When Flowers Bloom, I Think of the Moon

This would have had more reviews if it was on Netflix. Enjoyable film with likable characters. It's well balanced and have a good storyline. It is a good change of pace, nice light comedy (actually made me lol a few times) with some seriousness along with decent fight scenes. I must say that Korea has always done well with their female leads. Hyeri done well, great supporting cast, and I can say watch this. It is a nice binge worthy series.

Started this last year and couldn't get past Ep 4. Returned some 9 months later with a grim determination hung on to get to the end.

Right up lets say this is no comedy. The few comedic scenes fall flat every time.

There is no chemistry between the ML and FL, but far more expectation of some kind of sensual frisson between the second ML and the FL, which was weird.

Lots of secondary characters in fact way too much to get exactly why there were so many at least three could have been deleted from the script.

The standard trope of historical Kdramas is an uncle/grandfather/ brother of the queen trying to seize power behind the throne via the crown prince by any devious means necessary. Its way too predictable now as the bad guy is too easy to spot early on.

The action is good and the FL and the other women have great roles. Enjoyed watching that. However the ML were reduced to comedic, foolish and very brainless men. None seem to have strength and backbone. That was very unrealistic.

Btw what happened to the ML father? He always seemed to arrive late to table!

Wouldn't watch this again.

It had a strong first episode that made the drama seems promising and interesting but turns out that the first episode was its peak and the subsequent episodes were heading in a steady downward spiral to never recover after that. The story was barely functional for a full length 16-episodes drama. The writer should be embarrassed to label this as a comedy but that wasn't even the worst part that goes for the romance. The drama would have been slightly better if they were to cut out the romance without changing anything. Not only our leads were lacking in chemistry but the romantic moments were tasteless.

The show has its moments, but I'd say most of it is cliché/predictable, and there's 0 chemistry between the two leads. Hyeri has more chemistry with the 2nd male lead. It's also a very lighthearted comedy, which isn't really my style, but could be anyone else's, so I gave it a 7. I was excited to watch this and got bored, unfortunately.

Enjoyable for its unique collection of odd characters (misfits!), friendships, and blatant disregard for Joseon culture (it's a bizarre setup made especially to entertain the viewer). But 'Moonshine' needed laughable characters in order to enjoy how the story is presented. Like a pendulum this drama (as it unfolds each episode) swings wildly, from simple fun to lame to kinda brilliant and back again so many times it was a bit exasperating.

The main characters of 'Moonshine' are Ro Seo and Inspector Nam - very average nobles. Nam is a bit of a stuffed shirt (boring goody-two-shoes) from the country and Ro Seo is a shockingly unlikable wildcard. Her daily endeavor is to earn money to live while her ill equipped brother studies to pass the civil service exam (which he's failed repeatedly). Ro Seo frequently faces indignity and misfortune because to her erratic personality; often blunders her way through each situation in the most unattractive way. Nam and Ro Seo are not the usual heroes seen in period dramas and I did shout at the tv for their many bad choices and mistakes.

Overall it is visually appealing with spectacular camerawork and cinematography. The story in its essence is brilliant & quite enjoyable but the delivery was unhinged (IMO) and frustrating at key moments. Still it was a clever attempt to present something different.

Other summary ratings:

Episode Writers: 6/10 Director: 6/10 Supporting Roles: 10/10 Each Actors Role Portrayal: 10/10 Story Pace: 6/10 Story Conclusion: 5/10 EXTREMELY rushed Ending for all couples: 8/10 Special Mention: Byeon Woo Seo (Prince Pyo); Kang Min Na (Han Yea Jin); Moon You Kang (Shim Heon); Park Ah In (Woon Sim).

Overall Enjoyment: 7/10.