If you’re reading this article right now and you probably aren’t a K-drama fan (just yet), you’ll very likely know someone who is obsessed with K-drama. You’ve seen how focused and absorbed they are whenever they are watching an episode and you are wondering why they keep searching for the next K-drama to watch or why they are so enthusiastic about the newly released episode. You might have had a glimpse of a K-drama show while they were engrossed in it and the only thought that comes to your mind is “what is so interesting about these dramas?” Well, wonder no more. These are the reasons why your friend can’t stop watching K-dramas.
The Story Lines
K-drama story-lines have a good plot; they are filled with intrigue, humour, gore and fantasy. They are also career-centric, you could learn a lot about a particular career just by watching a specific genre of K-drama.
Korean dramas create emotional connections with viewers through character developments and plot twists.
Variety and Accessibility
Korean dramas have different genres to choose from. You can go from medical, fantasy, traditional, psychological, romance to comedy! There’s just a lot of options provided to the viewers.
In terms of accessibility, there are so many streaming sites that have made K-dramas readily available to international viewers. Some of them include but aren’t limited to; DramaCool, KissAsian, MyDramaList, Netflix, Kocowa, Dramago, Viki (Korean drama free download) and more.
Culture
Something K-drama lovers find very interesting is the Korean culture and how they proudly display it in their dramas. You get to learn a lot about the culture of the Koreans just by watching their dramas. Their love for food (Kimchi jjigae, Omurice, Bulgogi, Seaweed soup, Ramyeon/Ramen etc), the presentation of these foods is even what makes it very nice to look at it. Let’s not forget their favorite beverage, Soju.
The way they dress (Hanboks) in cultural settings, their language which is very interesting to listen to,
you might even end up picking up bits from listening to them – this is evident when that friend of yours starts speaking the K-drama lingo that weirds you out.
Escapism
Korean dramas are a good option when you’re thinking of distracting yourself. It is like entering a different world that is separate from your reality.
The first episode is enough to get you gripped and that’s how you keep going until you finish the marathon.
Love Scenes
Love scenes in Korean dramas are simple but dreamy. Even if you are in a wonderful relationship, you would wish you had a relationship like that of the lovers in the drama you’re watching. They have a particular love scene that is very peculiar to them which is that part of the episode where the lovers kiss under the rain.
Did I mention that they maintain a level of decency in their love scenes? This may not be everybody’s cup of tea but you still cannot help but feel the romantic intensity in the air.
Aesthetics
The Korean aesthetics is characterized by simplicity, formal, vibrance and everything pretty you can think of. Every scene in every episode of a Korean drama is filled with aesthetics ranging from their outfits to the room they’re sitting in. The Hallyu wave is an aesthetic centered around South Korean pop culture; especially Korean Pop and Korean Drama. It often centers around Khonminam (flower boys) who are very pretty, basically androgynous men who combine feminine beauty with a touch of masculinity. Their hair is always perfectly done and they wear little makeup.
The Korean women, for the most part, try to wear their hair straight or slightly wavy with minimal makeup which gives off more clean and pure beauty than it makes it conspicuous that they are wearing makeup.
They consciously make things beautiful even while they subtly advertise these things. All these will keep you glued to your screen while watching Kdrama.
Music
The soundtracks used in K-dramas are, for the most part, lovely. You can’t find a hardcore K-drama fan without a playlist dedicated to K-pop in this world you are living in.
Korean soundtracks are carefully selected to fit the scenes in which they are being used. From K-dramas, you can easily source for new Korean music which is why that friend of yours never runs out of Korean music to listen to even when they understand almost nothing in the lyrics except Johayeo (I like you) and Saranghae (I love you).
Social Expression
The way Korean actors express themselves in their dramas show how expressive they are in real life. These people express anger, frustration, happiness, disappointment, heartbreak in very remarkable ways without being passive about it. They’re almost always drunk in their dramas which is quite funny. Have you seen how their parents scold their adult children? you would think their parents were raised by Nigerian parents. A typical Nigerian can easily relate to how actors scream when they are angry in their dramas.
If you ever consider getting into Korean dramas, here are some recommendations of classics and recent ones you might wanna start with.
Classics
Boys Before Flowers
Playful Kiss
To The Beautiful You
City Hunter
Coffee Prince
The Heirs
Goblin
Dream High
Recent or Newly released K-dramas
It’s Okay to Not Be Okay
Start-Up
Vincenzo
Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha
Squid Game
The King’s Affection
Thirty Nine
Business Proposal
One interesting fact you need to know about the South Korean Entertainment industry is that it is very much invested in by the Government because it assists in promoting tourism.
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