The Moon that Embraces the Sun -- Underdeveloped Characters and Some Pressing Questions

          Characterizations. In the previous article, I mentioned that the drama series really had a great cast. I love the characters, but nothing really made me fall in love with them. In my opinion, the only characters whose life story was emphasized was that of Lee Hwon, Yang Myeong and Yeon U. But overall, the story failed to develop each character accordingly. Most of them were done injustice. 

           


             For a series twenty(20) episodes long(and for the story to begin when they were still  young), the later series showed no significant changes with the characters. It seemed to me that they simply grew up, but did not mature(with the exception of a few), which was really kind of annoying for me. There were a lot of significant characters with their sad and pitiful demise, but this really lacked emphasis. I felt sad for their fates, but in the end, I never really got to know them. The story had such great potential for character development, yet the drama focused on the story so much that the characters had a tendency to feel bland.  


            Woon(or Un), for example, is a close friend of Prince Yang Myeong and the King's personal guard, but little is known about him except his superior fighting and his bond with Prince Yang Myeong. But even their friendship was given little emphasis. For a significant character who appears on every episode, his character proved underdeveloped as the story didn't show the depth of his loyalty to the King and his friendship with the Prince. He had a big role, but we were only shown the surface of his character. I thought he would have been a great pair for Seol(Yeon U's maid who taught herself to fight with a sword). But instead, she died protecting Heo Yeom(Yeon U's brother), the person that she loved but could never have.


Relating to this, allow me to point out some other characters that I felt lacking:





              Princess Min Hwa. She's the younger sister of the King and mostly only knows how to cry and complain. She is also quite carefree, careless, spoiled and selfish. In truth, I disliked her character the 
most(even more than Prime Minister Dae Hyung or the Great Queen Dowager). With her obsession in wanting Heo Yeom, she became one of the people who put a curse in Yeon U. Shortly after, she realized what she had done. But I couldn't see how she could live her life normally after, knowing she killed her 

husband's sister. I couldn't see how she could have a casual relationship with her mother-in-law, knowing that Yeon U's family have long grieved for Yeon U. Still, she got what she wanted by being able to marry Heo Yeom. And by doing so, she destroyed his career and future(Heo Yeom was an excellent literary scholar and would have had a great future by being a political figure serving the King). But by becoming the princess' husband, he would be unable to participate in politics, as mandated by the law. One good point was that she had saved Heo Yeom's family, but I could not sense her repentance for what she had done. She even said that she did not regret the decision she made. She didn't really mature even at the end; she was still a child. She didn't grow to be a whole new person after she served her sentence. In the end, she never proved to be a good match for scholar Heo Yeom. And that was really such a pity for Heo Yeom's part.


Heo Yeom. I had such high hopes for his character. He was the King's teacher and the greatest literary scholar in their time. It was depressing to see him suppressed because of his marriage to Princess Min Hwa(especially to Princess Min Hwa). He felt like a wandering character to me, just appearing in and out of the series, doing nothing but being Princess Min Hwa's husband and grieving for his sister. I would have liked to see him helping the King one way or another, even though he was unable to participate in politics. He also never really loved Princess Min Hwa, he never said so in the series. He remained with her because she had saved his family, and only reunited with her at the end for the sake of their child. *big sigh*



Woon(or Un). He was introduced at the beginning of the story and was given a very big role later on as the King's personal guard. But Woon was a complete mystery. Nothing of his thoughts was revealed. One cannot entirely grasp the depth of friendship he shares with Prince Yang Myeong. His true character remained hidden throughout the series. I had initially thought that the King Lee Hwon, Prince Yang Myeong, Scholar Heo Yeom and Guard Woon would become a team and be given emphasis, knowing that each of them were superior in their own fields of knowledge. Sadly, Woon seemed to be another wandering character for me, and perhaps the lowest of the four.


Seol. She was Yeon U's maid, but was considered family despite her status. The early episodes showed her interest for swords, even practicing late at night by herself. I thought this indicated a bigger role for her, as female swordsman who would protect Yeon U by fighting off assassins. Come to think of it, she didn't once save Yeon U from being kidnapped. It was usually Yeon U looking for her, and Yeon U once got kidnapped because of it. There was never a scene that she protected Yeon U with her sword. Instead, the drama showed her prowess only twice. Once was her encounter with Woon. The second was when we see her in action fighting assassins; but it was Heo Yeom that she protected during this time. It was Prince Yang Myeong who kept saving Yeon U, not Seol. Thus, her character feels empty, something of little significance. She didn't really serve her purpose. One of the many things that I really hoped for was for her to be involved with Woon, since they were both protectors of the main characters. It would have been interesting to see poker-faced Woon softening over a woman. A strong female swordsman, for that matter. I was sorely disappointed.


