American Perspectives: "Til The End of The Moon" Ep 1-9 Response

The Devil Lord, played by the lovely Luo Yunxi

I like to alternate my 사극 viewing with Xianxia and Wuxia.  Sometimes all the formats for all the genres get really formulaic, so it keeps me from getting bored.  Lately, though, I haven't been too happy with the last few 사극/fusion 사극 that I've watched.  동이, I liked the female antagonist better than the female lead (and felt the show really shoud have been about the antagonist.  다모, as much as I love 하지원, I just couldn't get myself to care.  I recently tried 조선 Attorney, and I didn't make it past the middle of Episode 4.  When the female lead started lecturing about misogyny in the 조선 Dynasty in Episode 3, I did a massive eyeroll, and decided I was pretty much done.  Show, don't tell.  Most viewers don't enjoy being lectured.  And trust me, there are plenty of Americans on social media so self righteously going on and on at length about Korean Misogyny, and making huge blanket statements.  No thanks.

Those eyes are so sexy!

So, I decided to give "Til The End of The Moon" a try.  So far, I'm not disappointed.  I haven't had to look at my phone once during any scenes, which is always a great sign.  I really enjoy a lot of the fantasy elements, and I wish there were more Historical Fantasy K-Dramas.  I feel the 삼국유사 would be an amazing resource for that!  But back to "Til the End of The Moon." First of all, we have two really good looking male actors: Luo Yunxi and Deng Wei.  Hello handsomes!  Wow, do they ever already have my attention.  And the myriad of hot male leads in both K and C-Dramas is why I no longer watch American television!

Deng Wei

Luo Yunxi and Bai Lu

And then, the story itself is very interesting.  At first, I thought it would be another "Love Between Fairy and Devil," which was why I was reluctant to watch.  (I love LBFAD, it's my favorite Xianxia, but I didn't want a carbon copy).  It is nothing like LBFAD!  In some ways, it reminds me of "Scarlet Heart: 려." We have a severely scapegoated male lead who absolutely cannot be oversimplified.  We have a past life regression in which only one character is aware of which lifetime they are in, while the other isn't. And like 해수, the female lead, Ye Xiwu is highly resistant to falling in love, as she knows how it will end.

Initially, it's really difficult to figure out Tantai Jin/The Devil Lord (Luo Yunxi).  Because he's so heavily bullied and scapegoated, I'm on his side.  Just as I was with 왕소.  Like 왕소, his retaliation is as evil as the bullying and scapegoating he is subjected to.  At first, I recoiled.  However, I also realized that it isn't fair to expect him to be virtuous when everybody he knows, and the people he sometimes trusts, betray him.

Ye Xiwu is in denial, but as of Episode 9, we have reached a turning point where she is beginning to fall in love with Tantai Jin.