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The length of kdrama series

ArniA Author

I sometimes feel like the kdrama series are too long.

Usually it's about 16 episodes and each episode is an hour long.

Now I'm watching Korean Odyssey and it's 20 episodes and each episode is 70-80 minutes.

It can get a bit tough watching for so many hours.

I've recently been watching some jdrama and it feels much lighter and easier to watch because the series are usually about 8 episodes and maybe 30-40 minutes each. So 320 minutes maybe vs 1600 minutes (korean odyssey).

What are your opinions on this?

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Czakhareina

I love a good 16 episodes Kdrama but I also enjoy a 8 episode Jdrama. in perspective I enjoyed all parts for the 54 episode Jewel in the Palace, I loved most of the 133 episode of Ugly Alert but then I also adored the 10 episodes of Kounodori. Thus all i can say is  I enjoyed both to different degrees and different mood I was in. and ultimately they have their own strengths, weakness and watching points. 

...Length isn't really an issue for me, primarily it depends on the writing and what story they want to tell. Then how the characters are fleshed out then how they are portrayed. and then what mood and quirk I am in...

With Korean Odyssey, It needs more length since they need to convey the mythology of the story. They told the background mythology in different perspective and they also conveyed the depths of emotion and life-and-death circumstances of the lay of the land aka narrative. Plus they also push attention to the side characters. Though personally I did get bored with this drama, mainly because I just Didnt like how the FL character was portrayed. I finished it and I loved Zombie girl.

...and the Same canbe said for Cdramas, in regards to length and narrative. They usually convey such a fantastical mythology or Epic Historical machinations in their dramas. Going in depth with the how and whys of the drama world and characters they are building. The powers that is the backdrop to the how the characters accumulated cultivation or their reincarnation set up and evene the character strategizing. These cant be conveyed in 10 episodes...

As for jdramas, they have always been that slice of life drama story telling mode. I think most Jdramas tend to be set up that way. It;s all breezy, easy watch and much lighter to dive in as an audience. It  tells the story simply and in your face. It one of the reasons I usually dive into Jdrama after much darkness and length of the harrowing harem stories.... 


Speaking of drama length and duration of episodes. I actually got shocked when I first startedTurkish  and Thai dramas, they ran for almost 2 hours. Though Turkish have higher episode count that it feels so daunting...
 .... but somehow the good ones, or the great dramas, are so much fun to watch despite the length and the many hours needed to spend on them. But Definitely depends on each one, If you are strapped for time, then you need to stir clear from Turkish and Thai dramas, and also theWuxia/Xianxia/historical  Chinese dramas. they run loooong most of the time

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Sunset

it all depends on the show, if it's addicting enough I won't feel the length. I got hooked to some 100 ep daily dramas since I like watching makjangs. meanwhile feeling bored watching 10-16 ep slice of life dramas... but those 1hr 50min lakorns feel too long and draggy for me. I enjoyed A Korean Odyssey more than HDL, it was more memorable for me overall and it's my favourite ghost kdrama next to Bring it on Ghost. 

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kardasx

I feel that most kdramas are too long. A length doesn't matter much if there is good story to be shown, but many kdramas are draggy with many unnecessary scenes, flashbacks or with some stupid side stories (business issues in rom com). kdrama that could be shorter: Rebel; longer: I am not a robot, A Piece of your Mind.

jdramas are shorter (8-12 episodes) and usually easier to watch for me. Thanks to the shorter format, thay are usually not so draggy as kdramas.

cdramas are the longest of the three.

But all is nothing in comparison with some animes (One Piece 970+ episodes, Naruto 500, FairyTail 328, Bleach 366...) or non asian series (e.g. dallas 357).

After all I wrote now... I feel that kdramas are quite short. :)

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ArniA Author

Haha, maybe not fair to call long.... I just maybe carried away because I got bored with a specific kdrama series.

I came from watching western/american series, which run for years, many seasons, 4-8 seasons. THAT'S LONG!

Actually what I found attractive about kdrama series is that they were SHORT! Only 1 season, 16 episodes, and it's DONE. No cliffhangers for next season, only to be canceled. It's a whole story, really like a mini-series I'd say, it has a beginning and an conclusive end.

But since I got so used to watching kdrama (nearly 130 series now) I've begun to think of them in terms of long, short, engaging, boring etc. And yes  many series are difficult to finish... they're good but so difficult to get through.

Mr. Sunshine, Korean Odyssey, those kinda series I found particularly hard to get through. Great series I gave top notch rating, but took me 2-3 months to get through.

I'm not a robot, went down like a milkshake.  Flower of evil was not like a milkshake, but it was just so ENGAGING that time just flew by and I finished in a weekend.


Now that I've watched some more jdrama, I do also find some series that are only 8 episodes and 45 minutes can be long because they're not engaging enough.

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kraci

I have a ton of dramas that I drop around episode 8 on my list. The trend of late has been promising to me, because for the first time I've actually been able to complete quite a few shows. In the past, the writing was so directionless that once the main couple was together it no longer felt like anything was on the line. Not worth my time to watch 8 episodes of fluff.

IMO, most 16-episode shows could be reduced to 12 episodes. Not all, but most. Example: WWWSK had no purpose beyond the midpoint. It was just pure filler, misunderstandings, and fluff. Yawn!

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ArniA Author
 kraci:

I have a ton of dramas that I drop around episode 8 on my list. The trend of late has been promising to me, because for the first time I've actually been able to complete quite a few shows. In the past, the writing was so directionless that once the main couple was together it no longer felt like anything was on the line. Not worth my time to watch 8 episodes of fluff.

IMO, most 16-episode shows could be reduced to 12 episodes. Not all, but most. Example: WWWSK had no purpose beyond the midpoint. It was just pure filler, misunderstandings, and fluff. Yawn!

I've put myself on a "starting-a-new-series" ban. I've promised myself I'm now gonna finish everything that I already am watching, and finish series that I've stopped watching midway thru. Some I may have to restart. I don't like to drop series really. But I suffer from a bad temptation to start new series even though still watching another. Sometimes I watch 3-4 new series in between a series I'm already watching.

I think for past 2 weeks this has been worst for me, probably had nearly 10 series that I'm concurrently watching. But I haven't started anything new and I've wrapped up a lot. This weekend I'll only be down to 2 series that are still airing, so I only watch the newly released episodes then.

So I need to stay focused on only 1 series at a time, and not start something new. I often drop series for a while because of no reason really. I stopped watching Descendants of the Sun with only 3 episodes left, and I returned to it after like 4 months.  Wish I had continued to binge watching it in one go.

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kardasx

I usually watch more series and switch between them according to my mood. Mostly shows from my favourite actresses in my top 10 and also some other popular dramas to find new favourites. Some dramas are harder to watch and it takes me longer time to finish them (The Tale of Nokdu, School 2015, House of Bluebird...) and some are so good that I can't watch anything else until I complete them (I am not a robot, You Who Came From the Stars).  

Problem with many kdramas I saw is, that they consist of more different parts. 1st part is usually funny then comes some harder to watch drama and then fluffy ending. Bad is if that drama part is the longest and that fluffy part is only for last few minutes., then it takes me long time to finish (or I drop it).

The best dramas for me are those more focused on comedy and sweet fluffy moments than drama; no love triangles, no villains, no break ups (or at least not annoying) - those are then easy to finish in few days.

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