The Master's Sun (2013)

How do I begin to explain how much I loved this drama?
Well, first of all, I'm a girl that is terrified of anything horror, so much so that I never watch anything that would scare me but that all changed with Master's Sun. I am relatively new to k-dramas, I only started watching them in May so the only actors I knew in Master's Sun really was Seo In Guk and Myungsoo, I was excited when I saw that they were in it, so I decided I would try to watch it, and I'd bear it when I got scared. I did get scared, but after a few episodes you get used to the ghosts and they weren't as frightening then, but I still jumped when some of them would appear.

Acting/Cast - I loved the entire cast, I think they are all very talented people. As I said, I'm new to the world of k-dramas so before watching this I didn't know who Gong Hyo Gin(Tae Gong Sil) was but she really impressed me. I love Tae Gong Sil and Joo Joong Won's chemistry a lot. After watching this, I love her acting so much and I'm going to check out more of her work. I thought her acting was amazing, she was able to deliver such a funny performance, then move on to a very emotional one. She made me cry, laugh with her, be scared with her, and smile with her. I think she's really cute and such a beautiful woman, I'm excited to find out more about her.
So Ji Sub(Joo Joong Won) is one of my favourite actors now, and after seeing his performance in Master's Sun he blew me away. He makes me want to watch ALL his work. I think he did a great job being Joo Joong Won and after doing a little research about him, It was his first romantic comedy drama?(I think) I feel proud that he did such a fantastic job, and "get lost" with forever stay with me.

Seo In Guk - I loved his character. After seeing him act in Love Rain, I fell in love with him, his acting and his smile. Those dimples are so adorable. :3 I think he played a very interesting role and it was so great seeing him be in a suit most of the time.

I loved Tae Ri Ryung's character.
I've been a fan of Yoo Min Kyu since seeing him in Shut Up Flower Boy Band, and I was delighted to see him have a guest role. I thought he gave a great performance.

Music - I think the soundtrack was perfect, not too overbearing and every song that was used fit really well into the scenes. I loved all the songs. Nobody by Wonder Girls is the song that leaves the deepest impact on me, and when you watch it you'll understand why.

Story- I think this story was fresh, and original. The characters were very interesting and well developed overall. From the first episode, I was hooked and I ended up watching all the episodes in only a week(finishing last night) The reason why I'm giving the story a 9 is because I felt it was missing something. I wish they had went into the background of Tae Gong Shil and Joo Joong Won a little more and explained more. Some things left me wondering and thinking about after I had finished, and I wish they had expanded on them, especially Tae Gong Sil's "guide".. his back story and her accident.

Rewatch value - 9 for me. I'll definitely watch this again, but not for a while because I don't think I'd enjoy it if I rushed straight into it, but I think it is well worth my time watching it for a second time in a few months.

Overall - I enjoyed every episode and the end of each episode excited me to keep watching. It was definitely romantic, I smiled through a lot of the scenes. I cried a lot especially in the middle episodes, and jumped back from my laptop screen quite a lot when I got scared. As I said, I'm not one for anything to do with horror but if you'd be like me and terrified of things like this, don't worry, you'll be grand. The horror side is there but a lot of the frightening elements loses it's impact when you learn about the ghost's lives before they died. You end up being sad for them. I told myself when I saw the teaser for Master's Sun I wasn't going to watch it because I didn't think I could handle it, but I'm so so happy I did! If I hadn't had my curiosity get the better of me, I would have missed out on a wonderful drama, a heart-wrenching, funny, achingly sad one. I was very satisfied with the final episode, I thought it was very sweet. I'm looking forward to watching more of the Hong Sisters work and keeping an eye out for future projects too!
This is my first review so I hope it wasn't too bad!

Lire davantage

This drama had me from the very first scene. It was intense and, once i got a feel for the direction it was going, I followed right along. Since it was airing at the time I began watching, I had to wait for each episode to come on; then, after a pause, I picked it up on my favorite k-drama web server to see what in the world I had missed, and was going to happen next. Once I had caught up, I breezed through the remaining episodes in less than a week.

I Loved it. Aside from having one of my favorite actresses in the lead role, the story line and the movement from episode to episode held my interest to the point that, when the final credits were rolling, and I realized there were no more plot twists to come, I got that sinking feeling, "What will I watch next that'll make me not miss this one so much?" With each plot element rolled out in regular succession, the tale got deeper and deeper into my own psyche. I felt at times like my own suspension of disbelief had been stretched to its outer limit. Still, at other times, (when not being so particular), I was held in rapt attention waiting for the next clue to drop. I suppose that's what we're in it for and this one had it in spades.

The push-pull of repulsion-attraction-repulsion-attraction between the main characters wasn't as contrived as most dramas make it and these characters seemed to be going through real emotional turmoil. And (it makes sense) that the cure to their necessarily constant proximity, had to be prolonged separation which only complicated matters toward the end. Life and death (and the paradoxes of a middle ground somewhere in between) were vividly explored and exhaustively teased out.

