So I ended up giving this an 8.5 Overall, this was an absolutely excellent drama. One of the best I have ever…
I completely agree with you! I can see that he had no loyalty or conscience at all, but he got so cocky all of a sudden. Maybe it's because almost everyone who could have had the chairman position was already dead, but it was still so weird to see him like that, like he finally took the mask off and showed his true rotten self. I think maybe he even was that kind of person, but it would have been nice to see a longer premise to that, it happened too fast. I am actually annoyed at what they did with Chae Yeong just as much. She changed too much all through the drama. From smart but pretending to be dumb to tough, to vulnerable, to cheerful and happy, all the while hiding her spiteful and remorseless attitude. She was a smart woman. I would have wanted to see her in a better light. I cannot see her fall into the cycle of revenge for her ex-husbands sake. She had too much wit for that. Well, all in all I think it was still a great drama! :)
Ending left me with a confused face... did she survive or not???
@Iainiwaku: Yes, she survived, she wakes up in the hospital and calls him by his name in her mind.
Which character do you mean with 'sister' by the way? The wife of the dead chairman? While I agree that it would have been nice to have a longer ending and see what everyone is up to, I really hated her guts in the end. I liked her at first and I felt sorry for her, but when she plotted the revenge for her husband, I thought it showed her true spiteful character. After so much suffering, she should have just let it go. Just the thought that she planned all that and made Yeo Jin get freaking CANCER, makes me sick. If a human being is capable of doing that, they don't deserve a second chance.
Finally another drama that held my attention all the way through to the end. I've been dropping dramas left and right, so this was just what I needed to get back in the game.
As some other people have already mentioned, the drama truly shines in the first couple of episodes. The comedy, the action, the melodrama, the music and the cinematography – everything is spot on, and you feel like you are witnessing the birth of a new masterpiece. However, you flip the page, and the direction of the drama suddenly takes an entirely new turn.
Contrary to other people here, I do not think the story turned boring or bland. While the latter episodes can by no means compare to the stunning start into the drama, they are still above average of what we get presented in K-drama land.
Even though it turns into a revenge drama and you might argue the focus of the main character also changes, it's still a fresh breeze in a chaebol world ruled by men, revenge plots driven by men, where hatred and cold-bloodedness are traits mainly expressed by men. Han Yeo-Jin is a character that breaks with the stereotypes of an idealistic, warm-hearted female lead, who fights for the weak and poor and would never use underhanded means that go against her ideology. Yeo-Jin is tough, powerful, adamant and, at times, even cruel. I loved her in that role, even though my heart broke for her at the same time. The relationship between her and Tae Hyun is one of such deep understanding, that it is even more painful to see them suffer.
The drama definitely has its flaws: repeated flashbacks, too many characters without a conscience (like, seriously, the amount of hateful and spiteful people in this drama is ridiculous), obvious plot-twists, an ending that left lose ends and could have been so much better... But despite all that, I really enjoyed it a lot, and I suffered and laughed with the characters, and Doo Cheol might just be one of the coolest characters in drama history!
Enjoyment is still the biggest factor in a show for me, so I really do recommend the drama. 8.5
I really want to watch it, but I am afraid it'll be too sad and break my heart ;'(
I don't doubt it's a great drama, but my great-grandfather had alzheimers and I still remember my family struggling with his illness. In the end he couldn't recognize any of us, not even his own wife. It's such a tragic illness. I am not sure I can take watching this drama...
I realized Yoo Shi Jin must be the first character in drama history that apologized for kissing the girl without her consent. I applaud the writers for tackling the romantic relationships so realistically. I can't even count the dramas where the girls had a kiss forced on them (kisses much more intense than what happened here), the guy gets slapped or worse, and they don't even apologize or mention it afterwards. Due to these kind of dramas, we tend to forget that a kiss is to be taken more seriously. Anyway, Yoo Shi Jin, you've earned my respect!
This is a cute little drama, but it's all very predictable, and for a sports drama it dealt with the struggles and difficulties only on the surface. Nothing about technique or strategies or even proper training schedules. It's a nice watch for romance, if you've got nothing better to watch (also, it's got Song Jae Rim, duh). 6.5 from me.
I loved this show! but the ending......not so much. I was shipping Shi Kyung and everything was going fine until…
I agree that it was a real mess, but I could definitely see the growing love between her and Hyun Myung before the final episode. I think it was supposed to build really slowly, but because the episodes got cut, the writers never got the chance to properly develop her feelings :( I think she disappeared because a small fraction of her heart was still with Shi Kyung and she came back after her mind was able to focus solely on Hyun Myung.... But yeah, the ending could have been so much better *sigh*
The drama was in grade 8, but now was for 4. Even with cutting episodes, I found this extremely bad end. Perhaps…
why tragedy, though, she comes back o.o I agree that the ending wasn't very good, but i don't think it's a tragedy. On the other hand, I think it makes more sense that she disappeared, because a small fraction of her heart still remained with Shi Kyung... I think she came back after she could focus solely on Hyun Myung. Weird ending still, but... xD
I was so so satisfied with this drama to be honest, even though they cut it I felt like the pacing was fine, (ok…
I was expecting it, but I felt startled, too. They didn't really explain it properly. I think Hyun Myung was right when he said that it would be her fault if she disappeared. After all, he didn't forget her for a year and kept the ring with him at all times. I am a bit dissatisfied with this odd ending, because she appears the same way she did the first time. I thought maybe this ending is supposed to symbolize how she comes back after all traces of Shi Kyung have disappeared from her mind, and she can devote herself to Hyun Myung. I think if that's the case, I would have chosen a different way to make her appear, like this time she forms from bubbles or something. Ahhh well, I loved this drama but yeah, the ending was a bit yuckyy...
