Capital Scandal, ep. 01-03

[oyceter]

I know I say this about pretty much everything ever, but this is really the BEST THING EVAR OMG! At least so far!

It's the 1930s, and Korea has been under Japanese occupation for about twenty years. Sun Woo Wan is a playboy and all-around wastrel who doesn't care at all about liberating Korea, but unfortunately, he's briefly mistaken for a resistance member by Na Yeo Kyung, an old-fashioned young woman who is extremely idealistic but occasionally naive. Then there's the gisaeng Cha Song Joo, who seems to be platonic friends with Woo Wan, and Security Force member Lee Su Hyun, who seems nice but has secret backstories and works for the Japanese.

Together, they... overthrow Japanese imperialist rule?

At least, that's what I'm assuming will happen!

Even though this is a historical drama, the draw for me is how different it feels from the few sageuk I've seen (Damo, some of Hwang Jin Yi, some of Dae Jang Geum, one episode of Painter in the Wind, and... does Legend count?). First, there's the fact that it's not set in the Joseon Dynasty! Also, as opposed to what I hear about most sageuk, historical accuracy is... really not the strong point of Capital Scandal. I can see this as being very annoying to some people, but I am mostly enjoying the ridiculous outfits that are supposed to pass as 1930s clothes, the bad swing dancing, and the slapstick.

My favorite outfits so far are the bright red fedora paired with a turquoise suit jacket, the pink fedora paired with an all-pink suit, the fedora made out of what I assume is Korean or Japanese patterned silk, Song Joo's awesomesauce red dress (sadly paired with a pink hat instead of a frothy little red number with a veil), and of course, Yeo Kyung's schoolgirl (?) hanbok and Song Joo's gisaeng hanbok. And Yeo Kyung cross-dressing in suspenders and... formal shorts. And maybe Song Joo's patterned black dress with a slit up to her hip. And maybe Woo Wan's lavender shirt when he is boxing. And maybe Su Hyun's tidy three-piece suits with pastel ties.

shewhohashope has picspam of episode 1!

So far, Woo Wan and Yeo Kyung are the antagonistic slapstick couple. She mistakes him for a resistance fighter! He loses his stash of porn to her! She punches him in the face! She pulls a gun on him! She steals his shirt! He stops her from punching him again! She headbutts him! Also, he takes on a bet to woo Jo Ma Ja (her nickname meaning "Joseon's last woman") not knowing it's the woman who's tried to shoot him twice! And if he loses, he has to become an independence fighter. We all know how this will end...

Cha Song Joo and Woo Wan seem to have a platonic relationship right now, though I have no doubt that they will either pretend to be in love or be mistaken as a couple in order to further the plot. I actually very much enjoy their scenes together, particularly when Song Joo orders Woo Wan to walk Yeo Kyung home or help her out because she's staked several bags of rice on his bet.

Yeo Kyung and Su Hyun so far have one of those "nice guy meets nice girl" relationships, although I think that will change once she discovers he's working for the Japanese!

And Su Hyun probably has the best role so far, since he has angsty backstory not only with Woo Wan (it involves a sepia-toned photograph of DOOM!) but also with Song Joo!

I was a little surprised by what I assume with be the secondary couple (Su Hyun and Song Joo), but once I learned the drama was based on a novel written by the same person who wrote the novel Coffee Prince was based on, I was surprised no longer. As such, I'm guessing there will be a similar dynamic with the ingenue-ish character and the womanizer as the main couple, and the slightly older couple with history having a little more angst. I'm very much hoping that both of them are handled well and am now more confident of this after knowing the Coffee Prince writer is involved.

The bonus I hadn't been expecting was Song Joo helping Yeo Kyung out at times, and I really hope the two of them will get more scenes together. The world-weary courtesan keeping secrets for the idealistic young independence fighter! Awesome.

And I am sure it surprises no one that my favorite character so far is Cha Song Joo.

