Descendants of the Sun (2016)

Yuck!

I'll admit that I initially really enjoyed this drama. However, after watching it the second time, I thought it was way too cheesy to be enjoyable. The relationship dynamics between Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo in the drama, much like in real life, were too convoluted and I honestly thought that it was quite a toxic relationship. No communication, just petty tantrums here and there. Like why the heck are you getting mad at someone who's risking his life to save your ass? On the other hand, I much preferred Jin Goo and Kim Ji-won's relationship dynamics as it just seemed to be a more accurate portrayal of a relationship.

In terms of the story, I guess it was okay. But I didn't like the way Song Hye-kyo's character was portrayed. To me, her character just seemed dense, reckless, ungrateful, and toxic. It's like the directors were pushing for a strong female lead but it just completely fell through. If anything, Kim Ji-won's character was way more likeable.

The only redeeming thing about this drama was that the OSTs are pretty nice and well-placed throughout the drama.

In summary:
What i liked - Onew
What i disliked - Song Hye-kyo

Star of the show: ?

Rating: 6/10
Watch if you like toxic relationship dynamics

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This drama is the best ever!!!! You will not regret this!!!! Don't be fooled by the title (based on my experiences)!!!! This has absolutely everything!!!! The feelz!!!! The romance!!!! The morals!!!! It has everything!!!! XD XD XD The story line is great and I love how the characters grew together it's very touching!!!! The acting is 100% awesome like it's so good that you can really see the characters through them. They bring out the character very professionally. The music is the best ever, once you start hearing it you'll never want to stop. XD I've watched this only once and I'm still not over it, in fact I'm waiting for season 2 like I'm dying for it XD XD XD Overall it is more than 100% it has some very good morals too about life, love and decisions :) If you're not watching this you're missing alot, like A LOT!!!! Watch it, it is very much worth your time :)

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I love this show. It became one of my favorite drama from the first moment i watched it and I believe I have re-watched it at least 3 or 4 times since then and I usually don't re watch things.

For a drama to be a 10 for me it isn't that it's perfect no media is perfect. It's how engrossed I was in the story that I didn't notice or care about the faults. And this show just had me from the get go. The story was extremely charming and the relationship of both the main leads and the side characters were well developed and made me really route for them.
The acting was great they got really amazing actors for all the characters.
This show has one of my favorite OST's of all time even if you have no interest in the show I would highly recommend the OST.

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Descendants of the Sun is probably one of the most popular Kdramas as of date. That's what you can expect when you pair up Song Hye Kyo and Song Jong Ki. The story was unique, and the whole plot didn't have any plot holes. The problem here is that after the core 4 (Song Hye Kyo, Song Jong Ki, Kim Ji Won, and Jin Goo), the other supporting characters failed to deliver the same level of emotion. Another problem of the show is that like any other non-fantasy Kdramas, the rewatch value struggles a lot because nothing will entice you back once you know how the story unfolds.

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Bestest chemistry between the Leads

i have watched it so many times......till now,when ever i feel bored,this amaxing classic piece will give you happiness always🤧what i Most liked about is the chemistry between the Leads(but they divorced in reality 😥)

and this is the first drama where i liked the 2nd lead couple so much 👌👌👌👌💚

the female leads character was so strong ...i think it was equal to male lead,
that is the greates thing which i observed in this drama
the characters feels mature
all acted so well
and this drama desrves all the love and appreciation from people all over the world

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I'm three years late to this drama but I watched it in three days and despite its flaws, loved it. I loved so many characters, I laughed out loud so many times, and the OST is amazing.

I hadn't seen a drama with Song Joong Ki before, but he played the charming and brave Yoo Shi Jin so perfectly. I am officially a huge fan of him now. The friendship between Yoo Shi Jin and Seo Dae Yeong is so precious and funny and I wish they had more scenes together. For the romance in this drama, I am not a big fan of Song Hye Kyo and I didn't care for her character Dr. Kang Mo Yeon. I only rooted for her and Yoo Shi Jin because I loved the latter so much. BUT I did adore Kim Ji Won as Yoon Myung Ju and I was constantly waiting for more scenes with her and Seo Dae Yeong.

For both of the romance storylines, the story was pretty repetitive and the drama only feels so fast-paced because of all the action. It was sometimes too fast-paced with one disaster following another way too quickly and then being resolved just as quickly. It's unfortunate that many of Yoon Myung Ju and Seo Dae Yeong's most interesting moments were in the flashbacks but I am grateful for those. There are definitely moments that seemed so unrealistic, especially in some of the medical scenes.

The supporting cast was pretty strong. I loved Private Kim Gi Bum and Dr. Kang Mo Yeon's Urk team. I'm a fan of SHINee and I was impressed by Onew's performance as well as the depth of his character's storyline. Dr. Song and Ha Ja Ae were so cute.

The ending was super bizarre though and the last story arc felt so rushed so that was disappointing, but there are still enough moments that I loved for this to leave a good impression on me.

