Article contributed by Jasmina Demirovska
Are you looking for a new Korean drama to binge? Then you have to take a look at SKY Castle if you haven’t already!
SKY Castle (SKY 캐슬) is a 2018 drama that aired on JTBC and is currently available on Netflix. It has the second highest ratings in Korean Dramas, with The World of the Married being number one, and has even received multiple awards. The main topic revolves around the education in Korea, as the children want to enter the top universities in Korea: Seoul National University, Korea University or Yonsei University, thus the abbreviation SKY. By entering one of the top universities, Koreans ensure a high-paying job more easily, as grades are one of the most important factors in the job search. But applying for university is not only the applicants job, it takes the energy, motivation and support of the whole family, which the drama shows ever so perfectly.
The drama focuses on Han Seo-jin and her daughter Kang Ye-seo, who wants to study medicine at the SNU. Han Seo-jin would do anything for her daughter to get the best possible education, so she hires a private tutor to help Ye-seo. Han Seo-jin herself quit her own job when she found out that she was pregnant, so she could take on the role of a mother. The viewers quickly learn that the mother’s role in this society is to get her children to be as successful as possible, and going so far as to compete with the other mothers. A mother only is successful herself, if her child enters the top university and gets a high-paying job afterwards. If the mother does not succeed or lets her child do what it wants, she gets shunned from the society in which Han Seo-jin and her family live in, namely the SKY Castle.
The SKY Castle itself is a luxurious private residence in which Han Seo-jin, her family and other families live in. Each family has the same goal as Han Seo-jin, so SKY Castle is offering these families the best environment by providing them with big halls, libraries and so on. One of the fathers, Cha Min-hyuk a law school professor, is leading the book club of the Castle, so it seems like everyone is trying to support the children as best as they could. However, they do not support the children but rather brag about their knowledge and hope that their own children can showcase the best answers during their discussions. So even within the Castle the parents try to outdo each other and are highly competitive and even ruthless. Some children adapt to this lifestyle and start competing with others themselves, such as Kang Ye-seo. She is the top student at her school and is never content with her own self. Other children, such as her sister or Cha Min-hyuk’s twin sons are rather sick of this behaviour and try to satisfy their parents while also just having fun with their friends, as any normal teenager would.
This competitiveness and bragging leads to a lot of humour during the series, so watching it is pretty fun and interesting, even though the topics are rather serious at times. Also, it brings in some kind of freshness, considering that the series also touches upon topics like suicide, death, emotional abuse and abandonment. It is exciting and funny, as well as enlightening at times, revealing some of Korea’s societal issues when it comes to education.
Another reason to watch this drama is the great acting. Han Seo-jin is played by Yum Jung-ah, Lee So-im, probably the nicest mother of the neighbourhood and the mother of top student Hwang Woo-joo is played by Lee Tae-ran. Yoon Se-ah is portraying the character of No Seung-hye, who is married to the law school professor Cha Min-hyuk (Kim Byung-chul), but unlike his harshness towards his sons, she genuinely loves her children and tries to protect them. Oh Na-ra plays the very funny role of Jin jin-hee and best friend of Han Seo-jin. The, as I see it, creepy role of the private tutor Kim joo-young is played so wonderfully by Kim Seo-hyung, who can apparently stare you down like no one else could. This character is a real villain, and the actress did a great job.
If you are a Kpop fan, you might also start watching this drama because of SF9’s member Chani (Kang Chan-hee), who plays the role of Hwang Woo-joo, a very sweet top student. Also, AOA’s member Kim Chanmi appears briefly in one episode.
I personally liked the fact that Kim Dong-hee had a role in SKY Castle, because he did such a fantastic job in the Netflix Original Extracurricular.
한번 보실래요? Do you want to give it a try?
