Mr. Sunshine (2018)

An epic saga in turbulent Joseon

Set in the troubled times of early 1900s, Joseon empire (Korea) is in decline with a number of foreign powers trying to gain control. It's a lesson in history. And if you know the history, you know how it ends. All five protagonists have their own reasons but they all are originally from Joseon and share a love-hate relationship with their motherland. All of them also carry the burden of their parents: either trying to live up to them, or living beyond their sacrifice or trying to get to terms with their cruelty.

From the writer-director pairing of the Guardian and DOTS (star writer, Kim Eun-sook and Lee Eung-bok), the brilliance of the show is in its poetic writing. The first English words Go Ae-shin learns are 'gun, glory and sad endings' which defines her as well as Joseon; her character is possibly a metaphor for Joseon. The cinematography turns each scene into a painting, supported by beautiful sets and soulful music.

Acting is of course, wonderful, although, the brilliant Lee Byung-hun looks a tad too old for his role. He looks solemn in the serious scenes but a bit out of place when he acts silly. Kim Tae-ri is absolutely fantastic, drawing romance into her expression with barely a breathe.

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This is my first review, So I thought that talk about my favorite drama would be perfect, And mr sunshine is that drama that stole my heart and also my tears.
The true is that I see Mr sunshine as a masterpiece and it really set my standars so high, The cinematography is awesome and you feel like you are watching a whole movie, The characther are so well written and the actors and actresses did an amazing job portraying them, The story is interesting and keep you invested in it, Also I have all the OST in my playlist.
I am a fan of historical dramas, So I was not surprised at all by the end, But i got depressed for a week, Overall This drama is the definition of perfection.

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I've always love Revolutionary War drama/movies , no matter where you are or what you've become or what you do , never forget where we've come from, in the end our country needs us :)

I cried so much that i had to paused for a while and catch my breathe, I feel like i am watching an Oscar winning serial.

Writing for a TV is a skill, and not one that many have. Having to maintain pace, coherence and continuity within sharply limited six or seven-minute segments is a remarkably hard thing to do. That the writers of Mr Sunshine succeed

The show has action, creative dialogue, and maybe the most badass TV character ever in , a good political intrigue. Excellent villains. I enjoyed the strength and conviction of Lady Ae Sin's performance, the absurdity of the Japanese caricatures. A drama of cornball sentiment, humorously anachronistic dialogue, and expensive Colonial sets.

I imagine myself in the Joseon period how frightening it would be :)) Having fought the Japs.
The rough-and-tumble of Joseon life during the Revolution and brave men struggle against his own violence.
Long live Joseon, Long live South Korea!

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Tragic and impactful, MUST WATCH

Let's start with my favourite quote from the show:
"Noble woman always resorted to living vibrant, like a flower"
"I'm no different, I also live vibrant.
The only difference is that I want to be like a flame"
Breathtaking, heartbreaking and unpredictable are three adjectives I'd used to describe this drama.
Every scene, every dialogue and every glance makes you feel all types of emotions. This show is filled with such beautiful written characters who all have thier own stories. All the characters are shown as extremely capable and passionate individuals who are ready to fight for thier rights and protect thier loved ones, come what may. Especially the women really stand out,none of them are weak and clueless, be it swords,words or guns they're always ready for anything. This aspect really sets it apart compared to every other drama,the depth of the character and thier development just makes you fall for every character by the end of the show.
This show is tragic, in every way possible and that makes it beautiful. A failing country, a love that will obviously have a sad ending and unrequited love that has gone on for decades. Sacrifices one makes for its country and loved ones,Patriotism, fighting for equality in the unfair world and how powerful a country can be when they all come together, is so beautiful displayed.
The symbolic meaning of every scene gives you goosebumps. Its incredible the impact this show has on its viewers,especially knowing that this is based on historic events.
The writer has mixed up 3 languages Korean, Japanese and English without making it seem funny or awkward,which is extremely hard.

What made me a little dissapointed is that they took this unrequited love aspect to another level. It was extremely unrealistic how a man's heart never changes, especially if the other person isnt interested in him. I felt like some of the love aspects could have been tuned down a little. But I do understand that love played a very important role in the story and was essential. I must say the mid portion of the show was a little slow and frustrating, nothing much happened. They really put in alot in the last 3 episodes though,maybe could have extended and slowed down the the story from 20th episode as alot was happening.
But nevertheless, this show really leaves you broken and then healed, extremely amazing. I cried so hard that tears stopped coming.

