My Mini Back-story: I was on Korean/Asian drama hiatus for about a year, until I came across The Moon that Embraces the Sun (TMTETS). Initially, Han Ga In drew me to watch the drama. I wasn't extremely familiar with the rest of casts, but they were definitely eye-candies. As I began to watch, I was drawn back to Korean’s nostalgic mellow land. Thank you TMTETS (for that much)! Storyline: To be honest, I started with episode 7. I usually do this when I’m unsure about Korean dramas. I was also curious to see the how the older actors looked like, especially Han Ga In. I haven’t seen her in such a long time! Not only were /are the older cast spectacularly gorgeous looking, but the storyline piqued my interest. Hence, I decided to give this series a try by going back to episode 1. I thought to myself that TMTETS might very well be the drama to call me back to my Korean-obsession-mode. I’ll just go right ahead and dive into my mixed feelings (mostly negative, but I have my reasons!) about the plotline/story/characters. a) Too many unnecessary flashbacks at the beginning. I’m typing about the repetitive flashbacks from the young versions of the characters. After what happened to the female protagonist, they had to show flashbacks of most, if not every, single character in relation to her. I mean, we literally saw those scenes a couple of episodes ago. We get the point. b) Pacing was all over the place. Episode 10 (or so) up till the female protagonist’s realization was extremely draggy. Other important supporting characters could have been further developed within those episodes. Instead, we get fillers. On the other hand, a lot of parts were skimmed over too quickly, especially the ending. I thought the first half of the drama had a better pace. c) Let-down cliffhangers. They make it seem like something extravagant will happen in the subsequent episode, but most of the time they are a let-down. Nothing big happens. d) Lots of major/minor inconsistencies in terms of plots/characters. I believe at some late point, they finally realized that they’re on a time constraint; hence, they try to cram. The sad part - they combine unnecessary scenes that stray away from the core conflict. So they end up discarding/disregarding important scenes that should have been there instead! Whatever happened to Hwon’s illness? Whatever happened to the King’s mother? Did anyone find out about Granny? Those are just a few. e) Nice incorporation of humor. I extremely loved the eunuch and his smile - haha. The eunuch and The King/Hwon really complemented each other whenever they appeared together. They never failed to impress me from episode 1 all the way to episode 20. f) Semi-pathos driven. There were a lot of scenes that were required to be executed properly in order to sway/move the audience with the correct stroke of chord. In replacement, we have to overbear (endless) crying scenes that don't move us as much as it should have. I’m specifically typing about the last two episodes (perhaps because it’s still somewhat fresh in my mind). Nonetheless, there were moments of strong emotions coming from less important characters. I was deeply touched by the Princess’s riveting scenes (despite many people hate her). g) Story that focuses on romance, yet lacks chemistry? Yes, bash me all you want. I still can’t feel the energy/sparks between our OTP till the very end. I honestly had a stronger connection with the two younger characters/actors. I even thought Yang Myung matched more with Wol at some point. h) Unpredictability at its worst. The ending totally threw me even further away from the bell-curve. The twists and deaths that occurred to people seemed very random and out of place for me. There was no mention/reasoning as to why those had to happen. There were more ways/logical reasons as to why they could have avoided them altogether. i) Illogical actions/plot. That’s correct. I’m thinking about the ending. I know that a lot of Korean dramas tend to butcher their endings, but this was just not acceptable. j) Family relationships – meh? Originally, there were a lot of ties between different characters that started off interesting. I was waiting for it to blossom over time (would have been heartfelt), but instead, the relationships dispersed even more over time. Some characters should have reunited A LONG TIME AGO. k) Love conquers? Not when so many people have to die for that. C’mon! The King functions only for love. After Yeon Woo came back, he completely disregards the well-being of his citizens. At first, he looked like he was going to make huge improvements. l) Plot a little too simple. The “bad guys” were let off the hook too easily. I actually felt like the writers degraded our intelligence. I don’t care what I’m watching, but I can’t stand when writers throw things at us and expect us to accept them blindly. m) Weak friendship build-up/crumble. I wish they went more in-depth with the F4. Though, that’s not one of my major concerns. I’ll just stop here, since my review is already