The Scandal of Chunhwa: Episode 1 (First Impressions)

3 February 11, 2025February 11, 2025

The Scandal of Chunhwa: Episode 1 (First Impressions)

by SailorJumun

Even in a time of strict traditions, the young folks always find a way to love. And in TVING’s The Scandal of Chunhwa, that’s exactly what one bold princess plans to do. In this kingdom, she’s got a bad reputation and plenty of bad blood, but she’s also got the spunk to take control of her (perhaps spicy?) love life.

Editor’s note: This is an opening review only. For a place to chat about the entire drama, visit the Drama Hangout.

EPISODE 1

The Scandal of Chunhwa: Episode 1

We start off in modern day, in a cozy little bookshop, where a young woman (Go Ara) finds an ancient erotic novel. We dive into the map of said novel, into a fictional place called Dongbangguk, where we’re introduced to PRINCESS HWA-RI (also played by Go Ara). I’ve gotta say, I’ve seen plenty of storybook openings, but never to a 19+ show, heh.

There’s an erotic novel going around, with very detailed pictures, and it’s rumored to be based off of Hwa-ri since the female character looks a lot like her. We don’t know if this is true or not, but Hwa-ri does seem comfortable with the concept of sex, seeing that she’s sneaking peeks at her brother PRINCE HWA-SUNG (Kim Taek) attempting to do business in a brothel.

Hwa-ri is dressed as a nobleman, trying to blend in with the other men taking peeks. And being the typical sister, Hwa-ri is more interested in seeing her bro embarrass himself, even making a bet on it. A passerby who we’ll come to know as CHOI HWAN (Jang Ryul) watches Hwa-ri’s shenanigans with amusement.

The Scandal of Chunhwa: Episode 1

Apparently, Hwa-sung is a virgin and he just wants to get some, uh, experience with a gisaeng before being intimate with the actual girl he likes. Yeah, because that won’t end badly… *shakes head* His girlfriend is a noblewoman named LEE JI-WON (Han Seung-yeon), and as expected, she’s livid when she finds out what he’s doing. She marches over to see Hwa-sung, and though he didn’t go through with the sex, she’s hurt that he would even try.

The whole situation becomes hot gossip, and to get people to quiet down, the king wants both Hwa-sung and Hwa-ri to settle on marriage partners. Hwa-sung is all for it, thinking this is his chance to make it up to Ji-won. He parades over to her residence with betrothal gifts, including a floofy dog, and high hopes. Those hopes are squashed, however, when Ji-won refuses to marry him. The brothel scandal is one thing, but he didn’t even properly propose — it’s like her feelings don’t matter to him at all.

The Scandal of Chunhwa: Episode 1

Back at the palace, Hwa-ri reveals that the only man she’s interested in marrying is her first love PARK CHAE-JOON (cameo by Sung Joon). The king and queen are against this, as Chae-joon is also Hwa-ri’s adopted cousin. To their relief, and to Hwa-ri’s shock, Chae-joon notifies them that he’s already betrothed to another woman.

That night, Hwa-ri’s sister PRINCESS HWA-JIN (Do Yoon-jin) tries to console her, but Hwa-ri can’t believe that Chae-joon would betray her like this. Hwa-ri remembers when she and Chae-joon were together and he told her that she was the most pretty and precious person to him. Trusting in those memories and the love she saw in his eyes, she’s determined to go out and talk to him.

I’m not entirely invested in Hwa-ri’s storyline here, which is sad since this whole drama is supposed to be her story. But I feel like I barely know her, and the drama is trying to force all this emotion out of me when I’m not there yet. And the same goes for Hwa-sung and Ji-won — they’re getting a lot of screentime, yet there’s no substance to latch onto, no reason to truly care about what’s happening.

The Scandal of Chunhwa: Episode 1

Speaking of which, Ji-won’s brother LEE JANG-WON (Chani) notices that Hwa-sung is still outside of their residence. Hwa-sung is on his knees, waiting for Ji-won to come out, and I will admit that it’s cute to have him looking like a sad puppy while he’s kneeling next to the actual puppy he brought as a gift.

