Peridot83
Moon Embracing the Sun suffers from being pre- golden age of big budget, creative concept era K dramas.
Plot points are endlessly repeated, pacing is slow to allow for viewers skipping/missing episodes. Each character has their predictable role to play: the endlessly self-sacrificing female lead, the righteous, angst filled male lead, the long-suffering mother etc. Very little is explored or developed despite being longer than most K dramas today. It's an addictive show as the female lead is often in need of rescuing, and there's lots of romantic suspense. But, once you realize that there will be no twist, no resetting of expectations it starts to drag.
Acting is all over the map. Some of the child actors are brilliant (and at this point we know on their way to successful adult acting careers), some are over-acting and stilted. Same when everything switches to adults. The two main adult leads have little chemistry together but both are very good at playing their roles independently (especially angst filled/sad moments).
Music is fine. Would not rewatch.
I grade on other criteria:
Complex Themes: 7
Beware of karma it comes for everyone. Attempting to protect relatives from the consequences of their own actions/greed, just allows them to continue to damage others. Keeping secrets is unfair to those hurt by them. Don't force a romantic relationship if it doesn't feel right.
Character Development/Growth: 5
The king's sister matures a bit, but the show almost makes a point of how people stay the same over the years.
Complex women characters/relationships: 4
There's lots of women roles, but everyone is a stereotype/caricature. The one exception is actually the head shaman.There's some interesting ideas about how to sort out competing priorities and values, and sisterhood. The shaman is an interesting, complicated character.
Production budget/cinematography: 4
The costuming for the men is not flattering, materials looks shiny and cheap and are in strange color combinations. The sets are very claustrophobic and repeat all the time. This was shot with HD Cameras full on, and clear in a way that isn't particularly flattering.
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The main action centers around work-place strategy and political intrigue. These plots move fast with lots of suspenseful tension. I was 100% addicted. It's very dramatic while still keeping a touch of realism.
The secondary action is around relationships. The main romance does drag on with 'will they' or 'won't they?', HOWEVER, I loved seeing a fully realized romantic relationship on screen (instead of just tension, tension, tension - kiss! over). They also have a more at ease, physical relationship than in many K-dramas.
The music was the best I'd ever heard in a K-drama set in the present day.
I'm not sure I'd re-watch, since it's set up as a mystery/suspense.
I grade on other criteria ...
Complex Themes - 7
There actually isn't much there, there. Some themes around karma, treating people as how you will want to be treated. How to deal with cruelty, corruption and power through concrete action.
Character Growth - 7.5
The characters are fairly fixed. The one BIG exception : Song Ga Kyung (Jeon Hye Jin). She goes from being weak, petty and cruel to rediscovering an inner strength that was inspirational to watch.
Complex Women/Female Relationships - 10
The show centers around female protagonists AND female antagonists. The men have a secondary role . Not only are women front and center, but they have very complex feelings and relationships with each other. It was incredibly refreshing.
Cinematography/Production Values - 10
Lots of creative cinematic camera angles, lighting, and staging. The clothes and sets are great, realistic with a touch of fantasy. There is a ton of product placement, but that also allowed for the wealthy characters to look and act believably wealthy.
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Of the fantasy/xianxia shows I've watched this one is the most adult/serious. It's not necessarily the one with the best growth and themes (that goes to Ashes of Love). But this focuses mostly on adults with adult issues (marriage, raising children, feuding families, honouring ones mentor etc.)
I enjoyed watching it, it was addicting and I was curious how it would resolve. But, I don't have the same fondness for the couple as I do for some of the other shows I've watched.
The plot was very engaging and rarely too repetitive, and the actors on their own were quite good. But, when the couple was on screen together, you didn't get the little looks/touches energy of a couple in love. In the end, I was happy with the story and glad I watched it all the way through, but I wasn't sad to leave the universe behind.... EXCEPT
I really enjoyed the secondary couple between Bai Fengjiu and Dong Hua, and I'm glad to see they are getting their own spinoff. It never felt like wasted time, and they actually seemed to have a more give and take, naturalistic type interactions than the main couple.
