[Drama 2016] Moon Lovers ❤ Scarlet Heart Ryeo, 달의 연인-보보경심 려 \^0^/ Soompi Kdrama 2016 Winner

[briseis]

Forever Apart - Separated by the 38th Parallel

That moment when you are about to fantasize about how HS would visit in the modern days all the places which are so important to her and Wang So, or HIS GRAVE, but then you realize that they are are situated in Kaesong, IN A FREAKING NORTH KOREA. This gives the WHOLE SEPARATION THEME A COMPLETELY NEW MEANING! Even his tomb is in the ONE PLACE ON EARTH WHERE SHE WON’T BE ABLE TO GO (even Mt. Everest would be a better option). I hate it when reality interferes with my OTP fantasies! 

In case you are planning on visiting NK any time soon, Gwangjong’s tomb is called Honrung (헌릉/憲陵).  The tomb survives in fair condition, though it is missing its guardian statues. It is located in Samgo-ri, Kaesong, and is listed as North Korean Cultural Asset #545.

38°2′24″N 126°31′19″E  (YES! YES, I REALLY DID SEARCH IT ON GOOGLE MAPS! And it wasn’t easy to find a photo of Gwangjong’s grave - since NK isn’t really Google images friendly - but in the end, I succeeded!)

[Adnana]

@ruizaio Do you happen to know approximately how old the child actor playing young Wang So is? He looks maybe 5-6 yrs. old to me? (Western age)

I'm trying to figure out, based on young WS's age + 15 years*, how old drama Wang So is at the start of the drama, in 941/942. 'Cause basic math says that he sure ain't 17/18 (the age** at that point in time of historical Wang So, who was born in 925).

*In E03, Wang So says: "Crown Prince Moo saved my life 15 years ago."

**Korean age

Thanks for helping! The fictional ages of the main characters is something that's been really bugging me. I've got Hae Soo all figured out, since her official character description gives her Korean age (16--or 15 in Western years, I suppose) at the time of her time-travel, but the princes are a killer since they don't match historical fact at all.

[ceda209]

I got YH. Man...that's scary haha!  And I got WS YAY! The prince of my dreams.  

Tomorrow is Monday!!! 

[blue003]

@briseis whoa didn't expect the N.Korea part. So we are definitely not going to see that part... 

good work on your research though

[jayakris]

3 hours ago, lyserose said:

Thanks for your input but my problem with Haesoo is not about her lack of trust on Wang So but it's her logic which I feel is not representing a woman of 21st century. She is kind-hearted but slow on the brain and apart from demonstrating feisty attitude especially in the beginning of this drama, she, unlike Ruoxi is a weak character who could not fight for her own agency and is in need of constant savings and sacrifices from others. My final blow was when she asked Wang So to give up the throne for her, that having both of them together happily in love is just enough.

 

I apologize if I am not as clued in on every line she said, like many of you may be, but did she ask him to give up the throne? When?  You mean the line at the end of Ep 16?  If so, she didn't ask him to give it up, and only asked a "what if" to understand what he thought. Right?

[ruizaio]

17 minutes ago, Adnana said:

@ruizaio Do you happen to know approximately how old the child actor playing young Wang So is? He looks maybe 5-6 yrs. old to me? (Western age)

I'm trying to figure out, based on young WS's age + 15 years*, how old drama Wang So is at the start of the drama, in 941/942. 'Cause basic math says that he sure ain't 17/18 (the age** at that point in time of historical Wang So, who was born in 925).

*In E03, Wang So says: "Crown Prince Moo saved my life 15 years ago."

**Korean age

Thanks for helping! The fictional ages of the main characters is something that's been really bugging me. I've got Hae Soo all figured out, since her official character description gives her Korean age (16--or 15 in Western years, I suppose) at the time of her time-travel, but the princes are a killer since they don't match historical fact at all.

 

First off, the child actor who played Wang So at the time of scarring is Hong Dong Young, and his DOB is 03/05/2011. The child actor who played Wang So as a hostage is Choi Hyun Jin, and his DOB is 11/16/2007.

However, age of child actors doesn't mean much in the realm of Sageuks or any other Kdrama, for that matter.

