Bromance in Descendants of the Sun
The sensation creating drama “Descendants of the Sun” ended the year 2016 with a big bang, receiving numerous awards and accolades from KBS Drama Awards, the Baeksang Drama Awards, the Asia-Pacific Star Awards, and ending with the Asian Televison Awards in Singapore. The fame of the drama was actually helped by the official warning from China’s Public Security which warned against dangerous and harmful “Song Jung Ki Syndrome”.
The Story
“Descendants of the Sun” is a mix of action and romance which somehow managed to include both military actions and hospital emergency situations without being overfocused on such and losing the romantic touch.. The story revolves around Song Jung Ki, starring as Captain Yoo; Song Hae Kyo, starring as Doctor Kang; and the strong supporting characters of Jin Koo, a master sergeant in the special forces, and Kim Ji Won, an officer in the medic corps.
In the first episode, Song Jung Ki and Song Hae Kyo have their first destined meeting where Song Hae Kyo mistakes Song Jung Ki for a gangster, and Kim Ji Won refuses to vouch for the two soldiers. The quick-wiited dialogue between Song Jung Ki & Song Hae Kyom, where each expresses interest in the other but phrase it in a snarky way, set the tone for their relationship over the rest of the episodes.
The adventures of the main characters take them from South Korea to Uruk – a fictional country in the Balkans, the Middle East, and even a side trip into North Korea. The viewer is kept constantly engaged by military actions, natural disasters, emergency situations, gun-running, drug-running, and even “blood diamonds”. And, all the while, the main characters and even the supporting characters maintain their humanity and love, preserving the romance and mood of the drama.
The ending is a the newly-developed “Kim Eun Sook style” ending : meaning that while the story tantalizes with hints of a happy ending, the main characters constantly face perilous situations, and the viewer is kept in suspense until the last moment.
The Story
“Descendants of the Sun” is a mix of action and romance which somehow managed to include both military actions and hospital emergency situations without being overfocused on such and losing the romantic touch.. The story revolves around Song Jung Ki, starring as Captain Yoo; Song Hae Kyo, starring as Doctor Kang; and the strong supporting characters of Jin Koo, a master sergeant in the special forces, and Kim Ji Won, an officer in the medic corps.
In the first episode, Song Jung Ki and Song Hae Kyo have their first destined meeting where Song Hae Kyo mistakes Song Jung Ki for a gangster, and Kim Ji Won refuses to vouch for the two soldiers. The quick-wiited dialogue between Song Jung Ki & Song Hae Kyom, where each expresses interest in the other but phrase it in a snarky way, set the tone for their relationship over the rest of the episodes.
The adventures of the main characters take them from South Korea to Uruk – a fictional country in the Balkans, the Middle East, and even a side trip into North Korea. The viewer is kept constantly engaged by military actions, natural disasters, emergency situations, gun-running, drug-running, and even “blood diamonds”. And, all the while, the main characters and even the supporting characters maintain their humanity and love, preserving the romance and mood of the drama.
The ending is a the newly-developed “Kim Eun Sook style” ending : meaning that while the story tantalizes with hints of a happy ending, the main characters constantly face perilous situations, and the viewer is kept in suspense until the last moment.
Bromance in Descendants of the Sun
Previously, bromance was a difficult subject to express, and was mostly limited to buddy situations in military or police settings. The new paradigm of bromance exemplified by “Descendants of the Sun” is the first attempt in suggesting for a bonding that is based on similarity of personality, and does not require violence. Due to this being the first step, the new paradigm of bromance starts from a common military background to provide a minimal degree of communality.
The “Kim Eun Sook” style of bromance was achieved by including engaging opposite-sex partners who perfectly offsets the male’s personality, and at the same time providing examples of normal brotherly love, colleagial love, and humanity and compassion. Thus the viewer is fully able to distinguish between the various kinds of love and fully savour each different type of love without any confusion.
The bromance between the Captain Yoo and Master Sergeant Seo, between Master Sergeatn Seo and Private Kim, and even between Captain Yoo and Argus is fully understandable as a bromance that defies explanation. A sad fact is that since these were the first baby steps, all the distracting relationships are subtly killed off leaving only one strong bromance relationship.
Previously, bromance was a difficult subject to express, and was mostly limited to buddy situations in military or police settings. The new paradigm of bromance exemplified by “Descendants of the Sun” is the first attempt in suggesting for a bonding that is based on similarity of personality, and does not require violence. Due to this being the first step, the new paradigm of bromance starts from a common military background to provide a minimal degree of communality.
The “Kim Eun Sook” style of bromance was achieved by including engaging opposite-sex partners who perfectly offsets the male’s personality, and at the same time providing examples of normal brotherly love, colleagial love, and humanity and compassion. Thus the viewer is fully able to distinguish between the various kinds of love and fully savour each different type of love without any confusion.
The bromance between the Captain Yoo and Master Sergeant Seo, between Master Sergeatn Seo and Private Kim, and even between Captain Yoo and Argus is fully understandable as a bromance that defies explanation. A sad fact is that since these were the first baby steps, all the distracting relationships are subtly killed off leaving only one strong bromance relationship.
Other facts
Song Hae-kyo finally got her wish to have a younger partner. All the actress of that age group were quite jealous when Kim Hee-son was partnered with Lee Min-ho in the drama “Great Doctor” (At the time, Kim Hee-son was 35, and Lee Min-ho was 25). Song Hae-kyo is now of the same age while Song Jung-ki had just finished his NS in 2015.
While there was critisim of too much product advertising in the drama, all countries and all companies who cooperated on locations have experienced surges in tourists and sightseekers who just had to re-live the moment.
Writer : Eugene
Song Hae-kyo finally got her wish to have a younger partner. All the actress of that age group were quite jealous when Kim Hee-son was partnered with Lee Min-ho in the drama “Great Doctor” (At the time, Kim Hee-son was 35, and Lee Min-ho was 25). Song Hae-kyo is now of the same age while Song Jung-ki had just finished his NS in 2015.
While there was critisim of too much product advertising in the drama, all countries and all companies who cooperated on locations have experienced surges in tourists and sightseekers who just had to re-live the moment.
Writer : Eugene
