It certainly is addictive and engrossing, but tends to frustrate you on a lot of issues.
I loved the part with the princes meetings, they were the lighter moments of the drama. Lots of intrigues and twists which sometime you like and sometime you feel...why??
The first love story su/wook is given much more time to develop and grow than the Su/So love story, confusing the audience who to root for. Besides how can a nice kind person suddenly change overnight. not possible. All in all I found the character of Su very fickle and indecisive, switching princes..its annoying. Just not well written, to top it off the actress although better here than her previous works, is so expressionless. I don't know about others but I had very little sympathy with her and found her choices annoying.
The end was kind of incomplete. Lots of things are left for the audience to figure out themselves. I would have liked it better if they had some parts of the present day life between characters.
Overall I liked it but not as much as the other sageuk I have seen earlier. Don't expect too much but deserves to be watched atleast once.
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First, this drama is not similar completely to the original ( include the number of the princes, the personalities of princes and so on).
Second, of all people, Lee Joon Gi's acting is dominant in this drama. He is so good to convey complicated feeling of Wang So- the fourth prince. He is 11/10 acting. Just perfect! Of course, his character is different from the fourth prince in Chinese version.
IU is neither stiff nor good. Her acting can be accepted. She knows how to act innocent and how to cry. However, she cannot show the different faces of her character and she cannot express the complex feeling when it is necessary. Her acting only improved in the last two episodes.
Kang Ha Neul is also so good at his role, especially first few episodes, but now his character does not shine brightly as the first few episodes. The writer perhaps has not invested in Wang Wook character right now. I do like his personalities in the beginning but I do not like how they solved the triangle Hae Soo- Wang Wook- Lady Hae.
Other princes are handsome but I do not understand why they need many princes when the number of episodes is limited. The other princes such as the tenth prince and thirteen prince is too stiff. They need to improve a lot.
The quality of the direction and music and even story are going up and down. Some episodes are good, some are bad.
Those episodes in the middle of this drama are well done. But both the beginning and the other half of this drama from episode 14 is very boring. The final episode is ok.
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But after watching the series and completing it i can now say i am a big big fan of both actors the way the series carried itself over the streches of 3 to 5 episodes showed a different side to them and you were on the edge of your seat with there acting as was the rest of the cast.
When some of there motives and emotions start to show the show really grabs at you and doesn't let go untl the end of the ride.
The music and ost of this drama is really excellent one of my favorites along side Who are you 2015
Its truelly a shame this didn't do well in korea and i for the life of me can't figure out why IU was critised for her acting in it props to all the cast for the amazing roller coaster and well done this instanly made it into my top 10 dramas and found myself 2 new of my favorite actors in the process i am glad at least on the international stage it did well and it receive the real love it deserver a great fantasy history drama.
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The biggest problem with the series is that it was too ambitious. I think I already said it in another review: that's the main problem with most dramas these days. Since the target audience is expanding every year, the pressure is bigger. Also, most idols seem to be forced to develop good acting skills in a short span, even if they've hardly had any training. There were high expectations on the cast in this one. The result was just OK, I think.
I have to say, however, that I don't agree with all the criticism that IU's acting had to face. I actually really liked her performance (I have to say that I haven't seen any of her previous works), even though it's true that her character was poorly written.
In my own humble opinion, the best developed characters were the ones played by Kang Ha Neul and Kang Ha Na. And their performances were good enough.
I really REALLY liked Woo He Jin's moving performance and her character's relation with IU's.
As for Lee Joon Gi... well, he'll be a favourite of mine always and forever, and this character suited him. But I insist: I miss him in more lighthearted roles such as the ones he played in Iljimae or Arang. I really miss this goofy side of him. He seems to be obsessed in proving his value in dramatic roles.
All in all, I liked the story and its message (I haven't seen the original Taiwanese drama), but the direction was lacking. I feel that's also a big problem in many dramas: they have a good primal source, but some directors don't seem to know what to do with it. They wanted to try innovative things, like leaps in time (some of them I felt that really worked), but as I said, the excess of ambition was a setback.
