Fern asked:

Dear All, this is a bit of an off track query after a stormy night. What significance does rain have in K-dramas and C-dramas? It always shows up and seems to be like another character. Does it always represent tears or drama or an excuse to huddle together under an umbrella, or can it have other meanings?

You’re right, Fern. Kdrama can’t be a legit drama without a rain scene. Off the top of my head, I can list 10 uses of rain in an Asian drama.

1.  For “Pathetic fallacy”

*I’m not a literature major, so don’t kill me if I get this literary device wrong.

The weather is supposed to match the mood of the characters. So if the characters are lonely and depressed, then the clouds have to weep with them. The raindrops represent the tears.

2. To highlight the first meeting

First meetings in kdramas have to be memorable.

We saw Gong Yoo meeting his bride in “Goblin” in the rain.  Ha! For the girl, this was their first meeting. She didn’t know that he’d appeared before her even before then (remember? her first crush was the baseball player and Gong Yoo ruined his game…hahaha).

The first encounter in “Temptation of Wolves” has often been parodied.

And we had the “cute-meet” in “Extra-ordinary You” between Eun DanOh and Haru. (It wasn’t really raining…but we got the message).

The central message of an accidental meeting on rainy day: the couple are fated for each other.

3. To promote the yellow umbrella

The yellow umbrella is ubiquitous in kdramas. There must be some folklore or old wives’ tale about the auspiciousness of the color yellow that I haven’t heard because yellow is the preferred color of umbrellas in kdramas.

Here it is in “Love Rain.”

In “Tomorrow, With You” the couple married on a rainy day. Yellow umbrella included.

Here’s the yellow umbrella in “She Was Pretty”:

And the yellow umbrella in “Missing You.”

I remember a scene in “He’s Psychometric” where all the umbrellas that paraded past the hero were either yellow or red. Apparently, those colors were the girl’s favorite…or something like that.

In “Splash Splash Love,” the King (played by Yoon DoJoon) reincarnated and showed up at Seulgi’s side. I interpreted the yellow umbrella as a sign that the couple’s separation was only short-lived, and they had a bright future ahead of them.

But any color of umbrella will do, if shared with pretty boy, Cha Eun Woo,

From “My ID is Gangnam Beauty”:

or offered by Lee Min Ho.

From “Legend of the Blue Sea” which is another drama written by the CLoY writer.

I wouldn’t mind a starry starry umbrella if Yoo SeungHo came with it. lol.

From “I’m Not a Robot”:

Of course, if there are no umbrellas in sight, the orange cone works just as well.

From “Pinocchio”:

4. To praise the man’s shoulder

The rain scene shows that —

a. the man has enviable broad shoulders. The two of them won’t fit under the umbrella.

From “Jugglers”:

 

b. the man is protective of the woman. He’ll shield her because he wants her to stay dry.

From “Love O2O”:

The rain scene in Love O2O had the effect of making me swoon like an adolescent fangirl.  #sorrynotsorry.

5. To push a sexist trope

The girl is a weakling. She’ll catch pneumonia when she gets rained on.

I’m melting.

6. To show the height differential

Kdrama viewers are in love with a tall guy-short girl coupling, and there’s nothing as cute as a mushroom being sheltered by a tall tree.

From “Abyss”:

But it’s okay too when the guy’s short. It’s the thought, not the height, that counts.

From “When the Camellia Blooms”:

7. To show love even when he’s angry or petulant

This poster from “Angel’s Last Mission: Love” was a total rip-off.

credit: soompi

from this one famous illustration.

From “Page Turner” — hahaha. It was actually snowing here but I like the actor here.

Then there’s “Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency.” He didn’t like her looking pathetic in the rain so he ordered he to get up.

8. To increase the viewers’ angst

Rain is used by the writer to raise the emotional stakes and to boost up empathy for the character. It’s an “acceptable” form of psychological manipulation.

You see, if the girl gets rained on because the guy wasn’t there to protect her from the rain, AND SHE DIES, then it’s all the guy’s fault.

