Isn’t it a wonder why millions of people across different parts of the world seem to be strongly endeared towards Korean dramas despite their many cliché storylines? Surely, their warm and fluffy romance delivered in consistently dreamy ways is what we hopeless romantics are hooked on to. But really; it’s the characters those awesome writer-nims create so realistically and humanely with flaws and traits so relatable, that seem to get us right in the heart one way or another every single time.
These characters always end up inspiring self love and acceptance and reassuring us that being ourselves is simply the best way to dazzle uniquely. Today, I bring to you 5 of such K-drama female characters.
Kim Hye jin (Hwang Jung eum): She was Pretty
Hye jin was a stunning beauty in her childhood days. The constant cynosure of ever star-struck eyes. Adulthood shows up and the ugly freckles her father has had all his life, suddenly takes over her once widely adored face; establishing the untameable power of genes. Ouch. Her life becomes an irony of her younger days. She grows to be clumsy, tacky, unstylish, unconfident as no one spared her glances no more. Her down-spirited moments of wanting to get people’s attention for once sometimes; of wanting to be noticed and be associated with like the classy beauties in her work place were moments that felt so poignant and relatable.
But here’s how Hye jin inspired us to love and accept ourselves:
I. The pure beautiful cheery soul she had despite her insecurity. Hye jin was the life of the party whenever the occasion called for it. She was just really a happy person despite the timidity she carried around with her. Whenever with her wifey, Ha ri or her similarly quirky and goofy workplace bestie, Shin hyuk, Hye jin was always vibrant, cheerful, and crazy. And that always made her look effortlessly beautiful and lovable despite what she thought of herself and her freckles. She was just a true inspiration for us to strive to be bright and breezy no matter our imperfections or what we think of ourselves.
II. The way she bared her freckles freely and proudly at the end without make-up, donning the happiest smile whilst still rocking her tacky clothes was so liberating, empowering and frickin’ inspiring! Hye jin warmly taught us that at the end of the day, we don’t need to conform to be beautiful. She showed us that by simply being ourselves, we get to experience true happiness that will automatically radiate the true beauty in us. My hearteuuu❤❤❤
III. Also witnessing how the ridiculously cute, quirky Shin hyuk and childhood friend, Sung joon, the man she grew to love and initially thought she had to hide away from due to her ‘ugliness’; loved her wholly like it was the most natural thing in the world totally gave us the assurance that we can be ourselves at all times and still have our prince charming besotted with us all the same. Whoo! What an awesome feeling that is.
We love you Kim Hye Jin! Thank you for pushing us to be cheery despite our imperfections and showing us the real beauty in being ourselves. Komapsimitah! Muah!😘😘😘
Song Ji won (Park Eun bin): Age of Youth
Just for the record, Age of Youth is one freaking freaking, urghhh! freaking good slice-of-life drama about 5 youthful women that I wished grabbed really huge awards and garnered greater raves. On finishing the drama, I did my research to see if it won any awards but God help ease my frustration till today; I couldn’t find any that it won! Just when exactly would JTBC start their freaking drama awards show??? Ugrrggggghhh! The drama was just a true masterpiece that won hearts with its very carefully crafted and layered characters with nuances so detailed that ring really true to everyday life characters. Despite personally resonating with all the girls and truly learning from each of them, I must say that, Ji won was the character that I resonated with and got inspiration from the most to be myself at all times.
I think we can all agree that what we felt when watching Ji won was not so much of the emotional stuff, even though she blew us away in that department; what we felt was more of high entertainment and mad love for someone we shared similar boy fantasies and thinking patterns with. Ji won was a highly entertaining klutz who was rather dramatically, sometimes, purposefully weird in all her hilarious displays of shameless obsession for porn and any hot guy that came into view. Now, I’m no porn watcher, but the fact that I do take pleasure in watching skinny romances and fangirling hot guys is no news. Hahaha.
