Which Kind Are You? 5 Kinds of Kdrama Fans

















I just did a guest post at DramaFever about the5 kinds of kdrama fans. After I was done, my husband read the post over my shoulder and said, "Wait, aren't you just writing about yourself for most of these?" Why yes, yes I am.

Does anyone else fall into these categories?




1.The Valiant Defender



Once you decide that you love a drama, you become like a mama lion protecting her cubs. You won’t let anyone get away with talking smack about your show! Did someone criticize the series extension? You thought it was perfect to really develop the relationship! Did they hate the costumes? But they were meant to show off the characters’ personalities! Did they say that the acting was melodramatic? OH NO THEY DIDN’T! How would they feel if they woke up with amnesia and cancer? Huh? Everything was perfect and wonderful and amazing and you cried in every single episode.

2.The Closet Viewer



You love Kdramas. I mean, you really love them. You spend your free time reading recaps and listening to the OSTs of your favorite shows. The only problem is that you are an adult, and you don’t know how to explain your obsession to your real-life friends in a way that they would understand. Instead, you lead a double life. When you tell your friends that you spent the weekend helping your mom clean out her basement, what you really mean is that you marathoned Prosecutor Princess for sixteen hours straight.

3.The Academic



You enjoy watching Kdramas, but you also have an advanced degree in psychology or literature or something. You reconcile these two interests by constantly talking about gender roles and socio-economic factors in your favorite shows. Most of your Kdrama-watching friends roll their eyes when you start conversations with “This episode reminded me of something Socrates once said…” but you don’t let that stop you! When that Wall Street Journal blog post criticized Kdramas as being “lowbrow,” you responded with a ten-page manifesto peppered with words like “dichotomy” and “pedantic.”

4.The Bias Stalker



Plot? Not important. Dialogue? Who cares? The one and only determining factor in helping you choose your next drama is how much screen time your favorite actor or actress will get. Now if only the writers would get rid of all these side characters and just put Oppa in a shower scene already…

5.The Seasoned Veteran



You were watching Kdramas looooooong before Full House or Coffee Prince even came onto the scene. As someone who has watched dramas for over a decade, you can dazzle younger viewers with extensive knowledge of the progression of kdramas. You have also gotten to a wise transcendental state of mind where Kdrama trends no longer impact you. You can wait until a popular show finishes airing before you watch it. You have also mastered the difficult art of watching only one episode at a time—something most Kdrama fans see as an impossible myth.

What are your Kdrama habits? One of the above? ALL of the above? (*raises hand slowly*)

Comments

  1. I think I fall into the bias stalker category, that's why I'm watching Heirs ;)

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    1. I think that's the only reason ANYONE is watching Heirs!

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  2. Well, since I came out of the closet, and then learned how to suppress valiant defender mode, I alter between acting educational and just enjoying the eye candy, all so that one day I can be considered a veteran.

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    1. Same here. I wish I were a veteran, but I just can't bring myself to stop watching newer shows long enough to watch the classics.

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  3. Well, #3 is the closest for me, but I really don't even attempt to rationalize it. I am a well educated, intelligent woman who also squees uncontrollably while watching gooey romantic comedies. Maybe I can rationalize it in my mind by being a Gemini and having two different sides... Fun article!

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    1. I'm totally the same way. Half of my brain says "Awwwwww" while the other half of my brain says, "This is ridiculous." Too bad I'm not even a Gemini!

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  4. Only number 4 really applies - I am, allegedly, an adult, but I'm out and proud re my K Drama addiction. I'm also totally zen about other people dissing my favourite dramas, and the idea of trying to rationalise my watching with academese never occurred to me. I have watched forty-one dramas, which I'm told is a respectable number, but that's in just under 5 months, so I'm definitely not a veteran. OTOH, since I would watch Yoon Eun Hye read the Seoul phone directory, I'm definitely a bias stalker.

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    1. Does this mean that you will be watching Mirae's Choice? If you do, I want updates! I love Yoon Eun Hye in general, but I'm not quite at the phone book-reading level of fandom.

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    2. I will DEFINITELY be watching Mirae's Choice - YEH returning to romcoms, yay! Also hoping for a good arc for Han Chae Ah. If it wasn't airing at 2AM NZ time, I'd watch it streaming unsubbed, just for all the pretty!

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    3. How are you liking Mirae's Choice? I think it will be one of my drama cracks for the next two months, along with Heirs. :) Though I love YEH, I must confess to a bias for Lee Dong-gun as he caused my very first 2nd Male Lead Syndrome way back in Lovers in Paris (2004/2005). Wait, does that make me a semi-seasoned Kdrama veteran?

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    4. On hindsight, that last bit of info doesn't make me a Kdrama veteran, it just makes me...older.

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    5. I watched the first two episodes of Mirae's Choice/Marry Him If You Dare, and it's intriguing so far. I think I need to keep watching just to satisfy my curiosity. It looks like it's gearing up to be much more melodrama than romcom. Not sure how I feel about that, but I'm willing to wait it out.

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    6. There's a lot more comedy in Episode 3, the funniest yet for me. You might be right about the melo, Vivi, but I'm hoping it will stay light overall. Like you, Bernizzya - LDG was a big factor in my wanting to see this - I just watched Sweet 18 last month, and wanted to see more of him. He and YEH are great together, imo.

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    7. Stuart's right that the tone is much funnier in episode 3. I really loved that episode, and now I can't wait for the new episodes!

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  5. Since I'm only in high school, I'm not really a "closet viewer," especially since I annoy almost all of my friends and family with my incessant Kdrama referencing...though, as a result of that, I'm a "valiant defender" to the nay-sayers in my social circle (as are we all :P).
    I guess, with some dramas, I am a "bias stalker," but for others, not really.

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    1. Oh, and thanks to some of my classes in school, I'm a semi-"academic," which makes me feel smart. :P

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    2. Maybe the best part of being an academic is that it helps you defend your favorite dramas more convincingly! :)

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  6. I would say #1 and #4...i don't let anyone bad-mouth my favourite k-drama and as long as my favourite actors and actresses are in a drama,i'm so into it...'Aigoooo' Lol...kDrama paiting! :D

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  7. I would have to say that I have been all the above at some point in my Kdrama life. Your articles are always on point and I love it!

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  8. I think I am the closet viewer!
    It is hard to explain to your friends what the k drama is, when they think about the american soap opera, or others!
    i am glad to have the kcommunity to make me feel less guilty about spending hours watching dramas.
    Closet Watcher, fighting!

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  9. I would say I am "semi-closet". Actually my husband and I. He's the one who asks, before our drama is done, what we are watching next. I have some adult friends who know and snicker, some who know and watch K-dramas themselves so we're good there, and then some who don't know at all and I will more than likely never tell them.

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  10. Definitely #2 :-) But i have a tendency to be #3, only I don`t have anybody to talk about it...It`s fun to read blogs on kdramas through. And oh yes, I am certainly going to see every drama with Yoon Eun Hye, no matter how bad the script is, she is an amazing actress, and can breath life to the worse written drama, and makes it enjoyable.

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  11. I would say I'm a #2 and a #4 slowly becoming #1. I'm fangirling over Yoon Eun Hye. There's just something about her. I'm beginning to discover though that there are members of my extended family who watch kdrama and it's been fun talking to them about it.

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  12. I'm a 2 with aspirations of becoming a 3 :-D

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  13. LOL !! Im 3 of them , al least. Im The Academic,
    The Valiant Defender and the best of all them The Bias Stalker

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  14. My Asian friend said I was crazy for watching so many kdramas. I am a newbie, so now I feel shame and I will no longer tell ppl I am watching hahaha

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