No-Romance Dramas Draw Strong Viewer Responses

[keytfelt.livejournal.com]

More dramas are giving up on the romance storyline that had been typically regarded as a must for any hit. Looking at the viewer responses to ongoing dramas, it now seems viewers think that if it is telling a similar love story, it would be better off with no romance at all.

"Temperature of Love," a romantic comedy on SBS which had shown a strong viewer response for its delicate expression of a relationship, has been losing its initial momentum. Albeit being top-rated in its time slot, MBC's Wednesday-Thursday medical drama "Hospital Ship," which grabbed viewers' attention by dealing with a lesser-known hospital ship sailing around small islands around the world helping island residents, has been seeing less viewer responses as the medical drama is now focusing on a love triangle and is becoming a typical melodrama.

On the contrary, tvN's webtoon-based drama "Avengers Social Club," "Witch's Court" and "Mad Dog" on KBS _ where there is no apparent romantic storytelling _ have been gaining popularity.

"Avengers Social Club," airing on Wednesdays and Thursdays, stars three actresses Lee Yo-won, Ra Mi-ran and Myung Se-bin, playing three women from different walks of life _ a street fish vendor, a housewife of a professor and a chaebol owner's daughter _ who join forces to carry out their individual revenge. Focusing on close relationships between women, the drama tells about revenge and comradeship among the three, each having been the victim of power abuse, violence and a spouse's adultery. With no romance plot, the drama debuted on Oct. 11 with 2.9 percent viewership, but it soared to over 5 percent just after three episodes.

"The issues the drama portrays are ones that all women can strongly relate to. But, it is not women's issues only, since the drama reflects reality _ a world full of violence _ that all viewers can relate to," said culture critic Jung Duk-hyun. "This sense of reality makes the trio's revenge not entirely private but shared. Their revenge is strong satire and criticism of reality."

The legal drama "Witch's Court" and insurance scam fighting drama "Mad Dog" are getting positive reviews from viewers. The former, albeit not entirely free from romance, mainly focuses on crimes against children and women, including child molestation and sexual assault, keeping viewers on their toes. In the latter, insurance scam cases and team chasing them bring about tension.

"In the case of romantic comedies that include social issues in its storytelling, romantic scenes may work to their advantage. But when the cliché romance scenes are abruptly adopted in the thus-far well-received dramas, regardless of the general plot, viewers feel that the romance is out of place," Jung said.

By Park Jin-hai

Source: The Korean Times

This article is like a month old, so the dramas they talk about have either finished or are winding down, but I still thought it would be interesting to discuss. Do you prefer dramas with or without romance? Or a steady mix of both like I do? Are you watching/did you watch any of the dramas mentioned in the article?

Comments

[melonsalad.livejournal.com]

i'm so here for this God finally

no but i generally prefer stories without romance, partly bc i can't relate and partly bc it's so often done in ways that are frustrating and cheesy and just not my thing. there aren't many non romance kdramas out there and some ppl still comment on those few wishing they had romance too and i just? you already have almost everything is it not enough lmao

[hibaalhadid.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing this article.

my favorite drama right now is Avengers social club, it's sooooooo good.

also I noticed that the dramas that I liked lately are this type of drama, less romance

[chasing-thewind.livejournal.com]

I finished avengers social club yesterday and am caught up on mad dog. Both are soooo good, and I especially love avengers social club. Here for this trend of found family as opposed to romance

[arysthaeniru.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen any of the dramas without romance, but now I really want to. I absolutely love dramas without cheesy, usually mildly uncomfortable romances. Most of my favourite dramas are about other plot points other than love, and that's what's memorable about a drama for me. There are few people who can make romance really compelling, so I usually avoid the genre.

[by-venoms-sting.livejournal.com]

I'm really enjoying Avenger's Social Club (I haven't watched the last two episodes yet though) so I'm supportive of this trend or whatever lol.

[simplyseasalt.livejournal.com]

It's always nice to watch dramas in which romance isn't the front and center of the plot. I enjoyed Buamdong Revenge Social Club for showing the bonds our the club members in helping one another out and for having good character growth. I still like rom-coms though--it's just nice to be able to branch out to other types of dramas.

