Descendants of the Sun, the Korean Drama produced by KBS2, shook up the K drama world like an untimely earthquake. The story is simple enough: the love story of a hard working medical doctor beauty and the adorable army captain who falls hopelessly in love with her. The show boasts a bevy of ‘Kollywood’ stars all aligning for what turned out to be a stellar hit across Korea and Asia.
Don’t believe me? Well, from its ratings debut in seventh place the show steadily rose to claim the top or second spot numerous times. Its been so immensely popular that it’s a bonafide Korean export to thirty-two countries. Need more proof? In China the streams have been measured in the billions. In fact, its been so popular that the Ministry of Public Security posted a warning to viewers “watching Korean dramas could be dangerous, and even lead to lead to legal troubles.” When your drama comes with an official government warning you must be doing something right.
So what’s the fuss all about? Yoo Si Jin (Song Joong Ki) and his buddy Seo Dae Young (Jin Goo) work for the special forces unit. The two army officals end up stopping a thief who gets injured in the process. That brings them all into the care of medical beauty Kang Mo Yeon (Song Hye Kyo), a doctor. Along with the other characters we also get another doctor, this time in the army, Yoon Myeong Ju (Kim Ji Won) whose a rival and frenemy of Kang Mo Yeon. This initial meeting sets the stage for when all the characters meet again during a war in the fictional town of Uruk.
The show takes its time delving into the drama, but after several episodes the core romance settles into place with both Yoo Si Jin and Kang Mo Yeon heartstrings strumming to the beat. The conflict comes in the oftentimes black and white perspective of a soldier’s duty to kill versus a doctor’s duty to save. Simple, but I guess effective. The dialogue can be a bit on the nose, but combined with the exotic setting, high stakes, and sweeping narrative of destined lovers being kept apart you can tell how Shakespearean it all starts to look.
Oh, one other thing has the masses clamoring for Descendants of the Sun: the cadre of sexy shirtless soldiers. That’s right, smooth chiseled Korean guys workout under the glistening sun with a sweat shimmering off their taut bodies. No wonder the Chinese government is all up in arms over such hotness luring their women and some men away. So even if the acting chops of Yoo Si Jin and Kang Mo Yeon don’t do it for you then these hunks probably will.
So, now’s the time to go find all the episodes and catch up on whatever one else in the Korean Drama world already knows.