too long and I haven’t even gotten to the other parts/sections yet. I know that some of these are really nitpicky, but if you think about it… the cons outweighs the pros and it surely adds up. It could have been a mind-blowing/smart story because TMTETS had all the correct elements to begin with. The storyline/premise originally had love, vengeance, family, friendship, honor, interesting lot of characters, great tension, and so on… Side note: The last half of the series feels completely different from the first half. They feel like two different dramas. Acting/Cast: Wow! What a huge/great cast ensemble. Let me just start off by saying that the children actors were awesome! I actually preferred their story than the latter half. Like I typed, I was originally drawn to this because of Han Ga In. I know that she’s not the best/good actress, but she was never too shabby. Her beautiful/striking looks somewhat compensates for it as well. Anyway, I just liked her presence/demeanor. I don’t know how to describe it. However, I cannot pardon her in TMTETS. Despite how much I like her (she’s one of my favorites); I cannot turn a blind-eye and type she did fine. No, she didn’t act horribly in TMTETS, but it was bad enough. I’m sure people are sick of seeing my username and me referencing to Han Ga In’s lifeless performance, but I’m going to have to spill it over here as well. If it bothers you too much, skip this part because I’m not sugarcoating anything. Han Ga In who plays as Wol/Yeon Woo made me bored, and that’s a bad start since she’s supposed to be the main female star of the show. Her monotone voice doesn’t help either. In fact, it adds to her emotionless/expressionless facial expressions. She has beautiful/round eyes, yet she cannot convey any sort of emotion through them. If I was to look at her with no subtitles, I would have no clue what on Earth she was feeling or what her character wants at particular times. I can never tell when she’s truly happy or sad. I have no clue if her character is supposed to be submissive looking all the time, but I remembered she was once a strong/intellectual/willful young lady. Whatever happened to that? Kim Soo Hyun who plays as The King/Hwon was one of the factor that partially saved the show. He’s the one that shined the most IMO. And no, I’m not bias because I never knew who he was nor was/am I a crazy fan-girl. I just thought he stood out the most, in terms of posture/acting. His acting skills/maturity is beyond his years. He’s actually a lot better at conveying his emotions compared to other older actors in the business. Kim Soo Hyun has a wide range of emotion. Some of his crying/yelling scenes amplified the whole tone for me. Sadly, his character was also a let-down. I’m not talking about the romantic parts because he has certainly tried his best (from the looks of it). I guess it is awkward to act intimate with an older and married woman – haha. I didn’t feel the reciprocated connection from Han Ga In, so the chemistry wasn’t there. I mean, no matter how romantic tries to be, if she’s not going to respond then there’s a problem for our OTP. Aside from Hwon/the King’s romantic side, I thought he would be able to do something more meaningful, but he only thinks of Wol. Is it just me or the whole world revolves are the Moon? All the characters’ world/existence seems to revolve around Wol/Yeon Woo… which brings me to my next character… Jung Il Woo who plays as Yang Myung was kind of annoying. I didn’t find he was too annoying, since Jung Il Woo played that role nicely. Though, if another (bad) actor were to take his place, I would have second thoughts. The ending just totally butchered his character for me because of the decision he took. Originally, his character starts off as a troubled/rebel, but later strays far away from that. Once upon a time he was interesting! Yang Myung only follows Wol/Yeon Woo blindly later on that he has absolutely no other purpose other than that. So then there’s the whole love triangle. I would have preferred if Yang Myung was more focused on rekindling his bromance with Hwon. It’s just too bad that they never fully developed it. Instead, his character gets to mop around and stare at the moon once in awhile to reminisce about Wol. Why does everyone stare into the moon once in awhile and think of Wol? They all seem to do the same pattern. Anyway, the supporting characters such as Seol, Mother Shaman, Yeom, Janshil, Woon, the Princess and the Queen were never fully developed either. It seemed like the writers just built a skeleton of their characters and fooled us into the paths they’ll explore in the future, but obviously they’re never touched upon. They made a huge emphasis on the F4, but decided not to expand on the matter. Seol and Janshil didn’t even get to have a story of their own nor did they get individuality. Yeom was also a very smart character, at least when he was younger. It seems like that (Yeon Woo’s) whole family has been regressing instead of progressing. And Mother