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[2022 Year in Dramas] Ten bad dates: My year in K-drama romance

By @hacja

Because romance is my favorite genre, I watched a lot of them in 2022. Rather than list the ones I liked — which would be a short list — I wanted to write about the ten which most disappointed me.

Yes, this a bittersweet focus — but as we all know, the course of love is never smooth, the end results of love can be heartbreaking, and love itself might even lead to the noisy gulping of human blood, as I learned from a bulgasal romance that I started but never finished. Still, I’ll be writing about metaphorical, not literal, bloody hearts. Please don’t be angry if I disrespect a drama you loved. Keep in mind in the romantic universe there are some dramas destined for certain viewers from childhood, while other viewers, like me, become bitter second male leads.

Here are ten 2022 K-dramas that left me crying over what might have been.

#1 Why Her?
The romance in this drama devolved into “Why Him?” then “Why?” then “Wh…?” then “?” I ran out of questions, and the show never provided any answers.

#2 Jinxed at First
The couple here was jinxed at first, and then the odds of my enjoying watching them went down even further, so I didn’t want to push my luck by continuing.

#3 Showtime Begins!
At one point in this drama, if the male lead was nice to the woman he loved, the ghosts would disappear, so it was either the romance or the ghosts, and he chose the ghosts. I also liked the ghosts better than the way the romance developed, so I put another show in that time.

#4 Forecasting Love and Weather
As I watched this drama unfold, an inverted narrative trough resulted in a deep low pressure in my head. My brain fog got so thick I couldn’t even see Park Min-young, so I shut it off to avoid collisions with the TV.


Forecasting Love and Weather exhausted me as well

 
#5 Cafe Minmandang
This was by far the worst scripted drama I completed. It was a badly plotted serial killer comedy with a charmless romance that involved a weirdly sadistic met-while-the-female-lead-was-in-childhood-and-the-male-lead-was-adult relationship. It ended with the loving prospect of dating while hunting body parts left by another serial killer.

#6 Twenty Five, Twenty One
This show was enormously popular because of some beautifully acted and filmed romantic scenes, but it hurt that the lengthy and deeply felt first romance shown throughout the drama proved to have virtually NO IMPACT on the female lead’s adult life. In fact, the show was a preview of the summer fantasy blockbuster, Alchemy of Souls, because the adult version of the female lead had obviously been soul-shifted. The much disliked ending wasn’t a surprise — it felt more like a result of the writer sneering at viewers throughout: “For some reason you kept expecting bittersweet memories of a youthful romance. Yeah, I fooled you — the romance you loved was pointless! So long, suckers!” (Also a preview of another show to come — see #10)

#7 Today’s Webtoon
I liked the insider look at the comics and webtoon industry, and this drama had the female lead played by the charismatic Kim Se-jung, who also starred in one of my few rom-com favorites this year, Business Proposal. Its male lead was sweet, if rather boring, whose only interesting trait was that the ghost of his dead sister appeared to him from time to time. (The ghost promptly disappeared when she discovered she had been killed, not by capitalistic exploitation, but by the white Truck of Boredom.) However, the romance itself was literally a waste of time, in that there was a fair amount of time put into it — but the male lead confessed, and absolutely nothing happened! The female lead didn’t accept, didn’t refuse, and she wasn’t shown to be ambivalent or leaning either way. It was just left hanging! Instead, they ended the drama with a moving episode, that is, literally a moving episode, where we got to watch the office carry their boxes out of the building. At least the conclusion was a romantic ode to efficient packing.


The most satisfying romantic scene in Today’s Webtoon

 
#8 Once Upon a Small Town
Take three of the most beautiful early 20s actors in K-dramas, put them in a bucolic rural setting with cute animals, set up a non-toxic love triangle, and what could go wrong? Well, nothing, really. But it was about as exciting to watch as a slow growing field of corn. After seeing this drama, I am worried about the state of romantic passion in young people today.