The synopsis had Wang So's starting age at 18 Korean age, which is 16/17 everywhere else. Hae Soo and Yeon Hwa were set to be 2 years younger. Yo is 1 year older. Won and Eun were both set to 1 year younger, Baek Ah 2 years younger, and Jung 3 years younger, but I think they might have changed things here (since Eun is younger than YH in the drama). Chae Ryung's age was supposed to be only 1 year younger, but since we specifically have heard her say she's 1 year younger than Hae Soo, there's definitely been changes. 

 

[blue003]

Missed opportunities, broken hearts, crushes, heartbreaks, death and growing up... one thing I really love about this show is that they really emphasize on the fact to live your present to the fullest because you never know what will happen in the future. How many of us lose sight of this while we are busy being pressured about our daily problems and worrying about the future? There is a famous saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present...

[littleloony]

3 hours ago, zi4r said:

#2 Hiding Jung by threatening herself (Because what I hate the most in life is using someone's love for you against that person)

@zi4r chingu well done with the anti HS post. I got a kick out of reading it and considering that the post has become a popular one I believe a lot of us agree with your points. I will thank you on venting out the frustration so well on my behalf .

For different reasons I gave up on trying to find logic in HS's actions from ep 9. No I never wanted her to chuck Wook and jump into So's arms like instant noodles but unfortunately I never understood how her brain worked (not the feelings part) from that episode onward. So I always look forward to kind chingudeul in here who explain why HS does what she does. I think of her as the necessary engine in Wang So's life driving him to his destiny because frankly I am mostly interested in what happens to him and how. I love the OTP interactions with respect to the same filter---how it affects So ad how he gets to spend time with his beloved person. This way I have seen that I don't get irritated with HS most of the time hehehe

Anyway, I just quoted one of the reasons you summarized in your dislike list and let me just say that I agree 200% with you. I was appalled at how HS threatened to use herself against WS and then even more appalled that there was no remorse or any kind of reflection from her after the incident was over. I don't know about anyone else but for me it just feels like there is no difference between her and Wang Yo or even the evil Queen. From a very nightmarish personal experience I can say that when a person you love threatens you and emotionally blackmails you with their life there can be very few things more traumatic than that. It is absolutely never acceptable to do that, whatever may be the difficulty or circumstance. So yes, when they showed that I was really taken aback and the sequence just sent out a wrong message IMO. Fortunately, I don't take HS seriously after ep 9 because she refuses to take her surroundings seriously and behaves quite like an "Ekta Kapoor Heroine".

Spoiler

Off topic- Ekta Kapoor happens to be a famous producer of hindi TV dramas from India. Initially she developed dramas which had good, strong female leads but at the height of her popularity she produced a slew of dramas where the female leads had to have a few particular traits. The major traits are- spunky/ feisty attitude, innocent heart and a pure mind, lovable and family oriented, has a lot of self respect, logic eludes her, feels for mostly everyone, always gets into scrapes, thinks that she has to shoulder the burden of the world and rescue everyone in her vicinity all by herself without asking for help (starting from cats and dogs,servants, siblings, parents, the hero, boss, friends, in-laws, hindi equivalent to chaebols, the stranger on the street and so on), generally has the habit of even dealing with goons, kidnappers and other unsavoury characters by herself, probably spends two to three times in police custody in the course of the drama, has the attention of at least three males, will definitely be involved with two/ three males romantically through the entire course of the drama, yet there will only be one male lead with him she finally ends up.

This set up became so famous that when ever a female lead behaves in a way resembling the above, she is called an EKta Kapoor heroine  

 

[eunki]

Yesterday article said :"Haesoo keeps her place beside WS and becomes a strong woman in order to protect her love". I like how it sounds) 

[jayakris]

10 hours ago, phenyl said:

I found this

  Hide contents

https://tune.pk/video/6682469/moon-lovers-scarlet-heart-directors-cut-ep3-added-scene-3

Can someone help me translate from minute 2.00-3.10

and im looking for deleted scene when hae soo watching wang so having a nightmare. please PM me or share the link

Here goes:

HS: I want to see you, mom.
WS: Cut the crap!
WS: Mom? Like, what the hell is that?
HS: What it is, you ask? Whatever mistake I make, she'd only thank me and be understanding, and only say it's all right. In the whole world, she's the only one on my side.
WS: Get a grip. On your side in this world, you have only yourself. You may try hard to say she'll protect you, but she won't be there when you're even killed because of the family.
HS: We aren't like that, all right?
WS: Really?... Then... Where was this?  Whenever (wherever) was it that you were dying, with her on your side?
HS: That is...
WS: If you have decided to live here, just live... without wasting time grumbling to Mom.

