Title: 해를 품은 달 Haereul Poomeun Dal
English Title:
- The Moon That Embraces The Sun
- The Sun and The Moon
Language: Korean
Year: 2012
Episode: 20
Cast:
- 김수현 Kim Soo Hyun
- 한가인 Han Ga In
- 정일우 Jung Il Woo
- 송재희 Song Jae Hee
- 송재림 Song Jae Rim
- 남보라 Nam Bo Ra
- 김민서 Kim Min Seo
- 여진구 Yeo Jin Goo
- 김유정 Kim Yoo Jung
- 이민호 Lee Min Ho
- 임시완 Im Si Wan
- 이원근 Lee Won Gun
- 진지희 Ji Jin Hee
- 김소현 Kim So Hyun
SYNOPSIS
Lee Hwon is a Crown Prince in the Joseon times. While trying to escape the palace to meet his illegitimate older brother Yang Myung, he runs into a very pretty girl.
Born from a noble family, Heo Yeon Woo is in the palace for the ceremony to celebrate the scholars who have passed the civil service examination. Her older brother Heo Yeom aced the literature test and his friend Kim Jae Woon aced the martial arts test.
Yeon Woo's parents include her in the registry where the prince's bride is chosen and she passes the selection process with flying colors. She becomes the Crown Princess, which is fortunate because Hwon is in love with her and she also loves him.
Due to political machinations, Yeon Woo became ill and she was reported to have died because of her illness. In reality, a shaman was able to save her life but Yeon Woo has forgotten who she is. She lived as a shaman under the assumed name Wol.
REVIEW
The Moon that Embraces the Sun is basically just an epic romance drama but I only enjoyed the romance aspect when the lead characters are still quite young, primarily because the scenes are giddy with first love notions and full of hope for the future.
I like how romance developed between Lee Hwon and Heo Yeon Woo when they were younger because their love, although innocent, is quite deep. I'm quite impressed with the acting skills of child actors Yeo Jin Goo and Kim Yoo Jung, particularly with how they managed to express romantic love without any physical acts such as hugging or kissing.
I was initially rooting for the love story between Hwon's younger sister Lee Min Hwa and Yeon Woo's older brother Heo Yeom because I found their interactions cute when they were younger. However, I got off the bandwagon with this pairing when Min Hwa became an accessory to Yeon Woo's downfall.
I liked Min Hwa as a character so it was difficult to see her consciously make the wrong choices because of her selfish desires. It would have been better if she unknowingly became the cause of the suffering of the Heo family because if that's the case, then I may still want her to have a happy ending with Yeom.
It's doubly frustrating that Yeom is grateful to her for becoming his family's savior when Min Hwa is actually one of the reasons for their troubles in the first place.
Yeom had forgiven her when he found out what she had done. They were reunited in the end because he still loves her and wants her to remain his wife. It was quite surprising because even if you have fallen in love with someone, I don't think you will feel the same when you find out that she somehow helped in stripping your family's honor, and incidentally causing your sister's death (although she didn't really die) and your father's suicide.
I really like the relationship between the royal Hwon, illegitimate but of royal birth Yang Myung, nobleman Yeom, and of lower birth Kim Jae Woon. They are of different social classes but they have all managed to form deep friendships with each other.
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해를 품은 달 The Moon That Embraces The Sun
