[FRIDAY FAVE/DRAMA RAVE] Why I'm SKK Crazy
If you follow me on TWITTER, you've most likely seen majority of my tweets these past few days with the hashtag #SKKScandal. That stands for the new KBS2 drama Sungkyunkwan Scandal starring DBSK/JYJ's Micky Yoochun/Park Yoochun, Park Min Young, Song Joong Ki, and Yoo Ah In aka the Jal Geum Quartet/Jal Geum Sa In Bang/Joseon F4.
‘Jal Geum’ is slang from the novel the story was based on which describes a man who is so handsome that he can make a woman’s heart stop merely by walking past her.
Directed by Partner, As the River Flows, and Dae Wang Sejong's director Kim Won Suk, this drama is set in the Joseon era and is based on Jung Eun Gwol's novels The Lives of Sungkyunkwan Confucian Scholars 1 & 2.
I have a few friends who are quite addicted to this show but I do think this show needs more coverage and a proper pimping, if you will.
The story begins with Kim Yoon Hee (Park Min Young), the tough, smart young woman that found herself entering the exclusive world of Sungkyunkwan - exclusive in the sense that this school only accepts males who are studying to become the future government officials - in order to support her ill younger brother Yoon Shik and mother. Yoon Hee took on her brother's identity and finds herself in a series of (mis)adventures with the three other members of the dubbed Jal Geum Sa In Bang.
Why yes this whole story sounds very Boys Over Flowers/Hana Yori Dango meets Hanazakari no Kimitachi e meets You're Beautiful meets Coffee Prince but with these adorable four, it's quite easy to love and distinguish them from the modern F4.
Why Joseon F4 rocks my socks
1. They're scholars meaning they're smart, witty, and made of all sorts of awesome.
2. They look mighty fine in hanboks.
3. They're actual softies, especially when it comes to Yoon Hee.
4. They're morally upright individuals who fight for what's right - Yong Ha's kind of questionable though.
5. Joseon F4 aside, I like how the story touches on the issues of right and wrong, leadership, familial duties, friendship, and the hilarious take on love (boy love with one of them being a girl is always amusing).
Now it's time to introduce the other three heartthrobs of the Jal Geum Sa In Bang.
Lee Sun Joon/Lee Seon Joon (Micky Yoochun) is as straight-laced as straight-laced gets. The son of one of the most powerful men in the Joseon dynasty, Sun Joon has all the qualifications to become an amazing leader. Athletic, smart, and good-looking, you can't accuse him of not being a familial and upright person as well.
The only thing he lacks is social skills. Being at the top of the social hierarchy means that he has lived a life in isolation. He starts to change when he met Yoon Hee and he opens up more but he is troubled by his feelings for her because he thinks that Yoon Hee's a guy.
The perpetual poker-faced Sun Joon is played by Yoochun perfectly. But when he smiles, it's really quite a blessing to see and you can't help but want to see more of it. I'm not really a big Yoochun fangirl but he's completely winning me over with this role. If I wasn't such a big Jae Shin x Yoon Hee shipper, I'd definitely want them to end up together.
Now speaking of Jae Shin... this gorgeous, gorgeous "scruffy gentleman" (as Apa puts it) has taken majority of my heart and ridiculous amount of my spazzing. For good measure he gets the most screencaps. haha First one is very reminiscent of Jung Yong Hwa in You're Beautiful a.k.a. the pitiful stalker of the girl, in this case, Yoon Hee. Second, is the surefire way to knock the wind out of me a.k.a. do random acts of kindness towards the girl. Third, the completely sold I'm yours take me a.k.a. stare at me like that and I'd melt.
Nicknamed as Geol Oh (translated as crazy horse) is the wild, rebellious member of Sungkyunkwan and he happens to be the other roommate of Yoon Hee and Sun Joon. After his brother's death, Geol Oh rebelled against his father and claimed that he "died" alongside his brother that day.
After Yoon Hee and Sun Joon entered SKK, a change started to happen to Geol Oh as well. The quick-tempered young scholar started exposing a softer side to him. While he still doesn't smile as much as he should, he begins to open up slowly and accept these two into his life.
Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on how you look at it), Jae Shin is the "Hanazawa Rui" of this group. He is will to do anything for Yoon Hee, he continuously watches over her, and smiles (and hiccups! He only does that around women.) for her behind her back. I badly want them to end up together but I kind of anticipate the heartbreak he's going to inflict on me.
