dorama intro post.
Sanni's Completely Biased Dorama Guide (for People Who Are Even Bigger Newbies than She Is)
Doramas - better than candy. (Screencap from Goong.)
In this post I answer 16 questions you probably never even thought you'd know to ask me otherwise. Because that's the nature of my incredible wisdom.
With pictures. Because who doesn't like pictures?
Let's not undermine the importance of knowing the basics. Asia is a continent between Europe and the Americas. “Asian” is whatever comes from Asia - though in this case it mainly refers to East-Asian cultural products, not South-Asian (which would mean Indian) or North-Asian.
If you don't know what television is, boy, have you slept for the past 70 decades. In which case, please read this.
Onto the questions.
Question #1: Okay, Sanni. I'm sick of you mentioning stuff I have no idea about. What the hell are these Asian dramas or doramas or whatever?
Answer: They are quite simply TV shows (fictional dramas) that air in Asian countries and are longer than the Western mini-series format but shorter than your average American TV show that runs for a couple of seasons. Dorama is how a Japanese person would pronounce the word 'drama', but in this case, doramas aren't just Japanese shows but also Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean etc.
In this graph, Ariel Lin's height demonstrates the jdrama length whereas Joe Cheng's height demonstrates kdrama length.
Question #2: So if I was to watch one of these dramas, how much of my precious life would I be wasting?
Answer: The average drama length varies pretty much from country to country, but also from show to show. The Japanese dramas (henceforth jdramas) are usually 11 episodes that are around 45 minutes in running time. So that's ..less than 10 hours? At the longest, the drama can be almost 30 hours - the massive Korean drama success Goong is 24 x 70 mins, which means 28 hours worth of watching. A rare few go over that and reach gigantic proportions of being 50-90 episodes. Typically Korean dramas are 16 x 70 mins, though. There is also every now and then the occasional short drama that is only the length of a Western mini-series, so about the size of two feature films.
KO One - it's about being badass. At school. No, really.
Question #3: What are the stories in these like? Are they always about love?
Answer: Well, what's better than love? It would be a lie to say they don't most often include some sort of romantic thing - at least as a subplot running somewhere along the main plot, whatever that may be. But it would also be a lie to say they're always without exception focused on romance. Really the topics do vary, and most importantly the styles vary. I mean, really, what we're talking about here are vastly different television traditions that are all bunched together under this 'Asian drama' label. Jdramas can be about anything from preparing fish to high school romance. Korean dramas (henceforth kdramas) tend to stick to a romantic format a bit more (he's rich and handsome and owns a hotel and has just been dumped by a total bitch, she's poor but spunky and has a good heart and she hates him but then they get involved in a love contract type of thing and gradually fall in love until it's found out he has cancer and their love can never be and woeee), but even then there's variation. Like, the drama can be focused on family or it can be historical and not that romantic-focused.
I feel the same as with Bollywood applies to Asian dramas - there is the popular dramas, and those are essentially fitting to the classic stereotypes and generalizations. The fan crowds at large love the romance focused dramas. BUT then there are the genre dramas, the ones that are more about family, friendship, school, thriller, crime, whatever. Just like when I say Bollywood, everybody has a certain stereotype in their head, but Hindi cinema also has a ton of movies outside that stereotype or nowhere near it.
So, yes and no. If we have to throw around generalizations then all dramas are about incredibly angsty star-crossed lovers who sometimes end up together and sometimes just plain die at the end of the drama but you know, it's so not always the case.
Teppan Girl - Look, it's not about love, it's about cooking! And ..the guy she falls in love with. But mostly it's about cooking. I think.
Question #4: Yeah, but be honest here.. Are the dramas you watch mostly about love?
Answer: Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I'm a whore for romance.
Question #5: Okay, so besides the supposed fantastic stories these dramas have to tell, what's the real reason to watch them?
Answer: Good-looking Asian guys.
Vic Zhou - Taiwanese for 'hot'.
Question #6: What if I don't find Asian guys hot?
Answer: You're lying. Okay, no, seriously.. The short answer is: you will. Or in the case that you aren't into boys, the girls are awfully pretty, as well. Trust me, you'll be fine. You'll be just fine.
