[K-drama] Goong S (궁S)

Title: 궁(宮) S
Also known as: Palace S|Princess Hours S|Imperial Household S|Goong Special
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Episodes: 20
Broadcast period: 2007-Jan-10 to 2007-Mar-15

Rating:


Summary:
Now Goong S is sometimes considered to be season two or the second part to Goong, but it pretty much makes no connection to the Goong at all.
The main character for Goong S is Lee Hoo/Kang Hoo, he is next in line for the throne after the queen, who is in her late 30's had has no children of her own. However, Lee Hoo's birth was a secret and he was raised outside of the palace. He is a bit of a punk and is brought into the place to be trained as the heir. There is competition for the throne, Lee Joon, who has been raised as the next in line by his influential father. These two 'battle' it out in a series of tests.
After watching Goong, I was really looking forward to this when it was announced. This was because originally there were plans for a Goong 2, with the cast from the first season returning. But that never happened.
Instead we go this...Which was seriously a letdown. Pretty much the creators where just trying to juice Goong for everything it was worth. They tried to make it just like Goong, but with enough differences for them not to be the same. I liked the tests that the queen put Lee Hoo and Lee Joon though, but other than that the rest of the series was pretty much a bore. One thing that does set this drama apart from most others is that the personalities of the two male leads are backwards, for Goong S Lee Hoo is mainly a nice guy, while Lee Joon comes off as the jerk.
It's been awhile since I actually watched this, so I'm a little fuzzy on exactly what happened. Plus I tried to block quite a lot of it. Mainly Shin SaeRyung. I get that every Korean drama has the same make up, she was the bitchy second female who's after the male lead. And usually I can find something good about this type of character, but I didn't find anything about her in the least good. Through the whole drama she just keeps playing with Lee Hoo and Lee Joon.
Something I did like about Goong S was Lee Hoo, he was really sweet and I liked how he developed though the series. I also really liked the queen. It would have been nice if she had a few more scenes in it, but from what little I saw of her, she was a very strong character.

Characters:
Se7en as Lee Hoo / Kang Hoo
Heo YiJae as Yang SoonAe
Song YongShik as Lee Joon
Park ShinHye as Shin SaeRyung

Lee Hoo is a punk who worked at a Chinese delivery restaurant until he found out he was the next in line to be king of Korea. His mother left the place to protect him and he was raised in secret.
Lee Hoo is a bit of a complex character. He is very determined, but he also doesn't want to become the king all that much. It takes him a majority of the series to finally take the tests seriously, which makes him a little annoying when he's constantly running away and being dragged back. But he's pretty funny when he's trying to be a player, hitting on all the rich girls who clearly have no interest in him. That's just his outer shell though, deep down he's a total sweetheart.
I was actually pleasantly surprised to see that Se7en's acting was really good. Quite often when a singer starts acting it can be pretty bad, at least in older drama (but that could be the fact that they're older as well...). But Se7en was really good in this, pretty much the main reason I finished Goong S. This is the only thing he's been in and I really wish he would do some acting again.

Yang SoonAe was Lee Hoo's classmate and became a palace maid. She's charged to look after Lee Hoo and Lee Joon.
In all honesty, because it's been awhile, I can't really remember much about SoonAe. She's very strong willed and wants to make a living for herself and really enjoys working in the palace. However she getting pretty annoyed with Lee Hoo in the beginning, because they were classmates he constantly picked on her and bothered her while she was trying to work. On the other hand, Lee Joon is very kind to her and she eventually wants to become his maid, even though she has a crush on Lee Hoo.
I don't really have much to say about Heo YiJae. I thought she was pretty good in there. Quite funny!

Lee Joon was raised by his demanding father, thinking he would be the next in line for the throne.
At first Lee Joon comes off as a cocky jerk, who has a burning hatred for Lee Hoo. But that was only because he had his position taken from him, which he knows isn't Lee Hoo's fault, but he doesn't have anyone else to take out his hatred on. His father is also very demanding, which makes Lee Joon also quite competitive. Despite all his problems, he is always very nice to SoonAe and SaeRyung, and becomes deeply hurt when SaeRyung breaking up with him to pursue Lee Hoo.
I really liked Song YongShik. He has this air about him that really fit Lee Joon's character, making him give off a very princely vibe. He also has a gorgeous voice and smile!

Shin SaeRyung was originally Lee Joon's 'girlfriend', who starts to go after Lee Hoo when she finds out Lee Hoo is to be the next king.
Like most secondary female characters, SaeRyung is full of ambition for her own good and will do anything to reach the top spot of queen. She helps Lee Hoo during the tests with Lee Joon while secretly cheering for Lee Joon as well. Through the whole drama she is constantly jumping between the two of them.
This character really made me dislike Park ShinHye to the point that I really didn't want to watch You're Beautiful because she was in it. But of course after seeing her in a few other roles I realize that she was really in this, since she was able to make me dislike her so much.

I can't really remember any other characters that really stood out to me. The queen, played by Myung SeBin, was great. And Cheon HoJin plays Lee Joon's father. I really like Cheon HoJin a lot, and this is one of the only roles where he's played a jerk that I've seen, which makes me love him even more.

Theme Song: