Moon Embracing the Sun, 2012's highest rated drama in Korea. While I don't find the plot the best, the fantastic chemistry and acting in the first few episodes, actually makes one curious to discover what happens to each of the characters as the story goes on.
The costumes are very well detailed. I really love all the costume designs. My favorite however was the costumes for the child cast particularly young Heo Yeon Woo and young Yoon Bo Kyung's costumes.
The acting of the child cast is fantastic. Best actors are Yeo Jin Goo, Kim Yoo Jung, and Kim So Hyun. Though I don't really ship them or their characters, Yeo Jin Goo and Kim Yoo Jung look beautiful together so I understand why people want their characters together. Not to mention the way they were able to act out the emotions of their characters are fantastic. Kim So Hyun, is also excellent in showing the complicated feelings of an insecure girl with a selfish love suddenly turning to the other side. I also really like the acting of these young actors: Lee Tae RI, Jin Ji hee, Seo Ji Hee and Jo Min-Ah. Lee Tae Ri, in particular is the better of the two Yangmyungs for me, he was excellent in showing a smile in his face while being sad as he hopelessly shows love to Yeon Woo. The only thing that is lacking in his performances for me is showing some tears when his character is supposed to be literally crying. And of course, the senior actors like Kim Young Ae, Jung Eun Pyo, Ahn Nae Sang, Jeon Mi Seon, Yang Mi Kyung Kim Eung, Soo, and Sun Woo Jae Duk, can always be trusted for giving a good performance. As for the adult actors (those that grew up from child characters), Kim Min Seo is the best for me since she was able to express well the complications of her character Bokyung. While the rest of the actors are quite good and even some are excellent in showing tears while crying, their performances just didnt really touch me. I commend them for trying their best though.
One actress I really dislike though is the adult female lead Han Ga In. I just couldn't stand her performance, the way she delivers her speech is so bad. Her acting skills are so bad, can't help but compare it to Kim Yoo Jung, who was so excellent in the role. I'm not someone who would criticize looks, but to be frank the mole in her nose also distracted me. To be honest, I couldn't understand why she was cast. She's popular, but she's not the most popular actress of her age (if they want to get an actress her age) nor was she someone who had experience acting in sageuk. With all my criticisms of her however, she did quite impress me in one crying scene (when Yeon Woo remembered who she was), so I will give it to her, but for me it is not enough for her to deserve this role.
The music in this drama is really good. The love theme: Back in Time by Lyn perfectly fits the sad love of the characters in this drama. The instrumentals are great too.
Overall this is not the best drama, but it has a lot of elements that will make many people love. If you want a sageuk focusing mainly on romance, then here's your drama.