April, 2012. I was sick. Or sick of studying. Certainly quite sick of American television. {And movies, for that matter.} A blogger I followed had mentioned Korean dramas several times, and then another blogger, whose cinematic opinion I trusted {though she had previously posted some art of a Korean Drama she was watching, to which I thought, that's the girliest-looking guy I've ever seen. what does she find interesting about that?} had just written up a massive "Guide to Awesomeness" - ie her favorite Korean and Japanese tv shows. On a total whim, I followed the link to the most interesting looking show {something called City Hunter}, and started watching it.
To my everlasting surprise, by the end of the first episode I was hooked.
Several episodes in, I was falling in love with it like I'd never fallen in love with any TV show or movie, ever. Yes, the outfits were a little much. {That's got to be a girl's shirt. And no...yes, he is wearing pink pants. WHY?} Yes, the crying of all the men involved weirded me out. {Wait. He's bawling like a little girl. Guys do that on TV? and it's not a joke?} Yes, the juxtaposition of tragi-comedy was jarring to me. {People are dying; children are being kidnapped and emotionally abused and gah this hurts but bad guys are scared of a snake and I'm completely cracking up and WHAT is going on?}
But before I knew it, I was emailing Unni-Maknae at 2am, a crazy fangirling email that was so full of flailing it scared her. To pull the few semi-complete sentences out of the email...
I am in love with Lee Yun Seong.
Flat out epic awesomeness.
He is amazing. And completely heartbreaking.
I find the melodramatic heart-wrenching torture of Asian drama completely addicting.
Yes, I am completely obsessed. The fact that I can't just sit down and watch the entire thing at once is pure torture.
The next day I was emailing her because I'd finished it and I wanted her to watch it.
I then spent the rest of the month emailing her videos of Lee Min Ho singing. Lee Min Ho in Toyota ads. Lee Min Ho in Boys over Flowers.
Because despite the thought coming to me that I was glad I'd gotten through City Hunter before studying for finals started...only the next week found me beginning - and finishing -Boys over Flowers. I then ignorantly - horrors - ran into a Lee Min Ho drama I didn't like, and so instead followed Kim Hyun Joong from Boys Over Flowers to Playful Kiss. {Which, by the way, was the drama whose weirdness I'd previously wondered at. Despite his hair cut, he actually wasn't girly at all.}
Basically, I was not just hooked on City Hunter, or on a particular actor. I was hooked on Korean dramas. That was the start, and it never stopped. Though I have consciously taken breaks from drama-watching (before certain exams...the first month of graduate school...the 40 days leading up to my board exam...etc), it has become a part of my life that I really don't see changing any time soon. In the past 3 years I've watched 48 dramas, and seen over 1100 episodes total, when counting dramas I did not or have not yet completed.
What in the world was it about Korean dramas that sucked me in like this? That is what this blog is about, and if you don't already know about Korean dramas, you are in for a treat.
