Is Age Just a Number? Kdramas and Noona Romances

I've been going through phases with King of High School. Sometimes, the age difference doesn't really bother me. Other times, it's harder for me to see past it. Based on the debates that have been raging on Dramabeans and elsewhere, it looks like I'm not the only one who's a little conflicted. On nearly every episode, you have some people saying that it's icky for them, and then you have other people telling them to shut up about age already and just enjoy the show.

The debate over noona romances definitely aren't confined to this drama. Witch's Romance and I Need Romance 3 are two of the other dramas I've watched just this year that feature an age gap between the female lead and the male lead. Since it looks like older female leads are here to stay, let's take a look at what makes noona romances really work:

Benefits of an older female lead

At their best, noona romances allow writers to give female characters some power in the relationship. Given the emphasis on seniority in Korean culture, having a woman who is older than the man offers a balance to the control that rude chaebol-type leads tend to have. Noona leads have established lives. They have careers. They know who they are as people. Oftentimes, they aren't total novices at romance, which means that they also have a sex drive of their own (not that they're just hopping into bed with any random man, but it means that they reciprocate kisses instead of staring blankly ahead). All of these things are beneficial not only to having well-rounded relationships, but also to having well-rounded characters in general.

At their worst, noona romances ignore these possibilities and make their female leads extra infantile to make sure that the guy still gets to be the boss of everything. When noona romances go wrong, they go very, very wrong. It's like adding insult to injury if the writers have an easy option for writing a competent female character and then immediately let it go to waste. 

The case in point would be I Need Romance 3, where the female lead was headstrong and great at her job--but had the emotional development of a turnip. Sung Joon's character was a gentle second male lead type, and yet he still spent the majority of the show telling his lady love how she did and should feel. 

How old is too old?

Sure, noona romances can be great, but that still doesn't answer the question of whether there's some kind of limit on love. It's nice to say that age is just a number, but I don't really have much interest in watching a show where an 18-year-old guy is macking on an 87-year-old woman. (Or DO I? I'm imagining the old lady from Titanic with the curly-haired guy in One Direction, and it's slightly fantastic.)

A love so strong that not even arthritis could keep them apart...

What I've noticed in discussions about age gaps is that people tend to break down their views in three different ways:

1. Literal age difference

For some people, what matters most is the actual age difference between the leads. I don't know how they draw the cutoff, but at some point, there are too many years between the characters, and that's when it starts to feel uncomfortable. Is it that old rule of being allowed to date someone half your age plus seven years? I don't know. It seems to vary person to person, but usually if you're in the age camp, the ten years between the leads in King of High School is less offensive than, say, the fourteen years in Witch's Romance.

A quick note on gender bias

Before moving on, I want to pause for a second and mention gender bias. I'm a pretty big fan of gender equality, and that extends to noona romances. To me, the best test for whether or not an age gap is "creepy" is to think about whether or not it would feel uncomfortable if the genders were reversed. If it were an ahjussi romance instead of a noona romance, would it still be okay? If not, why is it okay if the woman is older?

I have heard the argument that in the traditional setup, men domineer women, so having an older man just makes that domineering worse, whereas having an older woman makes it more equal. A few paragraphs ago, I said something similar, but I think this argument only extends so far. I like having female characters who are old enough to feel confident in their own identities, but that's very different from using age to bully or dominate the other party. To assume that men can use an age gap to manipulate and domineer but that women can't is not only shortsighted, but also a little condescending.

Regardless of gender, there may be a point when an age gap creates a situation where one party has control, and that's where it becomes a problem for me.

2. A difference in life status

This is generally where I fall. I don't know that there's some magic number where you're too old for the other person, but I tend to feel a little iffy cheering for couples who are in completely different stages of life. For me personally, there's a pretty firm line drawn with high school students paired with established adults--especially if that adult is a teacher or other authority figure. The big objection is that high school students aren't adults (and yes, we can quibble about consent laws state to state, but that's not the point). 

King of High School is the perfect example here. Yes, Min Suk is mature for an 18-year-old (but we need to note that it's 18 in Korea, which means that he's only 17 by western counting), but he still has a full year of high school left. Soo Young, on the other hand, has been out of college for several years, which means that her life experiences are very different from his. Not only is she an established adult, but she acts as the primary mother figure for a girl Min Suk's age. That's why, when she comforts him at the end of episode 12, it was hard for me to see it in a non-maternal way. I could go on about brain development and stuff, but you get the point.

