Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung
Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung is a breath of fresh air. It follows strong-willed career woman Hae-Ryung as she gets her dream job and has to navigate complicated castle politics which occasionally puts her at odds with her own personality. Additionally, Hae-Ryung has difficulty getting along with Prince Dowon, who is secluded in a run-down part of the castle, and the two have to develop a believable and endearing relationship.
I really like the characters in this story because all of the characters are fun and follow different character arcs than I would have expected. In another story, for instance, Dowon, who had been locked away and ignored for most of his life, would probably have risen up against the king and forcefully taken the throne; however, this nerd is content to write silly love stories and travel the world. Hae-Ryung has a troubled past and an interesting dynamic with her older brother that I half-expected to go off into the realm of high melodrama, but that’s not what happens at all.
The relationship between Dowon and Hae-Ryung is really interesting to me because they are opposites. Dowon loves reading and writing love stories, but Hae-Ryung would prefer a murder-mystery with a tragic ending. Dowon is very emotional and wears his heart on his sleeve, but Hae-Ryung is more reserved, managing to hide even her bursts of anger. However, they balance remarkably well and are simply adorable to watch whenever they are together. I think they may be one of my favorite drama couples.
The officers of the Office of Royal Historians are all fairly interesting as well. With so many characters pressed together in one space, you would expect it to get fairly homogenous, but most of the historians have distinct personalities that set them apart from each other and create interesting dynamics. They are a clan of historians that would die to protect their mission and their people, and I love it. The royal family is also interesting, I especially love the Crown Prince and his relationship with Dowon, it’s very endearing.
The story itself is very interesting because it is seeded with plot elements that could have taken the story in a very different direction, such as the discovery that the King lead an uprising that killed Hae-Ryung’s father, as well as the previous king. However, despite these seeds, the story maintains an overall light-hearted tone and all challenges are overcome, mostly, quietly. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how to feel about this at first because it felt like everything was falling into place too easily for the leads but I eventually decided that I would rather have a story that is light-hearted and fun with hints of danger than another story where everyone dies because of something that happened in the past.
In the end, this was a very good series that was the perfect length and tone. The characters are well thought out and the story is engaging. I truthfully never felt bored. If you would like a historical drama with an engaging female lead and an unconventional male lead, this one is definitely worth a watch.
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