave princess and a kind-hearted hero who learns to stand up for himself?

Read More

this drama starts off very promising for me, I was looking forward on how their relationship would progress, from the main characters to the supporting ones as well, the political part was also very interesting. I was curious on how the whole storyline will unfold. Well, sadly, it didn't live up to my expectations. After around the 6th or 7th episode, I lost my interest, the whole storyline became so slow, I feel like nothing happen in some episodes to the point that I wasn't focusing at least 60% of the time. the main leads relationship was cute, i like them, but not like superrrr simping over them. the whole political things gets boring, nothing big was happening to make me excited for the next episode. also, i don't get why this drama have 20 episodes yet the writings at the end wasn't well written. The ending was kinda idk missing some umph. but the acting was amazingggg and the osts were good too. well, it was a mediocre saeguk drama for me, nothing too good or too bad, i honestly can't remember the storyline :')

Read More