For 20+ years I've successfully resisted the siren call of Asian pop culture, but now that I've been making a concerted effort to learn how to read Chinese, that means watching Chinese shows to follow along with its subtitles...which is the first tumble down the rabbit hole.
The first Chinese drama I have ever found myself engrossed in is 離婚律師, or "Divorce Lawyers". Speaking Mandarinat home has given me a solid foundation of the language, but the show has really helped expand my vocabulary, especially as it centers on two attorneys who specialize in divorce who initially are opponents, but then (of course) begin to fall in love despite their professional differences. It's not your average soapy drama, and the lead actress is charming in her headstrong, confident portrayal of a modern woman trying to have it all while staying true to her sensitive nature. Not to mention, she is absolutely gorgeous and is basically beauty goals.
Watching Divorce Lawyers eventually led me to branch out into the Korean territory. As you may know, I'm not a huge fan of romcoms or anything that has a target demographic of lonely singles over 50 with seventeen cats and has Taylor Swift as their phone background, However, "The Heirs" can basically be summed up as the Korean The OC/Gossip Girl. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this show for its plot, character development, or artistic direction. Instead, I will wax poetic about the attractiveness of the cast, and how it's basically a manual on recognizing unhealthy, borderline abusive relationships masquerading as loving and wholesome. The characters embark on love triangles that are meant to be viewed as romantic and star-crossed, and I genuinely hope that younger viewers see the aspirations for what they really are. In any case, it's a cute story that has really cute second leads (just look at the cute dude below, all the way on the left), so if you've got time to kill, you know what to watch.
Do you like to laugh? Because I know I do. I also know I don't laugh nearly enough in a day (rise and grind, amirite?), and so sometimes I have to resort to a show like the Korean variety Running Man for my daily dose of silliness and slapstick humor. It's an hour and a half of a set cast with occasional guest stars playing a hodgepodge of increasingly ridiculous, but sometimes strategic, games - their name-tag ripping game is the most famous and rightly so. Grown adults wrestling each other to savagely tear off name tags off the backs of their opponents is surprisingly fulfilling. Don't believe? Just watch (a clip)...