I liked the close-ups, though. Some people complained about the overuse of close-ups, but I actually liked them (and any Lee Joon Gi, Kang Ha Neul or Nam Joo Hyuk close-up is always welcome and appreciated, let's be honest).
Anyway, in spite of its flaws, I don't think you're going to regret watching this drama.
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this drama will haunt you forever
this show was one of the first I watched when k-dramas became something for me. the most thrilling thing is that I just came across it and watched it by chance. and it was like being shot in the chest. I was used to japanese anime, japanese dramas, and if I am now fallen into k-dramas it's because this one weighted heavily in my heart. I have already rewatched it 2 times (total of 3) and all the feelings were the same.the story: a modern girl travels to goryo because of a moon eclipse. she discovers the life of the first king of korea, and the palace's intrigues.
my feelings after watching this were nostalgia and sadness. mostly because of the music, the drama has this bitter-sweet taste that lasted for months!!! it's not a crushing feeling because I understood why things turned out like they did, that nothing more could be done, and everything turned good enough, but my heart just kept mourning in a quiet way.
there is so much good things in this drama, I just don't know what to begin with! the costumes are breath taking! I fall in love with hanbok while watching this show. before it was just this weird thing they used to wear in ancient korea, but after this drama I wanted to have one and to wear it - in france - on big occasions. the music is the main thing that makes this drama haunting. I sang these songs years after watching it! they are still on my favorites songs' list on youtube. the actors' performances are just incredible. all the characters are very dense and yet the funny and smiling ones managed to perform with so much light!
about IU's performance, as I said, I knew nothing about korea before watching this show, and I didn't notice any obvious flaw or lacking. I discovered months after watching the drama that IU was a star, that she was the singer of the drama's OST, and that people were disappointed with her. and all of this surprised me. the last thing is, I sometimes find the asian dramas' pace too slow, but this was never the case with this one.
I can talk about this drama for years. I am well aware that the story is difficult, there is some violence, and the bitter taste is definitely there, so it doesn't suit a whole category of people. and that's ok. give it try, and if you are not hooked after the 1st episode, that's ok, you tried. because on the other hand, you could miss something huge.
when watch this: with friends and family but not under 16 yo. there is some violence and relations issues (not sex but human's complexities) that are not suitable for young people. watch it on holidays or on week-end because you will need some time to process your feelings. watch it with people who share mainly the same ideas as yours, so you can share, process, and support each other.
if you fall in love with this drama too, come thank me later! have fun!
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Hearts, hearts everywhere.. Watch it at your own risk ;)
These hearts, I mean, are quite confusing for the viewer, though.For one thing I can't say IU really could pair up with Lee Joon Gi in the first place in terms of acting as a couple.
I don't like blurry love triangles and this drama has one.I mostly watched it because the first two episodes really got me and I wanted to see Joon Gi playing a character slowly falling in love ^^
But like I said... there is a love triangle after all, and that wasn't really a nice one to watch.
Their poor decisions were really...off. I mean, especially the 8th prince and Hae So, really!! -_-
The best thing about the drama is the OSTs...especially Chen,Baekhyun,Xiumin's heartbreakingly good song (?? ?? - For you- ) totally captured the soul of the drama.
Anyways, get a hold of your feelings as you watch otherwise it maybe difficult to get over this drama and you may have a scarlet heart at least for a while..
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I stopped at episode 16 because I just couldn’t take it anymore, I’m emotionally weak so every episode was mentally tiring for me lol.
Episode 16 left me ugly BAWLING (red eyes, the hiccups, loud noises and ugly snot, the whole package); I have only cried that hard for fictional characters two times before: with the Hachiko movie and the japanese drama “One Liter of Tears”. So yes, I was a mess and I felt genuinely depressed for the characters (even to this day I get upset whenever I think about it).
