Moonlight Resonance, one of the best TVB drama i've ever watched, no kidding! and the highest rating TVB drama to date. It has basically no connection with Heart of Greed (溏心风暴) because it compiles of different characters, but it uses back all the same casts, with some new additions of actors. MR has a more cheerful and comedy tone than HOG (both parents passed away, and it was meaner and sometimes illogical) while in MR (to complement with the Mooncake Festival), it has a much much happier ending. and the good prevailed in the end, while those evil and mean characters all turned over a new leaf.
With the similar casts from HOG and a few additional casts, the actings would definitely deserve thumbs-up, absolutely fantastic, coming from several veterans and of course, the new generation of actors. The plot is quite different from HOG, the father didn't have 2 wives, he divorced, and he married again, but later on realised his 1st wife was still the best. they have 6 children, 3 each after the divorce. and there was a vast difference between the 2 families, one (the Gam family) became rich, another (the Chung household) was not so well-to-do but was living in happiness. and this time it has no concern about abalones but mooncakes, and traditional Hong Kong biscuits.
Besides that, MR has more dramatic, emotional, and touching scenes and moments than HOG, that would almost make you cry. Unlike Taiwan dramas, Hong Kong dramas are more to reality, and you can find it in MR. Personally, i prefer MR over HOG, but there are some parts i still liked better in HOG, like the relationship between Tak Tak Tei (得得地 by Moses Chan) and Sheung Joy Sum (常在心 by Linda Chung) and Alfred (程亮 by Raymond Lam). Both pairings were so cute together!! ~~~
and of course there were scenes fighting over the family fortune in the end, as the father decided to divorce his present wife and reunite with his 1st wife. love triangle relationships, Moses Chan-Tavia Yeung-Kate Tsui and Raymond Lam-Linda Chung-Bosco Wong. They focused alot more on Ray-Linda-Bosco rather than how the love relationship between Moses and Tavia blossomed which was quite a pooper. i wanted to see more of Moses and Tavia together, nice chemistry!! but well, since Ray and Linda couldn't get together in HOG, so, i think they decided to add more in MR, and of course! they ended up together. love them. they're like the golden couple on-screen, so matching!! *wakakakaka*
the ending is even more memorable than HOG (where the last scene it showed Moses and Linda getting together, and running in the colourful rain), so i liked the MR ending scene better. and it had peaked 50, the scenes involving Yan Hong and her daughter Yu Sou Chao. also, it gave a full explanation of how everybody turned out to be after 4 years. lol.
Let's get down to the characters.
(李司琪) Louise Lee as Hor ma (钟笑荷)Her character is still as wise, full with wisdom, kind, caring and strict, serious as it was in HOG. it's pretty much the same actually. She portrayed the role perfectly as the best mother her children could ever have. she is understanding and protective over her family, and tries her best to keep her children united whenever their stepmother gives them trouble. Louise Lee has no problem in playing the role of a kind mother as i've seen her in this role for many times already, but it stills touches my heart deeply, she is what that keeps the family together. has a saying by her children, " 荷妈在大厅，吾使怕 (hor ma hai dai teng, mm sai keng) ", when there's Hor ma, there's no need to be afraid.
(米雪) Michelle Yim as Yan Hong (殷红)the evil stepmother. the woman who destoyed the Gam family's happiness. the main troublemaker. always trying to make trouble for the Chung family whenever her husband gets too close to them. she was so full of vengeance towards the end, that she won the court case and got 70% of the share of the shop, and even pushed their grandma off the stairs, resulting in her death. in the end, she went to jail for 3 years and turned over a new leaf. Michelle Yim did an excellent job here portraying the evil one. so evil i feel like slapping her. lol. in the final episode, she was really good when she was betrayed by her daughter, Yu Sou Chao (with good intentions), she was trying to hold back her emotions, not crying, still trying to be tough, but she was just sadden why her daughter would do that. awesome.
(夏雨) Ha Yu as Jou bao (甘泰祖)at first, he is indecisive, and gets influenced easily by other peoples' words. he is full of regret by what he has done in the past 12 years, the divorce and everything after knowing how Yan Hong had treated his 3 children who had followed him after the divorce. therefore, he tries his best to repay his heartless deeds, and remains a very close relationship with his 6 children, always having dinner, and fooling around with them. a likable character, and he changed his ways to protect his children, and got back together with Hor ma in the end, just like how their children wanted. Ha Yu's perfomance is just as good as well, it is well-known he has good acting skills. the way he feels all sorry for his children, Hor ma, how he feels so happy with his children and all of a sudden he turns sorrow for what he did to them. neat.
(李香琴) Li Heung Kam as Ma Ma (grandma - 佘君丽)A stubborn grandma at first. wants to have all her 6 grandchildren in her house. but later turns a soft-heart, and accepted the fact that, although her 6 grandchildren can't be with her forever, she will always be in their hearts. she's is just jealous of Hor ma, how she gets all the love from her children, but of course they love their grandma as well. some old folks are just like that. =.=" good job here from Li Heung Kam as well. lol.
(周驄) Chow Chung as Gong Gong (grandpa - 鍾泛達)
Hor ma's father, the kids grandpa. he has quite a funny role here, but gives in too much to his youngest daughter, Sa yi, gets influenced by what she says every time. lol. however, he is nominated for the Best Supporting Actor in the 2008 TVB Anniversary Awards.
(关菊英) Suzanna Kwan as Sa yi (钟笑莎)Hor ma's younger sister, not biologically though. i couldn't really stand her voice in the beginning of the show as she's very very talkative(so piercing and high), telling lies, taking advantage of people and stuff. Very money-minded and even betrayed her sister. however, towards the 2nd half of the show, she learned a very valuable lesson, when she found out she wasn't her dad's biological daughter, she turned over a new leaf, but to her horror and misery, her daughter was following her evil footsteps. Suzanna Kwan is just good in playing this type of roles, but in HOG she was meaner. lol.
