Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo
Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (Available on DVD)
Content: Violence, Language, and Mature Content
(Note: This show is incredibly depressing so if you are considering watching it please be aware of that. It does not end happily and you deserve to know whats coming. But I also want to say that I didn't cover everything in my review below. There was a lot I left out because I felt like other things were more important.)
My Rating: (Tears) B+ Character Glossary:
Hae Soo: Main Character
Wang So: 4th Prince
Wook: 8th Prince
Baek- ah: 13th Prince
Wang Eun: 10th Prince
Woo Hee: Baek- ha's love interest and princess
Wang Yo: 3rd Prince
Choi Ji-mong: Advisor to the Emperor
Wang Jung: 14th Prince
Wang Mu: Heir to the Throne
Yeon-hwa: Wook's Sister
(There will be a section for other characters after these. I just deemed these the most important.)
Scarlet Heart Ryeo is about a girl from modern times who saves a kid from drowning but ends up drowning herself. But then she wakes up. She is ancient Goryeo. She finds out that she is in the body of a member of the 8th prince's household. Since she does not know of a way back she starts to accept and live this second chance she has been given. But the world of the royals is rife with manipulation, death, and political deception. Can she navigate this new world she lives in? Can she find and keep the love that will make her happy?
SPOILERS AHEAD READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
OVERALL STORY: I used to think that He is Psychometric was depressing. But that show has NOTHING on this one. I have never cried so much or felt so depressed at an ending. Looking back on it now that it's over I realized.... no one really got a happy ending at all. I could go into detail right now and explain exactly what led to the not so happy ending but I don't have the time or the emotional strength to get into all that. Needless to say basically either the love of their life died, they were abandoned by everyone they loved, or they died themselves. Clearly this drama is not for the faint of heart. All of that aside this show focuses primarily on the politics of the royal family. Most of the princes are trying to get the throne and using/ killing others to get to it. What's painful though is before that really starts going you do see them all being happy as a family. You see the prince's get along and those were the moments that made me laugh and smile the most. Unfortunately those are few and far between especially after the first few episodes. The plot developed rather well though. I thought that it was impressive the way they tied everything in to increase the dramatic tension and put even more pressure on the story. Characters were forced to change as their lives descended into darkness and chaos. It became a question of who would support who and who would turn right around and betray someone. It was a cruel existence. Saying all of this I asked myself if I questioned buying this show at all. I am not a fan of sad endings and this was soul crushing. But no I do not regret watching this or buying it. It is a horrifyingly gorgeous show. The actors are amazing and the dynamic of the cast is wonderful. I would watch it again even though it tore out my heart and crushed it in it's cruel soulless hands. I think I'll just have to watch another show at the same time to balance it out. If you were wondering the ending goes like this: Hae Soo and Wang So "break up" and she marries the 14th Prince. She then dies after giving birth to a daughter and Wang So is just a couple days late of being able to see her. He then proceeds to do THE WORST and MOST HEARTBREAKING crying I have ever seen. I lost it at that point. Then Hae Soo wakes up in modern times with little to no memory of what happened. Then she sees a painting of Wang So and starts to cry. Boom The End. However the show itself is worth the pain but you can make the choice for yourself.
MAIN ROMANCE: What the flipping heck even happened. I have no words to accurately describe this romance. I did really love their relationship though during that small window where she didn't like Wook anymore and Wang So wasn't corrupted by power. They had some really, really great moments. (My favorite kiss is in episode 15 or 16 so look out for that.) One of my favorites is when her mother figure is executed she is pleading in front of the palace when it starts to rain. No one dares to go and help her for fear of losing their lives (Long story.) but Wang So steps out and lifts his cloak to cover her from the rain. He doesn't force her to leave but simply mourns with her. I do want to add however that sometimes I thought he was a little possessive. That's fine and all (Daoming Si had his own moments of this) but I felt like it made a contradiction in his character. Like I mentioned Daoming Si from Meteor Garden had been possessive of Shancai the first part of the show but he matured out of it. In Scarlet Heart Wang So seemed to already be at that maturity level. He respected her as a person and admired her owning her own self. Then the next moment he would be the complete opposite. It was super confusing and made it hard for a while to decide if I even liked the romance. So if you have a magical way to untangle these threads let me know cause it was overly contradictory.
