Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
The series parable seems to be that if you have hate in your heart, you are susceptible to being influenced to hurt others, just because you can. “Bring It On, Ghost” started off as an uneven series. But once you get past the first couple episodes, it becomes a must-see K-drama that’s filled with action and a lot of heart.
“Love Alarm” was one of the first Netflix series that split a K-Drama into two seasons. They need to stop doing that. This second season is a disappointing mess.
There’s never a guarantee that a successful child actor will grow up to be a famous leading man or leading woman. For every Natalie Portman who matures into an Academy Award-winning actress, you have a slew of performers like Macaulay Culkin, who were beloved as children, but didn’t fare as well in their 20s and 30s.
Do you ever watch a K-Drama (or any series, for that matter) where the character is supposed to be a high school student and the actor playing the part looks at least a decade older? (I’m looking at you, “Beverly Hills, 90210”!) Due to labor laws in which underage actors can’t work hours as long as adults, it’s understandable why showrunners would want older artists working on their set. But it’s also an interesting twist when younger actors and actresses play characters who are more mature.
As a young woman passes by two men, an app on her phone goes off. “There is one person who loves you,” it says. The app is called JoAlarm (좋알람), which alerts users if there is someone within 10 meters who loves them. If you’re thinking that JoAlarm sounds nonsensical, you’re right — in English, it doesn’t make sense. But in Korean, it literally means an alarm to measure if someone likes your. (Remember that Jay Park song, “Joah”/”좋아”? 좋아 means good or to like. Now it makes perfect sense, right?)
There are few things in life that would be more difficult than to watch generations of loved ones grow old and die, while you live on for centuries without them. Such is the case with Kim Shin, a dokkaebi (goblin). For more than 900 years, he has been cursed to live a life of loneliness as atonement for all the enemies he killed during his days as an unbeatable general. Yes, his victims would’ve slain him if they had the opportunity. But, as God says in the narration, they were all precious creations, as well.
A sweeping dramatic series set in Korea’s Joseon era, the “Moon That Embraces the Sun” is a love story that at times is painfully heartbreaking. But, it’s also filled with hope and humor. That combination makes for an addictive series that will leave viewers hungering for more.