The verdict has to be in now with River Where the Moon Rises, as a sageuk it’s just not compelling but for weathering the real life craziness its come out stronger than before. The previews for episode 13 next week show that the narrative catches up to the cold open in the first episode, that big battle where Ga Jin rides to join Ondal and they share a stirring kiss, so the drama really is back to square one symbolically. The arrival of Na In Woo is probably the best thing to shake up the drama but his presence however compelling can’t make the other stuff better and I’m so tired of the Gorguyeo tribe internal politics which is just so exhausting. Either take over the throne or just move on, stop machinating behind the scenes FOR LIKE FOREVER. But the good stuff overcomes the lackings and I truly enjoy Ga Jin and Ondal’s every scene, they are like emotionally healthy and happy lovebirds stuck in a horror movie trying to do rom-com when the Texas Chainsaw Massacre is splitting their door in half. It’s not their fault they have to participate in the crazy around them. I also think I’m in the minority in that I feel nothing for the second leads maybe budding romance, I am full in for Lee Ji Hoon (that man better be first lead in his next drama) but having Go Geun tortured shoot sexy eye lasers at Mo Young doesn’t work for me because I just don’t feel her. I think I’m just not feeling Mo Young (actress and character) so I’m meh on those two even if they end up horizontal later. I’m just all in on the OTP now, ride or die baby!
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These days there's more drama happening off screen than on screen. Still RWTMR is holding on strong as the Mon-Tue timeslot is quickly becoming highly controversial. KSH can be proud of herself for proving her star power and NIW has proven he's lead actor material and has more range than previously seen. The drama is watchable and the OTP are the cutest thing amongst all the crazy. Definitely worth sticking around for.
I just can't believe that they are filming live and NIW just stepped in yet his chemistry with KSH is so electric. But I stopped watching the second half because I want to binge watch it after the drama finishes airing.
@Laura my Co-Minority. LOL
I didn't see your comment on the last post of RWTMR. Did you stop watching too? If not, care to spoil me? I've always enjoyed your wonderful reviews ?
I haven't seen @laura commenting in the recent posts either. I miss her reviews which are always a joy to read, and I also miss her being a voice of reason on this site ?
Celebrate! They'll refilm episodes 1-6 with the new male lead! This is called dedication!
WOW!! Really? Now, I'm not just gonna binge watch the second half but the whole drama from the start. I love it ♥️
Oh wow! ?
I'm following all the news regarding this drama, why haven't I heard of this? If this is true, it's a reason to celebrate indeed! ????
It's indeed true! Just saw Soompi's post about it now! I'm so excited to watch the reshot scenes! I've always been so curious on how Na In Woo would've acted Ji Soo's parts in the earlier episodes, and now my curiosity will finally be satisfied!
Kudos to RWTMR team, that's what you call DEDICATION ???
owhh really?!!! that's great.. I'm so happy, hope they got a lot of sponsors for this.. the budget was already slump, but for them for doing the reshooting again is a very heart warming action.. victory contents is the best
From a business standpoint, refilming the first 6 episodes actually makes sense. Sure it does seem like they're at a lost since the drama is not a domestic hit by any margin. However, the international market is something that they could tap into. International broadcasts in other countries would be limited if they won't do it considering that broadcast companies wouldn't want to air a drama with an obvious lead character change.
@dawang It's been no.1 in it's time slot for 6 weeks. That's good enough to qualify as a hit. It has more advertisers investment now because it's been consistently getting high ratings. 20% dramas are rare almost non existent now so the definition of hit dramas has changed. This drama has ratings and big online buzz which is good enough for KBS to call it a hit.
@dramey
u tagged wrong person dear.. its @JD ?
@dawang I love Kim So Hyun and I do understand that in its time slot it's ahead but let's not overestimate the way things currently are. A domestic hit must atleast be at 14% and as much as I want this to be considered a hit for So Hyun, it just isn't. She's still very young though and with this drama she's proven that she can actually carry a female driven project. So that for me is a win already.
Oops. @Dramey rather. Sorry @dawang ?. Anyways, of all her contemporaries she's the only one who has been in a project that's actually about her so it's just a matter of time. She'll have a big breakout soon.
Wasn't EY a domestic hit with only 3%? It even won Drama of the Year. I'm with Dramey that this is a solid hit for KSH. Her third hit in a row after LA, TTON and now this.
