The Moon that Embraces the Sun- The drama that Embraced me

"Back in Time" by Lyn is one of the most beautiful OSTs that I have heard in a long time.  And it fits so splendidly with the drama The Moon that Embraces the Sun, that I can't help but reminisce every time I listen to that song.   The Moon that Embraces the Sun is quite a mouthful to continually type and write so I will refer to it from now on as Moon/Sun.  This is the drama that kicked off 2012 and what a fantastic start to a new year it was. 

Love at First Sight

WARNING!!! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN THE DRAMA WALK AWAY NOW!!!!

It's a sageuk drama based on a fictional Joseon king and his love for a shaman.  So far, pretty ordinary I guess, but the writing and tale of this drama, while phenomenal, it is the child cast that make this drama what it is.  You heard me right, the young actors who play the teenage versions of the main characters caught me hook, line and sinker.  Saying that they were phenomenal is an understatement.  They set the premise for the tale and had me laughing, crying and cheering for them along the way. 

As a fictional drama including shamans, there is obviously going to be a lot of fortune telling and mystery in this drama.  We begin with the comment that "Two suns cannot be in the same sky"  Sun in this instance refers to the king, and we learn that the ruling king has an older half brother who is also seen as the sun.  Therefore, his presence is considered a threat to his brother's throne.  The Dowager Queen (current King's mother) decides to eliminate the threat and orders older brother's death.  His death is important since it introduces us to the shaman Ah- Ri (cameo by Jang Young-Nam).  She is a minor character, but serving a MAJOR role.  She has to flee for her safety and meets Shin Jung Kyung (Yang Mi-Kyung) our future leading lady's mother.  For saving her life, the shaman promises to guard and protect the baby after seeing the baby's fate is an ominous one.  Though this shaman dies, she passes the mantle of protection on to fellow shaman and trusted friend Jang Nok-Young (Jun Mi-Sun).  

Then we jump forward to when the baby has become 13 year old Heo Yeon-Woo (Kim Yoo-Jung). [Her name which means misty rain is important to the drama as we discover later]. We also meet Joseon crown prince Lee Hwon (Yeo Jin-Goo), which means we have the re-partnering of the Iljimae child cast.  By themselves, these two young actors have built up quite a repertoire, but together they are dynamite.  In fact, it might be safe to say that they are a better pairing than some adult casts.  If they gave best couple to children, they should get it.  The fated first love comes about and the crown prince finds himself smitten. 

Then we learn that a similar situation exists between this current crown prince and the one that his father, the current king, had.  He too has an older brother Prince Yang Myung (Lee Min-Ho, no he's not Boys Over Flowers Lee Min-Ho, this is a different one), who is the illegitimate son and therefore banned from the palace, so as not to be a threat to the young crown prince.  (You see this is what happens when kings have too many darn wives- anyway I digress).  The sad thing about this situation is that the older prince is friends with Yeon-Woo's older brother, Yeom (Siwan) and as such he has met Yeon-Woo.  Therefore it is not a surprise that he is also smitten with her.  Oh K-drama love triangles, will you never cease to exist?

Of course, since this is a Joseon era drama, it is time for a crown princess to be chosen since princey needs a wife at the ripe old age of 15.  He desperately wants to make Yeon-Woo his bride, alas, he doesn't get to choose his own wife as the decision lies with grandma dearest, who is the same Dowager Queen that killed current King's hyung.  She has her own future bride for Hwon in mind, it's Bo-Kyung (Kim So-Hyun) since putting a puppet in place works in securing her power.  What these people do with all this power is beyond me, but they sure like to have it.  A series of fun and exciting events take place, which eventually end up with the Dowager Queen losing her absolute right in crown princess selection and a committee led by the king having the final say.  Of course, Yeon-Woo wins this process since she is the most qualified to be the crown princess, with one shaman noting "She has the countenance of a queen", but this in turn, means that her life is in danger.

