Descendants of the Sun (2016)

Descendant of the sun is actually the only drama throughout 2016 that I watched without skipping anything; like literally. The first time I saw the plot I kind of hesitated a bit, but thank god I actually started to watch this drama. The end of each episode always leaves me craving for more.

The story itself combined in such a neat way that even though it consists of several genres, it still turns out well. Although some might say that the plot is shallow, I think the main focus about the struggle of having a relationship is pleasant to watch. Most dramas tend to have a draggy episodes throughout the middle, but this drama is so fast paced and action packed that not even a single second you'll feel bored. Also the scenery is one of the things that I can't get over with-I mean like seriously the wrecked ship beach is damn beautiful. I gave the story 8.5 because towards the end of the show things kinda get messy although it still wrapped up in a beautiful way.

The cast did a really great job. The male lead character, Yoo Si Jin, is the kind of guy that can steal your heart away within minutes. I mean he got the looks (those killer smiles) and he loves to throw random jokes and cheesy pick up lines which are a +++ for me! The lead couple has a really strong chemistry and many cute moments. Although they have opposite personality, they actually managed to let the relationship flows. And I kind of surprised myself that I'm actually rooting for the second lead couple also. Their story is really touching that you can't help but anticipating when will it get easier for them to be together. Not to forget, the bromance between Yoo Si Jin and Seo Dae Young makes me in awe like seriously can I get more scenes of them please.

And don't even mention the OST. Like whoa DotS is one of those dramas with perfect OST (literally everything) and they suit the scenes really well.

Am I going to rewatch this? YES YES DEFINITELY. Those times when the natural disaster occurred will be my favourite part of this drama.

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This show hit all the spots. It was an extremely good and unusual story with relatable characters and situations. It felt like the characters were real life people experiencing these things that do happen in real life. The acting was excellent as well, but our leads and every body else. There was common sense in this show displayed by the writers, the characters, the actors, the production team - everyone associated with the show. That is rare in kdrama world, which makes this extra special. There's also an overload of cuteness which I adored. 10 for everything. Would give it 100 if I could.

First, the romance may sound typical between a Special Forces Army guy and a Doctor (every other romance novel, right?) but in the framework of an Asian drama, it's not. Military heroes are not a thing in Korea that's why Yoo Shi Jin was a ground breaking hero. The romance as well wasn't one where the couple spent time longing for each other and doing nothing about it. They were both always straightforward about their feelings, talked to each other about it, and acted on their feelings like two mature people who knew what they wanted. That's rare in a kdrama. When you get shows like that, it's golden. They spent time with each other, thought of each other, behaved like real people starting a real relationship in the real world. 10 stars.

===SPOILER PARAGRAPH===
Some people didn't like Dr. Kang Mo Yeon's character because she was a little hesitant. At first I thought she was brash and rude, but I warmed up to her the first time she smiled at our military man. I loved her for taking the time to think the repercussions of the relationship through and not let her feelings lead her blindly. That's what a normal woman in real life would do and that makes her relate-able. She had to decide absolutely if she's strong enough to deal with a military man and his secretes and tragedies if it ever happens. She had to make sure she would't end up resenting him and his job. No one can fault her for taking the time to figure it out, no matter how handsome and sweet he is or that the audience wanted him to have everything he wanted. 2 people make a relationship and both have to want to make it work.
===SPOILER PARAGRAPH===

The villain... omg, he was hot. But I hated him. He represented a real, present evil in our world. He's not just makjang or there for the story to have a story. He exists in reality and it's so much worse than this drama could portray. I liked that they got rid of him fast and the rest of the drama was fan service. He was a heavy villain... like looking into the mirror of the world.

To fans who complained about fan-service.... there are millions of people who loved the fan service. We watch dramas for fan service. If they didn't cater to what their fans wanted, why watch dramas? Dramas do excellently money-wise when there's plenty of fan service. The last 4 episodes was so much fan service that I squealed every few minutes lol. Plus I watched the reruns on KBSWorld. Couldn't resist. It was so sweet. Didn't mind the product placement in the show either because it's a show I'm getting to watch free of charge, but somebody had to pay for it. It had great cinematic quality and production, don't be cheap and complain when investors are advertising their products. They paid for you to see this show, you didn't. Stop complaining.

The secondary couple was extra sweet as well. I adored them. I loved the bromance, and the girl-bonding. Loved everything about the whole show. I even loved the mean old apa. This was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to watch.

