My Favorite KDrama of All Time - The Moon Embracing the Sun (2012) Review
-May contain major spoilers-
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| Photo source: MBC |
The Moon Embracing the Sun (해를 품은 달) is a 20-episode MBC historical-fantasy drama that follows the love story between Lee Hwon the Crown Prince/King of Joseon and Heo Yeon-Woo/Wol a female shaman with Kim Soo-Hyun and Han Ga-In as the leads.
Summary -Ep 1 to 6-
Two suns, two moons, political intrigues, and a prophecy of death...
One night Prince Ui Seong, half-brother of King Seong Jo (Ahn Nae-Sang) is murdered by Prime Minister Yoon Dae-Hyung (Kim Eung-Soo) (leader of the Yoon clan) in a plot created by Queen Dowager Yoon (Kim Young-Ae) to protect her son's throne from Prince Ui Seong "threat". Shaman A-Ri (Jang Young-Nam) arrives at the scene after having a vision and flees after being discovered witnessing the crime while running away A-Ri falls off a cliff, and badly hurt she steps on the way and faints in front of palanquin carrying lady Shin Jung-Kyung (Yang Mi-Kyung) the pregnant wife of the chief scholar Heo Young-Jae (Sunwoo Jae-Duk), she helps the shaman reach the city hidden from the guards who are looking for her as a traitor. A-Ri thanks the lady by telling her that her baby is a girl who has a "noble fate". In the city, A-Ri gets captured and tortured to confess her "crimes" as she was framed by lord Yoon. At night fellow shaman Jang Nok-Young (Jeon Mi-Seon) bribes her way inside the prison where she talks to A-Ri who makes her promise to protect the child with a noble fate. The next day as A-Ri gets executed Jung-Kyung gives birth to a baby girl named Heo Yeon-Woo.
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13 years later...
Crown Prince Lee Hwon (Yeo Jin-Goo) and Heo Yeon-Woo (Kim Yoo-Jung) meet as children for the first time when the Prince, who was trying to sneak out of the palace, falls in love at first sight both -literally and metaphorically- with Yeon-Woo, but she confuses him with a thief. Yeon-Woo, who was at the palace with her mother attending her brother Heo Yeom (Im Si-Wan), the top literary scholar award ceremony is smart and well-read, but still childlike as she follows an awful CGI butterfly through the palace who takes her to the Crown Prince and when she falls for the Prince trickery as he tries to learn her age. The Crown Prince is clever, mischievous, and charming, but a tad impulsive for example when he yells "I AM JOSEON... eunuch", he yearns to meet with his older brother Prince Yangmyung (Lee Tae-Ri) who is the son of a royal concubine and the king, Prince Yangmyung is friends with Heo Yeom and the top military military scholar Kim Jae-Woon (Lee Won-Geun) and is in love with Yeon-Woo (creepy...) who doesn't love him back. Heo Yeom gets chosen as the new teacher for the Crown Prince and creates a sort of communication bridge between Yeon-Woo and Lee Hwon. The King's young daughter Princess Minhwa (Jin Ji-Hee) falls in love at first sight with Heo Yeom and begs her father to make him her teacher. The King decides to get the Princess a book girl to appease her, one of the Yoon clan lackeys postulates Yoon Dae-Hyung's daughter, the spoiled Yoon Bo-Kyung (Kim So-Hyun), and the King also chooses the chief scholar daughter Yeon-Woo so they can be the Princess companions. The Queen dowager has already pre-selected Bo-Kyung as the future Crown Princess, and when Lee Hwon learns of this begs his father for a fair selection, the King concedes and Yeon-Woo gets chosen as the Crown Princess. Enraged the Queen dowager orders Nok-Young to cast a hex on Yeon-Woo to cause her death. Because of her illness, Yeon-Woo gets thrown out of the palace and "dies" peacefully in her father's arms. The night of Yeon-Woo's funeral Nok-Young goes to her tomb and digs up an amnesiac Yeon-Woo. She later flees to an island with Yeon-Woo, who now gets called "baby". The Crown Prince and Yoon Bo-Kyung get married...
Thoughts
The child actors were great with episode 5 acting standing out, but their adult counterparts (except for Kim Soo-Hyun) when compared to the children left a lot to desire, especially Han Ga-In, whose acting relayed on opening her eyes bigger. Kim Min-Seo, who played the adult version of Yoon Bo-Kyung, was very good and made me feel pity for her in the end. Kim Young-Ae and Kim Eung-Soo were great as the main villains. The worst character is Jang Nok-Young who when trying to protect the moon makes things worse and leads to the suffering of many, especially Yeon-Woo's poor parents. My least favorite character and personal villain is Princess Minhwa, who is a spoiled brat who manages to get her way technically until the end. The story leaned a bit too much on the political side and probably should have been 16 episodes long, but I still want more of the main couple so it's okay. The soundtrack is outstanding with songs like The Moonlight is Setting by Heora, Back in Time by Lyn, and my favorite, the instrumental Main Theme. Whenever I listen to any of these songs I get a sense of nostalgia or melancholy. I also really love "Only You One Person" (그대 한 사람
) by Kim Soo-Hyun I think it's one of the best songs in the soundtrack and Soo-Hyun's voice is so nice and smooth.
With a stacked cast, a beautiful OST, and great costumes The Moon Embracing the Sun stood out from the competition reaching the highest rating of that year at 42.2% and winning multiple awards.
Now that the child cast is older, I would love it if they made a remake or worked together again.
I got hooked watching The Moon Embracing the Sun for the first time back in 2015 and I have revisited the drama a handful of times (something I never do), so this drama will always hold a special place in my heart. Sometimes, when I want to rewatch, I tell myself: "I'll just watch till halfway the episode 6" but when I see Kim Soo-Hyun smile I have to keep on watching...
Rating
Child Cast - 10/10
Adult Cast - 7/10
Plot - 7/10
Romance - 8.5/10
OST - 10/10
CGI - 4.5/10
Costumes - 8/10
Overall Rating: - 7.5/10
Extended Drama Info.
Quantity of Episodes: 20.
Run Time: 60+min/each.
Release Date: January 4, 2013.
Network: MBC.
Based on: Moon Embracing the Sun by Jung Eun-Gwol.
Directed by: Kim Do-Hoon, Lee Seong-Jun.
Written by: Jin Soo-Wan.
Starring: Kim Soo-Hyun, Han Ga-In, Jung Il-Woo and Kim Min-Seo.
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