Asian Dramas For Everyone PART II

Part I | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI

Okay y'all, I'm back with MORE Asian drama recommendations because, well...that's mostly we've been doing in our downtime around here. We still don't feel comfortable being social or really going out unless it's for food/exercise, so staying home and binging has been the main vibe. 

As I said in my Part I post of this series: if you're looking for some quality shows to watch but you've run out of options, I highly recommend that you dive into the world of Asian dramas (with subtitles, if required). So far I've tried Taiwanese, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Thai shows, and I've enjoyed almost all of them. My personal tastes lean towards rom-coms with the occasional mystery or science fiction series, but there are a plethora of options for any and every taste: time travel, historical fiction, horror, courtroom drama, etc. 

(All of these can be found on Netflix except Miss Sherlock, which you can find on Amazon Prime but because we don't support lining Jeff Bezos' massive pockets any more than they've already been lined, I recommend you find it...elsewhere...online, if you catch my drift.)

IF YOU LIKE: Project Runway, Jane by Design, Ugly Betty 
TRY: Atelier

Atelier is a Japanese drama with 1 season comprising 13 episodes. I wouldn't really classify it as a drama or comedy...I guess it's a kind of coming-of-age story? Basically, the plot revolves around young woman (and textile nerd) named Mayuko Tokita, who lands a job at an upper-crust lingerie design house called Emotion in Tokyo. As she learns the ropes of this niche in the fashion industry, she both clashes with and grows closer to her elusive and mysterious boss Mayumi Nanjo (who is clearly inspired by Anna Wintour from American Vogue in both look and personality). 

The most fascinating aspect of this drama was the complete lack of exploitation and a total absence of the male gaze, despite the subject matter being lingerie. In fact, there is almost no romantic or sexual angle to the storyline whatsoever, save for a few offhand comments and a unrequited crush in the second half. This worked well, as it allowed the episodes to explore storylines about the definition of beauty, the effects of aging, marketing, and the fine line between "selling out" and staying true to your own vision at the expense of work relationships. The series has great pacing and an upbeat but calm energy; the cast has believable chemistry, and the leading women give layered, enrapturing performances. The drama also has a cozy, comfortable feel that makes it easy to binge--I think I got through the whole thing in 2 or 3 days. 

IF YOU LIKE: House of Cards, Criminal Minds, Law & Order

TRY: Strangers

This is a South Korean crime thriller, with 2 seasons with 16 episodes per season (32 total). We originally chose it because Alex loves the show Sens8, and the female lead is played by Doona Bae, who played Sun on that show.  

The main character in this series is Hwang Si-mok, a prosecutor who has lost his sense of empathy thanks to a childhood surgery meant to correct a hypersensitivity to certain frequencies of sound. Thus, he is socially awkward but talented at his job. While investigating a murder case, he meets Police Lieutenant Han Yeo-jin, a friendly woman who is also an artist. As they begin to unravel the mystery behind the murder, they also discover a corruption scheme between the Prosecutors' Office and a private conglomerate. In the second season, set two years later, an ethical dispute arises within the Prosecutors' Office and the National Police Agency over which office has authority over investigative rights. At the same time, three seemingly unrelated cases begin to unravel as evidence shows corruption on both sides. Unlike the first season, Hwang Si-mok and Han Yeo-jin are on opposite sides of the conflict, although they do eventually team up. 

This series benefited from strong acting performances, perfect pacing, and an inventive and twisty storyline. While it was a bit hard to follow at time due to the complexity of the plot, it was easy to keep going because I felt confident that everything would be explained or reinforced later on. It was easy to root for the characters, even the ones that weren't the most ethically sound, haha. While I did want a bit more backstory on some of them, the mysteriousness did help elevate tension, so I can forgive that. So far, it looks like a season three is on the horizon, and I'm VERY excited! 