#9 Love in Contract
I know some people liked the male lead in this one, and it had a somewhat serious theme, exploring the way women have been commodified in marriage and relationships. But I didn’t care for the characters, and found no reason why the female lead liked the male lead except that he was a good, dependable customer. I looked up what the two male leads might have been paying the Park Min-young character, and it seems that the going rate for a high-class escort is about $800-1000 a night — although maybe they got a good customer discount. On the one hand, they were getting a woman of Park Min-young’s beauty and accomplishments for about $100,000 a year, which I guess is a good deal. (The male lead invested the most at $500,000, and got genuine love for it, showing the wealthy always get the best returns.) On the other hand, if I ever felt the need to pay for romantic companionship, I would instead seriously consider becoming a cloistered monk. And any Park Min-young drama that makes me contemplate celibacy has failed!

#10 Love is for Suckers
Okay, this is unfair (as are all my reviews), because I’ve been mainly fast-forwarding through this one, and as I write this, the show isn’t even over. But I already know it’s a disaster for me. The main problem is the drama’s attitude toward reality dating television. Instead of parody, or even probing criticism, the writers seem to think that these “reality” shows actually provide legitimate settings for the working out of relationships. Apparently no one on the show has heard what public service ads drilled into me in high school: “Friends don’t let friends appear on reality dating shows.”

Given the time I spent on these dramas, and the limited rewards I received — many didn’t even give me one meaningful kiss with the main couple! — whenever I’ve had too much soju, I start venting resentfully to my wife about K-drama romance writers. Why don’t they care about me, one of their most dedicated fans!? Am I not their type, because I don’t eat at Subway or drink instant coffee? Do they think I’m not sincere, because I reject the logic of noble idiocy? Maybe it’s time to transfer my loyalties to the horror genre. At least there I’ll get an emotional jolt, and see some zombies. After all, I too love brains in my K-drama female leads!


My general romantic mood watching this show

 
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@hacja your #1 is just straight genius. I needed that laugh!

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LOL yes, that part made me chuckle too!

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Thank you! Its often hard for me to keep up with the very funny level of humor on this site (in additional to the serious analysis, of course!)

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Very true, one of the bigger disappointments (it didn’t only disappoint in the romance department, it wins the price for most inappropriate Truck of Doom). SHJ deserved better than this shit.

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Hahaha, great write-up!!

Really good rom-coms are so rare nowadays. It feels like it's been a while since I seen an epic, deep romance.

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Is romance already dead in Korea? 🤔

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Thank you, @hacja!

I'm the same, I like romance in my Kdramas, after I'm not difficile with the genre rom-com, slice of life, comedy, etc.

But this year was disapointing with romance.

I'm happy to know I'm not the only one who missed a good romance in 2022!

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Have you watched Love between Fairy and Devil? That should give you a romance boost!!

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I don't really watch Cdrama. I do watch some modern ones like the teen ones. But I can't stand the dubbing. I find they have too many episodes too. I don't like the censure and cutting (not really discreet) by the autorithy neither. The worst is the spoilers in their introduction, why they do that?

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LBFAD is my first Cdrama. To me it’s by far the best romance of 2022 or probably in a long time.

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The fantasy Cdramas are really not my kind, I can't take them seriously 😅 Adding the cute voice of all their FL and I stop the video pretty fast.

I'm sorry. But I'm happy for you if you found your favourite drama!

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First off, 😅.
The trip down your ten dates has me laughing to bring serious to sad to thoughtful, in any order as it hits me, and finally, deadpan laughter thanks to that last screenie. Truly, many shows this year deserve that face after wasting such a time investment and LiFS is one of them.

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Yes, romance dramas were very disappointing this year! However, I actually LOVED From Now On, Showtime. The romance grabbed me and didn't let go; I still rewatch scenes from it on occasion.

I dropped Twenty-Five, Twenty-One after the first episode made me doubt that the leads would end up together and my intuition turned out to be correct.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, Love is for Suckers actually had an excellent romance--it just wasn't between the main leads, lol. I'm a little bitter after I compiled a video of all of their scenes together to put on YouTube (so scenes where they interacted) and it was a whole 30 minutes. THIRTY MINUTES, out of sixteen hours!

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Omigosh

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Can... Can we have the link? 👀

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Looks like I can't give you the link but it's pretty easy to find, just search for Love is for Suckers

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I genuinely looked for a compilation as soon as the show ended 😂

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Oh, I found it! You did this?? You've done a great service to us 🥺♥️

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Glad you found it and liked it! I did, yes. It was for myself as well, so I could rewatch their scenes without having to skip through episodes. Btw, I saw your Love is for Suckers abridged post and quite enjoyed it!

