Hotel Del Luna (2019)

After a full day and a half, I've made my mind about Hotel Del Luna's rating... It's an 8.

Let's make no mistake, this series is good and will most likely be the best drama this year. A complete blueprint of what a fantasy drama should be, full of romance and mystery and world building which excels very much in that regard.

However there were times when I personally thought nothing was happening in the story especially in the middle parts of episodes and would often fast forward to the points where the characters I cared about actually moved their arcs forward, it reminds me of formulaic storytelling were a villain of the week or monster of the week or in this case, ghost of the week happens and all the main characters have to untangle and solve. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this format but in a digital world where we can skip ahead, it kinda takes away from the traditional raw emotions meant to happen.

The series had phenomenal acting and it's star IU continues to shine throughout. YJG also holds his own with what he's given. It's beautifully shot with every frame seemingly from a movie. The soundtrack is ok. Not as memorable as other dramas have had.

Basically this is Goblin-lite with the roles reversed and the actions reversed. You had 900+ year old Goblin waiting for his bride to take the sword out of his heart and end his existence only to end up, falling in love, dying and staying to eventually see the bride of his life move on without him. Here, you have poor weak and naive Gu, the human hotelier falling in love with someone knowing full well the only way she could truly move on is if she left him and he does whats best for her, sacrificing his happiness for hers, sending his last guest off but the key points in both cases are the memories left behind, both leads didn't want to lose the memories and that to me is the most painful thing.

Being reminded everyday for the rest of your life of what truly made you happy and not being able to re-live it or in this case remember it, was never truly an option for our male leads. So they will continue on, living without the other that made them happy. A love like that goes beyond time and existence. It shines eternally without waver and without valour.

Gu becomes the tiger in the painting, looking at a time now lost but a time remembered.

It's not all roses however, there are flaws. I do think Gu's backstory is notoriously weak, almost Mary Sue like. The late reveal at the finale seems like a cop-out for not having any relation prior. I do think if you were rooting for the second lead, you got cheated tremendously. All that build up for not but even more noticeable was in the last few episodes you didn't really see any kisses, just a lot of lingering hugs.

I interpret the ending as its shown. Gu, never taking the meds continues to live his normal life, outside of Korea. Eventually when he does pass on, he sits at a bench and meets Man Wol again in a brand new life but their actual conversation doesn't necessarily mean they just met. Maybe they're already together in that life so happier ending but sad loves are always more memorable.

The supporting cast also had it's moments as well. They had to have more scenes because we'd get bored of the main couple by the fourth episode. It was very much an ensemble and group effort to make this series enjoyable as it was.

I do think as time goes by, this will be remembered as one of the greats. Up there with BBF, YWCFTS, DOTS and Goblin and rightfully so. Also wouldn't it be something if Kim So Hyun's first manager at the Blue Moon was Jun Ji Hyun... :)

And here I thought the hotel industry was boring.

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Incredible

Hotel del Luna....

An incredibly good drama. First of all I have to admit that I canceled the series before, wrongly noticed. I'm actually the kind of person who doesn't cry on series or movies, but this series moves even the strongest of people to tears.

The Production of Hotel Del Luna is from another planet. Every single scene was a success and the actors were great. I was surprised to see IU in the role of Jang Man Wol because I didn't know she was in the drama, but as expected she was great.
The whole story is well thought out and very interesting, even if the episodes last for over an hour. The production, as already mentioned, is just breathtaking. From the different locations to the scenes, everything was just perfect.
I really like the music who was played a lot during the drama, it was something special.
The places where the story was played were very well chosen, as were the clothes/costumes.
Jang Man Wol and Goo Chan Sung's relationship is downright sweet, even if there have been ups and downs.
The last episode was just very sad, as the people slowly but surely disappeared into the tunnel and the relatives mourned ...
For me the best thing were the flashbacks because you lernt so much about the people during these.

So please give the drama a try, you won't regret it.

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Hotel del Luna is like most fantasy romance dramas we've seen before; so the storyline is predictable. It has the usual funny scenes and the heartwrenching stuff.

