Asian Dramas

To start off, let’s talk about what most dramas are about in Asia. Well most are based upon manga, also known as anime, or original works by Asian writers or by the Philipines. Some mangas have many live actions/dramas made from different Asian cultures like Taiwan, Japan, or North Korea. The dramas are also very popular in non-Asian countries from website streaming like “Dramacrazy.com” and “MySoju.com“.

Korean dramas are very popular featuring stars from Korean boy bands, girl bands, and mixed bands. Other actors/actresses  from popular dramas are also inclueded in the casts. There are many Korean dramas made every year. This year’s breakout Korean drama was “Heartstrings”, starring Park Shin-Hye as Lee Gyu Won and Jung Yong Hwa as Lee Shin, the main characters. Many Korean dramas have been adapted from mangas and Japanese dramas. “Boys over Flowers” was also a popular drama based off the famous manga of the same name with Lee Min Ho, Ku Hye Sun and Kim Hyung Joong as the main characters, Gu Jun Pyo, Geum Jandi, and Yoon Ji Hoo.

Japanese dramas are based on manga entirely. The stars are also lead actors and actresses of different popular dramas. This year’s breakout drama in Japan is “Ouran High School Host Club”, based off the famous manga written by Hatori Bisco. The drama stars Yusuke Yamamoto, and Haruna Kawaguchi as the main characters Tamaki Suoh and Haruhi Fujioka.  There was also another popular drama “Hana Yori Dango” that was the Japanese version of “Boys over Flowers” that featured Mao Inoue, Jun Matsumoto, and Shun Oguri as the main characters, Makino Tsukushi, Domyouji Tsukasa and Hanazawa Rui. 

Taiwan dramas are actually more liked than Japanese for their long lasting runs. “Hana Kimi” was well known in Taiwan and China for their use of the Chinese language and for the popular casts. Ella Chen from “S.H.E”, Wu Chu and Jiro Wang from the boy band “Fahrenhiet” were casts for the main characters Mizuki Ashiya, Izumi Sano, and Shuichi Nakatsu which gave the show a boost in fame. Taiwan dramas are mostly about how the other Asian cultures get their ideas for their live actions.

Well thats all! In some articles later we are going to get a little deeper into Asian dramas and I’ll give some information on the ones mentioned in this post.