Dramas whose popularity I do not get

[dangermousie]

Now that I’ve made a list of the dramas (at least Japanese and Korean, Taiwanese/Chinese coming) that are my favorites, here is a different, rather more negative list: Japanese/Korean/Taiwanese dramas I do not ‘get’. Some of them there is a consensus on (I have yet to meet a Peach Girl fan) and in some of them I am a definite minority (Long Vacation) but behind the cut is a list of dramas that didn’t work for me and why. Btw, ‘not work’ does not necessarily mean ‘hate,’ just means dramas I am not as behind as others are. And (I do mean it), I really want people on my flist who I know loved some of them to join in, to make me appreciate them, to see what I missed. Who knows, I change my mind sometimes (I was dead-set against Sapuri and it ended up an ultimate favorite)



JAPANESE

Boku Dake No Madonna: Takki is hot, but the heroine of this is the most high-maintenance, annoying, stalker freak ever. She makes Takki do all sorts of things, house-breaks, imposes, and stalks. She should get meds, not an OTP. Ugh.

Hana Kimi: the stuff I said about HK-twdrama below? Same thing, only much worse because the cool love story is largely absent and the humor is even more ridiculous and OTT. When I watch a drama, I don’t want one long Saturday Night Live skit.

Jotei: dumping on Jotei is like whaling on a cripple, so I won't. All I am going to say is that the drugs the writers were doing must have been GOOD.

Kimi Wa Petto: I will never be able to get past the whole ‘she keeps a young man as her pet and gives him baths’ concept: it’s too disturbing for me. Well that, and MatsuJun’s hairdo from hell.

Long Vacation: everybody loves this one. Everybody but me. I tried twice and never got past ep 3 both times. Sena has hideous bug-like glasses, but worse, Minami is a shrew: too loud, too in-your-face, too high maintenance (my biggest problem with jdrama heroines. I mean, if I were a man who had to put up with her, I’d ditch her myself). And it’s an old drama which shows in washed out colors and cheaper production values.

Nobuta Wo Produce: don’t get me wrong, all three leads act very well and I ended up appreciating the drama by the end. But I never loved it. I admired it, yes, but no more. Maybe it’s the weird pacing: both too slow and not detailed enough. Maybe it’s the weird touches of magic realism. Maybe I am just too old.

Nodame Cantabile: Tamaki Hiroshi is indeed incredibly hot, but Nodame herself is kinda too oddball. A major character who is supposed to be white is played by a Japanese person, which is just as bizarre as Mickey Rooney playing a Japanese. And, most of all, this is so incredibly cartoonish, from actions, to expressions, to plot. It’s like watching an anime on speed. I just can’t get into something so OTT at all. I gave up halfway through.

TAIWANESE

Devil Beside You: psycho popular drama. Yet all I love in it is the secondary OTP. Nothing much happens, there are no obstacles to the relationship, the heroine is a doormat and the heroine is a brat. Neither develops, the haircuts give me hives and the ending annoys the heck out of me.

Hana Kimi: it’s a bunch of amiable characters in search of a plot. I adore Ella/Wu Zun otp, Jiro Wang is also sweet and hilarious etc etc, but I am faced with the realization that nothing ever happens. I need some narrative drive, some plot!

Magic Ring: What a good plot idea. Too bad the heroine is a lying, cheating skank who should be sent to jail and slapped, not end up with the hero. Yeah, insinuating yuorself into a grieving family by pretending to be a pregnant widow of their son/brother is going to get you cookie points. And by being gloating and opportunistic and…don’t get me started.

Magicians of Love: I think if you have figured anything from this list by now, it’s that I don’t like it when my dramas are too cracky. I like them funny but there has to be some sort of reality check. And I am sorry, four macho and hideously dressed male hairdresses, one of whom has a dead twin and one of whom is a mob heir, and all of whom have clothes from hell, sort of broke my brain at some point. I have never been able to finish this drama.

Marmalade Boy: I just want to find a stylist who thought it would be good to have Ken Chu have a sleazy ponytail. And then I’d like to find the scriptwriter who took a story about stepsibling love which almost turns into halfsibling love (and the otp decides to stay together anyway!!!) and made it so wholesomely boring. That’s quite a talent. And then I want to find a river and drown them both.

