Taiwan Dramas

Friends, lately I've found myself in a bit of a mental health crisis largely due to the new drama series I'm watching called 愛無限 (aka Endless Love). So far, after watching four episodes each over an hour long, I've yelled, screamed, squealed, cheered, and jeered. I've felt lachrymose and ecstatic all at once.

I'm one of those people who can't handle when things go wrong in a sitcom because it makes me feel uneasy. For example, sometimes when watching "I Love Lucy" I cringe when she's going to do one of her crazy shenanigans and I must change channels for a long enough time and then come back when the damage is done.

More about my endless qualm with Taiwan Dramas after the jump!


I first got really into dramas when I was in China and caught a virus, causing me to stay in my apartment for a week. As I was bored and had bad internet connection, I watched a Japanese drama starring a cute Japanese girl. I watched it religiously...(for any girls out there worried about girl things: with episode titles like "Is love impossible for a dried up woman!" and "Scared of stomach fat!! Dried woman's sleepover date", this Japanese drama is awesome.) 

....then I found another series (败犬女王--aka "My Queen") and watched.

...and, the list goes on.

I haven't watched many dramas -- I can count on my one hand the amount I've seen in completion. But they're just so corny! Guy meets girl, one of them is in love with the other person, or both are secretly in love with each other. Something has to tear them apart. Once they're apart (due to new lovers, ex-lovers, memory loss, vengeance, etc), something on a cosmic scale happens and they are able to come back together as lovers.

Suddenly the drama will start being crazy again and something happens again. Maybe one person will betray the other...but in the end, their love is strong enough that they will defeat the odds and live happily ever after (shows based on such juicy clichéd plots deserve platitudes).

Honestly, what gets me going are the scenes for next week because once something successful happens in the episode you just watched, the characters seem unable to parry unfortunate disasters in the next episodes.

This particular series I'm hooked on at the moment is apparently written by a Korean guy and stars an American Born Chinese (who is also a very popular Chinese rapper now) and a half French-half Chinese beauty who does not know how to speak French. You know it's juicy just by the fact that it's a Korean who has written the script.

Whether you decide to tune into Asian dramas for the sheer emotional fury or its mercurial plots, I hope you enjoy the ride. Cheers to those who watch more religiously than I do, and cheers to the plethora of global dramas that never cease to engage, frustrate, and delight the masses.