"Mr. Sunshine" is a grand story, taking place in Korea during the 1895-1910 time frame, as the Japanese gradually, and brutally, colonize Korea. We watch as the characters are swept from their old lives into a new, ugly era. It is a heavy story, and (slight spoiler) the ending is true to the that heaviness.

What did I like?

The main characters are distinctive with their own internal conflicts. The main character, Eugene Choi, was born in the slave class of Korea; as a child he escaped to the USA, and decades later returned to Korea as an officer in the Marine Corps. Eugene maintains his American identity to the end, but paradoxically falls in love with the aristrocrat-turned-assassin Go Ae Shin. Go Ae Shin is universally respected and cherished, a symbol of what's good in Korea; when she met a boy from a butcher family (a social status similar to Eugene's), that boy, Gu Dong Mae, called her a "spoiled, noble fool", which so haunts her that she eventually joins the anti-Japanese militia. After that encounter Gu Dong Mae had escaped to Japan, where he joins a yakuza-like organization, and then returns to Korea to lead a group of swordsmen who wreak havoc on Korea. Kim Hui Seong also has returned from Japan to his wealthy Korean family, ostensibly to marry his betrothed, Ae Shin, but he struggles with a vague alienation from his social standing. Rounding out the main cast is Kudo Hina, the daughter of a traitorous and powerful Korean official; Hina is a young widow, whose wealthy Japanese husband died under mysterious conditions, leaving Hina enough money to build a large hotel in Hanseong (Seoul).

These characters engage with each other and the contrasts are interesting and entertaining. As their own personal histories become overshadowed by the growing Japanese crisis, for their own reasons they converge, and this convergence (more so than the war itself) is the center of the story. There's some off-beat humor that comes with this convergence (the humor helps to convey the convergence), as these people grow closer even with obvious reasons to not like one another.

The acting is superior. I saw the characters as people. My only concern would be that some of the bad guys were over the top, but the historical record suggests that the actors in some of the villainous roles may have underplayed it a bit.

The cinematography is gorgeous, both inside and out. I have a whole list of locations in South Korea I now want to visit. The production values are high -- obviously I don't know what exactly Hanseong looked like in 1903, but I buy the details that they're presenting.

What did I not like?

The show has action-packed war scenes looming, and yet it's character-driven with gorgeous imagery, which means some folks thought the pace was way too slow. I tend to luxuriate in these scenes, particularly as I need to read the bottom of the screen for the translation of the dialogue, but, yes, the story often drags. Scenes where Eugene and Ai Sin are alone, simply conversing with one another, could be the worst culprits.

In spite of the slow pace and the lengthy close-ups, the character development does have a bit of a hole to it: Why are these three guys so devoted to Ai Sin? She is pretty and passionate and pure of heart, and maybe that's enough. We don't really get significant personal interactions that would show the development of the relationship, and the story felt a bit thin here.

Finally, to reiterate, this is a heavy show. Between episodes, I found myself repeatedly asking "Was it really that bad?" And the answer was generally "Yes, and it's going to get worse." There is no way I could re-watch 35 hours of this any time soon, as entertaining as I thought the series was. In addition to pondering the fates of these characters, I spent so much time thinking about what really happened, and my understanding of the history of that period has gotten darker. Now I need to find some some light-hearted romantic comedy.