What's awesome it that the main leads embody the traits of the opposite gender.
The female lead is a warrior, a leader stuck in time and hating it. She's strong, capable and money-hungry... SHE CRAY.
The male lead is kind, warm-hearted and a do-gooder... HE'S ADORABLE.
In this drama, the woman comes to the rescue of the man... AND HE LOVES IT.
It's worth watching just to see the gender swap and the beautiful relationship between the main characters unfold.

The OST is one of the best EVER. I mean, Taeyeon, Heize, Chung Ha and Gummy?!

Also; IU's wardrobe is to die for.

I rated high on rewatch value because I've already rewatched all episodes :)

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This drama is obviously written by the Hong Sisters and they have written several best hit, but for me personality this drama was the best work up to date in my opinion. To be honest, I was hesitant to start this drama because of the past written works by the Hong Sisters, but this drama change my perception and I decided to give it a try.

There is no main characters other than the leads of course being Lee Ji Eun and Yeo Jin Goo, but many of the side characters is what made the drama shine as well. However, I would suggest reading the plot to see if you are interested and give a tried because base on the plot it seem to be a typical Korean drama that has been done, but this one is different and you won't regret it. There are 16 episodes and each episode there is a meaningful story and guest cameo is well.

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Hotel Del Luna is a beautifully told story. Some will say that this show is slow after some point in the middle episodes. It does slow down I will agree with that, but the slowness feels and adds naturally to the story. No, I won't rewatch this because of my tendency of not to rewatch things I've already seen unless it's with someone else. So if I find someone to rewatch this with me, I'll do it but not just by my lonesome.
Story:
The story starts almost abrasively but mellows out which I think leads people to believe it slows. But the story becomes more intense and lays out an intriguing world. By far, one of the most intricate storylines that has a bigger cast but still manages to address each and everyone's back story. From 1,300 to 500 to 200 to 70 years ago. Each story has its own unique feel making each more precious. Death is also a giant theme in this story, no surprise when writing about Grim Reapers, Ghosts, and the like. However, this intense subject matter is shown in all lens of life. With many different perspectives in which to believe.
Acting:
The chemistry between our main leads was one of the things that made this story breathtaking. After watching my fair share of dramas, I can tell you that these two are nothing like any other couple I've encountered. They have cute, funny moments that make you smile or giggle. While also having a very significant outlook on the life they share, if only for a brief time. Jan Man Wol and Ku Chan Sung are an alluring coupling that does nothing but enhances the characters and story told.
IU and Yeo Jin Goo give such power and prowess to these characters. The casting for this lead couple was perfect. I was worried about Yeo Jin Goo because of his recent Absolute Boyfriend series which I didn't like and barely finished. But this was so a much better fit. He did a heartfelt job when portraying Ku Chan Sung — as for IU, even more, impressing that her precious works. She tends to get sweeter and better the more she acts. By far the most dazzling character, Jan Man Wol's outfits were over the top.
As for the rest of the cast, Shin Jung Keun who plays Mr. Kim was a crane who put just the right amount of funny into each moment as well as having some tearful moments. Bae Hae Seon as Ms. Choi felt at first like a very flat character, and it wasn't until almost the very end that she grew. I hoped for more, but I think this was just the right amount. Plus that hug, tearjerker. Pyo Ji Hoon as Ji Hyun Joong surprised me; I honestly loved his character way more than I had thought, and his character development towards the end was astonishing as well as it just felt right. Not like a last-minute addition but a natural arch. Kang Mi Na as Kim Yu Na fit perfectly with Ji Hyun Joong. I loved how we experienced love in it's purest form, first love.
Music:
The music most definitely sets the mood in each of the scenes it was assigned. I loved that IU even sang a song wishing for Man Wol and Chan Sung to have a happy ending. They used powerhouse singers like Ben, Gummy, Taeyeon, and Punch, to name a few. The songs are so sad, touching and powerful that sometimes they took over. But I was grateful because then I couldn't hear myself sobbing. I honestly can say this collection of songs will stick with me even if I forget the story which is unlikely to happen.
Hotel Del Luna is by far one of my favorites of this year and maybe even my drama watching career. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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A beautiful, fantastic journey!