Head Shaman Jang Nok Young. Ultimately, she had done her task as the fate and Heavens wanted. She knew the future and was meant to kill Yeon U, pity her fate. But she had done as she should, saving her and protecting her. Although there would be no true justification in earth for her crime of killing, she deserved the greatest redemption among all those who truly committed a crime. Even more than Princess Min Hwa. Although, I'm okay with her act of sacrifice(a life for a life, but remember she intended Yeon U to live), I was looking for more. She had the purest of intentions among the sinners, and she paid her crime with all that she went through to fulfill A Ri's request and to protect Yeon U. She was Heaven's servant, and so fate should have also turned to her in great favor in the end. Oh well, tragedy it is. Tsk.


Queen Bo Kyung. There were inconsistencies with her character in this series. I couldn't really understand her. I can't really see her purpose. She first showed her cruel side when she had Seol beaten for supposedly stealing money from her maid. When she became Queen few years later, it was though her character went a little lower and came to a standstill. She was not really shown to be truly cruel to others, except when she wanted Yeon U to be killed a second time to protect the throne. Mostly, she was just a jealous Queen who wanted the King's heart, and a coward when it came to remembering her crime. I could not say that she was downright evil. She was more of a weak, jealous character instead of a strong, cruel one. I thought she would be second to the Great Queen Dowager, but she didn't even compare. I regret that she never had a face-to-face talk with her rival for the King's heart. I found her character annoying sometimes, with her actions having little impact on the story.


Yeon U. She is one of the main character, and her story was clearly laid so I have little to complain. However, since she was a critical character and the ultimate victim, she was missing in some parts where she ought to be present. I only wished that there were personal encounters with her perpetrators, and I thought this would have added depth to the story. And also, for being a very compassionate character who would defend others, she seemed a little indifferent to Prince Yang Myeong. He kept on saving her, and cared for her so much in their childhood days that she wasn't even able to do one big thing for him. She had cried more for Seol than for him. 


King Lee Hwon. I have little to complain about his character too. I understand him, but he didn't really have a big change when he became King. I saw little signs of maturity. I wished it had been clearer as to what his people think of him, and what part of his character makes him so respectable as a King of Joseon. Prince Yang Myeong seemed superior to him in this matter, with him being shown saving Jan Sil and helping out at the infirmary. I couldn't really see his wisdom, and his concern for his people was far too overshadowed by his search for Yeon U. As for Kim Soo Hyun's acting, he was so good with his role, but a little more expression on the face would do him good. He moved me to tears when he cried, but his anger seemed kept feeling the same. I thought that he was so used to raising his voice when he expressed anger that he slightly forgot to work on his facial expression. A little more of that and he would've been perfect. But I still do laud his acting, and he has truly drawn me to him as an actor. He has a lot of potential and I believe he'll be one of the best Korean actors if he keeps this up.


Some characters still lacked, and this(including the characters above) is why character development as an important element of the story went missing. For twenty(20) episodes, it still lacked so many things. 


And the ending(and the series as a whole) left so many questions hanging. Let me state some of mine:


*What happened to the temporay shaman after the failed ritual? She would have guilty of attempted murder.


*What about King Lee Hwon's mother? She should have been an important character, guiding her son as the King. Instead, she seemed to be the least involved among all the mothers.


*Because Yeon U was reunited with King Lee Hwon, why was the subject of the Queen never brought up? Did they not wonder how they would remain together when the Queen was around? Or did the King think of making her a concubine? Or were they too selfish to consider the consequences of their reunion?


*And the most obvious, annoying thing of all. Why did no one bother to strike Prince Yang Myeong's attacker before he released the spear? Oh gosh, that was probably the most annoying and appalling part of all. For soldiers with arrows and Un with his ghost sword, no one struck him first. If this was meant to happen, then this should've been done quickly and quietly, not with a seemingly frozen and dumbstruck audience who paused to see Prince Yang Myeong die.




--A penny for your thoughts about this drama series? :)