Korean dramas, or K-dramas, as they’re more affectionately known, have become my life in recent months.
It started innocently enough – I’d watch a Korean film here and there, usually mixing them in with other Asian films. Obviously, I watched Squid Game when it came out, but I never sought out K-dramas. In fact, I have a friend who told me he was watching every K-drama he could find, and I laughed at him. Surely they weren’t that good.
Then, one day, while flipping through Netflix, I happened upon The Uncanny Counter. It seemed like harmless fluff. It had a bunch of interesting archetypes with decent martial arts skills and supernatural abilities. Little did I know that this show would become my go-to for action, emotion, and drama. My fiancée and I would dim the lights every time we watched it, giving it the proper cinematic experience each time.
After finishing its second season and craving more, I searched through all the streaming services for more to satiate my growing addiction. What I found was nothing short of a buffet to gorge upon. The majority of which can be found on Netflix.
Familiar Stories, Interesting Twists
What I can say about K-dramas is that they seem to elevate the mundane. With heightened characters within narratives that are jam-packed with personality, there is so much to chew on. For example, Bloodhounds is a show about two young boxers who have to fight to save those they love from a seemingly unstoppable loan shark. The fight choreography on the show within this story is phenomenal. Combine that with an infectious relationship between the two leads as well as earth-shattering events, and you’ll be in tears.
The strength of K-dramas also comes from the execution of the supernatural element they utilize in many of their stories. You can see it in many of their stories, from Kingdom to Tale of the Nine Tailed – the usage of their myths and legends is exemplary. My current favorite right now is Sweet Home. This story about the apocalypse coming to the world is dark, disturbing, and action-packed.
Many K-dramas, including Sweet Home, focus on the strength of one’s humanity and, if that falters, how they are doomed to fail. There isn’t always a way back to the side of the angels, but the journey is always a fascinating one. My fascination with K-dramas is similar to that of anime, mainly due to the fact that I’ve grown bored of most Western stories.
Interesting Twists Becoming Worryingly Familiar
You can see it even in our media right now. Several of the top films right now are of Asian influence or straight out of the East. The Hunger Games prequel, which is inspired by Battle-Royale, Godzilla Minus One, and The Boy and the Heron are dominating the box office. Meanwhile, on the small screen, Squid Game became such a huge success that we had to recreate it. And though it was successful at the most basic level of entertainment, I think we can all agree it’s where humanity went to die.
It’s like the executives at Netflix watched it and thought, “Greed is good, right?”
K-dramas have become an addiction of mine. I love meeting these new characters with emotional and over-the-top stories. Much like my love for anime, it is the eccentric nature of these stories that draws me in, but it is the earnestness of its characters that keeps me there.
If you’ve not watched a K-drama, I can’t recommend them enough. It’s never been easier to get into them either, and to paraphrase a great man, once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing stories.
