SPOILER FREE.
Today’s article is a diary that will talk about my experience watching K-drama for the first time. Yes, I also wanted to venture into this drama world. The reason is that my friends were always tweeting about it on my twitter timeline. It was dorama over here and there all the time, and yes, I am a curious person, you know.
It was a recent revolution, I would say. Before deciding on watch K-drama, I was attached to what I knew. I did not get out of my bubble very often. But I decided to take a step further and explore new things. So, I ventured into Korean lands with a purpose in mind, learning and then talking about it here on the blog.
The suggestion of this K-drama was given by Luciana Miranda, with the second endorsement of my Aunt Cris. The two spoke beautifully about these dramas to me. They gave me reasons to watch it. In Luciana’s case, she said I would love Fated to Love You. She was not wrong, indeed. This is a necessary drama in the life of anyone who wants to immerse themselves in Asian dramas.
I believe this a story that can sell what a K-drama means to someone who has never seen it. Usually when I want to recommend something I use the following formula “ten reasons to fall in love with…”, but Fated to Love You has much more than ten reasons, and even if i didn’t have ten, it only took me one to be completely surrendered:
An unforgettable plot.
Diary of a new K-drama fan
For those who have never seen Fated to Love You the summary of the story is as follows: Lee Gun is the heir to a large company and a super important family. To stay CEO, he needs to get married and have a child. He already has a wife candidate, his girlfriend Se Ra. However, after some interventions of fate, a strange woman named Mi Young, gets in the middle of his plans. The two unintentionally end up glued, united irredeemably by the bonds of love.
As I explained, this is like an essay, so I will divide it into three phases. Phase 1 – Dive right in, Phase 2 – Hooked by the bait, Phase 3 – Where’s my K-drama fan id card?
Each phase will discuss about a period of this adventure and how I felt watching this story that was really to remember. I hope my diary convinces you to take the same journey I did.
Let’s go!
Phase 1 – Dive right in
The best thing I did in my writing life was seeing Fated to Love You. A fact. Especially the way I did it. Complete and totally in the dark. I’ve never seen any K-drama in my life. All I knew was vague things, but they did not really serve as information.
When I decided to watch an asian drama, I asked for tips from the K-drama fans that I knew, my Aunt Cris and my friend Luciana. The two recommended several dramas, but the two also recommended Fated to Love You. I decided to start with this one because Luciana insisted to watch it. Thank you, by the way.
But I did something I do not usually do. I did not look for anything about what is asian dramas or about the one I was going to watch it. I did not even look for the casting. Something I never do. I’m horrified to watch something to regret afterwards. I get the terrible feeling I wasted my time. I trusted the recommendation given by Luciana, though. “It’s your kind of thing, Raquely”, she said.
She was right.
The first Impressions
My first impression of K-drama was that the first episode ended very quickly. I didn’t realize it was an hour. I didn’t even feel it. That was a sign. A story that is so amusing and entertaining that you lose the notion of time. The only ones who get an effect like this on us are good books.
The more I study about creative writing, the more I see how plots are vital parts of a story’s success. Fated to Love You introduces the characters in the first episode and then in the second the plot begins.
There is no need to jerk around the audience. Something that irritates me in Brazilian or Latin plots. The difference between K-drama and our kind of telenovelas here, are the limited number of episodes. Fated to Love You is twenty episodes long, but some K-dramas has sixteen. Wouldn’t that be my dream?
I love it because there is no space to pad the story out. Fated to Love You does not have that. The story follows linearly, coherently to its end. Without leaving loose wires, unfinished subplots or meaningless stuff.
My second impression was a little more impactful. I have felt a huge difference between acting schools that I’m used to see. The Brazilian, American, Mexican and Turkish ones. Yes, it was a shock for me the comedy of Fated To Love You.
But I was immersing myself entirely in the experience, right? Although some moments I found it super weird, I realized that this was the way to tell the viewers how some things worked inside the minds of the characters. Mostly in Lee Gun’s head.
The humor of this K-drama hit me hard, but after I understood it. When I finally got involved. It was not weird anymore, it was fun.
The characters
There is a symbolism behind every comic expression of Mr. Lee Gun. He is not crazy just because he is. He has a reason to react the way he reacts to certain situations. By the way, what a male character!
We are accustomed to romantic heroes who expose their masculinity in brute force, in physical actions in defense of their loved ones. Our kind of male hero struggles to get the heart of his girl. If there is a dispute with another male, then he is capable of anything.
Lee Gun is different. He does not need to show that he is physically strong to be the hero. He takes attitudes, he acts, he says things that a romantic hero should say. He is very spontaneous and sometimes that sounds kind of cartoonish. But it is his way. A way you learn to love it.
Because even though he has eccentric characteristics, he is a kind of man who will make you happy. He will make you smile even in the worst moments. A sensitive man, who cares, who always wants you to feel like the best person in the world, because he believes you are.
When we understand that Lee Gun is not a conventional man, we fall in love with him. We are moved by his story, his way of facing problems. Lee Gun carried the humor and drama of this show in a commendable manner.
On the other hand, Mi Young is the perfect romantic comedy heroine. She is clumsy, sweet, kind, fun and has a huge heart. Mi Young conquers us immediately. We root for her since the first episode, because she is the kind of person who almost never lives any sort of adventure until she met Lee Gun.