My Girl - awesome & fully original (not based on a manga)!
Question #7: So, a lot of these seem to be based on mangas. Actually, a HUGE amount seem to be based on mangas. Are most based on mangas?
Answer: I don't have the exact numbers - I doubt anybody has - but since there's a lot of manga out there and a lot of it gets made into Japanese and Taiwanese and even Korean dramas, naturally it amounts to a lot of series being based on mangas. But there are exceptions. Taiwanese idol dramas seem to be leaning towards manga adaptations and Japanese naturally would make mangas into live action dramas but Korean dramas tend to be scripted not based on mangas (or manhwa's, the Korean version of the Japanese manga). So not all, not most, but many.
Hana Kimi cast, left to right - boyband member, boyband member, solo artist, girlband member.
Question #8: Jesus H. Christ, don't Asian pop stars have jobs outside starring in these dramas?
Answer: Heh. It is fair to say a majority of dramas star people who're pop stars or models - or both! It's not a huge percentage of actors who're just actors and nothing but. It's a looks-based thing. Drama people have gotta be pretty. Pop stars are pretty. It's that simple.
Another factor is the Asian invention of promoting popstars via television dramas. This is prevalent especially in Taiwan where it seems like you're not really a successful popstar unless you've been in a couple of dramas on the side. Hence the idea that in Taiwan they have idol dramas and ordinary dramas. In idol dramas their images are squeaky clean and the dramas are fun and romantic and all that good stuff - and they sing songs on the soundtrack and their latest album plays in the background of the drama. Oh yeah baby, commercialism at its best!
Question #9: Wait, there's a DEATH cliché to these?
Answer: Yeah, well, to some. These are occasionally incredibly melodramatic shows, after all. Sometimes it's all fine and dandy and sometimes it gets on ones nerves - I personally try to avoid “angst angst your true love dies angst angst teaaaar” type of endings and stick to the feel-good stuff. But that's just me.
Dangermousie does an amusing take on dorama clichés, also in part two. Also on d-addicts: Ten Commandments of Korean drama. Perhaps that's not good material for a newbie to read but hey, for every bad cliché there's a good one. Just remember that. :)
It Started With a Kiss - All your kisses are belong to us.
Question #10: I know your other big interest, Bollywood, has very little/no sex or kissing. How chaste are these dramas?
Answer: There are usually some kisses. Sex scenes are rare but all the more hot. It really depends. Kdramas/twdramas (that's, Taiwanese dramas) tend to have more kissing than Japanese dramas, at least as far as I know. They're usually family-friendly though every occasional drama will be a bit more explicit than that.
Goong - in bed. Though not like that.
Question #11: Okay, let's talk fandom. What are some of the most important sites I should know about?
Answer: I'll list.
Drama Wiki - A great resource for past, present and future dramas/actors from whichever country.
D-Addicts Forums - Mostly a torrent source for downloading purposes but also a pretty neat source for actor/drama/general Asian entertainment related pictures, information and naturally, discussion. Home of fansub groups.
JDorama - As the name suggests, a home to Japanese dramas, filled with info and also a web forum.
Soompi Forums - A massively large forum with focus on Korean entertainment - from dramas to movies to actors to music. Also threads for various other Asian dramas and entertainment. Excellent, excellent source for pictures and all kinds of fun.
AsianFanatics Forum - This forum is generally about everything Asian, directed to people who are Asian or of Asian descent but also just people who're fans of Asian stuff. It's a pretty great place to hang out and talk about Asian entertainment, though comes with the same “vapid fangirl majority” warning that certain parts of soompi do. Most importantly, the most fantastic galleries EVER.
KoreanWiz - This website might not be as fast-moving as soompi etc but it's a good resource for a lot of Korean cultural stuff, such as Korean customs that one will encounter in kdramas.
HanCinema - Excuse my Korea-centeredness. HanCinema is a cool pic/info database for Korean dramas and movies. Also Korean box office etc.
