This review may contain spoilers
Dramaworld is totally meta and makes fun of a lot of tropes. Tropes that you find in KDramas that is, ie, piggyback riding, karaoke scenes, getting drunk on soju, chaebol family, scheming female second lead - however the ending gave a twist, that you don't find typically in KDramas. If you've watched Dream High, you know what I mean^^The acting in this was atrocious at parts. Wooden. But it gave me a meta feel still, because there are wooden characters galore typically in KDramas, and I thought it was a faithful representation, lol. The story is ambitious and follows Claire as she enters "Dramaworld" and tries to fix it before it ceases to exist forever. She meets another facilitator, Seth, who seems like a good guy, and he appears to be helping her on the surface. But is he really? *At the risk of putting spoilers, I'm not saying anything more*
Towards the ending, the story broke the fourth wall, which requires a lot of explanation and set-up, but there was no time here. By fourth wall, I mean the characters in the drama (well Joon Park) became aware he was a character in a drama. Although good ending, one has to wonder - is Claire's life now a drama? The ending is so ambiguous and not explained properly, I don't even consider it a spoiler talking about it, because it's open to interpretation.
Also, I was cringing towards the end. SERIOUSLY cringing.
However for a web-series and a collaboration between America and Korea - I see this as a stepping stone onto something more awesome. Watch this if you love meta references and you will be swept up in nostalgia :D The reason why my re-watch score is so high (practically unheard of), is because it's short, sweet and I can see myself revisiting the bits I liked, or just watch the Seth bits^^ (Justin Chon and Liv Hewson did a good job)
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1. The characters were very wooden and one-dimensional. The acting wasn't very good--I honestly was cringing a lot of the time. I'm a person that loves to be swept away in a drama and feel EVERYTHING that our characters are feeling, but it was impossible with this drama. Perhaps because it is borderline parody and they're trying to wink to the audience quite a bit (the sole component I liked). But these characters never really came together to the point where you believed the emotions they were feeling, which was kinda disappointing.
2. Our main male lead was....awkward. I mean obviously he's supposed to be this super-character. He's the LEADING MAN and they try to portray him in that way. But his shifts between Korean/English were off-putting and just how he interacted with Claire....he was where most of the cringing took place. His lines were just not delivered very well.
3. The writing. Some of the lines they had these characters say....just shouldn't have been said. I liked their plot-twists, but I didn't like how the scenes all came together. Sometimes things got just a bit too ridiculous and over-the-top.
Now, here comes the part of my review where I say you should watch it anyway:
1. THE META. Oh my goodness, they covered SOOO many tropes within dramas and managed to play off of them and it gave some REALLY good laughs. The touched on giving drunk girls piggy back rides, karaoke, product placements, dangerous briefcases, brand names being blurred, etc. And they were SUPER-DUPER smart about all of that.
2. The episodes are only 12-ish minutes. And there's only 10 episodes, so just give it a whirl to see what you think. Like I said, while I think it really deserves the rating I gave it as a whole, those meta moments were just spectacular. Spectacular and funny enough that I'd say it's worth the watch. <3
Watch this in one sitting when you have the time, it'll be more enjoyable that way. Also, just don't take it too seriously and try not to think too hard about how horribly the lines are being delivered. xD
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About the drama itself, it was a little far fetched but this is how it was supposed to be so I'm ok with that.
I was totally indifferent towards most of the character but I liked how the writers gave life to every kdrama characters. The arrogant rich main lead, the sweet and innocent poor main girl, the bitchy second lead, the mother who wants to control the life of her boy and think she can choose who he's gonna date, the crazy irrational villain... I love and laughed like a crazy about all the kdrama clichés, all the laws and all the rules of dramaworld !!! Well done Korea to be able to laugh on yourself ! I'D LOVE it if we can buy the book about "every law, rule, trick and trope of dramaworld" ! Seems to be a really fun book to have. :)
In conclusion even if I didn't enjoy this drama and I have a lot to complain about, I still recommend it just because I think that every kdramas lovers have to watch this one. Do not expect anything about the storyline but enjoy all the fun and crazy moments about dramaworld !
And I completely agree with everything @ViolinGal said in her review !!!
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The male lead is hilariously stiff almost all the time, which is a reference to all the horrible dramas that failed due to the main guy's lack of emotions. And the people of Dramaworld freeze momentarily every time they have a "flashback." The second male lead is literally a flower boy working at a flower shop. The murder mysteries. The background music inserts. K-drama car U-turns. The clueless main female leads. It's got a little of everything cliche smoothly sewn into the show.
So meta. SO SO META.
