Being a friend can be rewarding. Sometimes

[dangermousie]

I really like doing these "what is your opinion" category posts (i.e. worst drama hero, most overlooked dramas etc). It's fun and everyone has opinions. I think I will do those more often!

Today's post? What are the dramas about friends turned lovers. You know what I mean - many a drama features a heroine dead-set on an unattainable, high-maintenance jerk while the secondary male is by her side being a good, even a best, friend. Often, despite liking the male lead, you want to shake some sense into the heroine and just go for the friend - he is just as good-looking, much more compatible, and infinitely less hard work.

But luckily for us, there are sometimes those rare dramas where the good guy does get the girl, where being a friend does not mean helping her out when she weeps over the jerk only to see her ride into the sunset with said jerk.

What are some "friends become lovers" dramas - where that best friend does get the girl or guy and the girl/guy realizes whoever they are dating is not right - but they wants someone who has been with them all along?

My list:

Worlds Within - Hyun Bin and Song Hye Kyo are long-time close friends who realize what they feel for each other once their respective relationships with others end

Legend - Bae Yong Joon and Lee Ji Ah are friends unto death (seeing that it's a period drama, literally, what with all the battles) and eventually BYJ realizes his love for messed-up, ineffective Moon Sori is as nothing to what he feels for LJA.

9 End 2 Outs - haven't seen this drama but have heard the otp are best friends since day one who one day realize they feel more.

Last Scandal - heroine is still fixated on her (unknown to her) cheating scumbag of a husband but she ends up with her one-time long-ago boyfriend who becomes a good friend and then more.

Sister-in-law is 19: heroine becomes fake-engaged and infatuated with older brother, but it's the youngest who becomes her friend, support and savior. And eventually she falls back in love with him.

Why Why Love - Rainie Yang loves Kingone but ends up falling for his younger brother who does start out as a pesky friend of hers.

Others?

Comments

[boycottbananas.livejournal.com]

First one I could think of is Buzzer Beat, surprisingly. Naoki and Riko totally start off as friends who slowly come to love each other. Ironically, it's like they're both the mandatory 'secondary character' to each other's relationships, even though they're the main characters (Riko has a nice, handsome, mature boyfriend who is just a little aggressive with love, while Naoki had a girlfriend who cheated on him with the 'bad boy, sleazy' type of guy). And they're just cute together. ♥

There should be so many more friends-turned-lovers dramas. I love BB so much for it. DX

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Is BB worth watching? I am not big on sports.

[boycottbananas.livejournal.com]

The sports part about it isn't actually all that prominent. The first episode had 2 basketball games and the second had a 'practice' one, but mostly, it's just Naoki and some of the guys throwing the ball around or him practicing in a park.

But yeah, I think it is. It might be a stretch to say, but it's different from any drama that I've watched lately. It's simple and sweet.

[issy-chan.livejournal.com]

I second that. eventhough it looks like a sport themed drama but it is not. it's more like a romance drama than sport one.
i did not think i will continue with BB but somehow, the story developing very well and i am loving it.
in addition to Naoki x Riko, Mai and Shuji are so cute to watch. not to feorget Riko and Mai as best friends.

[mishane.livejournal.com]

Honestly, all I could think of was 9 Ends 2 Outs because that's the only one where the feelings start out platonic. In most other dramas, while the leads might be friends, there's almost always romantic (one-sided) feelings involved. In this one, it stays platonic throughout most of the drama which I loved. Which is why through most of it, I was all WHO CARES IF THEY DON'T END UP TOGETHER, THEY'RE SUCH GOOD FRIENDS but at the end, I got all OKAY THERE'S NO WAY THEY CAN STAY JUST FRIENDS, THEY LOVE EACH OTHER TOO MUCH!!.

I didn't even think of Legend! I'm going to have to rec that next time someone asks for a best-friends drama. Although I don't think it was completely platonic; Sujini did have some feelings for Dam Duk. But it fits the category.

Ummm. . .the j-drama Attention Please had two friends but because it was a j-drama the romance was very very minimal.

The k-movie Almost Love (with Kang Sang Won) is about two best friends. I would consider it to be the movie equivalent of 9 Ends 2 Outs except the ending was so stupid.

What's Up Fox is about a 30 year old woman falling in love with her best friends 23 year old brother. . .who she practically raised. They are kind of friends.

Goong S They were childhood friends and stayed closed friends. Feelings were involved though, so not completely platonic.

Love Shuffle My OTP have this awesome friendship/banter.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't mean it would have to be platonic on both sides - I am fine with them being friends but underlined with something more (whether both have an unacknowledged attraction, or he is in love but she only sees him as a friend at first).