Now... the show is full of English, more than in any Korean drama ever. But the English was very good. I had no problems understanding anything and it was music to my ears lol. If you want to complain... remember... they probably speak English better than you speak Korean.

And this show was cheesy. I love cheese. The action was cool and excellently executed, so it was nice to see our badass hero turn into a complete sweet pincushion with the cheesy lines. Some of it was too much cheese, and some had me going... "Ew, did you really need to say that? And in that manner?" ... because sometimes the cheese was delivered with an over dramatic atmosphere. Overall though, 10 for the cheese.

The medical aspect of the show was intriguing as well. Loved to watch that. It was like a mellow dash of Grey's Anatomy, watching a slice of personal and professional lived of doctors. There was just enough.

If you're not an avid romance fan, this drama may seem silly to you. It's barely got any military or war stuff. The military aspect is that the characters are in the military and work around a military aspect. There were a few 'missions' but nothing with gritty meat to catch die hard action fans. This was primarily cheesy romance with a side of military, medical, action.

Kim Eun-sook and Kim Won-seok, please, write another like Descendants of the Sun.

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I've finally found a drama I hate more than Missing You and I'm really angry about it. I have never before felt like writers were deliberately treating viewers like idiots but this drama felt like a slap in the face.

Lets start with the story. This is a story that's filled with disaster and tragedy, and whether or not he saves her life, or she saves his life, she gets to yell at him afterwards, and he gets to crack jokes. Why these two like each other is beyond me, the writers didn't give me a chance to get to know either character in a normal situation. Every time they finally got some time together, they were separated for his work or her work or her mother and then the next time they saw each other was an emergency. I had no time with them, i don't know who they are and so I can't care about them.

After 13 episodes I felt like I had disaster exhaustion and I wasn't sure if I had the stamina to complete a dramatic story with characters I didn't care about. I should have stopped. Without spoiling the ending I have never before felt like the writers thought I was an idiot and the whole production team was laughing at me for following them to the end. If you do decide to watch Descendants of the Sun, just stop watching after episode 14.

Song Joong Ki and Kim Ji Won were excellent. I believed their characters and their reactions to the world around them. Well done to both of them. Onew - this was the second worst case of overacting I've ever seen. he should never be allowed to act again.

If Lee Seung Jun hadn't been as funny as he was I might have stopped watching this drama after they returned to Seoul from their volunteering trip. So, a personal message to Lee Seung Jun: I will hate you forever for contribution to my watching this nonsense to the end.

The music was terrible.

Rewatch value, 0. I'm furious to have been treated like this by a writer and producers. I will never again watch anything for which they're responsible.

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At first I was very excited about Descendants, but I just couldn't handle the cheeziness in the first episodes. My roommate is a huge fan of this drama so she convinced me to watch it together every week when it aired. If it wasn't for her I think I would have just dropped it. We both occasionally cringed at the overacting, cheeziness and awkward English. The drama just wasn't able to make me care about what was happening or who was going to hook up in the end.

In my opinion some of the reasons it was hugely popular was because, first of all, it was mostly viewed by middle aged women/ajumma (who often have some extra time on their hands) and girlfriends who have their boyfriend enlisted in the army (especially here in Korea). Secondly, because there are many hopeless romantics out there who all have fallen for the charismatic and ideal boyfriend Yoo Shi-Jin. ;) I wonder if a lot of straight men have watched this?! Convinced my bf to watch it with us, but he said the male leads stare too much straight into the camera which make it all too cheesy. He called quits after one episode... ;)

Pros: beautiful filming locations, handsome main leads, great OSTs

Cons: lack of interesting plot, Song Hyae-Kyo's unconvincing acting skills, awkward English, overacting, too much...really wayyyy too much product placements, too much advertisement after the drama... so sick of seeing the actors faces everywhere in the streets and on TV here!