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Oh wow, you saw it?? How, I didn't even post it here 😂

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You made that?! Love it and have watched it several times alread

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Loved this so much!

My favorite lines:

*The couple here was jinxed at first, and then the odds of my enjoying watching them went down even further, so I didn’t want to push my luck by continuing.

If ever there was a warning label that should be inserted into the opening scene of a drama, it is this one for "Jinxed."

*This show was enormously popular because of some beautifully acted and filmed romantic scenes, but it hurt that the lengthy and deeply felt first romance shown throughout the drama proved to have virtually NO IMPACT on the female lead’s adult life.

Yes, yes, so much yes. I often struggle to explain how 25/21 can simultaneously be a masterpiece and a disaster of a love story, and you've articulated exactly why. Writers: it's only a touching, poignant lesson in the fleeting nature of youthful love if the main protagonist actually remembers she was once in love.

*On the other hand, if I ever felt the need to pay for romantic companionship, I would instead seriously consider becoming a cloistered monk. And any Park Min-young drama that makes me contemplate celibacy has failed!

I would add that any PMY drama that features lingering, male-gaze servicing shots of her working out in a tight leotard and yet still leaves one contemplating celibacy has absolutely failed.

*After seeing this drama, I am worried about the state of romantic passion in young people today.

I am so jealous that I didn't think of this line first, because it so aptly fits the utter blandness that is "Small Town."

*Am I not their type, because I don’t eat at Subway or drink instant coffee? Do they think I’m not sincere, because I reject the logic of noble idiocy?

LMAO!

In all seriousness, I think they've just forgotten that the best love stories don't need gimmicks (a romance set in the high-stakes world of reality TV! A woman who makes her living pretending to be someone's wife!) or bad sandwiches or sugary coffee: they only need two people with chemistry who spend some time bantering, then having serious conversations, then longing for each other, then kissing. That's it. That's all romance lovers really want.

Why is it so hard for them to give it to us?

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You could have gotten a 3 for 1 sale for an ensemble bad romance if you chose THIRTY NINE. Mi-jo had zero chemistry with her BF; Chang-Young had only an emotional affair; and like for most of the show Joo-Hee was friend zoned into the background.

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Joo-hee and her love interest didn't even get together on screen! I feel SO ripped off.

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The biggest criticism and disappointment was that SYJ took over the show as the center of attention. The other leads became secondary.

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At this point, Joo-Hee was more a supporting character...

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Huh.. good thing i dropped this.. i totally forgot i tried watching it

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"the adult version of the female lead had obviously been soul-shifted" 😂😂
That made me laugh so hard. I totally agree tho.

Oh, you didn't like Small Town or Showtime Begins :(
I really enjoyed those two (except for SB's final episode).

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Well, @enriquequierecagar and @vienibenmio it wasn't that I didn't like the start of the romance of Showtime Begins, its I just didn't like its later stages! Maybe I got my hopes so much during dinner, that when the dessert came and the ice cream was all melted and the show was yawning, I felt overly disappointed.

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Excellent write-up, @hacja! I too have found the 2022 crop of romance kdrama severely lacking and disappointing. What happened to the chemistry? The magic of falling in love? To freaking romance? There was none of that, absolutely nothing, in the crop of dramas you listed. I had the unfortunate experience of watching at least a few episodes of all ten shows and suffice to say, I want my hours back.

No wonder I gravitated towards cdramas romances this year - I am not so blindingly loyal to the kdrama medium that I can’t admit their Chinese counterpart’s output was vastly superior in terms of romance. In the future, when I think of romance dramas from 2022, I won’t remember the Korean dramas (well, unless I’m reminiscing about my hair-pulling frustration and migraines), but I will certainly think back on many of the Chinese dramas fondly.

Thank you for the Why Her? slander.

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Not being sure it was the shows until the welcome recent tsunami of Beanies’ year-end wrapups, I also thought, what happened to me?

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Please let us know which Chinese dramas you enjoyed. I am looking for a new romantic one to watch.