I wasn't going to watch this show, but now I'm SO happy I did. Boys Over Flower American version ruined my expectations for American shows with K-drama influence, and this seemed to be really dumb at first. But guess what? It is actually hilariously entertaining and it's beautifully short! I never get bored! Not even one second.
Objectively speaking, this show rocks the comedy department, but everything else is below average. The romance is not convincing. Dialogue is strange. Each episode is too short. BUT THAT'S THE POINT. This show is about pointing out the ridiculous cliches in Korean drama. And it succeeds 100%.
The sheer amount of tropes, gags, and shade thrown at K-drama just makes me gleefully happy. I found myself clapping and laughing like a child who found a treasure trove of candies. The actresses were all really skillful and believable, but the main actor's stiffness was so consistent i don't know if it's intentional or just bad acting. Anyhow, doesn't matter. He's hot.
In conclusion, watch this if you're bored. But watch with low expectations, and just relax, sit back, and don't let the cliches annoy you. Enjoy spotting them instead!
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The acting is mediocre, as is the story (but that could be part of the intent!). This is very short - 10 episodes running at about 11-12 minutes long, which accounts for why the story wasn't fleshed out better. Think of this as more of a parody than a real story and you will probably still be entertained somewhat.
Just don't take the story too seriously and you will still have fun. Try to watch in one go if possible since it's short enough to do so.
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As a person used to fictions from various horizons, I’m not limited to K-dramas and maybe that’s why I cannot help but have issues with most of them. Because, comparing this medium with the rest of the world, a lot of K-dramas have filming issues (not knowing how to use flashbacks, camera angles, not using soundtracks at the most appropriate time), poor acting (absurdly over the top that makes it hard to take it seriously) and writing issues (poorly done mood ruptures, forced dialogues, convenient situations, limited variations in their tropes). In that aspect, k-dramas are a sort of niche medium, where many (hardcore) fans will find their way of doing fictions as the expected standards and consider the one not corresponding to it wrong ; while the rest of the world will give it an awkward gaze.
So in any aspect, if you are someone limited to k-dramas, you’ll find this bad, at best decent ; if you are someone with a broader vision, you’ll perceive this as it is.
I’ll be clear, this k-drama is the best one I saw so far when it comes to formal qualities. And…….while it uses all the codes of k-dramas….it is not a k-drama, in the sense it’s a coproduction between three countries : China, US and South Korea. Which is….sad, but, from an exterior point of view, I do hope South Korea will learn from this, even if I doubt it and I’m certain most k-dramas fans wouldn’t want this medium to lose its “specificities”.
But anyway, time to get to the points :
Writing :
Well, what do we have then ? A parody. A good parody, and it isn’t as easy to do as one would expect. While it isn’t the subtle type of parody – which….would be impossible considering the concept of the drama – it doesn’t fall in the “smeared in your face” sketches with close to no real stories.
The parody aspect makes sense because of the universe it wanted to create ; a universe governed by the most common tropes you can find in dramas, most of the time for comedy purposes, sometimes maybe a bit forced, though it should be relativized considering parodies aren’t ruled the same way as classical comedies. But anyway, this simple concept alone is something I rarely see when it comes to parodies, so it has to be mentioned.
So, here we are, following a k-drama fan falling right into “Dramaworld” to save a k-drama ! And Dramaworld can’t be more “dramatized” than it is. And just for that, I kudo the writers, they obviously knew very well how k-dramas functioned and were able to recreate one while aborting most common issues. The writing isn’t perfect, I admit sometimes I pondered where the parody stopped and where it was just a formal issue, but it was trivial most of the time, except, maybe, in the last episode which is probably the least well written from the entire show. And if you watched the show, you probably know what I’m referring to.
On an “intellectual” approach, what was the most interesting was the double levelled story-telling : Claire’s “Dramaworld”, of course, but also the “Dramaworld” WE are/were watching, which was as dependant of the rules as Claire’s, and might have ruined the tension for some as it makes the story pretty self-explanatory. Now, yes, it wasn’t pushed the furthest, I wish it had gone farther on that aspect, however many episodes of this barely 10 episodes long show demonstrated it was fully aware of that and they at least did it justice.
Lastly, I would point out that with my limited knowledge concerning k-dramas, I could see a bunch of references to other dramas, so I’m sure that if you can appreciate subtle references in fictions, you’ll like this aspect.
Characters & Acting :
As one could expect, for the most part, they are the embodiment of stereotypes and clichés and shouldn’t be expected to be anything else to begin with (after all….it is a parody). It is especially true for most of the cast, which has close to no development at all. It could be annoying for some, so, if you aren’t used to functional characters or parodies, you might better avoid this.