Ji-won leaves Hwa-sung hanging for most of the night, until she has a heart-to-heart with her mother. Ji-won then leads Hwa-sung out to a private room, and there, she tells him that she’s ready to forgive him. She’s also ready for something else… She takes his hand and places it on her breast. Though he’s initially hesitant, Hwa-sung accepts her invitation with a kiss.

And so begins our first love scene. I’m cool with these kinds of scenes and even appreciate a little awkwardness if it’s meant to serve the story. But this is just awkward-awkward. It’s filmed to look delicate and romantic, only for it to cut to the servant outside, blushing at the noise they’re making. The tonal shift is a weird choice, one that makes me want to fast-forward.

The Scandal of Chunhwa: Episode 1

With the help of Hwa-jin, Hwa-ri is able to sneak out of the palace and meet with Chae-joon. The first thing Chae-joon does is hug her, which only confuses her further. It’s clear that he cares about her, the memory of them as kids fresh on his mind, but he insists that they can’t be together. Hwa-ri refuses to accept that — she tells him to meet her at the port the next morning, so they can run away together.

Hwa-ri waits by the port all night, as promised. While Chae-joon doesn’t appear, the mysterious Choi Hwan does, recognizing her as the nobleman from before. Then Hwa-ri’s oldest brother CROWN PRINCE SEUNG (Sohn Woo-hyun) appears to bring her home, saying that Chae-joon won’t be coming. And to really put the nail in the coffin, he explains that he knows this because Chae-joon is the one who told him where she is.

With that, Hwa-ri falls to the ground and weeps, realizing that it’s truly over. Elsewhere, a teary-eyed Chae-joon finds the flower ring that Hwa-ri gave him when they were kids. The ring falls apart, along with their chance at love.

The Scandal of Chunhwa: Episode 1

A lot happened in this premiere, and I don’t exactly know what to do with it. I understand the whole Hwa-ri situation, since her broken heart is clearly a catalyst for her search for love, but it felt so hastily put together simply for the sake of having an emotional backstory. At least, now that that’s out of the way, maybe now we can get to the fun? Because our introduction to Hwa-ri crossdressing as a nobleman was actually quite enjoyable. I want to see more of that Hwa-ri — confident, sassy, with no filter.

I’m also curious to see where the other storylines go, considering we have so many characters. Who is this newcomer Hwan, with his adorable amused smiles? How will Hwa-ri get involved with Jang-won? Will Jang-won being Ji-won’s brother create chaos within the two families? And who has been painting these erotic novels with Hwa-ri’s face? There’s still plenty of potential here and, judging by these love-hungry royals, plenty of spice to come.

The Scandal of Chunhwa: Episode 1

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1 latebloomer

February 11, 2025 at 4:17 PM

I loved the opening scene in the bookstore.... But once the story within a story started, I felt there were too many unrelated things going on. The erotic novel seems like glittery wrapping paper on a story that's otherwise quite humble. The princess wants to marry for love, and the the first man she loved rejected her. Now the town's Romeo and richest man is courting her - but is it for love? Or social advantage? So many little elements are rushed or implausible, especially the princess's nighttime adventure at the end of the second episode. It feels like most of attention went into the text and sexy drawings of the erotic novel, and the rest of the story lines are loosely drawn around it and tied together with erotic moments. I like Go Ara, but she doesn't have much to work with here.

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2 Kurama

February 13, 2025 at 4:43 AM

The first made me wonder if I opened the wrong file. What the library of Goblin was doing in this sageuk.

For now, Hwa-ri is just a rich and privigiled princess. She has a lot of freedom, walking alone everytime wherever she wants.

I found super weird to want to see the first night of your own bother. I mean in general it's weird but a member of your family? Beurk.

I have no issue with sex scenes if they make sense with the story. In the first 2 episodes, there were a lot of them and I would have prefered they developped the characters before...