Moving

Powerful stories about life and family

If I'm going to pick one thing about this series as a review, it's the flashbacks. They showed us the challenges of living, be it with special powers or as an ordinary human being.

And then they touched on the relationships of adults.

Then parents and their kids.

It is very touching. Every single episode with flashbacks is very touching. The director knows how to create the scenes, and what sequence it should be to capture the audience and deliver the message the writer wants.

Forget about superpowers. The flashbacks are more powerful and meaningful than their superpowers.

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not sure about this...

so, as my favourite male actor is Park Hee-soon, I was waiting for this drama quite eagerly.
Also several other great actors on the starring list, so I started watching this and...
...I don't know... story is known from other formats before with some variations (x men etc.), the story starts veeery slowly, and I was just waiting for something to... happen really? I have seen 8 episodes yet, not Park Hee-soon in sight? Is he really in this drama?
Not sure about the storyline either, so genetically gifted people have genetically gifted kids and they try to hide and protect them from the evil forces of the North? I will give this another chance and watch some more episodes, but as of yet I am a bit underwhelmed.

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This is a love story.

In Moving’s world, there are people with superpowers. People who can perform feats of super-strength, supernatural healing – people with super-senses, people with electrical powers, X-ray vision – among many others. But life isn’t all so rosy as a superhero here – often, it’s seen as something to extort, to hunt – for many in the younger generation of individuals with superpowers, it has been something to conceal away, to protect and keep to oneself.

Meet Kim Bong-Seok, our teenage male lead. He loves bulgogi. He is late to school every single day. He has a recurring dream of flying, where the reality might not be so different. With a personality like pure drops of sunlight, he is weighed down every day – quite literally – by the weights his mother attaches to him wherever he goes.

There is also Jang Hui-Soo – a fellow teenager, a transfer student into the very last year of school. She loves her father more than anything, and she is extremely aware of their poor financial situation. Fortunately, this new school of hers seems to have just the facilities she needs to score high in physical exams – with any luck, she can get on a scholarship, and actively work on clearing her own conscience.

But this is only one part of the whole.

Then there are the adults, viscerally aware of the horrors that lie in wait as their children live out their idyllically sweet, budding school-age romance.

The whole story is told non-linearly, going back and forth throughout time, across multiple different perspectives – at one point breaking entirely away from the teenagers to focus on the adults. This might be a potential hang-up for some, but I personally felt like it really managed to capture a full immersion into the life of each of the characters it explored. It highlighted to me, too – that though the adults experience their own beauty, peace and acceptance in their romantic lives (and as a romance fan myself, I was impressed by each of them; from teenagers to adults, all of the romance in this felt well-rounded, mature and believable) – it also managed to capture another kind of love story, told in different forms, each just as powerfully:

The love story of a parent and their child.

In a drama filled with the things that I love, this theme has to be one of my favourites. Such a full range of complex relationships between parents and their children is explored – the responsibility, sacrifice and protection of some parents, the complete distance, apathy or disinterest of others – the presence and the non-presence of a parent. Even the simplest and purest of bonds between the older and younger generations of this show can become complicated through obligation and guilt. As much as orange is not the same as yellow or red (as the in-drama metaphor goes), there is a sameness and a difference between each child and their parent that I felt like was portrayed with such an incredible nuance, both acting and writing-wise.

Speaking of orange, yellow and red – the direction of this drama; I genuinely feel like the level of thought put into the colours, the framing of shots, as well as the music direction and sound design were all outstanding. Before the drama ended, I found myself rewatching – and having knowledge of the future episodes meant that I was able to pick up on so much of the subtlety I missed the first time around. One scene that immediately comes to mind, is the scene at the end of episode 7, from about the 49:19 mark, with the camera perspective that goes overhead, and the music weaving in and out and aligning so perfectly with the feeling and emotional charge. Multiple characters have their musical "themes" which flow very well – and being largely instrumental (except for the rare external song – like Jannabi's 'TOGETHER!', and 'Alone Again' by Memory Lane, it feels overall different to the way that Korean drama OSTs are, typically.

If I were to nitpick on anything, I personally felt like more time could have been given to the finale to make it feel more fleshed out and rounded. There was quite a lot of implied setup for potential continuation (which I have a feeling will follow on to Kang Full's other comics; Timing and Bridge), but in that, I feel like there were some details left loose that I wouldn’t understand if I were to take this story on its own. But otherwise, there were so many satisfying elements all tied together by the end – and I know I’ll be among those waiting eagerly to know if there will be another series following on.