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Descendants of the Mafia

He is her everything


Story has obvious flaws but enjoyable. Sometimes the pacing was abit scuffed. I feel like one of the events that happens feels like its happening over a year or something. When in the show its actually a month or something like that. Character continuity and them referencing things said in previous episodes was quite fun to watch.
Acting was a bit goofy at times. I find that the villains had better acting. The script was funny and well written. Music was peak. Osts were used well to fit the mood of the show or for dramatic purposes.
Minus 1 point for no title drop.
Overall very enjoyable watch. 8/10

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So, here I am. Two years on the site and 3 years watching South Korean media and I finally watch “Descendants of the Sun”. With an average rating of 8.8/10 over 36,639 users, this seemed like it would be an amazing watch.

Now, it was pretty good, but not amazing.

First of all, I really, really did like this series. I thought it was pretty good for a few reasons.

The main reason, in fact is that, romance is not my genre. At all.
It is not something I willingly sit and watch (and truth be told, I did only watch this for Lee Jin Ki as Lee Chi Hoon). Now, normally, I’d have thrown the towel in as the romance started going, rolling my eyes, sighing heavily and coming back to this after a few months and struggled through it for the sake of completing it. For “Descendants”? I found there was actually a lot of other sub-plots going on that allowed me to remain glued to my screen and involved. The action plots were pretty superb, the medical knowledge was pretty on point with very little mistakes, and the disaster line made me cry over three episodes more times than I can count.

However, I have some qualms that really knocked the rating down for me.

On the “Descendants” media page, we’re given the tag ‘strong female lead’. I’m sorry but Kang Mo Yeon hating most men until she falls in love, meanwhile being a horrendous jealous pathetic woman constantly talking behind other’s backs just because they’re more successful than her is not in any form a strong woman. This was exhausting and I actually cared less about her than most of the characters. Romance wise, all I cared about was the third story line – not the second leads, but Song Sang Hyeon and Ha Ja Ae. I felt I connected more to their story than I did the whole fall in love romance line going on with Yoo Shi Jin and Mo Yeon. Eye rolling and boring, if I’m totally honest.
This goes the same for Dae Yeong and Myung Ju… why are they acting like cat and mouse and they despise each other when? It made no sense, and they were all boring save for Sang Hyeon and Ja Ae.

Secondly, again, the romance was just everywhere. She hates him, she wants to go on a date with him, he tells her he has a very important job, she respects he has a very important job, he goes to do his job, she gets annoyed, and breaks it off, then suddenly they’re paired up again and falling for each other all over again? Come on, at least be slightly more realistic than this. As much as I loved the acting from these Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo, I really didn’t feel any chemistry between the characters and it drove me up the wall. I also felt Jin Goo and Kim Ji Won had no chemistry between their characters; save the one hazmat scene, I didn’t feel any other feelings for them.

Other than these two points? I loved the drama. I loved the rest of it, I loved the characters, I loved so much about this. It’s just a shame that the two main points let me down quite a bit, but I would quite happily rewatch this in the future. A solid 7.5/10.

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Mixed Feelings

Let's talk about the romance—or the lack of it. For a drama that is classified as a romance, it didn't feel like one. By the end of the series, I found myself more interested in Dae Young and Myung Jeo’s relationship than in that of Shi Jin and Mo Yeon. They seemed like the main couple, while Shi Jin and Mo Yeon felt secondary.
There were almost no truly romantic scenes, and the few that existed were repetitive and dull. Strangely, for someone like me who is a romantic at heart, I was more invested in the action than the romance, which was disappointing. Every interaction between Shi Jin and Mo Yeon felt uninspired and lackluster. By the end of the drama, it seemed like their relationship hadn't progressed at all; in fact, it felt stagnant. Instead of improving as they got to know each other, their connection seemed to deteriorate. The chemistry they had at the beginning just seemed to vanish.

The acting was a mixed bag. Yoo Shi Jin portrayed his character as a boyish yet badass Special Ops Captain, but at times, he came off as more childish than mature. There was a point where it felt like he was acting like a teenager in high school, which was disappointing given the character's potential established at the beginning of the story. Additionally, he took very little initiative in the romance between his character and Dr. Kang.
Mo Yeon, who played the doctor, delivered her role well, but I wasn't particularly fond of her character arc. Her emotions seemed inconsistent; one moment she was angry, and the next, she warmed up again. She would push Shi Jin away, only to run back to him shortly after. This back-and-forth was quite confusing, and I struggled to connect with her as a character. It felt like she couldn't decide what direction she wanted her character to take, which ultimately frustrated me.

In my opinion, the story was well-written. After finishing the drama, I found myself wanting more, particularly regarding the action. I was curious about the events that occurred during the year Shi Jin and Dae Young were missing. I wanted to learn more about what exactly happened to them, how they managed to escape with the help of Shi Jin's "friend", and the impact it had on their mental states. The ending felt rushed and downplayed. Additionally, the reunion between the two couples seemed bland and lacked emotional depth. I also found it strange that Shi Jin got promoted while Dae Young did not. This was really odd for me.

