This review may contain spoilers
Warning: This review is based entirely on my subjective opinion.
In the midst of my boredom, Kang Taeoh has once again come up with a work that has reignited my enthusiasm for k-dramas. I would say this is the best k-drama of the year.
The story is solid, intense, the purpose is well defined and an unpredictable plot. While it doesn't offer a completely new story, the way the plot unfolds is truly captivating.
There are many great and meaningful scenes. Personally, I loved the scene in episode 3 where Dalyi saves Kang and the ending scene on the beach. Actually every ending scene is always stunning and leaves you wanting more. It feels like watching a netflix series hahaha.
This drama truly maintains the dynamic mix of angst & comedy until the ending, whereas in most k-dramas, angst tends to dominate towards the end.
If we look it again, Kangdal is a side character bcs the main conflict here doesn't directly involve them.
They are simply dragged into misery by others. But I feel that their fate must be on palace bcs Kang's family still has a heart. Even though they are a royal family, they do not live in a royal environment full of power, arrogance, etc.
Moreover, with Kang & Dalyi's life adventures, how Dalyi lived as an ordinary citizen for the past five years, struggling to survive in the face of social injustice, and the soul swap that occurred, which opened Kang's eyes about how life of people on lower status than him. Reinforcing the reason why Kang became king in the end. Personally, I always like premises that tell the story of side characters.
Even here, the writer does not try to make us feel sympathy for the villain. Many may disagree with me, but I feel that the villain here is truly evil. "Power" destroyed his life, but what he did was become part of that power under the pretext of revenge. In addition, other characters who committed sins were also punished (except one person).
The weakness is that the storyline moves too quickly and there are some jumpy scenes at the beginning. We had to rewatch it to fully understand the story. This kind of storyline can prevent us from feeling the scenes or the chemistry, but thankfully this drama manages to handle that.
There are a few scenes where I wondered, "Does it have to be like this? Does it have to go this far?" But again, the writer managed to convince me that it was possible.
The fantasy elements feel a bit forced. I mean, there is one fantasy universe (red thread), while the other universe is not, it's real life. When these two universes meet, it feels a little bit unrealistic. Unless there were some fantasy elements in the kangdal universe from the beginning, so when the red thread universe is involved, it would make more sense.
So, even though it's not perfect, Moon River is well written. For a remake, it's very well executed. The writer knows what to keep and what to improve. I was going to give it a lower score, but because the ending is beautiful, I'll give it a 9/10.
The story is solid, intense, the purpose is well defined and an unpredictable plot. While it doesn't offer a completely new story, the way the plot unfolds is truly captivating.
There are many great and meaningful scenes. Personally, I loved the scene in episode 3 where Dalyi saves Kang and the ending scene on the beach. Actually every ending scene is always stunning and leaves you wanting more. It feels like watching a netflix series hahaha.
This drama truly maintains the dynamic mix of angst & comedy until the ending, whereas in most k-dramas, angst tends to dominate towards the end.
If we look it again, Kangdal is a side character bcs the main conflict here doesn't directly involve them.
They are simply dragged into misery by others. But I feel that their fate must be on palace bcs Kang's family still has a heart. Even though they are a royal family, they do not live in a royal environment full of power, arrogance, etc.
Moreover, with Kang & Dalyi's life adventures, how Dalyi lived as an ordinary citizen for the past five years, struggling to survive in the face of social injustice, and the soul swap that occurred, which opened Kang's eyes about how life of people on lower status than him. Reinforcing the reason why Kang became king in the end. Personally, I always like premises that tell the story of side characters.
Even here, the writer does not try to make us feel sympathy for the villain. Many may disagree with me, but I feel that the villain here is truly evil. "Power" destroyed his life, but what he did was become part of that power under the pretext of revenge. In addition, other characters who committed sins were also punished (except one person).
The weakness is that the storyline moves too quickly and there are some jumpy scenes at the beginning. We had to rewatch it to fully understand the story. This kind of storyline can prevent us from feeling the scenes or the chemistry, but thankfully this drama manages to handle that.
There are a few scenes where I wondered, "Does it have to be like this? Does it have to go this far?" But again, the writer managed to convince me that it was possible.
The fantasy elements feel a bit forced. I mean, there is one fantasy universe (red thread), while the other universe is not, it's real life. When these two universes meet, it feels a little bit unrealistic. Unless there were some fantasy elements in the kangdal universe from the beginning, so when the red thread universe is involved, it would make more sense.
So, even though it's not perfect, Moon River is well written. For a remake, it's very well executed. The writer knows what to keep and what to improve. I was going to give it a lower score, but because the ending is beautiful, I'll give it a 9/10.
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