Descendants of the Sun 태양의 Review

★★★★★

The 2016 Korean drama, starring Song Hye-Gyo as Kang Mo-Yeon, Song Joong-Ki as Yoo Shi-Jin, Jin Goo as Seo Dae-Young, and Kim Ji-Won as Yoon Myung-Joo.

Brief summary: Yoo Shi-Jin is a Special Ops soldier, willing to do anything for the country he loves. Kang Mo-Yeon is a successful surgeon. The two meet by chance and immediately hit it off, but the fundamental differences in their lines of work threaten to tear them apart. Will they manage to find a way to compromise? They separate thinking that this will keep them apart, but the two find themselves running into each other in a foreign country. In such a secluded location, the duel between both fiery personalities is about to get explosive.

One of the emotional roller coasters that took 2016 by storm! This one has it all! Romance, comedy, and action galore!

There’s a lot of reasons to love this one. The amount of talent involved was frankly inspiring. It’s amazing to see how Song Joong-Ki and Song Hye-Gyo worked together early on, especially since they eventually tied the knot in 2017. 

I loved the secondary couples in this one! Seo Dae-Young and Yoon Myung-Joo made my heart throb! But what’s more, the doctors Song Sang-Hyun and Ha Ja-Ae were totally cute together. The two had a chemistry that made me smile.

One of the big issues brought up in the drama was about ethics. Which is correct: killing bad guys to protect that which you love? Or, saving a life no matter who it is? Throughout the drama, we are drawn to Yoo Shi-Jin’s character who is driven to do anything and everything for his country and the ones he loves, including killing. But his counterpart is the lovely Kang Mo-Yeon, who will do everything to save a life. The hard part for them that drives most of the drama is that they want to be together but can’t find a compromise for their different lines of work yet. Think it through and let me know your thoughts about the ethical compromise between these two philosophies!

Another part of the excitement for “Descendants of the Sun” was the quantity of Kpop cameos. SHINee’s Onew kept up a pretty important role, facing his own personal demons and development. And then there was the Red Velvet cameo in episode 16! Those girls are impressive!

A wonderful drama! A must-watch, if only to discover what the Hallyu wave in 2016 was all about! 5/5 stars!