Exploring Second Lead Syndrome

After watching both Emergency Couple and Sly and Single Again this week, I've been thinking about Second Lead Syndrome again. Both shows feature a woman caught between two men, and in both cases, the female lead is clearly destined to go back to her ex-husband from episode 1. Neither ex-husband is exactly a shining paragon of awesome boyfriend-osity, but hey,  he's rich and he's on the promotional poster, so it has to be true love, right?

It's no secret that Emergency Couple is giving me what might be my worst case of Second Lead Syndrome yet (We're talking Young Do levels here, folks. Things are bad.). In the case of Sly and Single, I feel sad for the second lead, but he doesn't have me clutching my heart and sighing at the TV or anything, either. The comparison of two very similar shows has got me wondering what it is that sparks Second Lead Syndrome (SLS) and why it is that I catch it for some dramas and I just don't care for others. There seem to be a few different factors at play in my self-diagnosis of this ailment:

Go ahead. Just stab my heart with little daggers, why don't you?

What could have been...

Second leads are notoriously bad at spitting out their feelings. While the first leads are dragging women around by the arm and forcing kisses onto them, second leads are always stuck forming painstakingly cautious love declarations, only to be interrupted at the last minute by a phone or something equally infuriating. (Seriously. Stop answering the freaking phone.) 

If viewers are already favoring the second lead, an interrupted love declaration is basically the worst thing a writer can do. It ensures that we will spend the rest of the show wondering what could have been if only the man spoke at a pace slightly faster than one word every thirty seconds. How can we feel satisfied that the female lead made the right choice if she didn't even know she had another option until it was too late?

Oh, Geol Oh, if only you had overcome your girl-instigated hiccups...

On the other hand, there is such a thing as waiting too long, and second leads who beat around the bush for a million years tend to lose my sympathy at some point. Take You're Beautiful's Shin Woo, for example. Yeah, she got interrupted by a phone call on their pseudo-date, but he could have said something a little earlier instead of just staring at her and talking in thinly veiled "stories." 

Then again, if she was too stupid to figure out that the story describing her exact situation was really about her, maybe Shin Woo dodged a bullet on that one. 

It takes two to tango

Mutual interest is the next big factor in second lead syndrome. Sometimes, I want to give male leads a copy of the book He's Just Not That Into You and send them on their way. I'm thrilled when they confess their feelings, but if it's obvious from the start that there's no interest from the female lead, it makes it a teensy bit easier to let the relationship die in my mind. 

If the show develops the possibility of a relationship with the second male lead, though, all bets are off. I think that's what got so many Boys over Flowers fans. She was completely interested in Ji Hoo one minute, and then suddenly she's dating Jun Pyo. Why? Because he shouted about his feelings more adamantly? His family had slightly more money? It's a mystery. Add in a fortune teller announcing that Ji Hoo is her soul mate, but Jun Pyo is her husband, and you've got a herd of angry fans on your hands.

Lesson of the day: Don't trust random island fortune tellers.

Emergency Couple is another example. Jin Hee and Chief Gook had fantastic chemistry for most of the show, which made it that much harder to figure out why the writers wouldn't just cave to their obvious connection and kill Chang Min in a freak bench pressing accident or something. (I'm joking! Sort of.)

Variety is the spice of K-dramas

This one's a biggie. It wasn't until I watched the recycled mishmash that was Nail Shop Paris that I realized just how predictable male characters are in Dramaland (or at least the romcom segment of Dramaland). I know that we've talked a lot about female leads on this blog, but if we want complex, interesting women in our dramas, don't they also deserve complex, interesting men to date?

As it currently stands, many romantic dramas have two tropes: the chaebol lead and the supportive second lead. The male lead has two personality traits: haughty and rich. (Rich isn't even a personality trait, but that's the best we've got, so we'll take it.) As time goes on, he becomes less haughty, and he falls in love. But that's it. Beyond haughty, rich, in love, and maybe sad about daddy issues, you don't have much to work with, personality-wise. 

Then you have the second male lead, who is (slightly less) rich, kind, and supportive. His main characteristic is his willingness to follow the woman around and serve her with his invisible love. 

Now, I love a good old fashioned chaebol love story, but every once in a while, I wish Kdrama male characters had just a little more personality. Haughty vs. nice makes it tempting to root for the nice guy, but you have to admit that some second leads are just a teensy bit boring. How can you blame her for having no interest if he's kind of a snoozefest? 

Sorry, not sorry, Jaejoong fans. His character was like watching paint dry.

When Kdrama writers break the mold and offer complex, intriguing second leads who break the basic mold, that's when I really can't resist. In Dating Agency: Cyrano, the main lead was doing typical male lead shenanigans, while Master was having long, heartfelt conversations with the female lead. They laughed together, cooked together, talked together, and he was secretly a gangster in disguise. It was a refreshing break from the norm, which automatically prejudiced me against her boring grandpa of the boyfriend.