I don’t wanna discourage anyone to watch this drama (on the contrary, its one of the fews that has actually touched my feelings) and maybe others would think im over-exaggerating, but If you are emotionally and mentally strong, Id say GO FOR IT!!! It’s one of a kind.
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Another great acting from Lee Joon Gi!
I discovered Lee Joon Gi through Flower of Evil and immediately became a fan.Been seeing a lot of good reviews for this and though, a bit late, I finally decided to dive in.
The series is an introduction to Korean Dynasties if you are unfamiliar to them, like me. Watching the palace intrigues, decorums and hierarchy of classes really makes one think. Centuries may have passed and yet, ambition and greed still brings out the monster in an individual.
Lee Joon Gi isn't the quintessential macho, big muscled lead actor, physically. But no one can doubt his presence when he is on screen. He is one of the greatest actors I have seen in Kdramas. So much so that I have been looking at his filmography to see his previous projects.
IU is so pretty. I love her here more than I did in Hotel del Luna.
At first, I was confused because there were too many princes but they eventually became more familiar. I found Eun's (10th prince) acting a bit on the overacting side. I had to skip through his scenes. Asides from Lee Joon Gi, I liked Baek also. Was rooting for Wook (8th prince) but he really changed over the course of the drama
I still have about 5 episodes more to go and I couldn't believe how fast I was watching it. Really riveting story.
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This review may contain spoilers
---SPOILER---Moon Lovers had a lot of drama I could have done without quite honestly. My mom loved it though, and she was sucked into the dramas melodrama much more than I was. I would have been happier if the ending hadn't been so dramatic, but I'm glad I watched it so I knew what all the hype was about. Personally, I feel that Moon Lovers is wayyy overrated, especially after watching other historical dramas with similar vibes, such as Moonlight Drawn by Clouds. Also, everyone died, which I personally felt was too much. Like, why? Was it absolutely necessary to literally kill off almost everyone? It was like Korean Game of Thrones. Ugh. I went in, knowing that a lot of people were going to die and the ending is not happy, but man oh man so much death and corruption and threats of rape and destruction. The OST isn't particularly remarkable and I will probably never watch again because overall, it made me feel appalled at history, rather than fascinated and intrigued by the time period. Was this review helpful to you?
So the first few episodes were very interesting and I was surprised that there were so many likeable characters. At first, all plotlines seemed to make a lot of sense and bring the story forward, too. BUT then after a few episodes I started to wonder how far they were going to take the romance with the female lead Hae Soo and second male lead. More than half of the show was dedicated to their love which I still cannot understand why anybody would think that was a good idea. There were only a few episodes left to execute the main romanc AND of course all of the other plotlines (many of which were not interesting at all). Obviously, that didnt work out well. The ending makes no sense and is incredibly disappointing. There are so many questions left unanswered.
Besides the fact that this drama did not focus on the main romance enough, my biggest problem was the character of Wang So. He was absolutely unpredictable and I dare say extremely toxic for Hae Soo. Their relationship was emotionally abusive from the beginning to the end.
Another problem was IU. Her acting is very inconsistant. Some scenes she does very well, others are just cringeworthy. At some point I started screaming everytime she made that look as if she was a deer staring into the headlights of a car, about to be hit. She used that gaze for all kinds of emotions, too. Sad, surprised, wondering, or just randomly starring at one of her love interests.
Also, generally the directing and editing was a mess. Some scenes just didn't fit together at all and there were 3 time leaps in I think 5 episodes and suddeny it was 5 years later. Absolutely unnecessary.
Nevertheless, I watched all of the 20 episodes and waisted many hours of my life. Why? Because I just wanted to know how this would end. What would they do to their romance in the end? Well, go and see for yourself. Or don't. I promise you are not missing out on anything.
All that being said, I cannot understand why people love this drama so much. Is it because of the first few very good episodes? Or because of the famous cast? Lee Joong Ki's amazing performance? I don't know. But it cannot be because of the romance or general plot.
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