That's not to say that cases like this don't or can't work out. It's also not to say that I dislike this drama or the actors in it (because I love Seo In Guk in this role). It's just to say that it's more likely to make me, as a viewer, hesitate before being able to cheer them on wholeheartedly.

On the other hand, Witch's Romance boasts a larger age gap that bothered me much less. Both were consenting adults. Both had lived independent lives for several years. Both had previous dating experience that put them on equal footing. Both of them also knew about the age gap from day 1, so they entered the relationship with eyes wide open.

If we apply the gender-reversal rule here, it still applies. A 27-year-old man dating a 17-year-old girl would give me pause. A larger age gap between adults (like the one in Prime Minister and I) doesn't really bother me. Even though I haven't seen it, the 20-year age difference in Secret Love Affair was also fine by me for the same reason.

3. The actors' actual ages

Now this one's interesting to me, and I'm curious to hear what all of you think about it. Some people worry less about the ages of the characters and more about the literal age gap between the actors themselves. Seo In Guk is only five years younger than Lee Ha Na in real life. He's also 26 years old, not 17. 

To give a contrasting example, there has been some recent controversy over the casting in High School--Love On, where Nam Woo Hyun is 23 in real life, but his costar, Kim Sae Ron, is only 14. In the drama itself, both characters are supposed to be 18 (though she's an angel, so her technical age is probably older).

 

If the characters were 14 and 23, that would definitely be too much (even worse than 17 and 27, for the reasons stated above), but should actor ages be a factor? I can see why actor ages would impact our feelings about the onscreen couple, but I also feel like we should give the actors credit if they can play a convincing role. Seo In Guk has been incredible at capturing the mannerisms of an 17-year-old boy. Should viewers discount that effort because he's 26 in real life?

This isn't a perfect comparison, but in some ways, it reminds me of the complaints in romance movies when a gay actor plays a straight character or vice versa. If they're acting out a fictional story either way, why should their real life make a difference in how we view the characters?

Conclusions

Like I said at the beginning, I go back and forth in my feelings about King of High School, and I'm genuinely curious to hear how everyone else feels. Does age ever matter? Do you have a hard time watching certain dramas? Or do you wish everyone would shut up and let your favorite characters fall in love in peace?

New Kdrama Alert: Marriage without Love (Marriage, Not Dating)

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I don't know what it is about summer, but it makes me want to start a billion romantic comedies. I can't stop! I no sooner finished You Are All Surrounded than I randomly picked up Marriage without Love/Marriage, Not Dating. This is where I draw the line, though! I'm not allowed to start any new dramas until something else ends. I'm falling behind as it is!

I had heard very little about this drama, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because Dramabeans didn't start recapping it until after I started watching. Whatever the case, here's an overview for those of you who, like me, might have missed the memo on this one:

Overview: Marriage without Love stars Yeon Woo Jin (aka the sad murderous guy in Arang and the Magistrate) as Gong Gi Tae, a successful, grumpy plastic surgeon who doesn't want to get married. Han Groo (who it took me a solid three episodes to recognize as the girl from Killer Girl K--maybe because she wasn't dripping with blood?) is Joo Jang Mi, a girl who wants revenge on the guy who broke her heart. Because of some utterly nonsensical reasons, they decide to fake a relationship. Toss in a love hexagon, and you've got the show.

Thoughts so far: Okay, so the plot isn't exactly groundbreaking. In fact, the reasoning for the fake relationship is worse than usual in this one. I get that he wants to keep his house, but seriously. You're a freaking adult. Put on your big boy pants and just say you don't want to get married. 

Even though the entire show is one enormous cliche, I'm enjoying it quite a bit so far. The leads have nice, believable chemistry that makes this the perfect throwaway summer show. Han Groo's character could be my worst nightmare, but the actress is pulling it off with just enough attitude to make me like her. I will say, though, that she needs to grow a backbone and start saying no to people pretty soon here. Otherwise, we may end up with a Personal Taste situation on our hands.

The love hexagon is fun for a light comedy. I mean, the less said about Jung Jin Woon's acting, the better (Let's just say that his face is very pretty and leave it at that), but overall, it's a fluffy show that--so far--seems to understand what people want from a fluffy show. I can appreciate that.

P.S. The cold open on episode 6: Clever undermining of audience expectations, or mean writers playing tricks on the audience?

Where to watch Marriage without Love:

Kdrama.com 

Viki

You Are All Surrounded Korean Drama Review

Everyone has that one drama that really sings the song of their people. For many drama watchers, it's a nuanced, deep, heartfelt show that really speaks to their soul.

