Orange Marmalade Episode 1 - You take my breath away: and not just because you are nibbling on my neck.

Kmuse here, back to recapping with a vengeance.  Not only will I be doing a co-cap with Dongsaeng on "Producer", but will also be bringing you my weekly thoughts and observations with this wonderful teen angst vampire drama "Orange Marmalade".  And there is a good chance that I will be adding recaps for "Mask" to the pile as well.  What?  Am I supposed to just ignore great drama and my need to share it, simply because I need to occasionally sleep?  Let's just say that if I suddenly start typing in all single syllable words, you will know that I have been taken down by over blogging.  Although the phrase "He is hawt" really can describe so much.
For those of you just discovering our awesome blog, I am Kmuse, one of the two main bloggers in The Crazy Ahjummas.  I am a mother of three and an avid kdrama watcher, in that I love to watch literally everything.  There are very few currently airing dramas that I am not watching so if you have any questions about them (or really any drama since I have seen an insane amount) feel free to ask me in the comments.  Or better yet come like our facebook page and ask me there. https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-crazy-ahjummas/336988683021748?fref=ts For those of you who have not read my past recaps, I am one of those bloggers that really likes to just discuss my opinions on certain scenes or concepts of the drama.  We don't go step by step through the whole thing.  So if you are looking for a more complete recap you might have to look elsewhere (and then come back and read ours of course).

So now that the introduction has been crossed off my to do list, let's jump into episode one and everything "Orange Marmalade" (I don't recall reading why the show/webtoon is called Orange Marmalade, so if anyone knows, please share.  Just one of those random things that rattles around one's brain. Inquiring minds want to know.)

First off we need to set up some basic facts about this new world that we find ourselves in.  It is a world where vampires are not only a reality, but live among humans.  Doing humany things and living their lives in secret.  It seems that there was a war back during the Joseon era between the humans and the vampires.  The emperor called for peace and wrote up a treaty as they decided to coexist.  The vampires would give up drinking human blood and humans would stop hunting them to extinction.  Seems fair enough, but hundreds of years later, vampires are treated with an extreme stigma and are shunned by the human population. 

Enter our heroine Baek Ma Ri (Kim Seol Hyun) who is, you guessed it, a vampire.  

No, not scary blood thirsty 80's style vampires, but a nice sweet teenage vampire with acceptance issues.  All she wants to do is get through the last two years of her high school experience without being run out of town.  

OK, maybe she does appreciate a good khottie as well (counting Yeo Jin Goo as a khottie even though he is really young, maybe a khottie in training? Baby Khottie?).  Attracted to the sweet smell of her future love's blood, Ma Ri almost munches on our leading man Jung Jae Min on the train to school.  But luckily is able to snap herself out of her blood induced daze when the train halts.  Not the best way to stay under the radar. 

But Ma Ri has her catholic cross necklace around her neck to prove her lack of vampirism. We also witness her adeptness at consuming human food full of garlic (before throwing it up in the bathroom right after).  The things a poor vampire has to do, all in an effort to fit in.

Maybe Ma Ri's attempts to stay under the radar would have been a success...... except for the fact that her quirky behavior and beauty has gobsmacked the most popular boy with the love bug.  Like a moth to the flame, or a vampire to a blood juice box, Jae Min's world begins to revolve around Ma Ri.  As shown in the following photos where I swear the boy stops breathing while he stalks stares at his crush.

But if teenage love was not hard enough, there is a whole added complication when you are anti vampire and your love is a vampire.  How do we know he is anti-vamp you might ask?  Mostly because Yeo Jin-goo is a kick ass actor and can imply with just a hard look.  And there is also his slightly sarcastic comment - "Coexist? Aren't human rights something only humans should have?" voiced during vampire history class. And if there is still any doubt at all... we see him artistically walking through a dim library and he states "they should have just killed them all" to himself while reading a vampire historical text.  

