Star in my Heart Sungkyunkwan Scandal

Some friends from out of state came for a visit the last week-end of October and we had a good time painting the town red. Lucky me, this year I had two birthday parties, one on the actual date with family and the other, a belated one from the visitors and friends..
For the past two weeks I could not make use of my Microsoft Word, I woke up last Monday morning to find the software missing. I certainly did not remove it from my computer, I don’t know how it just vanished into thin air. Unfortunately my friend, the computer wizard was away on a holiday so I had to wait till he came back to reinstall it for me.
Well it’s working now and time for me to get started on the much delayed post of mine. Today I’m going to tell you about two good dramas I saw lately, Star in my Heart and Sungkyunkwan Scandal.

Star in my Heart is an old drama from the nineties whereas the latter is a recent one. Why the oldies you may ask, you see I have finished almost all of the newer dramas so I have no choice but to start on the oldies. I picked it because of the cast namely Ahn Jae Wook, Cha In Pyo, the late Choi Jin Shil (if you remember, she committed suicide) and Jun Do Yun. Ahn Jae Wook sang some very lovely songs in this drama.

This is a classic Korean drama, the evergreen Cinderella story but with an added twist. This Cinderella is not a stepchild, but an adopted one. When the man who adopted her passed away, his wife and two children a son and a daughter, made life difficult for her but our Cinderella here will not take all the bullying hands down and fights back. She even has two Prince Charming on her side, to help transform her life.

Yun Hee, the adopted daughter becomes friends with Min Hee, from a wealthy family who aspires to be a singer despite his father's objections. They eventually fell in love with each other but the spoilt ‘wicked sister’ also had her eyes on Min Hee and tried her best to separate the two lovers.

Through Min Hee, Yun Hee meets his friend, Joon Hee, also wealthy, a top fashion design executive. Joon Hee is attracted to her because she resembles his ex-girlfriend. But being friends with Min-Hee, Joon-Hee will not compete with his friend openly and he leaves it to Yun Hee to make her choice as to who will be her Prince Charming. So the plot weaves around these three lives. If you want to know the ending you’ll have to watch the drama for yourself, to find out, as I’m not telling.

"Wish Upon a Star” has it all – great story, wonderful cast, unforgettable music, fashion, love, hate, dreams, laughter, tears and many memorable moments. That’s why I love this drama though it may be an oldie.
I have enclosed a video of the lovely song ‘Forever’ sung by Ahn Jae Wook from this drama. Enjoy it!
 The airing of the 20^th episode of Sungkyunkwan Scandal recently saw the finale of this charming drama. Being a lover of period dramas, it was only natural that I would follow it. Especially for those of you who have seen ‘Yisan’ you will understand the storyline better. Surprisingly this drama managed to attract even those who were non lovers of period drama. I’m sure that you all must know the reason why? Yes, it’s because of Micky Yoochun  the popular singer, who plays one of the leading roles, Lee Seon-joon. Another reason might have been that this drama was different from other historical dramas in that it was all about the younger generation thus catching the attention of the younger viewers. This drama was adapted from an original novel by Jung Eun-gwol, a bestseller which has sold over 500,000 copies since being published in 2007.


Sungkyunkwan Scandal is set in Sungkyunkwan University in the late Joseon era during the reign of King Jeongjo, revolving around the exploits and love stories of four youths. When her younger brother’s illness worsens and their family is in danger of being evicted from their house due to lack of money, Kim Yoon Hee enters the school under his name, disguised as a boy in her desperation to cure his sickness. There, she becomes friends with the intelligent and upright Lee Sun Joon, the playboy Goo Yong Ha and the rebellious Moon Jae Shin.

 

Everyone was full of praise for the wonderful acting skills of Micky Yoochun. He may be a big star where singing is concerned but he’s still a rookie when it comes to acting and yet he managed to pull it off. It had been different in the beginning; when he was first selected for the part, there was great concern regarding it and numerous simulations regarding the casting floated on the Internet that he who has almost no acting experience whatsoever was chosen to play a leading role in this drama. Well, judging from the very good reception of this drama, looks like he has proven his critics wrong. Let’s hope we get to see more of him as an actor in more dramas to come.

I found the Sungkyunkwan‘s story refreshing and entertaining. What could have been just a mediocre drama about the social, cultural and political issues at that time, turned out to be above average and even managed to come in the top 10 dramas during the time it was aired on TV. Not only that, the track (Found You) also managed to top the charts on Soribada, Daum, and Cyworld. We must also not forget about the rest of the supporting cast as they also played a big part towards the success of Sungkyunkwan Scandal. Song Joong-ki, perfectly reenacted his role as the rich playboy Goo Yong-ha, Park Min-yeong, also pulled off her role as a woman in the disguise of a man easily and here we see her as a bright boy rather than a beautiful lady. Then there’s also Yoo Ah In as the rebellious Moon Jae Shin. They were wonderful in their respective roles.

The romance has been woven into the drama in keeping with the original novel and it sort of makes this drama more inviting and attractive to the non historical/period lovers. Don’t know about you all but I just love this drama! For those of you non historical/period drama lovers, don’t let the setting put you off from watching it. The characters sort of grow on you! If you still haven’t seen it I encourage you to watch it, you won’t regret it!

Special thanks and appreciation to the following:                                             Photos © courtesy
http://kbsworldi.com/vshow_eng.aspx?vshow=194
http://www.koreanmovie.com/Star_in_my_Heart_kdphotogallery_164/