1. Find a reliable streaming website. I would recommend either DramaFever or hulu because they stream good-quality dramas...legally. The downside to these sites is that there are going to be ads during the show (unless you buy premium membership on DramaFever), but for me the quality is worth it. I particularly like using DramaFever because it provides
ratings and reviews for each drama on its website, so it’s quick and easy to pick ones you want to try out. In addition, if you make an account, the site lets you
put dramas in a “queue” so that you have a list of all the dramas you’re
interested in. It also keeps track of which episodes in a particular series
you’ve already seen.
2. Have an open mind. Don’t watch a Korean drama expecting an Asian version of American
TV. While South Korea’s entertainment culture is similar to that of the United
States, there are still a lot of cultural differences between the two
countries. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and accept what happens
without questioning it too much. The more dramas you watch, the more accustomed
to South Korean culture you’ll become, and the easier it’ll be to appreciate
the dramas.
3. Learn to read subtitles. A
lot of people cannot stand subtitles, so they are discouraged from
watching anything foreign. All Korean dramas are going to be in...well...Korean, so you
can expect some juggling between the action onscreen and the subtitles
below. I usually handle subtitles by quickly reading the entire line of text and
then watching the actors do whatever they’re doing.
That way, I can have in my mind what they’re saying while still being able to enjoy what’s
going on in the scene. Of course, sometimes you’ll miss things, but with enough
practice and patience, dealing with subtitles is a breeze.
4. Marathon-watch. Whether you want to or not, you
will probably develop a habit of locking yourself in your room with a stash
of empty bottles (think Aviator) and
a mini fridge in order to watch hours of kdramas uninterrupted. I prefer marathon-watching
because sometimes I forget certain details if I have to wait a week or two to
catch a new episode. Also, in a week's time any excitement or suspense over a
cliffhanger has usually somewhat dissipated. In general, though, I'm oftentimes just so intrigued by a drama
that I simply can’t stop watching it. You may think that sounds crazy, but if
you start watching kdramas you’ll quickly see what I mean. They’re addicting.
5. Embrace clichés because kdramas have a lot of
them (I’ve already made a post about one). There are going to be many marriage
contracts, awkward co-ed living situations, blind dates, “surprise” kisses, and
wealthy heirs with horrible American accents. It’s kind of like how you get a bunch
of side dishes (banchan) with any meal you order at a Korean restaurant—it’s a package
deal.
6. If you haven't already...stop
reading about watching kdramas and go watch some!
I recently completed the original Vampire Prosecutor,
and my initial reaction after finishing the show was simply: wow. I wrote a first impression of the
show a few weeks ago, and now that I’ve finally finished it, I can say that
it did not disappoint.
Synopsis: The drama follows Prosecutor Min Tae Yeon and his special investigation team as they solve various crimes in the city. The catch is that Prosecutor Min is a vampire, and he uses his vampire abilities to help him solve seemingly unsolvable cases. As the drama progresses, some of the cases seem to be linked to the existence of other vampires in the area, and Prosecutor Min works to not only find these other vampires but also to find the truth behind his own mysterious vampire past.
What first grabbed me about this drama was the unique way in
which it was shot. The cinematography in the show is highly stylized, and it
remains that way throughout the series. With a fancy smorgasbord of
reverse action shots, image superimposition, and flashbacks, viewers will
witness something that’s rarely seen in kdramas—innovation.
Some neat shots:
Now, I know what you’re thinking when you see the title
Vampire Prosecutor:“UGHHH not
another Twilight.”
I have to admit that I was a little skeptical, too. I’ve gone through my fair share of vampire books and movies, and I was not too keen on picking up
more of the same thing, but Vampire Prosecutor is completely different. In
fact, the vampire elements in the show play more of a background role. The drama puts more emphasis on the various individual crimes than on the overarching vampire "whodunit" story.
Prosecutor Min in vamp mode
Of course, this changes near the end of the drama when some of the elements from the vampire story begin to come together, but
the drama mainly sticks to the crime scenes.
In addition, these vampires are not your relatively benign,
Twilight vampires.
These vampires kill…a lot.
If you have a weak stomach, then this show is probably not
for you. There is a generous helping of fairly
graphic scenes in the drama, and while the protagonist himself does not drink blood from
living humans, the other vampires in the show do. There’s also a lot of
blood in general associated with the crimes they investigate. For me, though, those elements just added to the realism of the show and made it all the more intriguing.
Another great thing about the drama was the characters. Not
just the main group of investigators, but also the side characters and enemies all played an important role in the drama. Even though many characters were only around for one episode, the storyline fleshed out their stories so beautifully
that I felt I knew them almost as well as the protagonists.
The only negative thing I have to say about Vampire Prosecutor is that the ending did feel a bit rushed, but everything else was spot on.
Overall, I would highly recommend checking out the series, especially for horror/mystery fans. You will not be disappointed.