Oh and I swear when he has that hair down in that unkempt manner, he reminds me of Super Junior's Kim Kibum but when he has it up and when he smiles he reminds me a bit of Gong Yoo (who's coming out in a movie looking so dorky and fine at the same time. aksjdka). Don't ask me that's just how I see it. :P Apparently my jellyfish Apa sees the resemblance too
Now if I'm not spazzing over Jae Shin, I'm devoting all my attention to the ever mischievous and gorgeous Goo Yong Ha (Song Joong Ki). I admit I did not pay attention to Joong Ki before when I watched Music Bank but this show completely changed my mind.
The playboy and perpetual plotter of the group, Yong Ha has more than a few tricks and secrets up his perpetually fashionable sleeve. Quick-witted and quite observant, one should never ever cross Yong Ha. Son of one of the wealthy landlords in the era, he grew up in the merchants' area, galavanting and flirting with women, dressing in fine clothes, and knowing the ins and outs of the marketplace (which comes in handy every now and then in the drama).
The thing with SKK is that all the four leads are quite likeable. I really appreciate that. While some may be irked by certain mannerisms of each of the characters, I find all of them extremely likeable.
Take Yong Ha's cheekiness and ostentatious behavior, for example, it isn't portrayed to the point of it being overbearing or annoying. It's just how he is (perhaps it helps that SJK is like his character).
I swear when Jae Shin isn't in the scene Yong Ha makes my heart beat faster. When they're both there, I instantly go into overdrive. Plus the friendship of these long time buds (Jae Shin and Yong Ha have been friends for over ten years) is quite a sight to see. They understand each other so well. Oh and yes the boy love undertones between those two is enough to drive a girl insane. I'm not one for yaoi or anything but these two just work it so well it blows my mind. As Apa pointed out, it is very reminiscent of Yuki and Hatsuharu in the anime Fruits Basket.
I have gifs to prove it from one of my favorite scenes ever...
I'm considering taking time to talk about the antagonists but I think the likes of Jun Tae Soo as Ha In Soo, the student body president, and Seo Hyeo Rim as Hyo Eun (Sun Joon's fiancee and Ha In Soo's younger sister), are enough to drive me mad and just be plain annoyed with them. Plus this entry is getting extremely long. Well, they are antagonists so they're definitely doing an excellent job being evil.
As I mentioned earlier, besides the four leads I find the plot quite interesting. The continuously growing tension between the Norons and the Sorons, secrets from the past (like those related to the King), all the backstage plotting by Sun Joon's father and the King as well. It gets quite riveting in a way that you wouldn't feel bored if the four leads weren't in the scene.
Now, I'm not sure if you were brave enough to read through this or if you got anything out of it. The bottom line for me is that you watch Sungkyukwan Scandal and watch it NOW! :)
*Click on the photos to enlarge them ^^
‘Jal Geum’ is slang from the novel the story was based on which describes a man who is so handsome that he can make a woman’s heart stop merely by walking past her.
Directed by Partner, As the River Flows, and Dae Wang Sejong's director Kim Won Suk, this drama is set in the Joseon era and is based on Jung Eun Gwol's novels The Lives of Sungkyunkwan Confucian Scholars 1 & 2.
I have a few friends who are quite addicted to this show but I do think this show needs more coverage and a proper pimping, if you will.
The story begins with Kim Yoon Hee (Park Min Young), the tough, smart young woman that found herself entering the exclusive world of Sungkyunkwan - exclusive in the sense that this school only accepts males who are studying to become the future government officials - in order to support her ill younger brother Yoon Shik and mother. Yoon Hee took on her brother's identity and finds herself in a series of (mis)adventures with the three other members of the dubbed Jal Geum Sa In Bang.
Why yes this whole story sounds very Boys Over Flowers/Hana Yori Dango meets Hanazakari no Kimitachi e meets You're Beautiful meets Coffee Prince but with these adorable four, it's quite easy to love and distinguish them from the modern F4.
Why Joseon F4 rocks my socks
1. They're scholars meaning they're smart, witty, and made of all sorts of awesome.
2. They look mighty fine in hanboks.
3. They're actual softies, especially when it comes to Yoon Hee.
4. They're morally upright individuals who fight for what's right - Yong Ha's kind of questionable though.
5. Joseon F4 aside, I like how the story touches on the issues of right and wrong, leadership, familial duties, friendship, and the hilarious take on love (boy love with one of them being a girl is always amusing).
Now it's time to introduce the other three heartthrobs of the Jal Geum Sa In Bang.
Lee Sun Joon/Lee Seon Joon (Micky Yoochun) is as straight-laced as straight-laced gets. The son of one of the most powerful men in the Joseon dynasty, Sun Joon has all the qualifications to become an amazing leader. Athletic, smart, and good-looking, you can't accuse him of not being a familial and upright person as well.