Spoilers have angsty backstory

OMG! The angsty backstory is so far excellent! First, it involves a trio of people who sit for a sepia-toned photograph. We all know how this ends! Although the twist is that it's three guys (two of them related), as opposed to the usual two guys and a to-be-dead girl. I am dying to know how Su Hyun goes from being an idealistic schoolboy opposed to the Japanese to an investigator working for the Japanese occupation. My guess is that he's of course a secret agent. And! Because Su Hyun's revolutionary activities got Woo Wan's older brother Min killed, Woo Wan becomes a wastrel, although I am sure he secretly harbors pro-independence sentiments underneath his lavender shirt and bow-tie. And Woo Wan's father of course loves Su Hyun more, even though Woo Wan is his actual son and Su Hyun is the son of a laborer on his land, and he makes Woo Wan ask Su Hyun why he's working for the Japanese!

Right now, Woo Wan's father is supposedly pro-Japanese, but I am sure that's a front or something.

And! There were some longing glances in episode 2 between Su Hyun and Song Joo, but the backstory is EVEN BETTER! He is the idealistic young schoolboy who wants to help her when her father sells her to prostitution! She asks him to kill her father and the Japanese loan sharks who bankrupted her family! He says he doesn't have the power to do that but tells her to keep living so she can avenge herself! She GOES INTO THE COURTYARD TO HANG HERSELF and then doesn't because she remembers him telling her to live! And then she presumably KILLS HER FIRST PATRON WHO HAS RAPED HER!

And then! He refuses to acknowledge that he knows her when he brings her in for questioning, and she can't tell if she's disappointed in him or if he's disappointed in her, or both.

Woo Wan and Yeo Kyung are funny and I like them, and I adore Yeo Kyung, and I love that she and her mother kind of collaborate on the whole independence fighter thing, but OMG SU HYUN/SONG JOO OTP4EVA!

I just hope the rest of the drama stays this awesome!

Comments

[troisroyaumes]

I've been debating whether to watch this drama or not because on the one hand, Kang Jihwan!--but then also weird glamorizing of a painful time in history. But your summary makes me so curious! Maybe the lack of historical accuracy is a point in its favor.

[oyceter]

The tone works for me, largely because I am pretty sure everyone is going to end up trying to overturn the Japanese, but I can also see it not working for other people. I also can't tell if it will end in tragedy or not, since the novel it's based on is something like "Capital Sad Story."

[thistleingrey]

This, pretty much--it's certainly recent enough that the writer and PD have No Excuse in terms of changing history (ordinarily, despite my training, I'm happy to grant latitude on adjustments in favor of story if we don't know much about an era+place, but it's harder when people who lived through it are still alive or when there's a lot of documentation). I too am curious, now! If you keep watching and have time to post, oyceter, I'm definitely interested in hearing what you think about later episodes.

[troisroyaumes]

it's harder when people who lived through it are still alive

Yes, this was what bothered me...not so much the politics of the occupation itself so much as the fact that I've listened to people who were alive during this era talk about their lives and their extreme poverty at the time, so it doesn't feel like "history" in quite the same way as a Joseon-dynasty sageuk would. But the story does sound interesting, and I would also like to read oyceter's thoughts on the rest of the drama.

[oyceter]

And unfortunately, as with most kdramas, they focus on the haves instead of the have nots. Well, I think several of the characters were have nots, but they don't seem to be now. And we've gotten several Colorful Lower-Class Characters who exist to demonstrate how kind the heroes or heroines are.

[oyceter]

*nods* So far, I don't know nearly enough to know if they're doing actual history event changing as well as a lot of anachronisms (I tend to think of the latter as sloppy but not necessarily as deliberate re-writing). So... I can't really say? The tone is lighter though. And there definitely is glamorization involved, although most of it seems to be glamorizing the independence fighters, as opposed to the Japanese or the pro-Japanese factions.

And I hit ep. 4 and the tone has now gotten a little darker, although still focused on the independence fighters.