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I enjoyed several this year. Not all we’re straight up contemporary romances or romcoms, but they all featured romance as a main component. The most recent one I finished was the college//business romance Lighter & Princess. It’s not a masterpiece by any means, but I found the leads extremely charming and their romance lovely and sweet. Just the sort of lighthearted fare (notwithstanding the mandatory angst episodes) I was missing in kdramas.

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You can try You are my glory, you are my hero, new life begins, love like the galaxy. These are the dramas I've watched for this year.

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I am not so blindingly loyal to the kdrama medium that I can’t admit their Chinese counterpart’s output was vastly superior in terms of romance.

Precisely this!
While reading this piece was total joy, I wanted to recommend @hacja switching over to the C side to get out of the agony kdrama romcoms have been bringing recently. But you've done it better.
Though, I have hope for a few 2023 kdramas, cdramas in particular have been doing a good job with romcoms so I'm comfortably staying here when a new good one comes.
Not only do they deliver in squee worthy chemistry and story but also in sth i feel is generally lacking over time in kdramas which is some healthy flirtation (not cheesy at all).

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I have only seen Twenty Five Twenty One from your list, and your description of the drama is spot on!

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I saw a lot of these too, and mostly agree with you. Except for when it comes to Twenty Five Twenty One. They told us all up front how it was going to end, so I just went along for the ride. It's one of the better dramas I watched this year.

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@bunnylita I was vaguely aware of the destination (I knew Hee-do and Yi-jin would not be together at the end) and I enjoyed some of the journey but the bus dropped me off in the middle of nowhere, and I couldn't find my way back. So that's why I feel I got dumped!

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Thank you @hacja for that tour through some less than stellar 2022 rom coms. While I enjoyed 1 or 2 on the list I think that while many at least started relatively strongly, so many went south at the halfway point. I am still wondering why this is. On paper, a rom com should be relatively straightforward, and leave the viewer going away with a smile on their face.
Unfortunately, for me at least, many have left me just giving out at some ridiculous development at the last minute or some weird out of character actions from one of the main protagonists. Is it that more junior writers take over for the second half? I've yet to get to the bottom of this.

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Very good analysis of the problems with several of these shows. WE actually enjoyed TODAY'S WEBTOON (which really was not supposed to be a romance in any case) and ONCE UPON A SMALL TOWN (except for the older ladies constant fighting). My disappointment with LOVE IS FOR SUCKERS probably stems from the way that the 'reality TV show' was used- just as you said- and the incredible waste of the talents of both leads. Maybe the drama gods will give them another shot with a better comedy.

As for your #1- I dropped it after the first two episodes and I am glad that I did. That was many hours of my life NOT wasted by sheer absurdity.

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@oldawyer Thanks for your comments. I actually debated whether to include Today's Webtoon, because as I mentioned I actually appreciated the look at webtoons and their artists--since so many of the shows I like are drawn from them, and I don't read them myself, its good to know how they are produced. BUT it was the amount of time they spent on the romance, and then showing the confession, and not providing us with any clue whatsoever and ending with them carrying cartons out of the building rather than some sort of resolution to their relationship that really drove the romance fanatic in me crazy!

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I suspect that the only reason for the romance in TODAY'S WEBTOON was as filler. As another romantic I too find such half-hearted efforts frustrating. (Quarter-hearted? In any case it was pretty weak tea)

Romance should be passionate. If the writer cannot do that than do not do it at all.

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Dear @hacja: tried them all and agree with you on every dang one. Also traveled this week with Heyer novels as my long-flight pals. Many writers are called but few have any talent whatsoever.
Now Heyer has her hits and misses (@ over 50 novels) but her characters are given space to breath and become real.
Frankly, reading Koala's translation of Tong Hua's Lost You Forever has spoiled me for all crappily plotted novels in any culture. Can't wait for the Cdrama adaptation. Give it a try: Koala's playground - menu - drama/ book recaps/ (scroll down to) - LOST YOU FOREVER.
You'll thank me, seriously.

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Thanks @jossie4cheryl, I've been meaning to try the Heyer novels for a long time, and I'm looking forward to them, given my enjoyment of romance. Really stupid excuse: I haven't read any fiction that I haven't assigned to my class, (which means dry, boring, historical -- No, I sure hope not!) for about 20 years! Its kind of an embarrassment, because I sure have spent a lot of time watching T.V., and my wife reads all the time. But I will definitely look up Lost You Forever this holiday! Thanks again!

