SyungKyungKwan Scandal (Korean, Drama)

A normal high school drama with the twist that it happens in the old time of Joson Dynasty rule. And maybe this is a really good gender bender story too. First of all this drama is entertaining... And despite being a historical drama it is quiet spunky and youthful.
As some of the other dramas uses a bunch of people as the key point, SungKyungKwan Scandal also uses this method for gaining intersts of the viewers. Here the 4 people named The Jhalguem Quadret is the main reason to see this drama and to like this drama. When they are together they rule...
There is noting much exceptional in this drama. Just a normal high school life gender bender story, told in a different way of historical type. There is a male n female lead. And there is a second lead who will b single in d end like in every other drama. There is an 'other girl' whom we wont like much like in other dramas. N there are some bad guys...And there are a lot of sports and literary competitions....like other high school dramas.
But there is a difference. There is a bit thrill element involved in the story. The search for the lost book 'Geum Deung Ji Sa' and the rouge red messenger or the  'Hong Byuk Seo' is enough to keep us thrilled. As the Jhalguem Quadret intakes to search for the 'Geum Deung Ji Sa', it gets too interesting.

Also SungKyungKwan Scandal doesn't avoid naughty things. We cant find any prostitutes or sentences with a bit sexual connotations in most Korean Dramas. But in SungKyungKwan Scandal the fact that a bit adult or naughty stuff are shown in a naughty way itself becomes a really good difference and attraction. Its just naughty in a good interesting way...

And the character Gu Yong Ha is too interesting for words. One of my favourite characters ever... Gu Yong Ha is something we never usually see around. When first I saw this character I felt 'danger', as if he has a really dangerous aura... The way he is such a big play boy and Casanova...the way he is trying to determine if Kim Yoon Shik is a girl... His actions, his gestures, his words was sending a lot of danger signals. But soon as we find he is not on the enemy side he becomes lovable. Still too naughty...
Gu Yong Ha is what Gu Yong Ha is. He can be described with nothing else. A one of a kind character with a lot of lovable naughtiness. I am just so sad that we couldn't see much much more of him in the 20 episodes. I wanted to see him more and more...
And with this I became a real fan of the actor Song Joong Ki who plays Gu Young Ha, and watched few other works of him, but I still think Gu Young Ha was the best character that Song Joong Ki ever had, despite the fact that Gu Young Ha is not a main lead.
Such a waste! They should have made a sequel of SyungKyungKwan Scandal for us to see more of Gu Young Ha, and the other lovable characters too...

Another thing that will hold our interest is how everyone is given a nickname. The nicknames of everyone is used more than their real names. These nick names are quiet catchy and smart. And how the whole 4 friends are called the 'Jhalgum Quadrants' is also interesting.

Characters

The Jhalgum Quadrants

Kim Yoon Hee / Kim Yoon Shik : 
Nickname : Daemul

Kim Yoon Hee, a girl,.lives pretending to be a boy, by the name of her younger brother Kim Yoon Shik and works by that name. Since girls are not allowed work and since there is no one else to earn money in her home she has no choice than this. Yoon Hee works in a library, transcribing books and doing homework of SungKyungKwan Scholars.

Lee Sun Jun :
Nickname : Gharang, Wang Seobang
The most intelligent student around. He is the left state minister's son. But despite that he doesn't like to be recognized by his father or get any special treatment because of that. He wont tolerate anything wrong and is too uptight about correcting things. Is a perfectionist and want to create a better Joson(old name of Korea). He is a bit arrogant and too hard to deal with. (Not really a personality we will like, despite being the hero)
He starts off the story by saying "I don't mind you saying you dislike me, but i wont tolerate you saying I am wrong". But along in the course of the story he falls in love and in the end finish off the story by saying "it cant be helped if you say I am wrong, but I wont tolerate if you say you dislike me".

Moon Jae Shin 
Nickname : Ghor Oh

The son of Right State Minister and a delinquent. His nick name Ghor Oh means 'crazy horse' to suit his personality. He is a SyungKyungKwan student and is held back two grades because of lack of enough attendence. So Ghor Oh is still in 1st year with Kim Yoon Shik and Lee Sun Jun despite being their senior.
Ghor Oh usually wander around the streets in filthy clothes and eat left overs or steal food. Drink a lot of alcohol and gamble. But he wont tolerate anything wrong and fight against it. While acting like he doesn't care and is tough he is really loving and caring inside.

