Why We Love "Love In The Moonlight"?

I admit, I'm not a big fan of Korean Dramas. In fact, the last I saw on television was "Angel Eyes" (starring Ku Hye-Sun and Lee Sang-Yoon), the Filipinized version, which aired on ABS-CBN two years ago. I've seen a few  which aired locally and were translated in our vernacular, like "My Girl", "Princess Hours", "Lovers In Paris", "Three Dads With One Mommy", "That Winter The Wind Blows" and "Boys Over Flowers". I actually found them beautifully and solidly written and executed - the strengths of most Korean Dramas we've fallen in love with all these years.

On March 6, "Love In The Moonlight" made its premiere on ABS-CBN's Primetime Bida block, to high anticipation of KDrama fans and casual televiewers. I got curious of  the series because of its premise and its ancient Korean setting, I tried to stay awake to see its premiere telecast. The next I knew, I already found myself hooked to watching it nightly, even posting about it on my social media accounts. The positive reviews I've received from friends who have seen it already, and the reviews I've read prior were all right - "Love in the Moonlight" is a drama most worthy staying up late for!

So what makes "Love In The Moonlight" special that we shouldn't miss a single episode of it? Here are some of my reasons:

Park Bo-gum and Kim Yoo-jung

1. A prince falling in love with a commoner is a story most likely we've grown tired of watching all these years. But what makes LITM entirely different is its set-up and twists: A commoner pretending to be a man, and the prince falling in love with someone who he thought is of same sex. And to further complicate the situation, they lived in this period in history where ancient rules and traditions were strictly followed especially for those of royal blood. What makes this relatable to the viewers is its universal and contemporary theme - love wins, regardless of time, status and preference! Though the series is political in several plot points, televiewers can still identify with it, especially in its young characters' respective plight.

The youthful main cast of "Love In The Moonlight". 

2.   The show's lead stars, Park Bo-gum and Kim Yoo-jung, playing Prince Lee Yeong and commoner Hong Sam Nom/Hong Ra On respectively, are so good looking on screen even in those seemingly heavy and hot, yet colorful and eye-pleasing costumes. It also helped that they have equally pleasant looking support cast in  JinYoung and Kwak Dong Yeon that makes LITM a certified eye-candy. But above anything, it's Bo-gum and Yoo-jung's undeniable chemistry that shines through in the entire series, making them oh-so-worthy of that "Korea's Breakthrough Loveteam of 2016" title.

Hong Sang Nom in that daring dance, which trended nationwide. 

3. In teleserye-writing, we have these three "turning points", as we call it - big plot points in the entire narrative that heighthen a series' development. In LITM's case, the first turning point happened in last Thursday's episode, when Hong Sam Nom secretly transformed into her real self - a woman, and danced in front of the Royal Family and constituents in a celebration, to save Prince Lee Yeong from still unseen forces trying to bring him down from his throne. It's a very critical plot point as it brought that risk of Lee Yeong and his silent enemies of discovering Hong Sam Nom's daring yet punishable disguise. And there we saw Lee Yeong's interest, perhaps "love at first sight" in a woman he oddly sees in Hong Sam Nom, in disguise as man.   

Pretty Kim Yoo-jung as Hong Ra On, who
looks so beautiful as a girl.

4. Watching LITM is also a learning experience, as we get to learn the culture and history of Korea, a country most of us have come to love because of their KDramas and KPop music. In one episode, I got curious of a Royal Concubine, as portrayed by Lady Park in the story, I actually researched about it.

Park Bo-gum as the prince we all have come to love.

5.  ABS-CBN has this beautiful track record of translating and dubbing Korean dramas to Filipino, to make it more appealing to and convenient to watch for our masa and casual viewers, who are religious viewers of our local teleseryes. And it helped LITM is using Yeng Constantino's highly popular "Ikaw" as theme song for its local airing, with Korean sensation Yohan Hwang singing the Korean/Filipino version, playing heavily on the background as the series progresses.

The kissing scene we have yet to see!

Don't miss the series everyone's talking about these days! "Love in the Moonlight" airs on Primetime Bida, weeknights at 10:15pm, after "A Love To Last"