OTHER ROMANCES: There were two other romances in this show that I want to talk about briefly. The first one is between Eun and the generals daughter. Eun originally liked Hae Soo and then was forced into the marriage between him and the generals daughter. Slowly but surely they grew to really truly love each other. Unfortunately they both died right when they accepted their love for each other. But despite that depressing tidbit they were really cute. The other one is between Baek- ha and Woo Hee. They originally had an antagonistic relationship but they did grow into something shippable. I was impressed that Baek-ha could forgive her for attempting to kill his father. I mean her reasoning made sense but still I mean he didn't even bat an eye. Impressive forgiveness ability.
HAE SOO: I loved her as a main character! In Korean Dramas you often get some idiot female leads. Although Hae Soo liked Wook which I consider a questionable choice she never became some girl led by some stupid dude. She beat up a prince because he was being stupid and did not hesitate to stand up if someone was being mistreated. She really took every inch of her modern day personality and applied it in the best way possible. She made intelligent decisions and made sure that she understood all of the information. She really took everything into account before she made a judgement. I admired her so much as a main character and I'm so grateful that she never stopped standing up for what she believed was right.
WANG SO: "Power is always dangerous. It attracts the worst and corrupts the best." ( Ragnar Lothbrok) If there was one quote that describe him it is this. I really loved him before he became emperor. And to be entirely fair he wasn't a bad emperor in comparison to Yo. He used his power to help people and was said to be a good and fair emperor. But from what I've seen he had to go back to that after Hae Soo died. Because there were times as an emperor I thought he was on the crazy train down the rabbit hole. He seemed entirely too eager to spill blood. This all came from some serious abandonment issues which he clearly got over but we never got to see it. Which sucks because he clearly goes back to being a great person. I wish I could give a conclusive opinion on him because when the show ended I was just left feeling... a bit confused on how I felt about him. I loved who he was and feel a lot of pain about who he became.
WOOK: I may not have liked him as another member of this love triangle but he used to be a really good person. Then everything changed when he became a power hungry TRAITOR. Oh also he is a cheater pants. Like he was married in the first part of the show and he started to like Hae Soo. They would exchange glances and accidentally touch hands and all that crap but he seemed to have no respect for his wife. Hae Soo respected his wife and they never really pursued a relationship until his wife was dead but I expected him to care more about how his wife feels. I mean he claims to be a good person then pulls a move like that. But even that pales in comparison to the monster he becomes. He helps murder Wang Mu and Wang Yo with the sketchy mercury crap and is determined to get the throne in order to win Hae Soo back. That doesn't work out. But everything that I liked about him was lost when he became a power hungry maniac.
BAEK-HA: Here is another character that I loved throughout the whole show. He was the voice of reason and one of the only princes who looked past Wang So's rough exterior. He was a friend to everyone and he wasn't corrupted by the darkness. Even though he lost everything he, like Eun, never lost sight of who he was. He did smile less but considering what happened to others I'm glad that he never let himself become power hungry. He was also invaluable to Wang So and kept him sane. Bless his wonderful soul. I loved him.
WANG EUN: He was one of the greatest characters in this show. He was the happiest and one of the few princes who didn't want the throne. He just wanted to be happy and have those he cares about be happy as well. He is a very pure soul. That's probably why he had to die. Because this show, like I said above, is a tragedy. Although he wasn't as critical as some other characters he made his mark on the show. He found love and inspired goodness in others. I got to see him mature and grow as a person. When he died he had grown into someone absolutely amazing. He had held onto what had made him, him while still continuing to grow and change. A lot of other people weren't so devoted or lucky in their lives. I honor and respect him so much as a person.
WOO HEE: I don't have too much to say on her because she wasn't here for very long before she died. (I hope you are starting to see a trend here because this show is just haunted by death.) I still can't decide if I completely like her or not. I mean she tried to murder the emperor and then no one even talked about it again which I found kind of odd. And the first time we met her she ripped up Baek-ha's drawing book because she felt like he was dishonoring her people by drawing them which still doesn't make much sense to me. But then she was really a kick butt person at times because she wouldn't take crap from anyone. She stood up for herself and her people all the way until her bitter end.