Livejournal places:
dorama_chat - It's not a huuuge comm at this point but it's a good general chat comm where you can find opinions on different dramas, actor/actress picspams, ask for recommendations or just fangirl your heart out or rant about some dumb plot twist a drama you were watching happened to have. Also, as far as my LJ search tells me, it's the best dorama comm out there in terms of discussion so ..yeah.
kdramas - Obviously a kdrama discussion place.
jdramas - A download comm, unlike the name implies, for all sorts of Asian movies, dramas, soundtracks... Worth joining!
doramacon / dorama_icons - Dorama icon communities. I check these places and dorama_chat whenever in need of icon prettiness. Soompi is another good source for icons, though in massive soompi threads icons are harder to find. Plus on LJ it's easier to credit fellow LJ users so...
doramacaps - For screencap prettiness.
My Name Is Kim Sam Soon - well, this is one place to start.
Question #12: Whoah, that's a lot of places to visit. Where do you reckon I should start, assuming I want to start watching these?
Answer: I'd say to go with your gut, if you see something that interests you (like, “That looks like a cute drama!” or “This plot sounds awesome” or “Oh man that guy is *hot*!”), investigate further on the drama by going to Wiki or seeing what other people say about it on dorama_chat or d-addicts or soompi, and then if you're still keen, go ahead and watch! Of course, there are places to go for recommended dramas. One thing are d-addict's various “Recommended kdramas/jdramas/cdramas” topics, but it's always difficult because one man's gold is another's trash etc.
So I'm going to go with posts posted by people on my flist whose tastes I can recognize as good and somewhat similar to my own.
Missa recs Taiwanese and Korean dramas - Her jdrama post is a-coming.
Dangermousie lists dramas along with plot premises - This post is sort of outdated (she's seen plenty more dramas and her opinions might've fluctuated since this post) but it's a good listing of different dramas with pictures and descriptions of what they're like etc.
Lydzi's drama post
My own drama listing
Question #13: Dude, too much text! Just give me some titles you like, with quick descriptions and stuff. Please?
Answer: Fine, but your mileage may vary...
My Girl - Quite possibly my favourite dorama of 'em all. Korean, about a girl who's an excellent liar and a boy who can't lie at all, and the scheme they get tangled in and how they fall in love despite circumstances. It's delightfully comedic and pokes fun at itself occasionally, plus it's well-acted and nicely shot and it's just a lovable, top drama overall.
Hana Kimi - Also known as Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu, based on a manga of the the same title. It's quite simply about a girl who disguises herself as a boy and goes an all-boys' school to be around an athlete she admires. This is a Taiwanese idol drama that aired very recently and it.is.love. Fluffy and cutesy, also fantastically over-the-top hilarious. Some can't stomach the humor but those who can are in for one crazy fun ride. It's crack but amazing crack.
Nodame Cantabile - My favourite jdrama so far, also based on a manga of the same name. Romantic comedy in the world of classical music; a story about a messy, odd, talented, wonderful pianist girl and her polar opposite (and one true love), temperamental, organized and equally talented aspiring-conductor guy. The side cast includes various musical non-geniuses who work hard to become better and together this mix makes for peculiar, hilarious comedy and surprisingly sweet and touching romance. It makes classical music sexy. What more do you need?
My Name is Kim Sam Soon / My Lovely Sam Soon - This isn't at the *very* top of my list but since it feels like a good drama and I know some newbies who got into dramas through it, I don't see a problem in reccing it. It's a Korean drama that introduces a Bridget Jones-esque heroine, not young or perfect or beautiful, but has an undeniable charm all the same. It has a lot of comedy, a lot of cuteness and it's also a rather realistic drama in terms of characters and ending.
Drama watching - addictive as hell. (Cap from Nodame Cantabile.)
Question #14: Okay so let's assume I looked over those posts and did a little Wiki surfing and checked soompi/jdorama/asianfanatics reading on the dramas I'm interested in. What now?
Answer: Two choices. As with anything, there's the legal way and the illegal way. Illegal ways include youtube (for example, searching for “my girl ep 1” will most probably turn up with the first episode of My Girl, only in 6-7 parts). There's another video-viewing site called Crunchyroll which has tons of dramas. You may also have luck with DailyMotion. Then there's the old fashioned downloading of hard or softsubbed episodes from d-addicts via a torrent client or jdramas. (Hard subbed = subs in the video file, soft subbed = subtitles as a separate file.)