Similarly, in Heirs, Young Do might have been a violent maniac, but if your only other option is another violent maniac, why not at least root for the one with multiple facial expressions and a motorcycle? (Remind me not to become a life coach for teen girls. Something tells me that I would be bad at it. Teens, don't actually date violent maniacs with motorcycles, okay?)

Whatever the reason, Second Lead Syndrome is always lurking around the corner of every romantic K-drama. As far as I can tell, the only cure is to demand a higher quality of male lead to leave their competition in the dust.

Kdrama Posters: The Message They Didn't Mean to Send

One of the reasons we wrote some of our recommendations posts is that it can be really difficult to sift through all of the dramas out there to find one you really love.  While I usually rely on reviews from bloggers who seem to match my tastes to help direct me to new dramas, I have to admit that I'm also really heavily swayed by advertising.  A great drama poster can push a show to the front of the line, while a ridiculous one can sometimes prevent me from starting something I might otherwise really enjoy.  Sometimes, the posters are so random or poorly planned that I have to wonder what advertising executive signed off on it in the first place.

With that in mind, here are some of my favorite random kdrama posters:

1. Shark

Source

What it should be about: A man with some sort of brain injury is very sad, so a nice lady lets him drool on her breasts for comfort. Then she is also sad.  They are both very, very sad.

I have seen this picture popping up all over Pinterest, but I just can't get past this poster to give it a real chance. 


What it's actually about: (from Wikipedia): "Han Yi-soo (Kim Nam-gil) narrowly escapes death and loses his father because of the owners of Gaya Hotel Group, the family of Jo Hae-woo (Son Ye-jin), his first love... 12 years later he returns to Korea with a new identity and carefully plots to avenge his family."

So at least I was right about the sad part.  Good job, advertisers!


2. Twelve Men in a Year

Source

What it should be about: With the help of a gigantic book/magic carpet, Cupid helps a sassy Korean girl discover the wonderful world of reading!

According to the movie poster, this show should be something like Wishbone, just more Korean.  And maybe with a love story. Now that I mention it, that sounds like an awesome premise for a show!  And probably better than the actual premise, which I quit after one episode.

What it's actually about: (from Dramawiki): "Na Miru, a twenty-nine old woman, starts a dating column and dates twelve men for each astrological sign in the calendar."

3. Full House, Take 2

Source

What it should be about:  A cross-dressing Golden Girls impersonator is torn between his split personalities: a nice college student named "Danny" and a rich, permed playboy named "Alfonso."

What it's actually about: (from Drama wiki) "This series pivots around a hapkido teacher Jang Man-ok (Hwang Jung Eum) becoming a stylist of top idol group TAKE ONE, composed of the perfectionist Lee Tae Ik (No Min Woo) and a free yet kind guy named Won Kang Hwi (Park Ki Woong) and getting into a romantic relationship with them."

Sooooooooo, that lady in the middle gets to be the stylist?  Somehow, that doesn't sell me on the show.


4. Secret Garden

Source

What it should be about: A Korean businessman almost dies and wakes up as Mary Poppins.  He falls in love with his "charge," and they use his new powers to fly to Bavaria!

What it's actually about: (from Wikipedia) "The drama tells the story of love story between Gil Ra-im (Ha Ji-won) and Kim Joo-won (Hyun Bin). Gil Ra-im is a poor but proud stunt woman who has supported herself since her father's death. Joo-won is an arrogant and eccentric CEO who maintains the image of seeming perfection. . . . A strange sequence of events results in them swapping bodies."

5. You're Beautiful

Source

What it should be about:  A ragtag gang of angels kidnap a grumpy man.  They teach him all kinds of useful things, like how to shoot lasers out of his hands and that he shouldn't wear tunics over suits.  He returns to earth a better man.

What it's actually about: (from Wikipedia) "Go Mi Nyu (Park Shin-hye) is a sister-in-training. Her twin brother, Go Mi Nam successfully auditions for the musical band A.N.JELL but is forced to leave for the  United States to correct a botched plastic surgery. Mi Nyu is approached by Mi Nam's manager to pose as Mi Nam while he recovers. . . . Mi Nyu enters the group A.N.JELL and meets its members: Hwang Tae Kyung (Jang Keun-suk), Kang Shin Woo (Jung Yong-hwa) and Jeremy (Lee Hongki)."

This is another case of a series that would have been better off just following the poster instead.

Which K-drama advertisements have left you scratching your head?

Essential Korean Terms for Love Interests: Guest Post at Viki

Coco ad Vivi are both currently out of town, but we still found some time to do a guest post for Viki.  We are working on some more reviews as well!

