Top 5 Annoying Things in Korean Dramas

by riri, July 24, 2020

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Editor's Note: This article is best viewed in light mode.

Almost every Korean drama has one of these moments and scenes, some of the tropes are really overused and NEED to stay in the past because I’m literally SO done with them. They can be such a fun experience for sure, make you smile and laugh if they are done in a refreshing way. They can also be a little cheesy at times, which is totally okay, but when they’re really overdone – it just makes me cringe and mad.

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Love triangles, love squares and basically unnecessary love complications

Don’t get me wrong – I love some drama but if you’re going to make the second lead better and all cute, caring, sexy and overall the best man in the world than the first lead – then it’s a big NO! Often second leads are the characters who suffer the most, and that’s heartbreaking, but sometimes the writers just don’t stop with the unrequited love and add some spice to it like – problematic childhood, abusive parents, etc. I really hate when there’s no character development or the only development is suffering, and they never get their happy ending.

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Forced main couple or no-chemistry main couple

Sometimes couples don’t work at all, and I don’t know if it’s the writer’s fault or the actors’, but I hate when I’m being forced to like a couple with zero chemistry.
Uee & Sung Joon in High Society are the perfect example. It was so hard to watch this drama because of this messy and boring couple. Their chemistry wasn’t believable at all, and that’s why the second couple stole the show.

Another one is the main couple in Doctors - Park Shin Hye and Kim Rae Won. I didn’t like their dynamics, and it’s not because of the age gap - I actually don’t mind them, but I couldn’t feel anything watching this couple.

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The aggressive wrist grab

Words can’t describe how much I hate those aggressive, slow-motion wrist grab scenes, shot in 360º.

These scenes are a pathetic attempt to show how strong the main lead is - he grabs the female lead by the wrist and turns her back towards him (80% of the times aggressively). She’s clueless and has that “Drag me like one of your potato bags!” face.

This is how I wish the female lead would react.

But it can get worse – a dramatic double wrist grab.

First male lead vs Second male lead

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Speaking in English when there’s no need and it makes the scenes really awkward

If you’ve watched Moorim School, you’ll know what I’m talking about. I really don’t mind when actors are speaking other languages, but when it’s obviously unnecessary and makes every scene awkward – I want to punch my screen.
Moorim School is a drama with an international cast, which is really cool, but imagine this scene – a character is talking in Korean, then suddenly changes to English, the other character nods and answers in Korean. Or the character carries the whole conversation in English, and the other is answering in Korean. Agh, it makes me mad even thinking about those scenes, I almost dropped this drama. If you want to see what I’m talking about, click here and here to watch a cut scene and feel my pain.

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Aggressive product placement

Product placement is the inclusion of a branded product in media, usually without explicit reference to the product.

This is what product placement used to be, but not anymore, and it’s so annoying, I just roll my eyes and take a deep breath. Dramas nowadays have a really aggressive product placement, which often ruins the atmosphere and the whole vibe of the scene. I actually didn’t mind it before but every year gets more and more ridiculous.

Excuse my poor photoshop skills, but you get the point.