Future So Bright: 1 Liter of Tears and Other Dramas
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a blogumn by Josh Grelle
How many times have you looked on the bottom of your purchase electronic or otherwise and seen the oh so familiar “Made in China” or “Made in Japan” stamp? How long before you see that stamp when your favorite television series is on? My prediction, not long, a new trend has been sweeping my high school, Asian TV.
Well more specifically Asian dramas. Brought to us by our friends who are in touch with their Asian heritage, these dramas have been capturing the attention of teens by storm. What is an Asian drama? Well, contrary to the average American perception of a drama, this kind of drama is more of a mini-series, which have varying subjects from action adventure to romantic comedy. This has been popular in my school for quite some time, but I only just now gave them a shot because the thought of reading subtitles was repulsive. However, the constant begging of my friends and being out of the loop just became too much. So after much mental preparation I started my first drama. I selected one of the more popular ones called 1 Liter of Tears, which can be found here.
1 Liter of Tears is a Japanese drama based on the true story of 15-year-old Ikeuchi Aya, who is diagnosed with spinocerebellar degeneration, a crippling and incurable disease in which one slowly loses control over their own motor function. Aya and her family’s struggle with this disease makes an amazing story. Heartbreaking — actually like make you sob your eyes out heartbreaking. This totally blew my expectations out of the water. One of my new favorite shows ever!!! I assumed that it would be cheesy and have extremely bad acting, but alas it is really good. I have heard some of these dramas do have bad acting and the Japanese ones usually have the most Americanized acting, and so far those opinions are correct. Still, after completing my first series I was left craving more.
The next one I picked was a Korean drama called Three Dads and One Mom, a comedy. This one is about a married man who wants to have a baby with his wife, however he finds out that he is infertile. In desperation he takes his three best friends for a night on the town. He ask for them to be sperm donors. After a long argument he ends up using their donations without them or his wife knowing about it. Shortly after his wife becomes pregnant he is killed in a car crash, leaving his pregnant wife with a lot of problems. After the husband’s funeral the three friends find a home video which reveals to them that one of them is the father of the baby. They suddenly feel obligated to take care of the wife and baby. This series is about these three immature bachelors each with distinct personalities (which I have become rather attached to) trying to take care of a pregnant woman and her baby.
Of course these are only a few of the many dramas. Some of the more popular ones suggested by my friends are 1% of Anything, Devil Beside You, Time Between Dog and Wolf, and Boys Before Flowers. I personally recommend 100 Days With Mr. Arrogant — although it’s not a drama, it’s a movie — 1 Liter of Tears, and Three Dads and One Mom.