La rivière où la lune se lève

Korean Drama "River where the moon rises" was not a great romance story, but the strong female lead saved the day. Her story, the performance, and her presentation were all not only entertaining but also intriguing. That is not to say that the rest of the actors and actresses of the cast did not do a great job. But the leading lady's performance and dynamic appeal stole the scene every time. Her story was overall interesting, as well, and it was refreshing to have a period drama focusing on a female character. The clothes and settings were a nice touch too, as they were different, detailed and looked real.

However, at least for me, the drama was greatly affected by the switch of the male lead. They did not handle it well, and the character disappeared for a few episodes and had a few chopped scenes edited here and there. So, I do recommend watching it with the second actor right from the start, as it feels a bit awkward with the switch.

As for the romance, it was okay, but not as strong and impactful as it presented it, or hoped for it to be. That is because it was often overshadowed by the politics and, sometimes, the second lead. The ending was a bit off too and too unrealistic.

So, overall, six and a half out of ten.

The cast is excellent, and I love the leads. Story line is okay but could have been tightened. This is one of the series (probably most) that simply didn't belong at 20 eps: the result when you do not have enough story is filler, which most fans recognize and bypass anyway. But I did enjoy it and thank Na In Woo for saving the project for the company and fans. He is charming. Recommended.

I want to say that those who left the drama due to Jisoo issue, they had missed a masterpiece. The cinematography, the acting , the actions and moreover the chemistry between the leads all are awesome. Though I am not a fan of historical drama but I was glued to TV during the drama broadcasting time. Kim So hyun was awesome. She played the role of queen, the assassin, the princess and portrayed different emotions according to character. Na in woo was an unfamiliar name to me as I first saw him in this drama but he showed how an innocent person became a great general. His pain, love, cruelty all type of emotions had shown here. Moreover , Lee ji hoon and Choi yu Hwa had done their job. I liked the king , queen, the prince and even the five tribe leaders. The child actors did their job very well. It was an emotional rollercoaster for me .

The story suffered from erratic pacing, cramming too many plots that made it hard keep any interesting narrative. The characters were a simulated circus clown that kept making foolish moves intentionally at every turn. Might explains why it's 20 episodes. The childish love square was another contributor in that regard. Na In Woo's portrayal felt strained, his expressions, intonations, inflections, and emotions seemingly forced to fit the character mold. Comparing it to the original version, it seems there was a notable disparity. Checked a couple of scenes side by side, there's a clear difference in the delivery, as big as expressing an entirely different emotion of the exact same scene. I wonder what was the director even doing? The lack of chemistry with his colleagues was obvious too. He was called to fill in a role on a quick notice with so little to work with in the first place. All of that didn't compare to the abysmal last episode, and even worse, the detestable last scene.

RIVER WHERE THE MOON RISES (2021) was a really great show. Going into this, I was reluctant, given some of the controversy and outrage of changing the male lead cast member mid-show. I won't get into that topic, but was worried that presumably significant change might have caused the show to suffer and feel disjointed somehow, whether in story, character chemistry or even by editing flaws. I was concerned something might not feel right. Still, I reluctantly gave it a chance.

That was not the case, thankfully. The cast, Kim So Hyun as the Assassin / Warrior named Princess Pyeonggang, and Na In Woo as the charming, peaceful On Dal had such adorable chemistry and many of the side cast was likable or relatable as well, such as the other Ghost Village members, but especially On Dal's Mother / nanny. I adored On Dal and his mother's sweet, unique relationship. That was probably one of the most absolute sweetest things I've seen in a K-Drama in a while. The little orphan girl was so adorable as well. The side cast did a really good job honestly and truly helped make this show so memorable.

While the show used a few old drama tropes that I'm not a huge fan of, such as convenient amnesia, unrequited love from childhood friend (to the point of silliness imo), and random breakups of serious couples, it still managed to keep me engaged.

All that aside, this series was really touching, great writing and direction, great acting/casting, great character development, great story arcs and scene settings, and wonderful aesthetic design, such as costumes and cinematographic visuals. The music was really memorable as well. Overall, this was a show that has it all; adventure, action, romance, mystery, comedy, and tragedy. I highly recommend giving this one a fair chance (with the reshot episodes/scenes with Na In Woo), despite the critics, naysayers and casting controversy concerns.

STORY: 8/10 CINEMATOGRAPHY: 10/10 ART/DESIGN/VISUALS: 10/10 MUSIC: 9/10 OVERALL RATING: 8.5.