Genre : rom-com, medical, melodrama
Story : As the name suggests, it is a hospital on a ship for the rural islands not connected by the roads. I have to say this drama was planned out on a creative and unique note with a promise of delivering something different and they start it with the same energy. The characters have been dropped in for their duties who start their story with a lot of grumbling. A reckless surgeon, a warm-hearted Internal medicine doctor, a Korean herbal doctor and a dentist. The staff is well selected with a mature and experienced head nurse and an enthusiastic nurse who is excited about becoming a scrub nurse but only a few characters are well developed and the rest are just toppings on a sundae. The cliche factor isn't avoided with famous star-kids and the table is set. You start hating Ha Ji Won's character as Song Eun Jae but very soon it isn't necessary because Doctor Kwak is the cute but warm hearted caring doctor that is physically impossible but that's why dramas have the ideally perfect people i guess.
There are accidents, incidents, and a bunch of strange cases that can only happen in rural areas but the cliched endings are what get you bored after a while. This is an endearing watch but that's all. The excitement dies out after a while and you're left with sure-i'll-watch-it-meh. There are unnecessary love triangles and passionless pursuing and all that overlaps with the good characters you actually want to follow. Towards the end, the hospital politics decide it's time for the preface and you still know how it's going to end so you're watching it in the background while doing your work. The screenplay is ruined with tactless comedy and even Ha Ji Won loses out. The dialogues, cinematography and plot everything could have been better only if they had properly concentrated on the main story without poking the main couple for more.
Actors : This drama was waited more because of Ha Ji Won and she tries really hard to deliver it well. Her character as a reckless yet talented surgeon is not something you see regularly but her character shows how strong women can be, something she has done in most of her dramas. I am not going to blame her for her stunted dialogues that tried to make her look uptight but the beauty of a strong woman who cannot be perfect but i am going to comment on how the writer tried to bring about her imagination about the 'perfect' man/doctor out there and that's how Kwak Hyun was developed. What's shocking is that Kang Min Hyuk delivers it with his soft features and that slight smile with utmost perfection. There is a strange dignified maturity in their relationship that you normally don't see in k-dramas which is why i have no right to comment on the chemistry.
I would have talked about the characters more if they had been well written but somehow, they aren't exactly commendable.
Will i watch it again? It was a sleepy ride so no. (This is not good enough for the binge watch night so if you want one i would advice you to watch Emergency Couple.)
Will i recommend it to anyone? I don't think i would. There are better medical dramas out there like the good doctor.
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The major flaws are a reliance on tired tropes, an odd but thankfully short lived love triangle, an unnecessary addition of a messed up ex, over the top medical scenario (the teacher...you'll know it when you see it) that makes me dislike the female lead for a bit. Also, and no small thing, the drama is definitely too long. In addition, the writer didn't seem able to set a tone. A little medical, a little romance, a little comedy, a little melo, a little slice of life and so on. I'm not saying that can't work but this writer does not have the skills to pull it off. (Watch Doc Martin for that.) There seemed to be an effort to make it a little bit like every other successful medical drama that had come before instead of just making it his/her own. That's unfortunate.
Also, if there is one thing I could tell drama writers who are doing a medical show, it is this: hospital politics are always boring. The writer stayed away until toward the end and it was just blah and I skipped as much as I could. I finally figured out that I liked the story more when they were on the ship, and it slowed down when they were in the local hospital. The ship is what makes this scenario unique.
I stuck with the drama because I did like a lot of the first half of the drama even with some of the tropes. Unlike many who couldn't buy into the relationship between the two leads, I actually appreciated that it was low-key and sweet. I like that she was the surgeon and he the internal medicine doc and was a good guy. Normally in k-drama, he would be a jerk or tsundere or a genius surgeon. The age difference didn't bother me, because it didn't bother the characters as relayed by the actors. I also was fine with all the actors. I am middle of the road about HJW, but I liked her here and Kang Min Hyuk matched her low key character. Again, I do understand that many couldn't buy into their relationship, but this is what kept me in the drama until the end.
Well, kind of until the end. I am doing the review but - full disclosure - I did fast forward through a lot of the last 5 hours of drama (though I did watch the last episode). So I would say that if you figure out early on that you can't buy into this relationship, drop because there is not enough other stuff to keep you going because the romance is somewhat secondary for a chunk of the drama.
