Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo

A Timeless Goryeo Epic That Still Haunts Me

I recently rewatched Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, and wow—I forgot how amazing this drama is! In an era of cookie-cutter romances, this 2016 gem stands out as a masterclass in storytelling, blending time travel, palace intrigue, and raw emotion. If only we could bring back this golden age of K-dramas, where every character felt alive and arcs were meticulously crafted.

IU shines as Hae Soo, a modern woman hurled back to the Goryeo Dynasty. She's no damsel in distress; fiercely independent, she defends herself with wit and resilience, navigating a cutthroat world of princes fighting for the throne.
Lee Joon-gi is magnetic as the 4th Prince Wang So—our brooding male lead. He's a good person at heart, misunderstood and scarred (literally) by his past, yet his journey from outcast to a power-hungry ruler captures the tragedy of ambition. "The throne is indeed a lonely place," as the drama so poignantly shows; Wang So transforms, even turning like the person he once hated most, highlighting how power corrupts even the noblest souls.

What elevates this show are the well-written supporting characters, each with emotional arcs that hit hard. The romance is electric, laced with heartbreak, and the historical backdrop of Goryeo politics adds layers of betrayal and loyalty.

One lingering question: Why does Queen Yoo hate her own son, Wang So, so viciously? She even scarred his face as a child when the king eyed another consort. IG it ties into her ruthless ambition to secure the throne for her favoured sons and as the 4th prince is now scarred he can't become a king, I also think it can be because the mother lost her 1st son and she was hurt that the king went on to marry another political marriage while she was suffering and she is taking her anger out on the 4th prince who reminds her of this. But this is my assumption from what I've understood, I wish there was some closure on this question or a good background story arc.

Last but not the least the OSTs❤️❤️

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A 花より男子 (Hana Yori Dango); Meteor Garden show with political sibling rivalry

I. Story
In a story with many important characters, it is important to tell it clearly, they did well in doing that. The political war between the brothers were interesting, they also picked a good period for the Korean version of a Chinese novel.

Sadly, the romantic aspect of the story was delivered poorly. It did not elicit any emotional reaction. There was no built-up. This is primarily a story about sibling rivalry gone to the political level.

II. Acting
It was lacking in some areas, there were also scenes which looked like they were practicing. There were also memorable scenes, from pure laughter to serious where their acting were very natural.

III. Music
The music, unfortunately, did not make an impact. There were scenes where a powerful music fits but instead it did not have any or a weaker music was used. They should've used more.

IV. Production
The production was very good. They spent for quality materials and designs for the wardrobe of the actors. This is specially true for IU where she was able to wear historical wardrobes yet with a modern touch which fits her aura. Great job in blending the two eras.

However, close-up shots were overused to the 5th power. It wasn't needed in many of the scenes, it became annoying. In the boat scenes, there was too much backlight glare from the sun the actors (again close-up shots) can be barely seen.

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Everyone loses everything . . .

Touching characters and heartfelt acting are the reason to watch. In the first 10 or so episodes, we spend a lot of nostalgic 'golden' time, experience the innocence and courage of youth. Hae Soo inspires the brothers to hope that palace life could be different, and you the foolish audience member begins to hope too . . .

But, by the end, the show is racing through a Wikipedia of historical events with Hae Soo barely present. Scenes are chopped and spliced until the plot turns into simply everyone loses everything. Objectively, there's lots wrong with the show not just the plot, the themes are unclear, action scenes weak, and perhaps worst of all the romance between Hae Soo and 4th prince on paper is underdeveloped, toxic and not particularly inspiring. Despite the mess, the strength of the chemistry and the acting kept me watching.

It is worth sticking it out for some key touching moments: Hae Soo's song becoming a legendary classic sung throughout the land or the 14th prince revealing his commitment and deep love for Hae Soo all along.

Does this drama deserve it's legendary status? Overall no . . . but I'm glad I watched. These characters are going to live on in my head for years to come. And that made this drama a rare and precious watching experience.

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just be ready to cry your eyes

it was really good but I am still waiting for the season 2 because what do you mean the mL was all by himself in the kingdom i get that maybe he was at fault but he just wants to live with is love and why will his brother do that to him and I don't still get it if it was is brother that impregnated is wife but I still hate him no matter what just in the movie but I have what this movie like 2021 why can't I get over it, it was too painful to get over or move on this is why I hate sad ending movies, it will be hard to move on, and I am so sorry for the young brother and his wife they deserve a better life than them going like that and the elder brother is a big fool and so stupid why are you falling for your wife sister and you don't care about your dieing wife it was so stupid to do

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Who would she end up with?