Music was nothing special, and I'm not sure whether I'd watch it again, perhaps certain scenes.
Other Criteria I score by
Complex Themes - 6
(Ye Hua and Bai Qian go through a lot over their lifetimes, but there are not strong themes besides appreciating the love that you have, and being loyal/having honour). Also, giving in to overbearing parents is endless, one needs to find the moral strength to stand up to them.)
Character Growth -7
(Both Ye Hua and Bai Qian show a decent amount of character growth, as they go through romance and lots of loss)
Nuanced Women -7
(Bai Qian and Bai Fengjiu both have nuanced personalities, and are good playing different types Bai Qian is more tom boyish and then stoic/austere, whereas Bai Fengjiu is more silly and headstrong)
Cinematography/Production Values - 6
(It's all CGI and green screens unless they are in the human world, I didn't find the worlds created or the costumes very beautiful, but it was all competently done)
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If you want to sit through hours of lessons on how to be the perfect woman centuries ago, then this drama is for you. It was not for me. Shiyi, our main female lead, may gently lose her way but she is always selfless, looking out for others and willing to take blame. Ever patient, she uses her intelligence and skills only in the service of the causes of others.
Everyone around her, from her husband, to her own family, to her inlaws, is frustrating, narrow-minded and stubborn, though there is a nice growth and bond that forms between Shiyi and the Marquis Yongping over time. There's a fair amount of overacting from the side characters.
The music is nice, there really is nothing to rewatch. I grade on other criteria as well:
Complex Themes: 5.0
Be selfless and center others, your family, and your country and you will be rewarded with a contentful, joyful life.
Character Growth: 6.5
Shiyi becomes a more mature character, and her husband loosens up over time, but there isn't much character growth.
Relationships between Women/Complex Women characters: 7.0
On one hand, there's a lot of women, they interact a lot, and the discussion is not quite all about men. On the other hand, they are all stereotypes with very little depth.
Cinematography/Production Values: 8.0
For a smaller period drama, the costume, set and jewelry design is all excellent, really beautiful and creative with interesting flourishes and color combinations. The sets are a bit small and claustrophobic (almost nothing is shot in the 'real world' all on 4 or so established sets). There's very little action or complex scenes. The camera shoots straight on with very little creativity.
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What if the gender roles were reversed in a Cinderella romance? Could the relationship survive or would the man feel too emasculated? Could he find a way to be a man while being the less powerful, less wealthy half?
The initial premise becomes weighed down with large scale conspiracies, sickly sweet morals about the 'common people,' and lots of sickness/death wish fulfilment. Ultimately, the show is completely unrealistic, full on daytime soap level drama, but with extremely slow pacing.
The two actors have little chemistry, the music is just OK, and besides one scene early on where our male lead rescues the female lead, there's nothing here I would rewatch.
This is one of the most popular KDramas, with prestige actors, and so I've been trying to suffer through but I can't anymore . . . I'm dropping.
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This felt like a bunch of rehashed Kdrama plots remixed. And, no, apparently there is no way to get away from the psycho killer/stalker plot lines that randomly pop up in K dramas, Worse once the premise is exhausted, the chemistry in the main romance absolutely fizzles.
If you like a lot of yearning, and are willing to overlook the thin plot featuring a bunch of adults who apparently have no parents, siblings or life outside their work and all have the immaturity of a 12 year old, well then maybe. This would work a lot better as a drama about teen idols than full grown adults.
Sets, costumes, cinematography are very average, The only real positives are everyone is very attractive, and there's a decent amount of scenes with women succeeding at their work.
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Great suspense and an endearing friends to lovers romance ....Will this end on a cynical, happy or tragic note? Finding out the answer kept me on the edge of my seat for all 12 episodes. More thriller than horror, Happiness reminded me of the old X-files series in the US. The main couple treat each other as equals, long time friends who can communicate without speaking a word. They both are bad*ss and excel at their jobs.