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Taught "My Brother Sam is Dead" for many years. As well as "Birch Bark House".
Get crazy with some magnificently woven stories of people caught up in sorta Chinese history. It's engrossing/sad/heartbreaking/funny.
Well, you know.
Happy break :)!

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Thanks for the heads up for Lost You Forever. Fell in love with Yangzi and her dimples after watching Go Go Squid which in my book is my favorite most romantic Cdrama. I don't watch much Cdramas at all only when there are no other good Kdramas for me to watch.

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Amazing review and great pick for the topic. 😂

The only drama I've seen out of your list is ONCE UPON A SMALL TOWN. Granted, Joy as a policewoman was not at all convincing, but I thought the vet was ok. And for once kdrama characters didn't break up just because one of them moves 8 hours away. The screaming ajummas counted as the horror element in an otherwise bucolic drama (I am so grateful that no serial killer showed up). Overall it was a very Hallmark-style drama, sweet and cute and only digestible if I'm in a certain mood.

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*Applause*

May the drama gods take heed of your review and bless us with romance in 2023...

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@hacja thank you for sharing this cleverly written, find the hidden tropes, witty reflection of the sad state of K romance. It perfectly captured that growing sense of disappointment when watching a drama with diminishing returns on the original brief. I think a couple of the shows were never meant to be a romance and it was shoehorned in to increase the potential audience; yes I am looking at you Today’s webtoon and Why her.

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Yes, @reply1988, as usual you are exactly right--in some of these the romance was supposed to be coincidental, and I might have made it more central given my viewing interests. But I ask you--if you have an attractive man and woman involved in say, a business office, and you spend a lot of time showing the male lead mooning over the attractive female lead, and the last episode ends with a confession, don't you, as the shows writer, have an obligation to the romantic minded viewer to show even just a partial resolution! Speaking for romantic minded viewers everywhere, I think so!

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I feel your pain @hacja. Nine of the shows you listed I either dropped or didn’t even bother starting. The exception was Twenty Five, Twenty-One which I completed. I was actually okay with their break-up but wish her future self was not included as part of the story for the reason you mentioned.

The best romantic comedy I watched this year? Gaus Electronics—which wasn’t even marketed/labeled as one. Go figure 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Thanks @xpressemu! I totally agree with you about Gaus Electronics. Its weird to say, given its zany comedy element, but that couple was by far my favorite of the year--I just loved the dynamic they had together, with the cranky (but not really) female lead and the sweet and apparently clueless (but not really) male lead. I could have watched them for several more episodes, but the great advantage of 12 is that there was never really a painful breakup and the forced separation ( quite funnily) never happened.

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Absolutely agree! Gaus Electronics was definitely my hidden gem this year. I laughed out loud every episode. The short run time made it feel more like a sitcom which was nice. It was also refreshing that it was strictly comedy and romance. No melodrama, thriller aspect, murder, revenge, legal jargon, etc. which all made their way into other “rom-coms.”

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I only watched two of these shows and only one in its entirety. 😂 As a self professed romantic, I steered away from straight romance this year—still not sure why.

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@ally-le I can't speak for you, but as a romantic I actually feel genuine pain when things don't work out to my satisfaction. My wife laughs at me as I'm groaning and moaning--"think of the neighbors" she says. Yes, well the neighbors aren't having to watch a romance they spent 16 hours on conclude without a decent kiss!

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Haha. The neighbors probably think you’re doing some real-life kissing. 😂

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Yes, well, its been about 20 years since that has happened!
(Joking, joking!--I sure hope my wife isn't reading this!)

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#2 'Jinxed At First' got more palatable the more it went along, for the simple reason the lead actress was better equipped to play her later personality of jaded and calculating that she was her initial personality of naive and bubbly. The dark fairy tail aspect was more dominant in the latter half. Any yes, the implied possibility of an incestuous second male lead love-match did come to pass. I haven't seen anything that creepy since 'Old Boy'.

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You know, I didn't stick with it, so I'll trust you when you say it improved, but what you say doesn't make me want to rush back and finish it!