TW for police brutality and corruption, violence, suicide, blood, implications of sex work 


IF YOU LIKE: When Harry Met Sally, Hallmark movies, Netflix romcoms
TRY: Put Your Head on My Shoulder

This is a Chinese series with 1 season comprising 24 episodes. The main plot follows the budding romance between Situ Mo, a soon-to-be-college graduate who is uncertain about her future plans, and her accidental roommate, genius physics student Gu Weiyi. (There's also a few subplots about Situ Mo's childhood bestie who starts the show as her sort-of-not-really-unofficial boyfriend but honestly I didn't care much for him.) What I DID care for was the sweet, wholesome love story between the two leads--unlike a lot of dramas, the characters got to know each other on a more domestic level and built a real friendship before falling in love (although not to worry, there are still some cliche awkward moments after they become a couple). I appreciated how Gu Weiyi wasn't the typical perfect rich, handsome male lead--yeah, he's the smartest guy on campus and lots of girls are into him, but he's also socially awkward and shy. Likewise, Situ Mo deviated from the standard simpering, doormat personality usually given to female leads: she was kind and friendly with a confident, playful streak. I LOVED that she had several plotlines about her career that had nothing to do with her love life, and the positive representation of her female friendships. 

IF YOU LIKE: Tim Burton, Brothers Grimm, Haunting of Hill House
TRY: It's Okay to Not Be Okay

This is a South Korean series with 1 season comprising 16 episodes. The plot focuses on Moon Gang-tae,  a caretaker in a psychiatric ward who lives with his autistic older brother, Sang-tae. Each spring they move to a new city out of fear of butterflies, ever since Sang-tae witnessed their mother's murder. The female lead is Ko Moon-young, a woman with antisocial personality disorder who writes extremely popular horror/fantasy-themed children’s books. As the story progresses, the three characters learn how their pasts have been intertwined since childhood and work through traumas both new and old. 

Ok, first of all: THE AESTHETICS. Everything about this show is beautiful, even the grotesque and macabre. Secondly, this is one of the only dramas I've ever seen that has disability representation and handles it in a respectful manner. Not only is Sang-tae given plotlines and character development of his own, all of the patients at the mental hospital are humanized and their backstories are told with the utmost care. The cat-and-mouse romance between the leads is always mesmerizing and often surprising, which is an added bonus. 

Disclaimer: I will say the main "twist"of the mystery in this series was a letdown for me. I found it uninteresting, nonsensical, cliche, and felt like it contradicted the overall message about trauma and mental illness. 

Tw for gore, horror, depictions of mental illness, and violence.

IF YOU LIKE: Sherlock, Elementary, Enola Holmes 
TRY: Miss Sherlock

This is a Japanese drama, with 1 season comprising 8 episodes, and is a female-led twist on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective series. Set in Tokyo, this adaptation features two women as the main characters: "consulting detective" Sara "Sherlock" Shelly Futaba, and Dr. Wato "Wato-san" Tachibana, a doctor who has recently returned from volunteering medical aid in Syria. It is the first major series to cast a woman as Holmes-like detective, which was super surprising to me!

I loved the characterization of both Sherlock and Wato in this version--the actors brought fresh and interesting energy to their characters while remaining true to the originals, and their dynamic was fun to watch. The mysteries were also entertaining, both individually and as a part of the larger arc--not all of the details were given to the audience, which I appreciated. I have a knack for solving fictional crimes early on or pointing out the "bad guy" right away, so for me, mysteries can get boring easily. I appreciated that the show chose to focus on the way the cases were affecting the characters and their overall development moreso than on testing the audience's crime-solving ability. 

I will say the last half of the arc did seem a bit rushed and there were parts of it I felt could have been written more strongly, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the series as a whole. 

Tw for violence, police, guns, and war-related trauma.

BONUS

IF YOU LIKE: The Amazing Race, BTS in the Soop

TRY: Twogether

Okay this isn't a drama but it features two drama stars, so that kind of counts, right? Basically this eight episode series is a variety show/travel docuseries starring Korean actor Lee Seung-gi and Taiwanese actor Jasper Liu. Over the course of the season, the two travel to six cities (Yogyakarta and Bali in Indonesia, Bangkok and Chiang Mai in Thailand, and Pokhara and Kathmandu in Nepal) where they must complete missions together in order to meet their fans who recommended the locations they visited. 

The bromance between the two is so fun to watch, and the challenges they have to complete are both entertaining and educational. 

I'll let that be it for now. There's only six because...well, I have two jobs, and a lot of the other ones we've watched since my last post weren't very good. I might do a separate post reviewing the less than stellar ones, if y'all want?