I don’t need to put a **SPOILER ALERT** on this, right? Since I think I’m the only one on my side of the fandom who hasn’t seen DoTS until now?
Thanks to the four-day weekend and the fact that I’ve finished all my reports, I finally found the time to watch Descendants of the Sun in its entirety. I’ve seen it here and there when my niece watched it, but this is the only time I managed to sit down and watch it religiously.
Since everyone has seen it and I’m very late, I’ll just do my usual bulleted list of random comments.
1. The production values are definitely top-notch. They didn’t scrimp on the budget for this, and it showed. The cinematography, production design, even the camera angles were well-thought out.
2. The story is actually quite simple if you remove the disaster/military conflict aspects of it. It’s just couples bickering here and there, as normal couples would. The fact that the characters involved have complicated jobs allowed the story to move to 16 episodes. Having said that, I think the simplicity of the plot and its execution are the ones that lured the audience hook, line and sinker. The script was very relatable; they spoke like they’re normal people, just like the rest of us.
3. Song Hye Kyo has definitely cemented her mark as a prolific actress on this drama. I love that the Kang Mo Yeon character has a strong personality. She’s not a damsel in distress. SHK has truly moved on from her old characters where she’s always weak and helpless. All of her roles since Full House are that of a strong woman, and she definitely has the chops to pull them off.
Some of my favorite scenes in the drama are those of Dr. Kang trying to control her emotions because she is in the middle of a situation where she cannot afford to break down. There’s this one scene during the earthquake rescue where all her facial muscles moved as she was on the brink of tears but she tried to control them. It’s very raw and natural, as if she really was in distress. And then that other scene when she finally broke down after she finished attending to all those patients. Hye Kyo was able to convey the grief that she kept all along in the most heart-wrenching way.
4. I know you’re all waiting for me to comment on Song Joong Ki. First of all, I get it. I get that his charm was like, level 100000000 on this drama, reminiscent of Full House‘s Lee Young Jae. I still think he’s too pretty, though, so I didn’t fancy him that much. I fancied Jin Goo more.
I must commend him for his delivery of English lines. It’s not perfect, particularly on the delivery (it could’ve been more natural), but at least we didn’t need subtitles and he didn’t sound like Donald Duck. I didn’t cringe at all. He’s not a native speaker, but I’m not surprised that he has that skill because I am aware that SJK is one of those Korean actors who not only has high IQ scores but is also street smart. His Running Man stint showed me that.
5. Truthfully, the one couple that I liked most on DoTS were the old doctor and the nurse. They’re so cute.
6. Is it just me, or Kim Ji Won has a strong resemblance to the-princess-that-must-not-be-named?
7. To sum up, I understood why this drama is a hit. I’m not sure, though, if it will warrant a repeat-viewing from me. It did suffer the K-Drama Fatigue on me because everyone has demanded that I see it, so I kinda expected a little bit too much. To be fair, it’s one of those dramas where I can actually recite scenes and dialog even if I’ve only seen it once. It’s like a pop song that will stick to your ear whether you like it or not.
8. PS: I know people will bomb me for saying this. Nope, I didn’t feel any electricity between the leads. They’re more like best buds to me. Yep, feel free to throw stones at me now.