K-drama Dot Blog is a fun, personal project for me to share the amazing actors and shows that make their way to the US from South Korea. I share my thoughts and reviews of dramas, comedies, movies, and music. Of course my views are from an American male viewpoint so they may seem a little different if you’re from somewhere else, or of a different gender.
I’ll tell you up front that my reviews lean toward positive. There’s a couple reasons for this. First, if a particular show doesn’t work for me after the first few episodes, I’ll hit the eject button. Like all entertainment, there’s some of it for which I’m not the target audience. And second, I find most K-content to be infinitely more fun, energetic, and way less cynical than a lot of American content. Since it’s relatively new to me, I usually experience it differently than a typical viewer.
Why K-drama?
K-content makes up the majority of media I consume these days, and it’s mainly because of what I said above: it’s so much less cynical than what American media companies are making these days. I still watch plenty of US content, and there’s always an exception to the dark, depressing shows we make here (“Ted Lasso” being an obvious example). But these days I prefer the sensibilities of K-content. It’s often quirky and creatively premised, not to mention heartfelt and emotional. I’m not always the best at expressing my own emotions, so a good, heartfelt K-drama can be cathartic.
Prior to K-drama I had a pretty serious fascination with British television. I do still watch a handful of shows – particularly the police procedural variety – but they’ve honestly started to become too similar. Mainly I look for those that have great character development. “Unforgotten”, “River”, and “Luther” to name a few. And for what it’s worth there’s no coincidence that two of those shows star Nicola Walker. She’s amazing.
Where Did I Start?
Like a lot of people, my introduction to K-Content was “Squid Game”. That may sound strange since I prefer upbeat to cynical, but more than anything I found it to be a fantastic commentary on consumerism and debt. The production values, acting, and writing woke me up to the fact that there was more worth watching than just what comes out of Hollywood.
Then I saw “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” and I was hooked. That show was a blueprint for what I liked about K-dramas. Funny, emotional, and very careful of how it handled its main character, who is autistic. Those of you who have seen it know what I mean. Park Eun-bin is an absolute treasure.
What Don’t I Like About K-dramas?
Not much, obviously. But there are a few small things that will take me out of a show if they get overused.
- Overly Cute – Some rom-coms will lay on the sugar-sweetness of its male and female leads a little too much sometimes, to the point that it becomes silly. I don’t mind it when it doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it can get annoying.
- Too Long – Most shows get a 16 episode run, and most of those episodes run an hour or longer, which I think is due to the fact that it’s not typical for Korean series to get a second season. The problem is how hard it is to try and fill 16 episodes with consistently good storytelling. “Welcome to Samdal-ri” is a perfect example. A lot of people gave up on it when they spent the first 5 episodes on the female lead’s fall from grace and a lot of unnecessary back story. That could have all been handled in a single episode and then moved on to the really fun part.
- American Characters – Korean writers and directors, understandably, don’t know how to portray American characters. Plus, the actors they get for these roles are consistently awful. Whenever an American shows up on screen, you can safely assume they’re a villain or a dope. For what it’s worth I don’t take issue with Americans being villains or incompetent. We’ve earned that reputation, honestly. It’s simply that these characters are so poorly written and acted that they’re only a distraction.
- Lack of LGBTQ Representation – This is a very sensitive topic in Korea. LGBTQ relationships are still hidden because of the culture. “Squid Game” season 2 was the first series I saw that positively portrayed a transgender character, and the actor took a lot of heat for it.
What Do I Love Most About K-dramas?
- They do horror and suspense really well – There’s a lot of occult themes in these types of shows, and writers know how to do it right.
- They portray autism and mental illness thoughtfully – The easy thing to do would be to treat autistic characters as punchlines. Instead, autistic characters are complex and fully developed. They can be funny, but no writer would make them the joke. Mental illness is also handled carefully and there’s no better example than “Daily Dose of Sunshine” starring Park Bo-young. They don’t shy away from themes of suicide and trauma. They’re represented honestly.
- The music – One of the greatest things about K-content is how much great music its introduced to me. K-pop, Korean Metal, Korean Rap, and even some of the older stuff. Who knew Aespa would become my most listened to artist in 2024?
- Zombies – “Train to Busan” proved that Korean writers and directors had a cool take on the zombie genre. Shows like “All of Us Are Dead” and “Happiness” have raised the bar higher with unique takes.
- Learning about differences in culture – For one, I love all the intricacies of the Korean social hierarchy. Honorifics, seniority, appropriate ways of addressing superiors. I don’t know that I’d enjoy having to remember all of that in my own interactions, but I love the fact that respect is a core part of how they work and live together. I also love how Koreans embrace their history and represent it in modern life. Ceremonies like funerals are handled with such care and attention to detail.
A Few Last Notes
You’ll notice that commenting is disabled on the site. I don’t have the time or patience to deal with moderating discussions in the present day where trolls are the norm. If you want to talk to me you can always use my contact form. If traffic grows I may consider opening up a Discord channel where other K-drama fans can talk.
I don’t comment on celebrity controversies or rumors in the K-content sphere. I’ve got more than enough cancel culture to deal with here in the states.
I’m currently getting things setup. I have an enormous amount of shows that I need to review. For the time being you may see reviews that don’t have “reviews”. I do include my personal star rating at the top of each page, but it will take me a while to write the content for these posts. Thanks for your patience.
Thanks for visiting! I look forward to sharing more.