@Dramey Oh yes. In the past there's only 3 channels that mainly broadcast dramas (KBS,SBS,MBC) that's why it's not that hard to get even 40% + ratings. But now so much channels have emerge Tvn, OCN, JTBC, OGN. That's why 10% rating is now consider as a mark that a drama is popular.
Perfectly understandable. The actor change is just awkward, and they probably don't want to put off potential new viewers who don't want to watch an actor with a scandal
I totally agree with you Koala regarding Hae Mo Yong! I know the actress is doing her best, but she's supposed to be a mysterious, fascinating character, and IN MY OPINION, she's just not interesting to me for some reason. When you say “beautiful and mysterious female characters”, I think of Lady Mishil from Queen Seondeok, Chosun from Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Ueno Rie from Bridal Mask and Kudo Hina from Mr. Sunshine. Hae Mo Yong just doesn't have that kind of aura that these female characters have, she doesn't make me feel anything, which is most likely a fault of the writing.
Also, Go Geon is madly in love or obsessed or whatever you want to call it, with Pyeonggang, for many many years. Pyeonggang is his ideal, kind of like how Lyanna Stark is to Robert Baratheon.. And I'm supposed to believe that Go Geon just suddenly transferred all his passion to another woman? Just like that? He may get over Pyeonggang someday, but it will take many years. The actors themselves, Lee Ji Hoon and Choi Yu Hwa, have chemistry for sure, but the romance between the two characters just isn't believable to me. They do have a special relationship, they can be themselves when they're with each other, but it comes across as.. more like camaraderie to me, at least on Go Geon's part. I don't know, that's just how I feel, but if they being a couple will stop Geon from pursuing Pyeonggang to no end, then so be it. I just don't root for their romance or anything.
Anyway, Na In Woo is so so good! Koala, you're spot on when you said that NIW's On Dal is a man with hints of goofy boy underneath! Perfect description! And I think his On Dal somehow has a more innocent vibe to him, which is what I've imagined when I first saw the character description. His chemistry with KSH is off the charts! I've always thought KSH's best, most believable on-screen romance is with Jang Dong Yoon in TTON, but this one is for sure a contender! Their kiss scenes were fire! Absolutely love the casting of Na In Woo!
I'm also so excited for the upcoming battle in the next episode!
Count me in with you and koala not feeling the 2nd female lead. Maybe it's the actress's portrayal or maybe it's because I have such a crush on KSH that any 2nd female lead just pales in comparison in my eyes, I'm not sure, but yeah, not feeling her either even with the Silla backstory. She's not compelling enough to me either.
And maybe it's just me but GG's obsession with Pyeonggang actually adds to the excitement of the story for me, so unlike you, I actually want him to keep obsessing over her haha
@DAMN I totally get what you mean! We're in the minority, but I'm glad I'm not the only one with the same opinion lol
@WinterBear It's funny that you mentioned GoT characters because the Ondal change reminded me of Daario Naharis actor change and how they expect us viewers to just pretend that it's the same actor lol
@Areumdaun lol yes I remember that ? The two actors look completely different, and they didn't even made an effort to style the new Daario the same way they did the old one, long hair and all ?
At least with On Dal, they found someone with the same build and styled him the same way ?
i love both couples in this drama as both story between both couple has its own charm. I'm imagining that how good is that if we have the 2nd lead kind of love story, where both of the male and female lead are villain villainess, black bellies and had love hate relationships like gogun and moyoung couple.
aside from that, as compared to the old ondal, i really love the new ondal more. his chemistry with gajin is superb in which i haven't felt with the old ondal. but however, i keep thinking that if the scandal didn't break out and we still have the old ondal, would this drama get better rating? coz the rating after the scandal really didn't match the episode's performances, especially last night ep. the episodes really deserve a higher rating. i know it's a matter if preference, but I'm honestly disappointed with knetz abt this.
Also my thoughts. What if the writer has written the first leads with these kind of angst, their romance would have burnt to the fullest. Remember the first synopsis, Pyeonggang was supposed to use On Dal’s feelings but I guess they transferred that personality to another character.
Yeah, the story now is like Go Geon is using Mo Yong's feeling for his personal gain. Still, I like that Ga Jin and On Dal is on good terms and they sincerely love each other. My heart will surely break if On Dal will really die in the end.
To be honest I would like the ratings to reach past 10%. Can't understand it either. Royal Secret Agent managed to get 12% and higher.