Peach Girl: I love PG manga and anime but this drama must be burned. They can use the wooden heroine as kindling.

KOREAN

(there won’t be as many of these mainly because kdramas are so long, I don’t start them unless I am pretty sure I will like them)

Love Story in Harvard: I love Kim Rae Won and Kim Tae Hee is lovely. But this thing should be used as an insomnia cure. Is it the bad English? The bland as water plot? The meandering pace? No idea. Millions of Koreans might have loved it, but all I could use it for is a sleeping aid.

My Love Patzzi: It’s only ten episodes long, half the length of a usual kdrama. And yet how much boredom is crammed into those ten episodes. Well, that’s a lie. I don’t know exactly how much, because I gave up halfway through. Kim Rae Won, you are pushing it, honey! Pick better dramas! I mean, even your charm, sexiness, and heart ailment couldn’t save this snooze fest. You know it’s not going to be good when they have performing seals on screen and I am thinking that this would be entertaining as a nature documentary.

My Name is Kim Sam Soon: Grah. Everyone loves it but me. The heroine is whiny, useless and annoying. The hero is an immature jerk (who’d think this is the lovely hero of Snow Queen). The secondary OTP are the only interesting characters. The main otp never learn or grow. Oh, I just want to drown them in a vat of dough.

Comments

[boycottbananas.livejournal.com]

I still haven't finished jap!Hana-Kimi but I loved taiwanese!Hana-Kimi because I am a huge manga!Hana-Kimi fan and it stuck with the story, unlike jap!Hana-Kimi, which kinda...didn't. Sort of. :/

I get what you're talking about with Nobuta wo Produce though. ^^ The pace really was slow, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

I still haven't finished Nodame, and I will never even try to watch Devil Beside You. x_x :not a fan of Rainie:

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I liked Rainie in WWL but not in DBY. That was one cartoonish drama.

HK-tw is close to the manga, but I also gave up in the manga because nothing happened. it was cute but my attention wandered :)

[gingifere.livejournal.com]

God I attempted Marmalade Boy and found it the most boring drama ever. It sounds even worse when you think about how interesting it could have been when you consider the plot. :/

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

MB is all about wasted opportunity, really.

[fivil.livejournal.com]

Aww, I think both HK-TW and Nodame drive on the fact they're excellent manga adaptations (HK-TW a little less so because it's slightly more OTT than the manga), and both mangas are lovely lovely shoujo mangas. Nodame especially is good without being overly cutesy (though I dread for the manga's ending).

HK-TW is just a bloody good time. And very faithful to the manga, which is more or less essentially people almost finding out Mizuki's a girl, then her getting saved, then some magical thingy proving that Sano and her are MFEO. To put intense drama where there is none, I don't know, I think that's essentially what broke the Japan version (plus the OTT humor just not being funny enough).

I sort of knew you wouldn't fall head over heels for Nodame as she's a weirdo. I think I love her for the same reasons I love Luna (who you also don't exactly love/get).. I could elaborate but this is just one of those YMMV things. Plus these two are like an inch away from my heart, so you know, I can't be very rational. :D

I thought you watched NC all the way through, though. It gets shippy & slightly angsty at the end, which is ace, and the Special is awesomely shippy, too. But I guess if you don't feel it, you just don't. (Also I gotta say, I don't 'get' the actor who plays Streseman - the supposedly white character. Out of all the cartoonish funny side characters, he's my least fave.)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

HK-TW and Nodame drive on the fact they're excellent manga adaptations

I haven't read NC manga, but I found myself getting bored with HK manga and never finished it. Also, I think some things work better on page than screen.

thought you watched NC all the way through,

I gave up on some ep whose number I am blanking on when I realized that I was ffing at 32x speed to get through the eps :) I dunno, people in NC didn't seem real to me: I just couldn't imagine them at all in RL.