Fansubbed refers to a form of subtitling done for free by fans for fans. For free being the key term here, buying fansubbed material will mean you've been ripped off. However, if the whole download process is too difficult for you or for whatever other reason, you might find fansubbed as well as legal, official DVD boxsets on eBay.
Speaking of legal, official DVD boxsets... For those lucky people who use Netflix, I hear they stock some Asian drama DVD's nowadays as well! So you could look there instead of paying loads of money on buying. If you do buy, the YA (Region 1) boxsets of Korean dramas are recommendable. The English subtitling on DVD boxsets is something to pay close attention to when shopping. I'd ask around d-addicts or whichever forum you can find before investing a lot of money on some boxset.
You'll also find that a ton of dramas - especially Taiwanese - simply aren't available as anything else than fansubbed versions. Tough luck. :/
Mars - so cute (and okay, also very angsty) but only fansubbed. We cry for you, Taiwan, we do. :(
Question #15: It's been a cool post but definitely needs more pics. Can you correct this?
Answer: Sure. These are 7 random pictures from various doramas. Handpicked prettiness.
Joo Ji-hoon in a suit. From The Devil. No explanation necessary.
Plotting on the phone is always fun. From Hello! Miss
Together - from Nodame Cantabile.
Delicious, hilarious crack. From Hana Kimi.
Being a royalty rocks. From Goong aka Palace aka Princess Hours. (Also known as - Prettiest Drama Ever)
Dictionary definitions of cute - couple from My Girl.
One of those guys who melt my ovaries - male lead of My Girl. Yes, I like My Girl a bit too much.
Question #16: Nooo, this can't end, I still have a ton of questions, like [insert question here] and [insert another question here]!! What should I do?
Answer: Ask me in the comments. If I can't answer, people that know better will.
Hope this was helpful!
Edit #1: Because I'm a dork and didn't want to fall on overgeneralizations. Also, KO One. How could I ever forget.
Doramas - better than candy. (Screencap from Goong.)
In this post I answer 16 questions you probably never even thought you'd know to ask me otherwise. Because that's the nature of my incredible wisdom.
With pictures. Because who doesn't like pictures?
Let's not undermine the importance of knowing the basics. Asia is a continent between Europe and the Americas. “Asian” is whatever comes from Asia - though in this case it mainly refers to East-Asian cultural products, not South-Asian (which would mean Indian) or North-Asian.
If you don't know what television is, boy, have you slept for the past 70 decades. In which case, please read this.
Onto the questions.
Question #1: Okay, Sanni. I'm sick of you mentioning stuff I have no idea about. What the hell are these Asian dramas or doramas or whatever?
Answer: They are quite simply TV shows (fictional dramas) that air in Asian countries and are longer than the Western mini-series format but shorter than your average American TV show that runs for a couple of seasons. Dorama is how a Japanese person would pronounce the word 'drama', but in this case, doramas aren't just Japanese shows but also Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean etc.
In this graph, Ariel Lin's height demonstrates the jdrama length whereas Joe Cheng's height demonstrates kdrama length.
Question #2: So if I was to watch one of these dramas, how much of my precious life would I be wasting?
Answer: The average drama length varies pretty much from country to country, but also from show to show. The Japanese dramas (henceforth jdramas) are usually 11 episodes that are around 45 minutes in running time. So that's ..less than 10 hours? At the longest, the drama can be almost 30 hours - the massive Korean drama success Goong is 24 x 70 mins, which means 28 hours worth of watching. A rare few go over that and reach gigantic proportions of being 50-90 episodes. Typically Korean dramas are 16 x 70 mins, though. There is also every now and then the occasional short drama that is only the length of a Western mini-series, so about the size of two feature films.
KO One - it's about being badass. At school. No, really.
Question #3: What are the stories in these like? Are they always about love?