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'Improved' is not the same as 'good'. I only finished it out of stubbornness, :-)

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My worst date pick is a controversial one. 'My Liberation Notes' Mr. Gu and Mi-jeong. They undoubtedly had chemistry, but you should not get back with your alcoholic boyfriend after having been ghosted for 3 years just for the pleasure of watching him drink himself to death because you hate the world. That a whole new level of perversion.

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I liked My Liberation Notes as a show, but I really do think one of the things that the writer wanted to liberate us from was the idea that romantic love had much significance in the modern world!

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@hacja
For years, SK Drama has told stories where "Hell Joseon" was part of the world seperate to character's romantic life. MLN said "Hell Joseon" doesn't stop as an external concept and instead it goes all the way down.

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@hacja It is always a joy to read your articles. I asked this question to Sic, so I will ask you the same (coz I'm curious). Why did you not drop these dramas when you realized that they are never going to get better after a certain number of episodes?

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Thanks, @emsel. Two things--the first few I listed I did NOT stick with although I watched way too many episodes of them. But the rest I finished. Why? Well even though I complain bitterly, I kind of like to see how they handle the ending. I actually like seeing how they manipulate the tropes, even though I make fun of them and there are some I think are just lazy, like the white truck of doom conveniently creating trauma whenever they need it and noble idiocy when they can't think of any more obstacles to delay a romantic ending. But you are right, maybe I'm engaged in my own noble idiocy!

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Hi @hacja - I am normally just a lurker here on dramabeans but I loved this post so much I had to write something. It was humorous and witty. Thanks for a great read. My sentiments are the same as yours. My favorite genre is also romance and this year I was disappointed with kdramas and this post summed it up nicely. I wish they would go back to good kdramas we used to love and enjoy.

P.S. I have to say Twenty Five Twenty One is the worst drama of the year for me. I feel like I have been cheated of the 14 hours I watched (skipped watched the rest of them). With a great actress as the lead, this was such a shame.

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Thank you, ahummadd! In 25-21 I loved the performance of Kim Tae-ri. In fact I might have even liked the drama if they had her play her "adult" self-- who knows! I get that by playing someone else they were trying to show how she was now mature and a totally different person than the Hee-do who fell in and out of love with Yi-Jin, but that's the WHOLE PROBLEM with the drama. Our current personality and perceptions come out of our past experiences--otherwise why meet your future love in childhood? (As we all have, of course. )

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That's a nice, witty, funny piece of writing you put out there! And thank you for reassuring at least some of my viewing choices this year. I didn't watch even one of the mentioned dramas, but because of some of them were pretty popular for at least some time I sometimes thought I should try. Glad I didn't.
But then, I'm a very difficult costumer for romances as that is not my favourite genre and I'm just nagging all the time or tune out. Romances anger me too much too often (k or not k doesn't matter here, everywhere on the world they try to sell me ridiculous behaviour as normal), but sometimes I get lured in and on some rare instances I'm even enjoying them! I hope you'll find some romances to enjoy in the future so that you can write an equally funny piece next year about your most successful ten dates with kdrama romance!

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‘ Romances anger me too much too often (k or not k doesn't matter here, everywhere on the world they try to sell me ridiculous behaviour as normal), but sometimes I get lured in and on some rare instances I'm even enjoying them!’ 👈 This made me laugh so I am looking forward to having both you and @hacja in the Watch and Discuss K Drama group when we have our first reflective discussion about a romance next year🤣🤣

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I'm a bit anxious about that...or maybe I shouldn't be as I'll have an outlet for my rants! 😅

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🤣 I can just imagine the WhatsApp chat 🤬

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Although in that Relumino short film there was romance as well, and that didn't bother me. They didn't have enough time for all the silly tropes! 🤣

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Brace yourself for the Spring watch: How to be thirty. Three women, three love lines!

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😱

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@petrolia I think your problem is that, just like the above writers are not taking tropes seriously enough. For example, you can't tell me that if a woman stumbles, just happens to be caught by a man, and they briefly stare at each other it isn't of crucial importance in the long run! That ONLY happens if a relationship is destined to be.