Overall, I think this was a missed opportunity by the writer. I kept thinking that I wanted to know more about what it was like on the Hospital Ship. What about storms? What happens if you date and break up and are stuck together? What happens when you get sick to death of one another? I get that it is a medical drama, but I would have liked to learned more about life on the ship and had some character development that way versus everyone and their dog associated with these people having some family/medical issue. Nonetheless, I did stick it out and I would give the first half a 7 and the second half a 6 so around 6.5.
Problems others had: Medical scenarios aren't realistic. I love not being in the profession and not having to care but, yeah, I get it.
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IT'S SO INSIGHTFUL
EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED WITH ONE ANOTHER
WE ALWAYS REGARD OUR PARENTS AS OUR PARENTS, BUT THEY STILL HAVE LIFE BEFORE WE WERE EVEN BORN
IT SHOWED WHAT PARENTS WOULD DO THEIR CHILDREN
DON'T GET ME STARTED WITH THE LOVE STORY
YOU WOULD DO ANYTHING TO THE ONES YOU LOVE
EVEN IF YOU KNOW THAT THE TWO OF YOU CAN'T BE TOGETHER
THE RIDERS
AERODYNAMICS HAHAAHAHA
THE SONG ARE LOVABLE
IT SHOWS THE SOULS OF THE PEOPLE WHO'VE WRITTEN IT
I LOVE IT OVERALL
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There's no.. -oomph- or manliness at all from Yo and frankly, I don't watch BL to see het.
Okay. Other than how I don't like the character dynamics/story-line - The script is nothing special and there are absolutely no lines that hooked me. I honestly can not remember a single line any one said whereas, I can't forget at least half a dozen lines in SOTUS) I'm going to give the actors some kudos because they're just going off the script and they did well with what they had, but the main characters were nothing special and therefore I can only shrug.
I can only say, don't waste your time watching this.
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This review may contain spoilers
Oh God, this show was such a mess.To start off with a nicer note, I'll talk about the drama's one and only saving grace: Lee Jun Ki. I am going to be honest, this was my first time watching him, and I was simply impressed. Not only is he a beautiful, beautiful man; he can also act like nobody's business. I also believe that even though he wasn't given much to work with, he tried his level best. And it showed, for the 4th Prince was the only character who I felt somewhat connected to. For me, this was a total case of liking the actor better than the character.
Next, I'd like to come at the people who gave so much flak to IU for her acting. Like, why y'all tripping? I mean her role wasn't even that hard, neither was it anything special. It was the same old 'bumbling, fumbling, self-righteous Mother Theresa level goodness' shebang that we've seen a billion times before. Every other actress in every other drama is doing it. It doesn't even require that much effort and for what it's worth I think IU handled it quite gracefully. People simply want to jump on the bandwagon of the 'singers can't act' stereotype and bash her, while ignoring the other much bigger problems with the show.
Speaking of problems, to be frank, this has to be one of the worst written shows I have ever watched. It's like the author had this vague idea of how to begin and how to end and so she bullshitted through the road in-between.
There is no character development whatsoever and convenient plot-lines are used time and time again to further the plot.
Want to give our hero the run-of-the-mill tragic pariah look?
No problem! Let's riddle him with some mommy issues and a scar to match.
Want to show our heroine change the hero's life by covering up that scar? Alrighty, let's make our heroine a cosmetician!
Want to show that everybody loves our heroine?
Let's make a harem of princes, throw some half hearted moments between them and take a leap; suggesting that they are suddenly so close that they would die for her!
The story is lacking villains?
Ugh, why not just bring back one that we already killed and got rid of before? We will just deem it a miracle of sorts and call it a day. Haha.
Uh oh, did our cranial light bulbs just fuse and we don't know how to prolong the show to 20 fucking episodes?
Nevermind. We always have good old flashbacks to help us through.
God, what a clusterfuck.
Everything was rushed and carelessly executed. They killed people just for emotional appeal. The relationships between characters wasn't fully explored. I mean, do you really expect my peepers to gush a waterfall if you scarcely show me a character; just enough so that he'll be in mind but not enough so that I would actually come to care for him, then in one random episode you show nothing but him and quickly kill him in the next to tug at my heartstrings? Nah boo.
Scarlet Heart was the definition of an ostentatious production. There was loud music flaring up out of nowhere to make scenes more dramatic, over-acting done by a lot of actors and numerous in your face close-up scenes. All these antics did well to suck up authenticity from the show and what you were left with in the end was superficial characters that are only pretty to look at.