WANG YO: I hated him for the longest time but in the end I just felt sad for him. He was spoiled by his mother and told that the only thing that made him of any worth was his getting the throne. He spent his entire life doing everything he could to get there. He isolated himself and trusted in people who didn't care about him more what he could give them. (*cough* *cough* his mother) When he finally got the throne he flaunted his power and was slowly being poisoned by mercury. The people who he killed (Including Eun and his wife) haunted him and he was driven to absolute insanity. While I still blame him for killing some of my favorite characters in the end he was broken and beaten. And for what? He lost everything because of his (and others) hunger for power.
CHOI JI-MONG: Ah the wise advisor dude. He was another who consistently stayed awesome throughout the whole show. And he had such a unique point of view on everything because he had an experience similar to Hae Soo's. He was the voice of reason and helped keep everything on track. I think this show would have gone off the rails if it weren't for his guidance. He was amazingly loyal to the people who deserved it and was kick butt. I have yet to see anyone really intimidate him and he was really cool. I mean personally I think that he is some sort of deity blessed person because he showed up in the modern times at the end and clearly remembered everything. Or maybe he just didn't drink the forgetting tea when he died. (I hope you know what I am referencing.)
WANG JUNG: What the fudge even was this guy?! He was awesome for the majority of the show but then he pissed me off at the end. Hae Soo was sending letters to Wang So hoping he would come visit her and Jung would do something to them to make sure Wang So wouldn't open them. Because of him Wang So and Hae Soo didn't get to see each other before she died. Part of me will always be bitter about that. Besides that though he was a pretty good character. He was an idiot when it came to his mother and family but he had a good heart and that counts for a lot in this show. A lot of other people didn't keep that as the show developed.
WANG MU: So fun fact: He dies too. Like Wang Yo he was poisoned by mercury. Apparently that was a really popular form of slowly killing someone off back in the day. Having seen it in action multiple times in this show I can't deny it's effectiveness. Wang Yo may have made me a little sad but Wang Mu was devastating. We didn't get as much time with him as we could have but the scenes we did have made a very critical impression of his character. He was a good person and he loved those around him. He wanted to be a good ruler and be fair to everyone. I think he would have been the best ruler in the whole show. He did not deserve such a horrible death.
YEON-HWA: There were a lot of bad people in this show but none as evil in my mind as her. She hurt people without a care and was as power hungry as the rest of them. No matter how much someone cared about her if they were standing in the way of her and the throne she would show them no mercy. She didn't even die! She freaking became queen! What sort of justice is this!? If her life goes anything like her predecessor that will almost be enough of a revenge. She continually spiraled into an even darker person and I have no pity for her. She deserves every bad thing that comes for her.
OTHER CHARACTERS: I want to talk briefly about other characters that appeared in the show. The emperor for one was a character I couldn't decide if I liked. He did some awful things but he wasn't as bad as I made him out to be originally. He was also a pretty good ruler and I wish that people had respected his final wishes because then we wouldn't have so many problems later in the show. Another character is Eun's wife who I loved from the first time we met her. She was the daugher of a general and preferred being on the battlefield. She was rougher but thats what I loved about her. She was sweet and gave off the feeling that she was naive but she was actually one of the smartest people on the show. I loved her so much. Speaking of her, her father the general was a pretty legit dude too. He was faithful to the throne up until the end. Also there was another lady who was the emperors only true love. I didn't like her at first but she was a very real character she loved and felt such pain. Her death was brutal and unfair, but she died protecting the ones she loved. Lastly but not least Hae Soo's cousin who we meet in the beginning of the show... I wish she hadn't died. All the good ones seem to die. She was levelheaded and caring. I wouldn't have been half as understanding about certain things as she was. Oh! I almost forgot Hae Soo's best friend. She was such a fun friend in the first part of the show but then she fades into the background as time goes on. We end up finding out there is a lot more to her story then we originally knew about. It was pretty awesome to see her get some depth after she died. (And the trend continues.)
