Korean Popular Culture: Some thoughts on Sung's The Hanliu Phenomenon in Taiwan: TV dramas and Teenage Pop

My obsession for Korean dramas started with a conversation with my second-cousins in 2002. They had (then) recently visited Taiwan and was raving about two Korean dramas A Bright Girl's Success Story and My Love Patzzi both by Jang Nara and commented on how funny and adorable they were. Filled with curiousity, I went back to download the dramas and have been obsessed with the Korean romantic comedy genre ever since. Yet even though I loved the dramas, I never really got into the kpop as much as I'm into cpop and jpop. Thus I found Sung's analysis of Hanliu in Taiwan one that I can easily relate to.

When asked why I like Korean dramas, the number one reason I'd mention is the good looking actresses and actors. As Sung mentions visual imagery is an important factor in the Hanliu phenomenon and also explains why though Kpop stars are popular in Taiwan they're albums don't sell well since fans would rather buy posters and join fanclubs than buy the albums.

As Sung states with the exceptions of CLON, kpop artists have trouble suceeding in TW. This brings me to another memory back in the late 1990s. My dad and I love to watch Taiwanese variety shows, especially the one called 龙兄虎弟 that would invite popular starts and have them perform and play games. I remember one time CLON was introduced on the show. Though they weren't really attractive, I found them very interesting in their dance and rap style. The fact that one of them had his head completely shaved left a very strong impression on me. In fact I can still remember a small part of the melody to they're song tho I had no idea what they were singing about. Yet with the exception of them, I can't really thing of any other Kpop artiests that were popular in Taiwan with the exception of BoA, Rain and, Kang Ta who is a duo with Vanness from F4。

More intersting tho' the type of Kpop albums that Sung mentions that actually sell well in Taiwan, that is, the OSTs. Tho' I'm not sure about Korean OSTs I do know that OSTs to Japanese anime and drama was what got me interested in Jpop in the first place. The song First Love by Utada Hikaru is one I remember especially well b/c it was in the drama Majo no Jouken, thus I agree with Sung's assertion that listening to songs that were in the drama can remind the viewer of the feelings they had when watching the drama. Though, I can't think of any Kdramas songs off the top of my head, I am able to recognize the theme songs when/if they are parodied in other dramas or if I hear them somewhere else. My Girl and Full House's theme songs especially are kpop songs that left deep impressions on me.

Now below are some videos to enjoy!

CLON - Bing Bing Bing (the song for the performance I saw on the variety show)