Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese Dramas. Comparisons.

The title says it all, I think.

I for one have no real preference towards the one or the other. I find that they are so different in so many respects, each enjoyable for its uniqueness, to the point that it is impossible for me even to use the same criteria when writing a review, or judging a show.

I love Japanese dramas because they are usually so surprising. Atmosphere and general feel of them are often over the top, with a hint of surreality which I find wonderful. And true romance has a delicate touch which never fails to enchant me. Rom-coms are not their forte, in my opinion: even those dramas described as such - I'm thinking Hana Kimi, Hana Yori Dango and others - albeit love stories seem to focus on other aspects of life, such as friendship, ambition, and their beloved concept of "Gambatte" which is unique Japan.
Some Japanese scripts are the most brilliant I've ever come across and they are masters at creating suspance/fear.

Korean, on the other hand, do an amazing job in terms of direction, editing, photography. Their sense of aesthetics is incredibly strong and becomes integral part of the story. Their humour is very similar to mine (with mine meaning the one I'm used to in Europe) and I think they are the best in portraying the feeling of falling in love. When good, their dramas truly make me feel with the characters, which means that they do a great job at characterization. And, let's face it, they are at times so good-looking it is distracting! ;)

Taiwanese I've seen less. The most popular ones seem a little too cheesy for my taste and I have a hard time adjusting to their facial expressions and general acting. But I've seen some wonderful Taiwanese dramas too, well acted, emotionally deep and gripping. Speaking with a friend about a romantic drama, she told me something I thought very true: their romance has the feel of classic love stories, it's like reading a novel by Judith McNaught.

I didn't mention mainland Chinese ones because I'm totally ignorant of them, but feel free to talk about them.

I'm eager to learn and look forward to your opinions on the matter of comparison. :)

yuneko wrote: I for one have no real preference towards the one or the other. I find that they are so different in so many respects, each enjoyable for its uniqueness, to the point that it is impossible for me even to use the same criteria when writing a review, or judging a show.

I agree with this (: I do the same thing haha.

And why has only one other person posted in this thread?! I'm reviving your thread Rita :p

I love Jdramas for a lot of reasons. They were the very first types of dramas I started watching - after watching anime and discovering Hana Kimi [2OO7] and Hana Yori Dango I just loved how different they were from American dramas. These days, while I still love those 2 dramas, I don't really care for some types of Jdramas - the ones that have all those cheesy bad special effects. I love anime, too, but while they may fit in an anime - in a live action they just feel cheesy and fake. I do, however, love Jdramas for a lot of other reasons. The romances always feel more real in some cases, I just finished Tatta Hitotsu No Koi recently and the love story between them felt more realistic than a lot of other dramas I've seen recently. Jdramas surprise me, they're short and sweet - and I love the language, Japanese was the first language I really got into and wanted to learn and I always thought it sounded really pretty. They always provide touching stories, as well.

Kdramas I also love, but for different reasons. I love the language, too, I think it's another really pretty language. I've seen a good number of Kdramas and I love them because they're longer, and they tend to have original storylines. I've never really seen any bad special effects in Kdramas, and the acting tends to be realistic. There's also hardly any soundtracks I don't like. Agreed with that their choreography, photography, and direction are really captivating. I also love their humor in Rom-Coms and they always make me laugh (:

Tdramas I started watching around the time I got into Jdramas. My first one was Hana Kimi [Taiwan]. What I loved about the drama is that it was the closest version to the actual manga which I loved [aside from their drop off ending]; and it also had a great soundtrack. I've found that Tdramas usually have very good soundtracks, at least 1 or 2 songs that I'll find myself listening to over and over again. There are a lot of Tdramas that are based off of manga or anime, and while they are really cheesy, the nice thing is that they are the closest to interpreting the actual manga [Hana Kimi, Meteor Garden, It Started With A Kiss] which gets lost in the other versions often [Not that the others aren't enjoyable, but not as accurate]. The acting can be overdramatic at times, but there are good Tdramas out there that aren't based off of manga, too, which are enjoyable (: One thing about Tdramas - there's always so much more kissing compared to Kdramas and Jdramas.

Cdramas - I've only seen one up at this point, and am only 5 episodes into the other Chinese drama I'm watching. Based on these 2 dramas [Bu Bu Jing Xin and Three Kingdoms] I'm thinking bad time transitioning is just a Mainland China thing. Lots of time will pass in the drama, and although it's implied, it really isn't shown and it can get confusing. I've gotten lucky on starting out with 2 Cdramas that have great actors - but I've heard a lot of them have bad acting.

I tend to give all dramas a try - if the story sounds like it'll be good I'm willing to give it a try (:

No problem :D

And me too! I always fall easily back into Jdramas and am hardly disappointed (: And I know what you mean! I was going to stick to Jdramas for a while, too, but then I found Summer's Desire and I've been wanting to watch it for a while but forgot the name to it [haha], and then I started Three Kingdoms...I fail at sticking to something for more than a short amount of time apparently haha. But I know that feeling your talking about, when I first discovered dramas and that enthusiasm, that "wow I can't believe how great this is!" type of feeling - I felt again while watching Tatta Hitotsu No Koi.

When I first started watching I had to share a computer [main reason why I wound up not being able to watch any for a long time haha], but because I had to share I could only watch an episode or 2 at a time, but that waiting I think made it even better - because I truly loved those shows [Hana Kimi, Hana Yori Dango - since they were my first dramas I'll always love them....even though HYD isn't as great as I originally thought it was, I'll always love it haha]. So I know what you mean! Waiting for an airing Japanese drama is torture haha, 1 episode a week really sucks. There are some dramas I find waiting to be bearable, almost welcomed, which pretty much says how much I'm actually enjoying the show haha. Some dramas I just finish because I figure if I made it this far I might as well finish it haha, so watching 2 episodes a week doesn't sound as bad as watching them all at once. If that were the case I'd probably of dropped Heartstrings and Spy Myung Wol haha.

I love discussing, too, I like how RF and I are discussing Summer's Desire...but all the episodes are already out so no waiting each week to find out what happens next haha.