Since the early 2000s, Korean dramas have grown enormously popular, spearheading the Korean culture wave, or hallyu, around the world. The first drama to really get the Korean Wave going was “Winter Sonata” in 2002, while another great success came a year later when the period drama “Jewel in the Palace” aired in 2003 on MBC. The drama was the first to attract popularity from beyond East Asia. It was sold to more than 90 countries, from China and Japan to places as far away as Kazakhstan and Hungary.
More than two decades after, K-dramas are here to stay. Hallyu wave is stronger than ever, with a new generation of actors and actresses rising to fame, in various kinds and genres of shows. By this time, you might have already heard about Lee Min-ho, Song Hye-kyo, Rain and Song Joong-ki. These actors and actresses were the ones who starred in dramas acquired by our local television stations like “Boys Over Flowers”, “Full House” and “Descendants of the Sun”.
With hundreds of dramas shown from the Winter Sonata era, they resulted to different kinds of viewers. Find out what type of K-drama fan are you in this list:
Image: Viu/K-Pop Herald
The casual viewers
They are the type of k-drama watchers that choose what they’re going to watch in a non-fixated way. They might chance upon the trailer while browsing on their news feeds, or when it is a hot-topic in social networking sites; or they’re just going to watch out of curiosity. But wait, don’t count them out yet, because they can turn into another type of watcher due to a lot of reasons.
As one popular saying in the K-drama world goes, “Don’t start watching one K-drama, it’s a trap!”
Image: Viu/K-Pop Herald
It’s all about the actors
Viewers have different reasons why they watch a certain type of show, but one of the most popular reasons is because their favorite actor/actress is the main lead. Korean actors are well-known for being good-looking and most of them are equally-brilliant in playing their roles in dramas. When an actor already gained a following because of his previous performances, some of his/her fans will automatically dedicate their time to support him/her in his/her next projects.
Did someone say Lee Jong-suk is in a new drama? Calendar marked!
Image: Viu/K-Pop Herald
Plot-followers
While some viewers watch because their favorite celebrity is on screen, there are also some who watch dramas because they are huge fans of the genre. In the case of South Korea, the country is famous in the Asian drama scene as a hub of romantic-comedies, historical-fantasies and action-packed shows. It also helped that there is an impression from international fans that Korean productions value quality and excellence, that’s why more viewers are drawn. Nobody wants to waste their time on lackluster shows, right?
Image: Viu/K-Pop Herald
The spoilers
If there are groups of viewers that are not really a threat, there is a certain kind of watcher that most of the fans avoid. They like raining on other people’s parade and it’s still a mystery why some just like spoiling shows to others. They don’t like giving any chance to those who are just about to start watching the dramas.
Ever experienced trying your best not to be distracted while at work because you know that the latest episode have been released? How about ending up accidentally reading the whole show on your newsfeed? Or even a meme made to reveal the plot twist? Terrible, right?
Image: Viu/K-Pop Herald
The Die-hards
They watch because of the actors, because of the plots, because why not? This last set of K-drama watchers emit passion like a wildfire. They have every teaser image of upcoming shows, trailers are automatically downloaded, soundtracks are memorized by heart. They will watch the latest episode the moment it’s uploaded; prior to that is the constant checking if it’s already up. They will stop whatever they’re doing to press “play” and no one is allowed to disturb them because they waited for it for so many days.
Few minutes into the episode, you will see them laughing/smiling so hard, or crying intensely. There’s no in-between. JB
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