For me? It's You Are All Surrounded, where people run around chasing cars and punching bad guys. I am what I am, okay?

Even though I said from the very beginning that I couldn't possibly offer an objective view of this series, now that it's over, I do have a few bones to pick. But first, let's talk about the things that I love:

Things I Loved

The cast. Historically, I haven't been a huge fangirl for any of the actors in this series, but the combination of cast members here was pure magic. Bro time between Lee Seung Gi and Cha Seung Won was predictably fantastic, but even the side characters gave me warm fuzzies inside my heart. The chemistry of the central cast gave this show a lot of leeway to overcome downsides (which I will address in a moment).

Hug it out, you two.

As part of the cast interactions, I also enjoyed the relationship between Seung Gi's Dae Gu and Go Ara's Soo Sun. The couple was allowed to develop in a natural way, and, in spite of Dae Gu's early complaints that Soo Sun was a bird brain, they had mutual respect and friendship. Not to spoil anything, but I also loved how the writers handled Dae Gu's love confession. They had a million opportunities to make him run away out of noble idiocy, but they opted to take the less obvious route, and the relationship worked better as a result of that choice.

One of the most pleasant surprises was the character of Chief Kang. She wasn't the lead of the show, but she was probably the most interesting female character I have seen in a K-drama this year. K-drama characters (especially women) tend to fit into cookie cutter roles of first lead, mean second lead, or terrible mother-in-law, but Chief Kang defied categorization. As a viewer, I felt like I was learning about her from episode 1 to episode 20.

Things I . . . Didn't Love

Frankly, the cast was great, but the writing was sloppy. The first half of the series balanced romance, mystery, comedy, and character development really well, but the second half of the series lost momentum. Maybe I was hyper-aware of this because I watched the series as it aired, but there were far too many episodes where I felt like there was no payoff. Every once in a while, there would be a superb scene or series of scenes that sucked me in, but those scenes were a bit too few and far between.

When I say that the writing was sloppy, I mean that the writers tried to make interesting things happen, but they did so in the most obvious way possible. The central mystery that completely took over the second half of the series wasn't nearly as mysterious as the writers would have us believe, and, for how great the good guys were, the villains were basically cardboard cutouts. I think I speak for quite a few viewers when I say that I would have been happy with much more Pan Seok/Sa Kyung romance in the second half and much less of the evil chaebol woman laughing smugly at the camera.

We aren't happy that you're here, either.

Similarly, while the case-of-the-day format was great for some laughs and team-building moments at the start of the series, most of the cases weren't all that compelling. The sheer number of random coincidences that allowed them to progress on any case was a sign that the writing was a bit weak.

Conclusions

Saying that the villains were terrible and the writing was lacking might sound like major negatives. If this were any other show, that might be an accurate assessment, but this one is an exception for me. It's absolutely worth it for the characters. Regardless of what kinds of shenanigans they were trying to pull, I cared about them, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching their interactions.

P.S. (SPOILERS--BEWARE)

I was pleased that bag lady's husband wasn't really Dae Gu's daddy, but the fact remains that he legitimately thought he might be the father. I know babies have some leeway in conception dates, but that means that Dae Gu's mom was doing some hanky panky with that guy and Dae Gu's real dad in a very short span of time. Was I the only one who thought of that?

P.P.S. Best kiss reaction ever:

Where to watch You Are All Surrounded

DramaFever

Viki

Kdrama.com

A Public Service Announcement

In case you aren't watching Joseon Gunman, you really should know that it features Lee Joon Ki in a variety of excellent bandit costumes.


You're welcome.

Ahhh, Young Love: Answer Me 1994 (Reply 1994) Korean Drama Review

Source

Big news, big news! Coco and I are going to KCON! Not only are we going to KCON, but we're presenting at KCON! Now that we're all official on the KCON website and stuff, we'll make a more formal announcement about our participation soon. The moral of the story is that if you'll be at KCON, we should meet.

What does KCON have to do with Answer Me 1994, you may ask? Well, one of our panels is about second male leads, so I finally decided to watch this show. You know, for "research."

Overview

Much like its predecessor Answer Me 1997, Answer Me 1994 presents a group of longtime friends in the present and then gives us the story of how their friendship progressed from their first year of college to the present day. It also features the same type of husband mystery, where the audience tries to figure out which of two (or three or four) men the female lead (Na Jung, played by Go Ara) will choose in the end. Basically, it's a billion (or 20, whatever) episodes of the writers jerking the audience around between two love options. 

