My first dramas were korean and oh boy!, the cultural shock was rather intense: no physical contact whatsoever even with family and close friends (no hugs, no handshakes...), excessive drinking and eating, loud talking, gestures (finger hearts, pinky promise: never saw them before!), strict hierarchy based only on age, the importance of looks/beauty (Hello! We just met! You are so beautiful/handsome!), chaebol impunity (corruption on all levels), expensive health care (no social security apparently!), all-powerful netizens, suicides because of loss of face (the number of characters jumping off a building is staggering!!!), kids inheriting dead parents/siblings(who had jumped off a building!) debts.....and I can go on and on about cultural differences between my country and Korea. When I expanded my watching into other asian countries, the cultural shock was over and I just expected things to be different and found those differences normal! Great article but it focuses mostly on Japan (thanks for the recs, btw!)! Would it be possible to expand upon it with more examples from other MDL countries or do you just watch mostly japanese dramas?
Thank you! I'm still not sure how my view of the show can be so different from almost everyone else's - maybe…
I keep falling into the trap of highly rated reviews, believing that so many people cannot possibly be wrong! Then I watch the series and realize that, oh yes, they can be very wrong! Maybe it is that we are not the target demographics or, more likely, we need more than just fluff in a drama! But I know that I can always read a balanced view in your reviews, so thanks for that and keep it up!
This guy loves long, very long silences and flashbacks of the events that just happened in case we were not paying attention!🤣🤣🤣Somebody tell him that that is not directing!
Very intense. Hard to binge. And I am a binger!ðŸ˜ðŸ¤£
I really like the FL. I know I am a tiny minority here, but I appreciate her way of speaking the truth bluntly and without sugar-coating it! We live in a difficult and cruel society, everyone is in their little bubble, not wanting to know what is going on outside of it. People like FL are precious and needed to pierce through those bubbles!
For me it's two things: the sheer volume of alcoholism in Korea/kdramas, and how very dangerous levels of drinking…
Drinking! OMG! I remember when I watched Something In The Rain: it was my 3rd or 4th asian drama, ever - and it struck me that these people drink and eat constantly, always extreme amounts. Drunk people are considered cute because, I was told, the alcohol loosens tongues and they are more honest! Really!?!? And another: the whole ritual of drinking with your superiors and the way they get furious if you dare refuse a drink from them (even when it is for health reasons!). This here was a major cultural shock for me when I started watching k dramas!
She is beautiful znd a good actress but why can't I finish any of her dramas? I keep dropping them after 3 epispdes! Every single drama of hers I started, I dropped!!!!
DISCLAIMER/ This is just my opinion so the anime/manga fans, please, allow me not to like this and here is why! So if you are called Sadako because you look like a horror character, since 4th grade, why don't you change your hair or your attitude (stop looking at the floor all the time, lift your head up and tie your hair or something)? The whole premise is too artificial to be credible or even interesting!!! Maybe anime and manga are better, but this...no thank you!
I'm off! She takes out the heavy artillery to treat an almost invisible scratch?!?!? Accompanied by a heavily romantic music!!!! Please, give us a break! This is so bad! The FL is annoying, the ML is a wimp and it is so superficial: beauty is the most important!
Really fun and funny short drama. Definitely worth the watch! The ending is not the kind of happy ending I was hoping for; they probably wanted to make a 3rd season but never got around to doing it, so it is all left a bit open! Never mind! Still a fun watch!
nicola yoon and tj klune are neither asian or of asian descent. nicola yoon is jamaican-american and married to…
Thank you for the explanation. I should have checked details about Nicola Yoon. My bad! I know TJ Klune and I mentioned it in my post. Thank you again for correcting me!🥰
Interesting article. Thank you for book recs. But I misunderstood the title since these books are all written by authors of asian origin writing about asia. Except the last one. I was actually hoping to see some more non asian books that would be a good match for a korean drama....
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Great article but it focuses mostly on Japan (thanks for the recs, btw!)! Would it be possible to expand upon it with more examples from other MDL countries or do you just watch mostly japanese dramas?
I really like the FL. I know I am a tiny minority here, but I appreciate her way of speaking the truth bluntly and without sugar-coating it! We live in a difficult and cruel society, everyone is in their little bubble, not wanting to know what is going on outside of it. People like FL are precious and needed to pierce through those bubbles!
This here was a major cultural shock for me when I started watching k dramas!
So if you are called Sadako because you look like a horror character, since 4th grade, why don't you change your hair or your attitude (stop looking at the floor all the time, lift your head up and tie your hair or something)? The whole premise is too artificial to be credible or even interesting!!! Maybe anime and manga are better, but this...no thank you!