There are three characters, however, who are more than “just” stereotypes, while never really leaving these aspects :
1. Seth : the trickster archetype ; as one would expect from a trickster, he possesses several faces. While the drama mainly focuses on two, they aren’t the only one. But I shall say that his writing lacks nuances and coherence which turns out problematic for the last episode. If anything, he’s the biggest black point of the show. Still, his double levelled situation makes him interesting. (the fully k-dramatized)
2. Joon Park : our dear main lead, which is of course arrogant and proud and….you know…basically, the “male”, and yet…as one know, or should know, a stereotype can be well written, and it’s his case. The show, with its limited duration, takes time to layer him in a combination of k-dramatization and the “rest” (aka bad for many hardcore k-dramas fans, good one for “ignorants” like me). (the semi-dramatized, semi-real one)
3. Claire : our stereotyped, double-levelled, real person ; which I suppose makes her the most “problematic” chara for some people. She isn’t supposed to be k-dramatized, and while it is very interesting to see none-dramatized charas interact with k-dramatized one, this difference in writing and acting between characters might be disturbing for some, but I’ll focus on Claire first.
So, yes, Claire, she’s the embodiment of the hard-core fans….does it mean each individual will see herself in her ? No…of course not, she IS a stereotype. However, despite her “stereotypization”, like our main lead, the writers didn’t forget to layer her. Now, yes, I said “real person”, but by that I don’t mean she’s “real”, she is, after all, a character, however, her characterization is more normalized than her Korean counterparts.
To come back with what I was hinting earlier, this show isn’t “just” k-drama. While it is the biggest component, it also features a second type of writing, a more westernized one, which was a very interesting watch for me. Needless to say it is rare to see several writing types in a single show even more between characters. Add to that you have three levels of it - even if for two of them they are just manifested through two characters - and I think this uncommon fiction will be a block for most watchers. (you reject what you don’t understand logic)
The same can be said when it comes to acting, so it isn’t “just” about the writing aspect (I praise the director for being able to direct the charas, mustn’t have been easy considering how unusual this is). And it was as interesting to watch as the writing, but there too…if you are a hard-core k-drama fan, you might have issues….because, while it is the Korean acting….it is “undertoned” compared to the usual one, aka don’t expect the absurdly over the top one.
Most of the cast just do their job, nothing extraordinary, if I had to pin point some, it’d be Joon Park who had to express two acting types depending of the situations (mainly when he switched languages) and Claire who’s able to be common grounded while staying characterized.
Overall :
I suppose I could speak of the soundtrack or filming, but the answers are already implied in the first paragraphs : it doesn’t follow the same issues as most k-dramas, though there’s nothing ground-breaking either.
All in all, I’d advice this show for people with a little knowledge in narratology, it’ll be fun ; if not, not being restricted to k-dramas could also work to the appreciation of the show ; if you ARE limited to it, though….as ironical as it is….you might want to stay away from it as you’ll probably not appreciate it or really in a limited way.
I’m aware all this review my sound bitchy, arrogant or elitist (and some terms or aspect might even be unknown for some)….but I really have no other way to express it more appropriately, so it shall be like that….
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The writers of the show, I feel, should have continued to break the third wall (which is rare if not unheard of in a Kdrama) which was the main charm of the show. Instead around the second or third episode they decided to give the show the real Kdrama treatment which would have been fine if they had better writers or more money to spend on the show.
Kdramas cost a lot of money and it certainly shows with the picture quality, sets, costumes and though it may not be true of all dramas but the writing and production value of the shows.
This was not the case for this show and it would have been fine the writers realized that the main draw of the show was the meta-ness of the show and stuck to that theme throughout the show instead of making it into a real drama which it certainly isn't.
The chemistry between the lead pair is weak at best and it really gets confusing switching between reading the subs and realizing that the characters are speaking in English.
Fun venture but got too serious too soon.