As the resolution to each episode's immediate conundrum was reached, the leads were more unstable in their own relationship. Questioning their own motives and each other's sincerity. Each metaphysical entanglement wrought further existential complications. I even started to think that whatever happens to shatter the binding spell between the two, couldn't be worse than the constant dithering between affirmation and denial; passion and antipathy.

Toss in supporting characters whose presence in the piece created a subversive dynamic tension that helped increase the perplexity and inhibited both lead's determination. Predictably, this brought unnecessary confusion and, at times, tended to get tawdry and overwrought. Everyone had difficulties that only our Girl could fix, and it took more and more out of her spirit in order to bring, for some, their long hoped for resolve. Yet, for others, they had been brought to a place where they were forced to face what they had long been determined to evade.

Finally, when there was no one left, whose problems were yet to be 'handled' on either side of death's misty veil, our main Man and his leading Lady had only to realize what they truly meant to each other after such an ordeal. Mysticism, fate, romanticism and luck are a potent mixed cocktail; from which cup, we drink to our own sorrow, joy, pain and amusement. The Master's Sun serves it all up for those willing to partake of it. Drink up, ye hearty souls, for tomorrow we die. But, while we are yet alive, enjoy as much as is set before you. Drama like this informs our imaginations to give us alternative modes of thinking about what it is we ought to believe; and with that in mind, this one's worth watching again...

Lire davantage

Finally got around to watching this drama. I heard from so many that it was one of the best drama of 2013.

I can completely understand why. It was different that other dramas I've been watching and though it lacked certain aspects that I usually love, it was such a refreshing drama.

I'll just warn people who aren't good with scary movies, the first maybe 7 episodes have ghost that may scare you. So i'd suggest watching during the day. Not going to lie, I had to pause a few times in certain episodes because the music just gets to me ;~~; But please don't let that stop you from watching this!

The story didn't really grab my attention but the first episode got me hooked on watching to be honest. Usually the first episode is usually the hardest to watch but the characters grabbed my attention and pulled me in to watching more.

I adored this cast. Everyone was picked perfectly! After watching I can't imagine anyone else playing the roles. This is my first So Ji Sub/Gong Hyo Jin drama and both were perfect. So Ji Sub's acting was hilariously great. His gestures and the way he talked made me become a fan. And I know some people complained about Gong Hyo Jin's acting but her acting for Tae Gong Shi makes sense when you get deeper into the drama. The supporting cast was great too. From the aunt, uncle, other loves, secretary, Kingdom workers etc I loved everyone that was casted.

One thing I really, really loved about this drama was the soundtrack. Touch Love is such an amazing song. It was on repeat even before I watched this drama. All About was a more upbeat song that was great as an insert. The instrumentals of the OSTs and the piano pieces were flawlessly perfect.

I am so content with this drama. I would definitely recommend this to anyone and I already want to rewatch this drama!

Lire davantage

I really love this drama , I enjoyed watching. At first, I couldn't imagine that a drama can be comedy and horror at the same time but this drama had made it and it was perfect. I really don't watch any horror movie I get scared and I can't complete it but this is not that much scary and it's comedy more than horror. The episodes was very interesting but in the last few episodes before the last one it get little boring as there were no much events but the last episode make it up for it and I liked it very much.

The cast was perfect for this drama there was a huge chemistry between the two leads and also for the second leads and So Ji Sub and Gong Hyo Jin their acting was perfect and when Gong Hyo Jin cried my heart broke, I watched many dramas for so ji sub and all of them was melodrama so I was excited to watch him in a comedy but he really surprised me his acting was super I felt like you can act comedy movies why always melodramas that make me cry!!!!! he must repeat this experience again because it was great.

I loved the music very much it was very beautiful and expressed all the feelings in the drama,this music become one of my favorite
I think that I can re-watch this drama of course it was very beautiful and i enjoyed it very much

Lire davantage

The Hong Sisters are very hit or miss for me. There have been some dramas I've loved, and some that I've completely hated. They tend to use the same structure and plot points, some that seriously annoy me. Although there were some parts where I wanted to skip, I enjoyed this drama.

Gong Hyo Jin and So Ji Sub have a chemistry that no one can deny. Even watching interviews, one can tell that through this drama, they have become close friends. Even though all of the characters were well developed and entertaining, this is what sold the drama for me. You wanted to see the two together and cheered for them.

Gong Hyo Jin is amazing, and So Ji Sub is just gorgeous. It helps that the drama had lots of eye candy as well a good story that kept me interested to the end.

It's well worth the watch.....

Lire davantage

A story that could`ve been so much more

This premise, coupled with such AMAZING actors with topnotch chemistry, had such strong potential, so why do I then, feel like it didn`t live up to it? What I`ve noticed throughout these couple of months watching Korean dramas, is that if there`s something wrong with it, the problem lies either in the lack of chemistry between the actors(which obviously isn`t the case here) or in the writing. And unfortunately, I have to say, for me, the latter is true, most notably in the last 7 to 8 episodes. And it goes to show, again, that some ratings are just not to be trusted here.

