After watching Love in the Moonlight, I looked for another sageuk drama to watch and friends recommended this. It came with numerous warnings but I took it as my baptism of fire. I won't consider myself as a serious K Drama fan if I don't get to watch this. Moreover, I was told that I'll be drowning in oppas in this series and they did not disappoint. Sharing also my real time Twitter thread about this series below.
This series was based on a Chinese novel by Tong Hua called Bu Bu Jing Xin. It aired from August to November 2016. Main stars are Lee Joon-gi, Lee Ji-eun, Kang Ha-nuel and Hong Jong-hyun. To summarize the confusing sea of characters:MOON LOVERS: SCARLET HEART RYEO— Shine ☀️ λΉ› (@sunshi_fairy) July 17, 2018
I was told that this is a saksak-puso-tulo-dugo series so I set aside a whole tissue box for this. Already finished Ep2 and I'm enjoying it, so far. Was not prepared for the oppas and topless scenes though. Not complaining. Hehe. pic.twitter.com/HwP1gNW8az
Kim San-ho as Crown Prince Wang Mu (he usually wears red or yellow)
Hong Jong-hyun as the 3rd Prince Wang Yo (orange)
Lee Joon-gi as the 4th Prince Wang So (black)
Kang Ha-nuel as the 8th Prince Wang Wook (blue)
Yoon Sun-woo as the 9th Prince Wang Won (purple)
Byun Baek-hyun as the 10th Prince Wang Eun (green)
Nam Joo-hyuk as the 13th Prince Baek-ah (pink)
Ji Soo as the 14th Prince Wang Jung (royal blue)
I tried to get a screen cap of a complete family picture but this is the best that I can come up with.
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| Back row: 14th Prince, 13th Prince, 10th Prince, 9th Prince Front row: 9th Prince, 4th Prince, 3rd Prince |
They just look so cool wearing different colored hanboks and the colors is how I differentiated them from each other.
Here's also another chart that can help figure things out.
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| From aminoapps.com |
WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT
The Oppas
This series was raining with oppas.
Lee Joon-gi was the main character but I liked the other princes more. Hong Jong-hyun grew on me and I love his eyes. They are just so intense! As for Kang Ha-nuel, I watched him in the movie Midnight Runners with Park Seo-joon so this is the first time I'm watching him in a drama.
I love their appearance in Running Man. It gave me a insight on how they are in real life outside of the characters that they play. Here's a clip:
There are two specific scenes in the series that are my favorite. This one because it showed a time when all the princes got together and were just simply happy. There were no talks of betrayal or death. Just brothers getting together to celebrate the birthday.
The next one of course, is the bath scene and which also served as the introduction of the princes.
The OST
My husband asked me why do I listen to the songs when I don't understand the language/lyrics. I guess music will always be universal. It brings me back to what I felt when I heard the song during a poignant scene in a drama. That's why I created a playlist in Spotify which I listen to whenever I drive (or even just at home). Feel free to follow.
Next to Descendants of the Sun, this one has songs that I don't skip when it comes up randomly in my playlist.
The Female Lead - IU
I read that a lot of people didn't like her. I actually admire her. I found her really pretty especially during the birthday scene where she sang to the 10th prince. And her character made do with the situation. She did not actively sought out all the princes and it was not her fault that all the princes (well, not all) love her.
The Fight Scenes
One thing I like about the period dramas are the fight scenes. There's this particular scene in Episode 2 where the princes had to do a martial arts sword dance wearing masks. That was beautiful to watch with all of them jumping and flying around.
WHAT I DON'T LIKE ABOUT IT
The Fucking Ending! (SPOILERS AHEAD!)
I really really hate the ending and the episodes towards the end. It was really not making sense anymore and it felt like the writers had a fight with someone and would want to hurt people by ending it that way. They could always say that not all stories should have a happy ending but this one really bled me dry. I cried so much and it took awhile for me to get over it (Strong Woman Bong Soon helped).
For one, I don't get it why the Wang Eun had to die. WAE??! He was the 10th Prince for God's sake...10th! There were three other princes before he could claim to the throne. The reason just didn't fly with me. I swear. The writers/producers just want the viewers to be in pain!
It's odd though that even if I was already agonizing over the story, I just couldn't stop watching. Up to the last 5 seconds, I was hoping for a happy ending. But NO! It was just not meant to be.
RATING
I give this four tissue boxes even with the ending because I literally finished one whole tissue box because of this. I was ugly-crying so hard that I could relate with Leo. Will I still recommend? Yes, with lots of disclaimers and will market it as a baptism of fire to be considered a real Korean drama addict. It could've been a five if not for that really wonky ending.
Watched: July 16-22, 2018
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