Dragoste sub Clar de Lună (2016)

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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