Love in the Moonlight

JUST AS GOOD 4TH TIME

I needed to see another Park Bo Gum drama so I went back to Love in the Moonlight. What a wonderful romantic drama. I loved the connection between the four main characters played by Park Bo Gum, Kim Yoo Jung, Kwak Dong Yeo and Jung Jin Young. I know this drama has been out since 2016 but I hope they continue to make it accessible for viewing. I discovered Kdramas a year ago and I have become enamored with them. I always look for new movies from these actors.
I thank you for your hard work and thank the behind the scene workers. I love the extra episode provided that gives us viewers access to the real person behind the actors. This group were just so adorable. Wish there had been a second season.

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Beautiful Setting Indoor and Outdoor

Hmmm....where do I start? There were so much hype and awards for Love In The Moonlight lead actors, that I decided to give it a go. I was drawn to the beautiful setting from the beginning, indoor and outdoor plus the nice costumes, giving me flashes of Moon Embracing the Sun (2012). This drama Moonlight (2016) also starred the pretty Kim Yoo Jung (Hong Ra On) who played a young teenage noble family daughter in Moon Embracing The Sun.

The story and plot is nothing different or special as it is the usual Joseon Dynasty Royal Family competing, fighting and plotting against the King and his son, the Crown Prince for the throne, through greed, murder, and anything one could possibly do to take over/rule the Kingdom.

The music was also the norm. The theme song sung by Gummy sounded like most of the other drama tunes which did not stand out for me, but it was very popular in Korea and I guess one needs to understand the Korean lyrics to appreciate it.

Wow, I sound pretty monotonous as I am reading my review....(sigh). The drama was pretty even paced, except for the last 3 episodes (Ep. 16-18). So, I took time going to get my snacks and cool beverages.

The only thing that kept me going was to watch an impressive performance from Park Bo Gum who played the Crown Prince Hyo Myung. He was only 23 years old when he acted in this drama. Prior to this, he played mainly teenager supporting roles. Even then I found him quite talented. However, in Moonlight, I found his lead role allowed him to have a broader opportunity to flex his acting ability and I liked it. He played a confident young Prince and while courting Ra On, he was cute, endearing and his entire performance was well executed.

All the other Senior Cast did really well. Yoo Jung was only 17 going on 18 for her Hong Ra On role, and her youth was evident. Therefore, her chemistry with Bo Gum was not felt. But they looked cute together and again was well liked by their young fans.

To conclude, if you are looking for something light and acceptable, giggly cute romance, this will be a drama to watch. If you are looking forward to 'chasing' every episode, be at the edge of your seat with heart pounding from passionate kisses and hugs that sends you reeling .... then you should skip this one.

Cheers! K-Drama forever!

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A gender-bender drama about a woman disguising herself as an eunuch to escape unfortunate circumstances. The pure luck that she had escaping detection was a bit of a fantasy in itself but the suspension of disbelief in watching this drama wasn't too farfetched. Park Bo Gum was great as the stoic, playful and yet righteous king who wants to rule his kingdom in a more democratic way, quite different from the dirty traditional politics that was enveloping his nation. I was rooting for their love and as well as for their fight for truth and freedom in the midst of turmoil.

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Lightweight Romane comedy

I just finished watching this drama. And I neither hate it or love it. Firstly I watched bc of Jinyoung knowing he be 2nd lead. For Story it is quite lightweight for a historical drama since most of them tend to be heavily political and display the cold nature of the palace. Most of the characters in this dramas are nice. Which is ofcourse not a bad thing. I like the main couple but find the romance a bit lacking. I found it more fun at the beginning when the main couple is quarreling a lot and it was quite cute to watch but they fell in love too easily and too early (Just my opinion). The actress is too pretty and feminine to act as a boy but it is just drama so I could overlook and pretend that everyone believed she was a boy. Tbh I don't hate the actress but I feel like something is lacking with the acting or her character in this particular drama (I like her in other roles). Both male leads fell in love with her character even tho she wasn't any special. What does she have that other doesn't have. I prefer the 2nd female lead more. It get interesting in the beginning and fell flat in the middle that i just wanted to drop but at the end it again get interesting when the dramas get bit political and shows what the Prince can do. I really cringed a lot when they do the slow motions thing where they grab the arm of female lead to stop her from going or doing something or looking too long into the eyes when there are so many people around them even though they are not supposed to be recognised by other that they in love..... one or two times is great but if this keep happening it is just annoying. It is also annoying when they show the same recap over and over again. I wished the female lead was stronger and more independent that she doesn't need to be constantly saved by someone. She kept getting rescued by so many people....I do think at least male lead was well written...he is clever, royal to his friends and lover additionaly kind to his people. He takes actions and abuse his power as prince when he needed to. Overall the drama itself was nice to watch because all the actress and actors are eye candys. As conclusion it was not the best kdrama I watched but I can't say that I hated it. If you love the actors or actresses you should definitely watch it.

