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Red Flag vs. Green Flag: The Perfect Drama Boyfriend
Have you ever watched a whole drama just to realize the only thing you remember from it is the fluffy pet? Or been tempted to watch a drama for the sole reason of seeing a screenshot of a kitten?
For as long as humans and dramas have existed, so has the 
presence of pets in Dramaland. Though we have not researched the first appearance of a pet in Dramaland, we assume they showed up before Lee Min Ho's haircut became iconic, before ramen meant anything else than noodles, before dramas where shown in color, yes even before the creators of Netflix were probably even born, that is how long these adorable creatures have fluffed up people's screens with their presence.
Pets have been casted for more or less anything imaginable, from being just there to look fluffy, as an excuse, to either move the story forward or divert it, set the mood, enhance a situation, eye candy; they can also be a wingmen as those mentioned in the article Ultimate Wingmen: Kids and Pets of Dramaland.
We dare to argue that the pets of Dramaland leave a lasting impression and can even make an otherwise mediocre show worth watching.
The more we think of it, the more we realize that our addiction to Asian dramas has blessed us with not just drop-dead gorgeous and talented humans, but also a showcase of adorable pets in some of the most beloved and not so beloved shows, since having the pets as a part of the narrative is a different level of appeal that we usually find too irresistible, and will probably add a star or two to its ratings.
In this editorial we will mention some of Dramaland's most interesting interactions with pets, as we try to cover many species, functions and personalities, because we plan to make sure you never watch a drama without looking for its pet… So get ready for some fluff!
*Rabbits from The Untamed
Look I'm nice to animals, so I am kind and trustworthy, definitely NOT a villain at all!
For some reason animals have the effect of making people seem trustworthy, thus making viewers and characters potentially lower their guard whenever they see a person care for animals on screen, and can either enhance the goodness or make a person change their mind about the person.
“The belief that animals can “read” people is as prevalent in dramaland as it is in real life: good-hearted characters are always shown noticing and caring for animals”(Drama Beans)
In Summer Again Tong Xi (Ni Ke Xin) accuses Lin Nan Yi (Chen He Yi) of being a hooligan, but when she sees that he has actually saved a kitten the tone changes completely. This was also the scene that actually got me (Shiro) to start watching this drama, to begin with… just look at that fluff.
Do Hyun Jin / Lee Young Eun (Nana) in Kill It happened to injure this cute little cat while driving, by adopting it we get a window into her compassionate and caring side. The same is assumed by her for the male lead (Jang Ki Yong ) who also cares for abandoned animals. As said by Nana’s character :
“Those animals in there are strangers too. Seeing how you take care of them, I bet you are warmhearted.”
However, do not let the care fool you. Sometimes writers actually use the care of animals to throw people off from the real killer. As seen in several Thrillers: in Bring it on, Ghost where the villain is a vet shown to care for animals, in Mouse the villain is shown saving a cat and in While you were sleeping the person feeding the cats is actually poisoning them. All scenes have made us forever doubt people's kindness towards animals.
Killer pets
While most pets are sweet, cute and fluffy, the cats in The Cat are more of the killing kind (but for a good reason). This movie does give the cats acknowledgment along with a clear message - be nice to them or they might just kill you. Who is a scary little kitty? Well, those are….
Another killer pet is Vincenzo’s Inzaghi, who kills to protect his person. We admit Inzaghi is somewhere between pest, pet and wild animal but seeing how he both got fed, bothered and protected his human, we decided he is a pet.
However, as we stated earlier, killer pets are actually pretty rare. Most pets are nice and even the deadliest ones will surely be nice to those who treat them well.
Look who's talking animal edition
We love it when the pets get a voice even if we may not be able to fully interpret what our pet is thinking, but most people who live with a pet will testify to communicate with them, just not with words. In the following dramas, the writers did give the animals a voice but made it accessible only to the viewers. Showing us how frustrating it must be to have your master unaware of your thoughts.
Most memorable
When you remember the name of a pet as the only name from the drama you just saw, you know that the pet stole the show. This one not only has the best dialogues, but also a great sense of humor and the most fluff ever to be seen on screen. Need we look for another reason to fall in love with this fluffy creature (Er Miao - Enny’s favorite Dramaland pet from My Dear Guardian) ?
A cat by nature and a human by emotions, Er Miao is undoubtedly a screen stealer but more importantly, a pet we all would want, for who wouldn’t want a caring, hygiene loving, style and relationship advisor as a pet? Bonus: this pet will also warn you about the danger around. Unfortunately both in Dramaland and in real life, many pets get punished instead of praised when they try to warn their owners about the danger ahead. We as viewers even get both frustrated and envious of these owners who have such lovely pets without even knowing.
