Drama = Addictive

Oh, dramas, how I love thou.  I try to stay away, but somehow, you keep pulling me back.  You teach me lessons about life, love, relationships, joy, sadness, longing, hope...and I don't even understand your language.  How hopeless.

Inspired by my post about Secret Garden, I've decided to write about the countless hours of Asian dramas I've watched throughout the past five years.  I just started watching dramas when I was a freshman in college, so my list is not extensive...yet.  Below are my favorite dramas of all time, somewhat in order from my favorite to least favorite:

1. Devil Beside You - This is probably my favorite drama of all time.  It's a Taiwanese drama that a family friend, T, recommended to me.  I may have gotten swept away with the cast because I watched this drama right after I watched Why Why Love.  It's very much a sweet love story about a girl and boy in high school who's parents begin dating.  I know, the plot might not sound too appealing, but the characters' love and actions for one another were very touching.  My only complaint in this drama is Mike He's hair...why did you have to use bobby pins?!?!
2. Secret Garden - This had me laughing from the very beginning.  See my post from March 16th for a more detailed review.
3. Boys Over Flowers - In addition to Secret Garden and Devil Beside You, Boys Over Flowers has made my top 3 drama list.  The common theme between them is that there is a great balance of comedy and romance in them, and the storyline didn't drag very much.  More specifically to Boys Over Flowers, it is the Korean version of Meteor Garden and Hana Yori Dango.  What I liked more about Hana Yori Dango was that it had more intense/emotional scenes in the beginning.  In Boys Over Flowers, I enjoyed the more modern fashion of the cast and set, and the plot moved along quicker.  I would recommend watching both if you have time, though.
4. Why Why Love - This has the same cast as Devil Beside You.  I watched this drama before I watched Devil Beside You, and I fell in love with the cast.  It's a cute drama about a poor girl who is working to help support her family, and she and her friend sell coupons with random tasks they will perform when people draw them.  The main guy, Huo Da, ends up getting a master/servant coupon, and the rest of the drama is about Jia Di, the main girl, fulfilling the task.  You can probably guess what happens...but that's what makes dramas so addicting, no?
5. Hana Yori Dango (Seasons 1 & 2 and The Final Movie) - This was the first drama I ever watched, thanks to the recommendation of my friend, L.  [He also recommended that I watch the Korean movie 200 Pound Beauty, which I really enjoyed as well.] Hana Yori Dango is the Japanese version of Boys Over Flowers and Meteor Garden.  I remember crying and laughing a lot through this drama.  Even though I wished some of the actors would cut their hair and stop wearing lip gloss, this show was worth watching.  I liked the storyline and the final movie was a nice surprise, which I watched a few years after finishing the actual drama.  This one will always have a special place in my heart.
   
6. Coffee Prince - I didn't think I would enjoy this drama as much as I did.  It's about a girl who pretends to be a guy to work as a fast food delivery boy.  She ends up getting a job at a coffee shop that only hires males.  It's very comedic and also sometimes uncomfortable/embarrassing to watch as the girl and her boss grow to like each other but deny their attraction as two males.  It's definitely a different approach to the traditional storyline. While it ended up being a love story, what sets this drama apart is that the audience can see the relationships develop between the characters at the friendship level.  There is a loyalty, concern, and caring nature they have towards one another that you know will continue long after the honeymoon and drama is over.
7. Stairway to Heaven - This was the second drama I ever watched.  It's more serious than the shows I usually watch and very cliche, but it is one of the classics that is worth watching.  Kwon Sang Woo is also a good reason to watch it, too.
8. Other Dramas - I've also watched the following dramas as well:  My Girl, Full House, It Started With a Kiss (Seasons 1 & 2), Fated to Love You, Pasta (didn't finish)... and probably a few others I can't remember.  They all had their good moments and many of them are very popular.

Good sites to watch these at were Hulu and Mysoju.  My friend, C, recommended I watch Ups and Downs in the Sea of Love, and I am currently in the middle of My Lovely Sam Soon.  Even as I finish one, I'm always looking for another good one to watch.  I don't know if I can handle the very sad ones, but I may have to start moving on to those once I run out of comedies to watch.  Oh, dramas, you complete me.

Secret Garden

Following the recommendation of friends, I watched a Korean Drama that recently finished airing called Secret Garden.  It was good.  Really good.  Not only did I like the actors/actresses (Hyun Bin is so dreamy and Ha Ji Won has an edgy yet soft side), the storyline drew me in from the first episode.  Here's a synopsis if you haven't heard of it before:  http://wiki.d-addicts.com/Secret_Garden.

The drama did have its moments where it was cliché and predictable, but what drama doesn't?  And even though some of the events in the drama were so out there that they could never happen in real life, there was still a core that I could relate to that made me believe that I had just witnessed a great love that was real and that love can conquer all.

That leads me to the question, can love really conquer all?  I remember asking my ex this once.  He didn't believe that love was enough to get through all of the hardships of life.  It's hard to argue against this when the facts show that the divorce rate in America is almost 50%.  [As an aside, I've always heard that money is the number one reason for divorce.  Interestingly, this article states that money is just a surface issue, and more serious problems lie underneath:  http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/SuddenlySingle/MoneyIsntTheCulpritInMostDivorces.aspx]

I, on the other hand, still believe that love can be one of the strongest forces in this world.  It acts like a magnet.  If the feelings are mutual for both people, then nothing can keep them apart.  If it is only one-sided, though, then it doesn't matter how deep or intense one person's love is; the relationship won't last.  Granted, I don't see love beating down every door or stop sign in its way very often, but I have seen it triumph at least once in this lifetime.

During my last Christmas break two months ago, I went along with L & L to pick up my cousin from his friend's, N, house.  We went inside the house to say hi to N's parents and his other friends and found out that N had just proposed to his girlfriend, S, of about 5 years in front of the Waterwall.  It sounded very romantic.  He had told her to dress up because he was going to take her to the museum and dinner afterward.  When they finished at the museum, it was still early, so he suggested that they go to the Galleria area to pass the time before they went to the restaurant.  When they walked up to the Waterwall, a group of maybe 10 friends were there waiting for them, and N proposed to S.  She said, "Yes!" :)

Before we left, we asked S if she had told her parents yet.  She said she hadn't and that she was going to wait a little while.  She was planning on spending a few days at N's house until then.  A little background on N&S:  N&S started dating during their freshman year of college, and after they graduated, they both moved to California to go to grad school.  Extremely smart people with great hearts and personalities.  They were from different religions, though.  N's family was ok with this, but S's parents were strongly against the relationship from the beginning.  Although our parents are not the same people as we are, it's inspiring to see the two of them be together without any hesitation or resentment for their situation.

Love is not always easy, but the best things in life are worth fighting for.

And what about 10 or 20 years down the road?  After all the passion of our younger years has died down, and we're left with the ordinary routines of everyday life.  Would we still believe that it was worth it to compromise on having kids, on moving to another city, on being less religious, on spending money, etc, etc, etc?  Who knows.  This is a whole other topic in itself.  But for now, I still hope for some of that crazy kind of love so I can have memories to look back on when I'm older.