Over the past four years there has been a rise in Asian content viewership amongst girls in Kenya and I am sorry to say some seem very obsessed, but the question is why?
Since the 2020 Corona pandemic, the viewership increased as people stayed indoors and had much time to spare.
I was able to interview some girls to get the answer as to why they are so much into Asian content, popularly known as K-pop and K-drama.
K-pop is short for Korean popular music originating from South Korea as part of the Korean culture. K-drama also known as Koreanovela refers to Korean language TV shows and movies.
Some of the most famous actors in K-dramas include Park Seo Joon who starred in Itaewon Classroom and Lee Min Ho who starred in Boys Over Flowers.
The most famous actresses include Jun Ji Hyun who starred in My Love from the Star and Park Min Young who starred in Marry My Husband.
Jasiri Hediye said that she started consuming Asian content back on campus.
“The reason why I am still hooked up on K-dramas is because of their impeccable sense of fashion. I love how the producers make sure each character is dressed well and the dressing matches the character’s role and after watching K-drama I was inspired to be a fashionista/designer because I too would love to dress people well,” Hediye said.
Nazara Sage stated that she would simply watch K-drama for the plot and by plot, she meant the good-looking characters.
“Honestly speaking I think before watching something it has to be pleasing to your eyes and I also watch because the shows genuinely have a good storyline,” Sage said.
Mitchelle Mwende said she loves the slow burn and fairy tale romance found in K-drama.
“I love the pure and innocent love portrayed in K-drama as opposed to the graphic love found in Western movies,” Mwende said.
K-drama seems to provide the audience with some sort of fantasy, like taking you into some fairytale-like world.
“I like to escape reality at times and K-dramas help me to do so, K-dramas show fairytale love which honestly does not exist in real life," MWende said.
Anne Wanjiku said that even if she can’t experience fairytale love at least she can be delusional and imagine herself living that kind of fantasy and be in love with fictional men or movie actors rather than dating actual men and getting heartbreaks.
“I honestly love the fantasy K-drama gives me,” Wanjiku said.
