Moonlight Resonance (Traditional Chinese: 溏心風暴之家好月圓) is a 2008 grand production HDTV drama by TVB. It is a spiritual sequel to 2007's award-winning series, Heart of Greed featuring most of the original cast members. The series is written and edited by Cheung Wah-biu and Sit Ga-wah. Sponsored by Kee Wah Bakery, the series began broadcast on 28 July 2008. It stars Louise Lee, Ha Yu, Michelle Yim, Susanna Kwan, Moses Chan, Raymond Lam and Linda Chung. Its final episode was one of the highest rated TVB episodes in the 2000s decade at 50 points. The series was met with critical acclaim, with praise to the intense plot, excellent performances by the cast, and moving storyline. It went on to receive various awards and is one of the highest-rated TVB series in viewership in the 2000s.

Plot

Chung Siu-Hor discovers her husband Gan Tai-Cho's affair with their employee Yan-Hung, leading to their divorce. Yan-Hung and Tai-Cho take over the successful Moonlight Bakery, while Siu-Hor struggles with her own bakery. Yan-Hung manipulates the family for years, causing strife. After a miscarriage, Yan-Hung blames Wing-Yuen, manipulating him further. Siu-Hor's sister, Siu-Sa, attempts to sue for the bakery's name but loses. Wing-Ka overcomes his stock market addiction and falls for his cousin Ka Mei. So-Sum abandons her feelings for Wing-Ho for Dr. Ling Chi Shun, who is already in a relationship. Despite complications, So-Sum and Wing-Ho eventually reunite. Ka Mei's relationship with Wing-Yuen ends when she has an abortion due to uncertainty about the baby's paternity. Wing-Ho encourages So-Sum to find a job, leading to her meeting Kelvin, who they eventually marry despite initial opposition from his mother. Wing-Chung, sent to England as a child, dislikes school and is allowed to drop out by Siu-Hor. Yan-Hung's jealousy leads her to legal action, attempting to seize 90% of the family assets. She murders Gwan-Lai to prevent evidence gathering but is eventually exposed by Ka Mei for the murder. Yan-Hung is convicted and sentenced, with Tai-Cho promising her shares upon her release. In the end, Yan-Hung, living in New Zealand, refuses her shares and approves of So-Sum and Wing-Ho's relationship, while Wing Ka and Hou Yuet are happily married.

Production

Development

TVB's 2007 series, Heart of Greed, was successful enough to commission this series. In June 2007, Louise Lee presented on the Heart of Greed (溏心) chatroom that the producers had already begun to write another series with the same actors but a different story line. Details about the new series were leaked by the media in October 2007 and Lau Kar Ho, the director, writer and producer of the series, vowed to catch the person who leaked this information because few people knew about the new series. The sales presentation clip was released on 19 November 2007. The clip gave clues about the new series which featured Michelle Yim as the new villain and a mooncake business instead of the abalone business in Heart of Greed. New cast members included Kate Tsui, Lee Heung Kam, Vincent Wan and Wayne Lai. On 28 January 2008, the cast celebrated their kick-off in filming, which included a costume fitting. Lee, Raymond Lam and Fala Chen had to attend baking lessons in order for them to film baking scenes realistically. Filming commenced on 14 February 2008, where Lee, Lai and Lam were the first to shoot at a bakery. The main cast and Lau Kar Ho celebrated the blessing ceremony of the series on 7 March 2008. The release of its official trailer was aired at the Shanghai Television Festival on 11 June. Principal filming ended on 1 July 2008, and its official English title was revealed. TVB officially began promotional and advertising work on the series on 5 July 2008, with an advertisement being aired followed up with its official website being released on 8 July 2008.

Music

The opening theme song for the series Mo Sam Hoi Ni (無心害你) was performed by Susanna Kwan, while the ending song Ai Bu Kau (愛不疚) was performed by Raymond Lam and was featured in his album Your Love. The ending theme was nominated as one of the top-10 song of the 31st RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards. A featured song for the series entitled "Ice Cream (Talk to Me)" was written and produced by London-based production team DNR DNR who are better known as The Slips.

Casting dilemma

Wayne Lai was originally cast as the character who would eventually become the husband for Susanna Kwan's character. However, Lai explained on the celebrity talk show Be My Guest that due to health problems, the role was offered to Louis Yuen instead. Lai took over the part of the baker Nin Tze Yung, which Yuen was originally assigned to.

Cast

Chung Household

Gan Household

Others

Characters

The Elders

The Children

Others

Viewership and accolades

The initial critical response for the series was excellent with the first episode receiving an average of 33 rating points with a peak of 42 and received peak points over 35 in later weeks. Like its predecessor, the 2-hour series finale premiered at a Hong Kong shopping centre, Discovery Park, in front of hundreds of guests and supporters. The finale was shown in the form of a variety show, 家好月圓慶團圓 and the viewership for that had reached 44 rating points. Viewership was higher than expected, with the final episode receiving an average of 47 rating points and a peak of 50 in the scene where Linda Chung and Michelle Yim's characters argued. As a result, Moonlight Resonance outperformed Heart of Greed, and is one of the highest-rated TVB series in viewership in the 2000s. Its rating tied with Dae Jang Geum, a Korean drama series that also garnered 50 points while it aired on TVB. The series received positive reviews from Hong Kong audiences but there were some who found the overall plot to be too similar to its predecessor. Moonlight Resonance was nominated for 18 TVB Anniversary Awards in 2008 and won a total of 6 awards.

List of awards and nominations

Sequel

A sequel titled Heart and Greed was released in 2017 featuring some of the original cast members. The series was met with mostly negative reviews with audiences saying how times have changed and the type of plot being used is too similar to the first two series which has become old-fashioned after almost a decade.

International release

DVD release