[main-hoon-emily.livejournal.com]

I would try to defend my love of the Japanese Hana Kimi, but it's based mostly on my love of Oguri Shun, so what's the point? :-D The comedy is mostly unforgiveable, really, and takes up time that could be better spent on Sano/Mizuki. So I get why you don't like it, and if it wasn't for Oguri Shun as Sano I probably wouldn't care one way or the other either!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

He was the best thing about HK. Now, if only he was in a drama I liked better.

[fenrir-khan.livejournal.com]

I seem to be in the minority, but I liked the Japanese HanaKimi. It's mostly because I love the manga and the Jap version of HanaKimi at least tried to capture the its atmosphere.

Nobuta wo produce holds an unshakable place in my personal top 5. It's so refreshing to see a drama about friendship and striving to earn acceptance... Oh, who am I kidding, right? It was mainly worth it for that Seishun Amigo video where Yamapi (he of the swivelly hips) busts into some of the most ridiculous dance moves I've ever seen.

I was also very put off by Kimi wa Petto's premise. One of the rare instances where I wanted to grab MatsuJun's tousled hair and tourniquet him into outer space.

I had the same problem with the girl in Long Vacation: annoying annoying annoying. Oh, and the ubiquitous actor who shalt not be named makes me instantly prejudiced against a drama (and since he stars in about 98% of them...).

Also, I'm happy to see I'm not the only one who didn't get into Nodame Cantabile.

Marmalade Boy makes me want to fix a makeship cross with bits of wood to ward off the evil of the Bad!Drama.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I got bored with HK manga, midway, but I thought the jdrama was too ott even for the manga tone.

KwP is creepy.


, and the ubiquitous actor who shalt not be named makes me instantly prejudiced against a drama

I'd faint in shock but I am inured :)

minority, schminority

[calledinvain.livejournal.com]

I freaking loved the Japanese Hana Kimi (and this would make me in the minority in that I preferred it over the Tawainese version). I'd write a longer comment, but I'm at work, and this is already pushing the stealthy envelope. And Maki (and Toma) were two of the best things about it, though I give Shun a pass because the director's version of Sano was a pretty thankless role, but he did it anyway, despite his insane schedule at the time.

NWP is a sleeper quiet valentine of a show, and though the ending kind of annoyed me (if only the reaction to the fandom's reaction to it), I quite liked the show overall.

[village.livejournal.com]

Ha. I figured Kimi Wa Petto would be in here even though I like it (and adore the manga). I would try to explain why, but then what would be the point, right? ;) It's one of those dramas/mangas you either love or you hate. Considering the premise, I can fully understand that.

I'm surprised that you're not feeling the TW!Hana Kimi though. I could have sworn you were raving (in a good way) about something Hana Kimi related over the summer but I might have imagined it.

I have a few of those "I don't get it" moments with certain popular dramas as well but the one that would probably make all drama lovers look at me with disdain is my ambivalence towards ISWAK - I like and despise it all at the same time. Please don't remove me off your friends list. ;)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I started out loving twHK but it ended up going nowhere so I really lost interest and never finished (I am forever stuck around ep 7).

Re: ISWAK. That's OK. I like it but also ff through a lot. But then, if I don't remove fenrir_khan for her dislike of KimuTaku, you are definitely safe :P

[bodea.livejournal.com]

fenrir - I adored the J version of Hana Kimi. I thought it was really funny and endearing. And yes I have huge amounts of love for Shun!

I too don't get the Nodame C hype. Now, I've only watched the first episode, but only found it so so. I also found the lead actress in Boku Dake No Madonna extremely annoying and the plot wasn't all that so I put it down after 2 eps. I doubt I'll go back to it or Kimi Wa Petto (don't even get me started on the awful). I haven't watched Love Story or My Love pattzi, but I did watch Kim Sam Soon. It's really not all that. It does what it does. I don't know if that makes since.It was one of the first Kdramas I watched so it's not even in my top ten now. I've just seen too many that are much more entertaining. I do love Hyun Bin though. I think my Tdrama list is the same as yours, except I really enjoyed Devil Beside You. I think it's one of those dramas that you're either going to really like or really hate - no in between. And omg Peach Girl was soooooooo bad. I only watched two eps, but that was enough.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

PG should be shown as a way to get confessions out of cirminals. Yikes.