An overall score of 6.5, for the effort and entertainment value. ;)

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IS THIS DRAMA OVERRATED?!
Been waiting for this drama every since I heard that Song Joong Ki came back from the military last year and was accepted to do this drama. In August - September 2015 I didn't have much expectation for this drama since they just announced that its gonna be film soon. So the info about the plot was vague and unclear back then. So my expectation for it wasn't big. But in 2016 when the drama started to air in February and throughout March. Hearing that the rating was super high and the drama was a huge hit makes me happy cuz after all Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo is starting in the drama. Then I watch the trailer for it and it was super good.
I don't know if it's just me or maybe others out there are the same but I hate watching Korean Drama right after it come out cuz u have to wait every single week for new episodes and it's a pain. So for every single drama that I watch I always wait for all the episode to come out and finish the whole drama in like 2-3 days.
So it's the same for this drama too. The only different is that since that drama was so huge every since its was air it's hard to keep my expectation on the same level for 2 months. So it keep rising and rising.
One thing for sure is that this drama is not overrate. Since I think everyone have such high expectations for this drama and since the bar is too high. For me is the same, my expectation for this drama is SUPER high unlike others drama so when Descendants of The Sun meet my expectation I was super happy and this drama was amazing but I kinna loss the surprising element since I already expected to be good. Because in my opinion when people have low expectation for something and it turn out good they get surprise and like it. But since the super huge expectation for this drama is already there, most people enjoy it but doesn't not get surprise. And I think losing that surprise element make some people think that this drama was overrated. The bar was raise so high for this drama Worlwide and since it definitely meet and went over the bar people think it's overrated.
Over all the casting was SUPER. And the actors did an amazing jobs bring all the emotion of their character out. I really like their natural gesture forward one another. I like to watch drama that doesn't seem like the actors r trying too hard to act. And this one does a wonderful job!!! Song Joong Ki fighting!! Can't wait to see u in a new drama.

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This drama was amazing, hands down. Honestly this review may seem biased because of my love for Song Joong Ki, but this drama was so good. Everything from the story to the music, it was super good.

Story: The story was amazing. If you're a fan of romance, especailly cheesy romance, this is the perfect drama for you. This drama is military love. If you like to see Song Joong Ki be the cheesy lover, you will fall for him immediately.

Acting: Oh my goodness, the acting in this drama is amazing. Song Joong Ki presented the character so well and made me fall in love with his character instantly. Song Hye Kyo was also amazing, like usual. I watched her in That the Winter Blows and honestly I wasn't a fan of her in that drama, but in this drama she is amazing. She played the character so well and became that worried military girlfriend which made me fall in love with the drama so much because it felt like I was actually there and feeling the emotions she felt too.

Song: The OST in this drama is so lit. Every kiss scene or sad scene, the music matched it to so well.

Overall, the drama was so well done and I highly recommend it to those who are a big fan of romance.

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Ok, so I'm expecting gunshots in my way after I write this review.

I'll start off with the positives first: the reason why I stayed throughout all the series was because of the unique concept with its marvelous props and costumes by the characters, the beautiful setting, the cgi. Other than that, I enjoyed the osts, the humor of the story and the realistic romance of the second couple.

Now this is where the main problem comes. This is where I'll write the negatives and why I didn't enjoy this show.

1) Lead couple - I never felt their love for each other. I can't point the issue out for now, but what I can say is that all I saw between the SongSong couple was flirting. Both of the characters felt so cliched to me as they were too perfect in a sense that they didn't have any weaknesses or flaws. Thus, they were the kinds of characters that didn't have much character development. Obviously, I just couldn't relate to them and their perfect love story.

2) Unrealistic - Okay, I know you'd say, "Well, it's just a drama, it's supposed to be unrealistic." I agree, but that's definitely not my point. My point is, it was interesting to watch the disasters here and there, but how they solved the conflicts were extremely unrealistic. It was too predictable for me who would die, who would get saved, how they would escape the situation, etc. They get solved so easily that throwing random death threatening disasters were getting pretty much useless. I mean if they were to add something big, they could have ended the situation in a way that we didn't see coming.

My last thoughts about this drama: Well, it could've been better. This drama had so much potential. Not saying it was wasted or what, but it just lacked things. You know what I mean? Yeah, it was not a masterpiece to me, sorry.

Anyway, recommended for those who isn't obsessed with character developments and plot structures and just want to see SJK all throughout the way.

Well, if you're actually obsessed with those stuff, the storyline will be too predictable for you. I first watched this drama in KBS (2nd ep.), and I knew I would never like it. Still, I got the full copy of this series (because the people I know who don't really poke their noses into asian drama stuff suddenly started watching DOTS), I just had to hope that I would experience a rollercoaster ride. Guess what? It never got better.

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This is my first drama with Song Joong Ki. His baby face never appealed to me (like watching kid) so I often skipped his dramas. Well, his role in Descendant's of the Sun really turned me around. He was so cool and so sweet, what a great boyfriend he made. My friend's kept telling me the high ratings for this drama was due to the "romance" and the "flower boy". In my opinion, it is so not true. Yes it is about, love, but is also about friendship, sacrifice, honor, and in general the strength and weaknesses of being human.