[kyungwons.livejournal.com]

I like my dramas at both extremes like really cheesy and romantic or really dark and serious crime dramas. I’m not a big fan of more serious dramas including badly written romance cause they feel like they have to include it so I hope they start to realise people don’t always want that. But on the flip side if there was ever a drop in the amount of super romantic dramas being made I would be devastated I love love 💕

[cafetin99.livejournal.com]

TBH I fell the same, none of the romantic type drama in this and past season have had my attention.

They became boring somehow... and not even the dramas for which everyone is creaming themselves (Because this is our firts time, 20th century b&g and While you were sleeping, etc) have caught my attention, I couldn't get past the first 2-3 episodes.

I fell in love with TvN. OCN and JTBC action-suspence-gore driven dramas.

[kenata.livejournal.com]

off the bat, i'm not completely opposed to romantic dramas...but as A Gay it can be pretty tiring to watch the same contrived heteronormative plotlines, particularly when there is little chemistry between the two characters :/ some stories work much better without forcing romance between two leads

[haroobommi.livejournal.com]

true. As a gay, which dramas would you recommend? i'm starting to watch dramas and I don't want to end up watching the too heteronormative ones

[nekokonneko.livejournal.com]

i'm not against romance or relationships being portrayed, but i don't like how kdramas generally tend to portray them and have them go to ridiculous lengths and eclipse the plot. say what you will about school 2013, i really like that they never really went into potential romance threads--and there were so many they could've exploited. there were hints, but it still kept the focus on the struggles of the students and teachers.

really, all i require of a love line is to be able to understand why the two leads want to be together and deem them compatible, but so many dramas manage to fuck that up so badly lol

[mya13.livejournal.com]

reading the comments now after posting my comment and i also mentioned school 2013! sure the last few eps could have been better but that drama was soo good, especially during the time it was released, it was a HUGE breath of fresh air, and the acting was amazing.

"all i require of a love line is to be able to understand why the two leads want to be together and deem them compatible" +10000 to this. the best failure i can give of this is "its okay thats love" cause thats the last romance drama i bothered with and was the drama that made me never wanna watch a korean romance drama ever again.

[ty.livejournal.com]

Criminal Minds sure tanked.

[clairter.livejournal.com]

I feel that the overused cliches are the problem here, not exactly having romance imo
I mean, dramas that have romance, but dont use the same old (love triangles, poor girl-rich guy etc) are doing well, Because this is our first time is being accepted well by the public. The thing about no romance dramas is that it is so rare that it becomes like a breath of fresh air, in the middle of romance plots that looks the same, stories like Save Me or Lookout usually stand out, because it's different.
Drama writers have to stop relying on the same formula every time, there are too many Secret Gardens and Boys over Flowers in disguise already.
Also, I've been waiting for Avenger's Social Club to finish so I can watch it in one go, I'm excited!

[jillyjellly.livejournal.com]

this so much. i love a good relationship drama. because this is our first time is incredibly well written/acted and all three main couples are relatable in different ways. it's all about good storytelling imo. some dramas don't need romance, but writers often use the relationship of the 'main couple' as a plot device. not everyone needs to be paired up/stay together and oftentimes it just feels like a cheap shot to bring in the drama.

[lemonadetea.livejournal.com]

I haven't watched any of these, but I often feel that dramas with a solid non-romance plot go way too heavy on the romance. I like a bit of romance, but they go way over the top with it. For example, While You Were Sleeping could have kept the romance but toned it way down.

Poor Kyungsoo, though. He just said in an interview that he wants a character with a romance plot for once lol.

[little-giant.livejournal.com]

Mad Dog isn’t a great example considering it lost in the ratings to both Hospital Ship and While You Were Sleeping. Both of which had romance

[sanctuairee.livejournal.com]

i enjoy both, but i prefer non-romance. it's too often that the romance tends to take over the plot and/or is not healthy but framed as such.

