Korean drama: how to predict the ending.

[alexandral]

One of the best things about Korean drama is that one can predict how it will end, especially "who is going to end up with whom in love triangles and quadrangles" with very very high probability. Kdrama is a kind of genre that is very highly formulaic.

Quite often the answer to the question "who is the OTP of the story" is in the titles (character listings).
My recipe: Take the character listings for a drama from DramaWiki, this is one of most accurate resources, or Soompi. Pay particular attention to the order of characters:

1. Example one: this is the order that is used most often in romantic dramas (85% of cases) : OTP (male + female) characters are listed as first and second. Pay attention to any giveaway relationship diagrams as the one in the example below (Secret Garden). In a drama like this, there is absolutely no chance for the guy that is listed as the third character to get the “main” girl. He can, however, sometimes have his own OTP (please see the rule 4 about instincts)


2. Example two: second most often used distribution: the first and the second character listed are of the same gender. Kdrama is not yet THAT advanced as far as the same-sex OTPs are concerned. The fact that the characters listed as the first and the second are both female or both male means that for some reason the creators consider those two are the two main characters. In a situation like this usually the second and the third character form an OTP. Examples: "Women of the sun", "Chuno", but sometimes the first and the third character form an OTP ("Stranger than Paradise").


3. Example 3: Family dramas. Because the characters are listed by families, it is hard to predict the OTPs. Examples: Baker King, Gloria, etc.

4. Most of all, trust your instincts. Is the girl continuously pining for some guy even though the other guy is probably a better match for her? Is she constantly bickering with a guy and "hates" him? These are clear and sure signs of OTP, and so are: accidental kisses and hugs of any kind (please observe the reaction of the person hugged – is he/she enthralled? or uncomfortable/friendly?) Some other golden rules are: families will not be broken (unless one of the marriage partners is truly horrible).

5. There are actors that break the rules. You much watch out for them, because no matter what, their character will "get the girl" at the end. I am talking about Park Shi Hoo of course, and Kim Nam Gil. These guys have that mysterious charisma that tends to blind fans and directors alike, to extent of changing intended endings

Hehe! Of course, everything is not that serious and predictable. And may be somewhere along in the future Korean directors/producers might decide to list the characters alphabetically.

Also, I wonder – do you have any good tips on kdrama ending predictions? I would love to hear more!

Comments

[amandioka.livejournal.com]

OTP:
- Pigback rides - usually after getting drunk together, or to prevent hurting naked feet.
- There must be a conection before episode 8 (in case of 16 ep dramas) or else not going to happen.

Those are at the top of my head.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

Agree with both - piggy back rides are as good as kisses and getting drunk together too.

[maryxmas.livejournal.com]

the poster.
I am watching Will You Marry Me? and know for sure the MFH will not get that smoldering hot guy who helped her become a singer -- because he is not even at the poster. just her stupid professor husband and his family. hate them.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

The Poster is the very strong argument! Take Chuno, again - half of the posters were of the two main guys alone, screaming: this is all about the two of them.

Regards "Mary" - do you mean Kim Jae Wook ? He is so hot but seems to be stuck in the "secondary guy" route (same was in "Bad Guy" where I LOVED him). I wish he is promoted to the "main guy" at least once.

ALSO YAY! to "Mary" - I am starting it today.

PS: I have confused myself. I am talking about "Marry me Mary"! Who is in "Will You Marry Me?"

[maryxmas.livejournal.com]

Please Marry Me. with the professor guy being the main bad guy in Chuno.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

oh noes!!!!!!!! I adore Lee Jong Hyuk , but I thought he is the main guy in "Please marry me"

Who is the lady?

[intermezzo]

HAHAHA. Love this post. It's pretty much what I do when I'm confused about the OTP and what you said, everything you said, is a good indication of who will end up with whom.

However, I usually try to not look which is the OTP from DW cos I like to gradually fall in love with the characters as they themselves fall in love

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I am different - I MUST know who is OTP what the ending is. I am "fine" as long as I know. I can also pretty well guess when the ending is going to be tragic - you can usually telly by ominous hints.

The worst stresses of my childhood happened when I thought a book/film is going to end one way and it ended another ("Little Women", I am looking at you!)

[intermezzo]

Oh I would never be able to, say, go read the end of a book and then start over...things like that, I cna't do them. When I'm watching kdramas, I'm usually fine because you can tell who the OTP is pretty much from the get go. As you said, there are signs: the cast (who's the bigger star helps), the story, the clichés, etc. Sometimes the drama confuses me and so I check DW and then I'm fine.

I like shipping. Only a few times I managed to somehow ship the wrong pairing (Coffee House, I'm looking at you!) and no matter how much I tried to tell myself that yes, the OTP as it was made more sense, I couldn't. By then I was shipping my OTP and...yeah, well, you can imagine what happened. But I'm usually good at sniffing out who the OTP is even without DW.

Yeah, I can see why that happened.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I confess: I always check the ending of books I read, and if I don't like the ending in a book, I don't read it. :D

Coffee House - did he end up with his old-time friend?

The two times I didn't guess the ending were:
- Hong Gil Dong - I was sure it all will end happily
- Tsuki no Koibito (but Later I found out that Takyua himself didn't know what the ending was and thought the ending was different).

