Daleui Ddeuneun Gang

I have not watched the series yet but I surely will once its completed (can't wait every week). But I wanted to talk about the replacement of the male lead actor Ji Soo. It looks as if people awoken from a deep sleep and decided now after he stared in numerus series for the past 8 years to talk of their hurt from him bulling them at school. Why now? Why not before? Does he have more money now? I understand what he did is wrong and he should pay for it in one way or another, but preventing bulling starts from home, and school. And from what I see, The school and society is much to blame as well.

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 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.

Kim So-hyun plays Princess Pyeonggang whose mother, the Queen was killed when she was a child and whilst trying to escape she is assisted by the son of a General called On Dal played by Na In-woo. They become separated and the princess has an accident and loses her memory and she is adopted by a secret society and is trained to become a very efficient assassin. Many years later they meet by accident and this begins to unravel a chain of events going to the top of the Royal household and the events from their childhoods. It is an entertaining story and the pace of the first two thirds of the series is engaging and the momentum retains your interest. Sadly the final third is where to me the pacing is off and it would have benefitted from fewer episodes.

Congratulations to the lead actors and lead actresses especially Na in Woo, he is amazing. You can see all of his emotions in his expressive eyes. The story too was well written and was well directed. I hope they will have another historical drama like this !