Sungkyunkwan Scandal is a story set in the late Joseon era where it is illegal for a girl to be educated. Kim Yoon Hee's brother is gravely ill and she has to work to put food on the table and afford his medicine. She works as a scribe (since they didn't have printing presses or printers, all books, texts, etc. were done by someone rewriting it by the stroke of a brush) but has to take up her brother's identity while doing so because it is illegal for a girl to be literate. Tragedy occurs when the debt collectors come and Yoon Hee's family doesn't have the money, they say, either give us the money, or give us the daughter (Yoon Hee) so she could marry the Minister of War (which is the lord that they owe the money to). Desperate to not be forced into such a marriage, Yoon Hee decides to take on a job that would give her more money but is extremely risky. Plus, if she as a woman gets caught, it would practically be a death sentence.
The job is to pass cheat sheets to students taking an entrance exam to Sungkyunkwan University during the actual exam. Unluckily for her, she passes the cheat sheet to the wrong person; worse, it's an incredibly self-righteous and noble person, a person who is also hailed as a prodigy for being a genius. Lee Sun Joon, after the exam, chases after 'him' (he believes Yoon Hee is a man) to turn him in, yet all he gets out of his long chase is that he finds out where 'he' works at. He devises a clever plot that involves him asking for 'his' services at the place 'he' works. Events happen, yada yada yada, and it turns out that Lee Sun Joon planned for 'him' to actually take the exam and be let in (Lee Sun Joon saw potential in Yoon Hee's intelligence). With no way out, Kim Yoon Hee takes on her brother's identity as Kim Yoon Shik and is forced to attend Sungkyunkwan
This drama had a wonderful cast and it was as much a joy to watch the two supporting actors (Song Joong Ki and Yoo Ah In) as it was to watch the leading ones (Micky Yoochun and Park Min Young). Yoochun's acting was a little on the stiff end, but you could say that his character was a very 'stiff' person. Frankly, the role was made for him.
Like I've mentioned in my review of Coffee Prince, I love gender bender stories because there's that element of loving a person for who they are 'in the inside' and going against what you've been brought up to believe and going with what your heart says is right. In these gender bender stories it's always the male lead who gets the short end of the stick, but we wouldn't have it any other way. This story is almost like Hana Kimi by the fact that not only is a girl dressed up as a boy attending an all boy's school, but is also living with the object of her affections in the same room!
I also cried in this, because apparently, I'm a little crybaby.
I give it a solid 5/5.
- Title: 성균관 스캔들 / Sungkyunkwan Scandal Genre: Period, romance, comedy Episodes: 20 Broadcast network: KBS2 Broadcast period: 2010-Aug-30 to 2010-Nov-02 Air time: Monday & Tuesday 21:55 Soundtrack: Sungkyunkwan Scandal OST
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