Even the 4th Prince had major inconsistencies throughout. Many times, he seemed like a dumbed down version of Bidam from Queen Seon Duk. Thank goodness for LJK and his roguish charm, that he somehow managed to carry the show on his shoulders but ofcourse, one poor soul can do only so much.
The OST while itself brilliant, was also highly inappropriate for the time setting of the show. Do you really want me to swallow that a court lady in 18th, 19th century Goreo would be nodding her head and singing 'My Baby baby boy' in her moving carriage? Sorry, but I'm choking.
The story flows in fits and starts and the poorly executed time jumps don't necessarily help the case. Some aspects of the storyline had so much potential but the writers failed to tap into it. You could say that some scenes were well executed individually but they fell short at fitting together as a bigger picture.
It was crazy how sometimes, so much attention would be given to a supporting role and the main one's would be ignored. Or how important scenes would be inexplicably rushed while things that would be completely random would take up so much screen-time. The jumbled motivations and the fickle thought processes of all the characters reflected the confused mind of the writer.
When a show tries to elaborately sell me the fact that characters can fall from cliffs, get poisoned and stabbed in the heart and still survive, you know what, with some grievances intact I might actually buy it. But when the same show also tries to tell me that someone who got their knee banged up a bit years ago might, out of nowhere, lose the ability to walk or that heart-ache can cause people to have chronic heart diseases, I'm sorry but I'd just have to call the bullshit out.
Even though it was labeled as a period drama, it seemed like a parody of the genre. There were no intelligent palace politics or court intrigue. No cultural focus or attention to detail. All the antagonists were hare-brained idiots and the biggest enemy the good guys had to face was their own stupidity. Needless to say, they lost to it.
I don't consider myself a particularly hard person to move. Often little things touch me deeply and bring tears to my eyes but in this show- all these character deaths and tragedies- all I felt was a vague sense of detachment.
I am not gonna lie, the love story sure was cute. No matter how over-rated they get 'good girl-bad boy' romances will always have allure. And since the romance was all the drama had going for it, I'll give acknowledgment where it's due. There were scenes that made me smile and swoon but they weren't nearly enough to overcome all the weaknesses of the show.
Normally, I would give a show like this a much poorer rating but it's solely because of my love for LJK that I brought it up a notch. Also, I have to say that despite all its flaws, it did make me watch to the end. So all in all, you should enjoy Moon Lovers like you would enjoy a toddler's company: by being indulgent and not taking it too seriously.
P.S: Go easy on the 'This ain't helpful' button. I know this drama is a crowd favorite but I gotta tell as I feel it is. :)))
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I have to appreciate the story writer, script writer and the director for making every scene so realistic and to the point. There is no scene in the series where i thought, this series can be better without this scene. I loved it
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STORY: For me the story is a 9. I was not exactly hot on the idea of a love story between a doctor and a rich chaebol son with multiple personalities. Worst case? It would crash and burn. Best case? It would be great until it lost steam and fell apart. HOWEVER, this show lived up to it's expectations (for the most part). The show starts with a bang and then a few pieces seem slightly off but come together the more you watch, keeping the show interesting. The writing for this show is a major win. From action sequences, to questions that are answered and new questions that emerge, to dialogue this show has it all. I found myself much more engaged and hooked on it than I thought I would be. The writer(s) make it much more intense and emotionally involving than the summary lets on. My only problem is actually I wish it had been slightly longer in the long run or per episode because I feel there should have been more about each personality. I felt the answer of how to help came to fast and close to the end that I felt slightly cheated. The lead up to the end was great but the ending didn't quite do the whole show justice. If the other personalities had been more developed, closer to how Seki was so developed, it would have been perfect.
