2012: The Year of Cable Dramas
*Warning: Contains spoilers from Descendents of the Sun!
We all know about the insane popularity of Descendants of the Sun (DoTS), from Song Joong Ki-related news popping up on our Facebook (and MDL) newsfeed every day, to seemingly ridiculous but true news articles regarding broken marriages (apparently some women were not satisfied with their husbands because they were not Captain Yoo Si Jin.) Also, the show has recorded 2 billion views on Chinese streaming website iQiyi, can you believe it? Seeing as the world has 7 billion people, it goes to show that a great deal of people were rewatching the episodes! Basically, all news articles regarding DoTS seem to be making a mountain out of a molehill. Ironically, my article is too. So the million-dollar question will be: Is this show worth the hype?
Let’s look at the characters. First, let’s start with Captain Yoo Si Jin, the captain that made us cringe with every corny joke, yet the very same man who made us wish that our boyfriends were as smooth as he was. I mean, look, really.
Can you shut me up this way too?
Way too smooth.
I guess Argus puts it best - “Big Boss. He’s smart, funny, mysterious. But, he has a lot of secrets. He’ll disappear from time to time, be hard to contact, then one day… pshhhhhhhh.” Yoo Si Jin was indeed a character written extremely attractively – a major sweet-talker, way too charming, but yet so mysterious. We know nothing about his background – only his father was mentioned, but nothing in-depth about his past and how he has developed as a person. Perhaps this makes us want to find out more, which is why he seems so attractive.
Next, let’s look at our seemingly money-faced Doctor Kang Mo Yeon, who at the same time has a strong, moral obligation to carry out her duty as a doctor. She’s not your usual heroine; she doesn’t hesitate to receive compliments, she puts on a front at times, she’s pretty stubborn, she appears to be chill about everything, she doesn’t mince her words, and the list goes on. We love her because she embodies the sass that we wish to have but yet is out of reach.
However, it’s not just the two leads that brought the show success. Our secondary couple was adorable; the over-enthusiastic Yoon Myeong Ju and the robotic So Dae Young captured our hearts as well. I appreciated the lack of a love triangle; I can't really imagine two guys fighting it out for Doctor Kang because that would really be pretty immature in the context of this show where everything hinges on life and death. And most importantly, there would be no bromance!
Not forgetting the Uruk medical team, their camaraderie was amazing and nothing felt out of place when we watched them interact with one another. Shoutout to Sang Hyun and Ja Ae for being the most comedic duo ever!! And also, Daniel Spencer (played by Jasper Cho), oh my goodness his accent was too dreamy, and he looks so good fixing anything, and everything. 
Oh, please fix mine? *Swoon*
Last but not least, we have our Special Forces boys – who knew military boys could look so good clearing mines? And even little Kim Gi Bum received such a detailed storyline of his own as well – from gangster to staff sergeant!
I would like this to be my morning view too.
As you can see, my opinion is pretty clear – the characters brought the show to life for me, I enjoyed every single interaction, every facial expression, every witty comment, etc. It may sound over-exaggerated, but I loved the character development in the show, and I would say that its popularity is well-deserved just for these lovely people.
However, I don’t have much praise for the plot itself. The loopholes are easy to identify, a couple of videos have been made about them already. However, I found it especially bad towards the end. I guess I can safely say that our two military boys are not your usual Special Forces men – they are capable of resurrection, they have all the luck in the world and they are able to survive any gunshot, bomb explosion, anything. Seriously.
Special mention to the new-found CPR technique that this drama taught me.
In all, I would say that while the hype is a given, judging by how well the characters were written and the fact that the actors really brought them to life (really, can you imagine anyone else as Captain Yoo?). But it definitely has been over-hyped – even though I love Song Joong Ki, seeing articles of him every single day is a little too much. The writing for the plot is not stellar either, there are many underrated works out there which have an almost flawless plot but they do not enjoy the same popularity that DoTS did.
I have been quite sad that this drama has received quite a bit of hate on the Internet for its immense popularity - people diss it for being over-hyped, undeserving etc., but really, do you dare say that you didn't enjoy it at all? :(
After all, who would say no to this?
Thanks for reading, this editorial is simply just one opinion out of the many in this world :)
What did you think of Descendants of the Sun?