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Exemplar cinematography and beautiful patriotism

Superb! Superb! Superb!

This drama left me in shambles by the end of it with its stunning but heartbreaking ending. Nevertheless, I have been deeply touched by this drama's depiction of Korean independence fighters of the early 20th century and of the unspeakable violence committed by the Japanese army and government in Joseon during that time.

Moreover, the beautiful, healing romance between Go Ae-shin and Eugene Choi was like a rose through its painful beauty.

I was also heartbroken by the death of Gu Dong-mae, as he had quickly become one of my favourite characters through his complexity and good soul.

It is also worth mentioning the stunning soundtrack of this drama, which will keep being played in my house! Astonishingly beautiful!

I will certainly keep thinking about this drama for a long time and will re-watch it for sure.

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The bar has been set much too high by Mr. Sunshine for me to fall in love with any other drama in the same genre. Perhaps my all-time favorite. They depicted the most heartbreaking loss, misery, and tragic story that I don't want to remember, but every time I watch it again, the peculiar feeling of not wanting to let go returns to me all over again. If anybody ever questioned, "What's the best drama you have ever stumbled into?", this will be my answer. A timeless masterpiece, I might say.

Gun, glory, and? Well, you name it. (Also, the OSTs are OUTSTANDING). 

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A Genuine Piece Of Art

I will not waste your time with a long review.There are many awesome ones with great analysis if you want to find out about this Masterpiece.
Or,better,you can go completely blind,knowing the minimum.I guarantee,the experience will be greater this way.
Iam writing this to bring it up for those who haven't watched it yet and mostly for those who hesitate to start it.As i did too for a long time until few days ago when i decided to start it with a cold heart to be completely honest.
Once again words like Romance and Melodrama prevented me from start watching it,as these 2 Genres are not my cup of tea.
4 days later and just few minutes after i finished it,iam telling you this was my best watch decision in 2022.

If i had to use only one word to describe Mr. Sunshine,that would be the word "EPIC"

Epic Production/Direction/Cinematography/Acting/Music/Story/Characters.
It is a flawless,fair and square,amazing, 10!No doubts.No debates.End of story.
For me,Mr. Sunshine,is a complete Drama.It doesn't lack anything.Is not good there,average here and bad further.No, is PERFECT all the way.From the first minute to the last second you don't want to take your eyes off the screen,you don't want to take a break to use the toilet or go to sleep.

24 long episodes,over one hour each and yet after finishing, you are craving for more.You wish this journey never ends.
It is a piece of art for the eyes(amazing cinematography and visuals)for the ears(the Ost is unforgettable)and mostly for the soul.
Gosh i cried as i never had before with any other Drama.I felt so many emotions.Had shivers in my spine.Butterflies in my stomach.My heart was beating fast.Sad moments.Happy moments.Funny moments.
Great friendships.Amazing love stories.Sacrifices.Fights for a free country.

Ok i must stop here cause i can write all night.

Just pause what you are currently watching,add Mr. Sunshine to your watch list and hit play.
Make sure you have plenty of snacks and water nearby.You MUST watch this before 2022 ends,so you will have an excuse to rewatch it in 2023!
Enjoy.

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Wow!

I started watching Mr Sunshine a while ago, but gave up after the first two episodes because I found so many characters a bit confusing and I didn't know anything about Korean history. I then discovered (and fell in love with) Kim Tae Ri after watching Twenty-Five Twenty-One and re-started Mr Sunshine. Am I glad that I did!
Kim Tae Ri is luminously beautiful as Go Ae Sin, and her Hanbok are sumptuous. Go Ae Sin is an amazing character and no wonder everyone around her loved and wanted to protect her. All the other actors are top-notch and memorable. Yoo Yeon Seok was sexy and smouldering as Gu Dong Mae and it was such a different role to the doctors he usually plays. I liked the character of Kudo Mina and the fact that she reluctantly became Go Ae Sin's ally when she could've easily been a rival. Go Ae Sin's servants, Ms Haman and Mr Haengrang, were so funny and loyal.
Everything about the production, especially the cinematography, is top quality. A minor quibble is that the special effects make-up (eg blood) was a bit amateurish.
I always knew that Mr Sunshine was a top-rated drama and now I now why. There are many laugh out loud moments but you'll mostly need tissues. It's one of the very best dramas I've seen and is highly recommended.