This is the whole show. Allllllllll 21 episodes.

Because it's set in the '90s, the show is filled with nostalgic references to Korean pop culture. Some of the references will go over the heads of anyone unfamiliar with 1990s Korea, but some of them, like the millennium hubbub and the switch from pagers to cell phones, are memorable globally.

I know that a lot of people watched this show in comparison to Answer Me 1997, but I think it stands alone as its own show that should be reviewed as such.

Review

I watched this show because I heard that it featured the love triangle to end all love triangles. When this show aired, flame wars between Team Oppa and Team Chilbongie erupted all over the internet. I'm going to make this review as spoiler-free as possible, but I will tell you that I went into the series knowing who Na Jung was going to choose, and I'm pretty sure that it improved the viewing experience for me. I'm not saying you have to know the end in advance, but if you prefer not to rip all of your hair out in frustration, it's something to consider. Just sayin'. 

As I watched Answer Me 1994, it hit a really personal chord with me. When I was 19, I found myself falling for a good friend who had always been off-limits. Years later (after I ran away to another country for a while), that man became my husband. When I saw Na Jung and Oppa trying to navigate those awkward moments of transitioning from friendship into romance and from youth into adulthood, it brought me a sweet sense of nostalgia. And yes, that means that I'm a Team Oppa sympathizer. I married the Oppa in my story. I can't help it.

Even though I'm in Oppa's camp, both the best thing and the worst thing about this show is that both men are good choices. Sure, I'm Team Oppa, but I also feel like I'm Team Chilbongie (How's that for being wishy-washy?). They're very different characters, but, unlike other love triangles, it's abundantly clear from he very first episodes that both men care about Na Jung and want to support her. Either one could have a balanced relationship with her that is rooted in friendship.

I say that it's both the best and the worst thing about the show because the structure of the husband mystery does the show an enormous disservice. By creating a frame narrative that constantly forces focus onto the question of who Na Jung will marry, Answer Me 1994 encourages viewers to invest most of their emotional energy into the love triangle. If left alone, I think viewers could have appreciated the natural progression towards the eventual romantic outcome without constantly second-guessing themselves and feeling bad for whichever guy was being left behind at the moment. It also would have spared us the agony of watching the world's most boring housewarming party. Seriously, how freaking long was that wedding video?

Why do they both make such convincing "I'm sad that I'm being left out" faces?

Without the framing device, viewers could also enjoy the show as a slice-of-life representation of youth and friendship. In a show where the side characters all have their own stories that endear them to us, it makes little sense to constantly insist that the only outcome that really matters is Na Jung's choice. Even the parents were well-rounded humans with concerns and hopes of their own. Personally, I probably enjoyed watching Haetae more than anyone else, and his progression as a character meant more to me than the romantic tug-of-war.

I do have to complain about Bingrae's treatment at the end, though. It's like they were in a gigantic rush to tie everything together with a neat bow, and in so doing, they undermined the emotional weight of his personal story.

In addition to drawing constant attention to the husband mystery, the show also dragged the love triangle out way too long. If we're talking about expectation and fulfillment, you can't stretch the love triangle for 20 episodes and then expect us to feel okay for the guy she didn't choose. You made us love him, so you give us some closure beyond five minutes in the finale, you monsters!

I know that a lot of people hated the extended episode length (as long as 1 hour 45 minutes for some episodes). While I agree that some scenes were overly bloated, especially towards the end, I think that the length worked in some ways. It allowed the writers to maintain the lifelike feel of the show by placing big moments in the middle of episodes instead of the end. In real life, you don't kiss someone, freeze frame it, and then roll the credits. You have big moments, and then you go back to normal life the next day.

This has little to do with my feelings on the show itself, but every time the love theme came on, I felt like I was listening to a mix of "Lady in Red" and something by Marvin Gaye.

I may not have lived in Korea in the 1990s, but this might just be the most '90s thing about the entire show.

Conclusions

Answer Me 1994 may be too long with a love triangle that drags on until the end of time, but it is also filled with realistic characters who represent youth in love really well. I would recommend spoiling the love triangle before you start so that you can just sit back and enjoy the leisurely, well-acted ride.

