Orange Marmalade
Episodes: 12
Country: South Korea
Aired: May 15, 2015 - Jul. 24, 2015
Drop Date: Jun. 7, 2015
Network: KBS2
Duration: 50 mins.
Genres: Drama, Manga, Romance, School, Vampire, Youth
Viewers Rating: 7.6/10
My Rating: 5.5/10
Synopsis: Set in a fantasy world where humans and vampire coexist, the latter have evolved and no longer rely on human blood as food. Still, they are feared and discriminated against by society, causing many of them to hide their true nature and live as "normal" citizens, or else become outcasts. Baek Ma Ri is a socially withdrawn teenage girl hiding her vampire identity. Driven away from several neighbourhoods, she is eager to settle down in her new city and live quietly. But things change when she falls in love with Jung Jae Min, the most popular boy at her high school.
Cast: Seol Hyun - Baek Ma Ri
Yeo Jin Goo - Jung Jae Min
Lee Jong Hyun - Han Shi Hoo
Reason(s) For Dropping
At first, I was really enjoying Orange Marmalade, but after the second episode, it just got worse and worse, till the point that I dropped it during the middle of the fifth episode. Although some of the acting was slightly edgy due to all the main cast not having much experience in acting, and some of the other classmates were quite annoying (character and acting wise), I could ignore that and enjoy the story.
Anyway, the first main reason (there are three in total) why I dropped Orange Marmalade is because of the time skips during the third and fourth episode. At the beginning of the third episode, it was like normal. Ma Ri was trying her best to avoid Jae Min as she didn't want another incident where she almost bit his neck. But by the end of the episode, they had already created a band together with the same name as the drama, performed at a school festival, confessed their love for each other, and kissed. All of those things happened over a period of 50 minutes, in which it should have taken three months. And to make matters worse, there were more time skips during the fourth episode as well. Baek Ma Ri's identity was found out by the school, Shi Hoo used his vampire abilities to save Jae Min and therefore, was sentenced to death by the "vampire court", he killed himself by letting the sun evaporate his body, Ma Ri moved schools, Jae Min almost got himself killed again by saving Ma Ri from falling off a ledge, and he received amnesia in the process. I was almost furious with this drama by this point. All those time skips took place in almost half a year, yet it only took up 100 minutes of time (aka two episodes).
The second reason is because of something that I explained in the previous point: Han Shi Hoo's death. Shi Hoo was, by far, the most lovable character. He was teasing, cute, a giant dork and a hot delinquent to top it all of. Although his acting could have done with improving, it was better than most of the other actors. Plus, Lee Jong Hyun (Han Shi Hoo's actor) has been a model most of his life, so acting is something he is able to do as he is used to being in front of a camera. Anyway, Shi Hoo's death is completely unnecessary within the events of Orange Marmalade. I'm pretty sure the writers just did it because they couldn't think of any other ways to ruin the drama further. I mean, how can you kill of a main character when the series hasn't even reached the half way point? Maybe at the end of the drama, sure, but not during the fourth episode. I will continue to watch more of Lee Jong Hyun's works as he was a great actor, but probably no one else. Also, I started watching We Got Married which has Jong Hyun as an on-screen husband, so I'm happy to still be seeing him every week.
The third and final reason why I'm dropping this drama is because of what happened during the fifth episode (and the last episode that I will watch). First, let me point out that I hate it when dramas mix up time periods - it's very frustrating. It only worked for My Love From the Stars because the time flashbacks were very short, and the main character was alive during that time. Anyway, during the fifth episode, they skipped back to the Joseon period, where vampires at just been discovered and had been killing lots of innocent humans. And of course, they had the reincarnated versions of Ma Ri, Jae Min and Shi Hoo, with the exact same names. You would think to change their names to more of a Joseon periodic name. Sure, I was glad to Shi Hoo again, but the time skip was confusing and boring. That just pushed me off the edge, and I couldn't watch any more of Orange Marmalade.
Note: I don't have anything against historical dramas, in fact, I'm planning on watching Gu Family Book not too soon in the future, but I don't like it when dramas have mixed time periods.
The second reason is because of something that I explained in the previous point: Han Shi Hoo's death. Shi Hoo was, by far, the most lovable character. He was teasing, cute, a giant dork and a hot delinquent to top it all of. Although his acting could have done with improving, it was better than most of the other actors. Plus, Lee Jong Hyun (Han Shi Hoo's actor) has been a model most of his life, so acting is something he is able to do as he is used to being in front of a camera. Anyway, Shi Hoo's death is completely unnecessary within the events of Orange Marmalade. I'm pretty sure the writers just did it because they couldn't think of any other ways to ruin the drama further. I mean, how can you kill of a main character when the series hasn't even reached the half way point? Maybe at the end of the drama, sure, but not during the fourth episode. I will continue to watch more of Lee Jong Hyun's works as he was a great actor, but probably no one else. Also, I started watching We Got Married which has Jong Hyun as an on-screen husband, so I'm happy to still be seeing him every week.
The third and final reason why I'm dropping this drama is because of what happened during the fifth episode (and the last episode that I will watch). First, let me point out that I hate it when dramas mix up time periods - it's very frustrating. It only worked for My Love From the Stars because the time flashbacks were very short, and the main character was alive during that time. Anyway, during the fifth episode, they skipped back to the Joseon period, where vampires at just been discovered and had been killing lots of innocent humans. And of course, they had the reincarnated versions of Ma Ri, Jae Min and Shi Hoo, with the exact same names. You would think to change their names to more of a Joseon periodic name. Sure, I was glad to Shi Hoo again, but the time skip was confusing and boring. That just pushed me off the edge, and I couldn't watch any more of Orange Marmalade.
Note: I don't have anything against historical dramas, in fact, I'm planning on watching Gu Family Book not too soon in the future, but I don't like it when dramas have mixed time periods.
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| Ma Ri + Jung Jae. |
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