(陈豪) Moses Chan as Ah Ka (甘永家)The eldest son. His role here is definitely different from HOG, although both characters are cheerful, happy-go-lucky, but there is a more playful touch in this show. he was kinda oblivious towards his family in the beginning of the show, always playing with shares, but in the end, he quit, because of his mother's pleas and his sister, Ah Yuet (Tavia Yeung). he grew more and more concerned about his family later on. had a love relationship with Ga Mei (Kate Tsui) but dumped her because she carried out her evil intentions to hurt Ah Yuet. Moses is always great at doing comical and silly stuff, even the way he talks is plain funny. lol.
(林峰) Raymond Lam as Ah Hou aka Goon Kar Chai (甘永好)the second son. He was more yeng in HOG, haha, super yeng, but still good looking in MR, just that not stylish only. lol. he is like the man in the house, always taking good care of his family and protecting them. have a really good relationship with Yu Sou Chao (Linda Chung) since they were young, it's like first love for both of them actually. a very filial son and grandson, sacrificing his studies because he wanted to help out in his mother's shop. I have no comment about Lam Fung's acting, but he was good in portraying the honest, kind Goon Kar Chai who only wanted Yu Sou Chao to be happy with her boyfriend, Dr. Ling (Bosco Wong).
(杨怡) Tavia Yeung as Ah Yuet (甘永月)The adopted daughter of the family, therefore, she can be with Ah Ka. She's strong on the outside, but quite fragile and soft in the inside. but still, she is very strong-minded, always voicing out, standing up and defending for herself and others. everybody loves her very much even though she's an adopted child. IMO, i love Tavia's character here, very bold, stubborn at times, but always having good intentions, and it was so frustrating to see her get set up by Ga Mei. i was hoping there were more on-screen time just only for Moses and Tavia's character!! ahh, but that didn't happen, sad. and Tavia's acting was excellent as well, and she looked very pretty! she just keeps improving. awesome. one of my favourite characters.
(黎诺懿) Chris Lai as Ah Yuen (甘永圆)His character didn't really develop much here compared to HOG. he was not around most of the time with the family which was all Yan Hong's plan, having him flying to some other place so that he wouldn't get to be close with his siblings. he claimed that he was closer to Yan Hong instead of Hor ma, as he thought he caused Yan Hong's miscarriage last time, but finally learned the truth about it. also, he was forced to corroborate with Yan Hong as he got into a car accident causing a death of a person, and she bribed the authorities there to release him. everything prevailed in the end. and he ended up with Ga Mei.
(陈法拉) Fala Chen as Ah Hing (甘永庆)Im not a fan of Fala Chen to be honest, i can't really bear to watch her characters in other TVB dramas, always playing the not so welcoming role, or how to say, sluts. but she's very pretty though. her character here really caught my eye (but im still NOT a fan), as she plays a dumb but not deaf person. even though she can't talk, i find her role pretty eye-catching. because she has to be more focused on her facial expression and the eyes especially, not bad really.
Vincent Wan as Zhong Chai (甘永中)the youngest son and child. a newcomer i guess. he was sent away to UK for his studies at the age of 12 i think, i can't really remember, the idea of Yan Hong as well. more of a lonely person, but gets better, more cheerful when he decided to stay with Hor ma and his older siblings.
i heart Linda Chung, totally!! she's very very cute and pretty as well. XD although i preferred her role in HOG as Sheung Joy Sum, as her character developed very nicely in there. and what's up with the hair, centre parting, it doesn't suit her, where's her cute hair she haves in other TVB series. hmph. Yu Sou Chao is different from her mother, Yan Hong. she feels guilty for her mother destroying Jou bao's and Hor ma's family in the 1st place but is very very close to Hor ma and the others as well, especially Goon Kar Chai. However, she gets all mixed up and confused as she was caught in between Goon Kar Chai and Dr. Ling. her crying scenes are really good, i remember it made me all sad and teary in HOG when Alfred died. In MR, she cries too much that all netizens called her a crybaby here. lol. her acting skills just keep improving and improving, one of the brightest actress in the future, so move aside Charmaine Sheh, here comes Linda Chung! lol. in the last episode, she was just great as she decided to give her mother, Yan Hong a lesson, in a good way. that scene peaked 50. awesome. and obviously she ended up with Goon Kar Chai, if not i would protest!!! haha. they look so yummy together. lol.
(黄宗泽) Bosco Wong as Dr. Ling (凌至信)
i totally didn't like Bosco's character here. he had a girlfriend and still he had to get close to Yu Sou Chao. hmph. making Yu Sou Chao all so sad and confused. lol. anyway, he's still a good person as he decided to help Yu Sou Chao to teach her mother a lesson. he's just a guest cast in this show, as he had another show to work on.
(徐子珊) Kate Tsui as Ga Mei (路嘉美)
Honestly, i don't like Kate Tsui, and i don't know why. her acting cute and all when she was together with Ah Ka gave me goosebumps in a bad way, i just can't bear to watch. but she's pretty good at being evil, maybe it's her eyes or something. lol. her character is so uber evil!! just like her mother, Sa Yi at 1st, maybe even worst, when she started to betray Sa Yi and went over to Yan Hong's side. ughhh. luckily Ah Ka was clever enough to dump her. lol.
This is definitely a series that can't be missed!~~ with all the super cast and the super acting, MR is just superb!!
Edited* Congratulations to Michelle Yim and Ha Yu for winning Best Actress and Best Actor respectively and also Tavia Yeung for bagging away the Best Supporting Actress award. =)
and then it was raining gumballs
