@fatcat007 - Congratulations on being published! ^^; This is a great write-up. I'd never thought about it, but suddenly I want to see this modern day sequel too!

Also, Scarlet Heart is the first drama I live watched. It was so addictive despite all its flaws. Yes, I could definitely do with this season 2.

@fatcat007!! What a great essay!
Now I want to see this too... The modern day version in the C-drama version was sadly disappointing (Amnesia?!?).
It could be a shorter, crisper production and we know that these actors have the chops to pull off great things. now I am getting impatient to see it! arghl!
My only request is that it have a different director. One who doesn't just know how to frame close up after close up....zzzz
Thanks to you, I will be imagining this one for a while in hopes that... some day....??
<3 <3 <3

For a second there I thought this was a news post and there actually was a sequel coming to us. Now I kind of wish there was.

I loved this drama as much as I hated it, maybe a tiny bit more than I hated it. However, if there was a sequel to fix that mess I would happily welcome it. And this time know that nothing can compare to the original, which is still my favorite Chinese Drama.

the drama I'll really like to see a sequel to is hwayugi....grrrrhhh....that ending was awful....I'm shedding years for lee seungi....he acts in very good k-dramas but the dramas will have a messed up ending....still remembering kang-chi...sign

For the first five seconds, I thought this was a news post about sequels coming out! Ha!
Although Scarlet Heart Ryeo's ending wasn't the one we wanted, it was the one that stayed with us.
And Lee Hi's My Love OST got played overtime while I tried to get over the hangover this drama gave me...

First, excellent choice of the header photo. 💖

Now, take my money & gimmi this sequel! 🙆

Man, are all those boys so pretty. They put most women to shame. Great write up @fatcat007! I think I speak for just about all of kdrama fandom when I say that your premise would be an amazing sequel!

@fatcat007,

Thanks for your essay. Sufficient time has passed for me to reflect on MOON LOVERS without becoming terminally depressed over the missed opportunities. Some parts of it were excellent, so I'll just remember them with gratitude.

Despite the vertigo-inducing camera work, there were interludes of gorgeous and emotionally-moving cinematography. Lady Hae's last stroll with Wang Wook is one scene that lingers in my mind, as does that of the cloaked Wang So sheltering Hae-soo in the rain, and his successful rain ceremony.

If Wang So & Co. were to return/reincarnate in the future, they may actually have already done so in 2018 in Gisung. Instead of being a chaebol, Wang So became a lawyer. ;-)

@fatcat007 *squeals and claps with excitement and happiness*

Congratulations on getting published, kitty!!! So exciting! I’ve admittedly only read recaps for the drama, but I loved how you worded this write-up. Convinced me!

Huh. I didn't watch Moon Lovers but I'd totally watch your version.

Oh heavens, what a decorative cast and what a good idea to see them all scheming together again! Congratulations, @fatcat007! Only this time with WWWSK-level 2018 tailoring, houses and cars (and kissing, of course 😉).

I thought there was going to be a sequel. Knowing the Chinese had a sequel, I guess I assumed this would too. Because that ending was just terrible. It's not Black level terrible because I wasn't as invested in this as I was with Black. But it was terrible in a 'why did I watch this show at all' way?

When she got back to the future and went back to her life, it was almost as though the show was saying the entire story had no point. If she didn't change, and her life didn't change, and history didn't change then why did we watch a bazillion episodes of this show?

Having her meet up with with him in modern day Seoul and finally getting a slice of happiness in this crappy world would have elevated the show for me.

Having said that, I'm not sure I'd want to watch another 16 to 20 hours of them overcoming obstacles to be together so maybe I don't want a sequel?? *

*everything I write comes with a Jisoo caveat. If Jisoo is in it, I'm in. I really enjoyed him in this.

@fatcat007 Thank you for the write up ☺️☺️ Reading it made me chuckle a little bit 😁
Have you seen or not seen the sequel to the Chinese one (which, I agree, it was a big flop), because you basically summarized the plot for it, minus the part about it being in S. Korea instead of China LOL 😂😂😂😂😂😂

Scarlet Hart was such a great disappointment after all the hype but I am all on board with your version @fatcat007! Great write up! Now who do we pay to make your version?

The beauty of Kang Ha neul *sigh*

Lol @PakalanaPikake well! Cliff Of Non-Doom makes perfect sense! Seeing as they all make it out without a scratch! OMG you cracked me up.
Glad to see you also enjoyed Seven Days Queen @wishfultoki that show made my 2017, sageuk-wise

I loved Moon Lovers. And after reading this, I desperately need season two. I know it won't happen. But still.

I really like your ideas, @fatcat007! Where do we send this to to get the drama?

