All right, time to up the stakes, and ratchet up the emotion on all sides. People are pushed into corners, and characters take one step closer to making some finite decisions. Hwon takes one step forward in the big mystery of years past, but also suffers a setback as the baddies get crafty, too. And that cliffhanger leaves us wondering if we’ve hit a point of no return, or if our hero can find a way out. (Okay, I’m pretty sure it’s not a real point of no return, but at the same time I’ll have to remain in suspense another week. As will we all.)

SONG OF THE DAY

Lucid Fall – “어부가” [ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of The Moon That Embraces the Sun: Episode 12 (3,844 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 208 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Han Ga-in, Jung Il-woo, Kim Min-seo, Kim Soo-hyun, The Moon That Embraces the Sun

Yay, the fun is back! I love this episode. It’s full of funny pranks, stealthy missions, and some new mystical elements that work nicely to integrate our characters further. Hwon finally starts playing detective and asking some key questions, and I say, IT’S ABOUT TIME.

(...)
Read the rest of The Moon That Embraces the Sun: Episode 11 (3,848 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 138 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Han Ga-in, Jung Il-woo, Kim Min-seo, Kim Soo-hyun, The Moon That Embraces the Sun

Yay, we’re back on track! Last week was a weird week in that it was the New Year with a pre-emption, giving us fewer episodes than normal, but it was also a rare week that didn’t really speak to me. Considering that the show’s been on the air for months and it was the first week to do that, I’d say it’s pretty impressive.

In any case, I love the movement we get this week, for multiple couples and storylines. This show just has so much heart.

SONG OF THE DAY

Sweet Sorrow – “그대에게 하는 말” (Words Said To You). I did just post Sweet Sorrow recently, but this song is played in Episode 88. [ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of High Kick 3: Episodes 85-89 (3,650 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 19 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Ahn Nae-sang, Baek Jin-hee, featured, High Kick: Counterattack of the Short Legs, Jung Il-woo, Lee Jong-seok, Park Ha-sun, Seo Ji-seok, Yoon Kye-sang, Yoon Yoo-sun

What a fantastic episode for our men. This really should be The Sun Embraces That Other Sun (And Heck, Also Those Other Friendly Suns, While We’re At It). Yes, the two suns are brothers and that would require breaking a number of taboos, but hey, I’m game if you are. Sigh.

Another ratings increase (the ninth straight one) with today’s episode bringing in a 37.1%. (Ratings were 7.5% for Captain and 4.5% for Wild Romance.) Good grief. I mean, I’m entertained so I’m not complaining — it’s just way beyond my expectation. Timing and circumstance really have so much to do with which shows hit which numbers; previous sageuk hits Princess’s Man and Tree With Deep Roots are both better dramas, but they aired in different circumstances. But Moon/Sun can thank them for setting the stage for it to come in and dominate.

SONG OF THE DAY

Feelbay – “낮잠” (Midday nap) [ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of The Moon That Embraces the Sun: Episode 10 (3,541 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 285 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Han Ga-in, Jung Il-woo, Kim Min-seo, Kim Soo-hyun, The Moon That Embraces the Sun

Wol finds out just how much danger lies inside the palace walls, and the king struggles to keep his curiosity, and his heart, locked away. It’s a crucial episode for Wol’s character, who hits rock bottom in more ways than one.

Ratings hit another high today at 34.5%, which is kind of insane. I thought low thirties would be the ceiling on this thing, but I guess there’s no slowing this train. Captain followed at 7.8% and Wild Romance at 4.4%.

(...)
Read the rest of The Moon That Embraces the Sun: Episode 9 (3,863 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 101 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Han Ga-in, Jung Il-woo, Kim Min-seo, Kim Soo-hyun, The Moon That Embraces the Sun

Hearts are broken this week, along with mine. We’ve got a lighter load of three episodes and though I don’t mind a lesser workload, our story feels cut off and I feel a little short-handed. Each of these stories could stand on its own but please sir, I want some more.

SONG OF THE DAY

Kang Ta and Taeyeon – “7989″ [ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of High Kick 3: Episodes 82-84 (2,001 words)

© gummimochi for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 31 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Ahn Nae-sang, Baek Jin-hee, featured, High Kick: Counterattack of the Short Legs, Jung Il-woo, Lee Jong-seok, Park Ha-sun, Seo Ji-seok, Yoon Kye-sang, Yoon Yoo-sun

I really appreciate that things are moving swiftly along, as girlfriday pointed out in yesterday’s recap. It’s so much more satisfying when the show remains a step ahead of you instead of broadcasting everything far in advance and cluttering up your path with obvious angsty obstacles, so that the only things lying between us and the inevitable are a bunch of pesky angst-toys that are irritating to step on. Brisk plot developments are much welcomed in my book.

Also: Welcome to the 30% club, Moon/Sun. Today’s episode brought in a 31.7%, meaning that every episode has increased upon the ratings before it. I wonder where it’ll plateau, because surely it’ll settle at some point, right? Or is the MoonSunSky the limit?

SONG OF THE DAY

Jouet – “내일 아침 (Fly Away)” [ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of The Moon That Embraces the Sun: Episode 8 (3,621 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 199 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Han Ga-in, Jung Il-woo, Kim Min-seo, Kim Soo-hyun, Kim Yoo-jung, The Moon That Embraces the Sun

It’s a crash course in fates, as we find out that some connections can’t be shaken, even in death. We finally get our introduction to grown-up Yeon-woo, and things move along a lot faster than I had anticipated. This episode is sort of the sister to last week’s introduction to King Hwon and his world, and this time we get to see Yeon-woo’s side, and what life has been like outside the palace walls for her.

Ratings: Moon raked in 29.7%, further widening the gap with Captain at 7.1% and Wild Romance at 6.2%.

(...)
Read the rest of The Moon That Embraces the Sun: Episode 7 (4,045 words)

© girlfriday for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 147 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Han Ga-in, Jung Il-woo, Kim Min-seo, Kim Soo-hyun, Kim Yoo-jung, The Moon That Embraces the Sun

Yessss! Finally, some major developments on one front! It’s pretty much what we all expected, but that doesn’t make it any less satisfying when it happens. The teasing was drawn-out, but the pay-off sure is satisfying.

(Four episodes this week, due to a pre-emption.)

SONG OF THE DAY

Sweet Sorrow – “첫 데이트” (First Date) from Episode 80. [ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of High Kick 3: Episodes 78-81 (3,597 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 29 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Ahn Nae-sang, Baek Jin-hee, featured, High Kick: Counterattack of the Short Legs, Jung Il-woo, Lee Jong-seok, Park Ha-sun, Seo Ji-seok, Yoon Kye-sang, Yoon Yoo-sun

FINALLY! This is what we’ve all been waiting for. And holy moly! Ratings scored a hefty 29.3% for this episode — every episode thus far has been a new high, so we’ll see how long this steady climb can continue. (Apparently in the minute-by-minute ratings, the episode topped out at a 31.56% at Jung Il-woo’s first appearance. Ha. Why am I not surprised?)

SONG OF THE DAY

The Moon That Embraces the Sun OST – “시간을 거슬러” (Going against time) by Lyn.
[ Download ]

(...)
Read the rest of The Moon That Embraces the Sun: Episode 6 (3,993 words)

© javabeans for Dramabeans, 2012. | Permalink | 187 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: featured, Han Ga-in, Jung Il-woo, Kim Min-seo, Kim Soo-hyun, Kim Yoo-jung, Lee Min-ho (2), The Moon That Embraces the Sun, Yeo Jin-gu