Answer: Well, what's better than love? It would be a lie to say they don't most often include some sort of romantic thing - at least as a subplot running somewhere along the main plot, whatever that may be. But it would also be a lie to say they're always without exception focused on romance. Really the topics do vary, and most importantly the styles vary. I mean, really, what we're talking about here are vastly different television traditions that are all bunched together under this 'Asian drama' label. Jdramas can be about anything from preparing fish to high school romance. Korean dramas (henceforth kdramas) tend to stick to a romantic format a bit more (he's rich and handsome and owns a hotel and has just been dumped by a total bitch, she's poor but spunky and has a good heart and she hates him but then they get involved in a love contract type of thing and gradually fall in love until it's found out he has cancer and their love can never be and woeee), but even then there's variation. Like, the drama can be focused on family or it can be historical and not that romantic-focused.
I feel the same as with Bollywood applies to Asian dramas - there is the popular dramas, and those are essentially fitting to the classic stereotypes and generalizations. The fan crowds at large love the romance focused dramas. BUT then there are the genre dramas, the ones that are more about family, friendship, school, thriller, crime, whatever. Just like when I say Bollywood, everybody has a certain stereotype in their head, but Hindi cinema also has a ton of movies outside that stereotype or nowhere near it.
So, yes and no. If we have to throw around generalizations then all dramas are about incredibly angsty star-crossed lovers who sometimes end up together and sometimes just plain die at the end of the drama but you know, it's so not always the case.
Teppan Girl - Look, it's not about love, it's about cooking! And ..the guy she falls in love with. But mostly it's about cooking. I think.
Question #4: Yeah, but be honest here.. Are the dramas you watch mostly about love?
Answer: Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I'm a whore for romance.
Question #5: Okay, so besides the supposed fantastic stories these dramas have to tell, what's the real reason to watch them?
Answer: Good-looking Asian guys.
Vic Zhou - Taiwanese for 'hot'.
Question #6: What if I don't find Asian guys hot?
Answer: You're lying. Okay, no, seriously.. The short answer is: you will. Or in the case that you aren't into boys, the girls are awfully pretty, as well. Trust me, you'll be fine. You'll be just fine.
My Girl - awesome & fully original (not based on a manga)!
Question #7: So, a lot of these seem to be based on mangas. Actually, a HUGE amount seem to be based on mangas. Are most based on mangas?
Answer: I don't have the exact numbers - I doubt anybody has - but since there's a lot of manga out there and a lot of it gets made into Japanese and Taiwanese and even Korean dramas, naturally it amounts to a lot of series being based on mangas. But there are exceptions. Taiwanese idol dramas seem to be leaning towards manga adaptations and Japanese naturally would make mangas into live action dramas but Korean dramas tend to be scripted not based on mangas (or manhwa's, the Korean version of the Japanese manga). So not all, not most, but many.
Hana Kimi cast, left to right - boyband member, boyband member, solo artist, girlband member.
Question #8: Jesus H. Christ, don't Asian pop stars have jobs outside starring in these dramas?
Answer: Heh. It is fair to say a majority of dramas star people who're pop stars or models - or both! It's not a huge percentage of actors who're just actors and nothing but. It's a looks-based thing. Drama people have gotta be pretty. Pop stars are pretty. It's that simple.
Another factor is the Asian invention of promoting popstars via television dramas. This is prevalent especially in Taiwan where it seems like you're not really a successful popstar unless you've been in a couple of dramas on the side. Hence the idea that in Taiwan they have idol dramas and ordinary dramas. In idol dramas their images are squeaky clean and the dramas are fun and romantic and all that good stuff - and they sing songs on the soundtrack and their latest album plays in the background of the drama. Oh yeah baby, commercialism at its best!
Question #9: Wait, there's a DEATH cliché to these?
Answer: Yeah, well, to some. These are occasionally incredibly melodramatic shows, after all. Sometimes it's all fine and dandy and sometimes it gets on ones nerves - I personally try to avoid “angst angst your true love dies angst angst teaaaar” type of endings and stick to the feel-good stuff. But that's just me.
