Historical, Romantic Comedy
Synopsis: Hong Ra On (Kim Yoo Jung) has one of the most unique jobs in the Joseon Dynasty: she disguises herself as a man named Sam Nom and gives great dating advice to lovelorn souls seeking to woo that special someone. Because of one of the letters she writes to help win someone over, she ends up meeting Lee Young (Park Bo Gum). But little does she know that Lee Young is actually the future Crown Prince Hyomyung. Lee Young, for his part, also doesn’t know that Hong Ra On is a woman. With both their interests in each other intensifying, things start to get more than a little weird. And those weird things get even weirder when Ra On is sold into the Royal Palace as a eunuch and becomes involved in a political power struggle. Is this a dilemma a dating guru and handsome royalty can solve, or will the darkness of the clouds of greed and deception enshroud the love in the moonlight?
5 Reasons to watch Moonlight Drawn by Clouds ASAP:
- It’s a historical romance that ends satisfactorily. Don’t want to give spoilers, but if you know KDramas, you know that’s pretty rare. So you get all the awesome costumes, poetic romance, political intrigues of palace and court life, but without every single character that you cared about even a little bit dying at the end. I’m not saying there aren’t rough things that happen, I’m just saying there’s definite light at the end of the tunnel.
2. The romance is adorable. It’s very earnest and sweet. The circumstances leading into the romance are a bit bizarre, but the relationship itself will leave you smiling after every episode. Because the romance happens between the Crown Prince and his eunuch (who happens to be a woman disguising herself as a man) there are plenty of opportunities for intimate conversations and moments by themselves, without a bunch of other servants around. And it is delightful.
3. The bromance! Surprise, this story is almost more importantly about the Crown Prince’s friendship with his most trusted guard and best friend, Byung Yeon. Their friendship and complete faith and trust in each other is wonderful and sweet and awesome, and since Byung Yeon has many secrets, the conflict and tension he’s got going on leads to some incredible acting from the 19 year old actor. As much as I absolutely adore The Crown Prince and Ra On (the eunuch), Byung Yeon was easily my favorite character of the entire show (not to mention that he is super nice to look at). He gets lots of cool fight scenes too, firmly cementing his ninja status. The trio’s friendship was one of my absolute favorite parts of the show (Crown Prince, Ra On, Byung Yeon)
4. The acting is SO good, especially from such a young cast. Park Bo Gum, who plays the Crown Prince is breathtaking in the role, expertly expressing so much emotion with his eyes in every scene. Kim Yoo Jung as Eunuch Hong/Ra On is delightful, full of joy (as the name Ra On expresses), and silliness and sass, but also will tear your heart out with her ability to convey grief (I still can’t believe the actress is only 17. She’s so incredibly talented). The rest of the cast admirably keeps up with their two young leaders; another stand out would be Kwak Dong Yeon who plays the ninja like Byung Yeon. He is so still and deadpan, but the amount of emotion he conveys with every glance is astounding. I think I’m most excited to see what he does next, because when he’s onscreen, you literally cannot take your eyes off him.
5. The soundtrack is lovely. I’m finding that I pretty much fall in love with most of the soundtracks on these dramas, though this one especially is awesome. The instrumental score is gorgeous, and almost celtic, and so light and airy, which is a great addition to the overall tone of the show. Here’s my favorite song on the soundtrack, titled Misty Road (sung by BEN), and was actually written by Jinyoung, who plays the second male lead (dude is talented; this song is gorgeous, and his acting was great!)