I really, really enjoyed this little drama! If you're unsure about whether to watch it because people keep saying bad things about the ending: Watch it, but just with two things in mind.
1. Don't ship the wrong couple. It's really hard to guess who's the leading man in this drama. I did spoiler myself for the ending, so I was prepared from the start, but I guess I might have shipped her with the other guy if I hadn't known. On the other hand: This is one of the VERY few dramas where I whole heartedly loved both leading men. I would have been happy for her to end up with either of them, and all the romance scenes made me smile, no matter what the pairing was.
2. This drama has a very rushed last episode, because it was originally supposed to have more episodes. I think it's a shame, and it did feel very sudden, but I still loved episodes 1-9 and thought it was so refreshing, so I would still recommend it to everyone looking for a fun and happy romance and slice-of life drama! For a rom-com, thankfully there are no evil in-laws or parents, the friendships between the guys and girls are heartwearming and it can definitely lift you up when you're despairing in your career choices. I really wonder why it had such a bad rating in Korea, because I think it was really well done.
Of course there are some shortcomings, especially the ending and some other minor things, but it's a lovely drama.
May I know whether there is any romance in this drama?
Is there just no actual romance, or no ways of shipping at all? Like... sometimes they don't end up together and have no romance scenes, but you can feel the chemistry and the possibility for something more.
Can someone explain why the drama is called Descendants of the Sun?
@jinja b: And can you PLEASE stop being SO annoying? Why do you have to attack someone that is just giving their thoughts on something. I do not think there is an official release about the meaning of the name, so what's wrong with trying to decipher it. She nowhere claimed it to be 100% correct.
Anyway @LeeJaeShin & Samanvitha: I think about it a little differently. A 'Descendant' is someone from the same bloodline, an offspring, someone that 'came from a certain place'. All human beings can only survive because of the sunlight. The sun created all life, if you so will. So I think 'Descendants of the Sun' refers to the people in this drama that fight to protect the life on earth, that was given to them. I think it paints a beautiful and vivid image as well. A blazing sun that spills out its children onto the earth. Haha, or something like that...
Which character do you mean with 'sister' by the way? The wife of the dead chairman? While I agree that it would have been nice to have a longer ending and see what everyone is up to, I really hated her guts in the end. I liked her at first and I felt sorry for her, but when she plotted the revenge for her husband, I thought it showed her true spiteful character. After so much suffering, she should have just let it go. Just the thought that she planned all that and made Yeo Jin get freaking CANCER, makes me sick. If a human being is capable of doing that, they don't deserve a second chance.
As some other people have already mentioned, the drama truly shines in the first couple of episodes. The comedy, the action, the melodrama, the music and the cinematography – everything is spot on, and you feel like you are witnessing the birth of a new masterpiece. However, you flip the page, and the direction of the drama suddenly takes an entirely new turn.
Contrary to other people here, I do not think the story turned boring or bland. While the latter episodes can by no means compare to the stunning start into the drama, they are still above average of what we get presented in K-drama land.
Even though it turns into a revenge drama and you might argue the focus of the main character also changes, it's still a fresh breeze in a chaebol world ruled by men, revenge plots driven by men, where hatred and cold-bloodedness are traits mainly expressed by men. Han Yeo-Jin is a character that breaks with the stereotypes of an idealistic, warm-hearted female lead, who fights for the weak and poor and would never use underhanded means that go against her ideology. Yeo-Jin is tough, powerful, adamant and, at times, even cruel. I loved her in that role, even though my heart broke for her at the same time. The relationship between her and Tae Hyun is one of such deep understanding, that it is even more painful to see them suffer.
The drama definitely has its flaws: repeated flashbacks, too many characters without a conscience (like, seriously, the amount of hateful and spiteful people in this drama is ridiculous), obvious plot-twists, an ending that left lose ends and could have been so much better... But despite all that, I really enjoyed it a lot, and I suffered and laughed with the characters, and Doo Cheol might just be one of the coolest characters in drama history!
Enjoyment is still the biggest factor in a show for me, so I really do recommend the drama. 8.5
1. Don't ship the wrong couple. It's really hard to guess who's the leading man in this drama. I did spoiler myself for the ending, so I was prepared from the start, but I guess I might have shipped her with the other guy if I hadn't known. On the other hand: This is one of the VERY few dramas where I whole heartedly loved both leading men. I would have been happy for her to end up with either of them, and all the romance scenes made me smile, no matter what the pairing was.
2. This drama has a very rushed last episode, because it was originally supposed to have more episodes. I think it's a shame, and it did feel very sudden, but I still loved episodes 1-9 and thought it was so refreshing, so I would still recommend it to everyone looking for a fun and happy romance and slice-of life drama! For a rom-com, thankfully there are no evil in-laws or parents, the friendships between the guys and girls are heartwearming and it can definitely lift you up when you're despairing in your career choices. I really wonder why it had such a bad rating in Korea, because I think it was really well done.
Of course there are some shortcomings, especially the ending and some other minor things, but it's a lovely drama.
Anyway @LeeJaeShin & Samanvitha: I think about it a little differently. A 'Descendant' is someone from the same bloodline, an offspring, someone that 'came from a certain place'. All human beings can only survive because of the sunlight. The sun created all life, if you so will. So I think 'Descendants of the Sun' refers to the people in this drama that fight to protect the life on earth, that was given to them. I think it paints a beautiful and vivid image as well. A blazing sun that spills out its children onto the earth. Haha, or something like that...