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Let me start by saying that I don't have a lot of k-drama experience (and by that I mean that I have not watched many of them), yet, even like that, I was quite mostly un-pleased and unsatisfied with the popular picks on MDL that I saw till now, safe for few exceptions. By that I don't mean that they did not fit my tastes, on the contrary, they did, but they were ruined from a formal point of view. K-dramas to me are a medium that's too "glamored" up, pretends like giving a story, but then progresses by riding on plot conveniences, obvious plot devices, random mood switches, limited OST, wrong use of tools (flashbacks, transitions), sometimes lazy camera-work and lots of the same tropes that, particularly in romantic comedies, lean towards cliché. They (k-dramas in general) tend to overly-complicate themselves when they don't need to and by doing that, they cover it up with "plot twists" which most of them made me sigh and roll my eyes for appearing more leaning towards wanting to shock the viewer, rather than being justified from a writing perspective, yet the characters involved are considered deep and complex by some of the k-drama fans regardless, which to me makes absolutely no sense. Blame my overly-rational personality that doesn't seek only entertainment, but also good writing. I don't know, but what can I expect when some of "the best" just failed to impress me? Maybe if I were able to get into stuff before starting to overthink and be more mainstream, this wouldn't be a problem to begin with. But anyway, the difference here is that I read/watch lots of different mediums, so I’m not stuck on one particular type of fiction and/or try to apply its rules to every other. I actually seek to learn from all mediums: different ways of story-telling, different styles of creativity, different perceptions etc., K-dramas simply have not impressed me, besides the care that they put in the costumes and the skill of some actors which is indeed a shame to not fully recognize.
But Dramaworld however, despite not being completely a k-drama and just a short collaboration... well, it impressed me.
Story:
It's funny. This is a parody. And I have seen that some of you actually don't have your ideas clear on that and you confused it with a normal comedy, which is quite different from a parody. A parody is a work created to imitate, make fun of, or comment on an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of satiric or ironic imitation. So in other words, even while most parodies are mostly made with a comedic purpose, they're driven by a lot of irony and sometimes exaggeration for the purpose of irony, rather than just making jokes and/or unfortunate funny situations.
The story is quite simple and sometimes utterly ridiculous, but remains totally justifiable seeing the genre. It's filled with k-drama tropes, stereotpyes and clichès which Claire has to learn to adapt to, but failing miserably for taking stuff way too seriously than she actually has to for most of the time. It's actually very interesting to note more styles intertwining into one: a k-drama one, a parody one and a westernized perception. The simple fact that it doesn't follow a certain formula that most of k-drama fans might be used to, leads to it being completely underrated in terms of the brilliance that this show represents, which I expect to be the case in the long run.
Overall, I’m quite sad that this drama wasn’t longer; this being a concept that’s done quite uniquely and if pushed further, it could have been even better than how it already is.
Characters
They were all as one-dimensional as their stereotypes are and ultimately they don't really develop as people a lot, but is that an issue? For some of you, I'm sure it was/would be one of the aspects that you'd find lacking and pointless, but let's remember that this is a parody. They aren't supposed to mean more than you already see. There are just 3 characters that are "more": Claire (for obvious reasons), Seth (for also mainly obvious reasons) and Joon Park.
Claire is the hardcore k-drama fan that lives and breaths k-drama, till she is put into the situation to live one herself. Her character focuses more on her perception of how stuff are supposed to go, simply because it's a k-drama and that's the "rule", even though she's proved wrong by same world because of her impatient, almost forceful ways. My only regret with her character is that, ultimately, she became more involved into her own reality, but at the same time, I don’t think she learnt very much else. Was she supposed to? Not really, it wasn’t remotely the point, though it would have been nice.
Seth is…the plot convenience incarnated lol Actually, he is both a plot device and the simulation of a typical k-drama plot twist. I personally really liked him and what he was supposed to represent, though he should have known better in the end. But it’s safe to say that I never enjoyed the “plot twist” character in a k-drama the same way that I did in this one. It was just brilliant!
Joon Park is probably the unpopular pick here and most of you might be asking me: Why? He’s as “wooden” as a piece of board. He is…but he’s not. You see, he represents the arrogant, perfect main lead and he is such in every context of the k-drama he is part of, but when put next to Claire, well, stuff change. He still keeps his main lead behavior, but drops a good bunch of arrogance and actually tends to listen to her when he’s supposed to listen to nobody. Now, THIS right here is already a k-drama rule that was broken, which makes Joon Park standing on the line between k-drama and reality just by simply interacting with somebody that’s not part of his world. And that’s very interesting from a writing perspective.
Here too I must point out my regret how the characters could have been pushed further if only we got a longer and more proper version, but I should keep what I have.
Acting and OST
I don’t understand those that say the acting was mediocre or cringy. I think that Claire, Seth and Joon Park in particular were actually quite good and what was cringy for these people might have been the whole contrasts: reality vs k-drama, Korean vs English, the whole parody/exaggerated aspects. After all, those mentioned and those that I didn’t mention just had to do with playing “stereotypes” and “tropes” with no much personality than what they are, so I’m lead to believe that the acting was in this particular manner on purpose and not because the actors were bad.