The only thing he lacks is social skills. Being at the top of the social hierarchy means that he has lived a life in isolation. He starts to change when he met Yoon Hee and he opens up more but he is troubled by his feelings for her because he thinks that Yoon Hee's a guy.
The perpetual poker-faced Sun Joon is played by Yoochun perfectly. But when he smiles, it's really quite a blessing to see and you can't help but want to see more of it. I'm not really a big Yoochun fangirl but he's completely winning me over with this role. If I wasn't such a big Jae Shin x Yoon Hee shipper, I'd definitely want them to end up together.
Now speaking of Jae Shin... this gorgeous, gorgeous "scruffy gentleman" (as Apa puts it) has taken majority of my heart and ridiculous amount of my spazzing. For good measure he gets the most screencaps. haha First one is very reminiscent of Jung Yong Hwa in You're Beautiful a.k.a. the pitiful stalker of the girl, in this case, Yoon Hee. Second, is the surefire way to knock the wind out of me a.k.a. do random acts of kindness towards the girl. Third, the completely sold I'm yours take me a.k.a. stare at me like that and I'd melt.
Nicknamed as Geol Oh (translated as crazy horse) is the wild, rebellious member of Sungkyunkwan and he happens to be the other roommate of Yoon Hee and Sun Joon. After his brother's death, Geol Oh rebelled against his father and claimed that he "died" alongside his brother that day.
After Yoon Hee and Sun Joon entered SKK, a change started to happen to Geol Oh as well. The quick-tempered young scholar started exposing a softer side to him. While he still doesn't smile as much as he should, he begins to open up slowly and accept these two into his life.
Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on how you look at it), Jae Shin is the "Hanazawa Rui" of this group. He is will to do anything for Yoon Hee, he continuously watches over her, and smiles (and hiccups! He only does that around women.) for her behind her back. I badly want them to end up together but I kind of anticipate the heartbreak he's going to inflict on me.
Oh and I swear when he has that hair down in that unkempt manner, he reminds me of Super Junior's Kim Kibum but when he has it up and when he smiles he reminds me a bit of Gong Yoo (who's coming out in a movie looking so dorky and fine at the same time. aksjdka). Don't ask me that's just how I see it. :P Apparently my jellyfish Apa sees the resemblance too
Now if I'm not spazzing over Jae Shin, I'm devoting all my attention to the ever mischievous and gorgeous Goo Yong Ha (Song Joong Ki). I admit I did not pay attention to Joong Ki before when I watched Music Bank but this show completely changed my mind.
The playboy and perpetual plotter of the group, Yong Ha has more than a few tricks and secrets up his perpetually fashionable sleeve. Quick-witted and quite observant, one should never ever cross Yong Ha. Son of one of the wealthy landlords in the era, he grew up in the merchants' area, galavanting and flirting with women, dressing in fine clothes, and knowing the ins and outs of the marketplace (which comes in handy every now and then in the drama).
The thing with SKK is that all the four leads are quite likeable. I really appreciate that. While some may be irked by certain mannerisms of each of the characters, I find all of them extremely likeable.
Take Yong Ha's cheekiness and ostentatious behavior, for example, it isn't portrayed to the point of it being overbearing or annoying. It's just how he is (perhaps it helps that SJK is like his character).
I swear when Jae Shin isn't in the scene Yong Ha makes my heart beat faster. When they're both there, I instantly go into overdrive. Plus the friendship of these long time buds (Jae Shin and Yong Ha have been friends for over ten years) is quite a sight to see. They understand each other so well. Oh and yes the boy love undertones between those two is enough to drive a girl insane. I'm not one for yaoi or anything but these two just work it so well it blows my mind. As Apa pointed out, it is very reminiscent of Yuki and Hatsuharu in the anime Fruits Basket.
I have gifs to prove it from one of my favorite scenes ever...
I'm considering taking time to talk about the antagonists but I think the likes of Jun Tae Soo as Ha In Soo, the student body president, and Seo Hyeo Rim as Hyo Eun (Sun Joon's fiancee and Ha In Soo's younger sister), are enough to drive me mad and just be plain annoyed with them. Plus this entry is getting extremely long. Well, they are antagonists so they're definitely doing an excellent job being evil.
As I mentioned earlier, besides the four leads I find the plot quite interesting. The continuously growing tension between the Norons and the Sorons, secrets from the past (like those related to the King), all the backstage plotting by Sun Joon's father and the King as well. It gets quite riveting in a way that you wouldn't feel bored if the four leads weren't in the scene.
Now, I'm not sure if you were brave enough to read through this or if you got anything out of it. The bottom line for me is that you watch Sungkyukwan Scandal and watch it NOW! :)
*Click on the photos to enlarge them ^^