Good parts of this drama are GREAT. Both actors do their job exceptionally well, as they are veterans in their field and have such good banter and feeling between them, that I`m shocked, given the popularity of this drama, that they didn`t act together again. I especially appreciate the character of Joo Joong-won, portrayed masterfully by our oppa So Ji-sub. It is the type of character we`ve seen before, however, he still feels original and that "Get lost" gesture will forever be ICONIC. They`ve really put a lot of thought into this character and the way he develops. That, sadly, isn`t the case for all the characters, and I`m especially referring to Tae Gong-shil. I`m not going to lie:As much as I understood the motivation behind clinging so hard to Joong-won, and this got better as the show went on, and as much as I ADORE Gong Hyo-jin(she`s my absolute favorite Korean actress of all time), it is obvious that her character is underwritten. Badly. This is where, if you watched this show as one of your firsts, you`ll think, yes, but that`s fine she`s still a good character(good old denial, I`ve been there many, many times). She is on the cusp of being actually interesting and gripping main character, again, thanks to Hyo-jin, because if this character was done by anyone else, she would`ve gotten on my NERVES. I wish we`d gotten more on her background, the way her powers developed and even on the three years she spent as a ghost, rather than just glossing over it all as if it wasn`t a major part of the main plotline. I`m still salty about that. And, the worst of all, I`m so salty about the writers of this show becoming lazy, especially with the last few episodes. AMNESIA trope, really??Are you kidding me?If anyone asked me what trope I wished would disappear off of the face of the Earth, it wouldn`t even be rich guy, poor girl or even bad boy, good girl, it would be this. AMNESIA trope every time. I understood right away that we`ll be seeing either Gong-shil or Joong-won as ghosts at some point, it would only be appropriate, but not in this way.

Why?It was so unnecessary and shoehorned in. Also, while I don`t hate the ending as much as others did, I do have to admit that it leaves something to be desired. I do like that she can still see ghosts and has learned to accept it, as it was a big part of her character. Still, you should give this drama a watch, if for nothing else, then for the great chemistry and acting by both of the leads. I just wish they could`ve shone brighter than the Sun.

Lire davantage

Aside from how refreshingly unique the plot is, the tone of the drama is both terrifying and hilarious, emotional and yet silly, and incredibly sexy. It’s so much fun to watch the hero stumble his way into pursuing the heroine, and the unique spin the story takes to force these two together is as fascinating as it is different. While I wish there had been more chemistry between the leads, it’s unquestionable that their acting, and our heroine’s unique dynamic with the hero, more than made up for that lack. Add in the fun side-plots of the ghosts storylines, and how literally every secondary character achieves their own happy ending and arc, and The Master’s Sun definitely ranks right up there with my favorite dramas!

Lire davantage

Mixed feelings about this drama! It started off with sort of a ghost-of-the-episode style where every episode there was a new sub-plot that was introduced and solved. This was interesting and added variety, but it also reminded me too much of American kids' shows like Phineas and Ferb where the overall plot never moved forwards.

I was invested in the kidnapping mystery and I liked the reveal around it — the way it played out was kind of anticlimactic but the reveal was good. I kind of wish there was even more built up and that the plot was carried better, as I wasn’t too fond of the ghost-of-the-week style and was craving a loot more of this plotlinne.

Other aspects of the drama like the romance fell flat for me. I’m just not a fan of the cold CEO / ditzy poor female pairing and this drama kind of took it to another level. Also, maybe I’m just DUMB but the dialogue between the main leads whenever they talked about their relationship was so weird all the time and always went way over my head.

The last few episodes really felt like they were dragged out longer than they had to be, especially with the addition of a new character and a supposed obstacle to the romance.

Lire davantage

In the recent times, there has been a lack of good romcom dramas. Then came along this drama. I was a little late watching it (and reviewing it) but it's still quite fun and memorable.

This drama is a wonderful light watch with a solid cast and a likable script. If you love ghosts (like me) you've GOT to watch this one! Being a horror drama, it didn't fail to entertain and lived up to its genre. I have always been a Hong sisters fan and this one did remind me of their older works too.

So Ji Sub is amazing in his role and will win you over. The lead actress is also good in her role. I think their romance is one of the cutest ever in dramaland. There are a lot of skinship moments and the kisses are pretty good too.

What works best for the drama is its episodic nature. It makes room for the story to flow smoothly without feeling dragged and leaves space for the characters and romance to develop alongside it. The last few episodes did become stupid and felt dragged but well within the limit of bearable.

This drama isn't scary at all. So if you think you'll be scared, don't think so. It's actually pretty funny and there are several LOL moments. For me, whenever the female lead came to 'touch' the male lead it was pretty hilarious. Watch it and you'll know what I mean. :D

I think this drama is good enough to be recommended and enjoyed by everyone. :)

Lire davantage