larami

There's nothing wrong with liking "shallow" romance dramas anyway. Instead of just talking about the merits of action dramas, they chose to generalize all romances as shallow and the people who watch them as surface level.

I'm sorry that I don't regularly watch murder mysteries and cop thrillers. It doesn't make me any less smart than those who do. Some people just like to escape from reality.

It tells a lot about a person and their refusal to face their emotions when they label all dramas talking about love and feelings as girly and shallow. Do they feel like their masculinity is being threatened or do they want to be "not like other girls" so bad? Geez.

Some users are so concerned over what other people like and don't like that they would rather put words in people's mouths and make up this whole conspiracy theory about romance fans hating on action/thriller dramas.

This is a comments section. people are going to express it if they don't like something. You can respectfully disagree but to start your reply with "this comment ain't it," or "this is so stupid" because you don't agree with their view is plain immature.

Bridgerton comes to mind as the latest Netflix romance hit and it's totally as formulaic as some Korean dramas and is pure escapism (costumes, the cast, the politics of the era, etc.) The acting aren't all that great either.

A lot of Korean dramas are less formulaic and more grounded these days. Even Netflix has made those ala Run On, Hometown Cha Cha Cha, etc. To say K-dramas are still doing the "mid-twenties couples pretending seeing someone shirtless is the most scandalous thing" is just false. It might've been true a few years back but it's not the case anymore. Even then you had dramas like Que Sera Sera, Miss Korea, I Need Romance, etc that definitely went beyond the cookie-cutter romantic dramas. I know it's not your intention but people still bring up BoF (which came out 12 years ago) and the Heirs (2013) to generalize all romantic dramas.

Now K-dramas are just like dramas here in America. There are your Bridgertons, a cheesy over-the-top show about a "normal" girl falling in love with the most eligible bachelor and there are your Stranger Things. I will even go as far as to say that there aren't many cheesy romantic kdramas anymore that I've started watching cdramas just to get my fill of the so-called "formulaic" romances.

You've just actually described how Korean dramas are like these days with action and thriller dramas with a little bit of romance growing in popularity and sometimes even surpassing romances in viewership. Its isn't the 2010's anymore.

"but generally, sappy romances a la K-drama style aren't that palatable to western audiences."

A hard disagree seeing as I'm a westerner on a site with a lot of other english speaking people where sappy Korean dramas are the most popular. Crash Landing On You, Goblin, and My Love From the Stars are all sappy romantic dramas that have blown in popularity even those who dotn watch dramas know about it or seen it. If western audiences didn't already like sappy kdramas, then Netflix, Hulu, and Disney Plus alike wouldn't be making ones of their own. Its not that western audiences arent open to that kind of melodramatic romances (50 shades of grey? Twilight? the hundreds of cheesy romance novels with a cliche title like "the CEO'S Lost Bride" in Barnes and Noble? Hallmark movies?), most are just not willing to open up to foreign content much less ones acted by Asians. The ones who have are the lucky ones cause people are missing out on a lot.

you do know its possible to have preferences? you despise romance so much that you had to make up an imaginery argument for yourself so i'd say the one who has underlying issues you need help with is you. Who knew just expressing an opinion would draw such ire from emotionally constipated people whose only way out of a rational discussion is to use reddit lingo. I'll be blocking you. Have a nice day though.

Which is interesting because Netflix clearly have no qualms going the cheesy romance route with their western content (Tall Girl, Kissing Booth) but somehow with Korean dramas they try really hard to make them dark and gripping. Even when they do romance dramas like Love Alarm and Nevertheless, they have to turn them into something deep.

Idk if its so people will take korean dramas more seriously. its kind of similar to how kpop is always trying to get taken seriously by western audiences who think its cutesy stuff. Now its Korean dramas' turn i guess. Too bad its romance, personal connection, and familial bonds that Kdramas excel at but even the ones Netflix pumps out once every full moon gets ignored in lieu of the action, zombie flicks.

They know how to draw in Western audiences. which, dont get me wrong, is a smart business move and people are definitely interested in it. I personally dont care for it and i expressed that. thats all.

Korean/Western media is a broad term. I grew up on Korean movies and am very aware of the "dark" content available in Korean cinema and other mediums outside of dramas. Korean dramas themselves are just a small branch of Korean media and to bring the entire Korean media industry into the argument when I'm only talking about Korean dramas is frankly idiotic, but go off sis.

this is just the same argument I was making. there IS a difference between mainstream korean dramas and those on Netflix. mind you, Netfiix dramas still have romance focused plots with overused character stereotypes and love traingles. They just make them unnecessarily angsty so they give off more American teen drama vibes.

korean cinema ≠ korean dramas.