For a drama produced eight years ago, it was still very appealing. I had not watched the Scarlet Heart produced earlier in China, which was what this drama was modelled after. But I am now inspired to do that.

Heart broken by her boyfriend and best friend who betrayed her, Go Han Jin was crying by the sea. While trying to save a drowning boy, an eclipse happened and Han Jin found herself transported back to the Goryeo era and into the body of Hae Soo. Here she witnessed the fight over the throne by the Princes.

Han Jin unwittingly attracted the attention of several of the princes and they fell in love with her. Most prominent was the 8th prince and 4th prince. The 8th prince was quietly plotting for the throne. The 4th prince was seemingly the ostracised and the least favoured for the throne, but unknown to most people including himself, he was born under the star of the King, the same as for the Crown Prince Wu.

So, who would Hae Soo end up with? The gentle loving 8th prince, the forceful 4th prince, the playful 10th prince or the righteous 14th prince?

1. The story was interesting. It was difficult to predict what might happened next. We know quite early who the next king would be but would he become the cruel king who massacred his brothers? Would Hae Soo be able to change that?

2. Character development was very evident. How a gentle soul become cunning in the face of the desire for power. How someone with no interest in the throne was eventually lead to follow his fate. How a confident modern maiden bowed down to the cruelty of the time.

3. Having only 20 episodes, the pace of the story development was fast and there were no dilly-dallying.

4. The cast was outstanding. The leads did a fabulous job. Lee Joon Gi portrayed the forceful 4th prince who was very much ashamed of the scar of his face. Kang Ha Neul had such a gentle look on his face when he was in love with Hae Soo. Hong Jong Hyun was absolute evil looking and he looked really deranged later in the drama. Then there is Byun Baek Hyun with this innocent, playful and silly look.

5. However, the drama was not without some flaws. In some instance, it was clear that the drama was deliberately made very makjang. The rather intelligent Hae Soo became brainless, weak and hesitant. And she started blaming Wang So for beating to death someone who had betrayed her trust. Of course, this was to lead to the chosen ending of the drama.

However, overall I highly recommend this drama.

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Memorable ending

Story: A heartbroken woman in modern world suddenly time traveled to Goryeo Dynasty after drowning and woke up with Hae Soo's body. The plot is full of politics, love stories, family issues and tragedies.

Acting: Both leads did amazing in the series, as well as the other side characters and villains. However, there were few noticeable unconvincing acting or lacking of intensity emotions to some, especially in the last episodes of the drama.

Music: I love most of the sound effects used with catchy background music / osts.

Rewatch value: It's not rewatchable for me but i might wanna watch Jun Ki's scenes as he's really good looking in this drama.

Overall: What made this drama memorable for me is only the ending, some may hate it, some may love it but directing wise, it was an impactful one. It's one of those series that will make you feel sad whenever you remember it because of the ending. Kudos to IU and Lee Jun Ki for giving their best in creating their roles that will forever remain in our hearts and hopefully will remind everyone to not regret things and keep giving all our best in the face of challenges in life. Despite the traumatic ending, Scarlet Heart Ryeo isn't memorable as a whole. IU's character was all over the place and I couldn't understand what her goal was or what she values. Sometimes she values her life, sometimes she doesn't, so the things she did was a bit confusing and made me question her decisions in living in the palace, then staying away then back to living there again. The progress of Hae Soo and Wang So's (4th Prince)relationship was not as convincing like her and Wang Wook(8th Prince)'s initial love story, even so, they were still cute and believable because of their acting. The first few episodes were full of wisdom or quotable quotes but then faltered in the middle until the end because the focus was directed to the brothers fighting for the throne and giving us tragedy every step of the way. Even with the devastating events, i wasn't fully invested with each story as i felt detached or the flow of the story didn't make me feel connected with some of the princes' while IU's modern character had no explanation whatsoever as to what happened of her 'coma' like how she was saved and what happened to her best friend, boyfriend etc, where she's suddenly awake, back to working and with snippets of her 'time travel' experience via her dreams, which felt rushed and left me more confused. Quite a bit disappointed but still happy that I got to watch this drama, so my overall score would be 7-8 stars.

