On Why I Love Asian Dramas

Asian drama is like comfort food to me. I’ve been watching them since I’m very little because my mom is a big fan of asian drama. The first memory that I can still recall of asian dramas are my mom, watching Tokyo Love Story on the television, and me beside her.

I watch movies from a very early age. I watch Disney and Ghibli since kindergarden. I remember renting the laser disk version of My Name is Totoro, my favorite Ghibli movie, when I was in elementary school. I remember hunting for the VCD of practically every Disney movies that I could get my hands on. I switch to science fiction, fantasy, and adventure on elementary school. I watch Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Back to the Future. And then I switch to romantic comedies. I watch You’ve Got Mail, While You Were Sleeping, Sleepless in Seattle. I always have a big obsession on romance. I remember watching the cartoon Wedding Peach and imagining my own wedding, and my own husband, in second grade. I rent VCD’s every week.

But I also remember another kind of movie that I watch since elementary school. Together with my mom, I watch Japanese drama, or Dorama, on television. We waited patiently every week for the latest episodes to air. We waited for Hideaki Takizawa and Takuya Kimura. I remember watching Long Vacation, News no Onna, and a lot of other dramas airing on Indosiar. And then I remember watching ‘Kabut Cinta’, a Chinese drama. I remember crying with my mom watching it because of the sad goodbye scene. The night before my Junior High acceptance test, I watch Meteor Garden till midnight with my mom. Meteor Garden was my introduction to Taiwan drama. And then the Korean wave started (or ‘Hallyu’ wave as wikipedia calls it) because of the drama called Winter Sonata. And I’m hooked ever since.

You see, my history with asian drama is actually very long indeed. I didn’t watch asian drama on a whim because all my friends watch it. I have been watching asian drama for a very long time. Practically all my life in fact. And because of that, I have a deep and undying passion for them.

Asian drama is my instant pick up mood. No other movie can make me this happy. My mom is a very big fan of them, and I’m also a big fan. Asian drama can change my mood instantly.

In the last few months, I felt like I was in a rut. My life is not bad, but not good either. I am not sad, but I am not happy either. I am not in love with anyone, but strangely I always felt melancholic. It’s like I don’t have the passion to do anything. But my rediscovery of korean drama put me out of that rut. Just by watching them, my mood goes instantly up and up. And I don’t feel that melancholic anymore.

So from now on, I'm gonna review every asian drama I've ever watched on my blog. Before I start, I want to explain the four type of Asian dramas that I've watched.

1. Japanese Drama or Dorama : This is the first asian drama type that I've watched. They're essentially shorter (at around 11 episodes) and get to the point faster, but in expense of less character development. It's been a long time since I've watched one of these, but these was my first introduction to asian dramas.
2. Chinese Drama : This is the very rare type that I've watched. Actually there's not a lot of famous dramas from this type. Maybe some of you watch 'Kera Sakti' which I've watched but did not have a clear memory of it so I can't review it, and 'Putri Huan Zhu' which I didn't watch one bit. I actually only watch two of these, but one of them is very memorable so I will still mention it.
3. Taiwan Drama : Meteor Garden. This is my introduction to Taiwanese Drama. A lot of people thought that Chinese and Taiwanese Dramas are the same, when clearly they're from a different country. Because I don't have a lot of experience in Chinese dramas, I can't compare the two. All I know is that Chinese dramas tend to be a lot more historical and action type. There are a lot of great taiwan dramas, but it's been a long time since I watch any. It's actually just because of the overabundance of korean dramas in my house and not because of the lack of quality in Taiwan drama. The first chance I'll get, I'm gonna watch them.
4. Korean Drama : And lastly, there's Kdrama. The phenomena of korean drama and kpop popularity are actually recognized with an actual term, "Hallyu Wave". Since the airing of Winter Sonata in 2002, the popularity of Kdrama is spreading like wild fire. Now, it's very popular in every part of the world. And I love them to death. I watch a LOT of them. And I'm gonna review them here. Enough said.

With that introduction out of the way, I will hopefully continue to review all drama that I've watched. Some will be short and some will be long, depending on my interest and memory. OK, let's start.