Modern day firefighter Kang Young-hwa (Pyo Ye-jin) is being haunted by a poltergeist – and has been for the past thousand years, through her many lifetimes and reincarnations. Unbeknownst to her, said spectre is the vengeful spirit of her former lover, Do-ha (Kim Young-dae), whom she seduced and later killed as revenge for the destruction of her family and homeland.
For centuries, Do-ha has been shadowing her in the hopes of avenging himself. He finally gets the chance to do so in the present by possessing the body of the vain, insufferable A-list celebrity Han Jun-oh, who unexpectedly died after an accident. However, killing Young-hwa isn’t as easy for Do-ha as he has imagined as she seems to be protected by a strange force. The more time it takes to claim her life, the deeper Do-ha’s emotional turmoil – after all, she is the woman he’d given his heart to.
For Do-ha, time has stood still since the moment he died, but Kang Young-hwa is clearly not the same woman who once betrayed and killed him. Would it, then, be fair for her to die for a deed she committed centuries ago? This becomes all the more complex as we soon learn that Do-ha has always been aware of his lover’s true identity (as the daughter of a general he had killed) and murderous intent – can he really hold it against her to have fulfilled the goals she’d made clear in the first place?
Unfortunately, these questions are lost in the banal treatment and writing of the show – at least in the first four episodes. Things keep going in circles, with lies and traps that someone as capable as Young-hwa should definitely not be falling for. The last thing we’d want to see is the begrudging knight in shining armour trope for the male lead, especially when the female lead is impressively self-sufficient.
In what seems to be a very conscious casting choice, Pyo Ye-jin’s slender build lulls one into a false sense of security, which she shatters quickly and expertly with displays of strength and mental fortitude. Kim Young-dae also makes quick work of his dual role. His Jun-oh is insufferable, brimming with juvenescent arrogance and unhealthy reliance on his social status, but his Do-ha provides a welcome calm and respite while also expertly concealing an internal moral conflict.
While condensing a 200-chapter webtoon into a 16-episode K-drama is no small feat, we wish the writing team would weigh plot points more soundly to keep plot progression tighter. At its core, Moon in the Day is still a twisted love story written in blood and vengeance, but the shift to a different medium has left this K-drama on shaky ground. Audiences might hang on to the end for the cast or out of love for the original story, but we’ve unfortunately seen better adaptations before.
Moon in the Day airs on ENA every Wednesday and Thursday. The series is also available to stream on Viu in select regions.