From “Dr. Cutie.”  He ordered her to kneel the whole day, then left her out in the rain. So when she fainted, he was “mentally tortured” — or something. We’re supposed to feel her pain (tears) for his callous disregard of her health.

And what about this scene from “Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo”? I don’t know what this scene is all about but doesn’t he just look like the devil guarding a sad angel here?

And this, from “Fated to Love You (2008)” the Chinese version. I never hated rain so much in a drama. It was a baby-killer.

And so her unborn baby died.

When it comes to angst, Cdramas use rain to a more dramatic effect than Kdramas.

9. Big kiss?

Unlike Hollywood moves, the rain in kdramas and cdramas seldom builds up to a steamy make-out session. So far, rain scenes in Asian dramas haven’t been hyper-sexualized yet.

 

If ever, the skinship brought about by the rain is swoon-worthy rather than arousing. Case in point: the shower scene from “Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency.” Gifs from lavenderbyun’s tumblr.

10. Rain is spiritually cleansing, healing and refreshing.

More often than not, rain in Asian dramas is depicted as heaven’s way of blessing mortals with a moment of their own to simply breathe and enjoy being a couple.

So there you go, my 10 uses of rain in an Asian drama. Feel free to add your own. 🙂

 

**********

02/20/20 Edited to add this. Thanks @barbrey.

The Yellow Umbrella in “How I Met Your Mother.”

The Yellow Umbrella is an object originally owned by The Mother, which comes into the possession of Ted after she leaves it at a party. It is often used to represent her since she remains faceless. Its significance was first mentioned during Wait For It.
The story of the Yellow Umbrella begins in the episode No Tomorrow. It was St. Patrick’s Day and Barney and Ted went to a party, the mother was also at that party carrying the yellow umbrella with her at the entrance. After a wild night at the party, Ted got punched in the face for charging drinks to someone else’s account. After that Ted tells Marshall what happened that night, and tells him that he forgot his phone, so Ted went back to the party to look for his phone but couldn’t find it. He was just about to leave, but it was raining, so he went back in and found the yellow umbrella. He took the umbrella and left.

Later on in the episode Right Place, Right Time, Ted got a job to design a restaurant shaped like a cowboy hat. He told the guys from Rib Town that they picked the right guy and that he could do it easily, but he couldn’t do it at all and thought that it was a ridiculous design. Robin then tells him that he needs to get out of the house and get a bagel, and that he should take an umbrella with him because it was going to rain. He took the yellow umbrella with him and has it when he meets Stella on the street. The meeting would eventually result in Ted getting a teaching job at Columbia University, where the Mother sees him for the first time. In the episode Girls Versus Suits, Ted brings the yellow umbrella to Cindy’s apartment and leaves it by the door when he comes inside. When he leaves, he forgets to take it with him, and abandons it where its original owner, Cindy’s roommate and The Mother, will find it.

In Big Days, Ted is seen attending a wedding, which turns out to be Barney’s, in 2013, after which he will meet the mother. As it rains, he tells Marshall that he didn’t bring an umbrella, a reference to the mother’s yellow umbrella he obtained years beforehand.

In No Pressure, after Ted gains closure with Robin, he walks outside to everyone outside with a yellow umbrella. This symbolises his opportunities after he gets over Robin.

In Farhampton, in a flashforward, while Ted is waiting at the Farhampton train station for a train after Barney and Robin’s wedding, The Mother comes out of a taxi, holding up the yellow umbrella in the rain and stands a few feet from Ted.
In Something New, The Mother is seen carrying her bass guitar and yellow umbrella in a train station. She walks up to the counter and asks for a ticket to Farhampton where she will be playing in the band on Barney and Robin’s wedding.

In How Your Mother Met Me, almost every near chance encounter between The Mother and Ted, including every event involving the The Mother’s umbrella, are finally tied together and explained from her perspective.

In Last Forever – Part Two, it is revealed that the umbrella bears the initials T.M. on its handle. Ted notices this when he meets the mother, leading the two to recall the story of how the umbrella had been lost and regained. The exchange inadvertently causes them to introduce each other by their first and last names, since they both have the same initials.

source: https://how-i-met-your-mother.fandom.com/wiki/Yellow_Umbrella