In fact, if they are just friends with no ust at all and have been for a long time, I get a little puzzled as to how all of a sudden they fall for each other - if they haven't seen/felt that potential at least subconsciously ever, why would it pop up all of a sudden?

[mishane.livejournal.com]

In fact, if they are just friends with no ust at all and have been for a long time, I get a little puzzled as to how all of a sudden they fall for each other - if they haven't seen/felt that potential at least subconsciously ever, why would it pop up all of a sudden?

Ah, okay,
I'm not too big a fan of 'been in love forever and he/she never notices' thing. I enjoy more when it's a slow realization. . .when you finally realize, Oh, I can't live my life without this person, which is how it was in 9E2O. (Although in 9E2O, you do find out that they had small crushes on each other previously but it's not made out to be this HUGE thing, in fact, it's almost looked over, mentioned only once or twice).

I think of it more as a, you live your lives together as friends for so long and when the threat comes that you might not see the person again or that the person might leave your life, you re-evaluate how you really feel about the person. I think that if there was always a 'love' factor, it taints the friendship a little.

lol, this is something I'm used to as I've been on the giving and receiving end of friendship that turns into love. Most of my real life friends are male so . . . you can almost always tell when there are romantic feelings and it does mess with the friendship dynamics which is why I'm always flabbergasted at girls/boys in dramas who are clueless as to how the other person feels. Like. . .really? Are you that dense? How close of friends are you if you don't even realize how your friend feels about you?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

In dramas they usually haven't been friends forever but I do know people in rl who didn't realize their friends are crushing on them even though it's totally obvious.

I've never had straight male friends since probably I was 8 yrs old or younger so dramas about purely platonic guy/girl thing are always a littl alien to me - it's not a dynamic I am used to at all. Friends with major ust or whatever is something I am more familiar with. I do find the former fascinating as a narrative.

[anenko.livejournal.com]

What's Up Fox is about a 30 year old woman falling in love with her best friends 23 year old brother. . .who she practically raised. They are kind of friends.

Is the series worth watching? I found the first half of episode one a lot of fun, but wasn't so fond of the second half.

[mishane.livejournal.com]

It was mildly entertaining but deteriorated fast. I still haven't seen the last episode and am not really motivated to. I know they end up together anyways. :/

[darkeyedwolf.livejournal.com]

Triple's secondary OTP are lifelong friends turned lovers.

Dare Mama sorta fits -- two guys (one straight, one gay) deny their relationship as "best friends" but you can guess how long that lasts.

Um... the heroine of Katagoshi no Koibito finally gets over the cheating married guy she was having a fling with, and turns to the sweet guy who was there for her all along (who, cough, happens to be 16).

*thinks* This is hard!

[aliaspiral.livejournal.com]

Dare Mama sorta fits -- two guys (one straight, one gay) deny their relationship as "best friends" but you can guess how long that lasts.

to be STRICTLY honest, one claims "best friends," the other one uses every opportunity possible to try to jump him. IT'S AWESOME.

the heroine of Katagoshi no Koibito finally gets over the cheating married guy she was having a fling with, and turns to the sweet guy who was there for her all along (who, cough, happens to be 16).

*eyebrow raise* i need to know more about this drama, i think. is it any good?

[darkeyedwolf.livejournal.com]

PEACH FARM.

is it any good?

I enjoyed it immensely! My pimp had its bandwidth exceeded (damnit) but I can dig up some caps if you want a peek.

[aliaspiral.livejournal.com]

I SEE YOUR PEACH FARM AND RAISE YOU PINKO'S BONNET.

would love a few caps! is it mostly comedy, or is there piles of angst? i just like to know beforehand..

[darkeyedwolf.livejournal.com]

Some angst, not too bad. No one dies or gets ill. There's a lot of unrequited love.

The beautiful Yonekura Ryoko:



Underage tail and OTP:





Bun-chan the glittery gun-toting gay bar owner, and his friend, Kaname Jun the snarky gay bookseller:









*tempts*

[aliaspiral.livejournal.com]

oooh, that DOES look entertaining!*goes to search jdramas*

...does the underage tail get a kiss, at least? im doubting it, by sheer virtue of him being underage, but i am hopeful!

[darkeyedwolf.livejournal.com]

*cackles* They do a lot more than that.

(...Offscreen, but still.)

