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[Drama chat] In season, or out of season?

I used to be obsessed with the fact that K-dramas always seemed to match the weather I was having in my region of the U.S., even though they were on the other side of the world while filming. In fact, I used to depend on watching winter dramas in winter (epic K-drama coats FTW!) and summer dramas in summertime — something about the synchronicity rang true and made the stories feel more real.

Nowadays, though, so much is pre-produced that dramas can air months after they’ve been filmed — which is good for the sanity and safety of the cast and crew, but not so much for airing summer stories in summer, and shivering with characters in the winter.

 

How does the season of a story play into your drama experience? Does it affect you at all while watching, or do you just take the drama at face value?

 
Let the chatting begin!
 

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I live in the Southern Hemisphere so…
For once a drama like Summer Strike is in line with my country’s weather lol

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But we'll never get a Christmas drama in sync with us 😂😂😂

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But you celebrate Christmas on the same day, don't you?

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I don't bother at all. It doesn't even bother me. All I want is to watch something.
But I do love it when a drama incorporates the weather they're filming in into the drama, something Bloody Heart did despite it being a saguek.

"Watching winter dramas in winter and summer in summer"...Even when it's in sync which I've never noticed, I do not take it at face value nor do I take it into account as an experience.

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Agree, I think general audience do not care much about such things, unless one is a critic, movie maker or passionate blogger who enjoys exploring things in great detail.

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I have been watching the film Little Forest and the Chinese drama New Life Begins both of which have used the seasons as part of the story telling process.

Seasonal weather on the drama that matches my current weather is not an important factor for me. I live in England where the weather can be all seasons in a day most days of the year and that isn’t an exaggeration. I have worn thermals in May and summer clothes in Feb. If I am watching a romance it is nice to see a cherry blossom scene or a Christmas season celebration as it is the only country that I know of that associates romantic love with Christmas Day.

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I never live-watch, so never notice nor care about season.

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Yeah, I remember when Kdrama were matching the season but the law for the workers was different. They almost filmed the scenes on the day it was released... Now, I think it's better because the conditions for the workers and the actors are better and healthier. Even if they are still rushed at the end of the filming. When you know that Yoo Seung-Ho had to film with a head concussion because of car accident, some actors with a broken rib, etc. it was kinda scary for them.

Now, some dramas are just a little bit shifted in time but still match the main season. Some of them are completely preproduced and don't match at all but it doesn't bother me so much. I watch different dramas at the same time.

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Interestingly, I only found out this year that some Beanies associated certain dramas with certain seasons. I only recognize a winter drama when it involves a Christmas episode.😅 Joking aside, rather than actual seasons I have metaphorical seasons. It could be the anniversary of a show that prompts me to finally press play around that date a few years later, but most of the time it is my personal experience at that moment that seals the deal.

Twice I nearly lost a loved one during the summer holidays while everybody around me was having the time of their lives. Rebel Who Stole The People and Misaeng were painful and heavy, but beautiful and perfectly timed to help me withdraw and cope while my loved ones recovered.

On the other side of the spectrum, Business Proposal and Extraordinary You aired in the gloomy months of February and November, but they gave me the courage I needed right then to fight the desolation that plagued my environment and circumstances at that time.💪🏻

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I agree the mood of the drama really is an important factor for the audience and some of us are effected negatively when a drama suddenly shifts into something we were not expecting or able to handle.

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Given that I live in tropical country which only has two seasons, dry or rainy, I simply watched whatever struck my fancy. While marveling at the snow, and the fact that the characters (and stories) seemed so fixated on the changing seasons.

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I'll always prefer whatever are the best conditions for staff and crew.

However, there is something, to me, that makes it extra special and even more immersive if the weather matches. Or maybe it's that kdramas really film outside. I remember feeling sorry for Junho's ears in Just Between Lovers. I didn't live watch JBL but did watch it in the winter.
I did live watch Chocolate and remember how it felt like I could see how hot it was which felt a little odd because it was winter.

I actually have Flower Boy Next Door and Find Me in Your Memory as planned December watches because I believe they are both winter dramas.

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Never forget the seasonal dramas from Yoon Seok-ho PD nim.
But really, from country that only has rainy and dry season, it doesn't matter. I'm proud tropical girl.

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Same!! There’s never any dramas that features rainy season right?

I do like watching summer dramas though, esp the ones that’s not in a city setting like Hometown Cha cha cha - makes me feel like i’m on holiday.

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I usually live-watch and being from a country with 4 seasons like South Korea, I like when the drama matches the real season. That said, it is definitely not a deciding factor, more like a cherry on the top 🙂

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IU (actor Lee Ji-eun) said when she was filming 'My Mister' in winter that she would cover her body in up to forty(!) chemical heating patches and would sometimes get 1st degree burns from them. Still, she concluded that filming 'Hotel Del Luna' in mid-summer was the more miserable experience.

What bothers me in dramas is when actors are *making believe* its summer in a scene, are barely wearing anything, but you can see their breath when they speak.

