#30sai made dotei dato mahotsukai ni narerushii

[ohmaker]

Favorite Dramas of 2020:

Flower Boy Next Door (2013)

FBND will forever be in my top ten favorite dramas of all time. I love a drama that self awarely uses tropes/conventions to subvert audience expectations and say something - it’s the reason I’m able to rewatch Que Sera, Sera. This was a rewatch for me, and as someone who watched it when it first aired and knows the tropes of dramas at the time this is a fun watch. But even if you aren’t someone who grew up watching Korean dramas, this is a fun drama to watch; it’s a good starting point for people who has never seen a k-drama before but don’t want something too heavy (this and Coffee Prince are real good intros). It follows the main character Go Dok Mi, a traumatized and bitter woman who pushes the world away and isolates herself as a means of protecting herself and her learning how to deal with a world that will inevitably hurt you after meeting her manic pixie dream boy neighbor and immediate best friend, Enrique. This drama has one of the best casts and are career highlights for Park Shin Hye, Yoon Shi Yoon, Park Soo Jin, and Kim Seul Gi. I go into more detail why this drama is one of my favs here.

cw: depictions of bullying, men

A Love to Kill (2005)

Another rewatch and favorite of mine. The complete opposite of FBND, this is a mid 2000s melodrama that does a lot. This marks career highpoints for Rain, who soon after this began to expand his career outside of Korea (notably in Japan and the U.S.) and for a brief period of time reaching mega-star levels of fame, and Shin Min Ah, who is still an acting legend. More importantly to me, this is a career highlight for Kim Sa Rang and the role that made me aware of her. It follows Kang Bok Gu (Rain) who attempts to avenge his brother, who attempted suicide and is in coma, and ruin the life of the woman who jilted him. Unfortunately, Bok Gu finds himself falling for the actress, Cha Eun Suk (Shin Min Ah). How will this forbidden love end? As you can see, this drama is a lot. It also has one of the best soundtracks ever and a unique look to it.

cw: violence, violence against women, attempted rape, sexual assault, just treating women poorly, coerced relationships, poor handling of disability, poor handling of trauma, poor handling of mental illness, on-screen death, not enough Kim Sa-Rang (I go more in depth in here)

Extraordinary You (2019)

This is not only one of my favorite dramas, it may be one of the best dramas ever made. Like, I would have revolted if Kim Hye Yoon did not win an acting award. This was another rewatch for me, I needed to feel something this year. I don’t want to spoil this for anyone, but don’t be fooled by the first few episodes this quickly becomes a plot heavy and emotional drama (though I would argue it never goes dark). This is an absolute banger of a cast, like I even love some of the background supporting characters. Eun Dan Oh is a rich high-school student with a heart condition that will eventually kill her who slowly becomes aware that she is actually a character in a webcomic and that all of her actions and feelings aren’t actually her own, but predetermined by the author. After learning the fate of her character, she decides to change and decide her own destiny.

cw: violence, it gets very existential

The Romance of Tiger and Rose (2020)

Finally, something released in 2020. I loved this so much, I watched it twice. This is probably Rosy Zhao’s best drama to date and had stand out performances from Smile Wei and Wu Yi Jia. This is a sort of loving spoof of dramas like Goodbye My Princess, which adds to hilarity if you know what its joking about. It follows screenwriter Chen Xiao Qian who thinks she has written her magnum opus only to be brutally crushed by the lead actor of the production she wrote tells her that her script sucks. Fueled by a need mostly for money but also vengeance, she embarks to write the best script ever with the notes given by the lead actor. However, as soon as she finishes and turns in her new script, she passes out. When she comes to, she realizes that she has transported into her own story as the Third Princess, a character who is quickly killed off. Hijinks ensue as the script keeps going off plot and she tries to get it back on track so she can go back home. I love how drama goes men and women need equality and respect to have healthy relationships (which, like, yeah of course) but also advocates for female supremacy.

cw: violence, attempted sexual assualt, sexism 

The Last Empress (2018)

Not only do I love makjang dramas, but I also believe in Jang Na Ra supremacy. Not only is she is an Actress, she always gives 100% in her projects no matter what, she also always challenging herself in her work. Like, yeah, she chooses some crazy ass things to do but she is never stagnant. I’d also love Shin Sung Rok in this drama, he is unhinged in the best way. This drama is nearly impossible to describe, but just know that you will never guess where it is going, just accept that and relax into this slowly boiling pot of a drama. Set in an alternate universe where Korea is a constitutional monarchy, Oh Sunny (Jang Na Ra) is a musical actress who ends up marrying the emperor. She tries to find true love and happiness while trapped within the power struggle and a series of murders that threatens the existence of the monarchy. I love this drama cause it goes, actually a monarchy is a bad idea idiot, they are so corrupt you can not even fathom it. Also, the crown princess vlogs.

cw: violence, violence against women, on screen death, depictions of murder/attempted murder

Long Vacation (1996)

If any Japanese drama can be called iconic and revolutionary, it would be this one. Not only was it a huge cultural phenomena in Japan (I cannot overstate how big this was, like it created new slang) and is a huge touchstone in Japanese pop culture (so many things are inspired by, try to emulate, and are affected by this drama), it also has one of the hottest casts ever. It gave us the iconic collaboration between Kimura Takuya and Yamaguchi Tomoko. While the nuances of the story may seem cliché and standard now, this was the one that started it all and it holds up very well. This is a character driven drama and one I’d recommend going in blind for.

cw: cheating

30-sai made Dotei Dato Mahotsukai ni Narerurashii (2020)

I’m often very warry when I get recommended media based off the fact that it’s gay, I got recommended Ossan’s Love that way and that is some of the worst shit I have ever seen. I am, however, glad I gave this drama a chance, it’s one of the best dramas I’ve seen out of Japan in while and one of the best gay dramas. This also invented a new way to talk about fucking without directly talking about fucking. Based off source material of the same name (don’t look for it, it’s real bad. Like, homophobically bad. Trust me, this takes the concept and expands on it and makes it good), this follows Adachi Kiyoshi (Akaso Eiji) who lives a quiet simple life, that is until he turns 30 and gains the magical ability to read other people’s minds by touching them due to his virginity. While at first overwhelmed, he eventually adjusts to his ability. This all changes when touches Kurosawa Yuichi (Machida Keita) and learns that he has romantic feelings for him. This is a light romantic comedy that doesn’t get too heavy; it also has other gay characters and an asexual character which is rare in romance dramas (ace characters are far more common in Japanese media, though they use asexual to mean something more along the lines of aroace unless otherwise specified).