Dangermousie does an amusing take on dorama clichés, also in part two. Also on d-addicts: Ten Commandments of Korean drama. Perhaps that's not good material for a newbie to read but hey, for every bad cliché there's a good one. Just remember that. :)
It Started With a Kiss - All your kisses are belong to us.
Question #10: I know your other big interest, Bollywood, has very little/no sex or kissing. How chaste are these dramas?
Answer: There are usually some kisses. Sex scenes are rare but all the more hot. It really depends. Kdramas/twdramas (that's, Taiwanese dramas) tend to have more kissing than Japanese dramas, at least as far as I know. They're usually family-friendly though every occasional drama will be a bit more explicit than that.
Goong - in bed. Though not like that.
Question #11: Okay, let's talk fandom. What are some of the most important sites I should know about?
Answer: I'll list.
Drama Wiki - A great resource for past, present and future dramas/actors from whichever country.
D-Addicts Forums - Mostly a torrent source for downloading purposes but also a pretty neat source for actor/drama/general Asian entertainment related pictures, information and naturally, discussion. Home of fansub groups.
JDorama - As the name suggests, a home to Japanese dramas, filled with info and also a web forum.
Soompi Forums - A massively large forum with focus on Korean entertainment - from dramas to movies to actors to music. Also threads for various other Asian dramas and entertainment. Excellent, excellent source for pictures and all kinds of fun.
AsianFanatics Forum - This forum is generally about everything Asian, directed to people who are Asian or of Asian descent but also just people who're fans of Asian stuff. It's a pretty great place to hang out and talk about Asian entertainment, though comes with the same “vapid fangirl majority” warning that certain parts of soompi do. Most importantly, the most fantastic galleries EVER.
KoreanWiz - This website might not be as fast-moving as soompi etc but it's a good resource for a lot of Korean cultural stuff, such as Korean customs that one will encounter in kdramas.
HanCinema - Excuse my Korea-centeredness. HanCinema is a cool pic/info database for Korean dramas and movies. Also Korean box office etc.
Livejournal places:
dorama_chat - It's not a huuuge comm at this point but it's a good general chat comm where you can find opinions on different dramas, actor/actress picspams, ask for recommendations or just fangirl your heart out or rant about some dumb plot twist a drama you were watching happened to have. Also, as far as my LJ search tells me, it's the best dorama comm out there in terms of discussion so ..yeah.
kdramas - Obviously a kdrama discussion place.
jdramas - A download comm, unlike the name implies, for all sorts of Asian movies, dramas, soundtracks... Worth joining!
doramacon / dorama_icons - Dorama icon communities. I check these places and dorama_chat whenever in need of icon prettiness. Soompi is another good source for icons, though in massive soompi threads icons are harder to find. Plus on LJ it's easier to credit fellow LJ users so...
doramacaps - For screencap prettiness.
My Name Is Kim Sam Soon - well, this is one place to start.
Question #12: Whoah, that's a lot of places to visit. Where do you reckon I should start, assuming I want to start watching these?
Answer: I'd say to go with your gut, if you see something that interests you (like, “That looks like a cute drama!” or “This plot sounds awesome” or “Oh man that guy is *hot*!”), investigate further on the drama by going to Wiki or seeing what other people say about it on dorama_chat or d-addicts or soompi, and then if you're still keen, go ahead and watch! Of course, there are places to go for recommended dramas. One thing are d-addict's various “Recommended kdramas/jdramas/cdramas” topics, but it's always difficult because one man's gold is another's trash etc.
So I'm going to go with posts posted by people on my flist whose tastes I can recognize as good and somewhat similar to my own.
Missa recs Taiwanese and Korean dramas - Her jdrama post is a-coming.
Dangermousie lists dramas along with plot premises - This post is sort of outdated (she's seen plenty more dramas and her opinions might've fluctuated since this post) but it's a good listing of different dramas with pictures and descriptions of what they're like etc.
Lydzi's drama post
My own drama listing
Question #13: Dude, too much text! Just give me some titles you like, with quick descriptions and stuff. Please?
Answer: Fine, but your mileage may vary...