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Thanks for the giggles, this was a therapeutic read ! 😂😂😂

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I have seen only part of Forecasting Love and Weather and the whole of 2521 so I'm glad I didn't start all the rest. This year has been a very strange, bad year of romance in Kdramaland. I'll have to slightly disagree on 2521 as I love it to pieces. I expected the outcome of the relationship, so my expectation was only that if they could stick to the foreshadowed ending (..you know it's somewhat of a rarity in Kdramaland) then I would think of it as an already coherent story. That was why I didn't feel betrayed with all the unfolding despite the rush in the final 2 eps.

I giggled seeing your pictures and their captions. My favorites are the ones from FLAW (and it's indeed a flaw, so to speak) and Love is for Suckers (though I didn't watch the latter). Thanks for the funny piece!

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Romance is dead or they can't write a good one.
21, 25.. It was good until they decided to end it like that. They know we were runnin on hope until the last minute. I don't want to watch that again, too much pain lol.

Love is for Suckers - Choi Siwon can't seem to have a good chemistry with his leading ladies. Is it the story or is it him? or both.
That one time I chose him over the main lead but of course, he didn't get the girl.

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Indeed, this year was a bad one for romance in Kdrama. I very much enjoyed Shooting Stars and Gaus and felt my heart being punctured by tiny needles in My Beloved Summer but overall, the romance nowadays contain more angst and elements of friendship than longing gazes and passion.

Thank you for the write up, your clever writing always brings me a smile! And thank you for properly discouraging me from continuing Café Minamdang!

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@illamy Thanks! You know, those are my 3 favorites of this year as well. Its good to hear that I wasn't alone in these choices, although I tend to feel my heart being punctured only when I get upset at the shows!

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@lillamy: But SIG is in it!:) Don’t listen to @hacja:) Even though everything he wrote about CM was on the money, I have to repeat, SIG is in it!:). This is not me being a Stan. He is just a delight and normally an acting powerhouse but CM had bad writing and that terrible pairing. Ok, I see am not doing such a good job convincing you. Stay as you were.

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SIG is the very reason I started watching Minamdang in the first place, he's an absolute delight. But fortunately, I've gotten really good at dropping shows, even those featuring my favourite actors if something as essential as a main character has me sighing in the first episode.

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Yes, but didn't you feel some pain every time his character got punched and kicked by the female lead? It went a little beyond what was necessary, I thought and I wondered if there was some sort of sexual subtext that I was missing, because of course my mind is pure as the driven snow.

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@hacja: I did! I sure did!:)
It went a lot beyond what was arguably necessary. In other words, none of it was.
And, that mind of yours is indeed pure as the driven snow. That is now an incontrovertible fact(oid).

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@hacja Romance is my favorite too. I’m interested to know what is your short list.

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BTW, you are so funny

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Enjoyed reading your write-up!

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Love your take on this as I had the same sentiments. I did dropped a few and those I did watched a few at the beginning I dropped. Love in Contract I did watched but could not finished the last few episodes. Although I really did like most of PMY's shows in the past but Forecasting Weather and Love in Contract were not her best ones.

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As much as I genuinely love Junho’s acting and came to really like Lee Saeyoung’s as Seong Deokim, it was really difficult to watch his often brutal ‘wooing’ (rolling my eyes) of her which was the Joseon equivalent of dating. And, Jeongjo really did kill her family’s poor servants as comeuppance for her second refusal of him. Apparently, he mentioned it in the epitaph he wrote when she died.

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Terrific post, beautifully written, @hacja! As a fellow male romance enthusiast, I appreciated your sharing your views as I mostly get sideways glances from my wife and others when I watch or talk about these shows. (Actually, I never talk about them IRL anymore. I can learn.)

You mentioned Business Proposal, which was probably my favorite new romance show this year (at least the first two thirds, which I loved; the last third I didn't mind). And, not too make too much of a quibble, I liked 25.21 for exactly the reason you didn't: I thought it accurately represented how our youthful relationships can fade away with time, which I found affecting if melancholic. To each ones own.

Thanks again for giving me a great start to the day and to all drama/romance enthusiasts out there: Fighting!

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This was such a fun read :D
I loved, absolutely loved 'Once Upon a Small Town' though. I am now reading the manhwa - Accidental Country life.
The pace was just right for me!!

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