I think I have read many K-contents to the point that I even began to see them as K-dramas.
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Take True Beauty for example. I read the Manhwa before I came across the series and even then, I preferred the Manhwa. Or even Lookism which is a major stream on Netflix now. I started reading the Manhwa when I got the notification of the trailer.
What I noticed too was how some of the major K-dramas are Manhwa adaptations. Some are available on WEBTOON and the others, I use other sites to read. Manhwas like Can’t Wait to Eat You, Solo Leveling (Only I Level Up), The King’s Avatar and some more I have come across. Truth be told, I always prefer reading the Manhwa to watching the movie.
It started with the rave of the ever so popular Boys Over Flowers. Lee Min-Ho was so popular among Nigerian high schoolers and I would never hear the end of Gu Jun-Pyo and Geum Gan-Di. It got to the point it became so annoying.
I wasn’t really interested in K-dramas then. Not with the way I saw girls swooning over a certain actor (it made my belly churn) and I told myself I won’t see it no matter what. Especially after they tried to make me feel like a weirdo for not watching Boys Over Flowers. They just made me despise it all the more.
Fast forward years later, I watched a series called Mr. Queen. Let’s get this straight that I had no idea it was a Korean series until I began to watch it. I collected a bunch of anime from a neighbor and I took that thinking it was one too.
Anyway, Mr. Queen introduced me to a world of K-content and I fell deep - I still haven’t seen Boys Over Flowers by the way. From Mr. Queen, I came across a lot more before the release of the famous Alchemy of Souls. The fanatics began once again and I put off seeing that for a long time since it came out. I finally decided to see it last year and I’m glad I did. I still haven’t seen Squid Game. I doubt I would really.
Before I finally got introduced to all these series, I had gotten carried was with reading Webcomics. It was in Webcomics I discovered True Beauty. I had read it all and then started on some historical ones before I finally discovered the vast world of K-drama. That was how I began to understand that most of the major K-dramas are WEBTOON adaptations.
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I naturally love movies with deep plots, insane characters and unpredictable twists. K-drama does that for me. They keep me guessing and then they finally release me from the shackles of guessing.
When I saw Deaths’ Game, The Glory, Eve, A Time Called You, Vincenzo, The Devil Judge, Reborn Rich, and Gyeongseong Creature, that was exactly how I felt. I felt like I was on a never ending ride, one of excitement and pleasure, mixed with a bit of pain.
I don’t enjoy the generic Hollywood version of movies anymore. If the storyline isn’t gripping and full of surprises, I am not interested. Funny how many people judge K-drama without even giving it the time. They give the best (only second to Anime in my honest opinion) plots, characters and twists. They would immerse you in a story and leave you reeling for days after it’s over, sometimes in tears.
