A paean to Sungkyunkwan Scandal
I've realized that the kdrama I've rewatched most is Sungkyunkwan Scandal - and yes, I went for another select rewatch this weekend, and have just finished, leaving me misty-eyed with a huge grin and the warmest feeling in my heart. I've rarely found a drama more suited to my tastes - a period drama that balances traditional and fusion, that is youth-oriented without being infantile, and a drama that gets its points about friendship, gender equality, learning about life and yourself, and love without being preachy. It sounds silly to say this about a drama set in an 18th-century Korean university, but it reminds me of my own college days :)
It is also the rare drama where I loved every character, even tertiary ones like President Evil's flunkies, even if some of them I loved to see lose :) And Yoon Hee was such amazing heroine - smart, fierce, proud, an odd mix of unworldliness and hard knocks, funny, vulnerable, distrustful, wonderful.
Each of the characters had their learning arc and I loved Yoon Hee's - allowing herself to use her talents and learning to view herself as equal of the men, but also allowing friendship and love into her heart.
And then there was Lee Sun Joon, who is in second place for my favorite kdrama hero ever (first place being filled by Song Tae Ha from Chuno. Interestingly, I pretty much find Sun Joon a younger and luckier Tae Ha. I have a type). I loved everything about him - his lack of any real life savvy, his dead-pan humor, his intelligence, his social awkwardness and learning to interact with others, the way he treated Yoon Hee both before he fell in love with her and after, but above all, I loved his unshakeable idealism and integrity worn proudly on his sleeve. Conscience combined with will to do right no matter the cost is beyond sexy.
I could go into Yong Ha and Geol Oh and the rest, but we'll be here all night...
I have loved sageuks since (Tree with Deep Roots!) but no sageuk has made me this simply happy since...
His speech in this scene melted me so much, it's insane...
And her speech in this...
Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh. Darlings!
Bring on that Yoochun/Han Ji Min fantasy time-travel sageuk/romcom!