Haha. Don't feel bad or creeped out. My Gen-Z daughter laughs at me fangirling over Dylan Wang since MG, but her…
Haha, I gave myself an out by saying I am swooning over the fictional character they play, not themselves. Which is true, I am really not invested in looking them up or knowing their private lives, as I was when I was fangirling as a teen. I might watch interviews or BTS if something is particularly good, but often it takes me out of experiencing the story. But yeah, I find so many of the Asian dramas are really easy on the eyes in comparison to western media.
Apart from the quality (as was already said, the young school-boy-looking-actors are usually not even actors),…
I agree. I am so over some 20 year old playing an accomplished CEO. I mean, with the age of the FL, who is always an entry-level employee, of course, it would be even creepier if all the CEOs were the age of actual CEOs, but you know, why not make romances for people over 30, over 40 or even over 50. These people have a life too and since many of the native watchers are supposedly housewives, they might enjoy that for a change. I know Korean TV has the family-story/makjang genre for that demographic and Chinese think unmarried people/women over 30 are somehow pathetic, but the complications of the story could also be more diverse and realistically they are different from being 20.
I never noticed that, what I did notice was more younger actors playing older roles, which honestly made me feel a bit creepy, being over 30 myself and swooning over someone I thought must be 29 or 30, but was really 21. I heard that many actors put the age-range they can play rather than their age in profiles when they go to castings, which makes sense with your article.
Ah, if I could only watch shows from one country all my life it would be T-Dramas. They sometimes tell a convoluted story, but the way the characters are drawn is heaps better than anywhere else, who often have switchable templates for character and thus no development. My tip for beginners is to prepare themselves for a tonal shift (ahem hot mess ahem) in the last five episodes. For some unknown to me reason they always use those to redeem the villain and state the moral of the story. I Ir
I am oddly proud of having watched three of the dramas you recommended. I am not an avid JDrama watcher, but the ones I have watched are usually head-spinningly good. My tip would be to not be put off by the often bonkers-looking plot descriptions. The more bonkers, the more the drama is probably trying to something profound about human nature. And because they are short, they are dense and never boring.
Thanks for posting this. Recently my life is too hectic to keep my attention on dramas and I have been searching for movies. I added all these to my list, because I have only watched My P.S. Partner, the raunchyness of Korean movies always surprises me. Lol.
My first Korean Drama was Scarlet Heart Ryeo, after everybody and their grandma posted about it on Tumblr, so it reached me, who was just into Romance in General. My tip to beginners is not to get intimidated by the difference in culture and language and the subtitles. Emotions don't need translation and the acting is mostly good enough to know what's going on even without catching every single line. And there are articles like yours that help those starting out too!
I now actively avoid the "successful guy, aspiring girl" trope, also if the visual is very pastelly and heavy on the filters, because then you already know how this story goes. I find the story is sometimes more interesting in low-budget productions.
I agree. I only ever looked up BTS because I saw him in some variety show looking for behind-the-scenes for another actor and I was like who is The Guy With the Dimples? Still not Army, but I recognize them now.
Because Lee Gun's hair is amazing and it was a tragedy when they cut it.
What?!? I was constantly distracted by a need to put a hair clip on that fringe. I was having secondhand annoyance by how it kept falling into his eye.
Fun fact about Moo Myung from Hwarang: The reason why he had a ton of different unflattering hairstyles in that drama was because the costume designer kept looking for one he would look handsome in and they found none. Considering how well the wig fit some of his cast-members that is just sad. I am surprised that you didn't mention Lee Gun from "Fated to Love You", because that was a satisfying transformation and the hairstyle in the beginning really suited his quirkiness.
Thank you for the article. I didn't have this on my radar, but it sounds like just the thing after a long workday in front of my laptop. I can also recommend the YouTube channel of Liziqi, a Chinese lady farmer, that also is gorgeous and relaxing.
I heard that many actors put the age-range they can play rather than their age in profiles when they go to castings, which makes sense with your article.
My tip for beginners is to prepare themselves for a tonal shift (ahem hot mess ahem) in the last five episodes. For some unknown to me reason they always use those to redeem the villain and state the moral of the story.
I Ir
My tip would be to not be put off by the often bonkers-looking plot descriptions. The more bonkers, the more the drama is probably trying to something profound about human nature. And because they are short, they are dense and never boring.
My tip to beginners is not to get intimidated by the difference in culture and language and the subtitles. Emotions don't need translation and the acting is mostly good enough to know what's going on even without catching every single line. And there are articles like yours that help those starting out too!
What was the Mini-Shows you watched?
I am surprised that you didn't mention Lee Gun from "Fated to Love You", because that was a satisfying transformation and the hairstyle in the beginning really suited his quirkiness.
I can also recommend the YouTube channel of Liziqi, a Chinese lady farmer, that also is gorgeous and relaxing.