12 idol dramas we watched in our teenage years when we could have studied harder

Seed please??

Mandy How | April 14, 2017, 12:59 PM

A decade (or more!) out of adolescence, you'd think that you'd be tired of cliched high school romances and ridiculously tangled relationships.

But if anything, recent productions like Apple of my Eye and Our Times proves we are all still suckers for shipping good-looking couples in largely illogical and implausible plot lines.

So there's no shame to admit that you've indulged in these 12 memorable idol dramas growing up:

1. My MVP Valentine (MVP情人/MVP Qing Ren)

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My MVP Valentine was one of the earliest idol dramas, and was also the one that started the craze over 5566 and Angela Chang.

Some of us *might* have laughed at Duan Chen Feng for his sausage lips, but we eventually fell in love with his character and rooted for him and Xiao Xi to end up together.

 

2. Westside Story (西街少年/Xi Jie Shao Nian)

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We couldn't help feeling like it was a riding on the wave of My MVP Valentine, before we developed a crush on Tony Sun and promptly forgot about it.

 

3. It Started With A Kiss (惡作劇之吻/Er Zuo Ju Zhi Wen)

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It was very relatable (at first, anyway) because none of our crushes liked us back. Sobzxzxzx.

And because she was a goddess, many NS boys also had a poster of Ariel Lin in their lockers. Hmm.

 

4. Prince Turns to Frog (王子變青蛙/Wang Zi Bian Qing Wa)

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Many of us really liked the pairing of Ming Dao and Qiao En, even if the amnesia was a tiny bit inconceivable. But as far as idol dramas go, this had us awaiting every episode eagerly.

 

5. Devil Beside You (惡魔在身邊/Er Mo Zai Shen Bian)

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Devil Beside You was one of the first series that Mike He acted in, and as a lead actor to boot.

Although the step-sibling dilemma might be a bit a bit overused these days, the bad boy image of Mike He and an innocent Rainie Yang hit off really well on screen - if you could take her acting cute, that is.

 

6. Bull Fighting (鬥牛,要不要/Dou Niu, Yao Bu Yao)

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Parental interference in a relationship between the elite and the middle-class. Side-effects after binge watching include shouts of "Yi Sheng Xue!!!" and "Jin Zi Cong!!" (in a Taiwanese accent, no less) ringing in our heads.

Bonus: Mike He has improved his acting skills since starring in Devil Beside You.

 

7. Hanazakarino Kimitachihe (花樣少年少女/Hua Yang Shao Nian Shao Nu)

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More commonly shortened to Hana Kimi, this series features Ella (from S.H.E) pretending to be a boy in order to study at a boy's school. What happens next may be predictable, but it didn't stop us from rooting for her anyway.

 

8. Fated to Love You (命中注定我愛你/Ming Zhong Zhu Ding Wo Ai Ni)

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It all starts with a string of ridiculous incidents leading to a one night stand, which was arguably one of the most hilarious bed scenes in the history of idol dramas (yes, it's in episode one so you can watch it above).

A love triangle follows. Typical idol drama material, but we were hooked anyway.

 

9. Romantic Princess (公主小妹/Gong Zhu Xiao Mei)

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Some of us watched it for Wu Zhun after suffering from withdrawal symptoms when Hana Kimi ended. Another group of us watched it for Angela Chang after Dolphin Bay. But all of us stayed for the plot, which was really quite good.

 

10. Princess Hours (Goong)

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Even as you were bickering with your friends over who should end up with whom, most of us were happy with the ending and finished the drama despite it being a little slow at times. Some even cried like no tomorrow in the process.

 

11. KO One

(Episode one was blocked on YouTube so here's a link.)

Source: KissAsian

This one was for all the Fahrenheit fans. To be honest the plot was a little shitty, but the cast held it together well enough.

 

12. Meteor Garden (流星花園/Liu Xing Hua Yuan)

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Probably one of the earliest and most famous series of all - you know it's good when there's a Korean version (Boys over Flowers) and a Japanese version (Hana Yori Dango).

Being the hopeless romantics were were, we hoped that Dao Ming Si would end up winning Shancai over despite him being kind of an asshole. Anyway, we always had a thing for super bad boys with a soft spot for just one girl.

 

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