Source

As summer heats up and Kdrama fans make plans to visit Korea (we wish!), we thought it would be helpful for us to share some Korean phrases that you will need to know for when you run into those rich chaebols and heiresses. We all know, from watching Kdramas on Viki, that when you meet your love interest there is a progression of emotions that you will feel. Here are 5 essential Korean phrases for each phase of your relationship.



1. Phase 1: Hey, do you want to die?

According to Kdramas, most romantic relationships don't start off well. Usually the male and female have a bad run-in with each other that results in mutual hatred. Sometimes this takes the form of violence and/or threats, as in Boys Over Flowers and Protect the Boss. In case this is how your relationship begins with your love interest, we recommend that you learn the Korean phrase for "Hey, do you want to die?".

2. Phase 2: Stop appearing before my face!

Oftentimes, the hatred between two characters evolves into a milder feeling of mutual annoyance. This usually occurs after the main couple has had several awkward encounters, such as in Lie to Me. In case this happens to you, we also recommend that you learn the Korean phase for "Stop Appearing before my face!".  Don't worry though; most likely you will enter into some sort of agreement to fake a relationship that is mutually beneficial for you, and which gradually ramps up your romantic interest in the other person.

3. Phase 3: Now do you see me as a man/woman?

Once you and your new Korean love interest have been tolerating each other for a while, it's time to take the next step by willfully invading the other person's space and asking awkward questions. See A Gentleman's Dignity as your guide to this move. Even though the obvious answer here is "Am I blind?  What kind of person could NOT see you as a man?" it is actually in your best interest to slide away coyly and feign disinterest--for now.

4. Phase 4: I don't have the confidence.

All great Korean romances have absurd obstacles thrown in the way.  Without them, it just wouldn't be true love!  At this point, the most advanced lovers think, "I know!  The best way to deal with this problem is to totally cut off communication and give up on our relationship!"  If you have seen anything with Park Shin-hye in it (You're Beautiful or Flower Boy Next Door, for example), you know exactly what to do.  Work those puppy eyes!

5. Phase 5: I love you.

If phase 4 makes you sad, don't fret!  It's only a temporary ploy until you get to the final phase: complete and total bliss with the one you love!  Just pray that you get a good kiss instead of one of those frozen ones.  You've earned it!

Guest Post at Viki: More Kdrama Texts to a Bestie

The team over at Viki has kindly asked us to write another guest post for them.  In case you missed our first guest post, check it out! This time, we decided to do a second installment of one of our popular posts in the past: Kdrama Texts to a Bestie: We sometimes wonder how we would react to the female leads if they were our best friends in real life. Can you just picture the text conversations we would have? In Part 1 of Texts to a Bestie, we imagined texting Jan Di, Eun Chan, Gong Ah Jung and Park Ha. Here are more imaginary texts with some of our favorite Kdrama heroines:

 1. Flower Boy Ramyun Shop

2.  You're Beautiful

3. Full House

3. Flower Boys Next Door

5. Personal Taste

Which other kdrama heroines would you like to text with?

Fashion Face-Off Friday: Kdrama Battle of the Guyliner

It's been a while since we had a Fashion Face-off around here, so let's start by announcing the last results.  I have to admit that I was really, really surprised by this one.  In our "Hotties in Suits" competition, Cha Ji-heon from Protect the Boss won a decisive victory over the more formal suit-wearers.  Was it the Batman t-shirt?  Because if it was, I can totally get behind that.

For this week's Fashion Face-off, I'm going to go with men wearing eyeliner--also known as "guyliner." The male characters in kdramas often wear noticeable makeup (the OBVIOUS lipliner in a few dramas being the worst example), and guyliner has become something of an immediate indicator that a character is extra broody. As someone who mostly wears makeup for weddings and Halloween, I have to admit that seeing men outdoing my efforts in the makeup category is sometimes unnerving, but I've gotten to a point where I can handle it.

There were a lot of options in the guyliner category.  I tried to choose characters who consistently rock it as an integral part of their persona.  So, in the battle of the guyliner, who wore it best?  Or, if you don't love the guyliner, who pulls it off the most convincingly?

Contender 1: Joo Byung-hee from Shut Up Flower Boy Band

There is plenty of guyliner in this series, but we have to single out Joo Byung-hee because the guyliner is part of his soul.  Just read the subtitle in the screencap below:

That's right: the man basically has a guyliner manifesto.
That's gotta be worth some credit, right?

Contender 2: Min Tae-yeon in Vampire Prosecutor

As noted in my review of this series, the vampire elements aren't always at the forefront of the show.  That being said, the amount of guyliner on everyone's favorite blood-sucking prosecutor seems to be directly proportional to how vampire-ish he is being that day.  Does this mean that when he goes home to sulk in his fancy apartment, he stops to apply eyeliner first?