Similar to his role in Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, Hyungsik is excellent at portraying someone who is head over heels for the woman next to him - in all her strengths and weaknesses. Han Hyo-joo does an excellent job of portraying very grounded, protective qualities with no patience for the strong hurting the week.
The ~12-16 side characters are distinctive with GOOD and BAD qualities that are played as archetypes/caricatures. Overwhelmingly, the bad qualities are delusion, greed, and narcissism. Despite exaggerated portrayals, I thought the personalities represented were accurate and rare to see. I was as invested in side plots as I was the main plot, and didn't feel any urge to skip the side character scenes.
(*SPOILER* big minus points for interjecting a needless serial killer storyline, and also using the sociopathic doctor one too many times)
The music was really well done with two very distinctive styles: amped up/industrial and mournful, nostalgic guitar. The two different music styles kept you guessing as to whether the show would end happily or sadly.
Rewatch - I'm not sure about rewatch, but definitely a lot of the visuals are going to stick in my head, I felt like I was stuck in the apartment building with them and that I knew these characters and cheered them (well some of them) on.
(*SPOILER* minus points for making the end scenes not at all reflect the depth of the show - it was like all the trauma etc. was all magically erased)
I grade on other criteria as well:
Themes: 8.5
Greed and never-ending desires are the downfall of human beings. Continuing to be narcissistic, self-centered, and fantasizing about triumphing over others in crisis are unfortunate traits in many. Trauma and tragedy often magnify the character traits that already existed. Keeping grounded in reality, surrounded by family and friends can keep hope alive and the ability to continue to be a community minded human being. Home, family (blood or found) are the keys to happiness. Overcoming disappointment early in life and finding reasons to live can provide resilience in tough circumstances down the road.
(*Spoiler* if the show had ended differently, I would have given the themes a higher score, but in the last 15 minutes it's like the whole disease never happened.)
Complex characters/Character Growth: 7
The general was an excellent complex character, with a mix of opportunism and a moral center. The rest didn't so much grow as illustrate how different types of people respond to crisis. It was realistic that people would still obsess over real estate portfolios, wealth and how to take advantage of a crisis for their own benefit. I also thought it was realistic that people would take silly risks on the optimism that they were special/unique or wouldn't trust others evaluation of the dangers until they had experience it themselves.
Complex women characters/Relationships between Women: 7.5
Yoon Sae-Boom is a really wonderful mix of caring, nurturing and can't stand societal niceties. Despite her slight figure, you never feel like she couldn't kick *ss and take names. It was a realistic blend too, not whiplash between two different selves. I liked the range of women presented and also a minor theme about how women handle crisis vs men. The show, however, had a ratio of 1:1 women to men characters, and the women didn't have rich relationships with each other.
Production Values/Cinematography: 9
There were some really striking visual scenes, great use of music and realistic fight scenes with lots of grappling and use of the human body. In this era of CGI, the real zombies and physical fighting were very much welcome. 1 point off as it was completely unbelievable (esp. given the number of cars in the parking lot) how few residents were in the building when it was locked down - the lack of people just felt odd.
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Refreshing 1: Gu Weiyi isn't perfect out of the box, but he knows what he wants and he wants Situ Mo. He usually does the wrong thing the first time he tries, but he wants to do better, is eager to improve, and learns from his mistakes.
Refreshing 2: Situ Mo has a relevant backstory. After hanging around a non-committal guy for months and months, she is now a bit hard to trust and quick to anger. She is high -energy, with a fierce, sulky temper - but that is an earned characteristic - not irrational and out of the blue.
Unfortunately, the plot is dragged over 24 episodes to the point where I stopped caring how it all resolved (I did watch it to the end for the record). The other negative point, beyond pacing, was I did not like the secondary couple plot- it just was thrown in without any real theme or purpose.
The main couple was incredibly endearing and while not 'naturalistic' it wasn't horribly overacted. The secondary characters did overact but not enough to throw off the whole show.
Music was competent, but I do wish there was one or two more songs in the mix.
I would not re-watch. The show is very quiet, slice-of life with no particular dramatic moments. Any sort of tension is resolved within minutes.
I grade by other criteria as well.