[jaequeeragenda.livejournal.com]

i definitely prefer no romance if the only option is het romance lol

and when i watch stuff here in the states i could do away with all the het sex scenes vs het romances

basically pro queer everything \o/

[mya13.livejournal.com]

i don't watch kdramas very frequently anymore, but when i do it's always dramas without love lines, and all of them are always great (misaeng, angry mom, signal etc). i think i realized how superior dramas w/o love lines were back when school 2013 was airing. i think since then dramas w/o romance are slowly becoming more and more popular, which is great.

i honestly only trust love line less dramas now, because if a drama doesnt have one, that must mean the drama is so interesting that it doesn't need one, and i really dont have time to watch a romance drama and then have it get stupid (like they alway do) after the 7th episode. people who refuse to watch dramas w/o romance dont know how much they're missing out.

[cedric-mcfly.livejournal.com]

Did i ghost write this comment, lmao!

I feel the exact same way, and the 3 dramas you mentioned are all great! (i wish i could watch Misaeng for the first time again, i love it!)

[cedric-mcfly.livejournal.com]

I was recently talking about this with a friend, i much prefer no romance dramas. Or at the very least, dramas that include romance but not as the main focus of the show.
I feel like this is one of the reasons i find it kinda hard to commit to new dramas, plus with a romance drama, 9 times out of 10 they're gonna include the dreaded love triangle, something i've come to loathe!

[haroobommi.livejournal.com]

what do you guys think of Weightlifting Fairy kim Bok joo? I know it is heavy on the love triangle shit but I think it talks about important stuff too? I'm trying to decide if I like it or not. (I didn't finish it tho)

[kristinl356.livejournal.com]

I loved Weightlifting Fairy! It was super cute. We got a female athlete, female friendships, a good, supportive male lead, a friendship between exes, and a friendship between an ex and a current.

[tsuyoi-hikari.livejournal.com]

All my fave Korean dramas tend not to have romance in them. Actually, before this, Kdramas always need to include romance genre in them but ever since TVN, OCN and JTBC existed, they finally break from that norm which is a breath of fresh air.

Its not I dont like romance dramas, I love them esp melodramas but when I watch revenge, legal or medical dramas, I wish them to focus on the revenge, legal or medical part more rather than the romance. I mean, if I want to watch romance, I can watch romcom instead so its really annoying when the writer focus on something else other than the main plot that they originally intended.

But I really cant blame the writer either since the viewers themselves always look for someone for them to ship. I always look at the comment section to discuss the plot, but all the commentators could ever comment is on the romance or love line even when the scene is only like 1/2 minutes lol

Kdramas should learn for Jdramas. Jdramas always have no romance in their dramas and it is still very addicting and interesting. I'm glad they finally willing to change little by little this few years.

[jillyjellly.livejournal.com]

do you have some recent jdrama recs? the last thing i watched was nigehaji

[jillyjellly.livejournal.com]

i love a good relationship drama or fluffy romcom but well written and well acted ones are few and far between. so i tend to prefer dramas that don't force a love line between the main hetero couple. even better if it's an ensemble cast, with fleshed out characters. one dimensional characters are what ruins a lot of dramas imo

[genesisgrey.livejournal.com]

I used to enjoy watching romance dramas, but they all started feeling really the same.

[msgrottesca.livejournal.com]

my heart is dead and couples make me angry so I h8 romance and am in favor of this lmao

[kristinl356.livejournal.com]

I love a good romance, I think the problem is just that shows often use romance as a crutch when they've got nothing else going for them. But I love a good story with no romance too. A good show is a good show. I'm pretty flexible when it comes to topics.

[revedesnuages.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this post OP, I haven't heard of these dramas but they sound interesting, will add them to my watch list.

I like dramas with romance, but having watched East Asian dramas since I was a child, I'm really tired seeing of the same tropes and cliches, power imbalance in the relationships. I think I prefer a mix of both, but with more focus on the plot. Or friendship instead of romance.

Also as someone aromantic asexual, it's nice to be reminded that there are stories that can be told without romance and that it's not central focus everyone's life.