 "I'm out of here have fun" |  "The two childish buffoons" |
 Totally immersed in dreamland. Let´s pick up where we left off tomorrow... |
Most unlucky
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the unluckiest (in life, not pet ownersh
ip) pet owner of them all? Is it Mimi's owner Ra Ra (Go Ah Ra) or Bustler's owner Sae Woo (Jung Ryeo Won)?
Another one from our favorites list, yes we may be obsessed with talking pets, not denying, not even the slightest… what is not to love, fluff, frustration (try talking without anyone listening), and fun (yes we are also obsessed with words that start with the same letter)?
Mimi from Do Do Sol Sol La La Sol supports her owner who has literally lost everything : her father, fiance and finances. Mimi stays with her, being one of the cutest Dramaland creatures... a white moving ball of fluff, another screen stealer and absolute form of cuteness, a dog that can play piano, talk (which one is more surprising? anyway), deal with an unlucky owner and of course, help her with her love life. The perfect pet… who has everyone goes aww !
For all of you wanting more of Mimi here are the behind the scenes
Bustler's (Wok of Love) owner is a strong contestant, literally about to give up on life, but the one here in most pain is probably Bustler himself. He is the sweetest yet bitter horse ever to be seen on screen. And for good reason, he is growing old, he is sick, his family has gone bankrupt and he is in desperate need of an operation. His owner loves him more than she loves herself, but as you can see below she is nearing the end of desperation. But the love between these two goes straight through the screen with or without dialogue.
To protect and serve….
There are so many ways a pet can protect a human, be it by sound, force or just their sheer presence. Some of the most memorable (not yet mentioned) pets that protect and serve are Tuti in I Told Sunset About You and the goose from Poisoned Love. Tuti may look cute and fluffy in these gifs, but if anyone comes too close Tuti will most definitely try to chase them away, protecting her loved ones while still staying the adorable fluff ball she is.
To be perfectly honest we do not really remember the goose's name (sorry)
Speaking of comfort,what is a little terminal illness if you finally get to adopt a dog? In 1 Litre no Namida 14-year-old Aya's (Sawajiri Erika) body has started to act strange when she stumbles across this adorable little abandoned puppy. Her family has always been clear on not allowing to adopt any animals because of the family business. However, knowing they are about to have to tell their daughter she has a terminal illness, the parents in this family agree right away to adopt this little pup, leaving the siblings and Aya wondering what is going on.
Last but not least among the pets who protect and serve is this adorable corgi from While You Were Sleeping, there to keep officer Han (Jung Hae In) company, try to chase away villains and mess up his apartment. Hey, it gets lonely at times… and a dog has got to do what a dog has got to do. This little charmer is "almost" as charming as his master.
 |  "He took a huge dump again in the kitchen" |
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Even if our owners are in love, that doesn’t make us friends …
In some dramas, mortal enemies in the animal kingdom are forced to share a space, enhancing the enemy to lover trope and becoming a side story of their own, as in Falling Into Your Smile where these poor, poor fishes are forced to share a home with not only one, but two hungry kittens (ok one cat and one kitten).
Pet to lover...
Human or pet, sometimes it is hard to know the difference. While many pet owners may feel that a pet is a part of the family, these dramas take this notion in a slightly different direction. But do not worry we are not writing about bestiality (sexual relationships between humans and animals) but about fantasy and pets that can transform into human form. Cool right?
Both Meow, the Secret Boy and Catman involve romance and a cat who can transform into a human. But there is where the similarities end. The Cat in Catman was a human to begin with, but has turned into a cat due to some unfortunate (or are they?) circumstances and spends half his day as a cat and the other as a man. While Sergei / Hong Jo (Kim Myung Soo) in Meow, the secret boy was born as a cat, ages like a cat and has limited time as a human. Even though Hong Jo looks like a man, his mentality is very much that of a pet and not a human adult, making us question how healthy this relationship actually is. But it is interesting how anything seems to go in Dramaland.
Photos: three on top Meow, the secret boy, two on the bottom Catman
Another
similar fantasy addition to Dramaland is Make a Wish where a cat from Meow Planet located in a parallel world gets trapped on Earth, and to go back she must repay Yu Chi Yan (Ren You Lun) by fulfilling his heartfelt wish. A series of hilarious encounters ensure the beginning of an unconventional romance. Even though this drama doesn’t promise an out-of-the-box plot, you will find yourself smiling most of the time. The acting by our rookies in Dramaland is absolutely believable and enjoyable, and with lots of screen time for cats, this one is a must-watch for cat lovers.
