but who gonna play Xiao You/Yuki/Ga Eul? TBH I only watched BOF/MG/HYD for Xiao You/Xi Men, Yuki/Soujirou and Ga Eul/ Yi Jeong couple. I couldn't care less for the main plot. I thought they were an annoying couple.
Also hopefully this will revive all the BOF/MG/HYD fanfiction I used to read in middle school. There used to be thousands before the fansite shut down.
A fucking gem in Kdramas. I can't imagine any of the dramas I've watched without him (and he's been in ALOT of dramas that I've seen). It's honestly surprising that he has only been continuously active since 2011 because I see him everywhere. If he had been striving to get rolls since his 20s, I am honestly disappointed in the amount of dramas that he could have been in. Imagine him acting since 2000!
I love Pinnochio will ALL MY HEART. It's one my favorite dramas, but I will agree with you that the romance is pretty meh.
Granted I am one of those drama watchers who don't watch it for the romance and instead what I personally think is the actual plot (like how you mention City Hunter and Love Me If You Dare).
BUT HOW IS BOYS OVER FLOWERS NOT ON THIS LIST?? It wasn't my first Asian drama, but it was my first Korean drama and I had basically forced myself into watching it because my whole family was watching it together and I didn't want to feel left out.
TO THIS DAY I am still upset that the second couple - So Yi Jeong and Chu Ga Eul - didn't get enough screentime and I will probably forever be a lifelong shipper. If anyone knows some good SoEul couple fanfiction let me know. Please, I'm begging. After LoversUnparralelled shut down I haven't been the same person.
I'm gonna be honest. The main reason why I don't watch a large amount of JDramas is because it's like they are permanently stuck in the 90s. Before I decide to watch a JDrama the first thing I look for is not the plot, but the hair style of the guy, because honestly, SPIKY HAIR NEEDS TO GO. LIKE YESTERDAY.
If the drama comes out before 2010 then I forgive the hair, but after that. WHY?????? Why do they all look like they're in a Visual Kei band???????? I can't take it seriously.
The girls look absolutely normal, but the guys all look like they just started their emo phase.
Can't forget the So Yi Jeong and Chu Ga Eul aka SoEul couple from Boys Over Flowers. They were the only reason I kept watching that show. I couldn't care less for all nonsense going on between Gu Jun Pyo and Geum Jan Di.
sometimes I still type that in by accident. Muscle memory screws me over a lot.
But my first drama was the 2007 Taiwanese Drama Romantic Princess and I watched that on youtube. EVERY EPISODE WAS SPLIT INTO EIGHT PARTS. IT WAS SO DIFFICULT. I just wanna say thank you to LimeSubs back in 2008 youtube, who subbed every single drama I watched. Without them I probably never would have found my love for asian dramas.
I used to use websites like mysoju, sugoideas, and I still use dramafans if I feel like it.
Why do so many people like the Queen Dowager??? I'm only on episode 9 but I still hate her. She hasn't actually…
She has to be the most realistic character tbh. she makes decisions based on what is going on right now, and doesn't think about future consequences, and then when issues come she will try to fix it to the best of her ability.
When it come to dramas I favor Taiwanese dramas.I'll skip point 1 because that was never a priority for me when I started watching a drama, so for reason 2. I personally don't think Japanese acting is bad per say. It's just that I decide to do the dumb thing and watch a drama based on a manga/anime. What usually happens in these dramas is ( I guess the opposite of number 5) these characters will do actions that are extremely over the top and are exactly like what the anime character would do. It makes me uncomfortable because its just so cheesy, and I don't watch dramas for the cheesy-ness. I guess, the people who complain about J-dramas being to realistic can go and watched some anime/manga based dramas. For number 3, I honestly don't care about cinemetography. I do enjoy it, but it's not what I came to watch the drama for. I know some people where this is a requirement for them to actually watch any drama, causing them to missing some really amazing dramas before 2009 in any of these countries. Among the big three (Japan, Korean, and Taiwan, I prefer Taiwanese dramas, and only as of recently, similar to Japan have they been focusing on cinematography. Number 4. *sigh* this is actually one of my issues with Japanese dramas. There was this drama called "Date". I think it came out 2015. I absolutely loved it, but then the last episode came along and then it felt like they were just rushing to end it, causing it to have a mediocre ending. I think it had 10 episodes, but I think one more would have done it to really polish up the ending. Tbh, I feel like some Korean dramas are just too long. I was watching Decendents of the Sun, and by the time I got to episode 14 I kept thinking "okay, this plot is unecessary. This is starting to be a waste of my time." So I love short dramas, but only if done really well. For the realism, thats what I watch dramas for, so I'm good with that. A lot of Korean dramas these days are dabbling into sci-fi, and as a hardcore sci-fi fan, it's just been a hot mess. Thank god for Japanese dramas, with their realistic plots. As for romance, I just don't care about that either. When a drama has a great plot I tend to ignore the romance, and honestly get so upset because the romance overshadows the show. This isn't a drama, but I felt that way for The Legend of Korra. I was so sick of the romance I actually got sick of the show. As for the idols, I am a fan of Japanese solo artists, so "idols' don't really matter to me.
Stuck in a time warp. I'm going to have to agree with this one, but not for the same reasons as Hallyuback. As a fan of J-pop and J-drama, it almost seems like these media cultures are in different worlds as of reccently. When watching MVs technology is very up to date, and so is the fashion, and sometimes when I watch dramas it seems like the characters are still dressed in fashion from 2005, everyone is using bulky flip phones (while having tablets??????) and are driving in outdated cars. WHY IS THIS??? It always confused me and pulls me out of the drama.