Let me just delve into how this crazy lady got us loving and accepting ourselves harder than ever:
I. She did not have any chic, sleek sense of fashion like some of us. This was a character trait I personally resonated with. Ji won rather had this sort of granny, vintage floral style thingy going on for her which amusedly befitted her crazy antics. But she didn’t care. In fact, she was oblivious and carefree of the fact that she dressed and looked like an Ahjumma or that her roomies at times teased her about it; she was just immersed in being her wild, dramatic self and that really struck me as something to admire and emulate. Ji won basically demonstrated to us how to be ourselves and be totally blind to others grumbles about it. Talk about Goals!!!
II. Now, her flippant attitude when she appeared all sleekly dressed with her granny curls all sophisticatedly straightened whilst donning chic frames on that secret mission to unravel the mysterious body massager at the spa, was something that made me admire Ji won a whole lot deeper. Her gruff and usually roasting side-kick, Sung min was left speechless by her sleekness yet she wasn’t the least intrigued or surprised by her own transformation. Instead she was characteristically amused that Sung min was taken aback by how uncharacteristically hot she looked.
In that moment, I realised that even though Ji won always seemed mindlessly unconcerned about her weird fashion sense; she had always known with charming confidence that she could look badass and smoking hot whenever she wanted to. She just always chose to be in granny curls and clothing because that was the real her; she simply felt more natural, comfortable and swaggy in them. Oh gawd.
That is just so FREAKIN’ AWESOME🤭🤭🤭.
Ji won totally empowered us to be ourselves at all times while reminding us of how insanely hot and beautiful we can be; of how stunning we can be, whenever we chose to be!
III. I don’t know if to give this credit to the writer-min of the character or the character herself, but I just loved how shameless and open Ji won was about watching porn and being mindlessly willing to run a thousand miles and go wherever the fine boys go all the while drooling sillily. First off, it is not very common to see young women being portrayed as people who watch porn too like guys and think about sex, especially not in Korean dramas. But with Ji won sexual thoughts were no biggie. Porn was no biggie. She thought out loud when it came to her sexual frustrations and admiration for a hot body whenever she saw one. It was such an inspiration for me to not be so laid back in expressing myself or boy fantasies for care of being judged. Because really, in the end, no one is a saintie. Hahaha.
IV. I bet a lot of us could relate to how Ji won always felt like she got news later than everyone else and her fear for her life being uneventful till she died. I happen to get news way after my circle of close friends have already got and digested it. Lmao. And my life really can be so uneventful. As a person who is socially awkward, I don’t really fancy parties, neither do I go out. I’d rather be curled up in bed binge-watching Korean romance dramas with hot leads in them. Even when I get excited about a party, I end up being bored or staying fairly reserved all through. So yeah, as a youthful lady when life is supposed to be wild and popping for me, I definitely fear for my life seeping away so uneventfully right before my eyes. But of course, it was soothing to know that I wasn’t the only one feeling like my life needed to get way more exciting. It’s always such a great comfort to know that we are not alone whenever we feel alone.
V. I loved that our gruff side kick, Sung min abhorred romantic feelings for Ji won. He grew feelings for her despite her crazy self and never failed to show up and protect her even when he had troubles coming to terms with his burgeoning feelings for her. Again, it’s so pacifying to know that we can be free to be ourselves without worrying about Mr. Right still falling head over heels. And gosh, I absolutely looveeed Ji won and Sung min together!!! Chemistry was displayed so naturally, seamlessly and hilariously between them!❤❤❤🤩
We are still waiting on you Writer-nim for the third season to merge them as one. You owe us one bad. Real Baaaad!🤨
On behalf of every one that you’ve inspired, Song Ji won, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. And thank you to you amazing actress Park Eun bin for not only having incredibly entertained us and made us wrestle laughter with your amazing portrayal of Song Ji won like it was tailor -made for you – I swear, no other actress could’ve ever sufficed – but for also portraying Song Ji won’s nuances and quirks so naturally, so shamelessly and wonderfully endearingly. Lots of love💗💗💗
Kim Da Hyun (Jeon So min): Something About One Percent
I won’t be embarking on an epistolary journey like I did with Ji won, lol, because the traits that were so relatable about Da Hyun as mentioned in my favourite K-dramas of all time post, were as simple as her pure and rightly sassy character.