From men who turn into cats, to cats that turn into men, to alien pets, now we move to those who just act like pets… kicking fantasy out of the picture (we mean drama) : in Kimi wa Petto (2017) Goda Takeshi (Shison Jun) is in need of a place to stay and agrees to pretend to be a pet for Iwaya Sumire (Iriyama Noriko) only to fall in love? The writer seems to pass of this relationship as perfectly normal and non-problematic (even though we doubt it ...the show argues that he is just like any other person...). We would here like to remind viewers not to treat humans as pets (unless it is role play, and that is fine, we do not judge), however this does make for some unusual drama and an interesting plot to follow.
The pets that are only there to look fluffy...
In Fall in Love with a Scientist, there is a cat, you may not have noticed it, it is barely mentioned and feels like it is only there as part of the interior design...
Here these two are having a conversation, the cat is just there, I honestly do not think we actually get to hear the cat's name in the entire drama. They keep talking, nobody mentions the cat, it is as if it is just there to show that the guy is actually a nice guy that can cuddle with fluffy pets.
To be fair, this cat did serve as a Jewelry box as well...
The pets that do not need furr to feel fluffy
In Forever and Ever we get to see the most adorable pair of crabs (yes you read right). After the lead couple have had their first date the male lead (Ren Jia Lun) buys a pair of crabs that no one else will want to buy outside the hotel where the female lead (Bai Lu) is staying. This shows his compassionate and slightly odd personality, helping viewers understand his character. These crabs serve several different purposes for the plot showing them as attentive “parents” who share the care, but they also seem to follow the relationships twist and turns in the most interesting way.
My Girlfriend is an Alien : To be honest we do not really know what
to call this little turtle, is it a turtle or an alien or a robot, we are not really sure but it is definitely cute and the makes a perfect pet that is both company and source of information (or you may call life savior) it can also camouflage as a pet turtle and robot, hence serves as the perfect bridge over to our next section about the pets without a pulse.
Pets without a pulse…
From the pets that are just there as objects to, to pets that lack fur the furless objects that seem like pets (some with the help of magic) like this little cutie from The Untamed who has more personality in his extremely thin body than many side characters do in dramas.
These robots from Love Scenery, Go go Squid 2: Dt. Appledog's Time, Our secret and Blood (pictures below in that order) may not have any fur or be very fluffy but they are just the cutest little characters ever, and had a much bigger impact on both plot and viewers than many other lovely pets.
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Some honorable mentions...
The movie You're So Precious to Me is about a little girl who neither can see nor hear and can only feel thanks to the sense of touch, this beautiful movie shows several interactions between her and animals and you can see by her smile just how precious these moments are for her. |
In Be Loved in House: I Do we get to see this adorable cat, who gets to show it's personality throughout the show and is force to be reckoned with, moving both the plot along as well as getting it's subject to go look for it.  | Though many so-called Pet Shippers were covered in the lovely article we mentioned above, we wanted to mention this little pup who probably should get full credit fo |
" The cat does not like to get wet"It is important to have an excuse to share an umbrella as a cold male lead... Here comes the pet in Under The Power to the rescue!  |
Another honorable mention goes to the butterflies in Nevertheless, not only where they are part of the new iconic pick-up line (after ramen) “do you want to go see butterflies”, but also tattooed and made into art. These beautiful butterflies actually managed to give comfort to this wounded soul.
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I (Shiro) wanted to adopt the giant snake and monster dog in The Untamed. Don't you just want to take them home, give them nice grooming and all the love they deserve? Untamed monsters, it is not your fault you are used by bad people…
I (Enny) on the other hand would rather adopt a rabbit, of course because I find them super cute and also because it counts as a more practical choice.
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Last wof… (JK) Last words from us Enny and Shiro
We have tried to show a glimpse of the enormous diversity of pets found in Dramaland, with an ambition to be the fluffiest editorial on MDL ever to be published. We know there are a lot more pets, robots and humans that turn into animals out there, all worth mentioning but all good things must come to an end, and so will this article.
We understand that this editorial may give people the idea that stealing a pet from Dramaland is the best choice when it is time to extend your family. Even though we understand you, we however do not take any responsibility for that and must remind you that you aren't supposed to be thinking that way ( and even if we agree with you, that doesn’t make us both right !), so... Behave!!
And that's about it... please don't forget to tell us about your favorite Dramaland pet or most memorable pet interactions from Dramaland (or life...) because we'd love to hear about these cuties... Also do let us know what you thought about this article... We'll see you again through words with some other interesting idea. We hope you had a good time reading this article.
A special thanks to the editors!
Edited by: SumiTheCat (1st editor)