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One of the two period dramas that aired at the same time, Love in the moonlight had to compete with Scarlet heart, a drama that occupied most of the male actors of Korea and had in its arsenal big idol names like I.U. and Baekhyun from Exo. However, Moonlight managed to hit the big ratings and still gets the buzz even though it finished. That is mostly due to the good story: a girl who pretends to be a boy her whole life, ends up becoming a eunuch to serve the crowned prince, that ends up falling for her. Then there is the chemistry of the two actors, even though the girl was under-aged in real life, but still the age gap wasn't that obvious. Also the delightful performance of Bo Gum not only aided the drama, but also gained him a big fan base and surely future roles as well. I would like to add the good performance by Jinyoung as well, even though his story was side lined and it would have been better if his background story would have been explained better. Unfortunately the last episode was a little disappointing, as the story could have concluded in the previous episode. So, 6 out of 10.

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So, to watch or not to...

If you're new the genre, sageuk, new to KDrama in general, a fan of the actors or just plain bored - yes, do watch it.

You'll be rewarded by an excellent Park Bo Gum, annoying, funny or infuriating sidecharacters, an easy to follow plot, few dokidoki moments (thanks to our crownprince there) and a hilarious fatsuit (what? couldn't they find a single overweight actress in all of Korea? - is what i first thought but it seems this is part of a weightloss plot - meh...)
That said, about halfway through, the plot drags itself by mere threads, I found myself playing on my phone onstead of watching, skipping scenes and being bored by all the artificial drama with the queen and the ministers, later with her mom (who i found the least likeable charavter ever) and the family stuff. *yawn* not even Park could save me. I just wanted it over already.
Chemistry-wise...meh, 5/10. but whaddaya expect, she's a minor ffs....

so if your taste runs more deeply into the whole historcal Korea thing, you have more refined tastes about plot, character development and don't particularly care about the actors, skip this.

Tl;dr: cute faces, shallow plot, music was bleh, but was entertained enough, won't rewatch tho.

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Un début prometteur, une suite décevante

Durant les premiers épisodes, j'étais très enthousiaste. Une héroïne piquante et insolente, des scènes rythmées et une 1ère altercation amusante avec le prince héritier me donnaient confiance pour la suite. D'autant que les scénaristes nous ont épargné le cliché insupportable du ML qui utilise sa position de supériorité pour se venger de l'héroïne en la faisant trimer durant quelques épisodes, un passage souvent convenu dans les dramas et que je déteste. D'ailleurs, après une 1ère rencontre houleuse, j'ai trouvé émouvant que le prince soit immédiatement sous le charme de ce petit eunuque direct et spontané, au point de repousser le moment de lui avouer sa véritable position parce qu'il souhaite être traité en égal encore quelques temps.

Hélas, très vite les personnages perdent leur piquant, et sitôt achevé le premier tiers du drama, alors que l'histoire d'amour se précise entre nos deux héros , toutes les scènes deviennent larmoyantes et redondantes. Je n'exagère pas, à chaque interaction, dialogue ou échange de regards entre nos tourtereaux, ils ont systématiquement des larmes dans les yeux, qu'ils soient tristes, attendris ou simplement amoureux. Et ça pleure, et ça pleure encore, et ça fait semblant de sourire pour faire genre que tout va bien pour repleurer derrière, bref c'est chiant. En outre nos protagonistes n'ont plus rien à voir avec les personnages que nous promettaient les premiers épisodes, finis les disputes rigolotes et les échanges vifs, on dirait qu'on leur a lavé le cerveau et qu'on a affaire à des personnes complètement différentes. Même le petit-fils du 1er ministre et rival amoureux, qu'on semblait présenter comme un dandy impertinent au début, oublie sa personnalité pour devenir un gentil amoureux transi dont la seule fonction est de protéger l'héroïne quand le prince héritier n'est pas en mesure de le faire sans attirer les soupçons. Bref, tous les personnages sont stéréotypés au possible et ce drama manque clairement d'ambition.

