The casting and time slot for upcoming KBS high school vampire drama Orange Marmalade feels like an optimistic win-win. Growing up nicely child actor Yeo Jin Gu gets his first drama leading man role that is age appropriate rather than shoving him into adult scenarios while the Friday night low key time slot isn’t too much pressure on him to deliver the ratings. Sure it feels like he’s babysitting his other leads Seolhyun from AOA and CNBLUE‘s Lee Jong Hyun but Kim Sae Ron already did that in Hi! School: Love On with Woohyun and Sungyeol of Infinite and made it work until writing in that drama went into the crapper. Yeo Jin Gu will have more help now that Song Jong Ho has joined the drama to play the teacher character to all these students.
Orange Marmalade is adapted from the same name popular webtoon set in a world where minority oppressed vampires live openly among humans who look down upon them. The vampires have shaved down their fangs to stubs and drink animals blood to survive, no longer posing a danger to the humans. With the vampires no longer a threat, humans have grown to ostracize them in society openly and subtly. Seolhyun plays a high school girl who hides her vampire identity and aspires to become a singer. She falls for the cute human boy in school played by Yeo Jin Gu. Song Jong Ho is a kind and caring vampire teacher at the high school and helps bring the two kids together while Lee Jong Hyun is a cold vampire friend who likes Seolhyun and doesn’t want to see her hurt by a human boy.
I like the unique setting of this story, turning the typical dangerous vampires live among us concept around to a placid world where being a vampire is akin to belonging to an alienated minority. It works even better not to have vampire bites danger looming when the central story is set in high school so the issues are over friendships and schooling and dreams rather and life and death struggles.
Awww that story is actually touching and sad. :’) Poor vamps just want to live with humans and get hugs!
I will volunteer to hug vamp SJH early and often. I am unselfish like that.
LOL
Such selflessness must have its own rewards…. XD
Is SJH gonna be the aunt in the webtoon. The one who opens the bar that the girl sings frequently. Or an additional character?
I think so too because they don’t have prominent adult male character in that drama apart the lovingly heroin dad or our lead mom that also the school teacher in webtoon.
Korea and their obsession to vampire and dual personality XD
Hahaha…for the time being! 2016 will probably have another script “obsession” (or corporate espionage, maybe??) as usual!
as much as I like Yeo Jin Goo, i will give this drama a miss. I am already overdosed with vampire.
why do you not posting seolhyun cut ms koala? she wears a uniform, looks so pale and with that long straight hair, i think she fits the role.
and jonghyun photo, LOL. he looks like older (and handsome) brother for seolhyun and YJG :))
Yeo Jin Goo, what are you doing in that idol camp?
When is this drama airing.I love vampire series(vampire diaries,The Originals)although,I dodged Blood.plus,I love YJG.plus,I’m starting to warm up to seolhyun.
Erm…. having actually finished reading the webtoon, I don’t see how YJG fits the role of the human boy or the Seolhyun as the heroine (who is supposed to be cold as she keeps a distance from others). I think they just don’t really fit the image I had in my mind for these characters. However, LJH actually looks like the vampire boy in terms of look, ha! Anyways, I’ll keep an open mind about this adaptation.
It seems like they’re targeting the teens segment with this cast. With much experience under YJG’s belt, I’m actually disappointed to see that his co-star are not more on par to him in terms of experience.
I heard that another popular webtoon, Cheese in the trap is being remake into a drama too. I’m particularly wary about this remake as I’m worried they won’t be able to deliver the essence of the story. The plot sounds ordinary but the characters are very complex and realistic so they really need to pay attention to details.. Sigh.. I guess I’m more sensitive when they’re remaking a webtoon I like.