ACTING/CAST: No matter how well a show is written the can make or break it. I have to say this is a definite 10. The chemistry between everyone was absolutely the best. First and foremost, Ji Sung. Holy crap. The amount of thought and effort and work that goes into portraying one character to the best of your abilities is hard, let alone SEVEN characters. He gives so much to each one, even if they do not occur very often, that the depth and attachment you feel is mind blowing. An absolute job well done on his part. Hwang Hung Eum was also incredibly good with her role. I was worried the writer would create a cliche character that was dopey or a screw up because she was young in her field, or the character would be overshot and a bit too developed and mature. Hwang was neither. She did convey the traits of a young and immature/inexperienced girl and doctor at times but that was when it was called for. That choice led to a bigger choice of visible growth and maturity for the character as the show continued. She was a relatable character, and spunky enough and strong headed enough that I think even male audience members will enjoy her enough to connect to a certain level. She is not a weak character, though she has vulnerable moments. They were very subtle choices on the actresses part but they made the character more rounded. She was not merely a female lead that will fall in love, but a young doctor trying to save a patient and the child trying not to disappoint their parents or siblings. Family was also a very, very strong aspect of this show. From where it was lacking with some characters backgrounds and how it was strong in the lives of other characters. I am not the biggest fan of family things but this had enough to balance the intensity of the psychological pieces of the show. The sibling aspect between Park Seo Joon and Hwang Jung Eum was spot on. That chemistry was absolutely amazing from them, so subtle at times but also very explicit in others. They will forever be my sibling otp.
MUSIC: So, so good. I have not downloaded it, but I have some tracks saved from youtube. The placement was very good, enhancing scenes, and adding to character moments. Sometimes the songs would get stuck in my head as well. There was not one song that I found myself muting or skipping over, even with credits/end scenes/previews.
REWATCH: This score of 10 is based on REWATCH and BINGE potential. This show has a lot of rewatch potential, I have frequently found myself thinking I kinda want to watch it again. However, because it is 20 episodes a full rewatch would take some time. It is also a little intense at times so jumping in randomly would depend on the person. (Personally I like jumping in on an episode by what personality I feel like seeing; the personalities are memorable enough to kind of remember where they are in the show.) BINGE-ABILITY is very, very high and I recommend doing so.
Happy drama watching, my friends :D
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I think the actors did OK... but please don't compare Japanese's dramas to Korean's!! Because I feel like Japanese's they always try to make it as similar as possible to the original stories, and since they're usually based on famous manga they tend to exaggerate their expressions (maybe you can read some manga after this just to check if I was right xD) Oh and FYI if you didn't know, this one also based on famous manga with the same title :D
Nevertheless, this one is great to binge watch!! Especially if you're in "too lazy to think" condition!! Recommended...
NB: Sorry if I made grammar mistakes T.T
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The BGM and music probably does not affected me that much because I am into the story more than the music, but the background of the show is so colorful, and I would not mind to watch this show over and over again.
A movie you should watch if you want to take a brief break from study or work. It suits your weekend to-watch-list too ! ;)
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Cast: I have mixed feelings about the Cast. Let me begin with the Actors and Actresses I was looking out for. First I want to talk about one of my favourite Actors, Yeo Jingoo. I was expecting much because he did well in all the dramas I watched with him. And he didn't disappoint me. Jingoo is an excellent Actor. I was waiting for a romance drama in which he would play the main lead. I know he 20 years old but for his age he very mature so I hoped for him to get an adult role in the near future. Even though his role wasn't an adult because his role didn't changed he did very well. But he is one of the actors who have 'Problems' with their counterpart and that's makes me very sad and angry, too because he has so much potenzial.
The next Actor I was amazed by was Kim Jinwoo. I like him very much in Remember – War of the Son so I was excited how he would do. He is a very good Actor and I don't understand why he doesn't get any main roles in main time dramas. I mean he is over 30 and has so much potenzial that he could play a main role. He has some emotional scenes in this drama and in my opinion he is very good when it comes to emotions.
Kwang Dongyeon played one of Yeo Jingoos younger brothers who has some issues and a hard life after the death of his oldest brother. Dongyeon and Jingoo are the same age so I think it was a little strange that Dongyeon played an older person because he looks younger than Jingoo. He played his role with amazing skills, I could feel his emotions and I think he did very well.
The last Actor who was a reason for me to watch the drama til the end was Yoon Sunwoo. It was my first full drama with him and I think he as a very good Actor. I don't understand why he is so underrated, maybe my taste and eyes a bad...I watched some scenes of him in Moon Lovers (but I didn't watched the whole drama, it is on my plan to watch list) and I think he is good. In this drama he played the second oldest sibling of the Sung Family who becomes a doctor with success.
The two Sisters were plyed by Kim Gaeun and Kim Hyejoon. Both of them did very well. The other friends of Haesung (YJG) were played by Park Jinjoo (who did really well, too), Shin Sooho (was okay, but he didn't have many scenes) and Lee Shieon (who was my favourite friend after Kim Jinwoo).
