Unfortunately though, while the show is willing to raise provocative issues, it’s unwilling to really deal with the ramifications of those issues. A world where being an educated woman or a gay man is a capital crime is hardly likely to provide a happy ending for nonconformists. Instead of confronting this head-on, the drama drifts into fantasy in its final episodes, substituting feel-good platitudes and miraculous solutions for the difficult problems it has so compellingly presented. This allows it to maintain its romantic comedy credentials, but at the cost of what could have been a much darker, but also much more honest show.
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There are hardly any complaints from this show.
The story line and plot are excellent. I love the whole setting of the Joseon era. It provides gender bender in a whole new perspective. This show is the first ever gender bender scenario I have enjoyed thoroughly.
The show has an excellent cast. I am a very big fan of Park Min Young. She was the one who stole the spotlight as Kim Yon Shik. I have NO complaints when it comes to her character or any others. I think this show is the best I have seen in any language which has such great, over-the-top characterizations. Everything has to do with outstanding writing.
Maybe it has to do with the fact that they are all scholars, but it absolutely brilliant. It has the perfect female, perfect male, perfect antagonists and perfect second and third leads. The actors are equally good who have played their characters so very well. I rate them full where acting is concerned.
The direction seemed to be a bit clumsy at places but considering that this is a periodic drama I have to pat the director's back for the phenomenal settings. I almost felt like I was part of the Sungkyunkwan. I would love to meet such brainy scholars. The show had so many cool riddles that I liked it. Also, they seemed to have used heavy and formal language while speaking. I liked that too.
Not just the lingering mysteries and sub-plots, I was happy with the humor. Every episode had very funny moments, most of them consisting Geol-Oh and Yang Ha. Also the episodes where Lee Sun Joon is attracted to Kim Yon Shik and thinking he is a homosexual were very funny. I really loved the spirit of Kim Yon Hee. She is also one of my favorite fictional characters from tv shows now. I am not fond of females that are pushovers or without pride in stories.
Anyway, this show makes me hungry for more periodic dramas but I don't think any other one could be as good as this one. I would recommend to everyone who is searching for a no-nonsense drama.
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What makes this drama so great, from the very beginning, is the four lead characters. As much as i loved the romance in Sungkyunkwan Scandal (including what's now one of my favorite k-drama kiss scenes), I still loved the bromance between all four main characters more. Yoo Ah In as the impetuous rebel Moon Jae Shin, Micky Yoochun as the logic driven bookworm Lee Sun Joon, Park Min Young as the inspiringly ambitious "Kim Yoon Shik", and (my favorite) Song Jung Ki as the playfully manipulative Goo Yong Ha, are each outstanding in their role, and have amazing chemistry with each other. There were even times when the chemistry between Moon Jae Shin & Goo Yong Ha rivaled the main couple.
I also have to give a special mention to Kim Min Seo as Cho Sun, who was my favorite supporting character, and played her part expertly. It was really refreshing to see two strong female characters, especially since the story revolves around an all boys school. This is now among my favorite all time dramas, mainly because of the cast. I loved them so much, I was tempted to rewatch the entire drama right after I finished it.
One small criticism I have is that the political part of the plot was sometimes hard for me to follow, since korean history is completely (and literally) foreign to me. This is not really a fault of the drama, but it did stop me from personally seeing this as a perfect 10. It became much easier for me to follow the noron/soron conflicts after a while, but I could still enjoy the drama without being 100% clear. There's a good amount of action, and mystery, which keeps the political plot entertaining.
Another criticism is, as much as I liked the endings for the 4 main characters, there were still unanswered questions, and some supporting characters that deserved better endings.
Overall, there was much more to praise than criticize. I can definitely see myself rewatching this multiple times, even if it's just to see Goo Yong Ha spin. I know there are many dramas with similar plots, but a drama that's entertaining from the 1st to the last episode is rare. I recommend Sungkyunkwan Scandal as one of those rare dramas.
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Happy Watching Everyone :)
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I absolutely loved every character in this drama and the character development for all of them was phenomenal. It really shows that no matter who you are, what background you come from, rich or poor, you can still change the world and accomplish your dreams. It also shows that when there is a will there is a way and power does not make the way.
Absolutely loved it! Gender bender dramas are definitely some of my favorites because of the comedy they bring when the man thinks he's truly gay and will even come to terms with it because of how in love he is.
Very powerful and moving drama, 10 stars! I recommend this to anyone who likes historical, comedy and a good romance drama with a very powerful meaning behind it.
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is very adorable as well... he is like the savior of the day...