The Moon Embracing the Sun

The Dowager Queen, ironically enlists the help of shaman Nok-Young, who is now head shaman, to kill Yeon-Woo with dark magic.  However, as she is the same friend entrusted with protecting her, she tries to warn Yeon-Woo through magic, so that the girl can escape her ominous fate.  Unfortunately, it is too late for that and Nok-Young is faced with the dilemma of saving Yeon-Woo due to a promise to Ali or obeying the Dowager Queen who controls the shamans.  This dilemma leads her to only one conclusion -faking Yeon-Woo's death.  Yeon-Woo is struck down by a mysterious illness and swiftly and efficiently kicked out of the palace.  The departure of Yeon Woo from the palace and Hwon's reaction to it is such an intense moment that is well-performed by both actors.  It is simply breath-taking, one would think that it couldn't get any better than that.  But it does.  We then have the farewell scene between the two after the crown prince sneaks out of the palace to see the sick Yeon-Woon and give her a hair pin called the Moon Embracing the Sun. Then, I finally understand the meaning of this drama.  Hwon explains that the Moon a.k.a the Queen is embracing the Sun a.k.a King in the hairpin's design.  I LOVE THAT!!!! I don't know how to describe how much I love that.

Hwon's anguish at Yeon-Woo's death

Alas, we soon learn of Yeon-Woo's death and Crown Prince Hwon's reaction to the death gets me right in the heart.  I cried and cried and cried and cried.  I think I reverted to my baby years when I couldn't speak and just cried to express myself in that moment.  It was powerful, poignant and well delivered by Yeo Jin-Goo.  He is a such a great actor at such a young age.  A lot to look forward to from him I think.  As the crown prince must have a wife, he ends up marrying Bo-Kyung, and grandma and her cohorts are thrilled about achieving their goal.  The beauty of this wedding scene is presented in the way that Hwon is busy daydreaming about Yeon-Woo as misty rain begins to fall around him.  It is such a wonderfully shot image with him holding his hand out feeling the light rain while his bride exits and he pays no attention to her.  It is well portrayed how his mind has wandered off to the dead love of his life.  Sigh.  Why do you do this to me drama?

Thinking of Yeon Woo while marrying another

And then we jump ahead 8 years to the adult selves.  Well done kiddies, well done.  This drama had me and I didn't want to let go.  Hwon in now king (played by Kim Soo-Hyun), and the time jump is done through the effective use of misty rain, with Hwon still thinking of Yeon Woo when it rains.  BEAUTIFUL.   Even more interesting is that he literally still aches for Yeon Woo, since he is continually heart sick.  HA!!! Drama have I mentioned I love you and your little allusions to destined love.  Anyway, he has only recently begun official duties as king since his grandma was running the court for him, after former king passed away.  Why?  I don't know. Maybe something to do with all that power she had and him being young, although why he was old enough to marry, but not old enough to run a royal court I will never understand.  He is now slowly exerting his influence and power, which isn't going that well as he doesn't have many trusted people around him, except for loyal bodyguard Kim Chae-Woon (Song Jae-Rim) and his Eunuch Hyun Sun (Jun Eun-Pyo). 

His brother Prince Yang-Myung (Jun Il-Woo) has long since stayed away from him due to conflict over Yeon Woo's death, while Yeo Woo's older brother, Yeom (Song Jae-Hee) who was once his teacher and adviser has been banished from political office since he ends up married to Hwon's sister, Princess Min-Hwa (Nam Bo-Ra) and as a member of the royal family, he cannot get involved in politics.  (To me that is one weird rule. I mean if he can't get involved in politics why are all those other family members like his father-in-law Yoon Dae-Hyung (Kim Eun-Soo) messing with politics?  It jus seems so strange to me).   We also learn that Hwon is still unhappily married to his Queen Bo-Kyung (Kim Min-Seo), which becomes even more hilarious when we learn that they haven't even consummated the marriage [after 8 years might I add] due to the fact that Hwon takes ill whenever a consummation date is set.  (Again, drama I LOVE your little heart sick allusions).  All I can say to that one is that it serves those schemers right. 