Sitting in a gigantic leather chair is just about the most vampire-ish thing you can possibly do.
 That would explain the smokey eye.

Contender #3: Hwang Tae-kyung in You're Beautiful

We get it.  You're emotionally constipated because you have a mean mom.  You're also in a band.  All of this naturally leads to a guyliner addiction.  We would do the same.

We don't know what you're doing either, but it seems to be working.

Contender #4: Vick in Iris

Sometimes we have to recognize that the villains are just as stylish as the good guys.  Just because T.O.P.'s character likes to kill people shouldn't invalidate his use of guyliner, okay?  In fact, maybe it makes it more justifiable.

Maybe if those eyes are the ones shooting you, it wouldn't be so bad?
On second thought, getting shot always sucks, regardless of makeup application.
Image Source

So who wore it best?  Vote in the poll below!

                                             

Kdrama Battle of the Guyliner
	Joo Byung-hee in Shut Up Flower Boy Band
	Min Tae-yeong in Vampire Prosecutor
	Hwang Tae-kyung in You're Beautiful
	Vick in Iris
pollcode.com free polls

Kdrama Hollywood Lookalikes

You know that feeling when you're watching a movie, and you suddenly know that actor reminds you of someone, but you just can't figure out who it is?  I have that feeling all the time while watching Korean dramas.  Sometimes they remind me of my second grade crush or my old piano teacher, but sometimes the actors look like a Korean version of actors in Hollywood movies. Because I'm so nice, I'm going to share my discoveries with you.  For some of them, I might save you the trouble of having to google "so-and-so looks like..." in hopes of resolving the unsettling feeling that you've seen that face before.  For others, I might be the only person on the planet who sees the similarity, but I will defend these connections to the death.

Without further ado...Kdrama Hollywood Lookalikes!


So much brooding and cheekbones going on in these photos.
All kdrama photos are screenshots; RPats photo source

1. Jae-joong (Protect the Boss) and Robert Pattinson

Interestingly enough, I'm not the first person to make this comparison.  Apparently, an Italian magazine did a "which one is hotter" segment comparing these two, which seems redundant because they basically look the same to me.

2. Kim Jeong-hoon (Princess Hours) and a bunch of ladies

This one was pretty tricky to figure out.  Every time Prince Yul smiled, I had the vague impression that I had seen it before in some really pleasant Hollywood romcom.  Fortunately (or unfortunately), Princess Hours is ten million hours long, so I had plenty of time to scrutinize his face before it finally dawned on me in a flash: Kim Jeong-hoon smiles exactly like Ginnifer Goodwin (no wonder visions of a shy girl in a cardigan kept floating around in my head as I tried to piece things together!), and he also bears a pretty solid resemblance to Mae Whitman.  Don't believe me?  See for yourself!

The identical haircuts don't hurt. 
Mae Whitman source

They're both so coy! 
Ginnifer Goodwin source

Now that I think about it, I think that I should write a screenplay in which Ginnifer Goodwin is the responsible older sister to Mae Whitman's rebellious one.  Ginnifer takes care of them both because they're orphans, but THEN the half-Korean half-brother they never knew they had shows up in their lives to turn things upside down!  There is a hilarious scene of cultural confusion at a carnival, and maybe a montage of them fixing up a house that they can all share. It all ends with someone (any one of the three will do) falling in love with Michael Vartan.  I will accept my millions of dollars for this idea in cash, please!

3. Jang Keun Suk (You Are Beautiful) and Criss Angel

"I also make magic--with my MUSIC."
As a sidenote, I wish the series as a whole had involved
 more card tricks and less crying.

Get it?  One of them uses the last name Angel, and the other acts as a member of the band A.N.JELL.  It's like this comparison was just waiting to happen.  Now, admittedly, the similarity here owes more to emo-swoop hair and bizarre styling than anything else, but it's still pretty distracting until Tae Kyung gets his (not much better, and possibly worse) makeover a few episodes into the series.

Does this mean that Joon Pyo is Voldemort?
Harry Potter photo source

4. Jung Eui-chul (Boys over Flowers) and Harry Potter

I am shocked--shocked, I tell you, that if you google "Korean Harry Potter," the character of Min Jae Ha doesn't even show up on the first page of image results.  Maybe it's because this character (spoiler alert!)appears, becomes a love interest, almost kills a main character, sets up a ransom situation, and disappears all within two-ish episodes.  In spite of the fact that he was there purely as a plot extension, I kept expecting him to pull out a broom and invite Jan Di to play some Quidditch.

So, what's the verdict?  Do you agree?  Am I totally crazy?  What Kdrama Hollywood lookalikes have you noticed?