It has an evolution within her story that is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen in RomComs. There is a quote Vivian Ward says in Pretty Woman that fits perfectly on Mi Young “When people put you down enough, you start to believe it.”
She felt like a post-it woman, disposable to people, to family, to relationships. Mi Young has a beautiful journey of discovery that she was a super glue woman.
Phase 2 – Hooked By the Bait
If the story did not hook you in the first three episodes, you can be sure that in the fourth it will. The story takes off from this episode and continues an exciting march of romantic construction until the middle of episode ten. From the second half of this episode the story goes on a dramatic path.
The comedy scenes, however, are good enough to belly laugh as well as the romantic moments give us the sighing and dreaming feeling. I found it amazing how well they merged the two things. Comedy escalaes to romance and vice versa. Like a dance of emotions that surrounds you, gets your attention and conquers you.
The goal is to get you to cling to the characters while they are there living their fictional lives. You feel part of all that, an eyewitness of this korean romance. Something I particularly love about fiction, is when the story just seems to be no longer an invention. When the characters create life in us.
This brief “mental confusion” caused in the reader or viewer is the sign that the plot is solid and compelling. This is a personal opinion, I don’t know if other authors feel the same way, but I realize that I got involved when this magical moment happens inside me.
When this occurs, the bait has hooked the fish. Now the stick and the line can take you anywhere, even out of the water. Out of that safe and quiet plot environment we were in. The stick and the line can take us, for example, to the drama, to the tears.
Something Fated To Love You does with a painful mastery. Because you are feeling that the line is pulling you where you do not want to go, for what you do not want to see, but the force of drama drags you away from romance and comedy. There is nothing you can do.
When the drama reaches the highest score within Fated to Love You, it is as if Ailee is in the final chorus of Goodbye My Love. Giving each scene the perfect track that moves even the most determined heart. I can say without lying, that I felt like the air was being sucked out of my chest, such was the despair we feel watching the drama take the stage on this show.
You can only be hit by the dramatic impact of Fated to Love You if you really do not know what is going to happen. So, this is the importance of not seeing any spoilers before you start it. For this reason, the article is spoiler-free.
The experience of switching from comedy to drama is the strength of Fated to Love You. It is the best and worst moment at the same time. I am not going to say I did not imagine or had not foresight which way the plot would go. Because it i something I always do when I am watching or reading anything. I always try to play Sherlock Holmes and guess the next step of the author/screenwriter.
Although I had a sketchy idea in my head, when my suspicion became real, it was the same as if I had not even suspected it. The impact was as strong as it should have been for a viewer who guessed whether or not what was going to happen.
Despite all the tears watching the dramatic part of Fated to Love You, I loved it because the drama came in at the right time. They added Ailee and her song, her impeccable voice alone is responsible for 80% of the tears. The OST of Fated to Love You is close to perfection.
When the first note of Goodbye My Love began my heart was already crying and I hugged the pillow thinking “What am I doing with my life? My goodness how beautiful, but how painful too!” I was in need of something that could get me emotional like that.
Phase 3 – Where’s my K-drama fan Id card?
Every romantic comedy does not end in disgrace. It ends well, so I knew the end of Fated to Love You would follow the logic, right? Yes, but it was a lot more than I thought. I thought it would be a simple happy ending, but it was not.
It is not just “they’ll be together forever,” it is the justification for why they will be together forever. I had never thought about justifying a loving feeling in any story of mine. I learned that watching Fated to Love You. Why does love need an explanation? Or an explicit justification to exist?
Mi Young and Lee Gun had to prove that they loved each other and that this love would win everything. It was above anything. If the story had ended without exploring this simple detail, it would be a beautiful ending. But they did not just want a beautiful ending, they wanted something unforgettable. Something that landmarked, not easily forgotten.
They went a few steps beyond the ideal “happy ending” to justify the great moral lesson of the story. You cannot live worried about tomorrow, because like Renato Russo sang “You must love as if there is no tomorrow, because if you think a little, in fact there is none.”
I finished seeing Fated to Love You with a broad smile on my lips and a great desire to keep watching doramas. So, I tried to find out more about asian dramas, investigating with my dorama friends. I found out that it has K-drama, C-Drama, J-Drama, several established actors, stories considered classics and hits.
I now know that there have been teams of fans who have been struggling to bring the word of K-dramas to Portuguese. And if I, today in 2020, can fall madly in love with a Korean series is because of those fans who struggled when everything was difficult.
Because of Fated to Love You, I added a tab just for K-dramas that I will watch it and there is going to be a review of them. I confess that I get the beautiful impression, after so many suggestions of Asian dramas, that people are lending me dozens of audiovisual books. Excellent books, apparently.
The list is huge and I will struggle to watch everything, I know this. Meanwhile, I take this opportunity to invite you to read the next post here on Estante da Autora that will come out on Tuesday, the title is 10 reasons to fall in love with Fated to Love You.
And since everyone’s recommending Asian Dramas to me, recommend one too. I’ll be happy to add it to my “Doramas Shelf”. Thank you once again to Luciana and Aunt Cris for the passionate propaganda you made. You have won my heart for the world of Asian drama.
Where do I get my K-drama fan id card by the way?
An-nyeong! Jal-ga, jal-ga!
Bye!
Estante da Autora 