Source: unsplash.com
I started watching drama series actively when I was in Jss 1. Most of which were American and Philippine series.
During my time in secondary school, my classmates would always bring Korean drama series to school and exchange it among themselves.
So I always wonder what they actually saw in k-dramas that they talk about almost all the time.
To me, the storyline sometimes sounds mysterious and untrue.
However, my seatmate was a chronic k-drama addict so she was the one that really drew my attention into getting interested in k-drama.
Most evenings, after prep, she’d narrate some of the dramas to me as we trek from our school to the market where we’d board cab home and sometimes we even trek all the way home whenever the stories get so interesting.
It got to a point that we both got addicted to trekking all in the name of kdrama. She was always the storyteller and I was the listener.
It continued that way until she brought a k-drama disc to me one day and asked me to watch it on my own and narrate it to her the next day too.
Titled: the moon that embraces the sun.
Immediately I was done with all sixteen episodes of "The moon that embraces the sun", I located where to buy another kdrama and I got "my love from another star" which was also sixteen episodes.
The former introduced me to a part of Korean culture while the latter welcomed me into their beautiful romantic plots between two “impossibles”.
It was so beautiful and it showed me a world of possibilities.
After I narrated the drama to my friend, she kept giving me updates about new interesting dramas to see.
That was how I saw the light and got hooked watching k-dramas.
Soon, I became a pro in purchasing, watching and narrating the different genres of k-drama including the historical, urban and even fantasies.
I became so addicted to it that my dad seized and destroyed the discs at some point. Well, it was because I devoted a whole lot of time watching them instead of studying. I even used my lunch fee to buy the series..lol.
I love k-dramas so much that writing about them really gets me excited.
After graduation when I realized that I could download k-dramas on my phone, that was the beginning of not turning back from k-dramas for me.
I started downloading the dramas episode by episode and sometimes I even keep updates about the release date of each episode of every drama I watched during that period and I followed it dearly till completion.
Most of the series were sixteen episodes which captivated me more and sometimes when I feel like I still have a long way to go in watching the series, I just console myself with;
“Okay, I've just watched 5 episodes in the space of 7 hours, that means if I watch 5 more episodes, I’ll have just 6 to go”
And I was consistent with it.
There are a lot of things that caught my attention about k-drama, some of which I’ll be explaining under three points below;
Culture insights
Ranging from their traditional attires to the urban coats and fashion style, I love every bit of it.
Their language is so funny and interesting to listen to, coupled with their various intonations and above all, it’s so addictive and I wish I could speak it fluently.
I love their gestures whenever they greet their elderly people.
Their politics is top-notch and really interesting to follow.
I wouldn’t skip their marriages, especially from prestigious and highly respected families.
An example can be seen in the relationship between a prince and a commoner or between a princess and a commoner.
It's always filled with thrills and suspense which really do hook me from the beginning of the love story to the end.
Their food! This is the number one thing I love about them. Sometimes it's not about the food but how they glorified it and made it really really important.
For example, Ramen.
Ramen is just like noodles but the importance they placed on it and as well as the food pictures/video aesthetics, are just so heavenly.
Even rice.
I love their display of rice in the midst of all other side dishes including proteins and vegetables.
Cinematography
There’s nothing not to love about their set locations, beautiful environment of water bodies, tall buildings, caves, hills, mountains and motion picture photography. Absolutely awesome and cozy.
The guys are always too cute too and it makes me get a new crush with every drama I watch. In fact, whenever I want to consider purchasing a drama, I look out for my favorite crushes before settling for one.
I love one particular thing about the women, they handle beauty religiously. They’re always too obsessed with their looks so it got me into really envying their smooth skin and beauty products collections.
Creativity
What’s a k-drama without a kissing scene?
Although not all k-dramas include kissing scenes in their scripts, to me, a k-drama isn’t complete without at least one kissing scene.
The longing!
They portray suspense, they make feelings and emotions worth the wait, and give them the attention they really deserve eventually.
Their kissing scene depicts intense emotion even beyond romance.
I can’t believe there was a time I thought I’d probably meet a Korean guy( that I saw in a movie) someday and fall in love with him and then get married.
Oh how I love kdrama!