Help! I am trying to lure a friend into dramas and with this friend I’ve been trying for so long. Fortunately she finally saw parasite and realized thats ssubs aren’t a big deal so she’s up for trying. But this is a kinda crucial time because she will bail out of even the first show she tries, she ends up not liking. Our choices are similar but dofferent. She likes slice of life and family drama type of shows (she said she likes This Is Us) but I once tried to show her The Most Beautiful Goodbye (I love that show) and she said it was boring, she probably ahrdly saw 5 mins of it. And I think, most stuff I watch is boring. The first episodes of My Ajusshi, Misaeng even JBL won’t really lure her because if they are exactly up my ally, they will seem boring to her at first. So beanies what do I do? What should I recommend her? I thought of Cheese in the Trap because it has a good first episode but I don’t want to torture her later. I also thought of WLFKBJ but you know, the first 3 episodes of that were weak. Reply 1988 is another option but I’m thinking she’ll chicken out because of the episode length. Other thank k dramas, I thought of Taiwanese drama Yong Jiu Grocery Store also J drama If Talking paid.

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    Lol at the typos
    Subs* hardly* different*
    You see I was in a hurry.

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    If she likes family dramas with melo maybe jdrama Wakamono Tachi? If you want a lighter show maybe Age of Youth? If Talking Paid might be too much talking for a newbie? 🙂

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      I haven’t seen the two you mentioned so maybe I can’t really assure her if they are good but I’ll send her the synopsis. If talking paid was another option I was sceptical about because in the very first show you are quite unaware of the cultural contexts and ITP has them so yeah not that good an option for a first time watch and too much talking and dialogue to catch up to the subs, even I lost subs while watching that.

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    How about something like Radiant Office, which is a bit quirky but also a good workplace drama. Or if she likes action with a revenge plot and interesting relationships, Lookout is quite good.

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      I bailed out of Radiant Office too because I found it a little boring (the first 1,2 episodes) but I’ll send her the synopsis. I’ve heard Lookout is really good but didn’t get around to seeing it yet so maybe she’ll try it.

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    If you’re OK with a Taiwanese drama – how about In Time With You? Still one of the best dramas out there in my opinion, and it was interesting from the start, never draggy or boring. There’s also Oh Hae-young Again/Another Ms. Oh which I recall had a pretty good first few episodes. Fated to Love You seems to be a gateway drama for a lot of people and that definitely has a lot going on in the first few episodes, though Jang Hyuk can be a bit over-the-top for some. Or maybe the classic gateway drama, Coffee Prince?

    You could try starting with a mini-drama like to.Jenny, Splish Splash Love or You Drive Me Crazy which are all short but pack a lot of punch into 2ish hours and would expose you to a lot of regular dramaland faces.

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      +1 mini-dramas might work to lure that friend x)

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      Totally forgot about the specials. They would actually be a really good start. I haven’t watched In Time with You either but I think I’ll tell her only about Korean now. Thanks.

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    Fight My Way
    Be Melodramatic
    Because This Is My First Life
    Father Is Strange(A bit long but worth it)
    Age of Youth

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      This is a great list. Recommended her Be Melo already. Thanks.

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    R97 is probably better for a first time watcher than R88.

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      You might be right. I think I couldn’t get into R97 as much as I did in R88 that is why I naturally thought of that.

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    reply 1999!!!! that’s th efirst one i ever watched and what got me into it. and the ep length totally varied!!

    if she liked parasite tho in terms of thriller maybe ‘Stranger’?

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      I think thriller isn’t really the genre she watches, parasite is an exception. Reply 97 you mean? I’ll tell her to see that.

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    This Week My Wife Will Have an Affair might fit the bill. It’s got high production value, a subject that is relatable across cultures, and it’s only 12 short episodes. I might also suggest current drama Diary of a Prosecutor for a funny, character-driven, slice-of-life kind of drama.

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      I thought of this too, plus we have a terribly misogynist cheating drama (local)on air so maybe I’d want her to see a good example. Also it’s probably one of the best dramas in Korea on this subject, given that I haven’t seen VIP yet.

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    I’d go with Healer. I think it really starts off strong and keeps a good pace. I think it just has a certain magic to it.

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      Healer brought me back to dramas when I left it after Heirs but idk if she’ll like it given her choice of shows. Healer is though the stereotypical kdrama, i mean if i had to explain the charms of kdramas to someone, I’ll show them Healer. So maybe I can try.

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    The drama that brought me back to Kdrama land is Descended from the Sun. This is not the genres your friend prefers, but perhaps she’ll like it if she’s one of the crowd?

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