Bdnm is horrid and kwp is creepy, I am glad someone agrees.

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

No, I hate My Name is Kim Sam Soon too. Except for different reasons.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Heh, we hate it equally except for diamentrically opposed reasons. Except for mutual admiration for Daniel Henney, that is.

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

It funny, when it comes to the light/fluffy stuff (HanaKimi's, Nobuta, DBY, etc.) - I really enjoyed them all. But I totally agree with you on some, too. Especially Jotei, Marmalade Boy & My Love Patzzi. I actually finished Patzzi but if I'd known the ending would be so lame I would have quit when the initial boredom hit.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

MLP didn't even end in any way! (I ffed to the ending). I mean, no resolution to the love triangle, nothing! Ugh. Ten eps of nothing. I love an open ending when it is done well (Legend, Time between Dog and Wolf etc) but this wasn't it.

[shewhohashope.livejournal.com]

DBY was awful. I gave up halfway through the second episode, and only lasted that long because I was watching WWL at the time, and needed my fix of Mike and Rainie (and Kingone). And their hair! Why must they mar Mike He with that awful hair?

I hold the opposite view to yours on MNIKSS, I love Samsoon, and grow to like Jin Hyun, but I really don't like Hee Jin, and just find Henry dull, except when he's discussing literature with Samsoon.

Is it wrong that you made me want to watch Magic Ring?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Mike He has some of the worst hair in his dramas. You should see the scary Bullfighting hair. Maybe they think he is too goodlooking and try to handicap him?

MR is dreadful. Trust me.

[janlake83.livejournal.com]

i don't get anyone who liked JOTEI and PEACH GIRL..... seriously shota is hot but i couldn't watch after one eps

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yup, Jotei was sooooo trashy.

[grey-fuzzy.livejournal.com]

Totally with you on: DBY, TW Hana Kimi, MoL, Peach Girl, Marmalade Boy, and MNiKSS. Especially MNiKSS. Kimi wa Petto and Nodame really worked for me though :D.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

NC and KwP were just too cracky for me.

And yay on lack of KSS love.

[angelajewell.livejournal.com]

I'm totally with you on Nobota wo Produce and Hana Kimi (japanese). Despite all the excellent actors, I just couldn't get drawn into either of those--at least, not to the degree of everyone else--ESPECIALLY not the japanese version of Hana Kimi. One I'd add to the Japanese drama list for me though, would be Oishii Proposal. There are very few dramas I can't make it all the way through, and this was one of them...

The only Taiwanese drama I can honestly say I *disliked* with a passion, despite the fandom's gushing praises, was Lavender. I've never met a leading lady I've wanted to strangle as much as her--which is pretty sad, considering she's practically dying throughout the whole thing! :P

Anyway, great list! They're so much fun to read! ^_^

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

What is Oishii Proposal? Is it the same thing as Proposal Daisakusen (which I liked).

Re: lavender. LOL. I know they made a sequel to it and I always wondered how.

[zaza-tk87.livejournal.com]

I agree on the heroine of Boku Dake No Madonna being very high maintenance, annoying etc. I don't hate the drama but it's never something I make a favourite.

on Hana kimi, most of my flist are so excited with the drama. I was excited before it aired, but then after watching few episodes I found that I don't care much about it. I'm yet to finish watching the drama. I can live with the drama, it's fluffy and all but again it's not something I LOVE. and a drama 'whose popularity I do not get'. maybe because it's riding the popularity of the manga? but well, I don't read the manga.

I only watched one or two episode of Jotei, don't know when I'll be finishing it. but from the episodes I've watched, I really really really can't agree with the main girl's ideal. ugh.

around my friends, I think I'm in the minority of not liking Kimi wo petto. now, this one, I DISLIKE. it just didn't work for me. I found it boring. I found the plot of having human as a pet and everything of the drma just make go bleh. to think that it's very popular.

like I said earlier in one of my comment, I'm okay with long vacation but I can't never comprehend its VERY VERY BIG POPULARITY. it's like a phenomenom.

on Nobuta wo produce, we differed in this. because it's one of my most favourite jdrama ever! :P I just love the way they deliver the message, the reference and related various scenes linked to the main message which I humbly think is made the creative way. the blend of humour and seriousness together. I just love the drama.

