ASIAN DRAMAS FOR EVERYONE PART IV

                            

                                                        Part I | Part II | Part III | Part V | Part VI

I'm back. With more Asian drama recommendations. Because when you're a TV talker you can only watch TV with your fellow TV talkers (in my case my sister/apartmentmate) and still in a pandemic, binging television is the preferred safe-at-home activity. Also our To Watch List currently has 126 titles listed (with more to come), so can you blame us for trying to whip through a bunch each year? 

As I said in my Part I, Part II, and Part III 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, Filipino, Malay, Singaporean, Indian, and Thai shows. My personal tastes tend to 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 dramas, etc. 

(I usually watch dramas on either Netflix, Viki, or Dramacool, although occasionally you can find them elsewhere. There are a million sites now, and I expect to enjoy certain titles we'll have to branch out in the future.)

IF YOU LIKE: mysteries, ghost stories, thrillers

TRY: Sell Your Haunted House

Sell Your Haunted House is a Korean drama consisting of 16 episodes, each and hour and 10 minutes long. The main character is Hong Ji-ah, a real estate broker and an exorcist. She owns Daebak Real Estate, a service that exorcises and then sells haunted homes and buildings. She inherited the ability to exorcise from her deceased mother, who remains in the house as a ghost. Both the business and her continued refusal to sell her own home to Dohak Construction serve as a beacon for her fellow working-class peers in the midst of the Korean housing crisis. Through a series of events, she meets Oh In-beom, a con-artist who fakes apparitions to scam people out of money. Although appearing happy-go-lucky, In-beom has a tragic past, most notably an uncle who died mysteriously 20 years ago. As the two form a business relationship, Ji-ah and In-beom realize the deaths of her mother and his uncle deaths might be more intertwined than they thought...and so behind a series of events that reveal a multitude of secrets. 

I don't want to give any spoilers, but just know that despite having some comedic and lighthearted moments (more than I expected to be honest), the series has a pretty dark and melancholy tone. The series as a whole is an exploration of grief through the lens of the Korean housing crisis, so there is a lot of acknowledging how people died (a lot of them violently and/or sadly) and the consequences of their deaths on the loved ones they left behind. The show did a great job balancing the larger arc of what happened to the main characters' family members 20 years ago with the smaller arcs of the exorcism business. The aesthetics were amazing--the costuming, props and set dressing, and action sequences were stunning, and all of the actors gave a high-quality performance. The exorcism scenes in particular were quite beautiful despite their bleak nature, and I thought the scene chemistry between all of the actors was top-notch. 

I am not a horror fan and am generally pretty squeamish, but I didn't have any issues with any of the violence, body horror, or possession scenes--by which I mean some were gross or upsetting, but I didn't have to cover the screen or have nightmares or anything. I don't want to give too much away, but if the idea of someone not having a face (not in a bloody or exposed flesh kind of way, just like a smooth, featureless skin way) bothers you, skip this one. 

Trigger warning for death, violence, murder, blood, ghost-related horror, body horror, attempted sexual *ssault, stalking, and crime/police presence.

IF YOU LIKE: cooking, domestic romance, slice-of-life, gay romance
TRY: Kinou Nani Tabeta?

Kinou Nani Tabeta? is a Japanese drama consisting of 12 episodes (30 minutes in length). The main character is Kakei Shiro, a 45 year old lawyer who enjoys cooking and saving money. His partner and housemate Yabuki Kenji is an affable hairdresser. Although the two have been in a relationship for three years (and Shiro's parents know he is gay), Shiro hides his sexuality and his relationship from the world. The series depicts the finer points of their relationship--and the meals they share. 

This drama was extremely low-key. I'm no expert but I wouldn't classify it as a coming out story, although Shiro does grow more comfortable with himself and sharing details of his life with others as the episodes progress. The relationship between Shiro and Kenji is also handled in a very low-key way, albeit sweet and domestic. I've never seen a relationship between two older gay men depicted in a drama before, so that was a nice change of pace, although there were times things felt a little restrained (I think they may only kiss once, but I'm not even sure that happens, and as far as I can tell they sleep in separate rooms). The cooking scenes feel very much like a cooking vlog you'd watch on Youtube--you could easily follow along with the recipes if you so desired. 

