The odd things K-Dramas taught me about Korea!

He went transparent I think in episode 16 …the lamest one was “Oh My Ghostess” , where she leaves shy and virginal goes to Europe and comes back in a year with a foot more hair and as horny as the ghost that was possessing her.

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hahaha I guess you and I, are very aware ‘‘that going overseas cr*p,’’ is getting old and ridiculous. I guess that’s why I ‘‘fell out of love’’ with Asian dramas. So many repeated scenes, fate encounter relationships (from the time they are little) although they live world apart, but both manage to end up in the same place. Two and 3 guys in love with the same girl, while second leads look like puppies begging for love and attention and they NEVER get the girl no matter how much we beg for second lead to get the girl bc very often in k dramas second lead is knock out gorgeous compared to main lead. Is a pattern that so far I haven’t seen get broken, and there’s so much of the same thing you can keep watching over and over again.

I hope more modern, younger writers/producers, Directors, take over the k drama world, and add new things that can incorporate the ‘‘values’’ of their culture, but accepting that we are in the 21st century and is time to make more modern like believable love stories. Nothing wild just something more credible. Is that too much to ask? I guess it is…:pleading_face::pleading_face::pleading_face::cry::cry:

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why can’t someone less handsome get the girl? In Go Back Couple, the heart of the main guy was so good and mature but everyone rooted for the second lead just because he was more handsome!! That’s seriously just wrong, I liked the TC that said “If you want to see the main girl get together with handsome boring guy, go watch Twilight.

Lost Romance(Taiwan): I don’t know if you’ve watched it but I love how she gets into the fiction book, falls in love with the cliche arrogant CEO, comes back to the real world, meets the real-world CEO and he’s this normal, ordinary, nice guy! This drama is like fresh air for drama veterans, I loved it.

Shopping King Louis(Korea): The cute puppy-like guy gets her instead of the arrogant boss.

I Am Not A Robot(Korea): Again, young sweet guy gets her instead of the other serious guy

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo: The main lead was the DEFINITION of puppy-like cutie and the serious other guy didn’t get her.

Strong Woman Do Bong Soon and Moonlight Drawn by Clouds had equally gorgeous main and second leads.
Sometimes I feel like the only reason some second leads have anny chance with the girl is their cuteness. The main girls are right when they tell them to wait a little longer and mature a little more. You can’t live your whole life with a puppy.

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You never get my point and maybe is bc you are so young? No Matter What, in K dramas, no matter how way perfect or handsome the second lead is for the main FL: they NEVER/EVER get the girl in the dramas (the ones I’ve seen so far) I can’t go into details in everything I write bc my point when writing to @anthonyparker80_342 was about the stories I like to see and have seen so far the second lead never stand a chance to get the girl. The argument was the story lines get repeated drama after drama. REPETITION in the story plots is my issue, not bc second lead is cuter he should get the girl.

If they only made at least Once a story where second lead gets the girl, I would feel happy that we finally get more variety in the Asian drama story. I was never emphasizing that bc he’s handsome he should get the girl, no. I made a comparison that No matter what second lead never have a chance in hell to get main lead girl.

Sometimes I feel like the only reason some second leads have anny chance with the girl is their cuteness.

I don’t agree with you on that because most second leads are also humble, caring, devoted and truly in love with the FL: they just don’t have a chance in hell for the main girl in K dramas. From your list I only saw Moonlight drawn by clouds and strong Woman Do Bong Soon but I don’t remember the second lead bc what i mainly love from that story was her human strength I never cared for their romantic love story. I was having too much fun seeing her kick a** when she was so tiny. In MDBC is obvious she ends up as a concubine to a Prince/King, rather than to have a man by her side and be his one and only queen/girl to second lead guy. I think that was the main reason I gave up on watching those way too young couple dramas bc I can’t stand not seeing variety in dramas just plain repetition of story.

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Well there are some dramas where the SL gets the girl :wink:
(Baker king Kim Tak Gu, Reply 1988 & Empress Ki, for example). I’m sure that you’ll find more elaborate examples / lists if you search for them, but these are the ones that came to mind.

I feel you on this. Some characters are just… eye candy for the most part. And it works, because when you turn on the TCs people just comment about how handsome this person is and excuse any and all bad behaviour from this person :flushed:

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The King , Eternal Monarch has a lot of the same patterns, but presents everything in such a different way you miss it, it is also unusually violent for a K-Drama as well, but well worth watching.

