RouteVenus

I know I am responding this late, but I am really glad I'm not the only one who was weirded out by this. At first I thought I was missing some context/information but then I accepted that it's just a massive plothole as you say.... Not to mention: there was literally no reason for the main leads meeting as children. And the ML being lost or abandonded by his birth mother could have been justified in some other way. Although, again: why does he have to be abandoned by his mother in the first place?
I propose an alternative scenario:
Maybe they had a falling out when he was a young teenager, he moved to America (maybe to live with some other relatives) and kept minimal contact with her. But when he takes a job in Korea again, he is forced to collaborate with his mother, who is about to have a exhibition at his gallery. She meanwhile remarried and so the ML also meets his half-brother for the first time.
The family reconnects while working together on the exhibition.
The FL's plotline still works with this too.
Seriously, screenwriters, what is your deal with "abandoned kids" trope? And while we're at it, please drop the "lovers met as children" trope as well.
/rant

Yay, I am happy that the internet was correct on this and that I learned something new! Thank you for your reply and you're absolutely right, it's weird drama logic! :D

Hi! I just started to watch this series and I just want to understand this as well: they say in the episode 2 that Shan Shan is AB-Rh-negative blood type.

As such, she should be able to receive any kind of Rh-negative blood (O-, A-, B-, AB-) as you say.

However, apparently, any Rh-negative blood is called "panda blood" in China, for its rareness, which corresponds with the data on Wikipedia (China: O- 0,28%, A- 0,19%, B- 0,1%, AB- 0,03%).
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_distribution_by_country

So, they are not saying that AB- can receive only from AB-, but that any Rh-negative blood type is very rare in China.

I am not in a medical field myself, do I understand this correctly?

Thank you, I love the article and everyone's recommendations!
I often listen to songs from dramas, as they remind me of all the drama feeeeels <3.
(I probably wouldn't add to my playlist a song from a drama I didn't see, even if it was a great song)

My TOP 10 that I couldn't do without on my playlist:
1. "You" (Healer, 2014)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1jFl4ZRsnc
2. "Touch Love" (Master's Sun, 2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COKV1a__HAQ
3. "You Make Me Go Crazy" (Master's Sun, 2013)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nB3kwVRZ5zE
4. "This Love" (Descendants of the Sun, 2016)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyzaMpAVm3s
5. "Don't You Know" (The Story of Ming Lan, 2018)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQYW0lxZvCM
6. "Words Of Your Heart" (I'm Not a Robot, 2017)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COn9t3W9CfI
7. "I'm Going To Meet You" (Queen In-Hyun's Man, 2012)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsTuysaFsoE
8. "The Flavor of Life" (Hana Yori Dango Returns, 2007)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=908vUPSikas
(like, the whole soundtrack for HYD 1+2 is a classic)
9. "Thump Thump" (The Greatest Love, 2011)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6UsEPb674s
10. "Wanna Be" (What's Wrong With Secretary Kim, 2018)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdUycCk3cSs
(this drama has such great, upbeat songs btw! all of them are great!)

Honorable mentions:
- "I Found You" (Sungkyunkwan Scandal, 2010)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78V8ZWo-vEw
- "Another You" (My Only Love Song, 2017)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=908Jg3XoFS8

Yes, it was rushed. Yes, I would appreciate maybe some extra explanation or a kiss of the OTP in the modern world. But overall, I am happy they went with this solution.

I don't like when the heroine comes back from her time travel/dream travel and finds a look-alike/a reincarnation of the man she loves, who has no memories of her. How is that satisfying? How can "a doppleganger" replace the man she actually fell in love with? (I am sure you can think of many examples here)

Instead, The Romance of Tiger and Rose made pretty clear that they both travelled into the story at the same time, that their memories are real and that their love is real. (It would be a real shame if the potential season 2 disputed this! Please don't give us XY versions of each character!)

My two cents:

Han Min Xing wanted to understand Han Shuo's character and motivation. Therefore, he had no memories of his modern self and his character (assumably) meshed with Han Shuo's. Well, he certainly found out why he fell in love with the heroine...even though it wasn't the heroine the writer originally had in mind for him <3.