In myth-fantasy K Dramas, it is often seen that only the male characters lead a tired and bored immortal life either by being a God or by suffering for his past sins. This trope has been successfully reversed in Hotel Del Luna.

Written by the Hong Sisters, Hotel Del Luna follows the story of Man Wol, a 1300 year old soul punished into roaming the human world for her past sins. Her time has been paused by the Gods by denying her entry into the afterlife, and connected to Hotel Del Luna and its Moon Tree - a moving hotel which transforms its ownership to a soul which has committed the worst of sins and still holds grudges. This hotel serves as a platform for fulfilling the unfulfilled desires of dead humans, before they can move to the afterlife. This is a stark comparison considering how Man Wol has to constantly send off her guests to the afterlife, while she is herself denied entry into the same.

Del Luna's Man Wol is hot tempered, narcissistic, tired of her long existence, pursues a rich lifestyle even while being constantly bankrupt, enjoys Champagne and caviar, and a clear foodie - all her food pictures go on her Instagram account, loves shopping and buys a lot of cars. Throughout the series, Man Wol remains true to her individualistic character traits, she nurtures her revenge, her grudges against the enemies and even acts on fulfilling them. She is portrayed to be strong - she is the one saving her love interest from supernatural elements, brave with thoughts and actions of her own, she knows what she is doing. She doesn't simply turn into an obedient, loving soul in a second upon meeting her human love interest, as is often shown in most of K Dramas.

Apart from Man Wol and her narrative, the small subplots this series follows are equally entertaining. Special mention to the quirky, funny and equally endearing side characters of the show with plenty stories to tell of their own. The show's cinematography and CGI effects are so very beautiful, the stark Moon Tree, the blooming flowers, making it a treat to watch it.

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I love a good romance spiced with ghosts and mystery!

Hotel Del Luna is one of the first dramas in a long time that has been able to pull a strong emotional reaction out of me. I have seen a lot of good, emotionally impressive dramas before, but it's been a long time since I last saw a drama like that before watching Hotel Del Luna.

The story of Hotel Del Luna is very interesting, and I was very intrigued by it right from the start. I personally really like dramas that handle the topic of ghosts, for example "Master's Sun" and "Oh My Ghostess" are some of my favourite dramas of all time. The story overall was good and interesting, but in my opinion it was a little draggy/messy/confusing at some points, which is why I scored the story 8.5. There was a lot of mystery in this drama, and I would have hoped that the mysteries could have been solved a bit more evenly during the drama. Also, there were a lot of scenes, where they used like 7 different camera angles just to show Man Whol (IU) sitting on a chair or lying under a tree for like 3 minutes straight for example, and I found that a bit unnecessary lol.

The cast of HDL was amazing. The main leads did a really good job, and all the supporting actors were amazing as well. I especially want to give a "shoutout" to Block B's P.O. aka Pyo Jihoon, I was very pleasantly surprised by his acting and I absolutely loved his character. I actually loved all of the characters that were the main hotel staff, they were so great. The only thing about the casting that I found odd, was that why on Earth was one of the ghost actresses dubbed?? I have no clue.

The music in this drama was good, I mean nothing was mindblowingly good or extremely memorable, but I didn't think any of the songs were particularly bad either. Just some quite standard drama OST songs. "Another Day" by Punch & Monday Kiz, "Done for Me" by Punch, "Can You Hear My Heart" by Heize and "Only You" by Yang Da Il were probably my favourites.

I personally never rewatch dramas anymore, but I honestly feel like this one could be entertaining to watch again some day, but not right away though. Maybe if I get my spouse to watch some dramas with me, this could be on our watchlist :D

Overall I scored this drama a solid 9. I liked the plot, I liked the cast, and even though there were some moments/people in this drama that I really disliked, (like Man Whol's personality at some points,) they didn't overshadow this drama's greatness. I would happily recommend Hotel Del Luna to anyone, especially if you like supernatural dramas with a good dose of romance and mystery (:

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Tomem cuidado com os spoilers!

