First of all, yes, it is filled with spoilers!
I have been obsessing over a K-Drama that recently ended. From all of my encounters with K-Drama, I have never been as obsessed to as this one. Yep, it is the Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo. Basically, I love period dramas. Anything with royal families, Kings and Princes (as well as Queen and Princesses), battle for thrones, you name it, I dig it. This drama has it all. It even has not just one but 7 Princes fighting against each other. Not to mention that their robes are sometimes color coded! And how I love color coded characters (I know, I’m weird).
For heads up this is the synopsis of the drama, copy-pasted from Wikipedia. During a total eclipse of the sun, a 25-year-old 21st century woman, Go Ha-jin (Lee Ji-eun), is transported back in time to Goryeo Dynasty. She wakes up in the year 941, in the body of 16-year-old Hae Soo and there, she encounters the many royal princes of the ruling Wang family. She initially falls in love with the gentle and warm 8th Prince Wang Wook (Kang Ha-neul), and later Wang So (Lee Joon-gi), the fearsome 4th Prince who hides his face behind a mask and is given the derogatory label “wolf dog”. Meanwhile, rivalry and politics ensue among the princes, in a fight for the throne, as Hae Soo finds herself unwittingly caught between it all.
To be honest, despite of its interesting plot why I was hooked to this drama is partly because Kang Haneul’s character Wang Wook was too captivating for me. My God! He wasn’t the most fortunate character, though. Tough luck. But, until the end, he has always been my favorite Prince.
Oh, anyway, this drama rather flopped in its home country compared to its rivaling drama Moonlight Drawn by Clouds that received way better acceptance. But internationally, it drew more favorable response. I was confused (at first), because I watched Moonlight Drawn by Clouds halfway and decided that it is not comparable to Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo, that to me it was so bad, plot-wise, I couldn’t stand watching it. I mean, what the hell were they thinking? Do they really have different standard than us? Well, I guess now I know. The South Koreans have already foreseen the agony that would befall the avid audience of the Moon Lovers drama. Dang! Didn’t see that coming.
It seemed like everybody knew that it was a remake from a Chinese version but me. I knew it rather halfway. I wikied it and found that it had sad ending! When I knew about that, it was too late for me to back off since I have been caught too deep in its snare. But then, the internet told me that it was going to be different from the Chinese version, it was going to be a happy ending. And guess what? After weeks of excruciating wait, rode along the emotionally wrenching journey, episodes after episodes, we reached to the finale which… was… a… freakishly… sad…. Ending!
Everyone!
It was rather a hopeless ending than sad ending. Not even bittersweet when there’s a consolation at the end. It was more like regret! I felt like… huft… speechless… I could not even find an adjective to describe the horrible feeling that I had. What did I get myself into?! (I’m sorry for my inner drama queen instinct has awakened).
My Moon Lovers buddy, Nana, felt the same way, too. Even my mom (yes, she watched it) felt the same way, too. And all of its fans (or just the international fans) felt the same way, too! We are disappointed by the ending. Especially with the cut scene(s) that failed to appear on screen. I and Nana could only mention how mean the PD is. After all the bad things Hae Soo and Wang So have been through together, I just wanted to see them happy in the end. At least happy knowing each other still cares despite of the distance. Is that so hard, PD-nim?! And I am sure people on the internet are swarming noting the cruelty of the writers (But still, I admire them for writing such an emotionally engaging story). I can’t live with it. Oh, the lingering feeling of ‘what-if’s and ‘if-only-just’s that haunting me. Until now, I am still hoping for extra episodes that will resolve everything. Or maybe just the leak of deleted scenes, if it’s not too much trouble, PD-nim! I’d be happy with that… Huhu!
To be fair, despite of the horrible ending, this drama is a masterpiece. Almost every frame was perfect and beautiful. The colors and the mood were grand and majestic. Some soundtrack were a little off for me, but overall they were good. Especially the war and the mourning back-sound. What I love the most is the color palette, though. The detail of the lighting that they put is very impressive. Me gusta! I like films with beautiful colors. Even so, the ending depressed me so much I wanted to cut ties with the drama entirely. Lol. I have even unsubscribed some channels on Youtube and unfollowed some accounts on instagram so that my feed wouldn’t be filled with anything related to the drama. I know I am such a drama queen. Ahahaha. Probably, I’d re-subscribe or re-follow them later, who knows? (especially if there’s any good news :P)
Anyway, for my consolation, I watched other dramas with Lee Joon Gi as the male lead (and Lee Yu Bi as the female lead).
I thought that seeing Lee Joon Gi’s character has a happy ending would console me, since I am so disappointed with his Wang So character’s ending in Moon Lovers. So, I chose The Scholar Who Walks the Night. It is about a vampire story in Joseon era. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad at all, either. But, I quite like the idea of the story, though. Moreover, the antagonist, Vampire Gwi which was played by Lee Soo Hyuk was freaking hot! Well, I like Lee Soo Hyuk in the first place, so… *wink*
In this drama I shipped the Crown Prince (Shim Chang Min) and the Crown Princess (Kim So Eun), which later became the King and the Queen.
I am more interested to their romance rather than the lead romance, it’s not that the lead romance isn’t cute, but it was just too obvious. Their union was unlikely in the first place, because the Crown Princess-to-be was Gwi’s underling and she became Crown Princess for mere political power. But along the way, I saw something blooming and political agenda started to be filled with something personal. Well, I was seeing my ship sailing until everything started to get worse and the Queen died. Huftness, my ship was crashed once again. I just don’t know how to choose a non-depressing drama! I give up.
I’d just see anything with Lee Soo Hyuk or Kang Haneul in it. At least it’ll please my eyes if not my heart.
Out of Words 