met milliemay, april 20, 2013
84

Things That Would Get You Arrested In Real Life – But Seem Perfectly Fine In Dramaland
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Have you ever been watching your favourite Asian drama, and then found yourself stopping and thinking, “Hang on… Can they really get away with that?!” I know I’ve had that moment more than a few times. Here is my list of the six most memorable ‘That Must Be Illegal’ moments in Korean and Japanese drama. 

Beware, this article contains spoilers! You have been warned...


1. Secret Garden
(Korea 2010)

THE CRIME: Essentially, Joo Won steals the unconscious body of his beloved Ra Im from the hospital, piles her into his car and sets off to drive her into a thunderstorm. Then he manages to crash the car, resulting in both characters ending up in comas.

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She's definitely  not there by choice, guys.
WHY WE LET IT SLIDE: So, in reality Joo Won and Ra Im are under a magical spell that causes them to swap bodies whenever it rains. He’s so heartbroken when Ra Im is in an accident at work, that he decides to make the ultimate sacrifice and swap their souls, so that she can live in his body. All together guys, awwwhhh!


2. LOVE RAIN
(Korea 2012)


THE CRIME: Clumsy Ha Na somehow manages to accidentally transfer her phone to arrogant Joon’s coat pocket while in Japan. When she realises she’s lost it, she sensibly calls it in the hopes that someone will be able to return it to her. Sadly, the person on the end of the line is Joon, and apparently he likes to mess around when it comes to people's property. He withholds the phone from Ha Na, cancelling meetings to return it, and really giving her the run-around. How does Ha Na respond? Oh, she breaks into his hotel room, trashes it a little and writes a creepy message on his bathroom mirror in lipstick.

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There's a lot of pouting in this show.

WHY WE LET IT SLIDE: Without any of these ridiculous events, Joon and Ha Na would have remained strangers. Joon would never have found out about Diamond Snow, Ha Na would never have seen it with him, and there would have been no reason for her to track him down once they returned to Korea (in order to sue him for using her image in an ad campaign without her permission).


3. REPLY 1997
(Korea 2012)

THE CRIME: Super sasaeng fan Si Won camps outside her idol Tony An’s (from H.O.T) house in Seoul, and eventually breaks into his property by climbing over his wall, and finds  herself outside his door.

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Tony is meant to be playing his teenage self--you can't foo the camera, dude!

WHY WE LET IT SLIDE: After initially closing the door on her, Tony comes back and signs her t-shirt, all the while dispensing some words of wisdom and asking that she respects his privacy. Si Won feels suitably ashamed of her behaviour and she seems to grow up a little as a result. Alls well that ends well, eh?



(Japan 2011/Korea 2012)

THE CRIME: Mizuki / Jae Hee poses as a boy and falsifies official documentation in order to attend a prestigious all-boys school, all because she has a crush on a guy who goes there. While pretending to be a boy, she horribly confuses one of her classmates, who wrestles with emotional turmoil and struggles to understand his sexuality in terms of his feelings towards his classmate (okay, so the last one isn’t necessarily a crime, but you’ve gotta admit it’s pretty awful).
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To be honest, if you were fooled by Sully with short hair, you're kind of an idiot.

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Yeah, that's totally not a girl. At all.

WHY WE LET IT SLIDE: Because she totally gets Izumi / Tae Joon doing what he loves again, as well as getting him to open up about his past and generally just become an all-round better person.


5. HANA YORI DANGO/BOYS OVER FLOWERS
(Japan 2005/Korea 2009)

THE CRIME: Basically everything that F4 and Tsukasa / Jun Pyo do at the beginning of the series is totally screwed up and terrible – causing students to attempt suicide as a result of bullying, initiating terrible acts of violence on students they take a disliking to, and personally victimising Tsukushi / Jan Di to the point where she is almost killed by her fellow students.
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That's some pretty serious stuff right there.

WHY WE LET IT SLIDE: Well, I’m not sure if I do let it slide. While I love both dramas -and who could resist Lee Min Ho rescuing his wounded love from a gang of attacking students? – I’m still not sure how they got away with that behaviour, or why there were no repercussions whatsoever. It’s pretty terrible stuff! However, without it the main characters wouldn’t have fallen in love, and so we sort of let it go, albeit uncomfortably.


6. I NEED ROMANCE
(Korea 2011)


THE CRIME: When In Young discovers her boyfriend Sung Soo getting cozy with actress Kang Hee, she gets pretty damn mad and throws an actual brick at them, smashing up property belonging to the hotel she found them at.
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That is pure, unadulterated anger.

WHY WE LET IT SLIDE: In Young is understandably mad at her cheating, lying boyfriend, and in a moment of rage she sees red and does something stupid. She doesn’t hurt anyone – although I bet she wanted to – and this event makes Sung Soo realize how much he’s been hurting her. I suppose we’ve all been in similar situations, where we just go blank with madness. We can forgive poor In Young this one time.


So, that was my list of ridiculous arrest-worthy moments in Korean and Japanese dramas. Do you agree? Can you think of any more? Let me know in the comments below!