Descendants of the Sun

A brilliant drama. War, earthquake, surgery, romance, exotic scenery.....a feast for our eyes. Nowhere to breathe. Simply excellent.

I thought it is a good idea to rewatch in 2023. But in one second, I regret. Whenever I see the main couple, I thought of their divorce. The part 2 reality show in a way ruins all the original sweetness. Life is harsh admittedly. I am not blaming anyone. Fate is the culprit. What I could do is to keep looking forward for new story, hopefully cheerful one, from writer Kim.

One of the most well written and beautifully shot Korean dramas, amazing and fresh plot and we'll built characters and satisfying ending.one of the best shows and detailed writing work I ever seen in the WORLD.

It's an inspired Korean television production, with an enjoyable romantic plot, well written dialogue, good acting and adequate budget. As of April 2016 it has been streamed more than 2.3 billion times and its Asian success is so huge that China's Ministry of Public Security posted an official (and threatening) statement to warn against the growing influence of Korean Dramas on Chinese youth.

It's obviously for kids but it can be interesting for anyone willing to know how is it to live now in South Korea, what does it mean to be pretty, young and cool there.

But besides that, the story is catching and well made, with pleasant moments, nice sceneries (a great part has been shot in Greece) and good attention for details.

Interestingly, Authors felt the need to account for the age difference between the beautiful Song Hye-kyo (born 1981) and the handsome Song Joong-ki (born 1985), even though I wonder how many of us would have noticed… I'm liking it and I think that others from Western Countries will like it too.

This sixteen part Korean romance is centred on Yoo Si-jin, a captain in the Korean Special Forces, and Dr Kang Mo-yeon, an attractive woman he meets when he and his friend Master Sergeant Seo Dae-young take an injured young thief to hospital. He is immediately attracted to her but she suspects he caused the man's injuries. That misunderstanding is resolved and they start to see each other; things look to be going well then he is transferred to the fictional Balkan country of Uruk. That might be the end of their relationship but soon afterwards Dr Kang and her team are tasked with running a field hospital in Uruk. This reunites the doctor and the soldier. They end up facing several dangers together; most notably an earthquake and confrontation with a criminal gang led by a former comrade of Yoo Si-jin. There are other romances; Master Sergeant Seo Dae-young is in an off-and-on relationship with First Lieutenant Yoon Myung-ju, whose father, a general, doesn't approve her seeing an enlisted man.

I really enjoyed this series; it provides a fun central story which includes some fairly tense scenes as well as lots of laughs. In most episodes there are moments of danger although, for the most part, one won't fear too much for the ultimate safety of our protagonists. The cast is really great; Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo have a real chemistry as Captain Yoo and Dr Kang... it wasn't a huge surprise to learn the pair later marred in real life! Others are fine too; including the more minor characters. The Greek locations, filling in for the fictional Uruk, are impressively beautiful. It is fairly light hearted and requires some suspension of disbelief; I'm sure anybody with real military experience would laugh at the casual behaviour of soldiers depicted here. Over all I'd certainly recommend this to anybody who likes a solid romance story with a decent amount of action.

These comments are based on watching the series in Korean with English subtitles.

The title song was what I heard first, which made me search for 'Descendants of the Sun' and read the plot which didn't have much to offer apart from a usual romance story. The person who showed me the song was speaking very highly of the drama and was even generous enough to provide the episodes. Then I started watching in gratitude mostly and to be honest, I didn't regret that for a moment - but the opposite!

'Tae-yang-eui hoo-ye' belongs to the type of drama that carry a simple story but with its emotional scenes, heartwarming music and soft touches makes it remarkable and attaching to a viewer. It has powerful sub plots running alongside and the visuals including the cast as well as the venues are also an eye candy.

What I liked the most in the story is not the main love story between Shi-Jin 'big boss' and Mo-Yeon - 'the lady doctor' (although it is also emotionally appealing) but the power struggle and the demanding relationship between Dae-Yong and Myeong-Joo. I beleive the actors playing those two roles have done more justice to the roles compared to the main duo. But overall the story is empowered and flows nicely with typical lover quarrels and romantic moments placed perfectly between occasional humor and action. Yes you read right, Action ! I'm not talking about the Adrenalin rush you might have felt when Myeong-Joo's recording was played on loudspeaker which was a much needed breakthrough that came with humor. But there were plenty of military scenes and rescue scenarios I was very happy to watch as a boy. One more reason to drop a star in the rating is the poor budget that the producers have got when they have such nice action scenes which are diluted with careless visual effects and props.

But overall this drama is excellent as a love story because it has the perfect blend between pain-joy, hope-disappointment and expectations-reality which is true in a real world love story as well. Yes, there are some over exaggerated moments of romance or maybe action, but it is essential for us to bond with the characters, hope them to do things that we want and to take pleasure in them getting what we want( and occasionally not getting it to break 'our' hearts). It is indeed an emotional roller coaster ride for a spectator and I really liked it. Anybody with a heart , anybody who have loved before can relate to at least one small incident that happens between the couples in the drama and indulge in their own memories - which can be eventually painful - but we embrace that pain with love.

The only exceptional and unnatural character developments that I saw are of the rich-kid doctor and the unearthly attractive tech-mech-doc guy. But that is tolerable ~ it's fun. It also had its emotional moments with bitter truths of life - like when the disaster struck power plant worker took a decision about his life, which is a nice touch additional to the romance, comedy and action in the story.

So to sum up

(+) typical but rich romantic scenes

(+) humor that doesn't bore you

(+) picturesque backgrounds ( I didn't know Urk was at Greece right till the end :/ )

(+) last but not the least ~ Awesome music



(-) can be improved action scenes

(-) a bit more less filler plots

makes 'Descendants of the Sun' a nice story to watch and a pleasant gift to share. Personally I enjoyed a lot watching the sweet romance and love struggles in a drama - which I thought I might never do again. So I would like to thank the person who shared this beautiful work of art with me for giving me the taste of a locked out world. :)