My first encounter with dorama or television drama series, as someone whose childhood was in Indonesia and in the eighties, was with this series (we only have 1 TV station, TVRI, at that time) :
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| Oshin, broadcasted in Japan in 1983-1984. Image is from here |
The second wave of dorama was in the early nineties, when "Tokyo Love Story", "Ordinary People", "101st marriage proposal", and many other titles hit Indosiar, one of a private TV station. Another big hit was from Taiwan with "Meteor Garden" in year 2000.
Memorable OST from "101st marriage proposal", I re-watched the drama in 2012, and still good! :')
As time goes by
(*´ー`) ... actually when I found out that I was pregnant last year, I searched for parenting, education or family theme doramas, because sometimes it's inspired by true story, so it's not only entertaining, but also relevant to our life and we can learn something from it. Probably because it is more mature theme, I found less dorama cliche in them.
Here are the list of 10 drama cliché you won't find in parenting theme drama series :
10. Flashbacks
It is make sense to have flashbacks in a series, especially towards the ending of the episodes. How's the character met, how's the relationship developed, or how's the sweet romance bloomed. We still can find flashbacks at parenting drama, but not as much or as early as episode 01, like I found in the "Rooftop Prince" series (─▽─)
9. Cry in the shower.. with clothes on (◎_◎;)
This is the least thing I will do if I am devastated, I will cry, yes, in the shower, yes, but not with clothes on... And I haven't came across with this kind of scene in a parenting series.
8. Girls be boys, vice versa
We can count a lot of series, when the main character, say a girl, under such a difficult circumstances must do an undercover as an opposite gender. Then, she falls in love with another boy, or a even more odd, a boy likes "her" (You're beautiful). The girl is still look beautiful though, like a tomboy girl ... hmm... puzzled? Well, no scene like this in a parenting themed drama too..
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| I am sure you can guess, which one is supposed to be a girl here ;) |
7. Pretends to be girlfriend or boyfriend
This scene mostly started with a character that accidentally bumped into an ex who cheated him/her. The other character will voluntarily or not pretends to be the GF or BF, by holding hands, hugging, or fake kissing. Then, usually romance will start from here.
6. Trying out 20 clothes before dating
This scene is a cliche not only in drama series but also in every teen movie, Indonesian, Taiwanese, Korean, even Hollywood. Usually a scene for the female character, but the male lead also didn't missed the chance too, standing in front of the mirror changing one shirt to another (◎_◎;)
5. Accidentally yours
This is when something belongs to a character got accidentally exchanged with something that belongs to the other character, from the same type of mobile phone, a briefcase, a file folder, to... a baby (◎_◎;). Sometimes this is used as draggy scene to add up the main "drama" in the drama.
4. Karaoke scene
When they're happy or celebrating something, they went to a karaoke... when they're in a heartbreak situation, also went to karaoke to sing their hear out. Sometimes completed with the drunk scene and asleep in the karaoke room, then dragged, or back ridden by a good fellow.
3. Makeover
If in the first episode the lead female character looks messy, simple, or even nerdy... we can guess that in the upcoming episodes there will be a make over that will swept away the male character. Not in the parenting series, the character will look the same to the end of the episode.
2. Time capsule
Time capsule is usually a promise, or a letter or a precious thing that kept (mostly in a tin box, under a big tree) from 10 or 20 years ago, intended to be opened together. Even though I've seen this scenes a lot, this still got me in tears if one of the character died, and only one person opening the time capsule.
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| Under a big tree in a meadow usually the time capsule is hidden. |
1. Chasing a car/bus/plane or train
Yes, another classic scene when one of the lead character is going somewhere far, and the other lead character haven't confess his/her true feeling. After the tiring run, screams, and tears, suddenly the one they chase shows up, and after the confession ... the person will stay. Sometimes it is the ending of the series.
Well, I am sure there are more classic scene that repeated from one drama to the other, but it doesn't stop me from watching them, I am not limiting my option to parenting theme only too (＾▽＾).
Here is a list of parenting/education/family drama reviews from this blog :
- 30k miles in search of my son (coming soon)
- Challenged (coming soon)
- School Days with a Pig (coming soon)
- Carnation (coming soon)
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