I love Nodame. I'm entertained with the manga/anime aspect. although I have to admit too much of it doesn't really help. I realized that after watching the Europe Sp. while I really enjoy the drama, I can't seem to enjoy the SP although it's like the same thing. maybe because it's already at my limit in accepting that kind of effect and story. who knows?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I read hk manga but still...bored by the drama.

And yay, someone else thinks KwP is bleh. I tried, I really tried.

[kittykatz.livejournal.com]

I believe they should be filming a sequel for Hana Kimi this year. they were fairly faithful to the manga and that alone meant they were only halfway through the storyline from what I checked out. I think the first 12 episodes were alright because Ella, Jiro and Wu Chun really had chemistry, and were funny, but the last 3 eps made me want to tear my hair out.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oh, it was all very cute, but it was the drama that made me realize I really need a strong plot in my drama to get into it.

[prettierdanpink.livejournal.com]

I didn't like Hana Kimi-jap that much too. I don't see any chemistry between Oguri Shun and Horikita Maki. They're good actors but no chemistry at all T_T And I gave up watching Kimi wa Petto too. Older girl-younger guy relationships disturb me except for Sapuri. XD
As for Jotei, I have no plans of watching that because I heard it's stupid even though Matsuda Shota is hot. LOL. Nodame Cantabile is just okay for me.. Lots of people loved it but I just didn't like it as much.. :(

Glad I'm not the only one who didn't love DBY. Rainie Yang's acting is so annoying there. And Mike He's hair is just O____O. The story's too cliche too! I loved Hana Kimi-TW though. :)

I didn't bother watching the other Twdramas you mentioned because I heard so many bad things about them before XD

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Agreed on Hk. And I remember being so it excited before it came out too...

[kitkat-cat.livejournal.com]

OMG! You gave up on Nodame!? WHY??? :) I agree with the rest of the Japanese ones, although i did sit through Kimi Wa Petto cos the BOYFRIEND, for some strange reason, found it hilarious...

As for the Taiwanese ones, I thought I was the only one who didn't absolutely love Hana Kimi (I confess to getting bored by ep 14 and just gave up) As for DBY, it was all going ok, bad hair and all, until the girl decided that she'd roll over and be a doormat! I sat through Marmalade Boy and it was sooo boring i used to fall asleep watching it. As for Magicians of Love, I did finish it, but have realised that I find the leads utterly non-attractive and have tried to stay away from it, only to be confronted by Prince turns to Frog or some such nonsense!

As for the kdramas, I have My Love Patzzi, but that was very early on in my kdrama viewing career, so i'm allowed mistakes! I never saw Love Story in Harvard, but I loved MNIKSS!!!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Nodame is too OTT for me. I don't do well with dramas that are very OTT/cartoonish (which is probably why kdramas are my fave, they are the least likely to do the exaggerated movements and characters). Kind of like MoL only MoL didn't have anybody hot in it (I confess my interest in MoL would have been greater if it was F4 instead of 183club).

DBY: doormat. Exactly. That is where it went from average to sporkable.

Re: MNIKSS. Yeah, I know I am in a tiny minority for not caring for it :)

[miss-dian.livejournal.com]

Heee :) I think that taste is subjective and if you don't like a particular drama then it is okay. Giving them another try may not even work because we didn't click in the first place. I haven't watched too many in your negative list, but the ones I did like were Long Vacation, Nobuta wo Produce, Nodame Cantabile (though Nodama did seem like an oddball sometimes, LOL), Hana Kimi (Taiwanese) and My Name is Kim Samsoon ^^ Out of all of them, I liked Long Vacation the best because I really liked Kimura's acting, and the bittersweet feeling that I always get when I watch it.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I had a few, very few dramas work for me when I tried them a second time after stalling (Sapuri) but yeah, most still don't :)