The biggest disappointment were Lee Yeonhee and Ahn Jaehyun as well as the chemistry between the two leads. Honestly the best chemistry was between the male friends, the siblings and for the couples between Park Jinjoo x Lee Shieon and Kim Jinwoo x Kim Gaeun.
Music: I don‘t really remember the music…
Maybe you think now „Why did this person the drama a 7.5?“. And this is a question I am asking myself since I finished the drama. It is all the thanks to the male Cast (without Ahn Jaehyun). They saved this drama for me.
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PS. I saw comments saying they don't understand the plot and some scenes don't make any sense but I think you should rewatch it. I clearly understand the story.
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This drama was my literal everything after I had completed it. I had such high expectations for action dramas afterwards that none of them satisfied my craving for something that was like The K2. Now, a lot of people say that they were really disappointed in the drama, and lost interest but I don’t understand how. I binge watched the crap out of this, and finished the drama within the span of 3 days because that’s how invested I was. Every episode left me wanting more, and this is the true definition of an action drama. There was constant back to back action which is something you don’t typically see in Korean dramas, and the scenes were so well executed that it was hard to believe that you weren’t watching a normal action based American film (like Captain America, Kingsman, etc. you get my gist).
1. Story
Politics plays a pretty major role in this drama, and is the main focal point of it. I guess the right genre for this would be a political action. Although, it can be a pretty boring subject to cover, if you add in the whole backstabbing and scheming, it’s not all that bad. Now, most political based dramas share one thing in common and it’s the whole backstabbing and running for presidency kind of thing. The dad’s are usually class A a-holes, and the kids are really messed up. This drama followed that exact stereotype, but because there was a lot of action involved it made the whole concept more interesting to watch and follow.
I will say though, there were scenes that were really overplayed and at one point I was really sick and tired of Yoona’s character Anna. Something about the whole denial, and continuous screaming got to me and I was frustrated to the point of wanting to punch a wall. Of course it got better as we progressed, but it would’ve been nicer to see her character catch on and develop at the same pace as the others, although it could be the negative side affects of PTSD I suppose.
Overall the story wasn’t all that bad as people make it out to be, but it also has to do with perspective. Personally speaking I really enjoyed the way the story was played out, and found it to be quite interesting. There was a lot of action, and the way in which the characters developed left me very happy. I got to see the majority of them grow, and I got to watch some comedy unfold in this intense drama as well which was a plus. If you’re looking for something that’ll fill that craving for a good action film then watch this, if not then I would still give it a try just to see but I know a lot of people ended up not liking this drama.
2. Acting/Cast
The casting for this drama was perfect! There are 4 main characters that we focus on, and each of them executed their role perfectly. Everyone did an amazing job at bringing the characters to life, and I would like to give a round of applause to Ji Chang Wook. The fact that he practically did all of his stunts by himself is absolutely amazing! I can’t even describe the amount of awe I’m in because of it. Also, watch out for Song Yoon Ah because she completely blew me away with her acting in this drama. I cried so many times because of her, and I felt so many emotions because of her which made this drama an emotional rollercoaster. The feelings that you get for her character through this drama is amazing, I can’t even put it to words. Her character had so many layers that it was insane, and she was by far my most favorite “villain”.
3. Music
The soundtrack was great in my opinion. The songs fit each scene perfectly, and I’ve even added them into my drama soundtrack playlist because I really enjoyed them. Most dramas have songs that aren’t really rememberable, but I feel like the soundtrack for this was different. I thoroughly enjoyed each song, and the song that they used for the action scenes has got to be my favorite. It was the perfect fit, and I recommend checking out the soundtrack if you haven’t already.
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Then it was thunders which follows by some shine then rain. Then comes the obsessions which its actually Compelling to watch it happen. And it compells me to watch it from beginning to end again and again. When you finish, you understand in the end they still does love each other despite all the incidents, troubles, pain.
Its complicated yet simple. Love can make you do hurtful things like in the story. Then love turns to obsessive and hurt. Then hurt turns to sadness, but in the end they love each other no matter.
Dont get scared away by all the complicated or tragic implies on the summary. Because its worth your time to see its compelling, intriguing story.
The ending may make you curse but think happy thoughts! You can imagine it ended well/happy afterwards.
Anyway supposedly if following the novel it IS happily ever after. (I'll never stop hopin' the day allowing them to film continuous)
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