What's In A Voice?
My experience watching Asian dramas is fairly limited (I found them a year ago). Since then, I have completed 18 shows of South Korean, Taiwanese, and Chinese origin, and according to MDL, I have watched 457 episodes of Asian dramas. That said, some dramas did not capture my interest (hello Dream High), and others ticked me off from the get-go (can you say Cheese in the Trap). Many caught my attention (sigh…Falling for Innocence), and some stole my heart (yep, Ashes of Love). When I review the last year of Asian dramas, I see some defining characteristics of shows that keep me coming back for more: 1. Characterization 2. Dialogue 3. Conflict 4. Moral (Okay… really, the actors most of all, but I’m trying to be introspective here).
Meteor Garden – Currently Watching - Currently Love and Hate the Characters
It is important to note that I love amusing words, adore great characterization, have passion for intense drama, and lastly, appreciate when people learn life lessons… and well, I am infatuated with good writing. Mostly, I’m besotted when all of the above is in one show. With that thought in mind, I jotted down some opinions about characters, conflict, dialogue, and moral with some of my favourite actors. Too many words later and I decided to break it into separate pieces.
Today is all about characterization which I (hello... not a professional) define as a mix of the written word, scene direction, with a person using that direction and those words to create something larger than the sum of its parts. Many examples come to mind, but I’ll try to keep my list short.
THE BAD GUY
Naughty Empress… Evil Empress
One enthralling characterization is Tu Yao the Empress (Kathy Chow) from Ashes of Love. From the very first episode, who cannot loathe this character? She flashes those angry eyes and falsely accuses our precious Run Yu at every turn. For dozens of episodes, we watched her evil ways play out on the screen for all to relish and detest. Who did not enjoy the scene where she attempts to kill Jin Mi in the yin/yang symbol? And the battle between her and Run Yu by the lake…BREATHTAKING!
With each episode, emotions like frustration and outrage boiled inside me until I yelled at the television “kill the empress” hoping that the Night Immortal or Water Immortal would hear my fevered pleas. Note that the dialogue, the way the scenes played out, and her actions spurred my angry outbursts. Now THAT is a good characterization (especially towards the end when the actress, the writers, and the director wanted me to feel sorry for her… nope, didn’t happen-KILL THE EMPRESS!!
THE GOOD GUY
The ALWAYS Good Goo Chan Sung
Perhaps engendering hate for a character is simplistic or easy. Is it possible to create a compelling good guy? Why, yes, it is! Exhibit 1. Goo Chan Sung in Hotel Del Luna - was there never a kinder, finer upstanding citizen? By definition, this character should be extremely annoying to watch. Goo Chan Sung was friendly, ambitious, strong, righteous, and passionate. He was too good to be true. Instead of cloying and preachy dialogue, there is humour and emotion as the character of Goo Chan Sung subtly pushes the recalcitrant Jang Man Wol towards redemption. All the while, the audience enjoys the journey.
Good characterization requires the person to change and grow throughout the show, Goo Chan Sung doesn’t disappoint as he starts out wanting to escape the world of the Hotel Del Luna, transitions to acceptance but on his terms, then finishes strong with his care of all his loved ones, including the young Kim Yoo Na at the end. And please don’t get me started on that amazing scene in the amusement park. Personally, I am bored and even sometimes despise the main character that doesn’t have major flaws. Somehow through fabulous writing, direction and acting, Goo Chan Sung intrigued me to the bitter end, and I wanted more of him… Again… all because of characterization.
THE COUPLE
Dong Hua Dijun and Bai Feng Jiu…star crossed lovers or destined for happy ending….stay tuned!
Often good characterizations are so memorable that you can’t help but need to know more after the show is done. Case in point: Dong Hua Dijun and Bai Feng Jiu from Eternal Love. If you consider that Dong Hua doesn’t say much in the first dozen or so episodes and Bai Feng Jiu isn’t even born well into the story, these two characters were phenomenal, so much so that when a sequel focusing on their love story was announced, all us Eternal Love fans jumped for joy. The reason I did not find the middle of this C-drama dragging was because that is exactly where the writers put the heart of their love story, and that kept my eyes riveted to the screen despite knowing there were more than twenty more episodes to go.
