Musings on the Jdrama

"Or, A Short Chronological History of my Experiments with Jdramas"

If I consider my discovery of Kdramas to be recent – as in barely a year and a half ago – then my introduction to Jdramas was barely a moment ago. I had no conscience that they even existed just half a year back. It wasn’t until I was scouring articles about Kdramas on the blogosophere that I ran into mention of these curious beings known as Jdramas or J-doramas or doramas.  But like the young and fresh thing I was, I figured what could be cooler than expanding my horizons just a little bit? I perused a giant list of recommendations from Koala’s Playground, and going by what plot synopsis seemed interesting – because I had no earthly idea who any of the actors were, I chose Nobuta wo Produce.

Will any drama ever again capture such a beautiful friendship??

Could there have any been any better introduction to the world of Jdramas? I think not. I cheered, I cried, I raved, I told every blogger I knew to hurry up and watch this. I roped my husband into starting his first Jdrama, and thereby watched it TWICE within just two weeks.

Next on my hit-list was Hana Kimi, a little quirky (okay let’s be honest: it was totally quirky) but priceless, and again I’ve already watched it twice. I followed it up with a romantic option: Tatta Hitotsu no Koi, and wow did I sure love its slow boiling story and sweet OTP.  Then to make sure I didn’t become too one-genre centric, I watched Bloody Monday. I like a good thriller. By the way, did I mention that every single one of the above mentioned dramas also boasts a pretty cast. Eye candy, people. Never underestimate good eye candy.

Business plot lines aside, you have to admit, this drama
did have some fairly nice romantic scenes.

Unfortunately, like all great things, there comes a time when the honeymoon period ends. I didn’t hit rock bottom all at once, but the next round of Jdramas became increasingly less appealing and less entertaining overall. They weren’t duds necessarily, but they were definitely approaching the dud territory, had a certain amount of charm not saved the day. 

I’m talking about Love Shuffle, Pride, Buzzer Beat, Rich Man Poor Woman (pictured right). They hit a right chord somewhere, were otherwise kind of meeh. See my individual reviews for each of these for more clarification about what I mean.

Warning: The Ranting Begins Soon.

I should give a disclaimer: I think something’s possibly wrong with my sense of humor. If I offend your precious Jdrama babies, I apologize endlessly. *extremely low bow*

I don’t even know what happened. Here I was, mindlessly going on my merry Jdrama way when I came across two (in my eyes) atrocious Jdramas. I’m appalled. They’re all so well spoken of, and highly praised, and I’m at pains to figure out why. Hence the premise of this entire article.


READ MORE for partial reviews of Atashinchi no Danshi and Nodame Cantabile, with possible explanations for why I just couldn't stand them (No Spoilers)

Exorcising My Obsession

If my obsession with all things Korean could be expressed with me as Park Shin Hye and my obsession as Jung Yong Hwa, then this picture should accurately represent about 90% of my everyday state of being.  The other 10% is after I've comatosed on Kdrama or Kpop overload and can no longer function as a human being, period.  And it's only optimism that makes me hope this second percentage is that low.  No, this post isn't about the seriously cute, but seriously flawed Kdrama Heartstrings.  I just imagine my life as me blissfully clutching onto the back of a world and culture in which I have no ties, and prior to a year ago had very little knowledge of, while that world rides on and on with barely a backward glance. And it's only optimism that makes me hope it even gives a backward glance.

Getting off my depressing soapbox...now! Congratulate me, I'm a blogger!  Honestly I have been resisting this crave for months, happy enough to comment on and participate on others' pages. If I'm not watching dramas, I'm talking about them. If I'm not talking about them, I'm thinking about them, and if I'm not watching or talking about dramas, then be warned: my inner BIGBANG fangirl has probably emerged to take over the world! Not even kidding. I don't know where it came from, but one day my very mature self listened to Haru Haru 하루하루 [Acoustic version] and tears popped out...

I'm going to lay the blame for this blog's creation solely on the author of Outside Seoul. I'm sure she'll give you permission to complain when my rants become overly long, so before I make this post a dissertation on obsession, I'll give you a few introductory points and take my leave.

• I have been watching Kdramas for almost exactly one year now.
• My first Kdrama was Lie to Me.
• The first Kdrama I loved to death was Coffee Prince.
• The Kdrama I will love even in the afterlife is Coffee Prince.
• My first Jdrama was Nobuta Wo Produce.
• The so-far only Taiwanese drama I have loved is MARS.
• After 6 months of scoffing at Kpop, I finally fell in love with CNBlue and BIGBANG.
• The fact that I will not see BIGBANG when they come to the U.S. in a month makes my heart positively ache!

Before this blog, there was MyDramaList.com. I'll leave you with some sample articles I have already had published on their very awesome and informative website:

So You Remember Your First Drama?

How To: Convert Your Friends Into Drama-Fanatics

Cheers!

Rosie