K-Drama Throwback Orange Marmalade |

Yeo Jin-goo & AOA Seolhyun — idntimes.com

Details About Orange Marmalade

Hello hello, fellow K-drama lovers! Byeol Korea is back again with another Korean drama review! How do you do today? We hope you guys are doing fine and are ready to fetch another review, especially those of you who still haven’t decided which K-drama to put on their watchlist.

Today, in this article, we are going to provide you with a throwback of the Korean drama titled Orange Marmalade. HOWEVER, PLEASE NOTE AND BE WARNED THAT THERE WILL BE A LOT OF SPOILERS IN THIS ARTICLE. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK. So, without any further ado, let’s get started, fellows! Keep scrolling down!

Synopsis

Orange Marmalade ( 오렌지 마말레이드 in Korean, Orenji Mamalleideu in romanization) is a 2015 South Korean high school musical drama based on the Webtoon of the same title by Seok Woo which was serialized on Naver Webtoon from 2011 to 2013.

This Korean drama is directed by Lee Hyung-min and Choi Sung-bum, and written by Moon So-san. It aired on KBS2 from May 15th to July 24th, 2015, for a total of 12 episodes.

The plot of this Korean drama is a fantasy drama set in a world where vampires coexist with humans, but they must keep their identities a secret since they are still feared.

With a lot of heart and a double dose of sweetness, wrapped in the classic setting of the perpetual conflict between vampires and humans, the drama is packed with everything from romance and comedy, to suspense and melodrama.

Even though it’s based on a fantasy-themed Webtoon, the drama does a good job of humanizing the characters and making them sweet and emotionally accessible. Even the vampires seem so human that it’s easy to relate to them. For instance, the heroine’s parents’ constant worry over whether or not she’s doing well in school.

The story begins with Baek Ma-ri (played by AOA’s Seol Hyun), a teenage vampire who transfers to a new school and draws the attention of a popular human, Jung Jae-min (played by Yeo Jin Goo), who just happens to hate vampires.

With Han Shi-hoo (played by Lee Jong-hyun), they both want to fit in at school and be accepted for who they are, but have different ways of showing that desire. Shi-hoo’s way is via anger and rebellion, while Ma-ri’s is that of adaptation. She tries so hard to adapt to the human world and fade into the background like every other normal kid, according to funcurve.com.

Of course, their happiness is short-lived. Everything hits up when Shi-hoo has to use his vampire powers to save Jae-min’s life, thus sending the Vampire Control authorities after him. It also comes out that Ma-ri is a vampire, devastating Jae-min. As he seeks answers from Ma-ri during a terrible storm, he finds himself in need of saving again, forcing Ma-ri to use her powers.

This first arc of the story ends with Shi-hoo apparently allowing himself to be burned up by the sun, and Jae-min ends up with amnesia. Suddenly, everything changes as the story transitions from the present to the past, as our story focuses on our characters’ past lives. We now find ourselves in a sageuk.

The drama picks back up in the Joseon era, with all of our characters pretty much in their same respective circumstances, with the exception of Shi-hoo, who is human during this era. Jae-min and Shi-hoo are both noblemen and are best friends. But Ma-ri is a butcher’s daughter and is therefore regarded as extremely low class.

They’re all ancestors of the present-day cast, and the flashback to the Joseon era is intended to give us even more insight into our characters’ lives, personalities, and general situations. The only new addition to our group is an evil vampire queen known as Lady Won, according to Kdrama Kisses.

Though their social status has changed, we see the same character descriptions and personalities in the characters. Shi-hoo is still as adventurous and rebellious as ever in the past. He falls for Ma-ri because of how brave and strong she seems.

Likewise, the thing that draws Jae-min to Ma-ri is her music, and the fact that she seems special and different, just like in the present.

We get to see Jae-min and Ma-ri fall in love for the first time. It is also nice to see Jae-min and Shi-hoo’s original brotherly relationship. The stakes felt very high in the past with the clash between the classes and the plot for the bad vampires to take over.

The main plot focus here is the war between the good and bad vampires, and between the vampires and the humans at the same time. We find that Lady Won, the leader of the bad vampires may be more powerful than we think.

This knowledge should be feared, especially by Ma-ri, who Lady Won keeps trying to harm at every turn. She runs a spa that serves as a cover for her evil activities, and her actions and speech are extremely scary and chilling, according to funcurve.com.

Back into the present. We discover that Shi-hoo is not really dead, and Jae-min’s memory loss allows Ma-ri to be honest with him about who she is from the start.

We also see the vampires’ struggle to fit in as a new program to integrate the vampires fully into society unfolds. Several human students come together with the vampire students to inspire others through their music and to show that it really is possible to coexist.

It’s a good Korean drama to watch, but if you guys already read the Webtoon, please watch and proceed with caution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEPHZBp390c

Cast

When there’s a good drama, there are also good actors and actresses who are involved. Let’s get to know them if you don’t have any idea who are these brilliant actors and actresses in Orange Marmalade.

Yeo Jin-goo as Jung Jae-min

Yeo Jin-goo is a South Korean actor who was born in Seoul, South Korea on August 13th, 1997. Yeo began his career as a child actor in 2005 and is still active until the present day.

Yeo Jin-goo played the character of Jung Jae-min, the most popular boy in school. His mother married a vampire when he was in middle school, causing him to quit music. He has hated vampires ever since. He falls for Baek Ma-ri when she transfers to his school, not knowing that she is a vampire.

AOA Seolhyun as Baek Ma-ri

Kim Seol-hyun is a South Korean singer and actress who was born in Bucheon, South Korea on January 3rd, 1995. She is a member of the South Korean girl group AOA. She has an older sister named Joo-hyun, who is a fashion editor for Cosmopolitan.

Seolhyun’s role in Orange Marmalade is as Baek Ma-ri, a child who was shunned and became an outcast. Determined to graduate from high school, she transfers to a new school and hides her vampire identity. She eventually falls for Jung Jae-min, but is caught in a love triangle with her childhood friend and fellow vampire, Han Shi-hoo. She dreams of becoming a musician.

Lee Jong-hyun as Han Shi-hoo

Lee Jong-hyun is a South Korean musician, singer-songwriter, and actor. He was born in Busan, South Korea on May 15th, 1990. Lee Jong-hyun was the lead guitarist and vocalist of South Korean rock band CNBLUE.

In August 2019, Lee left CNBLUE after the backlash over sexual advances towards a YouTuber, and amidst allegations of him viewing illicit videos and having inappropriate sexual conversations degrading women in a group chat room, a part of the Burning Sun scandal.

Lee Jong-hyun played the role of Han Shi-hoo. He is a vampire and Baek Ma-ri’s childhood friend. His uncle married Jung Jae-min’s mother when he was in middle school. He has feelings for Ma-ri, and becomes involved in a love triangle with her and Jae-min.