I could go on and on and on, but before I go into an entire summation of the entire drama, I am going to just highlight the next important step, which is that the king ends up meeting a mysterious nameless shaman (Han Ga-In) who reminds him of Yeon-Woo.  He is instantly smitten, but fights it because she is after all, just a shaman, and it must all be a dream.  She is of course, Yeon-Woo, risen from the "dead", but due to being buried alive she has blocked out all memory of her previous life.  The king names her Wol, which incidentally means moon, and then through a series of K-drama happenings, Wol is dragged into the palace to be a human talisman to "heal" the king and facilitate his marriage consummation.  LMAO!!! Really?  As we can see from this picture that is NOT going to happen.  I love that the baddies bring the two together unwittingly.  And so the love story continues to grow from there.

Overall, Moon/Sun is not that special a drama, or that original a premise, but like I said, the child actors pulled me in.  I hate calling them child actors because they are teenagers, but teen actors doesn't have the same ring to it.  Without Kim Yoo-Jung and Yeo Jin-Goo's performances I wouldn't have been as invested in how this story played out.  I mean ALL of the young actors really set the tone for this drama.  Don't get me wrong it was thoroughly enjoyable and the older cast were good as well, it's just the children got me, and stuck with me.  As always, in sageuks, the colours and imagery were beautiful and I loved the costumes.  And the OST kept me going along whilst I enjoyed the ride as well.  Moon/Sun gets a full 4.5 stars from me on the Bel scale, since it was almost perfect, but not quite perfect.

According to Bel: Embrace this drama wholeheartedly. 

The City Hall: Not only do you find politics, you also find love.

I always wondered why the City Hall struck a cord with me, and discovering that the screen writer was Kim Eun Sook explained it all.  I mentioned her already in my posts she's the genius behind the dramas Secret Garden and A Gentleman's Dignity.  I've noticed that she is often greatly critiqued for her dramas with many people focusing solely on the things they don't like, but I enjoy her lighthearted and fun approach in dramas.  Also, she tends to demonstrate a certain element in her characters where they are grown ups who still have childish antics in many ways.  Let's face it, we all grow older, but parts of us still remain silly.  I think she captures the essence of such things really well.  Furthermore, it's a fictional world people.  How close to reality does it really have to be?  Now, that's out of the way, on to the review.

Now what do I love about City Hall?  Let's start with the characters.  We have the lovable and friendly Shin Mi Rae (Kim Sun Ah of My Lovely Kim Sam Soon fame) as the female lead.  She is an employee at the rural city hall of Inju.  She is well known to those around her and enjoys her days helping out around town doing every odd job that you can imagine.  She has the role of the thankless heroine down to a tee.  Then we have the charismatic, enigmatic and every other kind of 'ic' Jo Gook (Cha Seung Won- his name alone highlights why I love this drama, hehe, Dokko Jin-ah).  He is the big city slinger who is sent to Inju by the kingmaker in the political world BB (Choi Il Hwa), the man you go to if you want to be anything in the political arena.  Jo Gook assumes the position of Deputy Mayor and as it goes in K-dramaland, proximity to each other leads to hilarious interactions, misunderstandings and emotional exchanges that give us the ultimate journey of two leads falling in love. 

Their particular tale begins with the Miss. Baendaengi [ben, dang, gi] pageant.  What is it exactly?  A beauty pageant where the mascot is a fish of some sort.  Amm, ok.  So they are really pushing the rural themes here aren't they?  Anyway, Mi Rae is in dire financial straits since her ex-boyfriend has left her with a mountain of debt.  She convinces Jo Gook to allow her to enter the pageant, which is a hilarious process in and of itself, but her success in the pageant eventually leads to the next step of this tale and her eventually running for Mayor of Inju.

This drama looks at the down right dirty world of politics and elections, but from a humourous side.  That is not to say that there isn't seriousness in what is being discussed or in the situations that the characters face, it is just that the childish antics of these adults allows you to brush those tensions away just enough to continue laughing.  Cha Seung Won is great at being the suave, clean cut perfect man, who is an absolute comic underneath.  And then Kim Sun Ah has her own particular brand of saucy that is transmitted to any character she plays.  The combination of these two is sizzling and not only do they have great romantic chemistry, but they seem to feed off of each other comically, leading to a very well executed storyline. The beautiful OST only aided in developing the overall feel of the drama.