[intermezzo]

OMG nooooo. I would never do that. I'd lose interest in the book right away. Which is weird because I'm actually all about how the characters get to the ending, not the ending itself, but somehow if I spoil myself, I lose interest. It's a certainty. Which is why I'm always so careful with spoilers.

Yes. The thing is, I acutally liked them and they were good together (omg one of their kisses was...slkdhfksjhdfksf *fans self*), but...IDK. *shrugs*

Re: HGD. I dropped it. I think I might pick it up again, but I know I won't like the end at all.

RE: TnW. Wait, you didn't like the ending? I thought that was what saved the drama. I thought the first 6 eps were awful. I had to *force* myself to watch it even though I hated pretty much everything (the characters, the story, everything) except Maemi.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

hehehe! If I don't know the ending I get really really apprehensive and obsessive (see - serial books) , I think get get much more enjoyment, but it is a rocky ride!

TnW: I liked the ending, but by all signals Takyua's character was going to be with the Chinese girl (it is not as if I complained, I just didn't guess it). But later on rika_66 (who is a huge Takyua specialist) explained that directors kept everyone guessing, even actors. takyua apparently received a portion of a script every week and after the drama finished he said: never again!

[intermezzo]

I only had one bad experience with a saga. It was a series of crime books (The Thomas Lynley series) and I LOOOOOVED all of the characters and all of the books in the series and then Elizabeth George did something to one of my favorite characters and I couldn't go on anymore, coudln't read her latest book. I am curious to know what happened too all the other characters (I love them, for real), but omg, I can't get over what happened. *sad panda face*

I know. I think the problem with that drama was the writing and yeah, I guess the director as well. It seemed like the drama didn't know where it was going. No wonder KT said that.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

The biggest shock of my life was "Little Mermaid" (no jocking), up to that I used to think that all fairytales end well. It can sound funny but I was sad for days and this was one of character-shaping experiences, I think. I got into the habit of checking the endings after that. The books - my biggest disappointment is "Gone with the Wind" (oh what a kind of ending is THAT?) where the ending totally doesn't fit the story. Take me right, I am not too bad with bad endings per se (hate terminal illness, though!) , Russian literature is practically made it's name in bad endings, but the ending has to make sense for me.

[intermezzo]

Oh, I was used to fairy tales that didn't end well. At my grandparents', I found a few books with the unabridged un-watered-down un-sugar-coated original stories. What was a girl to do, if not read them? And so I did. Imagine my surprise when you realize the Grimm brothers weren't exactly writing happy stories. >_<

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

Hehe! This was me, exactly. For some reason in Russia they didn't water down neither Grimm no Andersen, and as you say - both of these authors don't qualify as happy. :DBut then again, as I said - Russian literature/films/TV is much less happy-ending oriented than Western literature and films.

[lightsjustright.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, I used to have the suckiest OTP detector when I first started out in dramas and now I feel like I know all the tropes and signals - childhood friends, watching who the angst revolves around, being wary of the Noble Hero mould because apparently nice guys never get the girl. SO MANY SIGNALS.

I mean, duh, there are some that kick all of the above to the curve, but I do appreciate the predictability of dramas in that sense concerning romcoms. If I'm watching for the romance, I don't watch to be getting OTP whiplash all the time (I'm looking at you, Dream High!). It streamlines the narrative too, imo, and generally evolves the more significant relationship more. But that's just personal bias. ;)

Cute post! ♥

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

being wary of the Noble Hero mould because apparently nice guys never get the girl.

hahahhahaha! This is a really good one, the only exception I can think of is Chuno. But there are no rules without exceptions.
This is one of big reasons why I think Hyemi is going to end up with Jin Gook in Dream High. Sam Dong is a prime example of Mr.Nice guy.

I don't watch to be getting OTP whiplash all the time

I am the same - I like to sit back and think "oh my dears, I know that you are going to be together at the end"

[lightsjustright.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think so too with Sam Dong. IF ONLY HE WERE A WOOBIE.

I like to sit back and think "oh my dears, I know that you are going to be together at the end"

Haha, exactly! That's the fun!

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think so too with Sam Dong. IF ONLY HE WERE A WOOBIE.

Yopu see, Sam Dong doesn't do anything for me, which is strange because I adore the actor (noticed him in "Will it snow for Christmas"). I don't know what, but combination of naivety and posessiveness doesn't do much for me.

[lightsjustright.livejournal.com]

I think it's an acting thing for me because on paper I would like Jin Gook better. Taec doesn't really work for me playing a dramatic role so I'm more drawn to the other character.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I think on the whole, Kim Soo Hyun is a btter actor too.

[timescout.livejournal.com]

As I don't usually ship I don't pay much attention to The Rules. :) Besides I like it when I can't predict the ending. Total WTF endigs don't count though. In fact, I often get more interested in secondary and tertiary characters than the leads themselves, especially in romcoms (not really my thing). I've also noticed lately that if the story is too much centerd on the romantic shenanigas of a couple and with no interesting side characters I tend to get bored and loose interest. I guess I'm just not enough of a romantic, ha.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I get somewhat bored with something "romance only", like "Secret Garden" , but I usually use fast forward button to rectify this. Your recs often work well for me, though - we must have some tastes in common.

I wish I could stay away from spoilers! sometimes I make resolutions of "I will not spoil myself!", but after that I get too obsessed and give up.