"The moon is beautiful tonight."

Moonlight is a rom-com dealing with author-editor relationships, publishing companies and maybe a bit of every c-drama element.

TIP- For some who are hesitant to watch this- I'd ask you to fast forward (not omit) the first three episodes if you're curious, but not willing to risk wasting your time on what seems like a potentially horrible drama.

first thoughts- After watching tedious dramas, and due to the stifling atmosphere created by the pandemic, Moonlight, in its first six episodes of release served as a gift of joy as I unraveled through the lives of the characters. As a regular, consistent drama watcher, I'd only hoped for a decent storyline, fair characters and a plot that doesn't involve unnecessary actions.
Moonlight ticked them all. Introduced to characters that at first glance, fit into the stereotype moulds of an average c-drama, I'd expected many things. To my pleasant surprise, Moonlight took many forms, but it definitely waddled away from stereotypical scenarios and thats what kept me going.

while watching- i didn't binge watch this, so my experience wasn't ruined by constant cringing. The slow-mos were potentially cringe-die worthy and I'd wished they didn't overdo certain moments. But true to its comedic nature, the series had its fair share of chuckle worthy shots and cute scenes. Esther Yu wasn't annoying and childish, Ryan Ding wasn't a tsundere, The second leads weren't completely fools.

Despite appearing to fit into a certain type, I liked how each varied in their own ways. Esther has her pouty moments, but she also shows immense faith and perseverance. Ryan Ding isn't a rude, stand offish guy- he's clueless about human emotions but is willing to learn.

Albeit, the acting as a whole felt a jiffy stiff, especially the romance between the second leads felt WAY tumultuous and seemed irrelevant as to why they were separated in the first place. The last couple of episodes did feel weird and forced.

After watching- it was definitely rushed. I would've expected at least one more episode, or two almost to show a little more progress. But at least we got a nice little gift wrapped with a pretty ribbon and after watching many hyper-realistic dramas, it was nice to see a cute ending.

The leads had their 'main lead halos' but they also had their vulnerable moments. What I liked most about the show is that each of them have their own personality. No character was 'canon fodder' for another and had their own talents. There's a lot of which is unrealistic, but it isn't impossible. There was this perfect balance between both positive moments and negative moments. The pace, in my opinion, in the mid parts were PERFECT. It was natural progress and I loved IT.

Its direct, cutely cringey with some surprising elements and a good story overall. There's a lot of stuff that the series broached about, quietly and shortly.

And that's why I loved it. Watching Rom-coms, in its nature itself is sort of illusion. So I'd rather have a drama like this rather than other unrealistic, head aching ones.

Endline- I'd recommend everyone to watch Moonlight. Watch it when you've finished a sad series, or if you don't wish to connect much to characters too much or if you wish to numb yourself and not want complicated storylines. It's light, carefree, minimum effort to understand series. Perfect light hearted rom-com with a strong female lead and a fun male lead.

Have fun watching!