The entire city of Inju seems filled with its own band of nuts, who are all caught up in this political game of power and control.  Most amazing is that while showing these dirty deeds, the drama gets you to just shake your head and go- "What a bunch of idiot!"  Even more fascinating is the ability of this drama to pull tears out of you.  Of course, it's primarily a rom-com, but have you ever known a K-drama not to have melo in it?  I mean really. Melo is the K-drama trademark.  I just loved the city of Inju and the people I met there.

If I have one fault with this drama, it is a fault that is shared with so many K-dramas which is the multiple women scenario.  Jo Gook throughout the majority of this drama has a fiance and no matter how much we as an audience understand and recognise that it is just a political pairing with no love between them, I never can get quite settled with the notion of a lead actress essentially dating an engaged man, or a married man in some cases.  It is just a bothersome scenario for me no matter the circumstances.  I let go of such issues in sageuk dramas because the fact of the matter is, in that time period polygamy was the "it" thing.  But, while I can kind of accept it in a sageuk, in a modern drama it just rubs me the wrong way.  

Despite my issues with the fiance, watching Jo Gook and Mi Rae goading each other on was the highlight of this drama.  And it kept me in my excited and happy zone from beginning to end, so I try not to let that bother me too much.  This drama therefore gets 4.5 stars on the Bel scale.

According to Bel:  It's a city of wonder and amusement.  Welcome to the City Hall.

Queen In Hyun's Man: Now that's the right way to Time Travel

Time Slips, Time Jumps, Time Travel, Time Movement, Time Blah, Time Blah Blah, you get the picture.  It seems that one of the "it" phrases this year in K-dramaland is this issue of time travel.  Why? I haven't a clue, but while some handle it swimmingly, others find themselves floundering into the recesses of time travel doom.  (Yeah, I can talk about time travel too. I've watched enough American Sy-Fy to talk about it).  Regardless, this post is on one of the better handled time travel dramas that came out of K-dramaland and that is the beautiful Cable drama Queen In Hyun's Man.  It really seems these days that cable is hitting all the right notes while network TV flaps around (not in everything mind you, they still have excellent dramas coming out of network television case in point see early releases of 2012 King 2 Hearts and the Moon that Embraces the Sun).  On the time travel front though, network has been driving me nuts.  Dr. Jin, I wont even talk about it because I can't even look at it.  And then Rooftop Prince, I suppose I will review it eventually, but at the moment I have no major urge to do so.  I will have to see how the currently airing Faith measures up, but keeping fingers crossed on that one because Lee Min Ho's dramas usually tend to be good. 

So Queen In Hyun's Man, this is a drama based on characters from a part of the Joseon era that I am particularly fond of, the King Sukjong era, better known to some as Dong Yi's King.  Yeah, my love of other dramas has led me to learn more about Korean history.  Getting an education while enjoying myself.  Anyway, as I've mentioned its a time travel drama.  The male lead is a Joseon scholar Kim Boong Do (Ji Hyun Woo) who is the typical intellectual with military training and eager to serve his king.  He is well-respected and trusted by the king and we find ourselves in the Joseon period where the Hee Bin has ousted Queen In Hyun and taken over as queen.  The deposed Queen In Hyun now lives in exile, but Boong Do follows the advise of the king to watch over her.

As a man loyal to the "wrong" faction, the typical dangers associated with such a position in the Joseon era emerge and his life is endangered.  A giaseng who he treats as a regular human being and not a courtesan, prepares a talisman to protect Boong Do from harm, and boy does that talisman work.  When Boong Do faces death the talisman zaps him hundreds of years into the future where he arrives in 21st Century Seoul, 2012. In the present, we meet Choi Hee Jin (Yoo In Na), a not so famous actress finally gaining her breakthrough role as Queen In Hyun in a new sageuk television drama.  Ah! drama I see where you are going with this.  Anyway, she and Boong Do cross paths and as she helps him adjust to life in 2012 Seoul an attraction and bond develop between the two.  