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Complex Themes - 7.5
Nothing complex, but I did like the premise that it's not the first impression or first time that matters - it's how you work hard and improve at things.
Character Growth - 5
The characters are pretty much the same at the beginning as at the end - there isn't a sense that the characters have been changed by time or events. The show could easily have taken place over a couple months with the same level of character growth.
Complex Women - 8
I liked Situ Mo a lot. She tries hard, is willing to make mistakes, is exuberant and enthusiastic. It was very endearing. While I think some could be turned off by her temper/failures to communicate, I think in the context of what she's been through (and Gu Weiyi's clumsy relationship mistakes) it makes sense and she usually recovers quickly.
Cinematography/Production Values - 7.5
Is exactly how one would expect from this show. There's no extraordinarily wealthy people in it, nor fantasy elements, which makes it easy to do. There is a lot of shooting outside/in real locations, and the apartment felt like a real apartment (not sure if it was or a soundstage).
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Ashes of Love has a really strong plot with a core theme - selfish, destructive 'love' vs a selfless, supportive love. The show explores this in a variety of ways through familial, friendship and romantic relationships.
The star of the show is Xufeng/Phoenix who undergoes numerous transformations, has immense character growth, and is very compelling to watch. His chemistry with the main female character, Jinmi is excellent. The amount of ups and downs these two characters go through and how they change as a result is really striking to watch.
The weakness of the show for me was the demon princess/demon politics storylines. I wanted to skip the associated romance and plot points. In addition, the peripheral/supporting characters are often a bit one note. As a result, I felt the series started to drag a bit in the second half.
The two main songs were uncommonly good for the genre. Really sweeping without being corny or overblown..In the last episode, they really added to the 'epic' feeling of everything the characters had gone through.
I have other criteria I score by:
Complex Themes -10
(There is really strong themes about selfish vs. selfless love, setting ego aside, and others that were extremely well done.)
Character Growth -9
(The two main characters change, grow, and transform believably over the course of the series. Unfortunately, the rest of the characters are not given much space to do much more than act as plot devices)
Nuanced Women -7
(There are a fair amount of female characters, but only the main female lead seemed to have the room to play a full character).
Cinematography/Production Values - 7
(I personally found the CGI a bit hard to take seriously - it seemed to be most (if not all??) filming was with a green screen with not much attempt to blend in real elements with fantasy elements. Costumes were competent, but it was clear most of the budget went to CGI - they wear the same things lots of episodes in a row, and the costumes lack detail adequate accessories in closeup shots)
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The two major flaws of this series is 1) the lack of chemistry in the romance and 2) the lack of purpose to the story. I was so frustrated I dropped it just a few episodes from the end.
Shin Hye-sun as the main female lead does an excellent job, as she did in Mr Queen, at portraying someone who isn't what they seem on the surface. I fully believed that she had lived many lives beyond this one. Ahn Bo-hyun, however, played his character so straight, wide-eyed, bumbling and a bit gullible that you couldn't understand WHY the main female lead was so intrigued by him as a romantic partner. Where was the depth of many lives in HIS eyes?!?
On top of that, the fantasy mysteries were all dragged out, why was she being reborn again and again? Who were these weird people popping out from the past? Why was everyone around her suffering bad luck? etc. These mysteries were introduced at the halfway point, but 3 or so episodes later we were no closer. Everything had stalled.
If the romance had been better OR the fantasy and themes been better, I would have stuck with it. But both fell down, and being cinematic and pretty was just not enough to hold my interest.
PS On a bit more of a petty note, Ahn Bo-hyun's suits were atrocious and I couldn't tell whether that was supposed to portray something about the character - it started to really irritate me.
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While retaining the poetic beauty of the original, this second half is a painful epilogue . . . At this point, I'm convinced the writers are sadists, and I can't stand to watch anymore just to see it all come to a bad end one last time. In sum, the random twists and turns that started cropping up in the last episodes of the first season, multiply in the second half. Hurdle, after hurdle, after hurdle. Just nonsensically raising hopes and dashing them. Will there be scenes that stick with me? Yes. Did I vow to stop watch multiple times? Also yes.
