Before reading, please note that I am writing from the context of someone who has not watched the original Japanese adaptation.

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (A Hundred Million Stars From The Sky) is a fascinating drama that questions one's sense of morals and beliefs.

"This isn't right... but why am I okay with this happening...?" - Was the question I asked myself constantly while watching the first couple of episodes.

At its core, it is a drama filled with drama, mystery, crime, and love.

Seo In Guk plays the focal point of the story, "Kim Moo Young", a seemingly simple employee of a beer company suspected for murder. He is cold and distant, and the drama pulls all manner of film techniques to get the point across - he is not a good guy. Yet he also displays child-like mannerisms, sometimes caring, plays around at the thought of women or money. Is he acting bad on purpose? And for what purposes? Seo In Guk plays this distinction quite well.

Jung So Min plays "Yoo Jin Kang", another seemingly simple employee of a product design company. She also seems to hide a deep secret, whether consciously or subconsciously, which leads to the development of a relationship with Kim Moo Young. As always, Jung So Min's acting is superb and compelling, making every one of her lines that much more heart wrenching.

Park Sung Woong plays "Yoo Jin Gook", a police detective who's priority is the happiness and well being of her younger sister, Yoo Jin Gang. Park Sung Woong's acting of Jin Gook is also nothing short of spectacular as seen in past roles - while normally he may appear to be a little simple-minded, when it comes to matters surrounding a crime or his sister, his attitude completely shifts into the role of an astute and top calibre detective. All while harbouring a seemingly dark secret of his own.

A special shout out to Seo Eun Soo - an up and coming actress who plays "Baek Seung Ah" who isn't necessarily a main character, but is probably next in line in terms character development. She plays the daughter of a rich family who doesn't seem comfortable being trapped in the expectations arisen from her wealth. Her story gets tangled in the above relationship.

The music isn't particularly memorable, yet it is used very well to get points across, albeit perhaps too blatantly obvious at times. Dark and suspenseful music every time Moo Young is shown can get a little old. It was weird seeing one time where lighter and fluffier music was played during a funny scene, even though before that point, the funnier scenes had no music at all (which I preferred), showing a lack of consistency.

The complexity of the relationship between the cast, and the slow yet satisfying fleshing out of their individual characters is what hooked me on from the first episode. That said, episode four felt a little rushed and took a little bit of a turn for me in terms of having to spell things out for me rather than allowing me to figure things out for myself, but this is more a personal taste and there may be a reason for this later on that I can't deduce from just having watched four episodes.

I always have a special place in my heart for TvN dramas because of its' production value, and it's also currently my favourite drama running so let's see where this one goes!