What a viewRiver Where the Moon Rises: an epic Korean costume drama with romance to spare
- The visually spectacular series revisits the legendary exploits of Princess Pyeonggang
- Kim So-hyun plays the fearsome warrior princess with Ji Soo as her love interest, On Dal
All’s fair in love, war and Korean historical spectaculars. And while we’re still in the warm, fluffy embrace of Valentine’s Day, here comes the first instalment of the next big-budget, Goguryeo-inspired romantic drama for the ages.
Twenty-episode River Where the Moon Rises revisits the legendary exploits of Princess Pyeonggang and the unfortunately named On Dal the Idiot: “the woman who lived for Goguryeo”, according to her public relations department, together with the man who was, what, a fool for love? We’ll find out.
Meanwhile, the legend has it that her royal highness was raised as a soldier and on a parallel career path, On Dal eventually became a general. As with all the best historical-folkloric offerings, however, the hiding of one’s identity from the enemy was sometimes required if grisly death and other inconveniences were to be avoided. So expect to see the princess (Kim So-hyun) and her beau (Ji Soo) dressing down to embrace their fake peasant roots before they can right some wrongs and claim their respective honorifics.
And what vicious wrongs! Steel flashes, armour clangs, the general wields a mighty sword for his woman – stop sniggering at the back – and we know that, ultimately, love will conquer all. Even if, as written 900 years ago, Pyeonggang’s empress mother and her commander-in-chief are obliged to exit the action early when assassins strike.
From then on, the warrior princess finds the going tough in a world riven by conspiracy theories and one in which the most devious mischief-makers are calling every shot. With a supporting cast featuring baddies as unblemished as Choi Yu-hwa and Lee Ji-hoon it’s difficult to know who to trust.
Although all this might eventually come to resemble Hallmark history – swooning embraces, doe eyes in faces far too fresh to have been out in the sun – here we have love and war airbrushed to within a topknot of their credibility. And in a costume drama as sweeping as this, there’s nothing wrong with that.
Stream River Where the Moon Rises from February 15 on the ViuTV app.