Orange Marmalade: A First Look

If you read here, it’s no surprise to you that I’ve been waiting eagerly for Orange Marmalade to premier. Like edge-of-my-seat, pins and needles sort of excited. Which of course it means it took almost a whole week for me to watch the premier episode.

Give me a break! For someone who doesn’t simulcast this is still a fairly amazing feat.

So now that I have the first episode under my belt, here are my thoughts.

As expected, Yeo Jin Goo is pretty freaking amazing. He is the yardstick to which all other young actors should be held to. Although, giving him a shower scene in the first episode? Made me feel dirty. STOP TRYING TO MAKE ME LIKE HIM THAT WAY KDRAMA. I refuse to submit to you.

I love the lighting, how bright it is, and, to use an apt but overused term, everything is bathed in light. It almost has an ethereal glow. It really adds an interesting level to the fact that this is a story about a bunch of vampires.

Also going with the comedic tone—does anyone else think that the dad was cast perfectly? As soon as he hit the screen, before he was established as ‘dad,’ I just knew, and I said to Cherry Cordial, “he is perfect.” The hapless ne’er-do well who, while loving, will end up being more of a hindrance to his daughter than a help. He made me laugh and cringe at the same time. It’s all part of the drama’s attempts to make the vampire lifestyle as normal as possible.

Speaking of, I really enjoyed the guy (is he a one off character or will we see him again?) speaking to the reporter paired with the students, talking about the prejudices towards vampires. When he talked about all that vampires gave up in order to live in the human world without any give on the other side? It was a really interesting parallel. I can totally see the logic in this, and if tomorrow vampires came out for real, we would treat them like that. It makes me think the story is going to be about more than this love story.

I know I only read the webtoon up until chapter 10, but I already see a big difference. My biggest disappointment in the drama? The fact that the super cool aunt has apparently been written out. Her interactions with people have been given to the teacher/stepfather and the heroine’s mom. First off, wah!! The aunt was so cool I was really looking forward to seeing her on screen. She was the one character who understood what the girl was going through, really the one person who she could lean on when times got bad. I wonder if they left her out on purpose? That, by writing out the girl’s one confidant, it made her more isolated and thereby needing of the hero’s attention?

Also, is it me or does this drama seem to be a lot more focused on the hero than the webtoon was? Don’t get me wrong, I can understand why they did it, you cast Yeo Jin Goo, and you want to make him your focal point, but with all the attention they’ve given him, they seem to have left out some of his personality quirks, like how he doesn’t like to be touched. Or doesn’t like girls? Or doesn’t like girls touching him? (To be honest it’s been a while since I first read it.) He just seemed a lot more pricklier in the story. While he was intrigued by her in the story, in the drama he seems to have been bitten by the insta-love bug even before the scene where she well, you know… bites him.

All in all, I really liked the drama and am still interested in seeing where they are going to take it. Although, looking at the set up, there are a lot of plot points which you can totally predict ahead of time. I’d list them here but, I’d hate to put theories down on paper for people to either steal them or for me to be horribly wrong for all to see.

Which of you watched the first episode? Or the second? And which of you are going to keep going? Is there anyone out there who saw the first episode and was all like ‘Awww hellz no!’