Congratz! Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo is my best all-time drama despite its flaws, one drama that I couldn't help to re-watch countless time and I think Wang So is Lee Joon Gi best character ever!
It is an open ending drama that actually needs season 2 for closure, so many fanfics pop out after it ends!

@fatcat007 Nice write up.

I know so many are wounded by the ending of Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart. But knowing the disastrous result of the sequel of the C-version, I was never the one to expect a sequel.

If only, I would want a total remake of the same Goryeo version. With Lee Jun Ki (with more meat) and Kang Ha Neul a must stay as 4th and 8th Prince and I still can consider IU still playing Haesoo but bringing in her A-game from "My Ajusshi" and please....no PD Kim Gyu Tae and a totally new writer.

@fatcat007 - I REALLY want a sequel!!! You can write the story line - you already started. The end still confuses me. Who fathered the daughter? Expand on the theme of how one woman influenced/impacted so many brothers. ;)

This would be a fun sequel - and why not, they did it for the Chinese Drama!

I 110% agree with your comment about why we love k-dramas. Whenever people are surprised that I watch pretty much only programs from Asia, I tell them that I like that these dramas are (for the most part) pre-planned with a start and finish, without going on and on until they gets horrible and are no longer renewed. I don't know if I've actually seen an American show from start to finish, and that includes the cartoons of my youth!

Personaly I just want a sequel with Hae Soo and Wang Wook. I prefered their love story because they showed us how they fell in love. Wang Wook was more interesting for me than Wang So too. They rushed the love story between Hae Soo and Wang So and I never couldn't really invested it.

Good one, FatCat. Scarlet Heart somehow swept me away in its lunar eclipse and I've been moon gazing ever since for more. Your sequel idea is perfect! Will it happen? Considering the Three Musketeers was supposed to be a series of three dramas and died after the first one, it's super highly unlikely to the nth degree. But we can howl at the moon and hope.

That's the cast....in that header pic...for this show.

By God, they are gorgeous.

THAT -> "Since Su already came back to her current timeline in the end, obviously, she will run into modern day chaebol So in Seoul. It would be interesting to see the modern take on So’s family and the struggle for power". AND THAT "Since the story would take place in 2018, difference in status won’t keep our OTP apart" thank you very much @fatcat for writing what a lot of people who loved/hated this kdrama think deeply (or not so deeply). Season 2 in Seoul please. I am ready.

I think any decent adaptation or sequel would ideally explore the following ironic aspects of the Chinese adaptation that made it so compelling: (1) the heroine is an unwitting catalyst in the historical events she attempts to avoid or change; (2) her wisdom and foresight become a lifelong burden and the source of regrettable decisions; (3) she is destroyed by the struggle to adapt to a different time period in which her own agency is both comparatively limited and of great historical import (or so she is led to believe); (4) the prince with more modern-day sensibilities and a disinclination to rule becomes the most tyrannical; (5) those engaged in the struggle for power are ultimately rendered powerless in one way or another; (6) her romances are doomed from the start because she is inevitably forced to deny her modern self; and (7) knowledge of documented history becomes a misleading or untrustworthy guide to actual events.

Personally, I would not be interested in a Korean sequel (though I wouldn't mind seeing some of the same actors together on a different project), since I think the Korean adaptation downplayed or squandered many of the aspects mentioned above, as well as the pivotal role of the heroine, who is much more interesting and developed in the Chinese adaptation (from what I recall). A better Chinese sequel would have to reexamine and possibly change the themes explored in the original. I would start by exploring Ruoxi’s guilt. Ruoxi seems to embrace a predestination paradox. Although she came from the future, she sees herself as part of a causal loop in which she creates the circumstances that doom the princes. However, it’s equally possible that she was not part of the original events at all. In fact, everything that transpired could have occurred before without her involvement. In other words, occupying the body of an 18th century aristocrat’s daughter may not have made any difference when she relived the past firsthand, but perhaps it has some relevance for her own future.

Any modern-day sequel would have to explore her true role and why she traveled back in time. How were events from the Qing dynasty related to her contemporary life? Also, the main source of her internal conflict in the original is that she is trapped in the wrong time and place, aware that everyone around her is doomed, ultimately blames herself for perpetuating their fate, and cannot help loving the wrong person, someone whose actions as a tyrant lead to the execution and imprisonment of the people she cares about. A sequel would have to have some related purpose or theme in which Ruoxi reaches some epiphany about herself (and the people she loves), or it’s just some shallow rehash of the reverse harem scenario for fans. Also, the fourth prince should be the villain (at least at first). While I think the 4th prince’s despotic descent was jarringly executed in both adaptations, the tragedy of it was fitting and inevitable, so I’m not sure...