'River Where the Moon Rises' successfully wraps up with a 8.3% rating

▲ These series of photos provided by KBS show scenes from "River Where the Moon Rises." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, April 21 (Yonhap) -- Despite the big controversy over the replacement of the male lead actor, the well built story line, professional acting skills, and honest efforts made from the production teams ended the drama "River Where the Moon Rises" perfectly.

According to Nielsen Korea, a ratings research company, the last episode of KBS 2TV's "River Where the Moon Rises," which aired at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, recorded 6.8-8.3% (hereinafter refers to non-terrestrial paid households). As a result, the drama remained as No.1 out of all the dramas that aired on Monday and Tuesdays in Korea.

In the final episode, Princess Pyeonggang, played by actress Kim So-hyun and Ondal, played by actor Na In-woo, ultimately had a happy ending, which was a positive twist from the original tragedy ending recorded in history.

"River Where the Moon Rises" depicts the story of Princess Pyeonggang, who dreamed of re-establishing the status of Goguryeo and Ondal, a pure loving man who goes against his principles to protect the princess.

The drama drew interest by choosing the story of 'Princess Pyeonggang and the Fool Ondal,' a classic Korean folktale that is well known to the public but was relatively not portrayed in the Korean historical drama market. Based on Choi Sa-gyu's novel, "Princess Pyeonggang," the drama intertwines real historical figures and events while preserving the fictional aspects, and also skillfully places the beauty of traditional historical drama within the story.

Although the drama centered around the male and female protagonists' love story, viewers from different generations could watch it as there were also stories about intense fighting during war between Yeong-yang (26th monarch of Goguryeo) and Jin-heung (24th monarch of Silla).

The chemistry between actress Kim So-hyun and actor Na In-woo was also praised as the two actors carried out the essence of the characters accurately.

Actor Ji-soo, who originally played Ondal, dropped out from his role earlier on due to his controversy over school bullying, however actor Na In-woo, who was substituted to play Ondal, skillfully digested the character in his own style that it was as if he was the main character from the beginning. The actor's romance scenes with Kim So-hyun, who he met for the first time also became natural as time went on.

Actress Kim So-hyun also depicted the newly interpreted Princess Pyeonggang in a steady way. Kim So-hyun showed outstanding performance by acting in warm romance scenes to being charismatic.

Through the hard work of writers, producers, and actors, the drama "River Where the Moon Rises" successfully completed its voyage and left a warm story, including a full re-shoot of Na In-woo as Ondal from the first episode, making an entry to the International Emmy Awards.

However, the internal issues with actor Ji-soo's controversy are expected to continue for a while. Victory Contents, the production company of the drama, has filed a lawsuit against Ji-soo's agency, Keyeast Entertainment. The conflict between the two sides is unlikely to be resolved in a short period of time.

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