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Re: second lead to get the girl. There is one drama where, very annoyingly, the second lead got the girl. But if I write the title here, it will be a MAJOR spoiler, as the whole drama was about who will get her or not. And it seems that they didn’t even tell the actors how it would end, so the girl didn’t know how to act and looked equally interested in both men, just in case. Which didn’t help. Not that she was a terrific actress and could have given subtle hints even if she wanted to, so it’s maybe just as well that they kept her in the dark. But when she does give a definitive sign, around the very end, it comes totally out of the blue. And it’s heartbreaking, because she chooses the boring, expressionless guy and very bad actor.
I concluded that she chose him

  1. because he didn’t express his love first so he was a bit more mysterious to her, contrary to the first lead who made the mistake of declaring himself early on and
  2. because with him she would be able to live a calmer life, less bound by social conventions and rigid etiquette. If she liked both of them equally, this second reason is valid enough to choose the one she did.

Read on at your own risk.
Spoiler ahead.
Huge one if you haven’t watched it.

The King Loves.

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Second Lead Syndrome: Even in American Drama it is rare when a triangle exists that the second lead gets the girl. In fact , I can only remember this occurring in one movie …which was great by the way , but if failed miserably at the box office. It stars Matthew McConnahey ( I know the spelling is , wrong but you get my drift ) , Kate Beckinsale and Gary Oldman ( Second Lead) …It is called Tippytoes, the story is around the lives of little people…look it up, great movie

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Such a strange adventure, this film had. I wonder where the director’s cut could be seen.

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I’m currently watching what @irmar suggested as a second lead winner in k drama world, and I know I’m going to love it just bc it will be something different to watch, and the second lead is one of my fave young actors ( https://www.viki.com/movies/30375c-alice-boy-from-wonderland)

I read the reviews and comments with a lot of disappointed viewers as to the ending going in favor of second lead guy, and I realized humans are never satisfied, as if things always have to go their way. I mean there must be a reason why she stays with second lead and I will give my feedback when I’m done. I was tempted to jump some episodes but the drama is really interesting and i want to enjoy all of it. The fact that the subs are all done is the golden broch for me.

You know kids should pick up languages fast! I mean like I am a language sponge! But for whatever reason I was never able to fathom, my son, when he was little (4 years) refused to speak Spanish or Tagalog! We are definitely NOT an ‘english-only’ family - The extended family is multilingual! His aunts and uncles and cousins and me would speak to him in Spanish or Tagalog or English but he’d only use English. His dad is fluent in Pangasinan, Ilocano, Tagalog and English. and I speak a polyglot mix of languages and have a bad habit of switching languages mid sentence when I run out of vocabulary. lol. But it wasn’t until we went to the Philippines that he FINALLY started to speak a few words. The neighborhood kids in Quezon City gave him a hard time for being ‘stuckup’ so my son FINALLY relented and started speaking his languages. Darned kid! I was really worried about him (and mad) and didn’t know why he was so stubborn. Of course, now that he is grown, he doesn’t remember why he was so resistant.

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uh… lol um…a… I don’t think those ‘dead fish’ kisses are what does it. ahem… I think it’s the piggy back rides.

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@porkypine90_261

I have my doubts that the piggy back ride help them reproduce.That’s not the best position to reproduce bc the ‘‘poles’’ are on the wrong ends lol.
I think it was after that dead fish kiss: they got drunk, went to bed with the guy and woke up not remembering how they were naked had sex with a guy they barely know. They might as well done IVF.

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ahahahahaha :rofl: (I think you are forgetting that when the drunk girl falls off she pulls the guy over and down on her.) enough said. lol

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Awww It’s not available in the US. :frowning:

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@porkypine90_261

I just saw it (for the second time) about 2 weeks ago, and now when I went to get the link, it says ‘‘is not available in your region.’’ I don’t know what’s going on at this site lately that from one day to the other the dramas/movies are not available to watch in US.

I don’t think you would’ve like it. It was different but so weird, and so much blood involved. The reason I saw it a second time bc the first time I skipped many parts and wanted to see if I missed something important but it was confusing till the end, again. Is my understanding this was based on something that happened for real, but I have my doubts.

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nope, the real Joseon king had only one wife and then died pretty early in his life. And if we don’t go by reality, the MDBC crown prince’s character itself doesn’t allow for her to become a concubine later on.
Sorry I didn’t get your point properly :sweat: I guess all I could think when I read what you wrote was “He’s the second lead, how can a second lead get the girl? He’s the second lead! He’s THERE for angst and confusion to the viewers!” :sweat_smile:

lol imagine the how-i-met-your-mother stories :joy: “So one day your mom was very drunk and I gave her a piggyback ride home…and the rest is history”

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y’all are so funny, the piggyback rides, falling over forgetting why and wherefore etc. really funny stuff!

Merry Christmas y’all

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I wasn’t talking about the real Joseon king (I don’t know much about any era in SK history) I was talking about the drama we both watched MDBC, and the way the story unfolded since she was of lowly class according to the story in the drama, she could only become his favorite concubine. As you can see the ending was very vague.

Anyway, on my part the subject is over.

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doljanchi or short Dol ceremony
explained in “Sweet Home”, ep 8

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