Why Korean Dramas fascinate me. Spoiler: It has to do something with technology.
I have discovered the serie My Holo Love by chance. What I have never thought before: In a short time, this turned into a real craze for so-called K-dramas. K(orean) dramas are series from South Korea, usually with a maximum of two seasons.
The frame story of the K-dramas I've seen so far is usually quite similar: A rich, somewhat lonely young man falls in love with a rather penniless young woman. Before they get together there is a lot of entanglement, slow motion and romantic music. Those who don't like to see emotions in movies will have problems. I find the focus on the characters' feelings and the rather quiet atmosphere of the series incredibly refreshing.
However, I am particularly fascinated by the portrayal of innovations and technical products in people's everyday lives in some K-dramas. And what challenges these can become in people's lives, or what these innovations do to feelings and perception. I have rarely seen such an intense emotional engagement with the subject and at the same time a naturalness in dealing with technical products in Western films. While the series Black Mirror eher düstere Zukunfts-Szenarien abzeichnet, fühlen sich technische Innovationen in K-Dramen viel leichter und verspielter an – auch wenn sie nicht frei von Kritik sind. Ich ziehe meinen Hut davor und möchte euch deshalb vier meiner Favoriten vorstellen, die aktuell auf Netflix verfügbar sind.
1. My Holo Love (available in German)
In the series My Holo Love a young woman (Han So-yeon) rather involuntarily becomes a beta tester of hologram glasses with artificial intelligence. This artificial intelligence takes the form of a charming young man ("Holo") and so, over time, a friendship develops between the two. But the new technology raises many new questions: Can an artificial intelligence develop real feelings? Can one develop feelings towards an artificial intelligence oneself? How independently can it act without becoming a danger to the general public? And is it really desirable for people to own such an AI?
My Holo Love is a very entertaining series with a lot of heart, which devotes itself extensively to the feelings of the characters.
2. Love Alarm (available in German)
Love Alarm is the name of a new app that indicates when someone loves you within a radius of 10 meters. To do this, the app is synchronized directly with your own heart. It's not always easy to live in a world where you can't hide your feelings, as student Kim Jojo experiences when two classmates take an interest in her.
A beautiful love story that incidentally shows how such an app can change the perception of love in a society.
3. I’m Not a Robot (Korean with Subtitles)
The young chairman of a large company (Kim Min-kyu) suffers from an allergy to humans and therefore celebrates his birthdays with his vacuum cleaner robots instead of with other humans. One day, he gets the chance to test a robot with Deep Learning. But the robot breaks down one day before the test phase, so a young woman steps in as a robot double - but Min-kyu has no idea.
I’m Not a Robot is first and foremost a very entertaining series. I really like that the main character is a young tinkerer who works on her own business ideas to improve people's lives. I'm also fascinated by the basic idea of using a robot to help people with chronic diseases.
4. Start-Up (Korean with Subtitles)
In Start-Up is about a group of nerdy AI developers who meet a young woman with big plans. During a hackathon at a start-up forge, they hone application ideas for their program. Of course, the obligatory love triangle is not to be missed.
Personally, I'm a big fan of this series, because on the one hand it has a wonderful storyline and on the other hand it also incidentally imparts knowledge about the founding and work of a tech start-up with all its ups and downs.
What I personally like a lot about K-dramas is the fact that these series don't deliver dark dramas with comic overtones (like Ex Machina or Her, for example). Rather, they have more of the lightness of a romantic comedy, which is what makes them so charming in my view.
My conclusion: For me, K-Dramas are an absolute insider tip among Netflix series. Especially for tech fans who also like to watch romantic comedies and get some motivation and inspiration.
