Dragoste sub Clar de Lună (2016)

A promising story that failed to live up to its potential

This could have been a really great drama since it had all the right ingredients and quite a few talent led stars amongst the cast.

However, it dragged on and on. They spread the story over too many episode, creating the necessity to fill the gaps with useless scenes and way too many blank stares from the FML that lasted ages. For the first time since I started watching kdrama's, I actually skipped a few episodes, it was the only way for me to finish the show.

The FML frustrated me to no end. She started out really well but after a few episodes she lost her spark and just became a weak and needy character. I would have much rather seen her as a strong woman who took control over her own life. A lioness instead of a little mouse.

Park Bo Gum and Kwak Dong Yeong were really great in their respective roles and made up for a lot of lacking scenes. The same goes for Jung Jin Young and Chae Soo Band who's characters and talent have been greatly underused in this drama. Their characters held a lot more potential than just fools in love.

All in all, the story wasn't fulfilled to it's potential but it's definitely not the worst drama I've seen.

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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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Just an average drama

I started this drama due to all the hype from fellow drama watchers and because the ratings were high in South Korea. While I enjoyed the drama, I thought it was pretty average.

Story: The story isn't anything new with the FL disguising as a man to survive in court. In my view, this trope is overdone and a bit boring but whatever. The court politics I found to be stale and repetitive. Maybe because I have seen many historical dramas, particularly Chinese ones, I'm use to it. I kept waiting for that "A ha!" moment where I understand the hype but I never got that. I'm glad that this had a happy ending though.

Acting: KYJ killed it here. I can't believe she was only 17 when she filmed this drama.

Music: Some pretty memorable songs such as "because I miss you"

Rewatch: Again this drama was average and nothing stood out to me so I won't rewatch it.

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Adorable Female Lead & Smart Male Lead

I watched this some time back after it was aired not too long ago but I only decided to write a review about it now.

This drama is one that I will certainly recommend to others. It’s a very good drama to watch.

Watch because:

- plot is intriguing and fast-paced
- plot is meaty enough to keep you in suspense and to want to know more
- characters are believable and some are quite cute
- female lead is sweet-looking and she acts well
- male lead isn’t my favorite male actor out there but he is handsome in his own right and he acts well enough too
- in general, plot is fairly well-linked
- if my memory serves me right, the ending is a happy one and well, I’m a sucker for happy endings
- the OST is ‘da bomb’ - many talented singers sing the songs in this drama - wow!

Overall, a good show to watch. Moves along fast along. Main leads are so easy on the eyes and they have good chemistry. Yay!

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This drama tried to follow a political plot but it saddens me how much it failed in that aspect. I'll break down my likes and dislikes:

- Acting: the acting was both marvelous and sub par. You have a couple of veterans who, of course, pulled through. At the same time you have characters that didn't really convey what they were supposed to. I'll mention those who stood out:

The crowned prince: by far the best performance in this drama. His facial expressions were on point. He had this royal aura around him combined with confidence and consistency. It was like this role was tailored for him.  He only needs to work a little bit on his crying scenes because he looks like he's laughing instead of really crying.

Hong Ra On: the weakest acting came from her unfortunately. She lacked the heart to portray emotions. She was always looking down for no apparent reason. She didn't know how to convey what the character was supposed to be feeling. that's why most of the time her expressions were the same regardless of the situation.

The Queen: Marvelous acting on her part. Her evilness was palpable. I was even a little scared.

The rest were alright.

-Plot: This story needed work in both characterization and plot progression. You have a revolution that was only a revolution in name. Characters that spent their whole lives trying to spark a rise from the people but that plot point was converted into a plot device mid way. Nothing was done with it, It only served to put Ra On on her knees in front of the prince, with a sword on her neck so he could save her. I mean, what was even the point of Ra On's father's appearance? He was brushed aside fairly quickly after his introduction.

Ra On was a reactive character. She did nothing for the entirety of the series other than get captured by whoever and confuse the two love interests. She didn't feel like a main heroin at all. Her chemistry with the prince was questionable as well. At some points, I even felt bad for him because he was giving it all he got but she didn't have the same level of compromise. Also, I didn't understand her decisions. They didn't make one bit of sense.

Another thing to mention is that the politics here didn't make sense. How many times did the two ministers get caught red handed by the royal family and yet they were still there, unpunished?. Minister Kim also did some questionable things like killing a criminal that was being interrogated right before he was going to name the real culprits  and yet nothing was done. This was kind of frustrating.