Gu Yong Ha : 
Nickname : Yorim 
A senior student in SyunKyungKwan and a member of the students body council. While being the friend of the Students body head, Ha In Soo, and the brain behind all dirty works of the students body, Gu Yong Ha is Ghor Oh Moon Jae Shin's best friend. He soon turn against the students body head when the student body head turn against his friends.
Gu Yong Ha is a charismatic guy with an exceptional fashion sense and Casanova nature. And there is just no one like him....And he always says 'I'm Gu Yong Ha', and that is his description. Actually words cant describe Gu Yong Ha. He is just what he is...





Rest of the characters
Ha In Soo : The students body head of SyungKyungKwan and Minister of War's son. He takes a dislike towards Lee Sun Jun and Kim Yoon Shik from the start itself and try his best to bring them down to his knees.
He has unrequited love for ginsang Cho Seon, and since Cho Seon loves Kim Yoon Shik he hates Yoon Shik too much.

Ha Ho Eun : Ha In Soo's little sister. She is a person who loves romantic novels and is waiting impatiently to fall in love with some one and all the things in romantic novels to happen in real to het. So she falls for Lee Sun Jun on first meeting and starts thinking Lee Sun Jun also might like her and follow him around....

Ginsang Cho Soen : She is the most popular Ginsang in the city. ( I am not so sure abt d meaning of ginsang. It almost means prostitute, but is not exactly the same). Cho Soen is said to be the high and mighty among the ginsangs and no men has touched her. She doesn't lover her guard or pride and says 'all men can do is buy a girl's one night, but they cant capture her heart with money'. So even when Cho Seon is a slave of the Minister for War, him or his son Ha In Soo who is in love with her, or the girl expert  Casanova Gu Yong Ha has never been able to touch her. But that Cho Seon falls in love with Kim Yoon Shik, when he(she) shows a bit compassion towards her. But Cho Seon doesn't know that Kim Yoon Shik is a girl.

Minister for War : A bad and greedy man and a corrupted minister. Ha In Soo and Ha Eun Hae's father.

Professor Jung : The king's right hand man is send to SyungKyungKwan as to be a professor. That is Proffessor Jung. Its said that the king send him for some secret mission.
He is a really wise and dedicated professor and hence the students respect him a lot.

Seun Deol : Lee Sun Jun's servant. Seun Deol loves his young master Lee Sun Jun a lot and always is there to do ods and ends jobs of him like a side kick. Even after Lee Sun Jun goes to live in SyungKyungKwan, Seun Dol comes to meet him at times.

Story line : 

In the old era when Korea was Joson, ths time when girls were not allowed to work, a girl Kim Yoon Hee works in a library while disguising herself as a boy and using her little brother's name. She has no other choice than this to feed her mother and bed ridden younger brother and herself, and to find money to buy medicine for her brother, the real Kim Yoon Shik. Still the family is dipped in debt and they owe 100 nyangs to the Minister of War who treats to take Yoon Hee as his concubine is they don't pay d debt.
So Yoon Hee works in the library transcribing books and doing homework of SyungKyungKwan scholers for money. SyungKyungKwan is the most reputed School of that era.
The librarian then offers Kim Yoon Shik (Kim Yoon Hee), a job to write entrance exam of SyungKyungKwan School in place of other student, and that this will get him(her) more money. Kim Yoon Shik(Kim Yoon Hee), first refuses this offer saying its illegal and wrong thing to do, but as the situation arises that if she doesn't pay the dept she will be sold off to the Minister of War, she agrees to take d exam.
In the exam hall Kim Yoon Shik mistakes Lee Sun Jun, the uptight good guy who wont tolerate anything wrong, as the person who requested her help, and have a mishap. When she explain that its her first time in cheating and that she is doing this to pay for expenses of her mother and sick brother, Led Sun Jun doesn't revel him(her), but just ask the teachers to take care of security and order in the examination hall. As Yoon Shik(Yoon Hee) is also thrown out following this resulting in no money for Yoon Shik, he(she), gets angry and leave a brilliantly written poem accusing Lee Sun Jun on Lee Sun Jun's clothes. Lee Sun Jun See this and begins to search for Kim Yoon Shik from that day onwards.
Ha In Soo takes a dislike towards Lee Sun Jun regarding the matter of his request to take care of security in exam hall. And Gu Yong Ha who has met Yoon Shik(Yoon Hee) a few times starts getting suspicious about him(her) to be a girl... Gu Yong Ha starts some of his danger prone plans just out for entertainment and see if Yoon Shik is a girl.
Lee Sun Jun find Yoon Shik and ask him(her) to take the entrance exam using his(her) real name - Kim Yoon Shik, because  he thinks that Yoon Shik is quiet wise and a talent like that shouldn't go wasted and ppl like that deserve to be in SyungKyungKwan instead of people who pass by cheating. Yoon Shik refuses his offer and says that he doesn't think Joseon is such a great country for him to be able to do that.
Yoon Shik is still in need for money and hence he(she) agrees to write the final entrance exam as a substitute for money and arrive at the exam hall to find that it was Lee Sun Jun who hired her. And due to Lee Sun Jun's tricks he(she) is forced to take the exam and he(she) gets in SyungKyungKyan on king's special order. She cant refuse the kings command.
Like this a girl dressed as a boy, Kim Yoon Shik enters SyungKyungKwan were the entry of women is prohibited....
There Yoon Shik is to share a room with Lee Sun Jun and the delinquent Moon Jae Shin who goes by the nick name Ghor Oh. Kim Yoon Shik gains the nickname 'Daemul' as he(she) manages to fulfil the ragging task of getting ginsang Cho Seon's under clothes. But that is because Cheo Seon who normally don't let guys come near her has fallen for Yoon Shik, when he(she) treats her with respect in a situation, but Cho Seon doesnt know that Yoon Shik is a girl.
Lee Sun Jun meets Ha In Soo's sister Ha Hyo Eun in his ragging task and Ha Hyo Eun, falls for Lee Sun Jun.
As days pass on, Kim Yoon Shik who hated Lee Sun Jun at first slowly starts to be friends with him. And she gets along fine with Ghor Oh.
Gu Yong Ha is trying all sort of ways to confirm.his doubts of Yoon Shik being a girl making all situation complicated... And Hyo Eun is following around Lee Sun Jun trying to start a romance..