Chen Xiao Qian was certain that there are no flaws within the story she created. She entered it with all her memories and writer's insights, yet she quickly discovered how imperfect her world is, how many plot holes are there and that what she perceived as a righteous and feminist city was just as bad as patriarchal society of the other city. She learned a lot about her world, the characters she created and about herself - and I am certain that when she comes back and reworks her script with what she knows now, it will be much more wholesome story than her original vision.

Like I said: a satisfying ending <3.
And as much as I want more of our OTP, I am not sure if the S2 wouldn't ruin the story.....

Can I just say that I have a deep respect for the writers for giving us an actually satisfying ending? (at least for me)

Great insight and commentary! <3

Great article and very informative, thank you for writing it! :)
My biggest medical peeve in dramas is when a character is down with fever and miraculously heals after 1 day only (during which he is nursed by his love interest of course).

I am torn between rating 7.5 and 8 stars.

I liked it. Generally speaking, it was a good kind of cheesy and it nicely subverted some common tropes/expectations.

The series was fun and (with couple of exceptions) I was never bored. (Unlike e.g. Her Private Life, which was more mature, but a snoozefest for me).

My main problem is that the first two thirds of the show (until the big lie reveal in EP 24) hyped us a lot about the main couple's relationship. They had sizzling chemistry, sparks flew everytime they were on screen together and their kiss was super hot.

But once they started to date in the last episodes, they somehow became more awkward around each other? Seriously, they were like two inexperienced teenagers, instead of two adults around 30! I didn't really felt the intimacy between them, and I don't just mean the physical kind. They seemed unsure of each other and never talked deeply about anything.

Not to mention that:

- She never told him she loved him. I was waiting for it, but it never happened.

- They stilled called each other "Director" and "Secretary Jeong" respectively, never even discussed calling each other by first names!

- And they stayed in their employer-employee relationship, which is deeply troubling. There MIGHT be couples that could make it work, but I am not certain if these two dummies can always separate professional and private lives.
(not to mention that her financial situation is dependent on him and that her professional life revolves around his)

To contrast:
One of my favorite series is I'm Not a Robot. The setup is kinda similar: girl pretends to be someone else in front of the rich CEO guy with a disability. The angst and hurt after the big reveal was raw and painful and took several episodes to resolve, but the pay-off was so satisfying! The couple in I'm Not a Robot felt real, they kissed, they touched, they joked, they talked about things, supported each other. No awkwardness (despite the fact that the guy had "people allergy"), but two consenting adults in a serious relationship.

The Secret Life of My Secretary could go deeper in the final episodes, then I might even consider rating above 8.

I just finished the series and I need to sort out my thoughts before writing a review.
More specific spoilery comment below, for anyone who might want to react :).

Well said! This shows why Healer still is my number 1 drama <3.
They just...parted ways for a short time (presumably several weeks) and it was for valid reasons as you say, no real break-up.

It's so freaking hard to find dramas that would even come close to Healer, quality-wise :).

Your comment totally reminded me of J-drama Tatta Hitotsu no Koi (2006). Only ten episodes, but they just HAD to have them break up for several YEARS right before the end. That's a terrible trope as well....

By the way, the only drama I can think of where the destiny/childhood thing was used in a meaningful way, is Healer.

(vague Healer spoilers ahead)

It was interestingly used as well, because the "past" thing was integral to Yoo Ji Tae's character and not to the main couple at all.
The main couple does have a sort of "magical" connection (partially due to their childhood friendship), but they do not, at any point, reminisce about they childhood memories.

Thank you for the article, I think you summed up some of the most annoying tropes very aptly!

These are my personal 3 top HATED tropes:

1) Misunderstanding between the main couple that could be resolved with some basic communication but isn't, because of reasons.
Also, when misunderstanding or lies take wayyyy too much long to resolve.

2) Noble idiocy break-ups. "Touch Your Heart", I am looking at you, you ruined a perfectly fine series.