My Girl - Quite possibly my favourite dorama of 'em all. Korean, about a girl who's an excellent liar and a boy who can't lie at all, and the scheme they get tangled in and how they fall in love despite circumstances. It's delightfully comedic and pokes fun at itself occasionally, plus it's well-acted and nicely shot and it's just a lovable, top drama overall.
Hana Kimi - Also known as Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu, based on a manga of the the same title. It's quite simply about a girl who disguises herself as a boy and goes an all-boys' school to be around an athlete she admires. This is a Taiwanese idol drama that aired very recently and it.is.love. Fluffy and cutesy, also fantastically over-the-top hilarious. Some can't stomach the humor but those who can are in for one crazy fun ride. It's crack but amazing crack.
Nodame Cantabile - My favourite jdrama so far, also based on a manga of the same name. Romantic comedy in the world of classical music; a story about a messy, odd, talented, wonderful pianist girl and her polar opposite (and one true love), temperamental, organized and equally talented aspiring-conductor guy. The side cast includes various musical non-geniuses who work hard to become better and together this mix makes for peculiar, hilarious comedy and surprisingly sweet and touching romance. It makes classical music sexy. What more do you need?
My Name is Kim Sam Soon / My Lovely Sam Soon - This isn't at the *very* top of my list but since it feels like a good drama and I know some newbies who got into dramas through it, I don't see a problem in reccing it. It's a Korean drama that introduces a Bridget Jones-esque heroine, not young or perfect or beautiful, but has an undeniable charm all the same. It has a lot of comedy, a lot of cuteness and it's also a rather realistic drama in terms of characters and ending.
Drama watching - addictive as hell. (Cap from Nodame Cantabile.)
Question #14: Okay so let's assume I looked over those posts and did a little Wiki surfing and checked soompi/jdorama/asianfanatics reading on the dramas I'm interested in. What now?
Answer: Two choices. As with anything, there's the legal way and the illegal way. Illegal ways include youtube (for example, searching for “my girl ep 1” will most probably turn up with the first episode of My Girl, only in 6-7 parts). There's another video-viewing site called Crunchyroll which has tons of dramas. You may also have luck with DailyMotion. Then there's the old fashioned downloading of hard or softsubbed episodes from d-addicts via a torrent client or jdramas. (Hard subbed = subs in the video file, soft subbed = subtitles as a separate file.)
Fansubbed refers to a form of subtitling done for free by fans for fans. For free being the key term here, buying fansubbed material will mean you've been ripped off. However, if the whole download process is too difficult for you or for whatever other reason, you might find fansubbed as well as legal, official DVD boxsets on eBay.
Speaking of legal, official DVD boxsets... For those lucky people who use Netflix, I hear they stock some Asian drama DVD's nowadays as well! So you could look there instead of paying loads of money on buying. If you do buy, the YA (Region 1) boxsets of Korean dramas are recommendable. The English subtitling on DVD boxsets is something to pay close attention to when shopping. I'd ask around d-addicts or whichever forum you can find before investing a lot of money on some boxset.
You'll also find that a ton of dramas - especially Taiwanese - simply aren't available as anything else than fansubbed versions. Tough luck. :/
Mars - so cute (and okay, also very angsty) but only fansubbed. We cry for you, Taiwan, we do. :(
Question #15: It's been a cool post but definitely needs more pics. Can you correct this?
Answer: Sure. These are 7 random pictures from various doramas. Handpicked prettiness.
Joo Ji-hoon in a suit. From The Devil. No explanation necessary.
Plotting on the phone is always fun. From Hello! Miss
Together - from Nodame Cantabile.
Delicious, hilarious crack. From Hana Kimi.
Being a royalty rocks. From Goong aka Palace aka Princess Hours. (Also known as - Prettiest Drama Ever)
Dictionary definitions of cute - couple from My Girl.
One of those guys who melt my ovaries - male lead of My Girl. Yes, I like My Girl a bit too much.
Question #16: Nooo, this can't end, I still have a ton of questions, like [insert question here] and [insert another question here]!! What should I do?
Answer: Ask me in the comments. If I can't answer, people that know better will.
Hope this was helpful!
Edit #1: Because I'm a dork and didn't want to fall on overgeneralizations. Also, KO One. How could I ever forget.