Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo

This drama is amazing. Period. It has a beautiful cinematography and soundtrack, excellent acting and a heartbreaking and interested plot to keep you hooked. This drama started as a funny and cute historical romance between the characters but as the story progress everything and EVERYONE gets darker. And it’s actually amazing to see how some of the characters gradually start changing due to the corruption and for the wanting of power. I gotta be honest, after 5 episodes I started noticing the path this drama was going for and after that I legitimately CRIED every damn episode.
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.

Read More

---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.

Read More

This drama is supposed to be one of the best but I think I have never been more disappointed.

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.

Read More

Lee Jun Ki carried the whole show on his shoulder.

Lee Jun Ki is really good. But i pity his awkward acting with IU because IU just cannot carry the emotions well.
Felt like Jun Ki is acting on his own.
Kang Han-na is awesome.
IU is indeed a worldclass musician. No one can dispute that.
But sorry, she really cannot act.
Acting is not her forte and she seriously should focus on music.
One can enjoy acting but doesn't mean they can really act.
She is lucky to get the main role due to her popularity as a musician.
Not even her music fans can defend her acting problem in this drama.
Check out the amount of complains about her acting in Moon lovers online.
The fact that Hae Soo (IU) reciprocated to (8th)Prince Wang Wook's flirting even when Lady Hae Myung-hee is alive, is disgusting. The worst is they quickly get together after Lady Hae Myung-hee's death. But both Hae Soo and Wang Wook are compatible because of their low morale value. To think that Lady Hae Myung-hee was so nice to Hae Soo and didn't know about the betrayal is the most disgusting thing in this show.

Read More

Sad ending

Ridiculous waste of time. I hate dramas that end this way. Will never watch again. Not much else to say. Lots of potential, horrible execution. I want to parade the writers through the streets game of thrones cersei style while i ring the bell of shame at them. Is it memorable? Sure. Did i like it? Absolutely not. This show kills off people for shock value. It reminds me of that one show about the korean slave that ran away to the us and who comes back to korea as a us soldier. Matter of fact i think it's the same girl. Anyway if i see her again i will quickly know to turn the chamnel since all her dramas are horribly ended.

Read More

No.

I went through a lot to find a watchable version of this with English subs. Which makes my disappointment, at how bad this is, much stronger stronger…

I’m dropping this on episode 9. I decided to watch the kdrama bc it’s so highly recommended and rated. IU was great in ‘My Mister’—a drama that I consider to be super impactful. And despite my misgivings about the production quality in the beginning, I decided to push on because of her. Yet, in ‘Moon Lovers’, her character is in perpetual deer in headlights mode. The initial portrayal they gave us was that she was bad ass and wouldn’t take shit from anyone. Her brashness was getting her into trouble in this era, but instead of her character growing to be smarter/cunning, she has become the total opposite. The director is to blame for this I guess. I’m not sure how things will play out from here, but another major gripe I have is the dynamic between FL and SML. As of this point, which is more than half way thru, THEY ARE MUTUALLY IN LOVE. They have made promises to each other. They have had many intimate and tender moments. This persisted despite him being married to her benevolent cousin in this lifetime. So I don’t see how we’ll be convinced that the love story with ML is ~the one~. Furthermore, most of the interactions FL has had with ML usually end with him being violent towards her. While he is a tragic character and I feel for him, the potential romance between them is already at a disadvantage. With that being said, the ML is a great actor and I loved him in ‘Flower of Evil’. Another thing, isn’t the princess actually related to all the princes if they all have the same father? The suggestion of incest is so unnecessary/weird EVEN if it was commonplace during that time.

Read More

FL has no morals

This show is basically a korean remake of the hit chinese show Bu Bu Jing Xin, so nothing groundbreaking about the plot. BUT in the first 5 eps the FL basically is openly flirting with her cousin's husband while her cousin is on her deathbed. AND the cousin is supposedly ok with it and gives them her blessing to have a relationship with each other. like what the HELL??? nawwwwww. even if the FL did not end up with the guy in the end i just.... couldn't empathize with the FL anymore after that. so i dropped it. i just can't fathom how anyone can feel for the FL after this.

Read More