FAVORITE QUOTE:
"Whenever I come to you, all my problems seem to become lighter. So, how can I live without seeing you?" - Wang So
SHIP VIDEO (Chance of Spoilers):
Content: Violence, Language, and Mature Content
(Note: This show is incredibly depressing so if you are considering watching it please be aware of that. It does not end happily and you deserve to know whats coming. But I also want to say that I didn't cover everything in my review below. There was a lot I left out because I felt like other things were more important.)
My Rating: (Tears) B+ Character Glossary:
Hae Soo: Main Character
Wang So: 4th Prince
Wook: 8th Prince
Baek- ah: 13th Prince
Wang Eun: 10th Prince
Woo Hee: Baek- ha's love interest and princessWang Yo: 3rd Prince
Choi Ji-mong: Advisor to the Emperor
Wang Jung: 14th Prince
Wang Mu: Heir to the Throne
Yeon-hwa: Wook's Sister
(There will be a section for other characters after these. I just deemed these the most important.)
Scarlet Heart Ryeo is about a girl from modern times who saves a kid from drowning but ends up drowning herself. But then she wakes up. She is ancient Goryeo. She finds out that she is in the body of a member of the 8th prince's household. Since she does not know of a way back she starts to accept and live this second chance she has been given. But the world of the royals is rife with manipulation, death, and political deception. Can she navigate this new world she lives in? Can she find and keep the love that will make her happy?
SPOILERS AHEAD READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
OVERALL STORY: I used to think that He is Psychometric was depressing. But that show has NOTHING on this one. I have never cried so much or felt so depressed at an ending. Looking back on it now that it's over I realized.... no one really got a happy ending at all. I could go into detail right now and explain exactly what led to the not so happy ending but I don't have the time or the emotional strength to get into all that. Needless to say basically either the love of their life died, they were abandoned by everyone they loved, or they died themselves. Clearly this drama is not for the faint of heart. All of that aside this show focuses primarily on the politics of the royal family. Most of the princes are trying to get the throne and using/ killing others to get to it. What's painful though is before that really starts going you do see them all being happy as a family. You see the prince's get along and those were the moments that made me laugh and smile the most. Unfortunately those are few and far between especially after the first few episodes. The plot developed rather well though. I thought that it was impressive the way they tied everything in to increase the dramatic tension and put even more pressure on the story. Characters were forced to change as their lives descended into darkness and chaos. It became a question of who would support who and who would turn right around and betray someone. It was a cruel existence. Saying all of this I asked myself if I questioned buying this show at all. I am not a fan of sad endings and this was soul crushing. But no I do not regret watching this or buying it. It is a horrifyingly gorgeous show. The actors are amazing and the dynamic of the cast is wonderful. I would watch it again even though it tore out my heart and crushed it in it's cruel soulless hands. I think I'll just have to watch another show at the same time to balance it out. If you were wondering the ending goes like this: Hae Soo and Wang So "break up" and she marries the 14th Prince. She then dies after giving birth to a daughter and Wang So is just a couple days late of being able to see her. He then proceeds to do THE WORST and MOST HEARTBREAKING crying I have ever seen. I lost it at that point. Then Hae Soo wakes up in modern times with little to no memory of what happened. Then she sees a painting of Wang So and starts to cry. Boom The End. However the show itself is worth the pain but you can make the choice for yourself.
MAIN ROMANCE: What the flipping heck even happened. I have no words to accurately describe this romance. I did really love their relationship though during that small window where she didn't like Wook anymore and Wang So wasn't corrupted by power. They had some really, really great moments. (My favorite kiss is in episode 15 or 16 so look out for that.) One of my favorites is when her mother figure is executed she is pleading in front of the palace when it starts to rain. No one dares to go and help her for fear of losing their lives (Long story.) but Wang So steps out and lifts his cloak to cover her from the rain. He doesn't force her to leave but simply mourns with her. I do want to add however that sometimes I thought he was a little possessive. That's fine and all (Daoming Si had his own moments of this) but I felt like it made a contradiction in his character. Like I mentioned Daoming Si from Meteor Garden had been possessive of Shancai the first part of the show but he matured out of it. In Scarlet Heart Wang So seemed to already be at that maturity level. He respected her as a person and admired her owning her own self. Then the next moment he would be the complete opposite. It was super confusing and made it hard for a while to decide if I even liked the romance. So if you have a magical way to untangle these threads let me know cause it was overly contradictory.
