11 Recurring Themes in Korean Dramas

Jade Verdeflor on Wednesday, July 20, 2011 9:00PM

Ever watch a Korean Drama and think to yourself, “Hey this plot seems familiar?” Well, as many of us drama addicts realize, there seems to be a few trends that make an appearance in quite a few dramas. Here are just a few of those recurring themes.

11. Gender benders

Now, this theme has only recently become popular among Korean dramas, but it continues to appear in several of them. In this case, for various reasons, a girl must pretend to be a boy, or vice versa, but mainly it occurs as the former. This is seen in Coffee Prince, Sungkyunkwan Scandal and You’re Beautiful.

10. Evil mother

This one pretty much goes hand in hand with number 5, as you’ll soon see. The mom sees the soon-to-be daughter-in-law as not good enough for her son, and stops at nothing to break them apart. Examples include the mothers seen in Boys Over Flowers and Secret Garden.

9. Love contracts and fake relationships
Some dramas include “love contracts,” in which two individuals agree to start a relationship in which they don’t actually have feelings for each other. At least, not at first. This type of theme, usually will end in the two becoming an actually couple in the end. This is seen in My Lovely Samsoon, Full House, and Coffee Prince.

8. Cancer, leukemia, other sicknesses

Many times in dramas, a character will develop a fatal disease out of nowhere. Sometimes they die, sometimes they live. But this is used to help develop the plot, and add more drama to.. well, the drama. Examples are Stairway to Heaven and Autumn In My Heart, also included is the recent City Hunter.

7. Memory loss

This occurs very often in dramas, sometimes after recovering from the sicknesses, as seen in number 8. The character wakes up from a coma, only to forget their life. And more often, they don’t forget their whole life, but they only forget the person they loved most. That was so frustrating to me. Haha. Seen in Boys Over Flowers, Secret Garden, 49 Days, and Stairway to Heaven.

6. Long-lost sibling

This one always has me shocked and thinking, “This is too outrageous.” But yet, I continue watching regardless of how crazy it may be. Two characters begin to develop a budding relationship, or even just a friendship, only to find out that they might be related! Crazy stuff man. Seen in Winter Sonata, 90 Days to Love, 49 Days, and You’re Beautiful.

5. Rich boy, poor girl

This example can be seen in Coffee Prince, Boys Over Flowers, You’re Beautiful, My Name is Samsoon, Secret Garden, Playful Kiss and I’m sure much more. A rich, usually snobby, male meets a poor, but hard-working and spunky, girl. They initially can’t stand each other, but over time realize their feelings for each other. This is a common theme in tons of dramas, and it shows that prejudices between classes can be overcome with the power of love. Cheesy, but true.

4. Piggy back scene

This is goes hand-in-hand with pretty much any drinking scene in dramas. The girl is depressed, so she drinks.. a lot, which leads to her knocking out, which then leads to the male coming to the rescue and giving her piggy back home. On rare occasions, the roles are reversed and the girl is forced to make the trek with the male on her back, as seen in Coffee Prince. Other dramas with the piggy back scene are Personal Taste, My Name is Samsoon, and plenty more.

3. The infamous shower scenes

Nearly every drama has a scene where the main male character will be in deep, deep thought, and where else would he be pondering but in the shower. Not that I’m complaining, I don’t mind it. Lee Min Ho has done one in quite a few dramas, and so have many other fine, fine actors. Look out for them in dramas likes Boys Over Flowers, City Hunter, Personal Taste, Stairway to Heaven, You’re Beautiful, My Princess, and thankfully, so much more. Know what I mean girls?

2. Enemies turned lovers, nice guys ignored

You know what I’m talking about. The girl and guy hate each other, but as it goes on, they fall in love. There’s even the nice guy in the corner who treats the girl better, but no, they just aren’t meant to be. This always entices the watchers who usually root for the nice guy, only to have their dreams crushed, making for an addicting and entertaining drama. Seen in Boys Over Flowers, You’re Beautiful, and many more.

1. Love triangles.. or quadrangles, pentagles?!

No drama would be complete without a complicated romance plot. That’s what correlation charts are for right? Two guys compete for one girls attention. Not complicated enough? Throw in another girl who is interested in one of the two guys. Need more confusion? Introduce another guy who the two girls find attractive. And the possibilities of complicated romances are endless! I won’t even name what dramas this is in because you can find it in nearly every single one.