As always, Korean lines are dangerous to translate, as things could be entirely different if you heard some small sound wrong!  Hope I got it right.

[briseis]

Lovers from the Lotus Pond

“Stop. It would have been better not to see you at all.” 

He can’t pretend he doesn’t love her even if his life depended on it - he lets himself by found by her daydreaming about her at their lotus pond TWICE, and then he even tells her that seeing her was a huge mistake, basically indirectly admiting how much he feels and cares for her. WS is so in love with HS that when he cannot say goodbye to her, he goes to their pond drowning himself in the memories of her and her touches; and you know he’s been immersing himself in those memories every single day since the moment he left her all those years ago - they are his sustanence on which he’s been surviving ever since. It’s those memories (and the fact that she still didn’t forgotten him despite how much he hurt her and pushed her away) combined with her closeness which emotionally overcome him and in complete panic he pushs her away in fear that if she comes even closer, he WON’T BE ABLE TO CONTROL HIMSELF. After 3 years without her, he’s slowly reaching the end of his rope. 

The moment he sees HS’s life is threatened he forgets all about becoming a king, about his responsibilities and abandons it all FOR HER ONCE AGAIN. ONCE AGAIN HE CHOOSES HER OVER THE THRONE BECAUSE his quest for the crown would be pointess if she wouldn’t survive because from the beginning it was all for her. It’s purely instinctive because his heart always wins over his brain - his heart which belongs only to her. And before he leaves her, WHILE HE’S LITERALLY BLEEDING FOR HER, HE ALLOWS HIMSELF TO LOOK AT HER ONE LAST TIME because he expects he won’t see her for a long time.

A lot has been said and written about the importance of the lotus hairpin, but the motif of the lotus pond, their meeting place, is as important and maybe even more pronounced BECAUSE THE LOTUS FLOWERS IN THE MURKY POND ARE REAL - each day they rise from the dirty water and bloom with remarkable beauty, untainted by it. It’s seems almost like a miracle - a tangible proof that even the most unprobable of loves can happen and thrive in the darkest of worlds. The lotus flower really is the perfect symbol of their love and its constancy while the murky water symbolizes the hostile, evil world of the 10th century they live in.

 

[jayakris]

5 hours ago, zi4r said:

All in all, my three biggest problems are (ranked):

• #1 "You said you didn't need to be king as long as we were together. You're not saying it anymore."
• #2 Hiding Jung by threatening herself (Because what I hate the most in life is using someone's love for you against that person)
• #3 The undeveloped relationship in the two years of Mu's reign

I guess I asked about the first part already (though in response to @lyserose), as I felt that it may be a bit of a stretch to take this line as asking him to give up the throne for her.  I didn't take it that way (at all!).  And neither did WS, in how he responded.

On the 2nd point, wasn't she actually helping WS out of a really tight spot, of having to arrest Jeong and have him face the law for breaking curfew?  It worked out best for WS too, and she knew it would.  At least, that's how I took it.  What was wrong in that? I thought it was brilliant.  And I think WS probably did too, as he didn't complain later when she explained it away (though it added to his feeling that she might not be trusting him like he does her, and he openly said that to her later).  Again, sorry if I missed any detail that should make me dislike HS on this.

[luvkstyle]

@pass3rby Thank you for posting the beautiful video on pp1393 (yes I'm way behind ) made by A.mode.  It really brought it  more sharply into focus for me how much Wang So sought Hae Soo for his solace and healing  - seeing the harshness of the life he was living, the lack of love and acceptance from most of those around him, the cruel treatment he received and to find Hae Soo, seemingly to him, so refreshingly unaffected and she cared for him, understood him, she brought healing to his heart. It's no wonder he went to her when he was hurt and emotionally drained - in the back hug scene when he asked her to 'just let him rest for a while' - that really touched me.  (Shame about what followed - but that's another story)

The words of Hae Soo's song along with the video clip I think are particularly poignant ...