We’ve all had one. That one relative who’s always breathing
fire down our necks because we’re not good enough. The one who criticizes what
we eat and who we date. The one who thinks that the only people good enough for
us are those of equal or higher social status. The one who meddles in our
affairs and sets us up on blind dates. Yes, dear readers. I’m talking about that person: the evil mother/grandmother
in the family. Or maybe that’s just in Korean dramas.
I don’t know what possesses all the mothers and grandmothers
in the Kdrama world, but there is almost always
an evil mother/grandmother in any given Kdrama. I have no idea if
that’s a cultural thing or just something Korean drama producers picked up and went wild with, but in any case, it makes me glad I don’t have one.
These mothers and grandmothers aren’t just mildly unpleasant
or grouchy, either. They’re downright sinister. Perhaps one of the worst cases
of evil mother I’ve ever seen was in the drama Secret Garden, a romantic comedy about a rich male heir and a poor
stuntwoman who swap bodies and fall in love with each other.
...I
know that storyline sounds like somebody was snorting something illegal when
they wrote it, but it’s a really good drama...I swear.
In the drama, the male protagonist's mother despises the fact that her son has fallen in love with a stuntwoman, and she pulls repeated antics throughout the show in
order to separate the two. She even threatens to destroy her own son’s career. If that isn’t the definition of an evil mother,
then I don’t know what is.
I do not come across evil grandmothers as
often, but they’re still lurking out there. One of the most recent ones I came
across was in the drama Rooftop Prince. The male protagonist's grandmother ends up working
with the evil daughter/sister in order to get rid of her grandson’s love
interest, Park Ha. In the drama, the evil grandmother is somewhat subsumed by
the even more evil daughter/sister, but the grandmother is still
controlling and oppressive throughout the drama.
So there you have it. If you didn’t learn anything else from
this post, you at least now know that all the evil mothers and grandmothers in the
world are located in South Korea.
As most kdrama fanatics probably know, the popular
drama Arang and the Magistrate just finished airing last weekend. A historical
fantasy about a female ghost searching for her killer, this show essentially
combined all of my favorite things.
It had drama, romance, action, mystery, magic, suspense,
folklore, comedy, and Lee Jun Ki…need I say more?
The man in command
In terms of story, Arang and the Magistrate did a fantastic job of leaving viewers guessing while still giving up enough clues to keep the story engaging. Nearly every episode ended with a nail-biting cliffhanger, and even when I thought I had everything figured out, there were still twists and turns in the plot up until the very end.
What really made this show for me, though, were the intricate relationships between the characters. There was, of course, the main relationship between Arang and the magistrate, which slowly developed into a full-blown love story by the show’s finale.
There was also the endearing bromance between the magistrate
and his manservant, as well as a romantic side story between the manservant and
shaman Bang Wool.
In addition to those, we had the truly heart-wrenching and tragic
story between Arang and Joo-wal, who was Arang’s love interest while she was alive.
We also had the touching relationship between the
magistrate and his mother, which was a relationship I think most people can
relate to.
There were certainly more relationships in the drama than these, but that’s just to give an idea of how important characterization
was in this series. There were no “throw away” characters. Each one contributed
in some way to the overall plot development.
I have to be honest and say that Arang and the Magistrate came across as more of a melodrama than a historical horror/comedy in the sense that there were many heartbreaking moments filled with
passionate sobbing. This was not just limited to the female characters, either.
More than once I saw Lee Joon Ki’s crying face…and it was not the most
attractive thing in the world. It was nice, however, to see the actors really
get into their roles.
Overall, Arang and the Magistrate is by far one of the best
dramas I’ve seen, historical or otherwise, and I would highly recommend it.
Just in time for Halloween, the Korean drama Vampire Prosecutor
has just released its second installment, Vampire Prosecutor 2. Partly in honor
of the season and partly out of morbid curiosity, I decided to check out the
first rendition of this horror melodrama.
The show is 12 episodes long and has a primarily episodic
format, with each episode focusing on a different case (or cases).
When it starts, we’re in the middle of a high-speed car
chase, wherein the criminal is a mysterious, hooded figure driving a truck. We
eventually discover that this hooded figure is actually a vampire, and amidst the scuffle between the vampire, the prosecutor, and a third party in the chase, our prosecutor gets bitten.
Fast forward to the future, and Prosecutor Min has developed
some unique vampire abilities that help him solve crimes using victims’ blood. His eyes change to a steely blue color and he grows fangs whenever he uses
these abilities.
For the remainder of the episode, the story focuses on two cases. In the first case, a woman who appears to have been murdered is found to have actually committed suicide. In the second case, Prosecutor Min and his team investigate a
murdered orphanage girl.
The second case affects Prosecutor Min in particular
because, at first sight, the girl looks like she was bitten by a vampire. She
has two holes in her neck and her blood is nearly drained.The investigators later find out,
however, that this murder is not all that it seems, throwing in a twist at the
end that’s sure to disturb viewers…in a good way of course.
