'XO, Kitty' Blends K-Drama Tropes With American Teen Soap Campiness
HuffPost
The second season of the Netflix series proves how the show is different from other young adult shows.
“After so much K-drama, things could not be more perfect,” Kitty says toward the end of “XO, Kitty” Season 1 before things, of course, implode again in her love life, friendships and high school classes. After all, it’s this never-ending drama that acts as the universal thread, binding Korean dramas and American teen soaps together.
“XO, Kitty” is a Netflix spinoff based on the characters that Jenny Han created in her trilogy “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before,” also adapted into three Netflix movies. The show is about Lara Jean’s youngest sister, Kitty Song-Covey (Anna Cathcart). Unlike those books, which bring K-drama tropes to America, “XO, Kitty” follows the youngest Song sister to Korea where she attends KISS, the Korean International School of Seoul.
Just based on the boarding school’s name, it’s obvious that “XO, Kitty” will follow in the footsteps of “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” to tell a story of first loves and growing up with the trademark sincerity that Han has become known for in both “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” and “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” However, unlike its predecessors, “XO, Kitty” incorporates more elements of Korean TV.
It’s this blending of K-drama tropes and American teen soap campiness that makes “XO, Kitty” different from other young adult shows. This completely unserious but fresh fusion of genres is also what makes it fun to watch, as does the never-ending drama.
That’s why, from the opening minutes of Season 2, it’s clear that Kitty doth protest too much when she insists that this new semester will be different. Season 1 ended with her being kicked out of KISS for living in the boys’ dorm, breaking up with her first love Dae (Minyeong Choi), discovering that she’s bisexual when she falls for her friend Yuri (Gia Kim), learning that her mom helped Yuri’s mom when she was pregnant in high school, and discovering that Dae’s best friend Min Ho (Sang Heon Lee) is in love with her.
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