History Series / MrSunshine2018

* MagnificentBastard: Mrs. Logan is a snob who talks down to Joseon people, but she’s the perfect person to put Lee Wan Ik in his place. While everyone else is tiptoeing around him, she cuts off his condescending speech, critcizes his English, calls him stupid, and tells him hurry up and sign the title. He is left speechless, while it’s all Eugene and Dong-mae can do to keep from laughing.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: It may seem ridiculous to suggest that Eugene would be accepted to the Naval Academy, and commissioned into the Marines, given the prejudice against non-whites in the service at the time. But, while Asian Americans in the military were certainly the exception, not the norm, they have been documented as serving in the U.S. military at various times and places since the War of 1812. As early as 1860, foreign nationals from Japan and China attended U.S. military academies. So while there is no specific historical example, it is plausible that a smart young Korean could, with a wealthy and influential patron, get a commission at that time in history.

* PairTheSpares: Subverted. [[spoiler:A more conventional story would have had Dong-mae and Kudo Hina live happily ever after. Instead, Hina confesses her unrequited love [[EveryoneDies shortly before ''both'' die]].]]

Eugene Choi (Creator/LeeByunghyun), a young boy born into a house servant's family, escapes his master and travels to the United States during the 1871 Shinmiyangyo (Name of the U.S. expedition to Korea). He returns as a U.S. marine officer during a period of political turmoil, and falls in love with an aristocrat's daughter.

A young boy born into a house servant's family escapes his master and travels to the United States during the 1871 Shinmiyangyo (Name of the U.S. expedition to Korea). He returns as a U.S. marine officer during a period of political turmoil, and falls in love with an aristocrat's daughter.

** [[spoiler: He ends up kicking her out of his apartment once she leads the Music Society to Ae shin.]]

* VestigialEmpire: The series' setting marked the twilight of Joseon Korea, which the once-isolated kingdom faced a crisis against Western Imperialism and internal strife from discontent reformers.

** the Japanese were guilty of this. while they used Arisaka Rifles during the series, they use Gewehr 88s during the 1880's flashback instead of the Mauser 1871. they also used Gatling guns when they attacked the Royal Military Academy in the late 1900's instead of Maxim or Hotchkiss machine guns which they used during the UsefulNotes/RussoJapaneseWar.
* AnyoneCanDie: unless you're King Gojong and most of the Japanese in this show, the chances of making it alive throughout the show is slim. [[spoiler: Ae Shin]] is the only main character to survive.
* AristocratsAreEvil: [[ActionGirl Ae Shin]] and the few other level-headed courtiers seem to be the exception that proves the rule. The majority of Korean aristocrats are some combination of callous, corrupt, backstabbing, and reactionary as the Joseon Dynasty comes to a close.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Ae Shin]] finally leads The Righteous Army in Manchuria, but at the cost of the lives of [[spoiler: Dong Mae, Hina/Yang Hwa, Hui Sung, and Eugene/Yoo Jin]], Joseon being conquered by Japan in 1910, and leaving her countrymen at home behind.
* BlueBlood: Ae Shin and Hui Seong are of the Joseon aristocracy.

* CentralTheme: How the post-Industrial Revolution but pre-World War 2 world was time of great change and development but how disparities in said development made some countries very rich and strong (the US and Japan) while others stayed poor and weak (Korea).
* CurbStompBattle: the Koreans couldn't stand a chance against either Americans using rolling-block Rifles and breech-loading cannons(using their outdated Matchlock rifles) during the Battle of Ganghwa and the Japanese (most of them were well-trained and have experience fighting in China and Russia) when they took over Korea.
* DarkerAndEdgier: considering that this is set before the Joseon Dynasty was dissolved and the Japanese took over, this series is this to most of Saeguks in general.
** to writer Kim Eun Sook's works in general, more so than ''Series/GuardianTheLonelyAndGreatGod''.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Emperor Gojong, many members of his cabinet, and “The Seven Traitors of 1907” were real people.

* JerkAss: Lee Wan Ik. He doesn't give a rat's ass about anything: from his home country, to his own daughter.
** Every Japanese in this show is this, with the exception of Dong Mae's men.

** Lee Se-Hoon accidentally shot one of his servants when he attempted to figure out how to use a Japanese pistol while being attacked by a marksman.

* EndOfEra: The series takes place in the last decade of a united, independent Korea.

! ''Mr. Sunshine'' contains examples of these following tropes:

** to writer Kim Eun Sook's works in general, more so than ''Series/{{Goblin}}''.

* BottomlessMagazines: Ae-sin is shown training with what explicitly looks like a single-shot matchlock rifle (one of the oldest types of handheld guns, and the most common firearm in pre-1900 East Asia), and yet she's able to fire ''multiple shots'', in sequence, in the same (camera) shot, at a bunch of pottery targets. It might be plausible if there was only gunpowder without a bullet in the chamber, but she's shown actually destroying some of the targets.