Korean Draaamas

I started watching 2 new Korean dramas- Cinderella's Sister and Personal Taste. Both are good in their own way and I'm excited to see how they turn out. Cinderella's Sister is more dramatic and angsty. Personal Taste is just good zippy fun with lots of laugh-out-loud moments. :). I was more excited about Cinderella's Sister than Personal Taste after seeing its first episode, but the second episode kinda disappointed me because it resorted to typical k-drama tropes for dramatic effect, the plot started getting sprawled out, and the characters seemed less fresh. I'm hoping future episodes will be more focused and intimate, and that it won't be afraid to go for more dark realism (which can also provide dark humor). Personal Taste isn't the most innovative drama in terms of general plot device, but it is different in raising a semi-platform for out-and-proud gay Koreans. It follows the whole set-up of 2 people who initially don't like each other being forced to live together and then breaking each others' shells. But in this show the girl believes the guy she's rented out a room in her house to is totally gay, and he only discovers this after he's moved in. To stay in the house (which he also has ulterior motives for), he has to maintain the farce. Of course everything will get super complicated, messy and fun when they start getting feelings for each other. It's also a lot more entertaining because of the cultural context. Even though he isn't really gay, the fact that other people believe he's gay makes for interesting commentary and awkward/funny moments. I'm glad that this issue is being addressed in mainstream korean entertainment even though it's in a light, fluffy way because it still helps in normalizing it.