The OST was limited, but it’s way more than what I expected out of such a short drama. And there are some songs that I really really liked and waited for them to finish before moving on to do other stuff. So that gets a high vote from me too.
Conclusion
Dramaworld deals with the parody-aspect actually quite beautifully.I really must praise the writers for managing to identify most of the tropes and issues of a k-drama (mostly romantic comedies) and bring out both the bad and good parts of it in a way that's quite enjoyable for how true it is. Does it do it perfectly? Of course not, unfortunately, but nothing ultimately does. There were some points where I started questioning, thinking that some characters should know better (like in Seth's case), but it wasn't something groundbreakingly major to ruin my experience.
Dramaworld has been the only drama in general that I've followed with dedication and even hyped it, impatiently waiting for the next episode and being actually sad now that's all over. That must mean something so I chose to put some more subjectivity into this than what I usually would. (regardless it would have gotten 9.5 at worst anyway)
One last thing that I want to mention here is that, from what I wrote till now, it almost seems like I'm saying that Dramaworld is a drama that "criticizes" k-drama and this is why I like it and maybe that's why some of you didn't like it and considered it completely far-fetched and exaggerated or maybe you just started taking it this way because of my displeasure with k-drama in general in this review. But I want to clarify this aspect. Dramaworld is a short drama that was made in collaboration with Viki which, even while “making fun” and overly-simplifying k-drama aspects, it was made by people that actually LOVE the genre. It wasn’t made with the purpose to insult. And I’m not taking it with the purpose of shoving it in everybody’s faces either to make them look at the reality of it. EVERY genre has its tropes, its clichés, its issues,all in different ways and a parody is to be taken light-heartedly. I actually recommend this to everybody that is able to not take things too seriously and I can promise that it will be a satisfying experience for the most part and if not, it might just be able to make you show a few smiles.
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The acting is not great, but this actually contributed to the feel that this is not a real kdrama but a kdrama about kdramas, promoting the "meta" feel I think they were going for. The story was written to be cliche, so you can't fault them for the unoriginal story line since that was kinda the point. I didn't notice the music, except when they were playing it up for the cliche moments.
You just have to go into this knowing it's all about the tropes, it's for fun-- it's CANDY people, not a main course. If you have that attitude, you'll thoroughly enjoy it.
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Story
The story is a good and unique idea, stemming from the fact that KDrama's are in a league of their own when it comes to cliche's and overplayed scenarios. It is an interesting story that isn't meant to be taken too seriously so don't expect to be sat at the edge of your seat thinking 'oh sh*t whats going to happen next' because if you know drama....you're supposed to know what is going to happen, which I find is the fun part of it, as the writers aren't trying to trick you with crazy spins/ major cliff hangers. Another great thing is that episodes aren't long, which is refreshing.
Acting/Cast
Well....well.....well lol, the acting wasn't great but meh, I kind of don't think it was supposed to be or we would have seen some big name actors playing this....oooo could you imagine Jo In Sung playing Joon Park (drool). It is a parody so obviously the actors in dramaworld would be expected to be worse than usual to probably highlight the fact that they are acting.
Music
I didn't expect an amazing OST (if you've read some of my reviews you know how I love a good OST) because this isn't that kind of drama. What I did like was the comedic use of the music that us viewers know to well. The BGM when something bad is about to happen, or when you have a blast of music at the end of the episode lol, Claire noticing it made me laugh, because I always have to turn my TV down when it gets to the end of an episode lol.
Overall
I think everyone should watch this just because it is funny, light-hearted and shouldn't be taken too seriously. It is mean't I think to highlight the fact that everybody watches KDramas and they are popular all over the world. If you've never watched a KDrama you may find this drama stupid so maybe watch a few first then come back to this so you understand the comedic effect. But yeah, definitely enjoyed it. Won't rewatch it...nope definitely not something you'd rewatch...doesn't make sense to, but I'm glad I watched it.
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Last Action Hero
Ok. So this one was ..... it was fun. It was short enough to not get too committed, but interesting enough not to be boring. I've seen these other reviews complaining about the acting and characters and whatnot, but I found I didn't care. I like stories that make fun of themselves, and even if the acting was stiff and awkward at times it didn't matter.The story was a parody, and the last action hero was Claire this time instead of Arnold. So she flits about slightly clueless until near the end. It was still fun to watch and to be honest Seth was what made the show for me. The actor embraced the villainy in such a cheesy but good way.
If you are a fan of escapism fantasies give this a watch. Let's just be thankful Claire wasn't watching Kingdom or All of Us Are Dead or Sweet Home.
I have not watched Season 2 as of this writing, but plan on seeing it soon.
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