Quant à l'intrigue politique, elle est vue et revue. On a les habituels ministres et autres nobles corrompus qui affament le peuple et sont prêts à toutes les bassesses pour conserver leurs privilèges, opposés aux gentils roi / prince héritier qui se veulent proches du peuple mais dont le pouvoir est limité par les manigances des précédents. On en viendrait presque à s'offusquer du manque de réalisme systématique de ces dramas historiques sortant tous du même moule, à croire qu'ils nous prennent pour des imbéciles en prétendant que le gars situé tout en haut de l'échelle est presque toujours un brave type désintéressé et que ce n'est vraiment pas sa faute si les gueux souffrent. Bon rien de nouveau sous le soleil, en théorie ce n'est pas très grave, et si les dramas étaient exempts de gros clichés ça se saurait (on sait très bien pourquoi on les regarde), mais si cela avait été traité différemment et que le scénario avait tenu les promesses du début cela ne m'aurait pas dérangée. Il arrive qu'on ait droit à une romance rigolote ou bien fichue malgré un background très classique, ou bien une romance moyenne compensée par des magouilles politiques bien pensées et capables de retenir notre attention, dans ces cas-là on pardonne plus facilement les défauts du scénario. Ici, tout est convenu et prévisible, en plus d'être larmoyant - sans oublier la petite musique triste et répétitive qui surgit à chaque moment d'émotion au point de me taper sur le système.

Enfin je trouve ridicule de faire jouer une actrice mince à qui on a très visiblement ajouté des grosses joues artificielles, au lieu d'une actrice qui porterait bien ses rondeurs. Déjà, on devine tout de suite qu'elle va perdre du poids au cours de la série, ensuite c'est un procédé aussi discutable que discriminatoire, surtout que son prétendant était déjà amoureux quand elle était bouboule (et il se fait d'ailleurs la réflexion qu'une femme à son goût doit avoir des formes). Je ne vois donc pas l'intérêt de ce choix scénaristique qui n'apporte rien de plus à l'histoire, d'autant qu'il s'agit de personnages très secondaires et que leur couple, bien que mignon, reste accessoire. A la place, ils auraient mieux fait de meubler par une romance entre n'importe quelle nana du casting et l'éternel garde-du-corps-canon-mais-mutique-qui-se-bat-comme-un-dieu (ce dernier étant souvent interchangeable mais il produit toujours son petit effet sur les spectatrices), au moins on aurait eu de quoi se projeter.

Cependant il faut aussi voir les bons côtés et reconnaître que les acteurs ont une bonne alchimie et leur histoire d'amour est saine, ceux qui n'aiment pas les malentendus lourdingues seront soulagés puisque nos amoureux se font confiance malgré les obstacles, les décors sont sympas et un peu moins vides que certains historiques coréens que j'ai pu visionner (ça doit dépendre de l'époque, j'imagine), la fin est satisfaisante - contrairement à d'autres spectateurs, celle-ci ne m'a pas spécialement semblée précipitée - et j'ai réussi à tenir jusqu'au bout, alors je mentirais si je prétendais que j'ai trouvé ça nul. C'est peut-être formaté pour coller au maximum à un cahier des charges déjà vu 100 fois, néanmoins le scénario sait ponctuer les nombreux moments romantiques par des passages plus politiques assez bien agencés et logiques pour proposer un peu de suspense, l'avantage étant que l'intrigue n'est pas compliquée à suivre ce qui fait de ce drama une bonne entrée en matière pour les novices dans le genre. C'est basique, vite oubliable, mais ça remplit son rôle.

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Da trash a bello

Questo drama ha quasi tutto quello che mi piace in una storia: amore tra due persone di ceto diverso, intrighi politici, un po' di risate, insomma un bel mix di roba. Mi è piaciuto molto l'inizio, abbastanza frivolo e forse anche un po' "trash", ma la storia evolve in fretta e presenta sempre più caratteristiche di un classico kdrama storico romantico. I due protagonisti insieme mi sono piaciuti davvero tanto, alcuni personaggi secondari anche (tipo ho amato la guardia del corpo, ops). Forse alcuni potevano essere approfonditi di più siccome rimangono abbastanza di contorno, ma nel complesso non mi posso proprio lamentare. Insomma, non c'è molto di innovativo, ma vale sicuramente la pena vederlo.

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-Por favor no se tomen tan enserio mi review, soy una simple persona que no se considera crítica ni nada por el estilo.

La trama fue buena y más que lo hayan ambientado en una época antigua de Corea, porque es bastante interesante saber el como sería ciertas cosas en esos tiempos. Pero... sentí que en ciertas partes decayó, la sentí media aburrida algunas escenas aunque después venia otras bastante entretenidas. Yo siento que hubiera sido mejor si no metían escenas de comedia ya que al fin y al cabo nunca más las pasaron después de ciertos capítulos (igual fueron un poco graciosas). Creo que en vez de esas escenas pudieron agregar otras con haciendo que el final no sea tan rápido (porque también lo sentí así jeje). Y por último, el final no fue lo que esperaba, sentí que faltaba algo aunque la toma fue bastante bonita viendo al Príncipe y a Ra On ahí.

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𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒅𝒐 𝒆𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒂 𝒅𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒔 .𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒂 𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕ó𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒔,𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒂.𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒃𝒔𝒕á𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒐𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒆𝒅𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓 𝒄𝒖𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐 𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒓.𝒖𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒊𝒐 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒐 𝒚 𝒄𝒖𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒔 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒊𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒔.

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