If you are a kdrama addict, you would know what kdrama the title is all about or maybe, it’s a familiar phrase you heard to someone. The title itself basically summarizes the entire concept of a hit South Korean Drama of 2018 – Mr. Sunshine.

I am writing this article after finishing the series, the feeling of pain, and how I cried a bucket of tears – emotions rushes throughout my body. I’ll tell you that Mr. Sunshine is the most heart wrenching and satisfying ending for me out of all kdramas I’ve watched. This is a kdrama that you shouldn’t miss.

This is not the first time I cried watching kdramas but this is the first time I felt that it needs to be broadcasted (posted here) – kdramas may be fictional, but you can’t deny the fact that it influences you mentally. How you view things may differ from one another but it teaches you to understand them in any way you can.

So before it goes south in what I am supposed to talk about (lol), let me introduce to you the main casts, what I love about them, their characters and how it makes me realize many things. I’ll try my best not to make a slight mistake. ( NO SPOILER)

• Eugene Choi‘s character in the story is a commendable, serious, and courageous man. He is the epitome of a great and noble man who was born in Joseon, left in Joseon with a broken heart, then returned to his homeland to fight for what is supposedly for Joseon. He is a man with a heart, action, and dedication to save his homeland that was once abandoned. This man made me realize that at the end of the day, we go through different routes but one thing remains, the affection we feel towards someone or something. It’s just there, always there, it may not be so blooming, and bright right now, but it will, someday.

• Go Ae Shin‘s character is so impactful that it made me think about the situation of women during the war of every nation. To wield a sword is a hard task, and a woman. However, she debunks that culture in the story. Who would’ve thought that a noble woman can kill an enemy, and can change the future of Joseon? She protects the people of Joseon, especially those people who can’t voice their opinions, as she thought that no one in her homeland can protect them against Japanese and Americans but only their fellow citizens. Her character and her story is a reminder for us that women can also lead, women can also be the future of something a country should be proud of, women can also do what men can do. Women can be dangerous too, always remember that.

• Gu Dong Mae is a powerful, skillful, and fearless one. He doesn’t want anyone to go on his way. He doesn’t hesitate to kill – either a Joseon man, or a Japanese man, a soldier or a highborn man as long as they did something wrong. I didn’t know that I would fall in love with Gu Dong Mae’s charisma. A coldhearted beast yet a protective man to people he loves. He doesn’t usually show his emotions, but once you’ll see it, it will strike you directly to your heart – happiness, distress, and sufferings. He realized that no matter how evil a person is, there was once a ‘good’ heart there. It is just buried deep through time, and it also takes time to burst it out in the chest.

• Hina Kudo‘s character is an independent woman and a remarkable one. She suffered a lot but she stood without the help of anyone and that’s what makes her great. She was born in Japan, but both of her parents are Joseon people. She used her amazing skills in calculating, deducting clues, and even one of the people who are the most trusted by the king. At first sight, she seems coldhearted but never judges her just because of that – in the back of that name, fancy clothes and accessories, there’s ‘her’ that can be a huge help for a great cause. She made me realize that don’t allow everyone to spit you in the ground, stand, know your track, and get back on them if the opportunity allows you.

• Kim Hui Seong‘s character development in the story is a really good one. From a man who always has flowers in his hand, to a pen, turned into a gun. From a noble family and yet he chose to live independently far from his parents. He suffers from what happened in the past and yet he also shows his killer smile to everyone. He’s a happy-go-lucky man but he knows where and when to be serious. What I realized from his character is that you may have everything physically but there’s always that emptiness mentally. Do what makes you happy and influence others to be filled with happiness also.

Mr. Sunshine has a lot of characters from American Legation, Japanese Legation, the people of Joseon, the Righteous Armies, and their families. Each one of the characters aren’t there just to give exposure to the main characters, they are designed to achieve a greater cause in the future of Joseon.

Each character has a story to tell and it makes Mr. Sunshine exquisite and a classic kdrama you should not miss.

Gun, Glory, and Sad Ending is not just a word, not just a phrase, not just about a kdrama. This whole thing is all about the freedom they want to achieve in their homeland. These three are the weapon, the fulfillment, and mostly the ending of every nation that were colonized. (Joseon in Mr. Sunshine)

Guns as weapons to fight for what is yours. A great fight for the future. A weapon that could be the death of your enemy or your death.

Glory as a sense of fulfillment. The fact that you are fighting for your country’s liberation means you are a hero. Fulfillment is not about indulging yourself for something, alone. It’s all about the great camaraderie you have with people.

Sad Ending as an ending we ought to be in that kind of story. In a war, there’s always the one who wins, and the one who loses. The sad part is hundredths or thousandths of lives are at stake every time. Either you will die fighting for your own people or you will die in the hands of your enemy without even using the GUN as a weapon and the sense of GLORY you’d bring in the future for your country.