Sim, eu dropei Hotel del Luna e ainda assim vou fazer uma resenha positiva.
Acho que eu nunca vi um drama com uma filmografia tão bonita quanto à de Hotel Del Luna. Os cenários são lindos, os figurinos e o elenco e simplesmente impecável.
A história também não deixa a desejar. Pode ser que acabe sendo lenta em alguns momentos mas ela e simplesmente muito profunda em alguns momentos. A única razão que me fez parar de assistir foi o temido spoiler… É, me contaram o final e tudo perdeu a magia pra mim. Não que eu odeie o fim, é só que eu sinceramente acho que esse dorama não funciona ou não te impacta da mesma forma com spoilers.

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ONE OF THE BEST FANTASIES!! GREAT WORK HERE!! ALERT OF MASTERPIECE!!

This was pretty much ➡️ AMAZING!

Great chemistry between both leads and the storyline has a development (this is almost impossible to find in almost any drama nowadays, everything is too repetitive and dull now).
The storyline goes back and forth between the past (from her POV) to the present. It centers mainly in the romance, the fantasy theme such us, helping ghost cross to the other side by letting go of their grudges, the mystery of the past story with her past lover and the also death (as she wants to die but she can't).
The characters are well constructed, my favourite is her (IU's character) her sassy personality and her toughness are different and difficult to see in korean women.
The male character is well made too with personal development/growth, his experiences teach him something that will make better in each episode.
The supporting cast was easily enjoyable too with the funny touch, I really loved their addition to the drama too.
The OST were beautiful and easy to the ears, just like the drama.
I really enjoyed watching this drama from the beginning till the end. I highly recommend it, you'll not regret and have a great time watching it.
RATE 9.5/10

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Strong fantasy set-up and dynamic between leads with ultimately unsatisfying conclusion

I came into Hotel del Luna with several biases, but I enjoyed it for the most part (except for the ending, which I really found unsatisfying). Usually, the fantasy tag is an automatic skip when I'm looking for prospective dramas, since I think the extra layer of contrivance often sets up ridiculous plotting and a lot of fat a show could trim off. I didn't find this to be the case with Hotel del Luna, overall. I'm also not a fan of frequent flashbacks, which this has, but here it makes sense given the nature of the fantasy and the premise. The way they're interlaid into dreams makes sense and so the majority of the setup in the beginning and middle is pretty artful. More superficially, I think the costuming and set design was a definite aesthetic draw - it reminds me a lot of It's Okay to Not Be Okay in how it's used as a supplemental pleasure to the main drama. The music is also nice throughout. Overall, there's a lot of visual and auditory appeal in this.

(General spoiler) I really like IU, as most going into this probably do. She does a great job, as does the ML; they have strong on-screen chemistry and their characters' dynamic works well. I do wish their romance was more intimate, though; much of their relationship is threaded through teasing banter, on the one hand, and long-term promises and commitments on the other. As the conclusion was coming up, I felt like the reality of the romance (indicated by the former) faded for the sake of the fantasy-driven resolution (the latter). They flirt but their relationship is weirdly desexualized because IU's character is somehow a 1,300 prude when the chips are down and the ML shows even sarcastic interest. Usually, I think shows can verge too far towards fluffy/intimate, but here I felt like the weight of their choices actually called for the sex/marriage institutionalization more than so many lighthearted shows I've seen that pursue that direction. She kisses him like 3 episodes in - or so it seemed - but that's basically the extent of their romantic intimacy besides some nice chaste hugging. Instead, we get extremely heavy romantic statements of commitment at the expense of fluffiness. Though I typically don't find it necessary (or even desirable to include it), I think having sex and more moments of intimacy in this show could've better shaped the drama at the end and added more levity as well (I think of how that would've fit within the pseudo-gossip the hotel workers had between them). In short, I think the desire to be true to the show's fantasy premise overwhelmed the desire to have a satisfying romance (with all the attendant intimacy), which is ultimately why the ending didn't work for me at all.