The difference between Queen In Hyun's Man and the other time travel dramas I have seen this year is in the way the time travel issue is played out.  Boong Do is not stuck in the future, he is able to go back and forth from present to past and uses his time in the future to try and rectify wrongs of the past.  Of course, by making changes to the past, he also changes the future and that entire time and space continuum headache that all time travel dramas are plagued with is presented.  But, this drama does not harbour too much on that, the main focus is this love across time. 

It is a BEAUTIFUL and ROMANTIC story with such in-depth emotion and passions that when the characters are happy, you are happy, and when they cry you also cry.  I love how when Hee Jin teaches Boong Do "modern" things, it is always in some amusing and quirky way.  The fact that Boong Do begins to recognise when she is using the opportunity to teach for her own benefit (not anything sinister, mind you, maybe just a kiss here and there, hehe).  They have such great interactions that it isn't surprising the leading pair officially became a couple after the drama ended.  The chemistry was off the charts and I enjoyed that.  I also love the exquisite play of words in the title, since Boong Do is Queen In Hyun's Man in two senses.  In Joseon era, he is her man as in protector and loyal subject, in 21st Century Seoul, he is Hee Jin as Queen In Hyun's man in the boyfriend sense of the word.  It is an excellent juxtaposition and I love all the thought and planning that went into even choosing a title like that. 

For me Queen In Hyun's Man is a true romance and calling it anything else would just be wrong.  It gets four and half stars from me.

According to Bel:  Enjoy the journey across time.  It's breathtaking and awe inspiring.

Deugeun Deugeun: The Greatest Love

I think I am in love.  Where can I find a Cha Seung Won?   Seriously, where can I find one?  I am in serious admiration of this actor.  So far, the two dramas I have seen with him have just made me smile. 

The drama the Greatest Love is perhaps one of the Hong Sisters greatest works.  LOL!!! Yeah, I know it's a bad play on words but I just had to go with it.  Anyway, on to the review.

This drama just pulled me in from beginning to end, letting me laugh, chuckle, giggle and laugh some more.  Just thinking about it makes me happy and I am writing this review with a grin on my face.  The Greatest Love focuses on the tale of Goo Ae Jung (Gong Hyo Jin), a has been K-pop star who now spends her life trying to stay in the celebrity circles (solely to pay her bills and look after her family) by doing outrageous activities on variety shows.  She is as unpopular as she was once popular and is virtually an obscure relic from her past days of fame.  Then on the other side of the fame wheel, we have Dokko Jin (Cha Seung Won), the oh so popular actor that everyone knows and wants a piece of.  He endorses every product you can imagine from vitamin water, to shampoo to hiking equipment.  You name it, his face is on it.  He is the friendliest and warmest star that anyone could meet, that is in the public eye.  In the comfort of his own environs he is an irritable pain to his manager- Kim Jae Suk (Im Ji Kyu) but in a comedic sort of way, not the "Oh! what an a%$ kind of way". 

Due to the red line of K-drama fate these two are placed in a situation where they run into each other, and Ae Jung happens upon some crucial information that can change Dokko's image in the public eye.  She contemplates black mailing him for half a second, but that's not her style.  On a radio broadcast she helps to boost his image even further and overall she sparks some sympathy in Dokko, who ends up being her "Call a Friend" in one of her crazy variety shows.  And there, the Greatest Love between the two begins. 

Dokko Jin and Ding Dong in one of their many serious conversations

There are comedic twists at every corner as Dokko falls in love with Ae Jung without the slightest inclination as to why.  His complete and utter shock at the process is what makes this drama.  I think if any actor other than Cha Seung Won was in this role, this drama would have died.  The skilled writing of the Hongs plus his interpretation of the character were fantastic, not to mention the exquisite directing.  I especially love the interaction between Ae Jung's nephew and Dokko Jin.  Dokko's nickname of the boy as "Ding Dong" is so stuck in my brain that I honestly could not recall what the nephew's name really was. 