[salinea]

Oooh, I've been watching and loving this drama recently! I'm almost to the ending so I'll try not to spoil you but it's the best thing ever. I think my favourite part is Wan and Song Joo's BFF-ness (and Song Joo is general is my favourite due to how femme AWESOME she is). They're like not!evil!Merteuil and Valmont and are awesome. Not that I don't like most characters and all the relationships between the main four are all full of awesomeness. Also the costumes, especially Song Joo's dresses and the hats. Gotta love a show with such awesome hats. Love the music of the OP too :D
I'm so happy to be able to squee with someone about this! Even if you don't really know me, sorry, got you friended under my LJ as etrangere >_>;; hope you don't mind the squee sharing from random strangers.

[oyceter]

Hee, yes, I recognize you from LJ!

Oooo, I am glad that it seems to stay good so far? I hope the ending isn't weird... I feel a lot of kdramas have weak endings because the more popular ones have an extra episode or so shoehorned in for ratings.

[salinea]

Well, i have three eps left. Will see about any possible weak ending. I'd hate for that to happen to such a good show. I just started watching kdrama in general (well Asian dramas in general, but I selected a lot of historical ones to start off which apparently skew for Korean).

[oyceter]

Ahahaha! Welcome to the world of dramas! I discovered it... wow, a year and a half ago, and was promptly obsessed!

[ciderpress]

I really enjoyed Gyungsung Scandal but it really changed tone completely in the middle of the series, which if you consider the subject matter, was inevitable.

The beginning was so lighthearted and ridiculous and costumes were so much fun and I really liked that as Japanese colonisation dramas go, the female leads weren't passive and completely self-sacrificing. :)

[oyceter]

*nods* Did you like the ending even with the tone switch?

I am kind of sad about the tone switch because I love the earlier tone, but on the other hand, once I learned it was 1930s Korea, not 1940-some like I had thought, I figured there probably wouldn't be a triumphant kicking out of the Japanese...

[wingstodust]

*flails* I love love love this kdrama! And I personally rather liked how the ending all turned out. Plus, Kang Ji Hwan is sooo fine. <3

[oyceter]

He is very cute! But my heart belongs to Cha Song Ju!

[ginny_t]

Well, you've convinced me. I'll check it out. ^_^

[oyceter]

YAY!

[wintersweet]

Well, I'm intrigued...Passed it on to my friend who is in Korea, looking for more dramas to watch (both for fun and to help with language). Sadly, I think having "Coffee Prince" as her first one set the bar too high, LOL. She tried "Boys Over Flowers" and was really disappointed by the way things turned out. She's trying to get her hands on "My Name is Kim Sam-Soon," but hasn't had any luck...

[oyceter]

YAY!

Oooo, Coffee Prince is a high bar!

I like KSS, but it's waaay more flawed than Coffee Prince. And I watched it before CP. The one drama I've seen that so far stands up to and occasionally surpasses CP is Dal Ja's Spring. I really like that it focuses on working women, the heroine is 30-some, the heroes are way less macho, and it's got a lot more female-female relationships. There are moments that are eye-rolling (the Other Women!), but I felt that overall it completely made up for things by passing the Bechdel test with flying colors.

[wintersweet]

yeah, I suffered through "Winter Sonata" when I was in Taiwan (Mandarin dubbing doesn't improve it, for the record), so that only served to make CP even better. :p I'll pass on the rec to her.

[wintersweet]

whoa, I just re-read that! 30-something heroine, really?! I hope I can find this. :p

(Lately my tolerance for manga and dramas with teen heroines or even heroines without real jobs has decreased markedly.)

[oyceter]

Oh, I am so with you about teen protags! I mean, I love YA and manga and all, but sometimes I really would like a protagonist who's at least over 20!

I LOOOOVE Dal Ja's Spring. Like I said, there are occasionally problematic elements, but I just love that it has so much of Dal Ja's work life and that she has female bosses and coworkers!