Somehow I don't think that we are going to see Jae Min at a vamp pride parade anytime soon.  And he is not alone, we see that the pervy vampire that was arrested in the first subway scene, will be sent to the equivalent of jail for a "staking".  The newscast then goes on to say that they don't know what a "staking" is specifically, but it is said to be the worst punishment the government has for a vampire. Hmmm I wonder what that could mean?

Switching gears, let's talk about the huge elephant in the room.  Namely the casting of Jae Rim's mother (Lee Il Hwa) and stepfather (also his teacher).  Just at a glance there is nothing wrong with the pairing.  Nice, clean cut, and not your usual kdrama psycho parents.  However I noticed one small thing that makes me scream "ICK". The actors who play the parents just happen to be from my all time favorite kdrama "Answer me 1997".  Not as a couple, but as the shows mother and the boy who wanted to marry both of her daughters.  I know logically that it should not affect my viewing since it is just characters the actors portray...... but again I exclaim "ewwwwwwwww".

And now we get to jump and discuss my favorite scene of the drama, which also happens to be one of my favorite parts of the webtoon (If you have not read it yet, you should. Enjoyable from start to finish). The neck nibble can now be added to the list of kdrama kissing styles.  Jae Min continues to be in stalker mode and when he sees a seat open next to Ma Ri on the train he quickly jumps into the seat.  Ma Ri is dozing and begins to dream about blossoms and something that smells sweet.  Just so happens that the sweet smelling thing is Jae Min.  She leans close (still asleep) and starts nibbling on his neck.  

And on the off chance it was not a thing for Jae Min before, I think we can add neck fetishes to his list of things he likes.  Oblivious to the other people on the train he just enjoys the ride (and kisses) until Ma Ri is bumped by another passenger.  Groggy and unable to see Jae Min clearly, she jumps off the train.

And we can now pinpoint when interest turned to obsession for poor hormonal Jae Min.  The boy is officially a goner.

Confronting her the next day, poor Jae Min is devastated to learn Ma Ri does not even know who he is.  Not his name, nor the fact that they are classmates.  Poor baby is batting a zero in the recognition game.  And when Jae Min demands an apology, Ma Ri is completely confused, not realizing he was the guy she had been munching on.  

Adding insult to injury, Ma Ri covers her nose when he tries to come closer and yells that Jae Min smells and to stay back.  Bwahahaha, I love that he truly does not know how to handle this situation.

Jae Min does what any other teenage boy would do when confronted with this situation.... he promptly goes home and has an intense shower session where he alternately shampoos and broods. Jae Min glances in the mirror (why are there always mirrors in Korean shower scenes) asking himself "how can she not remember this face?"

Nibblegate is not Jae Min's only problem, he also has parental angst galore.  We find out that Jae Rim's stepfather is indeed his history teacher and things are uber tense between them.  To the point that Jae Min lives alone rather than with his mother/stepfather for unknown reasons.  Teacher meets Jae Min for coffee and to give him a guitar for his birthday (from his mother) which he accepts with the intent to chuck it in the garbage.  Jae Rim is stomping out in a huff, only to stop in his tracks as he sees Mi Ra performing in the coffee shop.  

A few quick notes at this point.  One: Ma Ri (Seol Hyun) is a very talented singer and I am enjoying her performance.  Thank goodness, since after shows like "My Lovely Girl" where I had to suffer through Krystal's performances and her attempt to be a "genius songwriter", I was gun shy when it came to idol singer/dramas.

Two: I loved how Jae Min seemed to stop breathing when he watches Ma Ri sing.  Talk about an intense stare session.  Love love love this boys intensity.  When he feels something, it comes across with every ounce of his being, whether it is one sided obsession love or hatred towards vampires/parents.  

Excited to see what happens next episode.  Will there be more nibbling? (Spoiler:THERE IS!!!) Will we get to see who this sexy khottie that we glimpsed in the crowd is? (Spoiler: WE WILL!).  In other words, check back in a couple days to see my episode 2 recap.  There will be tons of fun and random jail bait khottie rants going on.

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