The entire development of the love story was another beautiful element.  The use of the heartbeat to literally symbolise falling in love, and the fact that Dokko monitored his heart so seriously due to his previous heart surgery, just added to the depth of the drama.  The OST was phenomenal as well, and I enjoyed the layout of Dokko's apartment.  The supporting characters in this drama were just as funny as the leads, with Dokko's manager, Ae Jung's best friend and Ae Jung's brother all bringing their own brand of crazy to the equation.  Both second leads male and female did an excellent job as well, and I have to admit that I didn't have a strong dislike for a second female lead for once. The Hongs' and their unique brand of K-drama hijinks is enthralling.  I have to say that I will re-watch this when I need something fun and comedic to watch. It gets a four and half star rating from me.

According to Bel:  No greater love for this drama could exist elsewhere. 

BIG waste of time

So BIG wasn't all that Big.  This is probably the biggest disappointment K-drama wise for the year.  I had great expectations of BIG, not only did it have a great cast with Lee Min Jung (Boys Over Flowers and Smile, You) and Gong Yoo (Coffee Prince), but it was written by the dynamic Hong Sisters duo.  I have watched all of their previous dramas, save one, and have not been disappointed with any of them, although Delightful Girl Choong Huang wasn't one of my favorites, but I chalked that up to it being the Hongs' debut drama.  Big did nothing for me.

Big has some of that Secret Garden fantasy element in that it is based on a body swapping event, but that is as far as those similarities go.  We are introduced to the main characters Gil Da Ran (Lee Min Jung) who is aspiring to become a teacher, but hasn't yet passed the exam.  Her part time job is delivering flowers and she just happens to be delivering flowers to a friend's wedding.  She ends up staying and due to some confusion with the wedding bouquet she trips and starts tumbling down the stairs but is almost rescued by Seo Yoon Jae (Gong Yoo), alas, she literally slips through his fingers.  Yoon Jae turns out to be a doctor and while Da Ran recovers in hospital they become close and become engaged.  

The hijinks come a few months later when Da Ran is a finally a trainee teacher and a new student Kang Kyung Joon (Shin Won Ho) enters her class.  Yoon Jae and Kyung Joon are in a car accident with each other and some how end up switching bodies, thus Yoon Jae is in the body of an 18 year old and Kyung Joon the body of a 30 year old.  This particular body switch takes a different trend when Kyung Joon's body with Yoon Jae's mind is trapped in a coma.  So we really only have one of the switched bodies participating in the drama. Big Kyung Joon can only depend on his teacher Da Ran to help him through this unfathomable situation.

My trouble with BIG begins here.  We learn that Da Ran and Yoon Jae's relationship is not as well-rounded as it should be between two people engaged to marry, and hints to Yoon Jae fidelity and character begin to emerge.  I don't even take issue with the way that was done.  My problems arise when Da Ran starts to like Kyung Joon in Yoon Jae's body.  It is a weird dynamic that I could never get comfortable with and just confused me over and over.  I know its a really popular trend to do the Noona- donsaeng romances in K-Dramas but the older woman liking a younger man drama has its limits for me.  In the case of BIG, it just felt wrong because of the body he was in, and just how plain childish the real body looked.  Furthermore, the more that Da Ran fell for Big Kyung Joon, I kept thinking she likes him in his current package, which include Yoon Jae's body and not his own.  I think the real Yoon Jae being in a coma throughout the drama was to its detriment.  When there were occasional returns to see how his comatose body was doing, I kept thinking that is what he really looks like, and how will a relationship between that child and that woman work out, because at the end of the day they have to switch back, right?

That is not to say that BIG did not make me laugh. I mean it is the Hong Sisters after all and they write comedic lines like no body's business.  The cornier the better from them I say.  Plus, the actors Lee Min Jung and Gong Yoo are just plain funny when they want to be.  It was just the story itself never hit the right note for me. BIG never had that extra something to pull me in.  I started off bored and continued to be bored.  I didn't feel invested in the romance, and didn't care about the issues and problems they faced.  In fact, I had some difficulty finishing the drama.  So I give BIG two stars, which I think is quite generous of me.  

According to Bel: BIG disappointment.