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One of my all time favourites

All of my friends
know how big of a moon lovers fan
I am. I just love this drama so so
so so much and there are so many
reasons for that as it is sad and you
all know how much I love sad and
tragic dramas.

2nd thing is the actors I mean you
gotta accept the fact that the cast is
amazing consisting lee jong gi, IU,
kang ha neul, ji soo, nam joo hyuk
and many more fabulous actors (
and they all are hot too ). They all
potrayed their characters so well that
I was fascinated by it.

3rd reason is the story of course. I
mean for me story is the main
important thing in any drama. The
story was very well written that in the
first episode it made me laugh out
loud and so they made me connect
with the characters and when I got
enough time to connect with the
character they broke our hearts by
making them suffer a lot.

I won't tell how they suffer as it will be
a spoiler. The characters were well
written. I liked the fact that nobody
was “perfect” as a lot of dramas do.
And the chemistry between the leads
was awesome! From episode 1 till the
last episode I laughed with them, I
cried with the. If it was a sad scene I
would feel bad for them if it was a
happy scene I would feel happy for
them, overall their chemistry was on
another level!

Like they are my favorite couple that’s
for sure. I really liked the female lead
too. Even though many people don’t
like her but I think she was very strong
and had her own very understandable
reasons for doing the things that she
did in the end. If I were in her place i
would have done the same.

Overall the drama holds a very special
place in my heart as it’s the first and
last kdrama that made me cry a lot
and not only me but even my mom.
She cried more than me and she also
loved this drama so if my mom likes
something then it has to be the best.
Period.

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Not the ending I would've wanted!

So I rewatch this Kdrama again on 11/16/2019. I love Lee Joon Gi. The fight for the throne amongst the brothers when they started becoming adults was a steady game. Li Joon Gi played his part very well and the idea of having a scar on his face... he pulled it off with his acting abilities. Lee Joon Gi's martial arts was absolutely bad a__. Actually, his martial art was a 10 by itself. IU who plays Hae Soo was very emotional but she did well. The first time I watch this I just couldn't connect with her but this time I did connect with her. Now the storyline, I don't know what I was thinking when I first watch this. I wished this had a better ending and that is the reason why I brought it down to 8 stars. The story where Hae Soo married his younger brother and had a baby where did the time go that not unless that was Wang So's baby got me all confused and Wang So married that horrifying Woo Hee princess. That part didn't make any sense to me for like 3 episodes. I was not happy with the ending at all. Sorry to the screenwriter on that part. I do want to thank all the various teams for doing the best they could.

The screenwriters did an alternate ending as I rated it low now it's back up to 10. You can check it out yourself by copying and pasting the link to your browser https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYNf0KBd404

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Honestly.. I was so into this drama, the main couple, the acting, the pretty directing, lovely OST,.. But it all falls flat because the storylines were all over the place.

Everything was focused too long on being "set up" and "leading up to". Then when everything was good it lasted for a quick second only to fall apart again.
Will be good to edit to, but what a mess to watch!

Acting was on point, however. IU was pretty and just subtle enough. Lee Jun Ki takes the cake here, I feel like he really gave it his all. Very powerful, sad, yet sometimes light and sweet, his character really lived through it all. I should have known it would break my heart, as I've read the story online beforehand, but I was hoping, with the changes made already, that the story would be directed and/or written better.

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Moon lovers <3

Esse drama eu recomendo muito mesmo.
Me lembro quando começei a assistir e foi mesmo incrível, a história , os atores , tudo tudo mesmo, e eu hoje acabei de assitir , e eu estou sem palavras para descrever a sensação que estou a ter agora após assistir.
Chorei , ri, fiquei surpressa , preocupada, até entusiasmada fiquei para saber o que irá acontecer a seguir, e digo-te uma coisa, pensei que iria ser um drama igual aos outros mas nada disso, ele exedeu as minhas expectativas , esse drama explodiu com minha mente, tanto que é a primeira vez que estou a fazer uma ressenha de tanta emoção que estou a ter ,estou sem palavras para descrever o que estou a sentir.
Eu realmente quero muito que estas minhas palavras possam insentivar alguém a assistir.
Até poderás pensar que é o calor do momento, mas após assistires saberás do que estou a falar!
Me fez refletir de uma forma que não estou bem a ver!!

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