Asian Dramas I Recommend
Hi, I’m going to list the K/J dramas I have watched and tell you a little about them! The order they’re in is roughly what best to least best. All of these have the same trope of “girl pretending to be a boy” which is a meme I enjoy.
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Hana-Kimi / For You in Full Blossom - Ikemen Paradise
“This hilarious comedy follows the chaos, troubles, and friendship at a boys’ boarding school after a girl disguised as a boy joins. Ashiya Mizuki has just come back to Japan from California where she was raised. She fell in love with Sano Izumi, a hopeful high jump hero, who has quit after an accident. As she wants him to go back to the sport once again, she enters the same high school as a boy! With short hair, a flattened chest, and lowered voice, she starts sharing the same room with Sano.”
This is my favorite kdrama. Because of its release date in 2007, it has that warm feeling only older media can have. Very cute, entertaining and engaging.
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“The management company of the idol group A.N.JELL insisted on adding a new singer to the group as the lead vocal, Tae Kyung’s voice was hurting. However, the new member, Mi Nam, had to go to the States to repair a botched eye job just before signing the contract. His agent came up with the idea of having his twin sister, Mi Nyu, to stand in for him and pretend that she was her brother. The two of them grew up in an orphanage and Mi Nyu, who was all set to become a nun, agreed to this charade as she didn’t want to spoil her brother’s chance of fame which would make it easier to look for their mother.”
This drama is very high production value. I do wish there were more unique tracks, they use the main song over and over. It is a little bloated, maybe half an hour of content could be cut out.
“Jae Hui moves to Korea to help Tae Jun restart his high jump career after he announces his retirement. Despite his closed heart, Tae Jun begins to open up to Jae Hui. Meanwhile, Eun Gyeol struggles with his feelings for Jae Hui, who is pretending to be a man. The student-athletes bond during training, focusing more on camaraderie than competition.”
I think the male lead in this one is a little boring/apathetic but the girl is great and the show is cute.
“After getting an ultimatum from his grandmother, Han Gyeol takes over a rundown old coffee shop, later renamed “Coffee Prince,” to prove that he’s capable to both his grandmother and Yu Ju. In order to attract female customers, he only hires good-looking male employees. Eun Chan, desperate for money, continues to hide her gender to get a job at the Coffee Prince.”
This one has a fair bit of filler, mostly scenes of the girl crying but it is certainly a classic. The secondary male interest is pathetic and never makes a move, is sneaky so I don’t like him much.
“Gong Ah Jung, a level 5 Ministry of Culture official, gets entangled in a web of lies when she mistakenly lies that she’s married to Hyun Ki Joon, a noble hotel manager from an affluent family. Their relationship is further complicated when Ki Joon’s ex-fiance and a close friend of his brother’s, Oh Yoon Joo, reappears in his life.”
This is a good drama but halfway through they switched the writer which wrecked it. It’s still viewable but the ending doesn’t make much sense and is overall unrewarding. Good characters, slightly stressful due to the ex-fiance always being a brat.
More to be added later!