Ask An Ahjumma ~ Spring Episode
Ask An Ahjumma
Season 2: Episode 1
Japanese Dark Suspense Dramas, Winter Drama Slumps, and Cheating Spouses
Hello again MDLers! It’s the Ahjummas! We have returned for another round of Ahjumma advice. Drama slumps, recommendations and even opinions about infidelity, we’ve got you covered! So, without further ado, here we go!
Hi Ahjummas,
I'm looking for some recommendations for dramas,in particular some dramas that are like Liar Game, because I've been searching and I couldn't find anything. And Thank you for all your previous post of recommendations, they help me a lot in finding interesting dramas :)
(Sorry if my english is not okay, it is not my first language.)
Thanks From Spain,
RebecaMadrid@Becashouse
Hi, RebecaMadrid!
Liar Game is definitely a tricky one to start from. However, there are dramas out there that hit the same basic themes. If you like the con-artist angle, Kurosagi and Ryusei no Kizuna should fit the bill. As for psychological games and over-the-top plot, it doesn't get much crazier than Boku no Yabai Tsuma. (Note: Boku no Yabai Tsuma has mature content, so please be aware of that.) Mirai Nikki pits contestants against one another, who need to decide whether to work together or alone, and figure out how their morality fits into those decisions. The protagonist of Yokoso Wagaya e is quite naive, and needs to find his inner strength to protect himself and his family in a tense situation. And with the high-stakes spy game in Bloody Monday, you're never quite sure whom the main character should trust.Unfortunately, one of the best things about Liar Game is that it's unique, so it's hard to find similar dramas. Hopefully, some of these will appeal to what you liked about it!
~Nihon Ahjumma
Dear Ahjummas,
Lately, I have been in a drama slump for the romance section. Back in the day, I watched a lot of cheesy romantic like Hana Yori Dango, You Who Came From the Stars, Marriage, Not Dating, King2Hearts, etc. Lately, the latest romantic dramas have not been filling this void. It is like I start to watch a few episodes and about halfway, I cannot watch further without fully forcing myself. I think I really enjoy the beginning of romantic dramas but it falls flat for me later. Examples of ones that worked for me were Successful Story of a Bright Girl, Kimi Wa Petto, Orange Days, It started with a Kiss, Nodame Cantabile, Reply 1988, I Remember You, Mask, Oh my Ghost. I am not sure if there is a problem with me finishing dramas in general or is romantic dramas don't have as strong plot lines as others.Please add this to your next Ask An Ahjumma article :D
Thank you.
~AmandaMarta
Dear AmandaMarta,
Anyone who’s past the initial blush of discovery with Asian drama has probably been in a slump. It really does happen to all of us from time to time.Romance dramas rely so much on story tropes and after a while you can start to feel like you’ve seen this all before. Then there’s the opposite issue when a show tries to distinguish itself and ends up messing up what could have been a great story. Rom coms have to walk a fine line, they have to check all those boxes that fans love (back hug? Check. ARrogant male lead? Check.) But if they check too many of those boxes we shake our head and tune out. I recently came out of a slump where I couldn’t watch more than a few eps of anything for about a year. I have a couple of suggestions to help you get past this.
The 1st is what got me out of it. MDL added Lakorns to the database and a few caught my eye. Full House, I Wanna Be A Superstar and Ugly Duckling: Perfect Match are all adorable romcoms that got me back into the drama spirit.I’m also going to suggest the K-dramas Healer and City Hunter, which are both in the same vein. There’s cute romance but they both also have strong stories to hold your interest, if the romance doesn’t. You could also give Down With Love, PS Man and Fated To Love You a try. They are all T-dramas I think you’ll like based on your list.
If you still find yourself not feeling anything, fret not. There is a whole world of entertainment out there and you’ll find something to while away your time and when something worthwhile emerges from dramaland you’ll find it.
~City Ahjumma
Hi AAA!
As an ahjumma myself (married, mid-30s and one child), I'm curious to know if you have watched any of the adultery Kdramas aired recently and recent past like Secret Love Affair, On The Way to the Airport and My Wife is Having an Affair this Week (I may have missed others). I am only watching My Wife since it's a bit more hilarious yet thoughtful and not glorifying take on adultery, but wanted to know what your thoughts are. Are we normalizing this behavior, or are we acknowledging it as part of our society and do we fix it or how to avoid it? I actually appreciate that they have shows about adultery with married couples, since I'd like to think that everyone goes into marriage with the promise of sanctity and faithfulness yet this happens more commonly than we think (IMO) and dramas is a good vessel to explore why this happens and what the consequences are.
PS - I absolutely do not condone cheating/adultery especially in marriage but have personally known friends and families that did and had different fallout from it.
~MashiMomo
Dearest MashiMomo,
You have offered us a challenging query that has faced humans since beginning of time. Drama is a mirror to life OR want to be life, we must acknowledge that “infidelity” is real & complicated. There's nothing new about this theme in drama! There's nothing new about this theme period, actually. There is a reason why ancient religious texts have prohibitions against marital infidelity, and it's certainly not because it was ever a new idea! Ever read the David and Bathsheba story? Globally drama is about something going wrong or something being wrong, and how people respond to it. Police, hospital and lawyer shows work because you can have the heroes of your TV show confront a new total disaster every episode. Secret affairs, cheating and conflicted loyalties also toss up no end of trouble for characters in a drama. That's why dramatists write about cheating, always have and always will PLUS it bring solid ratings and big $$$.
An interesting drama that turned the historical tables was Ooku: Arikoto Iemitsu Hen, a story about a female shogun with a 3000 handsome concubines. A movie that turned the tables on infidelity was A Frozen Flower, a historical movie that portrayed infidelity gone awry and the unintended consequences for all characters. Final note... there is nearly always a moralistic perspective to the adultery, in which one character is right and another is wrong because of the cheating (or sometimes, both are right and wrong - about different things within the narrative). This serves to reinforce society's perspective that cheating is fraught with problems, emotionally complex, and certainly not "OK because everyone else is doing it."
“Infidelity is an opium of unfaithfulness.” - Toba Beta
~ Bookish Ahjumma
That’s all for Episode 1 folks! Episode 2 will be published after the New Year, so please do not be shy and send in your questions via Pm to AskAnAhjumma. Remember, we will do our best to answer anything. We wish everyone very happy holidays and a wonderful New Year!
See you in 2017!