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This review may contain spoilers
I love the drama because of the characters mainly, the main characters especially geol ah and yong hwa are humorous and awesome characters. I don't want to post spoilers.. so overall if your looking for a drama that has rom com and some action this is the one. . Im reviewing after i re-watched this drama again for the third time and that means that there are good scenes that is hilarious in this drama. and i just love Ah in acting role of Geol ah, his hiccups :D and you might like this if you liked illjimae too because i am total fan of illjimae. Hope this helped and have fun watching. Was this review helpful to you?
Acting/Cast- This was well casted. The leads had good chemistry and acted well. But I wasn\''t in love with them. I actually fell in love with Yoo Ah In & Song Jun Ki\''s characters. I love thier bromance, too cute. The rest of the supporting cast fit thier roles really well.
Music- Very lovely score. You could really feel the mood. The modern songs were nice.
Rewatch- I could probably watch this once a year.
Overall- For a non historical drama watcher to praise SS, it has to be pretty impressive right? So give it a chance and enjoy what this brilliant masterpiece has to offer!
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However what truly made this so special was the beloved Jalguem Quartet which sealed the deal for me, and stole everyone's hearts whether you are Team Yoochun or Jaeshin, while Yeorim isn't left out either getting his fair share of the love though the latter can be debated as an understatement. And of course being amused every single time how the "pretty boy" hat is Park Min Young was doing exactly that in the drama - stealing the hearts of helpless Joseon ladies (and men...I'll say no more) and viewers alike who can not help but root for our daring brainy heroine as she defies tradition and expectations. Looking back now several years later one can safely say is a first real glimpse of what started it all for several stars (who were all about 24 at that time)who have gone on to have established acting careers. The expressive Yoo Ah-In, charismatic Song Joong Ki and lovely Park Min Young, while Yoochun from JYJ is a pleasant surprise for one of his first ever try at this acting thing. The Quartet also got along well on and off set, and the chemistry onscreen shows. For the bromance-shippers of Song Joong Ki and Yoo Ah-In, of course this came as no surprise.
I do also want to credit the drama and its writers for making this more than just a gender-bender comedy . For one, even though the drama's premise is that of an empowered female as the clear-cut star I want to thank the writers for NOT making the males into idiots (with exception of few intended ones) which happens a lot for this genre so to not overshadow the female or something. In fact she was surrounded by brilliant men, which makes her empowerment even more credible. And I do also appreciate their touch on a rather controversial issue even by today's standards, but was entirely the taboo of taboos back in those times. It is the first in an ancient drama I've seen, and done ever so gracefully.
All in all, it was a very easy drama to watch, and the characters so easy to fall in love with. This is up there as a personal favorite of mine. Soundtrack and everything else only served to be a nice compliment to all that was going on. I tend to skip with dramas, but did not do so once with this one. Never a dull moment with Sungkyunkwan.
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Well, after having watched the first two episodes there wasn't much "fighting" left because I actually started to enjoy it.
The characters were so different, deep, cute, funny, emotional, complicated and sometimes annoying that I never grew bored of them. Well, sometimes I was frustrated with the main couple but it wasn't bad enough to mention.
The story was unique in a way but not something that has never been done before. I liked this take of it and I think that was mainly because of the characters rather than the story itself, since I'm not a fan of historical Dramas. Oh, actually I strongly dislike them. ;)
The acting was great. Even though Park Min Young never looked, acted or sounded like a man in my opinion - I was so frustrated with it being unrealistic for the other students to not realize she was a girl - everyone pulled their role off perfectly. I especially enjoyed Goo Yong Ha and Geol Oh.
The music was very good and fitting and most of all it wasn't always the same song playing. I enjoyed it, but I'm not going to look for the OST.
I usually don't rewatch anything, but for this one I give it a high rating because I will certainly rewatch some scenes of it. A lot.
So overall I recommend this Drama to everyone (even if the historical aspect may turn you off) and and advice you to not drop it after the first episode. It will be worth giving a try. :)
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Disappointing!
I rarely give low scores and I love classics but I couldn't stand watching this drama. 20 episodes and I watched all episodes by skipping. The FL character is so lame, clueless and cries when there is no need to but is projected as a leader who deserves to be a scholar.. I was bored but I don't drop dramas usually so finished it! There was talk about pride when it wasn't needed. She didn't seem manly either. Actually all the characters felt lame to me except for Song Joongki's character. Upto 15 episodes, I felt story had not moved. It was slow and a very disappointing drama for me. Overall, it was an unappealing drama.Was this review helpful to you?
