Korean Kandy Kisses

Hey, if you don’t know by now, I’m having a new love affair with Korean Drama TV shows and movies, and you can find out why here.  But what is up with the kissing scenes in these shows?? I’m really shocked at how mild the kissing scenes are on a lot of these shows.  Is it me?

Maybe.  I grew up on American TV.  To say that some of the kissing scenes on American TV leaves very little to the imagination, is an understatement, and may explain my dismay with the absolutely dry kissing scenes in some of the Korean romance shows.  Since Heirs was my intro to the world of Korean TV, I’ll start with that show.

There was such a build up to the first kiss with Kim Tan and Eun Sang, it was approximately the 9th or 10th episode before Kim Tan actually planted one on Eun Sang.  With the huge build up, I was often screaming at the TV “KISS – HERRRRRR” when there were countless opportunities for Tan to pucker up and kiss Eun Sang.  Remember the scene in the closet when they were hiding from Tan’s mother – the first time they ended up in that closet?  When he didn’t kiss her, I let out an irritated “ugh”.

I must admit that is what keeps me watching, that tension in the room between 2 people who really like each other, that permeates through the TV screen.  American shows don’t waste a lot of time beating around the bush, they get to the kissing quicker.  You must understand, Heirs lasted only 20 episodes in approximately 10 weeks, if the first kiss happened in the 10th episode, that means the series is HALFWAY done before the event Heirs viewers are dying to see.

Now here’s my real point.  If I have to wait that long to see probably THE finest young guy in Korea (Lee Min Ho) kiss the cute girl (Park Shin Hye), and I’m mercilessly teased with a thousand opportunities when said guy COULD HAVE kissed said girl, shouldn’t I enjoy seeing them kiss as much as I’m tortured waiting for them to kiss???!!

Eun Sang looked like she was in pain, the kiss was almost like a still shot, no head movement, no tenderly holding of the face, no fingers running through the hair.  I mean I don’t expect a full on make out session, it was high school after all (although, even high schoolers get way more action and movement on American TV).  If I were employed to be the co-star of ANY of these “Phine” Korean actors, I would request practice time, lots and lots of it  ;), and I would make sure it looked believable.  For goodness sake, girl, you were kissing Lee Min Ho!

Heirs was not the only show with disappointing kissing scenes, there were others, scenes that were way too innocent for shows with adult actors over 25.  I’m not looking for a porn movie, just something believable.  I’m beginning to think maybe it’s just the Korean way.

Now there were a few shows that I’ve seen where the kissing was on fire by comparison. Some one poured gasoline on those scenes and struck a match, honey.  Choi Jin Hyuk in I Need Romance took the best kissing scene title, just watch the clip, I don’t need to say a darn thing more.

Another honorary mention should go to Song Seung Heon of When A Man Loves. Now there were actually 2 scenes that stuck out in my memory, when Han Tae Sang (played by Song Seung Heon) first kissed Seo Mi Do (played by Shin Se Kyung) in the bookstore. It wasn’t a maul-fest like Choi Jin Hyuk in I Need Romance, this kiss was tender, it was beautiful, it expressed his love for this girl in a perfect way. However, the clawing, tear down, mauling scene in Han Tae Sang’s apartment between Seo Mi Do and Lee Jae Hee (played by Yeon Woo Jin) was like a workout – and shocking to me because I didn’t think these shows were capable. I was still recovering from that kissing scene in I Need Romance when I saw this show, it took a week for my eyebrows to come down out of my forehead. Not that I hadn’t seen that kind of action before on American TV, I was just getting comfortable with the idea that even with the best loves stories, the Korean romance dramas seems to have the worst kissers. Like I’ve said before, no one tells a love story like a Korean romance, even if the kissing scenes are a little milder than I’m used to.

I’ll still continue to watch, though. What was your favorite kissing scene in a Korean romance?