What do you look for in a drama?

I know it’s different for everyone, and the same for some… but I felt I had to list out what I looked for in a drama.

People watch dramas just for specific actors: I admit that if it’s got: Hyun Bin, Yoon Eun Hye, Park Yoo Chun, Geun Juk Suk and Kim Sun Ah in it, I’m most likely to want to watch it.

But even if I am watching it FOR these actors, I always ALWAYS have to connect with the story and the acting. It doesn’t help if Kim Sun Ah is doing her best, but her co-actors are just mediocre or it’s a terrible story line.
I’ve been super excited to watch a drama and then because of a lack of something or other… it just failed me and didn’t live up to expectation.

The following below is what I look for in a drama, to deem it good or bad. (By the way, I'm no expert, just very opinionated :P)

1. Chemistry

It doesn’t matter how great the storyline is, how wonderful the actors look, what beautiful locations there are, or how the cinematography is like- without chemistry between the actors, the entire drama falls flat. Chemistry between the actors makes the relationships (be it friendship, enemyship, loveship, familyship and all the other ships available.).

2. Relating to the character and character development

This actually falls under chemistry, but it’s the chemistry between me and the actor. If she’s crying, I want to cry too (not slap her); if he’s angry, I want to be angry for him as well. If he’s the bad guy plotting against my favourite male lead, I am upset but say, “Yes, yes, although I hate him, I can understand him.”

Now, regarding character development… I like to see the characters develop but still remain with certain traits- if she was stubborn as a mule, then she should remain stubborn as a mule, unless something drastic has happened.
I’ve often had issues watching dramas where the characters are full of spunk and fire, then for no reason, they become weak and insecure.. I don’t mind them having inner-conflict, but there has to be a valid reason for it.

3. Pacing of the story

I can watch a wonderful drama, with a lot of stuff happening, and great plots and subplots… but if it feels like I'm on the slowest train to nowhere with the most boring lecturer I’ve ever had… then what’s the point???
Having things happen too fast also makes my shake my head and go, “Huh? What happened? Did they cut out a scene somewhere?”

4. Storyline and plot

This is one of the things that drives me up the wall, because, before someone begins filming, they should have this sorted, right? Lame example: If they are going throughout their drama and saying: “Hey, I’m going to make sure that he goes to France.” And everything, EVERYTHING alludes that he’s going to France, and most people that he crosses paths with say, “Okay, we support you to go to France.” And then he doesn’t go??? That’s a fail.
It’s also a fail where they bring the reason for his not going to France only in the last episode, and expect us, the audience to understand.

A classic example of this failure is in Princess’ man... If you know what I'm talking about raise your hand!


5. Dialogue

Last but not least, my friends… Look out for dialogue… I think I’ve rarely found bad dialogue in Korean/Japanese/Chinese/Taiwanese dramas (THE US movies have crap dialogue). I think Goong might be one of them with not so great dialogue… but I fastforwarded through those bits so I can’t really remember.

I know I’ve written a lot here, so please feel free to take your time, haha. But please, let me know:

What do you look for in a drama? How do you rate your dramas? Is it just for the actors?

I'd say my criteria is a lot similar to @DammitJanet.

Chemistry- I also look for Chemistry between main leads. A great example would be Rooftop Prince & Scent of a Woman. Everything was great about the drama, the pacing, the actors, and the story, the only thing lacking is chemistry, and that was enough for me to give it a low rating. I ended up wanting to just fast forward all the parts relating to the two leads being together. I think the reason why Full House is one of my all time favorite drama is because the leads had such GREAT chemistry.

Acting- I guess this could fall under @DammitJanet category of "relating to the character". I mean, you gotta have good acting skills for me to be able to relate. You gotta convince me to feel sad/mad/happy. I love Jaejoong with all my heart but I have to admit, his acting sucked in Protect the Boss. The only thing holding the show together was Ji Sung's superb acting skills. Right now I'm watching Gu's Family book and Suzy's acting pisses me off. asdfghjkl. I admit, she is better compared to her role in Dream High, but she still has a long way to go. Her "In love" expressions are so....expressionless. Honestly, her acting is so bad that I sometimes question if she's actually in love with the guy even if the drama is making it quite obvious that she is. This is such an amazing drama and I hope her acting will not ruin it for me.

Ending- The ending better be a pretty damn good one if I'm going to spend 15+ hours watching it. And I don't mean like a twist ending or whatever, I mean like an ending that gives me that "satisfied feeling". An ending like City Hunter was fine, I can see the writers purposely left it like that so the viewers can determine on their own if he died or not. But I hate endings that leave so many questions unanswered or endings that seemed rushed.

Storyline Okay i'm not picky about storylines, I'll watch anything. Some of the best dramas comes from the simplest storylines. What I mean by storyline is if it has a solid storyline with no holes. Now I know dramas cant be perfect but I swear it can get a little too much sometimes....... Like in Protect the Boss and Time Slip Dr.Jin. So many things happened that made NO sense at all. Why didnt the guy in rooftop prince report to the police from the very beginning??? And dont even get me started with Time Slip Dr.Jin...but i dont want to spoil it so nvm. Oh and I felt like Cheongdongdam Alice didn't really think the plot through. it couldve been a great drama but it just went down hill.

MUSIC- I've realized that my all time favorite dramas had AMAZING music. I think music is what makes the drama. Imagine it. Something totally intense is happening right now, the characters are staring at each other quietly and BAM the theme song just bursts out and blends so perfectly well with the scene. Watch Hana Yori Dango and Full House to know what I mean. Usually there are never bad songs in a drama- they just never stand out. Its like a background song...nothing more. But I'm talking about those music that gives you da chills.

Pacing- Well duh who wants to be bored while watching?