Some time has passed, I think I can add to my list of NOT recommended dramas.
Handsome guy and Jeung Eum (a.k.a. The Undateables) is a strong contender for the worst drama. One cliché after another, love story unbelievable and incredibly lukewarm, heroine you wanted to slap … bleah!
Twelve Nights (2018) The story of two frustrating, stupid masochists who kept torturing themselves for absolutely no reason and then wanted us to sympathize for their self-inflicted heartbreak. Strong contender for worst drama.
Panda and Hedgehog Already mentioned by several people here. A waste of time. Starting from the super-makjang plot, full of coincidences, fated encounters and over-the-top situations. And badly served by mediocre actors.
Manhole (2017) The plot was more infuriating than interesting: It had no heart, no soul. Just mechanical comedy and stupidity. Good-looking male lead Kim Jae-Joong was over-the-top, he played for belly laughs. As for the Uee she looked so sick and undernourished and ugly, not to mention unlikeable as a character, that you couldn’t really root for the two of them.
Cinderella and Four Knights (2016) The less we say about it, the better. Still beating myself up for watching it until the end.
Meloholic (2017) The writing was all over the place and especially towards the end, in the last two episodes, I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears.
The Starry Night, The Starry Sea Chinese drama about a merman (the subbers kept calling him mermaid, lol!) The plot made no sense, the dialogues were trite and the acting so bad you cringed every time they opened their mouth. And a crappy finale to boot.
Miracle (2022) A story about becoming an idol. Very mediocre and the actors very meh.
The Liar and his lover (2017) Interesting that we get to see the behind the scenes of idol factories. But it was poorly executed, both in writing and in acting. No chemistry between the two leads and not much acting either from either of them. I think that the so-called “bicycle kiss” is a strong contender for one of the worst kisses in k-drama. It even rivals the finale of Heartstrings in my opinion.
Bride of the Water God (2017) The story dragged on and on, more or less nothing happened, there was no poetry, no real romance and the plot was confusing, not well explained. The amount of frustration and dissatisfaction was directly proportional to the amount of eager anticipation one had before the drama started.
Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency (2019) Mediocre acting, the plot was forced, many things dragged and over the top unrealistic, the comedy often uncomfortable and the bright pink lipstick on men really distracting. Not the worst, but if I knew, I would have skipped watching this one, it didn’t add anything to my life and it was often boring and badly written.
Moment of Eighteen (2019). Again, there are far worse, but it was nevertheless disappointing. Everything in this drama we had already seen in countless other, and most of the time much better ones. The acting was lacking too, and it was never believable that these two loved each other.
More than Friends (2020)
Even while reading the synopsis I cannot even remember which was it is and why I had it on my list of disliked ones. That’s how un-memorable it was!
Navillera (2021) About an old man who wants to fulfill his lifetime dream to perform in ballet. The actor couldn’t even fake a few simple steps, he just moved his hands randomly. And the drama was generally super-cheesy and super-lame.
Revenge Note (1) (2017) and Revenge Note 2. Bah. Conventional, with mediocre acting and no inspiration.
My ID is Gangnam Beauty. Interesting initial idea, poor execution, and even worse acting. No chemistry between the leads either. Looking at Cha Eun Woo’s beautiful face wasn’t enough, after a few episodes it got old too.
Melting Me Softly (2019) Weird plot, no chemistry between the leads, disappointing plot development. Pity for LCW
Level Up (2019). Oh yeah! That was much worse than Melting Me Softly AND The Undateables. I think if I had to vote, it would take the medal.
Secret Romance. Same “actor”.
Abyss was pretty badly written - too bad, poor actors. Sometimes we didn’t know whether we should be angry or laugh.
Eccentric Chef Moon (2020) A soporific, cliché-ridden plot out of the 1990s, cardboard characters… alas, 16 wasted hours.
Dramas I had to drop after a couple of episodes episodes:
Clean with Passion for Now Embarrassingly clumsy heroine and cliché situations we’ve seen dozens of times.
Welcome to Waikiki n.2 (cringe-worthy slapstick of the kind where the actors roll their eyes, stuff their mouth and then spit the contents… UGH!)
I Found a Celebrity On the Street. Just watched one and a half episode, it was so bad!
Lie to Me (2011) Very old-fashioned romantic comedy, all the k-drama clichés rolled into one.
Rich Man Poor Woman: (I think I saw one episode and then I stopped. Conventional, sappy, cliché, old-fashioned, meh overacting.
Abyss (2019): The idea was interesting but the writer messed up BIG TIME. I can’t even begin enumerating the loopholes and absurdities we had to endure during the series, while the main leads behaved like bumbling idiots. Plus the frustration of the fact that nobody ever explained to us how and why things happened, the Abyss rules and of course the ending
At a distance, Spring is Green (2021): This is a thinly disguised BL to which they added a female love interest to attract more viewers. With the result that we have here a hybrid thing which is neither here nor there. The supposed female lead was let down in a big way. Maybe because her role wasn’t at all important in the original webtoon (so we’re told by people who have read it), and the screenwriter didn’t have enough ideas to give her a real role in the drama plot.
So I married the anti-fan (2021): Badly written, super-cliché drama. The female character is written as a bumbling idiot, the second female character as a whiny, self-pitying loser who on one hand sells her soul for fame and money and on the other always blames others for her woes and expect others to clean up for her. I don’t know why writers have to portray women like that, it’s not funny, and it’s old. Even for Korea, that’s enough already! As for Choi Tae Joon … let’s be civil and not comment about his acting skills at all. He has a charming smile, for sure, but that’s about it.
The Package (2017): That drama was lackluster. A story which would have been okay for a 2-hour film was dragged for 12 episodes, by filling it up with full guided tours. It looked more like a promotional documentary about France, something that the Department of Tourism would sponsor. The characters’ stories were like an afterthought.
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the Japanese version! But the Koreans failed to adapt this beautiful drama.
let’s read it