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Yes - I know it’s an old drama now but I was recently watching Dream High and everyone looked absolutely freezing in “summer”

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All i could think while watching Dream High was ‘why dont they turn the heating on’

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As someone who planned and hosted a group watch of Healer last year because I needed to watch a winter drama, I fully understand the idea of wanting to see the season you're experiencing on screen! Would Weightlifting Fairy, Pinocchio, I'll Find You on a Beautiful Day, Solomon's Perjury, or Healer have been as impactful if I watched them in the summer? No. Still, it's not such a problem that I'm prepared to complain about all the important work done to get dramas pre-produced - the beauty of rewatching is to be able to enjoy a drama in the season it's set in later down the line! I actually just finished a Weightlifting Fairy rewatch! That snowy kiss scene will never not be iconic.

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I already miss those good old days, even though my schedule is screaming otherwise😅

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That kiss scene...🥺😩 *screams into the void*

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You opened a wound here!
I love the kiss scene in Pinocchio, where the scene has already been taking place in the softly snowy street, they are wearing many many layers of warm clothes, and they end up kissing.
But! I HATE the kiss scene in I'm Not a Robot. They were in a completely different location, then they are suddenly on the mountain top, confessing their love while red and shivering with the freezing cold in very uncomfortable thick coats. That scene singlehandedly ruined the show for me.

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I don't specifically seek out a drama whose season matches the one I'm in, but it definitely elevates my viewing experience when the seasons match. The first thing that comes to mind is, a few years ago I rewatched Weightlifting Fairy KBJ in the winter (it's also winter in the drama) - the puzzle pieces really came together, and it catapulted the drama to one of my all-time favorites ❤️

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Not really weather related , but I have noticed that Korea always has a full moon.

Seasonal change in a drama coinciding with the current season doesn’t matter to me.

Seasonal change might contribute a wee bit more realism to a drama.
What, realism in a drama ? 😀

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Cracks me up how it’s always a full moon

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I recall seeing a pre-air trailer for My Mister where the moon was just a distant smudged disk in the night sky. The very same shot in the series had the moon filling half the sky like a hot air balloon was hovering over the road. Too much, man, too much.

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Maybe it's just happenstance, but most of the dramas I've seen in my short time in dramaland have either been set in winter or obviously filmed in late autumn/winter, to the point where I was beginning to wonder if Korea had any other season. I think My Liberation Notes was my first drama set partly in summer, with characters talking about (and actors clearly feeling) the heat. Even in dramas supposedly taking place during spring or summer, I can sometimes see the actors' breath or autumn foliage and that's what takes me out of the moment, not the contrast with whatever weather is happening where I am now.

I live in a place with mild wet winters and mild dry summers, and not much in the way of spring or fall - if I had a lovely big winter coat, I'd probably get to wear it once a year. We're at the same latitude as Seoul and yet our climate is incredibly different, so seeing the wildly varying weather in kdramas is a big part of my pleasure in them.

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CLOY was shot in dead of winter. Cast and crew sick and miserable because it was mostly outdoor location shoot. The dank dark gloom was captured in the North Korean part of the story.

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It's probably not a coincidence that CLOY was my first kdrama and that I think dramas = winter. I know they had to postpone shooting and airing a couple of episodes because of exceptionally cold weather. All that snow is lovely but must have been miserable to work in - though nothing compared to the misery of actually living in North Korea for most of its inhabitants.

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#SouthernHemisphereGang
#FiveSeasonsInOneDayCountryGang

When it's really obvious they're not in the season the drama wants you to believe it's in, sometimes it bothers me. But I think I see seasons as more important for symbolic storytelling and therefore experiential through that, rather than experiential viewing being the first port of call, if that makes sense.
That being said, You Are My Spring DID actually air over my Spring, which also happens to be my favourite season and a very meaningful season for me also, and it was used brilliantly in the show thematically, so triple points for that one.

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Excellent point about seasons and the story, I think that's far more determinative of the mood than any weather I'm experiencing at the time of viewing.

Of course I write from Southern California, where we now apparently only have 2 seasons, fire season and drought season. That said, the past 3 weeks has been a constant succession of days in the mid 70s, with clear blue sky. In fact yesterday my wife and took a walk to the beach, and on a cliff overlooking the ocean, we saw someone floating just like the young woman in Summer strike. Does this mean I'm always on Summer Strike? Yes.

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As a Southern Hemispherian though, seasonal differences and also the location of the celestial bodies is one of the things I find most fascinating and ingrained in me as a writer.
For me, Summer means the end of the year. The Summer holidays also mean that break and changing of time across years. The Moon is "upside down". Venus rises in August/September and becomes the Evening Star in March. What do you mean only 12% of the world's population can see the Southern Cross? And the Sun is in the North, not the South! You wouldn't believe how much that one trips me up in writing.
Suddenly all my fantasy stories are in Southern Hemispherian worlds 😂😂😂

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I knew about the Southern cross but had never even thought about the sun being in the south vs the north if you’re in the wrong Northern hemisphere!

