Dropped Dramas

Top 5 from best to worst

Kdramas and Asian dramas in general can be hit or miss. There are some great ones that are burned into our memories forever while others feel like nails running across a chalk board. I’ve compiled a list of five dramas I couldn’t bring myself to finish – #5 being the most tolerable, and #1 being the least tolerable.

#5 City Hall

Quick Synopsis: Shin Mi-rae (played by Kim Sun-A) has worked at City Hall for 7 years as a low-ranking official who serves coffee. She meets Jo Kuk (played by Cha Seung-Won), a handsome, ambitious man who’s biggest desire is to become president.

Why did I want to watch it?

I was in desperate need of a romantic comedy and it came recommended. I like both actors and decided to watch this drama at the same time as a friend (but we both ended up dropping it).

What did I like about it?

Overall, I liked the drama because the main Heroine was persistent and Quirky. The banter between the two leads was also amusing (for the most part) but they were somewhat awkward together. There were some very funny moments, especially towards the beginning of the drama.

Why did I drop it?

It dragged… There’s 20 episodes. I think they could have completed it in 16 episodes. I often would think while watching “Okay, I get it – everyone is horrible to her. Let’s move this drama along please”. I do have to admit though, I did skip to the ending because I did care enough to know what happened in the end. The ending was very satisfying, but I just couldn’t sit through all 20 episodes.

Rating based on what I watched: 2.8/5

#4 A Thousand Kisses

Quick Synopsis: Woo Joo-Young (played by Seo Yeong-Hee) is a soon to be divorced woman with a child who strives to become a successful shoe designer and meets up with a very attractive kind younger man named Jang Woo-Bin (played by Ji Hyun-Woo). They face great opposition and have a very tangled fate.

Why did I want to watch it?

This was my first Noona romance so I thought “Oooh, this is going to be good”. The main actors looked good together and I wanted to see how this story played out.

What did I like about it?

The two leads and secondary leads were cute. There’s a very melodramatic story line with lots of twists and turns.

Why did I drop it?

Too long!!! Also, people object to their relationship a little too much in my opinion. Everyone who objects is so annoying to the point that I finally had it and couldn’t take it anymore. I got pretty far in this drama too, but there were still so many episodes left. I do sometimes still wonder what exactly happened, so it may be a drama that I revisit at some point.

Rating based on what I watched: 2.5/5

#3 When a Man Loves

Quick Synopsis: Han Tae-Sang (Song Seung-Heon) was a gangster who turns his life around. He’s drawn to Seo Mi-Do (Shin Se-Kyung) and wants to protect her. He starts to fall for her but with his past, will it ever work out..

Why did I want to watch it?

Okay, I’ll be honest; Song Seung-Heon and his chocolate abs was a big reason I wanted to check out this drama. He’s a very good looking ahjussi and I wanted to watch him act.

What did I like about it?

So I made it to about episode 9 or so. It started out really well and I liked the characters. As mentioned above, I thought the male lead was very attractive and I had high hopes for this drama. I also really enjoyed Kim Sung-Oh‘s acting who plays a secondary role as Lee Chang-Hee.

Why I dropped it?

It’s hard to explain without spoilers, but I got confused basically with the love triangle. It didn’t make sense to me and I didn’t agree with the decisions of the female lead. So, basically, they lost me with their escapades and I gave up hope.

Rating based on what I watched: 2.5/5

#2 Switch Girl

Quick Synopsis: This is based on a manga by Aida Natsumi. Tamiya Nika (played by Nishiuchi Mariya) is a beautiful well put together high school student who is in reality only pretending to be such in public. She’s actually the opposite: Gross and unkempt with weird habits.

Why did I want to watch it?

I wanted to explore the world of jdramas and the cover to this drama looked cute.

What did I like about it?

In all honesty, I didn’t give this drama a fair chance to be able to honestly comment on it. I want to know if this drama is worth a second chance. I stopped this drama before finishing the first episode. I’ve since changed my philosophy and make sure I at least finish the first episode before dropping a drama. Usually, I’ll actually watch at least 3 episodes because often dramas can be a little slow at first.

Why I dropped it?

I got scared away by the main character. It definitely has a very manga/anime feel to it but I’m not sure I was convinced that translated well into live action in this case.

Rating based on what I watched: 2/5

#1 Ireland

Quick Synopsis: Joong-A (played by Lee Na-Young) is of Korean descent but was adopted and grew up in Ireland. She flies back to Korea only to fall in love with someone she really shouldn’t.. **Clears throat** Her brother Lee Jae-Bok (played by Kim Min-Jun).

Why did I want to watch it?

I started watching this during my Hyun Bin craze. I was determined at the time to watch him in every drama and movie he was in (but I never succeeded in watching them all).

What did I like about it?

I love Ireland. I’ve always been drawn to Ireland. The scenery is beautiful, and I really like celtic music (although I feel it was sometimes out of place and way too dramatic in this drama). Even though I don’t care for the drama, I still enjoyed watching Hyun Bin on screen, just not enough to suffer through all the episodes.

Why I dropped it?

Oh boy.. it was so bad that it was funny. Actually, if you watch it with a couple of friends, especially if you like the actors, you may somewhat enjoy it if you think of it as a spoof. The funny part is, it’s supposed to be very serious.

So Joon-A supposedly grew up in Ireland but we don’t really hear her speak English. The scenes in Ireland are also so cheesy. There are some violent scenes that are so obviously fake. It supposed to be dramatic and sad, but it’s really hard to take this drama seriously. It looks like they must have had a very limited budget.

Also, I thought the whole premise of the story was weird. Maybe I would feel different about the story line if I watched the drama the whole way through.

Rating based on what I watched: 1/5

Are any of the dramas on my list ones that you really enjoyed? What are some of the dramas that you’ve dropped and why?