Descendants of the Sun

2016 was a good year for Korean Dramas. This also came out the same year as Goblin albeit a little earlier--February-April 2016 to be exact.

I was a bit wary when this was suggested to me as I'm not a fan of military themed movies or series. But when I saw that the writer is the same as Goblin, I started watching it.

The series has the Song-Song couple as its main stars -- Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-ko. They were famously known to have gotten married October last year bringing the KDrama fandom into a tizzy. I remember asking why their marriage announcements sounded so apologetic. Apparently, they're very sensitive about bashers or those who do not agree to their pairing. Nevertheless, I was happy for them as apparently, theirs was sort of a secret relationship even if they have people shipping for them due to their chemistry in this drama series.

Joong-ki (who I belatedly realized was also in another movie called A Frozen Flower but he was quite young then) played Captain Si Jin, while Hye-ko was Dr. Mo-yeon. They had an accidental first meeting at a hospital and their attraction (or probably the persistence of Si Jin) lead them to start dating only to break-up because of their "schedule" and different expectations.

I was impressed with the opening sequence where Captain Si Jin (aka Big Boss) was in a fight with North Korean soldiers. I first thought that he's too pretty to be considered a soldier but when he had a topless scene, I reconsidered my opinion.

The second lead stars, Jin Goo as Master Sergeant Seo Dae-young, the best friend of  Captain Big Boss and Kim Ji-won as First Lieutenant Yoon Myung-ju, the (ex) girlfriend of Dae-young. Her father happens to be a general who the two soldiers reports to.

Throughout the drama, there was thing which I uncomfortably recognized, getting foreign actors to play foreigners can iffy. Since there were scenes which were shot abroad, Greece specifically, I understand that they had to get locals to act as "locals".

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT IT

The Song-Song Couple
I now got it why people are shipping them and were ecstatic when they got married. I saw their chemistry here and I found them such a beautiful couple.

I remember they had a kissing scene at the back of a truck. I was wondering how that must've felt considering they bouncing along rough country roads. That must've not felt romantic at all.

The OST
I've been watching Kdramas already for 3 months and by far, this drama has the best OST of them all. The songs are so catchy and You Are My Everything was the first Korean song that I "memorized". I had to put it on repeat and read the romanized version of the lyrics so I can at least "sing" to it.


The Conflict of Ideals
Though the job of a soldier and a doctor meant saving lives, their methods of doing so lead to conflict. A doctor saves lives regardless of race, religion, or nationality. However, a soldier has to put his country and her people and would die to protect them.

I remember this poignant scene where Dr. Mo-yeon wanted to operate on a foreign official as by not doing so, he will die. However, if he dies during the operation, Korea will be blamed and that would lead to an uncomfortable relationship between the two countries.

Capt. Si jin had been ordered not to interfere as if the official dies, at least Korea will have nothing to do with it. But Dr. Mo-yeon was stubborn enough to insist that she can help. Si jin then said something which lead to stand off between the official's guards and the soldiers, "You do your job, the doctor will save her patient, and I will protect what I have to." Of course, he was reprimanded and disciplined afterwards but the dignitary survived.

The Earthquake Story Arc
This was the part that struck me the most. They managed to capture what really happens at ground zero which is so different than what you see on TV--the chaos, the injuries and death. It was literally in your face. The reactions portrayed by the actors were spot on. Some would spring into action while some will just be shell-shocked.
There was also a scene there that highlighted one of the worst decisions that a doctor can make--deciding who lives and who dies. Dr. Mo-yeon was crying the whole time that she had to make her judgment and I cried along with her. I'm not a doctor so I'm not sure if she could even make that call. But for all intents of purposes called by the situation, she did what she had to do.

WHAT I DON'T LIKE ABOUT IT (Possible Spoilers)

The Last Few Episodes
There were too many things that happened in the series and the last part was just too much already, in my opinion. They already survived a damn earthquake and that itself was the best part of the drama already. Why did they have to make the important people go missing? I felt that it was no longer needed or maybe they just added it to give people more reason to cry.

RATING
I give this three tissue boxes. Actually was tempted to give this a rating of 2 tissue boxes but the OST saved it for me.
Edit 8/4/21 - changing the rating to four tissue boxes. It somehow grew on me when I rewatched it. 

Watched: June 12-15, 2018