Add to Your Summer Bucket List: Five Korean Dramas You Must Watch
Take a poor girl, a rich guy, an evil stepmother, and a few jealous friends and you have enough conflict needed for a Korean drama. With such conspicuous predictability and lack of creativity, why are Korean soaps still so popular among Chinese locals?
Much of it has to do with enrapturing actors and actresses, many of whom have become high profile celebrities in China, like Jun Ji-hyun and Kim Soo-hyun, the two lead characters of You Who Came from the Stars. As high-profile celebrities with great fashion sense, some of the more hard-core fans have even taken extreme measures to stalk and imitate them. Products subtly placed in the show surged a wave of interest from the Chinese locals – lipstick from Cheon Song-yi's dressing table rapidly sold out on Taobao (even though it was higher than the original price), while some viewers even opted flying to Seoul just to buy the items. Fried chicken and beer, a snack combination favored by Jun Ji-hyun, has also been more popular, with some Beijing fried chicken venues seeing increased revenue since the show's debut.
You don't have to speak Korean to get in on the trend as most Korean dramas are easy to follow. Here are five popular shows to try if you wish to be inundated by dramatic scenes (and tears), and want to learn Chinese along the way (most dramas include Chinese subtitles).
1. The Heirs（继承者们）
Rich guy Kim Tan falls in love with poor girl Cha Eun-Sang in the glamorous LA, where Eun-Sang initially goes to visit her sister. However, tables turn when her sister just takes her money and leaves, Eun-Sang’s passport gets temporarily confiscated, and Kim Tan offers his place for her to live. They inadvertently fall in love despite various obstacles, including being in different countries (they both end up in Korea though), parental disapproval, rich-poor gap, jealous ex’s, jealous friends, and live happily ever in the end. Similar to Gossip Girl in a way, except it’s set mainly in Korea – watch if you like crying.
2. You Who Came from the Stars（来自星星的你）
Rich celebrity girl meets new neighbor who becomes not only her teacher at school, but also her savior from the media’s constant camera flashes. He becomes the only one who understands her loneliness and tries to protect her. But here’s the catch: he’s actually an alien who’s lived thousands of years. In the end, he realizes that he’d rather have a limited amount of time with the girl she loves (awww) than live forever alone. Interesting plot line, and the most recent popular Korean drama.
3. Boys Over Flowers (花样男子)
Originally a Japanese manga, Boys Over Flowers has been re-enacted to fit various target audiences by nation, including Taiwanese, Korean, and Japanese. Similar to The Heirs, protagonist Geum Jan Di comes from an average-income family and initially becomes rivals against the four richest (and popular) boys, called the F4 group, in her new school. She abhors their spoiled behavior and gets into conflicts with them, but by and by, they all become friends. Then of course, she falls in love with not one, but two guys and choses one at the end.
4. Flower Boy Ramen Shop (花美男拉面店)
A few boys open a ramen shop with a girl (Yang Eun-bi) and relationships, conflicts, and friendships begin from there. One girl and several guys can always build up some complex or humorous plot – a situation similar to New Girl.
5. Witch’s Romance (魔女的恋爱)
The classic single workaholic girl who “doesn’t believe in love” eventually does fall in love and realizes she’s happier in a relationship. Reminds you of The Proposal with Sandra Bullock, doesn’t it?
Photos: Win4000, KDramaStars, MingXing, Kpopfix