[aliaspiral.livejournal.com]

...i am liking the sound of this drama more and more.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

16? eeeek. *covers eyes*

[darkeyedwolf.livejournal.com]

*curious* Why? You liked KKKyoushi, didn't you?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

LOLOLOLOL

KKK2003 tops the 'drama most likely to give dangermousie nightmares' list. :) The only reason Fujiki Naohito did not suffer permanent banning from my viewing list after that was because I've seen and loved him before in Itoshi Kimi E and Hotaru no Hikari.

The only 'one is still in highschool but they make out' drama I have liked was Forbidden Love and even that one made me want to bang my head on the wall and go "woman, you'd avoid freaking jail if you waited a measly year!" Other under 18 things don't get consummated until the guy is out of school whenever they start - Loveholic, Hello My Teacher. Plus, 16 is way eekier than 17 for some reason even if it's not rational. I dunno, I guess it could be brilliantly written and I could love it, but my default is to be a bit freaked out until proven otherwise.

[ambergold.livejournal.com]

Proposal Daisakusen. They grow up together, same group of friends, etc., and have feelings for each other the whole time but can't admit it.

This is one of my more favorite(not absolute favorite, but still fun) drama themes, but it's one that I actually think American television does better - most of the western OTPs I can think of, at least the teen ones, have either known each other since they were kids or have been friends for several years - Veronica Mars, One Tree Hill, Dawson's Creek, etc.

[mishane.livejournal.com]

I noticed this a while ago (lack of best friends-lovers dramas) and when I went to jdramas for a rec, there were only a few that popped up. I still have to see Proposal Daisakusen (that one got recc'd) and someone said something about Orange Days being a friends-lovers drama.

[aliaspiral.livejournal.com]

ProDai is very sweet and gentle. It's not really a wacky drama, regardless of the time travel and the fairies.

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

I hadn't really thought of it before but Orange Days is like that. Their relationship is very real & developes gradually.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I will check it out!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

True, how could I forget ProDai!

[cranberrysheep.livejournal.com]

Hmm, this is a tough one. The first series that came to mind, weirdly enough, was Shikaotoko Aoniyoshi. It's really not a romance at all per se. The main guy actually has a crush on the pretty teacher at a rival high school. Meanwhile, his fellow teacher who totally likes him is just the oddball mollasas candy-eating sidekick who is pretty sure he might be a little bit crazy but helps him on his quest anyway. They do end up together, but not until the veeeeeeery end.

[cranberrysheep.livejournal.com]

Or, OR! Hotaru no Hikari (Ayase Haruka again, heh). Through various plot devices, Hotaru ends up living with her boss and he coaches her through her first grown-up romance. Then - True Love!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I remember HnH - I sort of lost interest in it halfway through because it didn't fit my then mood but what I saw of it was nice.

[ifruity.livejournal.com]

Smiling Pasta is kinda like that. Okay, maybe not really, but they become pretty good friends after they first meet. It's pretty much a Taiwanese remake of Full House, but since it's Taiwanese, they have to make it cutesy and nicer.

The only other one I can think of is Last Friends. It's a incredibly sad drama. They focus more on the domestic violence and the gender problem, but there's kind of a love triangle between friends, a bit blurry though. Definitely recommend it!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I'd put SP into that category but it was a lovely drama.

I've read about Last Friends (some flisters were watching it) and I am staying away - I don't think I could take the sadness.

[valkyriesailor.livejournal.com]

2nd on Buzzer Beat! <3
What I thought of still was Peach Girl, Ai no Uta, Slow Dance, Kimi wa Petto, Moto Kare, Snow White and Star no Koi has it's moments too.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Peach Girl. How I wish that drama was better - I love the manga and anime.

[hyperhippot.livejournal.com]

9 ends 2 outs of course and slow dance developement from friendship to love is delicious

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Slow dance?

Ooooh, need to research

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

Proposal Daisakusen - best friends whom neither have ever admitted to the other their true feelings.

Orange Days - slowly befriend each other & gradually discover something more...

I Really, Really Like You - friends who drive each other crazy, he's always there for her while she gets her heart ripped out by "the other guy" & finally she realizes, "hey, he's always there for me. And if he was gone, I'd be devastated!"

Would Corner With Love kinda count? As he's there for her through everything? And maybe Dal Ja's Spring as Lee Min Ki is by her side as she goes through boyfriends.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oooh, IRRLY sounds lovely!

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

IRRLY was very good. And Lee Min Ki's so much better than in Dal Ja's Spring.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yay, will definitely watch!

[village.livejournal.com]

I just have to say that while LMK is great - It's worth watching for him alone - Eugene's character spent 98% of the drama crying over the secondary character which, considering it's 34 eps, was really quite tiring. So just be warned. Heh.