Love in the Moonlight


Love in the Moonlight is a South Korean television series starring Park Bo-gum, Kim You-jung, Jung Jin-young, Chae Soo-bin, and Kwak Dong-yeon. It is a coming-of-age story and youth romance set during 19th-century Joseon Dynasty based on the web novel Moonlight Drawn By Clouds which was first serialized on Naver in 2013 and consequently published as a five-part series of books in 2015. It aired on KBS2 at 22:00 every Monday and Tuesday for 18 episodes from August 22, 2016, until October 18, 2016.
A commercial and critical success, Love in the Moonlight achieved a peak audience rating of 23.3% in South Korea and was praised for its production, performances and music. It won Best Drama Series at the 22nd Asian Television Awards, and received six nominations at the 53rd Baeksang Arts Awards where it won popularity Awards for leads Park and Kim. The press referred to its influence as "Moonlight Syndrome" as it topped topicality, content and brand reputation charts during and beyond its run.
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Synopsis

The series is a coming-of-age story about Crown Prince Lee Yeong's growth from a boy into a revered monarch, and his unlikely relationship with eunuch Hong Ra-on.

Cast

Main

Supporting

;Royals
;Eunuchs and maids
;Kim clan
;Hong clan
;Jo clan and advisors

Special appearances

Production

Development and casting

In December 2015, KBS Media announced that they will be adapting and producing the popular novel Moonlight Drawn by Clouds written by Yoon Yi-soo. Park Bo-gum joined the project in February 2016 and Kim You-jung boarded in April. The first script reading was held in Yeoido, Seoul on May 26, 2016, and filming began in early June. Love in the Moonlight is the second collaboration between director Kim Seong-yoon and writers Kim Min-jung and Im Ye-jin after working on Who Are You: School 2015 and director Baek Sang-hoon, cinematographer Kim Si-hyeong and music director Gaemi after working on Descendants of the Sun.

Marketing

The drama's first teaser, with lead actor Park dressed in dragon robe dancing to Jessy Matador's French pop song "Bomba" in front of Gwanghwamun, was released in July 2016 and became a viral hit.
In a press conference held on August 18, 2016, director Kim Seong-yoon indicated that despite the series being set in the 19th century, the production aimed to show a more contemporary message adding: "Our focus was on creating a romance that's pretty and charming but also sad. We'd like viewers to be able to identify with the emotions displayed. There's no grand metaphor. Rather than unveiling a political message, we focused on telling a story that's easy to identify with."

Release

Love in the Moonlight aired on KBS2 at 22:00 every Monday and Tuesday for 18 episodes from August 22, 2016, until October 18, 2016. The series aired worldwide, with English subtitles, starting August 23, 2016, every Tuesday and Wednesday at 21:50 on KBS World. It also streams internationally on Netflix.
In partnership with Viki, which also streams the series internationally, the series screened at the University of California, Berkeley in October 2016 as a joint project of the campus' Korea-centric organizations, KUNA and K-Popular.

Media

Original soundtrack

In August 2016, OU Entertainment's Gaemi, real name Kang Dong-yoon, joined the project as music director. Jinyoung, who plays Yoon-sung, composed and produced "Misty Road" sung by Ben. "My Person", which lead actor Park finished recording in October 2016 was co-written by composer Kim Se-jin. It topped Melon, Mnet, Bugs, olleh, Soribada, Genie, Naver and Monkey3 charts upon its release.
The two-disc soundtrack album was released on October 27, 2016, and consists of 13 tracks including a humming version of "Because I Miss You", 13 instrumentals and three special background music created by folk-fusion band Second Moon. The drama marked the comeback of acclaimed balladeers Sung Si-kyung and Baek Ji-young after two years.

Chart performance

TitleAlbum detailsPeak chart positionsSales
TitleAlbum detailsKOR
Sales
Love in the Moonlight
Original Soundtrack
Bugs
Universal Music Group
5
  • KOR: 18,467+

    • Reception

    Critical response

    The series was met with praise by critics and audiences for its production, performances and music. Rolling Stone India described the series as "a a timeless classic K-drama that looks into the intersection of culture and society" and a love story that "is an odyssey of significance cutting beyond class, stigma, and prejudices", concluding that it is "one of the best historical K-dramas." The publication added that Kim You-jung has "exquisite expressiveness" while "Park Bo-gum is remarkably adept at expressing the subtleties" of his character's emotions.

    Impact

    Love in the Moonlight dominated topicality, content and brand reputation charts in and beyond its run which led the media to call its popularity "Moonlight Syndrome". The big data analytics firm Good Data Corporation reported that Park ranked first in overall topicality making him the "Most Buzzworthy Performer" for nine consecutive weeks. Media outlets subsequently referred to Park as "Nation's Crown Prince" and "Prince of Asia".
    Sales of the novel experienced a 56% increase upon the drama's airing, earning in in profits through a pay-per-read deal. The overseas demand consequently led to its translation in Mandarin and plans on Japanese and Thai translations, among others.
    Costume designer Lee Jin-hee was also commended for her work on the production's Joseon-era clothes. Lead actor Park's hanbok were put on exhibit at Tokyo International Forum during his Japan fan meeting the following year. Both KakaoTalk and LINE released Moonlight digital stickers and three of Raon's outfits were made available for purchase in mobile game "I Love Nicky". The eternal bracelets of Yeong and Raon went on sale as official merchandise and the drama's 336-page official photo essay book became a best-seller.
    Moonlight has also been parodied in shows like Saturday Night Live Korea and The Return of Superman, among others. In September 2016, KBS Media acquired the rights to adapt Moonlight into a musical production.
    On October 19, 2016, Park, Kim, Jinyoung and Kwak held a fan-signing event, wearing their drama costumes, at the historic Gyeongbokgung Palace where scenes of the drama were filmed. More than 5,000 fans gathered to see the cast and the event was also live-streamed on Facebook. A gesture of gratitude for the drama's success, it was a collaborative effort between KBS and the Korea Creative Content Agency.

    Viewership

    Love in the Moonlight doubled its premiere ratings on its third episode and remained the undisputed #1 against 3 public broadcasting dramas in the same timeslot. In addition, it became KBS's highest-rated Monday/Tuesday drama since 2010.
    Due to high audience ratings, KBS negotiated for the production to extend its original 18 episodes to 20. Chief producer Kang Byung-taek declined saying that the framework of the story had already been laid out and it would only yield complications with the cast and crew's respective schedules.
    In this table, represent the lowest ratings and represent the highest ratings.
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