-The cinematography, music and direction were average.

In average, I give this a 6.5/10. It could've been better if the female lead was someone with a more powerful acting.

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I've been in the world of the dramas for quite a while, but there is some time that I didn't find anything so cute like this one. I mean, almost all the relationships that this drama bring to us are kind of cute, the only exception is the relations inside the Kim family. The friendships between the eunuchs, the friendship between the CP and his followers, the beautiful friendship and loyalty between him and Byung Yeon and Yoon Sung (YES, WITH HIM TOO!), the way the bond between the CP and Ra On is created and how it grows are really really beautiful to watch. Although the main theme of this drama is the romance, the other side stories are really well done and it's really nice to watch the grow of all characters. The evil ones are really evil and easy to hate, and there are this confusing one characters that you want to hate but can't hate because you pity them: like the King. What make this drama more interesting to me was the second female lead: I just loved her, I love how for the first time there wasn't this evil female lead, I felt sorry for her but she was one great plus to this drama. I really loved almost everything about the story of this drama, but towards the end everything was way too rushed for me, some characters where very lost (like Kim Yoon Sung) and it felt sometimes weird to watch, and definitively felt like something was really missing.
This drama was a very good choice to watch on my mondays/tuesdays: it was a cute crossdressing story filled with a lot of bromance and beautiful friendships. Although the plot seemed really ordinary, the cast and the acting made it really beautiful and turned Moonlight Drawn by Clouds into an unique drama. This drama is a perfect choice for people who enjoys a cute romance, because guys, they surely did it so cutely. As I said before, towards the end I felt somethings were missing or not developed really well, and I really missed this.. thats why I gave it 8.5. I really hope that there will be a second season and I'll definitively watch it with this huge amazing pleasure.

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To begin, I would like to state that I tried to start this drama on numerous occasions but could not get past episode 2. I heard about the hype and read the incredible reviews, and yet initially the characters seemed overacted and juvenile and the story came across boring. However, on my fourth attempt, I am proud to say that I was proven wrong.

After the completion of episode 3, I found myself enraptured in a story about first love, political schemes, hidden identities and much more. The acting was great in the remainder of the drama by both new faces and well-renowned Korean actors. Although many have made the comparison between this drama and Moon that Embraces the Sun, I found this one a more complete love story but perhaps a less complete political one. In Moon that Embraces the Sun, the political aspect was extremely well created keeping one on the edge of your seat, with twists and turns every episode. However, the love story, for me, felt forced. More love at first sight, versus in Moonlight drawn from the Clouds were the romance is gradual. The prince and Ra on initially dislike each other, but grow to love each other as they also grow as people.

Both the cinematography and the soundtrack were excellent. However, the pacing was not consistent with some parts feeling rushed, while others were delved upon too long. The story would have benefited from reducing/condensing episodes 12-16 as the last few episodes seemed to lag. In addition, some of the subplots and side characters were not as exciting and at points detracted from the drama. Overall it was a highly enjoyable drama that I would definitely recommend especially for those who enjoy: gender-benders, love-triangles, historical, first-love, hidden-identities, etc.

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I really liked it, and honestly I just wanted to write a review because of the soundtrack! Very touching.

The romance is quite pure, like others have mentioned. I still kind of liked it. It was refreshing.

Acting was really good, and the prince's character, development (especially), and acting was great.

The female lead was awesome in the first episode, and sadly I fell into that trap thinking she'd always be like that. It feels like she's got a strong character, but she kept flailing around and crying all the time and became annoying. I think that's actually why I didn't give this drama an 8. I guess I was disappointed with the female lead thinking she might be able to react better in several situations.

Other than that, many cliches, I admit, but the story was nice and it was enjoyable watching the prince's development. Lots of cute and funny scenes, as well as tear-inducing ones. Overall, a very fun and enjoyable drama that I would've given an 8. Oh, and did I mention our gallant Kim-hyung?

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I really enjoyed this drama, especially the first few episodes. I am a sucker for Romantic Comedy so this was a hit for me. It very much reminded me of Sungkyunkwan Scandal, but it had a different twist to it. The later episodes was more the politics -- so it kinda went draggy for me but not that bad. The Prince is just too eye candy and it is as if makes you forget that it is not a perfect drama. I felt the pain when the main couple are in pain - meaning their acting was superb. You just want their love to succeed in spite of the odds against them. There is just something captivating about dramas when a girl pretends to be a boy...

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