OTHER ROMANCES: There were two other romances in this show that I want to talk about briefly. The first one is between Eun and the generals daughter. Eun originally liked Hae Soo and then was forced into the marriage between him and the generals daughter. Slowly but surely they grew to really truly love each other. Unfortunately they both died right when they accepted their love for each other. But despite that depressing tidbit they were really cute. The other one is between Baek- ha and Woo Hee. They originally had an antagonistic relationship but they did grow into something shippable. I was impressed that Baek-ha could forgive her for attempting to kill his father. I mean her reasoning made sense but still I mean he didn't even bat an eye. Impressive forgiveness ability.
HAE SOO: I loved her as a main character! In Korean Dramas you often get some idiot female leads. Although Hae Soo liked Wook which I consider a questionable choice she never became some girl led by some stupid dude. She beat up a prince because he was being stupid and did not hesitate to stand up if someone was being mistreated. She really took every inch of her modern day personality and applied it in the best way possible. She made intelligent decisions and made sure that she understood all of the information. She really took everything into account before she made a judgement. I admired her so much as a main character and I'm so grateful that she never stopped standing up for what she believed was right.
WANG SO: "Power is always dangerous. It attracts the worst and corrupts the best." ( Ragnar Lothbrok) If there was one quote that describe him it is this. I really loved him before he became emperor. And to be entirely fair he wasn't a bad emperor in comparison to Yo. He used his power to help people and was said to be a good and fair emperor. But from what I've seen he had to go back to that after Hae Soo died. Because there were times as an emperor I thought he was on the crazy train down the rabbit hole. He seemed entirely too eager to spill blood. This all came from some serious abandonment issues which he clearly got over but we never got to see it. Which sucks because he clearly goes back to being a great person. I wish I could give a conclusive opinion on him because when the show ended I was just left feeling... a bit confused on how I felt about him. I loved who he was and feel a lot of pain about who he became.
WOOK: I may not have liked him as another member of this love triangle but he used to be a really good person. Then everything changed when he became a power hungry TRAITOR. Oh also he is a cheater pants. Like he was married in the first part of the show and he started to like Hae Soo. They would exchange glances and accidentally touch hands and all that crap but he seemed to have no respect for his wife. Hae Soo respected his wife and they never really pursued a relationship until his wife was dead but I expected him to care more about how his wife feels. I mean he claims to be a good person then pulls a move like that. But even that pales in comparison to the monster he becomes. He helps murder Wang Mu and Wang Yo with the sketchy mercury crap and is determined to get the throne in order to win Hae Soo back. That doesn't work out. But everything that I liked about him was lost when he became a power hungry maniac.
BAEK-HA: Here is another character that I loved throughout the whole show. He was the voice of reason and one of the only princes who looked past Wang So's rough exterior. He was a friend to everyone and he wasn't corrupted by the darkness. Even though he lost everything he, like Eun, never lost sight of who he was. He did smile less but considering what happened to others I'm glad that he never let himself become power hungry. He was also invaluable to Wang So and kept him sane. Bless his wonderful soul. I loved him.
WANG EUN: He was one of the greatest characters in this show. He was the happiest and one of the few princes who didn't want the throne. He just wanted to be happy and have those he cares about be happy as well. He is a very pure soul. That's probably why he had to die. Because this show, like I said above, is a tragedy. Although he wasn't as critical as some other characters he made his mark on the show. He found love and inspired goodness in others. I got to see him mature and grow as a person. When he died he had grown into someone absolutely amazing. He had held onto what had made him, him while still continuing to grow and change. A lot of other people weren't so devoted or lucky in their lives. I honor and respect him so much as a person.
WOO HEE: I don't have too much to say on her because she wasn't here for very long before she died. (I hope you are starting to see a trend here because this show is just haunted by death.) I still can't decide if I completely like her or not. I mean she tried to murder the emperor and then no one even talked about it again which I found kind of odd. And the first time we met her she ripped up Baek-ha's drawing book because she felt like he was dishonoring her people by drawing them which still doesn't make much sense to me. But then she was really a kick butt person at times because she wouldn't take crap from anyone. She stood up for herself and her people all the way until her bitter end.