Trigger warning for: homophobic comments (no slurs), references to workplace harassment, implied parental neglect, drinking, and physical abuse

IF YOU LIKE: early 2000's romcoms, soap operas, family comedies, arranged marriage stories
TRY: Inborn Pair 

Inborn Pair is a Taiwanese drama consisting of 84 episodes (each about an hour long). The plot focuses on a  upstanding and responsible resort president whose grandma has betrothed him before birth to the granddaughter of the man who saved her life, although she has lost touch with the family and so he does not really believe she will make him go through with it. By accident, he unknowingly meets his betrothed: a righteous and strong-willed legal assistant in the process of obtaining her lawyer’s license. From this meeting, the two get incorrect impressions of each other, causing problems when they are later introduced properly. Emotionally manipulated by Grandma to wed, they formulate a temporary plan to fake a happy marriage until they can wriggle their way out of the situation. Concurrently, members of their now blended family face their own struggles in marriage, love, work, and future plans. 

This drama is definitely a mid-2000's classic, and consequently pushes some antiquated messages in certain storylines for the side characters, specifically a (quickly-resolved) anti-abortion plotline, as well as a recurring thread about what counts as extramarital infidelity, who is at fault if your partner cheats, and what the consequences should be to that. As these plotlines generally affected the side characters more than the main couple, they didn't ruin the romance between the main couple for me, but if those kinds of situations bother you, that may be something to consider before watching. 

The drama is looooooong, but the episodes flow so well that you don't really notice, and the pacing is consistent through the whole thing. Part of this may be because there is a relatively large number of characters with their own plotlines, so when one conflict settles, another one ramps up in intensity to continue to drive the story forward. Some plots also affect others later down the line, which kept everyone's arcs interesting and united all of the events into one overarching story. I liked that the three central romances in the show were all different from each other, and while the drama relies heavily on comedy (almost to the point of satire), there were quite a few emotional moments and thoughtful rumination on the tenets of love & marriage. I also really appreciated how the male lead was the reverse of the stereotype typically seen in older dramas--instead of being a haughty, cold, and rude chaebol, he was very respectful and supportive of the female lead even before he fell in love with her. 

At the time I watched this, I wanted something silly, sweet, not too serious, and this was a perfect fit. There were moments I was raging at my screen (if you watch it, you'll probably know what I'm talking about *cough cough Ke Fan is the worst*), times where I felt really bad for whoever was struggling, and times when I cringed, but I can genuinely say I was thoroughly entertained.

Trigger warning for emotional abuse, implied sexuality, an abortion plotline, drinking, infidelity

IF YOU LIKE: sports, coming of age, rom-coms
TRY: Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo is a Korean drama consisting of 16 episodes (an hour in length). The story focuses on Bok Joo, a college-age weightlifter working to pursue her dream. The daughter of a single father who owns a chicken restaurant, Bok Joo attends a sports school, and is surrounded by elite athletes in weightlifting, swimming and rhythmic gymnastics. While confident in her sport and friendships, she is insecure and awkward when it comes to relationships...so when she experiences her first crush, chaos ensues. 

This drama gets a lot of hype and I wasn't sure if it was going to live up to my expectations...well, it certainly did! It was extremely lighthearted and cheerful. For only having 16 episodes, the series did an incredible job fleshing out Bok Joo and her world--all of her friends, schoolmates, family members, and team members added something fun to the story. Nobody was perfect, but almost everyone had something interesting and relatable about them. I especially loved her relationship with her two best friends--not only was there zero jealousy between them regarding weightlifting, all three girls were were allowed to be feminine, youthful, and serious about their sport. 

The sports aspect was lovely--I adored the respect they gave to weightlifting (and swimming and rhythmic gymnastics), and the scenes of the characters performing their sport felt realistic and were fun to watch. The introductory scene with the weightlifting team was the first time I've ever seen that level of diversity in body types in a Kdrama. The romance in the series also had me smiling SO hard--it's been a while since I've enjoyed the slow burn, falling-in-love phase in a drama that much. 

Trigger warning for: body image, parental neglect

Please let me know if you end up watching any of the recommendations and what you thought!