I completely agree with You Who Came From The Stars and Reply 1997. I don't necessarily thought the plot was boring for You Who Came To The Stars, but IT JUST MADE NO SENSE. As a sci-fi fan, I'm okay with bending logic, and when this drama came out I was interested in seeing a korean spin on the sci-fi genre, but it honestly made no sense. I watched all the way to the end to see how they would fix all the messed up plot points they made to no avail, WHY DOES ALIEN BOY HAVE ALL THESE POWERS HUH?!?!?
As my friend always says, "he could have been a fucking fairy and this drama would have made more sense."
I have this same issue with Descendants of the Sun, where there was too many unnecessary plot points that came crashing down on them. In fact I find both dramas to be similar, where the only thing people are watching for is actually the romance between the characters.
As for Reply 1997, I couldn't get past episode 2. I started because all my fave idols were in it, but It was just extremely lack luster for me, and I did not care for any of these characters with their petty high school issues. Then my friend made me - forced me to watch Reply 1988 and I wanted to claw my eyes out. I just....no. The School series is just soooooo much better. Funny enough, I have a friend who hates the School series and loves the reply series.
As for Master's Sun, it's my problematic fave. I love it soooo sooo soo soo much, I think the female lead as a character is hilarious and the romance is too beautiful, but just like My Love From Another Star, and also another one of my problematic faves, Secret Garden. THEY JUST DON'T MAKE SENSE. I'm still wondering as to why touching him makes the ghosts go away..I - I- I just don't understand. Someone help me understand. You mentioned Oh My Ghost, but to be honest, I just couldn't get past episode 3. I like dramas that pull you into the action quickly and then taper off near the middle, and Oh My Ghost had a strong start, but then kinda died out for me. It reminded me of a very slice of life type of show that just happens to have a ghost.
It is my firm belief that Kim Eun Sook needs to stop writing kdramas, because they all either make me hate them so much or become my problematic faves.
Also hopefully this will revive all the BOF/MG/HYD fanfiction I used to read in middle school. There used to be thousands before the fansite shut down.
Granted I am one of those drama watchers who don't watch it for the romance and instead what I personally think is the actual plot (like how you mention City Hunter and Love Me If You Dare).
BUT HOW IS BOYS OVER FLOWERS NOT ON THIS LIST?? It wasn't my first Asian drama, but it was my first Korean drama and I had basically forced myself into watching it because my whole family was watching it together and I didn't want to feel left out.
TO THIS DAY I am still upset that the second couple - So Yi Jeong and Chu Ga Eul - didn't get enough screentime and I will probably forever be a lifelong shipper. If anyone knows some good SoEul couple fanfiction let me know. Please, I'm begging. After LoversUnparralelled shut down I haven't been the same person.
If the drama comes out before 2010 then I forgive the hair, but after that. WHY?????? Why do they all look like they're in a Visual Kei band???????? I can't take it seriously.
The girls look absolutely normal, but the guys all look like they just started their emo phase.
sometimes I still type that in by accident. Muscle memory screws me over a lot.
But my first drama was the 2007 Taiwanese Drama Romantic Princess and I watched that on youtube. EVERY EPISODE WAS SPLIT INTO EIGHT PARTS. IT WAS SO DIFFICULT. I just wanna say thank you to LimeSubs back in 2008 youtube, who subbed every single drama I watched. Without them I probably never would have found my love for asian dramas.
I used to use websites like mysoju, sugoideas, and I still use dramafans if I feel like it.
Stuck in a time warp. I'm going to have to agree with this one, but not for the same reasons as Hallyuback. As a fan of J-pop and J-drama, it almost seems like these media cultures are in different worlds as of reccently. When watching MVs technology is very up to date, and so is the fashion, and sometimes when I watch dramas it seems like the characters are still dressed in fashion from 2005, everyone is using bulky flip phones (while having tablets??????) and are driving in outdated cars. WHY IS THIS??? It always confused me and pulls me out of the drama.
As my friend always says, "he could have been a fucking fairy and this drama would have made more sense."
I have this same issue with Descendants of the Sun, where there was too many unnecessary plot points that came crashing down on them. In fact I find both dramas to be similar, where the only thing people are watching for is actually the romance between the characters.
As for Reply 1997, I couldn't get past episode 2. I started because all my fave idols were in it, but It was just extremely lack luster for me, and I did not care for any of these characters with their petty high school issues. Then my friend made me - forced me to watch Reply 1988 and I wanted to claw my eyes out. I just....no. The School series is just soooooo much better. Funny enough, I have a friend who hates the School series and loves the reply series.
As for Master's Sun, it's my problematic fave. I love it soooo sooo soo soo much, I think the female lead as a character is hilarious and the romance is too beautiful, but just like My Love From Another Star, and also another one of my problematic faves, Secret Garden. THEY JUST DON'T MAKE SENSE. I'm still wondering as to why touching him makes the ghosts go away..I - I- I just don't understand. Someone help me understand. You mentioned Oh My Ghost, but to be honest, I just couldn't get past episode 3. I like dramas that pull you into the action quickly and then taper off near the middle, and Oh My Ghost had a strong start, but then kinda died out for me. It reminded me of a very slice of life type of show that just happens to have a ghost.
It is my firm belief that Kim Eun Sook needs to stop writing kdramas, because they all either make me hate them so much or become my problematic faves.