WANG YO: I hated him for the longest time but in the end I just felt sad for him. He was spoiled by his mother and told that the only thing that made him of any worth was his getting the throne. He spent his entire life doing everything he could to get there. He isolated himself and trusted in people who didn't care about him more what he could give them. (*cough* *cough* his mother) When he finally got the throne he flaunted his power and was slowly being poisoned by mercury. The people who he killed (Including Eun and his wife) haunted him and he was driven to absolute insanity. While I still blame him for killing some of my favorite characters in the end he was broken and beaten. And for what? He lost everything because of his (and others) hunger for power.
CHOI JI-MONG: Ah the wise advisor dude. He was another who consistently stayed awesome throughout the whole show. And he had such a unique point of view on everything because he had an experience similar to Hae Soo's. He was the voice of reason and helped keep everything on track. I think this show would have gone off the rails if it weren't for his guidance. He was amazingly loyal to the people who deserved it and was kick butt. I have yet to see anyone really intimidate him and he was really cool. I mean personally I think that he is some sort of deity blessed person because he showed up in the modern times at the end and clearly remembered everything. Or maybe he just didn't drink the forgetting tea when he died. (I hope you know what I am referencing.)
WANG JUNG: What the fudge even was this guy?! He was awesome for the majority of the show but then he pissed me off at the end. Hae Soo was sending letters to Wang So hoping he would come visit her and Jung would do something to them to make sure Wang So wouldn't open them. Because of him Wang So and Hae Soo didn't get to see each other before she died. Part of me will always be bitter about that. Besides that though he was a pretty good character. He was an idiot when it came to his mother and family but he had a good heart and that counts for a lot in this show. A lot of other people didn't keep that as the show developed.
WANG MU: So fun fact: He dies too. Like Wang Yo he was poisoned by mercury. Apparently that was a really popular form of slowly killing someone off back in the day. Having seen it in action multiple times in this show I can't deny it's effectiveness. Wang Yo may have made me a little sad but Wang Mu was devastating. We didn't get as much time with him as we could have but the scenes we did have made a very critical impression of his character. He was a good person and he loved those around him. He wanted to be a good ruler and be fair to everyone. I think he would have been the best ruler in the whole show. He did not deserve such a horrible death.
YEON-HWA: There were a lot of bad people in this show but none as evil in my mind as her. She hurt people without a care and was as power hungry as the rest of them. No matter how much someone cared about her if they were standing in the way of her and the throne she would show them no mercy. She didn't even die! She freaking became queen! What sort of justice is this!? If her life goes anything like her predecessor that will almost be enough of a revenge. She continually spiraled into an even darker person and I have no pity for her. She deserves every bad thing that comes for her.
OTHER CHARACTERS: I want to talk briefly about other characters that appeared in the show. The emperor for one was a character I couldn't decide if I liked. He did some awful things but he wasn't as bad as I made him out to be originally. He was also a pretty good ruler and I wish that people had respected his final wishes because then we wouldn't have so many problems later in the show. Another character is Eun's wife who I loved from the first time we met her. She was the daugher of a general and preferred being on the battlefield. She was rougher but thats what I loved about her. She was sweet and gave off the feeling that she was naive but she was actually one of the smartest people on the show. I loved her so much. Speaking of her, her father the general was a pretty legit dude too. He was faithful to the throne up until the end. Also there was another lady who was the emperors only true love. I didn't like her at first but she was a very real character she loved and felt such pain. Her death was brutal and unfair, but she died protecting the ones she loved. Lastly but not least Hae Soo's cousin who we meet in the beginning of the show... I wish she hadn't died. All the good ones seem to die. She was levelheaded and caring. I wouldn't have been half as understanding about certain things as she was. Oh! I almost forgot Hae Soo's best friend. She was such a fun friend in the first part of the show but then she fades into the background as time goes on. We end up finding out there is a lot more to her story then we originally knew about. It was pretty awesome to see her get some depth after she died. (And the trend continues.)
FAVORITE QUOTE:
"Whenever I come to you, all my problems seem to become lighter. So, how can I live without seeing you?" - Wang So
SHIP VIDEO (Chance of Spoilers):
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