Insomnia and K-Dramas: Pt. 1 - An Introduction

Due to the fact that it is crazy-hot in my room, I am unable to fall asleep. Instead of cursing the summer weather and lamenting my lack of air-conditioning like I normally would, I decided to channel my energies into a new blog post that I've been meaning to write for a while on K-DRAMAS.

Winter Sonata - Megahit from early 2000s

K-dramas, short for Korean dramas, are a staple here at Manga Meditation. You may have noticed a previous foray into K-dramas with Blackbird's review of Delightful Girl Chun-Hyang, but believe me, that is only the tippity top of the very large, extensive and all-encompassing iceberg that is the K-drama world. We shall endeavor to delve further, starting with Part 1: An Introduction.

NOTE: There's no way that I'm going to be able to fully cover everything in this post, so I'm going to just hit on the big points and fill in the gaps later. Also, K-dramas are not the only icebergs in the sea - Japanese dramas, Chinese dramas, and Taiwanese dramas are also sizable chunks of ice in their own right, though that will DEFINITELY have to wait for a separate post.

All the Pretty Boys

The definition of a bishounen (courtesy of Wikipedia) is "a Japanese term literally meaning 'beautiful youth.'" Popular amongst Japanese pop culture subscribers, these delicately featured boys are objects of affection for all us hormonal women, bringing sunshine, butterflies, and screentone doilies into our humdrum lives. The bishounen who make my insides go all mushy include Sohma Ayame from Fruits Basket (love the hair), Suou Tamaki from Ouran Koukou High School (you can call me commoner anytime), and Sano Izumi from Hanazakari no Kimitachi (the ultimate roommate!), just to name a few. All these characters are an appealing mix of brooding, flamboyance, sensitivity, and of course, pleasing aesthetics, meant to arouse our darkest desires (or simply to entertain us).

Hey there Sano...

Either way, mangaka have definitely realized the marketable potential for these alluringly effeminate characters, as they are generously scattered throughout the manga canon. However, there remains the undeniable fact that these characters are not and will not ever be REAL. Sigh. So, rather than mooning over these unattainable paragons of male beauty, I have decided to create a list of real-life bishounen to ogle over.