It had the leftover audience from Penthouse which had just ended. They moved on to Penthouse 2 which started the same week as RWTMR. Pre Penthouse the ratings for RSA were 6%.
I'm more happy that this drama have more positive reviews now than before. And they are even getting more after the news of reshoot for episodes 1-6. Ratings is just a number indeed but they already have solid audience because the ratings didn't go below 8%.
Personaly, I watch for Mo Yong and Go Geong. Mo Yong is beautiful and I love her character. They have so much chemistry. On Dal and the Princess are like cute teenagers when Mo Yong and Go Geong are the slow burn couple.
But in a general way, the drama's writing and direction are disapointing. The story is not compelling.
Agree. I know a bunch of people who have only been watching for the second leads. I've found that some (not all) of the people shitting on Mo Yong/the actress are only doing so because they're fans of the FL and they don't like hearing some viewers praising or preferring the Mo Yong character over Ga Jin. Which is quite juvenile. But what else is new in Hallyu fan culture? *Shrug*
But I've literally never seen anyone shitting on Hae Mo Yong? Some of us are just indifferent to her, and indifference doesn't equals shitting on her. Most viewers are KSH fans and they have nothing but praises for HMY and the actress, from what I've seen in discussions about the drama, they're even shipping HMY with the 2nd male lead. That's why Koala even had to say that she knows she's in the minority that doesn't love the 2nd female lead because the popular opinion is that she's a good character lmao
If anything, it's Hae Mo Yong fans who are shitting on Ga Jin. Just go to Dramabeans for example, people on there are literally putting Ga Jin down, calling her a “boring” character while praising Hae Mo Yong to high heavens lol
I don't get the obsession of some people here on trying to frame fans of younger actors/actresses or “hallyu fans” as these rabid fans who are out to get lesser known actors/actress lmao
Love, I wrote what I've personally seen from my perspective. And if you bothered to read my comment carefully before throwing a tantrum, you'll see that I made it a point to write “some, not all”. Because I know there are also fans who are just indifferent to the character/actress. If you're not part of the group I'm talking about, why are you getting triggered? Have you been literally everywhere on the internet? Are you the spokesperson for every single KSH fan out there?
FYI, Hallyu doesn't just apply to dramas. My statement was a general sentiment, not targeting any fandom or actress. Relax. Get your head outta your ass. Obsessed with framing? Are you serious? Your animosity over a comment that has nothing to do with you makes you look like the "rabid fan" you're talking about. Peace.
I've started watching this drama maybe two weeks ago, and I've been stuck in episode 3 ever since, because I just don't like Jisoo's Ondal, but at the same time I don't want to skip important scenes either. His bullying scandal notwithstanding, he's just too modern for me, and while I'm not an expert in Korean language and sageuk diction, I can tell that Jisoo's diction is off. Every single one of the main cast is great and really suit sageuk, except Jisoo. And his Ondal lacks that naive/innocent feel IMO, he has too much swagger. And now there's news that they will reshoot the first 6 episodes with the new Ondal. I can finally pick up the drama again lol
It makes me wonder why Jisoo was cast in the first place. For me his version of Ondal wasn't that compelling. If this is a modern drama I might have a different reaction.
I'm just glad they are going to reshoot the first six episodes.
Is it just me that still enjoy the Pyeonggang and Master Geon scene, surely I'm so into the OTP loveline like wooh their chemistry is indeed shoovv off the roof!like i have to pause the screen while watching just to scream on my pillow!but I also enjoy the chemistry between the obsessed master with the princess. Now I'm smiling like an idiot
I also enjoyed gajin chemistry with go goen. I wonder when they will share the scene again.
I sure had a second lead syndrome over Master Geon before. When Ji Soo was On Dal, I wanted Pyeonggang to end up with Master Geon. But now with Na In Woo playing OD, I'm now 100% onboard with PyeongDal ship, their chemistry is just too much ?
But yeah, I still love PyeongGeon scenes, they've always had great chemistry and I miss their scenes together. I wish there will be more of them in the next episode!
That kiss tho? so cute yet so short.I guess ksh is not a child anymore hehe. I am happy that rating hasn't reduce more but hoping that it will at least cross 10% now that the plot is getting interesting.
@JD you are right. Ksh is just 21 and she still has a long way to go. I am sure she will get her due after some time. She is doing a great job here. Seeing so many casting news, I also kind of want to see a casting news about sso. Drama can come at the end of this year after she gets proper rest but I will be satisfied with even casting news.