The Rouge Red Messenger or 'Hong Byuk Seo',.appears at nights spreading a red paper bulletin asking for the retrieval of a lost book named 'Geum Deung Ji Sa' which supposedly contain the late previous king's will and future plans for the country. No body know who the 'Hong Byuk Seo' is since he is masked. But the ministers and guards wants to catch and arrest Hong Byuk Seo asap.

Lee Sun Jun and Kim.Yoon Shik eventually becomes best friends. And in Gu Yong Ha's attempts to know Yoon Shik's gender, Ghor Oh comes to know that Yoon Shik is a girl. Ghor Oh starts to take more care of Yoon Shik secretly and doesn't tell anyone about this secret, not even to Yoon Shik. And the viewers comes to see that the Hong Byuk Seo is in fact Ghor Oh - Moon Jae Shin. Hong Byuk Seo continues to.appear and the officials try to capture him,.but other than managing to injure him they are not able to catch him as he always runs in to SyungKyungkwan grounds and the entry of official guards inside SyungKyungKwan is prohibited. But they understand that Hong Byuk Seo is a SyungKyungKwan scholar for sure. And officials starts suspecting that one of the Jalgum Quadrants ( Kim Yoon Shik,.Lee Sun Jun, Moon Jae Shin, Gu Yong Ha) must be Hong Byuk Seo.

One time when Yoon Shik has to dress as a women coz of an unavoidable dangerous situation, Lee Sun Jun see him(her) in that attair and from then on starts feeling strangely attracted to him(her). Being attracted to his male best friend puts Lee Sun Jun in confusion and he starts avoiding Kim Yoon Shik and gives more attention to Ha Hyo Eun.
This puts Yoon Shik(Yoon Hee) in pain and heart ache as by now she is in love with Lee Sun Jun...

But after a lot of problems, Lee Sun Jun discovers that Kim Yoon Shik is a girl and then say he can't give her up now.. They gradually become a couple, but then the king asks the Jhalgum Quadrants to find the lost 'Guem Deung Ji Sa'...

Actually this drama has both good and bad sides.
Bad sides are that Lee Sun Jun takes too much time to know that Yoon Shik is a girl. And with an arrogant personality like Lee Sun Jun, we get slightly tired of all the things that happen before he know that Yoon Shik is a girl.
The starting of the drama can be a bit draggy and boring... And it will get in to trach only after a few episodes.

But the characters are all too lovable (all characters except Lee Sun Jun. He is arrogant and kind of a 'too full of himself' type. So we won't really like him.) but all other characters are lovable.

A really nice aspect is the friendship between the characters. The friendship of Kim Yoon Shik and Lee Sun Joon is not that close, but still close type. This awkward formal friendship is what sets their love a platform.
But more than their friendship, it's Moon Jae Shik and Gu Young Ha's friendship that we notice more. These two people's friendship is kind of really cool.

The character of Kim Yoon Hee is quiet good. We feel a lot of respect for her. She is intelligent and cute at the same time. So we feel respect and love at the same time.  :-)

And as I said before, the drama is worth to be watched to just to see Gu Young Ha... :-D

My Rating of this Drama : 8.5/10

My Top 10 Korean Dramas

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