So...You Have Watched An Asian Drama?

My Asian Drama Watching History: I've seen half of Heaven's Wedding Gown.  I was hooked after I peered over my mom's shoulders while she was watching it.  I was struck by the ridiculousness of it all, what with the same dramatic movement shown 3 times from different angles, the over-the-top characters, and the many trials and tribulations the main female character had to go through.  Of course, I couldn't stop watching.  It was just too ridiculous; I had to watch and make fun of it.

[SPOILER ALERT FOR HEAVEN'S WEDDING GOWN] I think I walked away thinking the main character should have ended up with the biker guy.  Who wasn't rooting for the bad boy who was clearly heads over heels in love with the main girl?!  The other guy so did not deserve her.  Then again, I walked into the show late so perhaps, the main guy proves he's not a douche early on.

As is my wont after I watched stuff, I googled the 3 leads.  I found it interesting that Leon Jay Williams had such an English sounding name; it turns out he's half English (as in Great Britain)!  He also makes interesting facial choices in this song. 

But in reading up on Ming Dao, it didn't take long for me to stumble upon The Prince Who Turns Into A Frog.  I wanted to watch a drama that he starred in and, in all likelihood, got the girl - a perfect choice for my first full Asian Drama!  [END OF SPOILERS FOR HEAVEN'S WEDDING GOWN]

Whoa, was The Prince Who Turns Into A Frog different than what I was used to.  I have no doubt I'll repeat this point throughout the blog, but some of the choices by the lead actress was just so out there.  I didn't understand why she would deliver certain lines the way she did.  Granted, there might be an English translation difference that's affecting my view, but even so, I still couldn't see a normal person acting so crazily.  The rest of the cast acted like you'd expect them to.

I think I got 8 episodes in and then had to search for the 9th one because the original link was wrong.  Time went on and then I had to clear out space on my hard drive so I deleted the series reluctantly with all intentions of finishing out the show.  I might have been a couple episodes away from just giving up on the show but hadn't crossed that line, yet.  Even after a couple of years, I still had it in the back of my mind to finish watching this Asian Drama.  Finally, I got around to it.

Because I've already seen this Asian Drama that I'll be starting out the blog with (the whole reason why I started this whole undertaking), my initial posts will be slanted a lil differently (see what I did there?  I can do that because I am Asian!) than normal.  I'm still keeping the regular blog post outline of pick a show, write episode reviews, do notes/research, write an overall opinion, and make a fanmade music video, but I'll be writing 2 overall opinions for The Prince Who Turns Into A Frog: 1) my initial take and 2) my feelings after I watch it again.

Starting Off...

I'm starting this blog to record my journey of watching Asian Dramas.  I'm a twentysomething white-washed Asian-American woman, which means I identify more with white culture than I do with the Asian culture. 

What are Asian Dramas?  I haven't done any research in general so this is what I think they are: they're like American soap operas that end.  They seem to involve twentysomething Asian singers (the equivalent of our N'SYNC, Backstreet Boys, or Lady Gaga) who may or may not be able to act; they're cheesy; and they center around meet cute situations.

As I'm watching Asian Dramas, I'll be coming at them from an American perspective.  And that's the reason why I'm starting this blog.  I was watching The Prince Who Turns Into a Frog (or The Frog Prince), and I wanted to read someone's opinion of each episode without giving away spoilers.  I didn't see any American fangirl blogging about the show. It seemed like the only English-based websites for Asian dramas were message boards, and those didn't suit my purposes.  There are spoilers all over those posts.

Oh that's the other thing.  I'm way behind.  The Frog Prince ran in fall of 2005.  Maybe that's why there aren't more American websites devoted to the show - the Internet wasn't what it is now as it was then.  There are so many more savvy tweeners today who can whip up websites and make fanmade music videos that I'm sure I won't have the same trouble for newer dramas.

So anyway, this blog is a way for me to remember my opinions on Asian Dramas (and perhaps, other Asian movies/shows in general) and to have a forum for the background research I hope I'll do.  Like I said above, I'm coming at these dramas from an American perspective so it'll be interesting to note all the Asian cultural differences that seem odd to me.  I also have a ton of questions: do they film all the episodes at once?  Do they wait to see how the show does before filming more episodes?  How do the Asian Dramas fit into the Asian culture?  Why do they cast singers?  Are they always so cheesy and so goofy?  Is the acting always so extreme or is there semblance of the acting I'm used to watching in America?  Or, is the extreme acting more of a case of "lost in translation"?

I hope I go through with this blog.  Here's the general format: I'll watch an Asian Drama.  I'll post my no doubt long-winded opinion of each episode.  I'll post the research I could find.  I'll post an overall opinion.  I'll make a fanmade music video (I hope to be a video editor some day so this way I'll actually get to edit stuff instead of lose everything I've learned).  And then the cycle starts over.  Oof.