Make no error about the fact that this is an action story – filled with violence, gore, bloodshed, and killing; but somehow, when I think about this story – that’s not what’s stuck in my head (not like in shows such as 'The Boys' which are similarly superhero-oriented, but rather seem to rely on the gore and shock value as its substance). It’s the power of the characters, and the potency of their love, the bonds they form and the compassion embedded into the very heart of this drama that stay for me. “Moving”, in so many ways, remains true to its name.

I've rated this a 9.5/10 because, even with my nitpicks, they weren't nearly as substantive as the love I felt for this story.

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What if humans had gifts in a society unbeknownst to them?

Moving is a unique drama. It's a study of characters with gifts and the hardships of having those abilities. We start off in the present day where we follow high schoolers struggling in romance and their untrained abilities with the dangers of threats bubbling in the background. A large part of this drama is flashbacks of characters' backstories, of main characters and even villains. I'd wager that all together at least half or more of the drama is made up of backstories. It's sprinkled throughout, with the middle being entirely set in the past of the high schoolers’ parents.

These backstories add depth to the present narrative because we empathize and understand their motivations. While a breath of fresh air, this format isn't for everyone, including myself as I prefer a more linear narrative. However, these backstories were important to the present day and they were very well-written, every scene mattered and it'll keep your attention. You may even find yourself crying for these characters.

Story:

Moving is a highly character-driven narrative. The amount of characters and their backstories is immense. When the story shifted focus to the parents, episode after episode I had wondered when I would ever get to see the present again. The middle felt almost like an anthology of connected character studies. I love the depth they've written into the characters. However, the amount of backstories were not to my taste as I personally prefer a smaller cast and stories focused on the present which is why I say that this drama is not for everyone. This is not to say it is bad, just different. All these narratives do end up connecting and culminate into one big thrilling climactic ending. From each character story, we got to witness their hardships in a world where gifts are uncommon and to be exploited.

The character stories set in the past are more fast-paced and thriller. Although the present day plot was slower and overtly less complicated, what truly mattered was how much we cared for the characters when the stakes heightened. We were able to feel what was at stake because of how the stories of the past created nuances in the present, making it just as intricate and empowering.

Characters:

Each character was compelling, but if I'm evaluating them on their involvement in the overall plot, I could have done without a few characters being main characters. I feel for them but what is the point of some of them? Two characters specifically could have been replaced by other characters for a more concise cast. However, if I hold value on the story trying to paint the hardships of possessing gifts, then each story and character was pivotal in painting that picture. The hardships of gifts in society, government, and family were explored. The goal of the characters is to protect those they love, to break away from exploitation and live in a world with normal humans despite having gifts. That is the plot connecting all the seemingly detached narratives for this wonderful image.

Romance:

The developing relationship between Bong Seok and Hee Soo was sweet and heartwarming. One scene even made me cry at how beautiful it was. The romance between their parents was a phenomenal roller coaster of feelings. They were able to flesh out their characters, set up the conflict in the present, and portray a long, organic romance in such a short time.

Overall:

If you like a ton of well-written backstories, exploration of the hardships of gifts, sweet romances, and a large cast of complex characters, then this drama is for you. If you prefer smaller casts and linear stories, this is not it.

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Incredibly well-acted meaningful story + impressive action scenes = Instant Favourite !

This series is an aggregation of what I love the most: attaching characters, deeply moving storylines intersecting in interesting way over time period and various settings, impressive and riveting action sequences with purposeful cinematographic choices and amazing acting by the whole ensemble cast...

The pace of the story was very good: it is divided in three narrative arcs which have in a way their own flavour and still manage to form a cohesive great piece. I was super invested and watched the complete drama in two days: that shows how good the whole watching experience was to me.

The characters were amazing and portrayed by very skilled actors. There are a lot of faces that I love among the casting which helped even more making this series such a perfect one to me. Han Hyo Joo and Zo In Sung (who is totally dreamy in this role) are two actors that I like a lot and they once again proof how great they are here. The chemistry between them was impeccable. All the main "parents" roles were great and went beyond my expectations over the course of the show. I'm grateful for the drama to made me discover Ryu Seung Ryong and to have featured is such an outstanding way the excellent Kim Sung Kyun who I love so much in each of the drama I saw him in.

Go Youn Jung who I discovered in "Alchemy of Souls" keeps to continuously impressed me and I will be looking for her new shows as well as for Lee Jung Ha who was the revelation of the drama to me. His character is the heart of the show: he was such an adorable cutie pie, full of green flags and the actor played him so candidly that it became immediately my favourite part of the drama.

I really enjoyed the show so much that I can really forgive its sole default (at least to me) which is linked to its last arc and ending being a bit too quick and with some relatively unnecessary flashbacks. I would actually not have minded to have a couple more episodes to develop even better the end...But I still enjoyed it so so much that I am pretty sure I am just being greedy here.