I never said that? where did I mention anything about shows being dark just because there is no "lovey romance"? Don't put words in people's mouths, please. I just said that Netflix k-dramas, even some that have romance, Nevertheless, Love Alarm, Kingdom, Arthdal Chronicles, Vincenzo, My Name, and AOUAD, etc all give me very American show vibes which is understandable since they are trying to target western audiences. Personally, I'm not a fan of that and I expressed my opinion.

I much prefer the route they are taking with Chinese and Japanese dramas where even though they are backed by Netflix, they still have that C, J-drama feel. ofc there are a lot of k-dramas with no romance and are solely about crime/action. I put "dark" in quotation marks because I was using it loosely. dark could mean a whole lot of things (i did just leave it there without elaborating so my mistake). you can't deny there is a certain difference between mainstream k-dramas and Netflix-made ones. not to mention zombie flicks ARE very American with Train to Busan being Korea's first zombie movie (apparently but its definitely the only notable one).

I never claimed something extreme like that Netflix was ruining the quality of Korean dramas or that Netflix dramas are abominations. Just that in the process of appealing to western audiences, Korean dramas are slowly becoming similar to their American counterparts. Thats all. Theres no need to be so aggressive. Nowhere in my original comment did i claim that dramas are being ruined or that "people" are finding Netflix dramas to be bad. Its my personal feeling which i made clear by my explicit use of "I watch Korean dramas bc..." If you think otherwise, good for you but that doesn't invalidate my opinion. Putting words into people's mouths so you can come off as clever is just not a good look.

really over these "dark" dramas Netflix keep releasing that arent even that different from American shows. I watch foreign content because its different from what I'm used to but at this point everything is the same. is there even a point in watching these Netflix originals?

um....Turandot is actually based on a real Mongolian princess. Idk much about Mulan but there is an actual legend in Mongolia about a princess who would only marry a guy if they could beat her in wrestling. The European composer heard of the story and changed it a bit to fit the stereotypical elegant image of a princess hence the guessing riddles part instead of wresting.

no thank you. we have enough white representation in media. this is a korean entertainment industry. an American (black or white) having major roles makes no sense.

A little skeptical about the main leads. Park Minyoung and Song Kang are, in my opinion, not really good actors. They do good when the role actually suits their personality. Otherwise, they seem to care more about looking pretty than actually getting into the characters. It's like they're just acting as themselves, the good-looking Hallyu starts, rather than everyday people. Especially for a setting as mundane as a weather forecasting station, skilled actors like Gong Hyojin and Jo Jungsuk fit much netter (Jealousy Incarnate) imo. Every time I see PMY playing a hardworking office worker, it's hard to get into her character because she's just the same old glamorous PMY. Song Kang has gotten away with playing rich jerks with mommy/daddy issues so seeing him act as an everyday office worker will definitely be...interesting, to say the least.

It rarely happens in Chinese dramas but there was one called "Dreaming Back to the Qing Dynasty."

-----SPOILER-----


The second female lead does all this crazy stuff such as killing her own sister and causing a bunch of people's death but she's given a redemption arc because she was abused as a kid (still doesn't justify her actions tbh). It's fine if they just left her alone because I did emphasize her past but they even gave her a child and let her end up with the best guy on the show. Compare that to our main couple who suffered a bunch, one of them died, and couldn't even be together in the end, let alone having a child.

Ooh didnt see your comment but couldn't agree more. I dont mind evil characters as long as they are reaping what they sow but daily dramas literally just give them a pass and a happy ending. Some even get amnesia so they don't even have to remember and feel guilt for the crime they committed while the main character stays forever traumatized. They're always trying to victim blame the main character for even daring to take revenge it's so annoying.

I think its more korean makjangs that do this forgiving sh*tty people thing. SFL stole your husband, caused your baby's death and killed your father? Just forgive her in the final episode. Better yet, giver her your kidney and wish her a happy life.

They’re both part of the battle royale genre created by the 2000 film of the same name. Hunger Games has always been accused of plagiarizing Battle Royale (despite Suzanne Collins insisting otherwise) and the creator of Squid Game admitted he took inspiration from Battle Royale. The similarities aren’t coincidental. Great article though.

this movie is free to watch if you have a netflix subscription btw. at least in the us.

thats interesting. i think it the director's intention was to showcase the fact that Haruna really does not feel anything and drive home the message which was that she does want to feel something but cannot. definitely did not see it as rape but who knows the guy is a bully and attempted to murder someone. wouldnt put it past him.