Overall, this drama was enjoyable, but it really fell short in the romance and chemistry department. The action sequences were impressive, and the combination of action, politics, and military elements is what kept me engaged. I don’t think this can truly be classified as a romance drama. The romantic storyline felt quite flat for me, to the point where I found the romance between the secondary leads more compelling than that of the main characters. While I would still recommend this drama, if you are specifically looking for a romantic drama with great chemistry, you might want to look elsewhere.

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I can perfectly understand why this drama is so popular: the brilliant cast, a really well written story of one of the most original kdrama screenwriters and quite rare in Asian dramas camp the war thematic. I really watched this drama with a great pleasure, only that thinking about it, firstly come to mi mind this adolescent love-story conception when a kiss acquires more significance when all the war. Or to be precise, when the love between lovers becomes so prudish that they, even after crossing the most risky situations, still feel to embarrassed to make love, as it were much more fearsome than all the danger they survived. And the most terrible that this prudish behavior occupies the center of the drama in like two or three episodes. It's too much, especially thinking about the age of the characters.
However, all other aspects of the drama were great. It's has a really interesting plot where even many supporting roles seem necessary (not all but really quite a lot). A war story is certainly a good material and here even the production is impressive and obviously expensive. The characters are really charming and the chemistry about the main actors (well, as we can see in reality... ;) ) is at the point. Song Hye Kyo is undoubtedly my favorite Korean actress because of her elegant expressiveness and here she's a real pleasure. I also like very much Song Joong Ki and here these two actors create a real field of charisma :D
Well, the soundtrack, unfortunately, can't be compared with that of Goblin but... the drama was fine... 9,5 :D

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In India when we like a movie we say that the movie is total ‘paisa vasool’ which means it was totally ‘worth the money’. That’s exactly what I felt after watching Descendants of the Sun. This show is total paisa or shall I say ‘time’ vasool. The show is a perfect blend of action, romance, suspense, humor, and grief. This was one show where I not only liked the protagonist’s love story but also enjoyed parallel storylines of the all the supporting characters.
Let’s weigh Descendants of the Sun on our show beam balance and see what makes the show worth watching.
 
Good Weights
Good-Looking Cast – What? Did I promise not to mention this point as a good weight? Gah!!
Remarkable Plot – I still can’t believe Korean TV channels were sceptical of taking up this show only because it dealt with a controversial topic (by which I mean the military). I was hooked on from the first episode itself. And the episode cliffhangers made me so impatient I would often find myself binge-watching the show. This medical-military drama was so hatke(unique and different) that I am totally impressed by the writers who wrote it. The love story between people belonging to two completely different fields of work seems so unlikely but the story has been woven so beautifully that the scenarios and their growing fondness for each other seem plausible and convincing.

Well Defined Characters – Every character is well written and the actors have done full justice to their roles. Each character contributes in its own way to the development of the story. Another point I want to add here is that this is the first Korean drama (for me) where the central female character doesn’t have multiple suitors vying for her attention. And the guy is not a total jerk ill-treating his girl. Mo Yeon is intelligent, responsible, and ambitious. Si Jin is chivalrous (a rare quality in most K-Heroes), handsome (couldn’t help adding it here), committed, and brave. The characters in the show seem real and relatable.    

Chemistry – Be it lead couple Yoo Si Jin and Dr. Kang Mo Yeon’s chemistry or supporting cast Ha Ja-ae and Sang-Hyun’s all the couples on the show are simply cute and interesting.

Acting – I loved Song Hye Kyo (Dr. Kang Mo Yeon) in Full House and after this show, I have officially added my name to her never-ending fan list. She was phenomenal. Her look in the show was plain and natural but she still looked breathtakingly gorgeous. Her acting is so effortless that you almost believe that she is a doctor in real life. Her comic timing is also perfect. Somehow I do not like her in romantic scenes as I fail to see any love in her eyes (I know that sounds strange). She always has this tight-lipped smile, even during romantic scenes, which looks a little fake. Other than that I do not see anything lacking in her acting.
Song Joong Ki (Yoon Si Jin), Dude! Where have you been all this while? This is the first show I saw of his and mahn! What a performance. He looks perfect as the charismatic and valiant captain. He is swift in the action scenes, soft in the romantic scenes and serious in the comic scenes. The stupendous rise in popularity of this actor, following this show is totally justified.
And not just the central characters but the supporting cast has also acted superbly well. There was not a single dull or boring moment in the entire show for me. And that I guess says a lot about the supporting cast and the sub-plots.


Bad Weights
Absurd Situations – Si Jin is a soldier with, what appears like, superhuman qualities. ((Spoiler Alert)) There is a scene where he is shot by terrorists with AK-47, he arrives at the hospital as a critical patient, suffers a cardiac arrest, receives shock treatment and boom he is back on his feet ready to take on the antagonist. Yeah right! But this is a K-drama yaha sab chalta hain (anything is accepted).
 
Now, that’s a landslide verdict. The show excels in cinematography and direction. The show has been shot in South Korea and Greece which makes it a visual delight.

Originally posted on www.alphagirl.in

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