Adventures in Asia

When in doubt, pick a drama from 2011. “Flower Boy Ramyun Shop” is my, what, sixth – seventh – Korean show from that brilliant year of foreign TV magic. How did kdrama viewers maintain their social lives in 2011? Maybe they just all sat around watching TV together. (And yes, I know how to spell ramen. Ramyun is the Korean spelling. This poster is Drama Fever failing to spell it accurately.) “Flower Boy Ramyun Shop” (which I’m going to shorten to FBRS from here on out) is a romantic comedy about a college girl studying to be a teacher, a flirtatious heir to a conglomerate, a tall and kind ramen chef, the leader of a high school gang, and… another high school kid… I’m not really sure why he’s there. Oh, wait! He’s there because you can’t run a ramen restaurant with only four people! Especially when the Male Lead is a priss, which would make it three actual workers. So this random group of characters ends up working together at, you guessed it, a ramen shop. Commence love tri...

After a couple of moody, intense, recently-aired dramas, I decided to watch something funny from a few years ago. Thus, “Protect the Boss”! Has anyone else noticed that 2011 was a ridiculously good year for kdrama?? “City Hunter,” “Dream High,” “Secret Garden” (technically a 2010 drama, but it finished in 2011), “Heartstrings,” “Protect the Boss”… All of the dramas in my top five are from that year (except for “Heirs”). Maybe I should just watch all the dramas from 2011… What was I doing back then, anyway? Oh yeah, college – studying and not enjoying hilarious, heart-warming, Korean TV. Anyway, “Protect the Boss”: Chaebol Cha Ji Heon (I know, another heir) is an OCD slacker who avoids work and can’t keep a secretary. His cousin and rival for the company, Cha Mu Won, hires an unqualified but determined Noh Eun Seol to be Ji Heon’s new assistant. Perfect setup for a love triangle. An ex-girlfriend eventually shows up, and we’ve got an even more comical love...

Kdrama. In case you didn’t know, Korean TV is currently translated into a plethora of languages and is viewed around the world. And secret’s out: I’m hooked. I barely watch any American TV, just an episode or so of whatever my family or friends have on. But Korean? I can’t stop. In under a year I’ve watched 8.5 kdramas (and re-watched 3), each about 16 winsome, exciting, heart wrenching, blissful episodes long. (And yes, I am currently in the middle of one.) There are some definite reasons why kdrama is taking over the world. Here are my theories: 1. Kdrama is plot driven. Story is king. It’s not about the wit or comedy, though that’s there. It’s not about sex. It’s not about shallow, stereotypical selfish-people-backstabbing-each-other drama. This is K drama, in which good, old-fashioned “What’s going to happen next???” keeps me clicking the next episode – and analyzing every twist and turn in the plot, every moment of character development. 2. Kdrama doe...