It hurts as it blows past, but the one small ray of sun makes me smile.

Everyone is so busy they get on with their lives but that one friend makes me smile.

When I find a place where loneliness doesn't exist, join me there my friend, come with me.

My dear friend - thank you for being you

My dear friend  - thank you for being you.

I'm not very good at expressing myself but that video spoke a lot to me - I could 'feel' Wang So.

 

[Gabi Bros]

2 hours ago, owlcat said:

Hi can you tell where I can find the vlive video please ? Thank you

Is from LJG's VLIVE channel. 

Here the link of that video (pre-press conference): http://www.vlive.tv/video/12788/JGV-달의-연인---보보경심-려-with-U

[qwenli]

2 hours ago, briseis said:

Forever Apart - Separated by the 38th Parallel

In case you are planning on visiting NK any time soon, Gwangjong’s tomb is called Honrung (헌릉/憲陵).  The tomb survives in fair condition, though it is missing its guardian statues. It is located in Samgo-ri, Kaesong, and is listed as North Korean Cultural Asset #545.

38°2′24″N 126°31′19″E  (YES! YES, I REALLY DID SEARCH IT ON GOOGLE MAPS! And it wasn’t easy to find a photo of Gwangjong’s grave - since NK isn’t really Google images friendly - but in the end, I succeeded!)

 

 

Ahhhh, I dont know what to say about you Briseis, you are truly into history and historicals! I think the Korean Tourism or cultural ministry should give you an korean cultural ambassador badge! Maybe I should write into them to tell them about your blog.

Yes, I read and check the capital at the time of Goryeo era is really In modern North Korea. North Korea borders directly to China, I think back then their main activities are much linked to China.

Hmm, I think Gwangjong will be very happy in his grave/heaven that a very handsome and talented actor Lee Joon Gi is portraying him now and he has once again become a hero more than 1000 years later....an international too! It was the same thing I felt when Ji Chang Wook portrayed Toghon Temur (Huizong) of the Yuan dynasty in Empress Ki.

Interestingly, both LJG and JCW have just been appointed as Lotte models, both worked together in the drama Hero and both portrayed Emperors. An appointment by Lotte is a big stamp of endorsement of their massive popularity in China and overseas. Congratulations to both.

[Lampel]

5 hours ago, briseis said:

Don't ask questions I DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE ANSWERS TO (I'm already on the brink of a mental breakdown) !!!

He looks so incredibly sad and lonely - like the loneliest person in the entire world.

http://dreamingsnowflake2013.tumblr.com/post/150923330944/its-pretty-clear-that-gwangjongs-children-will#tumblr_notes

 

Just my guess but I think this will be the time when GJ found out about HS and WW previous relationship cause he looks so cold there!! Oh my poor heart I can already feel how GJ will feel and how I will feel when I watch this  episode.  Hey chingus don't forget to  stock up on Kleenex for the last few episodes.  

[itzibitzispider]

I want it to be Monday RIGHT NOW ... well ok ... in 47min it will be but still ...

[40somethingahjumma]

1 hour ago, jayakris said:

 

I apologize if I am not as clued in on every line she said, like many of you may be, but did she ask him to give up the throne? When?  You mean the line at the end of Ep 16?  If so, she didn't ask him to give it up, and only asked a "what if" to understand what he thought. Right?

That's how I understood it... she was merely sounding him out not actually asking him to give the throne up.

All I got from that scene was that she was trying to find out why he was going for the throne after repeatedly saying that he wasn't. I imagine she was trying to find out what had changed his mind.

[luvkstyle]

credt to: A.mode

I'm not sure if this has been posted already.  Beautifully presented, Enya track perfect, eerie, Wang So/Lee Joon Gi - say no more

[MoOnLoVeRz]

lavenderbyun

: 

Burnin’ it down

SoSoo x Wildest Dreams (1/?)