K-DRAMA SPECIAL EDITION: VALENTINE’S DAY
MY TOP 10 RELATIONSHIPS IN KDRAMAS
By Sharon Stern
For Valentine’s Day, I decided to tackle a self-imposed impossible task: to name my favorite relationships in K-dramas. I know before I start that many, maybe most, perhaps all of you will probably disagree with my choices! This is what is fun about K-dramas. We can disagree, but still completely enjoy the experience. The first challenge, of course, is that I haven’t seen every K-drama. I don’t think anyone has – would that even be possible? So, maybe your favorite won’t be on my list for that reason. And we all have different experiences with romance and relationships, don’t we? I enjoy really impossible or at least improbable love stories, which is what most K-dramas seem to strive to show. That’s because my own story fits into that category. My husband and I met in a country neither of us was from, neither of us speaking each other’s language with no logical reason for our meeting. There was no apparent path for us to be together. 인연? I think so. Through many difficulties and very serious challenges, we made it happen, though. Once we were in the same place, we had to figure out how to communicate and how to maneuver through cultural differences. It hasn’t always been easy, but this year we will celebrate our 40th anniversary – longer than many of you have been alive! So, when we watch those relationships in K-dramas that are crazy ridiculous, I like to remember that real love can sometimes also be crazy ridiculous and yet survive.
I’m focusing here on just the relationships in dramas. The dramas I’m going to mention aren’t necessarily the best overall dramas out there. They include some favorites, but definitely not all of them. There are a lot of dramas with romantic relationships in them that I really love and some I love more than those on this list, but I wouldn’t name them as presenting my favorite relationships. There are some relationships in dramas, though, that seem to jump out of the screen at you and grab you, despite what else might be going on around them. That’s what I’m talking about. Here is my countdown.
10. Beethoven Virus
You’re probably scratching your head about this one, right? It’s very old (2008). Because it’s old, it’s dated, it’s slow, a few of the characters are really exaggerated. The main theme is a really interesting journey to help people understand the power of classical music. The main character is a very famous, grumpy (because he’s traumatized) conductor (Kim Myung-min) who has no social skills, Beethoven’s haircut and actually reminds me of a couple of conductors I have played under. The female lead is a young violinist (Lee Ji-ah) who is desperately trying to bring an orchestra to town and who ends up, in the end, going deaf. These two fall in love in the most unconventional and often very painful way. He is rude and mean to everyone, including her. Actually, the relationship is pretty messed up, on the surface. Real relationships are like that – they aren’t all simple or pretty or nice. But they connect way beyond words on a level that most of us don’t get to experience and that those around them don’t understand. The drama may be a bit old, a bit long and not completely brilliant, but this relationship was intriguing and made me think a lot about the difficulties of expressing feelings in words and how art forms like music can free you from the limits of words in relationships.
9. Clean With Passion for Now
It was really hard to make it past the first episode of this drama, originally. It was so completely silly. Half of the second episode wasn’t a lot better. But then something started to change. And then I didn’t necessarily love the writing at the end either. And there was controversy when this drama aired because of the age difference between the main actor and main actress. I get that. I guess I should have been creeped out. But in the middle, the characters that Yoon Kyun-sang and Kim Yoo-jung play are very broken people that can, miraculously, relax with each other in the middle of their personal chaos, even if only for moments. They feel safe, even if only for moments. If a relationship can give you that, it is a true gift. This drama, in my opinion, has the very best kiss scene in any drama I’ve seen. Absolutely electric.
8. Touch Your Heart
I’ve pondered this drama a lot. I think the directorial decisions made were odd and I’m not positive I completely understand them. You’re probably not supposed to deeply ponder a drama like this. It was based on a web novel and the style of all but the two main characters is very literally a cartoon. It’s like you’re watching a live-action cartoon. Pretty much for 16 episodes. Sound effects and everything. But because Lee Dong-wook and Yoo In-na are brilliant actors, they rise way above all to tooniness (which can be annoying, at times) because their relationship is presented in a sincere and simple way that rings true. That sincerity hooks you and pulls you in.
7. My Dearest
Sageuk dramas come with the limitations of their historic settings, making them a harder setting to tell a compelling story. No one recorded endless dialogues 400 years ago, so personal stories in this kind of setting are all conjecture. To me, that is what makes creating good storytelling in an historic setting difficult, but if it is done well, it earns the term epic. This story takes place during the Qing invasion of Korea. The Qing were at times brutal and the drama doesn’t hold back on those details. There is war, there is chaos, there are many moments of desperation. In this setting of upheaval, Namkoong Min and Ahn Eun-jin create characters that are at the same time loveable and hate able, empathetic and despicable. But you absolutely want to follow their stories. You absolutely want to know what happens next. The tale itself is epic and for the two leads, the journey that brings them together is long and painful. There is a lot of visual symbolism and poetic reference in this drama that is the essence of human’s search for meaning.