(Spoiler) Halfway through, my rating probably would've been closer to an 8.5 or a 9, but the ending made me rethink the parts of the show that I enjoyed from the beginning and middle. My central question throughout the run was, "are they going to be able to stay together in the real world?" But as I got to the end, the creators clearly thought more in terms of "what's the right way for IU's character to atone and thus for us to wrap up the fantasy side of things?" As someone who watched primarily for the romance, the ending was very unfulfilling and frankly didn't make sense to me, especially the ML's actions and what he says to the FL about moving on. I think having reincarnation as a facet of this drama was a fundamental mistake, though one the creators relied a lot on for conflict in the middle and end. Rather, I think the drama of losing immortality and reintegrating into society while dealing with lingering grudges would've been more compelling narrative. I don't think fated relationships - something established in this show via reincarnation - have any real stakes or emotional fulfillment (because choice is circumscribed by destiny), so having the resolution based on some nebulous possibility of meeting again in a reincarnated future does nothing for me. Here, they overcome and change in substantial ways only to lose what's most meaningful to them. Ultimately, the fantasy side of this drama, which I didn't mind for most of the run, led to this kind of unfulfilling conclusion (and on a shameless cameo no less). Like the show's creators, in the end, the main characters are more concerned with an imagined future than with the material reality of living and cultivating romance out of tragic circumstances.

(Spoiler) Rather than romantic or cute, I found the ending to be a weird mix of cynicism and idealism emerging out of the religiously-inflected fantasy. IU's character never lived a real life, never got to be someone because her life was conditioned by the cruel machinations of fate and the stain of vengeance. Once she meets someone with whom she can live and be free, she has to say goodbye because a gaggle of mercurial Fate bitches basically say so. In such a case, it's not clear what the ML should do in his regular life afterward. He falls in love with a gorgeous millennium-old demigod who he makes eternal promises to, but after she moves on, he's supposed to just live basically a regular life? His whole existence at that point is conditioned by the knowledge that his deepest happiness is contingent upon dying and meeting someone he won't remember in a reality he can't fathom. That's not the leap of faith that makes a good romance, but a religious deferral and rejection of the joy of living. The structure of the show really made me think the ending was a punishment of the FL (and the ML by extension), rather than the struggle to move on from her grudge (as it's presented). So the problem, to me, wasn't that the ending is sad (which it is), but that the basis for the resolution - reincarnated future hope - is nonsense and unfulfilling.

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WOW I was SO pleasantly surprised by this quirky, emotional, heartfelt, and CUTE show!

After admiring the ultimate puppy-dog-of-the-Korean-Industry Yeo Jin Goo in Beyond Evil, I IMMEDIATELY started watching Hotel Del Luna because I was SO DAMN EXCITED to see him in a cute romantic show.

I just wanted to see him be cute and in love and act cutely with a girl and act like he was in love and smile and giggle and be sexy and hot and funny and HE WAS ALL THAT AND MUCH MORE IN THIS SHOW!
He was absolutely adorable and the PERFECT companion to the cute little firecracker that IU was throughout, they compliment each other SO perfectly, and one thing I kept noticing was the difference in their hand sizes! Yeo Jin Goo has giant hands, specially when compared to IU's tiny ones, and I absolutely ADORED every scene which showed them hugging/holding hands etc. etc.

The ghost stories of all the guests at their hotel kept me engaged and interested and emotional. The staff all had compelling back-stories, enough to fuel me to cheer for their happy ending as well.

And another special thing about this show is that I usually end up skipping elaborate backstories of any character, specially if it relates to the Joseon Era, but for this show I saw every second of their pasts, and not just IU's, but also the staff had an unique stories and were extremely interesting to watch!

The only two people I didn't care much for were the receptionist and his girlfriend, although the little sister of the receptionist was ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE.

The fantasy element in the show was beautiful and stunning, with an extremely memorable soundtrack to boot, beautiful songs and OST. Also all the cameos were such a pleasant surprise.

In short, this show was like a hidden treasure for me, and I extremely enjoyed every element of it.

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