Who didn’t love watching Dong Hua and Feng Jiu strike sparks off each other first in the Heavenly Realm, then again as mortals? (It was fun, right!) Sometimes Bai Feng Jiu got a little shrill and somewhat annoying, but the cold demeanour of Dong Hua offset her bad characteristics and made her appear more lovable and less childish. Conversely, Dong Hua’s cool exterior comes off as haughty perhaps even snobbish, but those rough edges are smoothed over by the loving antics of Bai Feng Jiu. Good characterization makes the audience want more. Can’t wait for Pillow Book!
THE ANTI-HERO
Black – is he a good guy or a bad guy... Does it really matter? Sigh…
Some characterization is so good that you watch the show for the character and nothing else. That would be my experience watching the show Black with Song Seung Heon playing the lead – the Grim Reaper Black. Literally, I watched this show to the bitter end just to see what happens with Black. I DESPISED all the other characters, especially the female lead and… well, everyone else. The supporting characters were most annoying; however, Song Seung Heon made Black so imposing on the screen, I kept watching, despite my wishing that all the other people would just die already (maybe not the two other grim reapers – they were sorta funny and well… already dead).
Black’s words, reactions, voice, and constant bad choices were so compelling, so dark and conflicted, I hung in there until episode 18. Song Seung Heon did a spectacular job first portraying the weak and somewhat ridiculous Han Moo Gang (is he really Moo Gang?). He morphs from the silly mortal to the intense and not quite bad/not quite good Grim Reaper Black who is kicking butt and taking names on a daily basis. What I found most incredible was his ability to show affection for the whiny and helpless Ha Ram. (I just don’t like whiny and/or helpless females!) Somehow, Song Seung Heon was able to convince me, the audience, that he was okay with the bothersome Ha Ram and even wanted to... gasp… sacrifice for her… go figure. Sometimes characterization is so good, an audience will watch a show just for that reason alone (like me).
THE CAST
Man to Man – Love them or hate them they were not boring
Now some characterizations are so good that the show is more interesting because of the characters and less about the plot. I present Man to Man, full of fun characters and really that is it. Who doesn’t love the prima donna actor Woon Gwang (well played by Park Sung Woong) who ran the gamut between obnoxious to loving and had pit-stops as comic relief? Perhaps the spoiled and evil Mo Seung Jae (Yeon Jung Hoon) with his twisted machinations and his constant complaining about the “old people” is most fascinating. We can’t discount the bromance between Jang from the NIS (Jang Hyun Sung) and prosecutor Lee Dong Hyun (Jung Man Shik). Throughout the entire show, they kept us in the dark if they were bad guys or good guys…..and were they working together or not?
Truth be told, Agent K (Park Hae Jin…YES!) had me from episode 1 with his funny faces, his smouldering looks and my favourite – his ability to communicate with no words, just body language (yep, the very thing that annoyed me about him in Cheese in the Trap). Agent K’s interesting mannerisms and looks have generated dozens of GIF’s, which I have already downloaded to my phone and sent them to friends at inappropriate moments. My heart broke watching him during that scene where Do Ha is crying alone, and he watches it on video… sniff sniff. The characterization in this show far outweighs the plot, certainly overshadows the music, and fills in the gaps during the troublesome moments. Man to Man is worth watching just for all the fun characters.
(I just hate saying goodbye to a good character)
Characterization can be the icing on the cake for a show or sometimes the only reason to keep watching it. Good characterization creates the characters we love, we hate, or we love to hate (yes, I’m talking about you, empress). When it's missing, the show is not that engaging, and well, I find something else to watch (or re-watch Hotel Del Luna).
My first year watching Asian dramas has been an entertaining one, and I am always finding new shows with captivating characters to enjoy. Give me another year, and I could likely write a whole treatise on the same subject with even better examples. Please note that some characters I didn’t include today because I wrote several MDL articles about those compelling folks already (can’t repeat myself… way too boring). Please feel free to check out those little ditties and see if you agree with me. Most of all… THANK YOU, writers and actors, for such memorable characters and PRETTY PLEASE send me some more.
I’m positive there are more wonderful characterizations out there… and I plan to find them. Who are your favourite characters? If I did not mention one of your favourites, please let me know. I’m always looking for fascinating characters.