Here are some of those traits:
I. She being so forgetful of things, mistaking a bus stop for another and roaming a street tactlessly due to losing her way and not knowing that the building she is looking for is right in front of her eyes. Lmao😂. This is seriously just so me and surely, a lot of us battle with these annoying traits as well. But thankfully, DaDa made us stop feeling alone, weird or angry with ourselves. She empowered us to accept and adore ourselves instead; annoying flaws and all. Komao Da hye😘.
II. She loving a k-pop idol and even being the fan page manager was definitely a relatable delight for us fangirls. I had not watched the ultimate fangirl drama My Private Life then, so it was personally kind of the first time I would be seeing a major Korean female character giggly fangirl over a budding K-pop star and derive so much joy and pleasure from seeing him drop new singles, new videos and sign favourable contracts despite being a few years older than him.
It was awesome for we fangirls and it made us love our fangirling selves the more. And the fact that she still defiantly had her idol’s picture hanging in her room even after beginning to date Jae In was so bang. I was like girl, I feel you. No man would ever be able to stop me from hanging pictures of my fangirling objects. No man. So yeah, Da hye made all of us much more confident in our fangirling skin.
III. And geez, that episode where Jae in told DaDa that he liked her because she was plain and tacky was so unexpected and unconventional to a sweetly melting extent. I was so touched that Jae in, a charismatic CEO, confessed that one of his major reasons for liking DaDa was because of her plain dressing style and that he didn’t want her to change it for anything. Gosh! Talk about inspiring serious self-love and acceptance!
Love ya DaDa. Thank you for making us accept ourselves better and reminding us that we are not alone in our forgetful eccentricities, style plainness and fangirliness. Love youuu!❤
Sung Deok mi (Park Min young): Her Private Life
First of all, a Zillion Hearty Cheers to the drama that put the spotlight on real fangirlingdom👏👏👏. Deok mi was just the true perfect representation of the fangirl in us and needless to say, she was a core inspiration for us to keep fangirling and loving the fangirly side of us hard.
Here is how Deok mi got us loving and accepting our fangirly self more fiercely and shamelessly:
I. Watching her flash her brightest, happiest smile while staying in the same hotel candy Idol, Cha Si an once stayed in, with her fangirl bestie and just truly basking in pure glee and wonder solidified one of the very huge reasons we love fangirling so much – It makes us so happy and excited we could die!
I could just picture my gushing happiness whenever drooling over BTS as I watched Deok mi fangirl over her idol. And that cheekily said to me: “What better way to love and keep yourself happy than to keep engaging in what keeps you ridiculously giddy sweetheart?”
II. It’s no doubt that fangirls all around the world were greatly pleased with the fact that Deok mi was a badass lady at work who knew what she was doing most times even more than, ahem, the eccentric drama queen of a director that had the notion of fangirling being one pointless headache-inciting activity. Well, I can’t blame her. Her daughter was quite a menace with her malicious fangirling. But point is, Deok mi was as smart, intelligent, talented, focused and dedicated with fangirling as she was with her curator job. Loved that a 100% and was inspired a 100% to always display badassary; fangirling and business-wise.
III. Seeing our dream boyfriend, Ryan Gold amused, entertained and even enamoured by Deok mi’s fangirling activities and the excitements that follow for her was all sorts of empowerment for us. Ryan Gold was in love and fascinated with all her fangirling glows and squeals. From the onset he was never appalled and even after they started dating, he was never jealous, intimidated or angry with Deok mi obsessing over a boy way younger than him. He simply just knew that this was something that brought happiness to the girl that he was in love with and he was ever so softy-macho, supportively in for the whole ride that gave his girl glee. Triple melt. It’s just impossible not to feel so good and hopeful about someone loving us in this beautiful way even when we lay bare our true fangirling selves.