The filmmaking truly deserves a lot of praise. The director managed to be really creative in the numerous actions sequences. I was never bored and he made some seemingly mundane scenes feel very innovative and fresh. The soundtrack was not overly present but was pretty good in setting the mood and pushing me to watch the next episode.

I would recommend this to people looking for an action series with some slice-of-life elements, impressive cast, superheroes vibe and amazing cinematography. It is quite graphic in the violence depicted so you might want to skip it if you are triggered by that. If you enjoyed series such as Heroes (only looking at its very good *season 1*), I would strongly advise to give a chance to "Moving".

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Violent, excellent, not for the faint of heart

I kept thinking, at the end, that the school district was going to have a really big expense line in facilities after this. Fortunately South Korea has a lot of unused schools where people have moved away from smaller towns, so I imagine some can be re-purposed.
Seriously, I am really sorry this is as good as it is. I hate the recent increase in violence in K-dramas, and this was violent in the extreme. But the story is great, the acting is awesome, and the characters are extremely well developed. I ended up watching some sections with one hand on the 10-seconds-forward button, because really, you can watch people being pummeled only so long.
And oddly, the ending did not disappoint, although I could have done without the coda after the credits at the end. All in all, a surprisingly excellent drama if you have the stomach for violence, so be warned. Once you start, you'll find it hard to turn off.

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Don't mess with my parents!

Moving is at heart, a family drama. Yes, it has a lot of action, supernatural elements and romance as well. But the heart of the drama is the family dynamics, it's what glues everything together. This is a must see for all kdrama lovers, I think everyone can find something they love about it. Warning though; it can be very gory sometimes (had to look away more then once). I'll go into detail down below with what I loved and what could have been done better.

What I loved:
- The acting/casting was great all around, not just from the main cast but also from the supporting cast.
- The romance; it was just done so well. It wasn't sleazy or forced. It all made sense to the overall story. Just *chef's kiss*.
- The dynamics where indeed dynamicing. Especially between Mihyun & Doo shik. Like they really just made a more interesting love story in 2 episodes than 99% of these other kdramas do in 16 episodes.
- Loved the last few episodes. They where able to built up the tension, I was glued to the TV. The ending was also satisfying. The show doesn't need a second season (but I want one, and I can see opportunities for it)
- Moving treats ALL it's characters with love, even all the villains gets backstories.
- Music is just great all around
- Good and fun action scenes. I tend to find action scenes a bit boring sometimes, if there are longer, but that didn't happen with Moving.
- Lee Mi Hyun!


What I loved less (and the reason its not a 10/10 for me):
- The show has a few episodes in the middle that dragged on a bit too long for me. I wasn't super interested in the whole gang stuff, even though I loved the character of Joo Won, his backstory was the least intriguing.
- Wished the show wasn't as "cut up" into parts. I kinda forgot about the kids at certain points, because we had not seen them in so long.
- More of a want from my part, but I just wished we could have seen EVEN MORE of the dynamics between the characters in the present day. It was just too good. Literally the reason why I want a second season.

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THE GORE THE ACTION THE STORYYYYY LITERALLY EVERYTHING !!!!!!!

THIS IS AMAZING
The story, the acting, the action everything is just top notch
I'm totally in love with how they unfolded and presented the story giving you insights on the lives of every single character...
The makers did really well with this one
I lovee dramas with a huge cast and needless to say this one served..... soo many different amazing casts as well as their storylines all intertwined to make this masterpiece......
The whole concept and story is something new and it was executed sooo well
This was sort of like avengers but the whole pot was deeper.....
The high school part, the older generation, the north korea parts..... all of these were perfectly showcased....
This one honestly would get a 10 except for certain shortcomings.....like the fact that I don't really see how north korea contributed much to the plot (unless there is a season 2).........some loose ends were not tied properly and honestly a longer elaborate ending would've been the cherry on top but it was missing...
I really really really hope they give us a season 2 (hopefully with less episodes this time)
P.S.: If you are an action lover then this is a MUST WATCH

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A K-drama that actually K-drama'ed after a long time!!

Every character is written SO well, and I mean so damn well!! You know an author is good when you can't even hate the "bad" guys and root for the greater good for everyone involved.

Every character, interaction, arc, just everything made sense. It was all intertwined like life often is: and is it NOT easy create such a remarkable story with loveable characters. Kudos to the author fr.

There was not a minute that was boring, I was glued to the screen the entire time wanting to know what happens next. Even the most mundane things were interesting and when the showed the purpose behind every little details.. WOW!!

And not just the story.. the actors, direction, cinematography, music, EVERYTHING HIT!!

Everyone did so well; I laughed with them, cried for them, cheered them on. And I'm still so invested, I can't to find out what happens next. I noticed many elements that they might play on in the next season and I can't wait to tune in!!

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