The show also has its comedic moments:
I don't think this particular scene is meant to be funny, but I mean, a random half-naked guy comes out of nowhere and starts fighting our hero...I couldn't help but bust out laughing.
Another thing about this drama that stands out is the
unique cinematography. There are a lot of jerky camera cuts, image
superimpositions, and reverse motion shots, which really add to the horror/criminal investigation aspects of the show by creating a highly-stylized, disorienting presentation of events.
A drop of blood in slow-mo
Reverse motion: the blood drop reforms itself
The lighting in the drama is also notable. The whites
in each scene appear to be enhanced, giving the drama a very bright, surreal feel.
To compare it to an American TV series, I’d say Vampire
Prosecutor is something like True Blood meets Criminal Minds. It’s disturbing,
suspenseful, and eerie with a hint of the supernatural. If you’re a horror fan,
I would highly recommend checking it out.
In America, the 90s marked a decade of massive
technological, economical, and social change. It was the era of teenage pop
groups, the first mobile phones, portable CD players, Tamagotchi pets, Furbies,
StarCraft, and the all-time high-grossing film Titanic, just to name a few. I
myself am a 90s kid, and I can’t help but feel nostalgic when I think about how
different life was back then. I was young, innocent, and optimistic, and the
world was a completely different place than it is now.So much happened in the 90s that it
would be difficult to cover it all, but the 2012 Korean drama Answer Me 1997
does just that.
It may seem odd, even impossible, that a TV show focused
on Korea's 90s could elicit such a distinct feeling of nostalgia in a
full-blooded American citizen, but that’s part of what makes the show so good.
Even though it is based in a foreign country, many of the emotions and cultural
changes are the same.
Just to give you an idea of how smitten I was with this
show, I managed to watch all 16 episodes in less than a week despite schoolwork
and other commitments. I was, in a word, obsessed, and after you’re done
reading this post, you’re going to be obsessed too.
Answer Me 1997 has a really unique format that grabs your
attention as soon as it starts. In the first episode, we’re at a 2012 high
school reunion, and we’re introduced to a group of six friends.We’re told that two of those friends
are announcing their engagement that evening, and then we’re transported 15
years into the past, to the year 1997, to see how it all happened and to find
out who is getting engaged. The rest of the series flips back and forth between
the late 90s, when the group is in high school, and 2012, as they all remember things from their teenage years. The drama keeps you in suspense until the last few
episodes as to who all the couples are, and along the way you get to see how
each member of the group grows and matures.
The high school reunion
If you thought that South Korea was a conservative, culturally backwards country, then you have been very, very misguided. South Korea's culture is actually very similar to that of the United States, even back in the 90s. As proof, here are some of the show's major themes:
Pop groups
The girls in the drama are obsessed with boy bands, and
interestingly enough, the 90s boy bands of South Korea were very similar to
those of America. The drama features boy bands H.O.T. and Sechs Skies, whose American
counterparts would be something like the Backstreet Boys and N*SYNC. They even have rivalries between the fans of different groups. We’re also briefly introduced to the girl group Baby V.O.X., which vaguely resembles the Spice Girls.
Fan rivalries: on the left we see Sechs Kies fans and on the right we have H.O.T. fans
H.O.T.
Baby V.O.X
First love and first
heartbreak
The happy couples we see at the 2012 high school reunion weren’t always that way. Answer Me 1997 shows us the ups and downs in their
relationships as well as how they finally ended up together.
Technology
We also see the first mobile phones,
StarCraft (which was evidently extremely popular in South Korea), portable CD
players, Tamagotchi pets, and the infamous dial-up internet connection.
Tamagotchi!
StarCraft
Family Dynamics
Family plays a central role in this drama. We get to relive experiences like sending kids away to college for the first time as well as coping with things like family tragedy. The drama also shows how family members in Korea interact. The story, which is primarily centered in Busan and Seoul, depicts the typical "Busan" family, including the use of the Busan dialect.
Watching the Korea soccer match against Japan
The drama even covers homosexuality:
There are also some pretty neat connections made between the past and current Korean legends, something I only discovered after looking those particular characters up. In one scene, we see a slightly overweight, young baseball player practicing. When he turns around, the subtitles translate his jersey name as "Lee Dae Ho." After looking up his name, I found that Lee Dae Ho is now a famous Korean baseball player.
In addition, one of the friends in the group is actually an ex-member of the 90s Sechs Kies boy band. In one scene he's watching himself in a music video, but in the drama he's just a normal character. Pretty cool, eh?
Friendship
Last but not least, we get to see just how strong, and long-lasting, some friendships can be.
As you can tell, I really, really enjoyed this drama. Even
if you’re not a 90s kid, do yourself a favor and check this drama out. I’m
positive you’ll find something to relate to.