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Watch Mr. Sunshine you won’t regret it!

This is the most beautiful Kdrama I’ve ever watched. I just finished it and I’m crying like an idiot. I’ve never been more invested in a historical drama. It is a cinematic experience that may bring on the waterworks. It gets an audience to truly think of that precious history that brought us to where we are today. All the sacrifices that gave us the world we live in. I loved it and hopefully y’all will too.

What drew me in to this drama was the fact that I had heard the love story was beautiful, and it was. However, I didn’t expect to fall so deeply in love with all the characters. From the comedic relief characters to Eugene himself (I just shed a tear typing his name so you know his death hit me hard), all of the characters made me root for them, made me want them to succeed.

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i cried

This kdrama is hands down one of the best ones i have seen so far. I typically dont watch historical dramas, but this one omg. The story was so good! it got kind of slow at times, but it was still ineteresting and everything was relevant to the story. The actor were also sooo amazing! i typically hate when there are random white people in kdramas, because their acting is always trash, but not in this one! every single actor was amazing. The only thing i hate is goo Dong-mae and Kudo Hina's ending. I shipped them more than the main couple and i am so upset over their ending. Im gonna watch youtube videoes of them for days.

Overall i highly recommend this drama.

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Guns, glory and gore

Plot: A slave boy who escaped the cruelty of low life and became an American soldier. Back to his origin, he met different types of people including the love of his life and that’s where their stories intertwined. Although the plot had some flaws, it was still acceptable.

Acting: Im Kwan Soo (Jo Woo Jin) always leave a good impression on me with every drama that he was in. Apart from him, Kudo Hina did amazing as well. She was the perfect graceful and classy spy woman for me. Other side characters(including the foreigners) made a great contribution in bringing their characters alive with their convincing acting. However, I was quite disappointed with Kim Tae Ri’s acting. I believe that she wasn’t the right actress for the character as her acting was lackluster and flat most of the time. Whether she was devastated, shocked or in love, her facial expressions were not on point or quite inadequate.

Music: Most of the songs matched the scenes and intensified the aura of the drama.

Rewatch Value: It’s not something that I can rewatch but it’s definitely something that you can’t miss. It’s somehow an eye-opener not just about wars, patriotism and loyalty but it’s also about second chances and living your best life as if it was your last day.

Overall: 8 to 8.5 because of the beautiful cinematography, background music, details and acting of almost everyone. I love the bromance between Eugene Choi and Kyle, I also love the friendship threesome of Yoo-jin, Dong Mae and Hui Song. The drama had a few laugh out loud scenes on the first few episodes which made it less boring despite the non-existent chemistry and dragging love story of Eugene and Lady Aesin. They couldn’t even flirt with their eyes or their smiles. Although they had some good dialogues, I just couldn’t see and feel that they were attracted to each other, I’m sure Lee Byung Hyun tried his best but their chemistry wasn’t there. I think, Kim Tae Ri failed to create chemistry with each character that’s why I wasn’t emotionally invested with her story. I never rooted for her as she’s always reckless and clueless. Best scenes for me were when Gunner Jang lit the fire to save the royal training soldiers and when Joseon people stood on their ground to protect the noblewoman. I wasn’t attached to their stories but because of the directing of flashbacks, close ups and dialogues of those scenes, I just couldn’t help but feel something. Death of each character has it’s own meaning, it was quite questionable on how sudden it was but the symbolism was still there. 🚨 Eugene Choi had a hostage just like what his mom did, Hui Seong who got beaten to death just as the same of what happened on the day he was born and Dong Mae who got butchered by his own ‘family’ just like how his mom did. The ending was I was expected but the idea behind it was just amazing. Honestly, the suspense only started on Episode 20, the series could have been shorter if they cut out the unconvincing flirtation of Eugene and Aesin. This drama also made me hate Japanese cruelty to people during the war(in real life as well) and I can’t stop myself from thinking, ‘If I were alive at that time, will I survive?’. Apart from that, as soon as I finished the series, I decided to read the history of Korea and learned from it. Which made me think that the three men may symbolized the three kingdoms back in the day and Aesin was ‘Korea’.

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