My daughter was asking me the other day if it was going to snow for Christmas and it makes me kind of sad how heavily northern hemisphere-centric nearly all Christmas things* seem to be. The only explicitly Southern Hemisphere things I can think of are extremely kitschy Kiwiana type things (eg A Kiwi Night Before Christmas - twas the night before Christmas and all through the bach, not a possum was stirring, not one we could catch…) . I’m fine with Santa living at the North Pole and having snow there but I could do without so many snowmen in shop windows etc.

* (I’m talking pop culture Christmassy things here as opposed to religious imagery)

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Wow! This was a fascinating read. I wonder why they never included these differences between the two hemispheres in school text books or at least in mine when I studied in school.

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"In the southern hemisphere the sun is in the North"... so logical yet something that has to be written for us nordeners.
And now I have to review the communication on UV weathering on buildings to check for asumptions that can impede the comprehension of some colleagues situated far away...

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The only time it made a difference to me when I'LL COME TO YOU WHEN THE WEATHER IS NICE aired- and it actually was winter. The coziness which was one of its many charms was amplified by the season.

But that was a special case. The fact that it is freezing outside has done nothing to diminish the effects of SUMMER STRIKE. I cannot think of any other show where it made a difference.

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I'm not live-watching dramas as much lately so the season the drama was shot in doesn't matter as much to me. Instead, I'm mostly rewatching shows and I do tend to gravitate towards shows that match the current season. I've been thinking about watching Solomon's Perjury again since that was set at Christmas.

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Seasons do not have to match my seasons for me to enjoy the drama; I live in a four season climate and am used to changes. Seeing Korea in all seasons and climates makes Kdramas believable.

It seems that fall must be a very popular filming season as so many dramas are filmed with autmn's color. Spring blossoms also appear lbut ess often.

The one seasonal aspect I don't enjoy is when snow magically appears out of season. Another is when the filming crew forgets to take the season of the drama into account--snowing but not wearing a coat or suddenly it's warm weather right after a snowfall or mismatched seasons like a June graduation with autmn trees (here's looking at you Go Back Couple), beach days when the drama takes place in fall/winter.

Seasons within a series provides an opportunity for a diverse wardrobe. I notice that in most dramas, a brand new coat appears for each outdoor scene.

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I think watching dramas in season is better and I'm lucky my Italian seasons are the same as in korea. I think it's better from a commercial point of view as well, as many clothes and accessories worn by the cast get sold out very fast.

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Where I live we only have two seasons: rain or shine (get it? 😆) So I can't really relate with missvictrix.
For example, a lot of dramas have this romantic scene between the leads on the first snow.
Well, I've never seen snow in my life so I can't really know how special that is. LOL

But I still like it, tbh.
I think winter dramas have these lovey dovey couples because they use the weather as an excuse for skinship (ex. WLFKBJ). Spring dramas tend to go really deep on cherry blossoms, and they're always giving them different kinds of meaning, and they become a big thing that represents the couple's relationship. I also like that.

I will always remember Suzy singing Winter's child to Taec in Dream High. It was such a lovely scene.
Or the typical scene of someone getting dumped near a cherry blossom tree. And the dumper goes away while the dumpee just stays there watching.
Or the trips in summer. Now, that I think about, I think most of the shows where someone moves to the country side are in summer (Top Star YB, Small Town...).

So yeah, I like how dramas play with the seasons and give so much meaning to it.
Seasons are nice to set the mood of the show.
Blue dramas are all about fall or winter. Romcoms are more of a spring or summer vibe.

Even tho the only thing I experience is summer (crazy hot) and kinda winter (crazy storms), I really enjoy the way dramas give meaning to the different seasons.

Oh! The only drama that really felt relatable this year, was My Liberation Notes, when they all were so freaking annoying because of how hot the weather was. I don't know what happened at the beginning of the year, but even tho it was raining almost every day it was hot as hell. I think I almost died from suffocating a couple of times on the bus.

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Oh, one think that I find sad is actors filming dramas for other seasons.

When I see the bts my heart breaks. I don't know that would be worse, if film a drama for summer in winter/fall or the contrary.

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The season a kdrama is set usually doesn't mean a lot to me, with two exceptions: the first is when the season / the typical weather plays its own part (like an additional actor or a side kick 😉), and the second exception is when it's fall because that's my by far favourite season of them all. When I tune into a kdrama that features fall it gets additional brownie points from me right away, and I feel like I just met a like- minded person (it doesn't always really prove to be true, but that's a different matter).
That winter itself plays a huge part was the impression I got from "I'll come to you when the weather is nice", from it's metaphorical meaning for the life of many of the protagonists to gorgeous landscape impressions and all the people weating so many different types of padded vests and coats! 😉

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I don’t think I notice if it matches the season I am in, but I do often notice how the weather affects the story. Cherry blossoms, winter coats, summer festivals, etc. There are rom-com tropes for every season like wearing coats at the beach, running into your first love under cherry blossoms, and sharing convenience store ice cream in the summer. One extreme example was the unraveling sweater sleeve with an engagement ring So Ji Sub gave Shin Min Ah in Oh My Venus.

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