6. The Legend of the Blue Sea
I love a love story between other worldly creatures. How much more impossible could love get than between species? All of the dramas with gumihos and goblins and endearing creatures are near and dear to my heart. Mermaids are definitely on that list. The Legend of the Blue Sea is a true classic. Jun Ji-hyun and Lee Min-ho are the definition of Hallyu stars and they fit that title because of how well they act, even in a world of fantasy. They aren’t just pretty faces on the screen to watch, although they definitely are that. The characters start in places very far apart from each other and the Lee Min-ho character is untrusting and messed up. That is until it becomes clear that fate is making them repeat what didn’t work out in another life. Fate may put us in a situation, but we decide what to do with it.
5. My Love from the Star
What better analogy could there be for the difference between the way men and women sometimes view the world than presenting the male lead as an emotionless, clueless alien? So perfect. There is a reason this drama was one of the breakthroughs that created modern Hallyu stars. Jun Ji-hyun and Kim Soo-hyun give us humor, but with Kim Soo-hyun’s character destined to leave Earth forever and his commitment to not get emotionally attached to anyone, his life’s storyline disintegrates as he falls for Jun Ji-yun’s character. As he literally disappears off the Earth and has to figure out how to return, the emotional tug at our hearts from Jun Ji-hyun’s character’s loss is palpable. When my husband and I were trying to figure out how to be in the same place at the same time, this happened to me. He disappeared. He had to leave the country we were in on a moment’s notice. This is pre-cell phone and pre-Internet. We had to find each other again (not that simple) and claw our way back. Fantasy stories can touch on reality in interesting ways
4. Goblin [also called Guardian: The Lonely and Great God]
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This one, of course, is the classic of all classics. With a 12-year age difference between actors Gong Yoo and Kim Go-eun, I guess we should be creeped out again by the 1,000 year old Goon Yoo character connecting with a high schooler. But Kim Go-eun’s character is so nonchalant about facing things no one else would be able to that she is immediately likeable, as well as admirable. Even the 1,000-year-old goblin doesn’t know what to do with her approach to life. That sort of character is so refreshing, especially when contrasted with a goblin who is doomed to live forever. On a timeline of forever, the goblin only gets a few, very short lifetimes to be with his love and then live on with only memories. So cruel. It takes 1,000 years to find true love and then you only get to think about it forever. This drama is very entertaining on so many levels, beyond just this relationship. It has the most appropriately arranged OST of any drama (solely on a musical level), in my opinion. If you haven’t seen it, you really need to.
3. Because This Is My First Life
This drama presents us with three very different relationships, none of which are easy or simple or clean for a variety of reasons. We all have expectations, dreams, stereotypes when it comes to relationships. Can we allow those change to let our relationships to survive? Can we move beyond what families or society expect of us and stay together? The answer won’t be “yes” for everyone. That’s because relationships require work. This drama does a really good job of exploring these subjects in all three of the couples it presents. It does a deep dive into serious thinking about what constitutes a relationship.
2. Mr. Sunshine
This tragic tale takes place in one of the most painful moments of Korea’s history – the period of occupation. That brings all kinds of serious reality to the table right away. Even in the midst of uncertainty and conflict, humans still have to live their lives. And two humans (Lee Byung-hun and Kim Tae-ri) from very different backgrounds with conflicting realities find ways to connect and support each other. Not an easy task. There is a lot of tragedy based in history in this drama. We may not live in a war zone (thank God!), but life can absolutely be full of true tragedy. The memory of true and loving relationships may be enough to get us through tragedy, even if we are left alone.
1. Crash Landing on You
My number one pick for a favorite relationship is in this drama. For me, the drama itself was all kinds of fun. Not everyone I know that has seen it, liked it. That’s fine. However, even with its very implausible ending and its crazy twists and turns, you can’t deny the true energy between Hyun Bin and Son Ye-jin onscreen. That’s because there is actually energy there – it’s a real and bourgeoning relationship that is taking place as the drama is filmed. You can’t fake that. No matter how good of an actor you are, you can only act that to a certain degree. The sparks we see are actually flying. That is worth watching, in my book.
There you have it! I’m sure you have your own list. I would love to see yours! Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!