3) DESTINY! Childhood meetings! Oh my god, why?!
Why can't two people have a connection without some childhood backstory (often connected with traumatic events and amnesia)?
For me, "What's Wrong With Secretary Kim" was a very enjoyable drama, but the childhood backstory was pretty unnecessary.
And I just finished "Her Private Life" and I can't phantom why they added it there too (completely illogically as well)...

Thank you for your answer :). It was seriously so strange, I can't believe the writers went that way, so I thought that I was missing some social/political context.

If we wanted to retain the familiar relationships + fangirling subplot, they would need to alter the plot from the beginning...but not drastically, I think.

Example: Yoon Jae's mom seemed to be a single mother, right? So she could still meet the other man later and have Si An.
(strange, by the way, how the fathers are completely ommitted from the narrative)
Yoon Jae could still go to the US, maybe because he wanted to learn more about art. While being there, he would become famous and get estranged from his mom and his brother. After his return to Korea, he and Si An would decide to bring their mother back to painting by collecting her early paintings that got lost/stolen. There could be a whole subplot involving the two brothers getting to know each other and becoming friends.
Dook Mi's childhood would be unrelated to Yoon Jae's and she would still be fangirling over Si An (without knowing he was the director's brother). That way you still have the strong family message but without the strange childhood plot. :)

Is or was the police in South Korea corrupted or unreliable? Is there some major issue with social services that makes people not trust them? Did the media not report when a child is missing or found?

The subplot from the past revealed in the episode 15 makes no sense to me, but I think I am missing something here.

In my country, if you find a kid whose mother promised to come back to him, but didn't, you call the police. Good thing if the kid remembers his/hers name!
The police then attempts to find the kid's mother and/or contact the social services.
If the mother is injured, the hospital would be likely to have her information, so she could be found even during a hospital stay.

What I would not do is taking a random lost child home with me for a MONTH, that would border with kidnapping actually.
What about school, weren't the children old enough to go to school? Wouldn't the school ask where the random lost kid came from?
So many questions, I just finished the series and I am totally confused.

Can you help me out? I guess I am missing out some cultural context regarding the last 2 episodes....(spoilers for episodes 15+16 below!)

Thank you for reminding me of this disaster :D. No, seriously, this production became in many ways legendary among the drama fans, it's like one big shining example of "how not to adapt dramas, like EVER".

It's clear that a lot of research went into this article, you did a great job! If I may have one suggestion: since not everyone was around when Boys Before Friends were being produced, perhaps it would be worth reminding the readers the basics like when did the production take place and who were the actors.

"There are many, many ways to film something that doesn’t require really high-tech equipment. [...] Why not intentionally use an unusual but cheap filming method and make it part of the series aesthetic?"
- Exactly this. Around the same time as BBF, there were multiple YouTube adaptations of well-known classic works that worked remarkably well even with lower budgets – they were vlog-style series such as The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, The Autobiography of Jane Eyre, Nothing Much to Do etc.
(imagine vlog style HYD - it could be hilarious!)

"Now I know the haircutting scene is an iconic moment from the original show (I’ve never seen it myself)"
- It's been a few years since I've rewatched the show but can someone remind me which episode it was? Domyoji had short hair in the first season, I can't recall any hair cutting scene, but I might be mistaken....
However! There is a very iconic moment that reminds me of this in another show altogether – a popular Argentine telenovela Muñeca Brava (1998-1999) which also features a rich arrogant young man and a feisty poor girl. Maybe the producers of BBF were inspired by this?

Great article, thank you for the recommendations, it seems that there are many new dramas with strong and fun heroines I need to catch up with!

I was going to suggest Chae Young Shin from Healer for a potential part 2, but I can see from your list that you dropped this drama :D. I understand completely, Healer has such a specific atmosphere (and a rather slow first half) that the most of people either love it or give up on it. (for me, Healer is my favorite drama #1 <3)

Maybe I am stupidly nostalgic but I wish Inoue Mao did some rom-coms or comedies. I adored her in HYD but her recent works seem all too melodramatic for me...