My heartfelt thanks to Park Min Young for doing an amazing job at making fangirls look harmlessly obsessive, beautiful, talented, badass and full of so much love!💗
Lee Bo ra (Ryu Hye young) : Reply 1988
I won’t even try to delve into the amazing depth of Reply 1988 characters or beautiful delivery of the stellar cast else this whole write-up will swerve another way without a near-end. So I would just stick to Lee Bo ra, the bespectacled character that I resonated with on a level that wasn’t scratch-surface but rather deep.
So after watching Reply 1988, I asked my friends what they thought of Bo ra and read some reviews about her character online. And disappointingly, but expectedly, she wasn’t raved about or widely appraised like Deok-sun.
Everyone was rather all about Doek-sun. Some plainly said that Bo ra was annoying and unreasonably harsh and that they didn’t like her at all. Others just said they like Deok-sun better because she was more bubbly, fun and caring. Fair enough. But I had hoped that many would see Bo ra in a really different way; that beneath all the prickly attitude and snares, which by the way, I found really entertaining and not annoying, she was just an introvert that sometimes wished to be as free-spirited as her sister.
That she was just a socially awkward person who was too shy to herself and those that she cared about to act ostensibly mushy and lovey-dovey. This is me, guys.
That being said, here are the aspects of Bo ra that I resonated with deeply and found a lot of sad comfort in:
I. Her being misunderstood a lot of times due to her brash, irritant attitude. But the fact is just that girl feels out of place (envious even) a lot of the times when witnessing Deok sun and their father shamelessly display love for each other. Or when she’s among Deok sun and her loud, close circle of friends, and expresses her affection coldly or awkwardly as a result.
II. Her relationship with her Dad is also uncannily similar to the one I have with my Dad. It was during her wedding to Sun woo that I was convinced that Bo ra and I share similar souls. We both pretend not to notice our father’s affection towards us because of certain grudges we might be holding against them. We act stiff, we act cold, we act distant but deep down, God knows we still love and respect our poor fathers who suffer from our cold hands.
We just can’t fathom how to display or profess the love to their face. The wedding crying scenes of Bo ra and her father felt so poignant and relatable. And I felt really relieved that in his letter, her father expressed that he loved her so much. It really felt like I was hearing those words from my own father. I also felt relieved by Bo ra’s letter to her dad because her confessing that she knew she was in the wrong and that she loved and was grateful to him, meant she wasn’t a bad person.
Guys, I know it’s hard to understand ourselves sometimes, but watching people with similar traits as us and the good actions that they take during others’ sensitive or vulnerable moments help us understand ourselves a bit better and assure us that our heart is still at a good place. How comforting.
III. Watching Sun woo wholeheartedly love Bo ra despite her outward prickliness and his homies deeming him insane for even being attracted to her was all sorts of beautiful pacification for us. Again, it is powerfully reassuring to know that even if others think you are absurd and scary-crazy there would be one single person who would still think of you as the most magical thing that happened to them on planet earth. Too. many. Butterfiessssssssssss.
IV. Just for the record, I’m not cray-cray like Bora, *shines bunny teeth* but some of us definitely connected with her on a level that was rather deep and not bonbon.
So thank you Lee Bo ra. We see the real you. We root for you. And we love you so much😚.
And that’s it guys… for now.
There are surely more fantastically relatable characters to come. But right now, on behalf of those that have been inspired by these 5 beautiful characters and any other k-drama character, whether male or female; I say thank you to our Writer-nims. Keep resonating. Keep healing. Keep inspiring. Keep empowering.
And to the fantastic actors who selflessly throw themselves into roles that may not fit into who they are in real life; we thank you. You guys are touching hearts and changing the world with your art. So be proud and do better.
Here’s to K-dramas and my awesome readers – Muaaah!😘 Let’s keep striving to love and accept ourselves. We deserve every bit of happiness!🌹