Sungkyunkwan Scandal

Both are historical dramas with some of the best bromance I've seen in dramaland.

Its the same year (era). The King in this movie is Yi San. It's interesting to see other characters involves with the King during that time. Im not sure if these events are fictional tho

Both dramas have a historical setting and female leads disguised as men

SAME: FL is disguised as male to earn money for her family,
setting = prestigious government school for men where FL stays for stipend given and desire to learn
FL is initially hazed/picked on
FL is exceptional achiever among peers with a strong voice for equality across socioeconomic and gender divides
power struggles within school reflect power struggles occurring within country at large

DIFFER:
country of origin: SS = Korean, CAA = Chinese

overall plot development: SS - fairly unified and coherent
CAA - weaker reflection of plot with numerous inconsistencies: particularly FL life depends on disguise as male yet
FL shrieks whenever she sees shirtless men
FL keeps flowered coin purse even after being told it reveals that she is a woman

They are both gender-benders romances. Sungkyunkwan has a better quality, but Love at First Fight is funny and light and might just do it for you if you want to see another gender-bender.

Both are romantic comedies with unique FL and FL is surrounded by cute (hot) boys. Sungkyunkwan Scandal is a historical drama but it is easy to watch and you won't be bored even for a minute.

Probably the most similarly engaging. Four Seasons (although Choyeon is not Mu Deok) in AoS and Jalgeum Quartet in SS. Strong and smart female lead. Emotionally Intelligent characters.

Sungkyunkwan Scandal is set near the end of the 18th century while Rookie Historian is set in the early 19th century.

Both female leads are feminists starting out on the career path of a government official. Said career path is illegal for women throughout Sungkyunkwan Scandal, but newly made legal a few episodes into Rookie Historian.

In Sungkyunkwan Scandal, the female lead is a Sungkyunkwan scholar, which -- to loosely connect the two dramas together -- was a typical starting point in the career path of a royal historian. However, in Rookie Historian, the government is in a hurry to fill the newly legalized positions for female historians, meaning that the women who want to become historians take the civil service exam without ever having attended university, drawing yet another divide between them and their male colleagues.


If you've watched Sungkyunkwan Scandal and wish to see further conceptualization of the career path and feminist movement that the female lead of SS started down, watch Rookie Historian.

If you've watched Rookie Historian and you're curious about what kind of university experiences the female historians might have missed out on during a time when such experiences were forbidden to them as women, watch Sungkyunkwan Scandal.

Zhu Yan Zhi, disguised as a man, seeks to learn martial arts with an elite clan. Once she begins her intense training, Zhu finds herself at odds with her trainer and superior, Liang.

If you want more of Song Joong Ki, you will love him more on this drama.... He's so hilarious on his role here...
Another classic historical Kdrama...

Both are about the same historical era. Several lively young me taking exM. One young girl. Kind of same historical outfit

Cross dressing girl in historical settings. Like in Hana there is whole lot of drama and adventure.