This drama had a little Iris, a little City Hunter and a little ER all in one. Really good chemistry between the main couple. But the secondary couple also had a wonderful story line as well as great chemistry. Some really moving moments between both couples and some really funny light hearted moments as well. The supporting casts were also really awesome. Great acting from everyone.

Awesome OST, read that it hit the music charts hard in several Asian countries.

As much as I enjoyed the romance of this drama, it also made me think of the danger and sacrifice that our own real life service men and women face for our countries. I also appreciate the many doctors that volunteer all the time for Doctor's Without Borders.

A very well done drama, worthy of the buzz and the high ratings it received. I loved Song Joong Ki so much, I looking into more of his dramas. INNOCENT MAN is looking really good.

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First of all, I was really excited to watch the drama because it was the talk of every kdrama watcher. I was so curious about the show because my brother wanted to watch it. Also, I always love the male lead, Song Joong ki. I've been watching him since Sungkyungkwan days, even though he was just a third male lead in that drama. As a result, we watched as a family.

My opinion is that the story is too flat. I love the cinematography however, the story is just so shallow for me. I'm happy that the two main leads fell in love with each other and got married in real life but, I never felt any chemistry between them in the show. I just don't understand why people love them or see them as a good pairing in the show.

The second male and female leads were more interesting for me. Jin Goo's character was so cute for me and I saw Kim Ji Won on a different role after watching the Heirs (another flat drama talked about by many people).

The ending was... disappointing. They were kidnapped, and then what? They just came back fine. Whatever. 

Overall, I regret watching the drama. It was a lesson to me to never jump into bandwagon or never let the hype sway me.

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This show has no idea what it’s trying to be

Honestly this is one of the worst shows I’ve seen. Is this a romcom, serious romance, medical drama or war drama? Was honestly waiting for aliens to show up at one point. I have no idea what direction they’re trying to take. There will be a serious scene involving human trafficking, sexual violence, natural disasters, human loss etc and then 10 minutes later they’re walking through an active minefield and smiling with happy music in the background??

Speaking first of the cinematography, it’s awful, every scene has the brightness cranked to 100. The entire show is so washed out because of it, each shooting location looks the same; lifeless, empty and bland. I have honestly never seen something this bad in my memory. The sets themselves don’t help the case because it just looks like a random hill where soldiers are stationed for fun with a couple generic broken ruins around. I’ll talk about my major issues with Uruk in general in a bit.

In terms of the writing it’s truly horrific and chock full of really cringe English dialogue that’s tough to listen to. The main leads have negative chemistry, the show spends 10 episodes going nowhere with their romance and then they slowly start heading….absolutely nowhere only to wrap it up in the last 1-2 episodes. Legitimately 80% of this show is just repeating the same “can I date a soldier” and “idk what my feelings are” for every episode sprinkled in with the stupid side plots. I also think that probably about 20 hours of this show was a gun standoff because that’s totally realistic.

The second love interests are equally as bad but Kim Jiwon was the stole charismatic actor in this show. The medical stuff let’s not get into because I don’t wanna roast this 11 year old looking supposed doctor whimpering away.

Moving onto Uruk, what in gods name was this racist caricature of a country? It’s supposed to be modeled after Iraq but looks nothing remotely like it. I don’t expect them to fly over there and film but zero effort in staging was put in, just change the setting if you can’t be bothered to make something believable. 35% of the city are Korean expats and the rest are a mix of every culture in existence. Let’s add some Russians, some people with dark skin, some white kids, some ladies with hijabs, alright let’s wrap it up! Not to mention the constant racist tropes of Arabs just scattered around like the casual oil barons pulling up and how these “Arabs” don’t want foreign doctors touching their leader and would rather him die as if that would ever happen.

In terms of acting I’m genuinely shocked at some of the high reviews. Not a massive Song Joon Ki fan anyway but this is one of his worst if not worst performance. He was horribly cast, he does not give off a strong special forces vibe at all and his acting is just so unbelievable I couldn’t help laughing at serious scenes when he’d start speaking English. Song Hye Kyo was equally as rough, her dialogue, body language and delivery were so off it looked like a complete rookie. There was zero chemistry between the two. Like I mentioned earlier Kim Jiwon is the only who put up a great performance.

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