Where to Watch Answer Me 1994

DramaFever

Viki

New Dramas: King of High School, Joseon Gunman, and Trot Lovers

I had a chance to spend last Saturday hanging out with a bunch of other K-drama lovers/bloggers who happen to live in my area! Eating delicious Korean food and chatting about K-dramas was delightful. I had no idea that the people I read on the internet actually live near me in real life. Dewaanifordrama did a little write-up about our meeting here. I just have to say how much I enjoy the K-drama community. Whether it's the K-drama lovers I meet in real life or those of you who chat about dramas on the internet, you all make watching dramas worthwhile. Thank you. You're the best drama friends a girl could have.

Now that I've gotten my sentimentality out of the way for the day, it's new drama time! Last drama cycle was kind of a bust for us. Out of all of the options, I was only interested in You Are All Surrounded, and then I picked up Witch's Romance towards the end of its run. Coco and I are more interested in the shows this time around. Here's what we're watching:

King of High School/ High School King of Savvy

This poster. I hate it. But I love the show.
Image via

What it's about: Lee Min Suk (Seo In Guk) is a hotshot high school hockey player. When his hotshot businessman brother disappears the day he's supposed to start a new job, he asks Min Suk to act as his double. Min Suk juggles the stresses of high school and business as hijinks (and, I assume, a noona romance with Lee Ha Na) ensue.

First impressions (episodes 1-4): First of all, can we just agree that High School King of Savvy has got to be one of the least appealing show titles of all time? It sounds simultaneously smarmy and childish. I'm glad that I didn't let the title deter me because I went into episode 1 with reeeeeeeeally low expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Seo In Guk is carrying this whole show, no doubt about it. He's amazingly good at playing up the mannerisms of an 18-year-old boy, and I love that his character, while playful and immature, isn't your typical jerkface male lead. He's caring and friendly from the very beginning, which always scores points in my book. I have to admit, though, that I'm just pretending that he's a college student instead of a high school student. I enjoy a good noona romance, but rooting for an older woman to pick up on a high school kid crosses my pervy boundaries. Can we all just agree to pretend he's closer to Seo In Guk's actual age?

I'm a little split on the female lead. She's endearing, but her awkwardness is so over-the-top that it's kind of a cliche at this point. I also can't look at her without seeing this:

I have faith that she will grow on me over the course of the show.

If you're okay with suspending your disbelief of the absurd premise, I would say this is worth a watch for Seo In Guk's performance. And his grandpa.

Where to watch King of High School:

Kdrama.com

Joseon Gunman

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What it's about: At the end of the Joseon era, a sword fighter's son (Lee Joon Ki) must learn to take up the gun in order to get revenge. (Or so I hear. We aren't at the revenge part yet.) He is joined by a young woman (Nam Sang Mi) who fights for enlightenment ideals.

First impressions (episodes 1-2): I'm a sucker for pretty dramas, and this drama is insanely pretty. I'm also a sucker for Lee Jun Ki, so this started out with a stacked deck in my book. Although it might be odd to compare this to King of High School, they're both similar in that they have male leads who start out as immature, but kind and caring. I think the pacing on this drama is pretty smart, as well. We know that the heavy stuff is coming, but they started with some absurdly cute and romantic scenes to carry us through the inevitable melo. I already feel invested in this couple, and it has only been two episodes. As a bonus we already have a cross-dressing drama and forced cohabitation, which happen to be two of my favorite things!

The female lead is interesting. I don't know if the writers did this on purpose, but she's an interesting mix of traditional and assertive. She wants to be a scholar and she sasses anyone who disagrees with her, but she's also kind of damsel-in-distress-ish. Squealing and crying aren't usually my favorite character traits in female leads, but I'm willing to let it slide here because she encapsulates that interesting era of history so well. She's an embodiment of both traditional Korean women and enlightenment ideals. 

Where to watch Joseon Gunman:

DramaFever

Trot Lovers

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What it's about: A superstar (Ji Hyun Woo) falls on hard luck, and, in order to save his career, he must help a young woman who loves traditional trot music (Jung Eunji) become a singer.

First impressions (episodes 1-4): I love both of the leads (and I also like our second male lead, Shin Sung Rok, now that he isn't murdering people), but I'm a little bit worried about the writing after four episodes. The first two episodes were light and fluffy, episode 3 got pretty dark pretty fast, and then episode 4 went back to light and fluffy. I'm happy that they didn't play sexual harassment or suicidality for laughs, but consistency is also important. The tone has been swinging so wildly from one end of the spectrum to the other that I get the sense that these writers aren't quite sure where this train is headed. Let's just hope they don't steer it off of a cliff! 

Where to watch Trot Lovers:

DramaFever

Viki

What are you guys watching? Thoughts so far?