The acting, production values, cinematography, and some key pieces of dialogue are excellent. There are some powerful scenes that will linger on - but we're talking all of 10-15 minutes in 8 hrs of viewing. The key theme of the show is to always persist and survive as there could be the best moments of your life just around the corner.
I feel vaguely guilty, therefore, of not persisting to the end of this one, but frustration and dread was growing with every episode, and life is too short. I ended it at a high point, and I don't have strength to see if things fall apart once again. I would still highly recommend watching the first half/season 1 - it stands on its own and is a true gem of a K -Drama.
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A brilliant, thrilling first half and a touching ending don't makeup for a lost, floundering middle section . . . Warning: This is a tragedy
Some mistakes you can't recover from. In the first half, the momentum is high with our male and female lead teaming together on a path of revenge. They both are attractive, talented, and have excellent romantic chemistry. As the first storyline nears its end, there's still a big looming problem: Murong Jinghe in his darkest, most cruel moments poisoned Mei Lin without securing an antidote. What will happen when he tells her? Will he be able to make it up to her and cure her?
When Mei Lin finds out she will have none of it, and leaves him. Good for her. But then what? Then what indeed . . . from there Murong Jinghe mopes, and pines, and hoovers not sure how to make it up to her, but still desperately in love with her.
The acting is great, the themes are solid, it's beautifully shot, but this easily could have been 24 episodes instead of 32 and not lost anything.
Despite it all, this drama will stick with me. Greed, power struggles and revenge often take the beginnings of a good life and turn them into tragedy. Endearing life-long love stories are hard to come by in times of struggle, uncertainty and war. In the midst of the darkness, do we truly understand what we're giving up until it's too late?
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The real highlight for me was the depiction of an adult relationship on screen. Here, there were the little physical touches, the petty squabbles, the deep regret of a fully lived in relationship. Here, was the constant frustrations and loneliness of modern life with work all consuming, often living in new, strange places with no community, filled with a longing for home.
The pacing in the last few episodes slows dramatically. While it starts off with extremely understandable reasons a relationship may not work out, our main characters then dance around having a true conversation stretched over 6 episodes - - a concept that starts to wear thin.
The acting was excellent and these two characters were made real. The music was atmospheric. I wouldn't say there was much rewatch value, there's not much of a cathartic release to the whole thing.
If you love rekindled past romances, like Past Lives, Before Sunset, or even the Jane Austen novel Persuasion, this is for you.
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(Rurouni Kenshin is one of my favorite mangas.)
A faithful, thrilling rendition of the best scenes of the manga/anime, this string of moments is awe inspiring to watch. The strong themes on life after trauma - paired with thrilling action, compelling romance, and beautiful visuals is hard to beat.
If I had one nitpick, the manga is written by a man, but the story has fully developed women characters and themes, separate and apart from the 'villain of the week.' Yet here, the women become side characters, and strangely, the villains have lots of screen time. There was no need to overload the drama with these disturbing scenes, given the series already struggles to honor the large number of characters included in the manga.
Watching the live action Kenshin reconcile his past, and take a step into a better future with Kaoru and our gang showing him the way, is a rewarding, touching, even sublime experience. When I ended this series, I was incredibly sad to say goodbye to this universe.
It's the greatest compliment I can give when I say I wish there was more . . .
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Everyone is a suspect in this spy thriller of a drama. The twists and turns keep it engaging. As with many dramas, it starts slowing down in the last 1/3, and gets too complicated for its own good. But, it's genuinely unique and striking and worth the watch despite this.
The romances and character development are a weak point. Love is declared not shown, plus the good guys being mostly men and the spies being mostly women is a weird decision that makes all the romances feel a bit similar. Because there is so much action, also the characters are fairly thin and not fully fleshed out.
The writers leave space for there to be a Season 2/Part 2 to this drama, but I don't know if I will stick around for it. I really like character and theme driven dramas. This is beautiful, with a lot of suspense, but ultimately does not say much . .
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