Shaman had absolutely zero purpose, aside from hiding the truth all these years. Everything could have been resolved sooner, but no, she had to hide all of this. I think the outcome would have been the same if she had revealed everything sooner. Anyway, the only character that stayed consistent was the Princess. A lot of people seem to dislike her, but I thought she was one of the better characters along with the Queen. Nam Bo Ra and Kim Min Seo did a phenomenal job at portraying their characters. They deserve two thumbs up. There was so much more depth/range of emotion compared to Han Ga In. Now onto the “bad guys”… they initially looked all bada**, but later on they did nothing. Absolutely nothing. The writers make them seem like they’re really conniving/evil/strong, but apparently they’re just plain stupid. If you’ve seen the last few episodes, you’ll know what I mean. It’s such a let-down that they’re not on par with the “good guys”. It’s always more exciting to see a tug-of-war. Music: Awesome music scores! The ballads truly touched my heart. In fact, some of the songs are still haunting me. I especially loved the new addition to the OST. It’s called “Only You, One Person”, specially sang by none other than Kim Soo Hyun himself. It’s always a nice bonus to have one of the actors singing a soundtrack for a particular work they are in. It adds another level of emotional impact/love for the drama. I didn’t even recognize his voice at first because the man/guy sounded like a professional. He has such a warm/soothing voice. Kudos to him! It’s so unfortunate that they never even played it once. In fact, their songs are extremely underused. The only two vocal songs that we hear from time to time are “Back in Time” by Lyn and “Under the Moonlight” by Heora. I wouldn’t have known about the rest of the amazing soundtracks if it weren’t for youtube. “Back in Time” is such an enchanting and melancholic song. When it played, it matched the mood/tone of the scene. Though, I wished they would mix around with their songs and gave others a chance in the latter half of the drama. The other songs only seem to appear in the credits. As you can tell, my three favorite songs are “Only You, One Person”, “Back in Time” and “Only You, One Person”. TMTETS had a variety of songs to choose from, yet they decide to undermine them in the desert instead. Bonus: The clothing/hanboks are extremely beautiful. It very well complemented the already good-looking casts. I especially loved the Queen and Yeon Woo’s outfits. All their outfits have contrasting colors which makes them stand out even more. The scenery were very vivid. Loved the colors pop-out. I also liked the areas that were shot in the palace (wasn’t almost the entire series shot there anyway?). Though, I wished they shot the outside a little more often. Honestly, the outer appearance of this drama can be your one excuse to watch this drama. The cinematography is so nice. It makes you feel mellow – haha. Overall: It’s not a horrible drama, but it’s definitely not one that I will immediately go around to recommend to others. If people want to watch a “real” historical drama, then don’t even bother with this. TMTETS is the very definition of “fluff”, compared to its other sageuk competitors. There are many historical elements in it, but they’re not executed properly. Want to watch something of proper sageuk standard? Try Jumong, Queen Seon Duk or The Princess’s Man. I admit they are different in terms of genre. And yes, maybe they’re a little too raw compared to TMTETS, but even Dong Yi and Yi San are better off. I might/try (to) understand why people are emotionally driven by TMTETS. Don’t get me wrong, some parts were very endearing, but looking at it from the whole scope… not so much. I didn’t even get time to feel invested in these characters. In fact, some characters took up too much time, yet wasn’t able to sway/move me. So how can I feel emotional over these characters’ problems/deaths? If someone gave me a synopsis of this drama, I would surely find that it sounds so epic/bittersweet. It’s true, the overall story is epic, but when you’re watching it (especially the latter half)… not so much. Some parts feel very separated and unattached to each other. There are moments of sheer brilliance, but they often crush your hopes when you’re expecting the series to turn around and go uphill. So beside those factors, if you’re not used to sageuks give TMTETS a try (I don’t consider Sungkyunkwan Scandal a historical one, but I enjoyed that one a lot more). It might blow your mind away like it did to many others. Too bad the good aspects of this drama could not overshadow the rest. No way will I marathon this. It will remind me how I was originally invested in these beloved characters, but only to be disappointed by their short outcomes. I might watch some particular scenes, but never will I watch the entire unorganized drama again. Overall rating for review: 5.5/10 Purely for entertainment: 6.5/10 My Dramalist rating (avg): 6/10